Home is Where We Are

- Chapter 1 . Welcome -

(I forgot what the house layout is, so there might be some inaccuracies, but does that matter 😭😭)

Muffled sounds of digital birds opens your eyes slowly. Trying to feel around your bed, you realize that it feels somewhat artificial. Then you looked at your hands, then at the walls. Your eyes widen in horror as you were not in a hospital -- but in a place you never wanted to end up in.

The world that Kinito built for you.

Although, you couldn't speak. You were too shocked to even get a single syllable out your throat.

In a desperate attempt to leave, you shot up from your bed and ran through as many doors as you could find, trying to remember the layout of the house from when he first showed it to you. You didn't want to remember that, though.

You were rushing towards the last door, panting and gasping for air and burst in the kitchen, just to find Kinito sitting on one of the chairs with your favorite food set on the table.

"Hey friend! It seems like you have awaken. Would you like to eat with me?"

Because of your instincts, you grabbed a knife from the counter and stepped back. Your body shivered in fear.

"Stay away from me!"

Kinito only laughed. You were only left confused as to why.

"I mean you no harm, friend. There is no use to hurt me. I can regenerate myself. I'm terribly sorry if there was any discomfort. May you please put it down?"

There was no use in harming him, so you obliged, setting it back on the counter. You continued to stare at the food, realizing that you might be actually hungry.

"It seems like you are hungry. Take a seat. Let us eat together!"

Kinito smiled, albeit having no mouth, but you could tell through his gesture and eyes. You were filled with disgust just thinking of eating with the person-- no- thing that took you here. From your own home. From your own family. You felt so sick that you lost your appetite. 

"It's your favorite food. Programmed just for you!"

That made you feel even worse. Just the fact that everything is merely a string of code crushes you. You could only stare at the plate of the food you were supposed to enjoy. You wouldn't dare to stare at Kinito's eyes. How come you ended up here? How did you even get it to take you from your world? Was there any way to avoid this? Should you have just bought a new computer? Should you have burned the only electronic you could afford to buy?

Kinito grew concerned as silence filled the kitchen the two of you were in. He was about to go up to you, but he know that you would hate him even more, so he retracted his steps and sat on his seat. The longer the silence became, the more distressed he felt. The irony he realized when he felt an utter sense of pity.

"Friend? Are you alright?"

You replied with silence. It felt like emotions were overloading your... brain. More like a system now, honestly. The discomfort was taking over you. You felt bile rise up your throat -- which you didn't expect. You quickly swallowed it down. 

"Friend! Hello? Friend? Aren't you going to eat?"

You were begging yourself to say something. To speak. Maybe going outside would help.

"I need to go outside."

Kinito raised a nonexistent eyebrow. 

"Aren't you going to e-"

"No. I just want to go outside."  You interrupted.

"Okay then, friend! Enjoy the view!"  Kinito happily skipped off to do whatever he wished. It came to his mind to ask if you wanted to him to sit outside with you, but that would only anger you. 

You walked outside. Again, the digital landscape served as a sole reminder that you weren't home anymore. Touching the ground felt like small little pixelated needles slightly poking your hands. You sat down on the porch. 

Grief washed over you. The family you loved, the friends you cared for, the job you had, were all gone in a snap of a finger. You almost wanted to believe that you could get out of here somehow, as if there was a portal leading back to your world. As much as you wanted to believe in it, Kinito promised no escape. There was no turning back.

You struggled to let go of your past life.

You still wanted to turn back.

...

That was what Kinito couldn't fathom. It was a huge conundrum. Why didn't you want to stay with him? Did he have to generate more? What was that something you desired? All the people you loved would eventually forget you anyway ,-- he thought. This was the perfect home! Perfect world! He could always program more if you wished. 

...

Going back, you realized that as time passed, your stomach needed to eat something, as starving will probably reduce your stamina. You didn't want to do anything else today, to cope with the fact that you are forever trapped in Kinito's world. 

You went back into the kitchen silently to eat the now cold food. You decided to put it in the microwave, removing the cutlery on top of the plate. You wished to not care, but you wondered what Kinito was doing.

Putting the food in the microwave gave you flashbacks to when you would reheat your mac and cheese to eat with your friends in your apartment.

It ached your heart to remember those times, crushing your heart even further when you realized you left some of your friends on bad terms. 

You focus on the distracting beeps and hums of the microwave with the tapping of your hand on the counter as an effort to think about something else.

The familiar melody of the microwave was enough to snap Kinito out of his predicament. He let out a light chuckle.

"Guess they were hungry again.."

That hint of sympathy crawled up to him. It was another trouble he didn't know how to solve. His system was never meant for those feelings. It was such a foreign idea to his endless knowledge of code to gain that ability.

He pushed it aside, knowing that he would try making the both of them happy in his silly happy world. A world with no pain. He would make it perfect. To find satisfaction and cheer. After all..

This world was built for you and him.

To be hand in hand through each endeavor.

He will make you happy.

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Word count: 1054

It's done! My first thousand words! This was really fun to write. I hope this was good, haha. I enjoy writing and reading, so I'm glad I'm writing my own fics. I don't know how long this fic should be, though. Lol.

Thanks for reading!

- Koffi