Digi-Friends

Teacher.

The green fields surrounded everything. The only sound came from the wind gently blowing against the grass. I looked up at the blue sky to see it being mostly clear. I noticed a couple of clouds but they weren't big. It wouldn't rain for a while.

"Leafy, what do you think of this area?" Teacher asked.

I looked around some more before responding, "It's calm but quiet. I'd enjoy it more if it felt less... lonely."

Teacher smiled and closed his yellow eyes. The wind also made his branches sway back and forth. He always took me to places and asked what I thought of them. If I liked somewhere a lot, he'd take me there as often as he could. Despite that, Teacher avoided going out in public places as much as he could.

Suddenly, Teacher pointed up and looked to be in awe. I looked up at what he saw and was amazed. A huge bird flapped its wings as it flew over us. It had a long neck and was greyish blue in colour.

"Wow, do you know what type of bird that was?" I questioned.

"It looked like a great blue heron. Maybe you could find some information about them."

I smiled when he answered. I loved to do things that he asked of me. It felt like I was helping him. I loved to help. If I had a friend, I would do anything to help them.

The grassy fields faded away as did Teacher. I looked around to see a shack. Firey's shack. My hands shook as I tried to process what I just saw. I thought for a while before sighing and looking down. My charger caught my attention.

Its blue glow has gotten stronger after Loser helped fix it. As well, it felt like I had more energy that flowed through my body. Suddenly, I remembered why I saw that memory. Teacher had programmed it to allow me to see my past. He had said it would... stimulate dreaming.

At least that feature is working again...

I began to think more and more about Teacher. I needed to know what had happened to him. Still, the city of Metallum had changed in those 200 years... Even finding the building I was created in would be difficult.

Zzzzz

Firey started to snore. I looked over to see him sleeping on his side. Some drool dripped from his mouth onto the couch. It didn't seem like he would wake up anytime soon.

He wouldn't mind if I went on a walk and left a note...

I got off of the charger and opened it, finding some paper and coloured pencils. I doubted that he'd wake up in the time that I was gone, but it was better to be safe. I wrote, 'Going on a walk!' on the note before placing it on the floor. Firey would be sure to see it.

I closed the charger and made my way out of the shack. It seemed to be very early in the morning. Something seemed oddly familiar about this area. It was rather isolated yet had a bunch of buildings. Most of them seemed to be useless. I took some steps back from the shack before looking back at it, noticing something.

The two box shaped buildings around the shack were windowless, at least from the angle I was viewing them at. The concrete and metal had a good amount of wear to it.

It looks close to the building I was created in. Though it's still not... right.

I continued to stare, comparing these buildings to the one in my memories. They were the right amount of space apart, yet the metal walkway that should've been there was gone. I needed a closer look.

I walked into the alleyway between one of the buildings and Firey's shack, looking up. There seemed to be a hole in the side of the building, but it was too high to make out anything clear. Suddenly, I realized something. I met Firey here.

A smile grew on my face. We had become friends and he trusted me more. Plus, he seemed happy about the food I was getting from Pin. Maybe he would have more energy because of-

Crash

I jumped backwards at the sound of that. It was like... metal falling? I hid behind a dumpster in the alleyway and peaked out, trying to catch a glimpse of whatever happened.

"Please! You have the wrong object!-" yelled a tennis ball.

They got shoved violently shoved by another object. I couldn't make out what this other object was, but they wore blue clothing. As well, a little robot had fallen onto its side. It looked like the tennis ball was defending the robot.

The other object responded, "You'll be taken in for questioning either way. You just need to cooperate with me. Get in the car and stay there."

The tennis ball walked out of my view and I heard a door opening before slamming shut. In that time, the small robot had gotten up and slid down the alleyway. It was very rectangular in size and moved quite slowly.

Shit, don't get any closer. I don't want to be seen!

Suddenly, the other object attacked the robot. It immediately shattered and its pieces fell all over the ground. I froze up and felt so stiff. I couldn't move an inch and watched in horror.

"This piece of junk would've been worthless anyways," muttered the object. They walked off and I heard the car driving off.

Nothing happened for a while. Calmness slowly filled my body as I realized I wasn't seen. I was safe unlike the little robot that was destroyed.

That tennis ball got in trouble because of this robot...

It must've been a lot of work for it to be created. All of that work was gone within a few seconds. Most of its metal parts got damaged beyond repair. Recreating it would certainly take lots of time and money.

It could be remade quicker if its code was copied down. It would be like a clone.

Still, it felt wrong to look at the robot's remains for any longer. This could've very well been me if I was caught. I sighed and got up, walking back to the shack. Moving forward, I'd have to be safer.