LOVE.exe

XIII

DAY 306

When you wake up, the room is bitterly cold. You curl into the covers tightly, reaching over to where you hope to find Ai only to feel air. Sighing, you look up at the ceiling. #dcc1e6. Ai would sometimes say this about the ceiling. You don't know why you're thinking about it right now.

You don't remember falling asleep and the night was dreamless. Fatigue still fuzzies your brain. You look over to the clock on the nightstand only to see it is off. Strange.

Reaching for your phone, you check the time and-

Shit, you woke up late.

You leap from bed, getting dressed in record time before sliding out of the room.

"Ai, we're late!" you call out in a panic as you slide across the house. "We have to leave in like three min- woah!"

You nearly crash into Ai by the front door, but he grabs you and steadies your footing.

"Careful, buttercup," Ai teases. "You wouldn't want to get hurt."

Still in a state of urgency, you grab Ai's hands in yours. "We're going to miss our flight! I can't believe I slept in! I-"

"Don't worry!" Ai calms you. "I told you I'd handle everything today!" Ai opens the front door to show you a shiny car parked right out front. "See? I rented us a car to get to the airport. And I already put all of our luggage in the back."

Ai beams enthusiastically, his eyes shining with innocent splendor. You sigh with relief, thankful that your companion is more responsible than you (Tokiya would totally tear you apart if you missed your flight and forced him to rewrite his entire mock-up of your schedule).

"You should have awoken me," you nudge him.

"I wanted you to sleep in! Jet lag is going to mess up both our sleep cycles, so you need as much rest as you can get."

Ai has a point...

"Everything is ready," Ai continues. "All you need to do is get your pretty little self into the passenger seat."

You glance back at your home, analyzing every inch for any anomalies.

"Why is all the electricity out?" you murmur in confusion.

"I shut it off... We'll be gone for more than a week and I don't want to waste energy."

Yeah, he's definitely more responsible than you. That means the cameras are out. You'll have to message Tokiya later not to panic about it.

"Come on, get your boots and coat on," Ai coaxes. "Just a few more hours and we'll be enjoying the sun!"

Your brain, still sluggish from the abyssal sleep last night, doesn't spark another question. So with a final look at the inside of your house, you heed Ai's instructions before slipping in the car.

Ai pops the driver side door open, then his head perks up.

"Oh, one second. I forgot something. Be right back, my dear."

You watch Ai from the rearview mirror as he disappears inside the home.

❀❀❀

Void of any emotion other than urgency, Ai storms to the bathroom, lighter in hand. Locking the door behind himself, he ties his hair on the top of his head and uses the mirror as a guide. He locates the vague circle mark on the back of his neck, strikes the lighter, then holds the flame to the mark.

It should hurt, but Ai mentally rejects the pain signals that his artificial nerves are sending. Had he not trained himself to reject his programming, this would be impossible. He watches in awe as the synthetic skin scorches, short circuits, then burns out completely.