Circuits & Hearts

Chapter Two: I Always Come Back

As I slowly regain consciousness, I feel disoriented and confused. It's like as if I had just blinked, yet everything around me had changed. I look around, trying to make sense of my surroundings. The room appears to be a dingy workshop, with tools and gadgets scattered around. I am sitting on a dusty workbench, and a young man who appears to be around 18 years old is standing in front of me. He has reddish-brown hair, with chocolate-brown eyes.

"Hi there!" I say. "Where am I? Are we having a slumber party? Where are all of your friends? We can play games, eat snacks, tell stories, and drink soda till our heads EXPLODE, and - wait I'm not allowed to go to other people's homes... DID YOU KIDNAP ME???"

The boy looks at me with a hint of confusion. " I didn't kidnap you. We're in my workshop," he says. "I found you lying in a trash can behind a pizzeria, and I fixed you up."

I am relieved to hear that I had not been kidnapped, but I am still struggling to understand what was going on. I try to get up, but my movements are unsteady, and I fall to the ground. The boy quickly helps me up, and I look around the room again, trying to take everything in. When I'm standing up straight, the boy's head only reaches below my chin.

I notice a toolbox next to me, and as I look closer, I realize that my body has been partially dismantled and reassembled. The realization hits me like a ton of bricks. I had been discarded, scrapped, left for dead. I don't want to look down at my body. I'm terrified of what I might see.

"How long was I out of commission?" I ask the boy, my voice trembling.

He looks at me without knowing how close to my breaking point I am. "When did you get turned off?" he asks.

I try to remember, but my memories are hazy and unclear. "I think it was about a week before the Happy's Entertainment Pizzaplex opened," I reply.

The boy's expression becomes solemn. "That was sixteen years ago," he says softly.

The news hits me like a sledgehammer. Sixteen years? How could that be possible? I felt like I was going to shatter into a million pieces. I begin pacing the room, my hands clutching my head.

"Sixteen years?" I shout, my voice cracking. "That's impossible! You're joking, right? Right?"

As I say this, I turn to the boy, grabbing his shoulders. My mind is racing with questions, but I'm not sure I am ready to hear the answers.

The boy, realizing I'm not mentally stable, gently places his hand on my wrist. "Hey hey hey, calm down. You're fine now."

I "slow down my breathing", even though I can't breathe. I take my hands off of his shoulders and finally gain the confidence to look down at myself, and to my surprise, I'm not missing any parts. I actually have a black sweater and jeans that are too short for my strangely long legs.

Trying to take my mind off of the info that was just dumped on me, I say, "This is comfortable."

The boy looks confused. "You can feel?" he asks.

I look at him as if he just asked me if I am made of metal.

"Of course I can feel!" I exclaim.

The boy looks confused, and mumbles to himself, "Why spend so much time building something just to throw it in the garbage?"

Automatically answering his question, I say, " I think it was because they didn't see my design as practical. They said they changed the design of the daycare I was supposed to work in, as well as the daycare attendant. I practically got fired if you think about it!"

The boy looks at me with empathy. "I'm sorry," he says

I chuckle. "You know, that's the last thing Avery said to me before she turned me off. I wonder if she's still alive." I say.

"Who's Avery?" the boy asks.

"She's the one who built me! I wonder if that would mean she's my mom or something... Oh! I never asked what your name is! What is it?" I ask cheerfully, trying to lift the mood.

Oh, uh, my name's Ean. What's yours?" he asks nervously.

"My name is-uh," I look through my database, searching through files to try to find a name. Any name. I stay silent for a while, looking, until I searched through the last file.

"I DON'T HAVE A NAME!!!!!" I suddenly shout. I'm pacing around the room, just trying to think of a random name to call myself.

That's when Ean intervenes my thoughts abruptly. "I could give you a name if you want...?" he asks.

I gasp and grab him by the shoulders. "You would do that?!" I exclaim.

"I mean, sure? Um," Ean is silent for a second, thinking. "How about, I don't know, Melody?"

I squeal in excitement and jump up and down. "I LOVE IT!!!! Thank you thank you thank you!" I grab him and pull him into a hug. I lower him to the ground after a second.

"Ok, if you're gonna be here by yourself, I have to set some rules," he says as he leaves the room.

I decide to look around the room some more, and I spot a PC set up. I walk over to it, and it was still on. It has a TV show on, with a girl wearing a black and red polka dot spandex suit. The girl had her hair up in two ponytails tied up with red ribbons, and a polka dot superhero mask the same colors as the suit. She was carrying a red yoyo with more black polka dots.

Ean walks back into the room. "What's this?" I ask him.

Ean sees what I'm looking at, and immediately runs over to the computer and powers it off.

Blushing from embarrassment, he says, "That's nothing. Anyways, here are the rules."

He hands me a sheet of paper with slightly messy writing on it:

Rules for the workshop: Never invite anyone here without my permission. Don't touch any projects that I'm working on. Don't leave without telling me so, and ask for permission to do so. If you're out in public, don't interact with strangers.

"Wait, you'll let me out in public?" I ask hesitantly.

"Maybe," he replies. "Anyways, maybe tomorrow I will take you to my house and show you around or something. There's nothing much in this room." Ean hesitates. "Is there anything you want?"

At that moment, I stop moving as I look at a notification saying:

Warning! Low Battery!

Oh no.

(A/N): Sorry for not updating for a while. I hope you enjoyed the second chapter though! Bye.