𝙻𝚄𝚅 𝙻𝟶𝟶𝙺𝚂 𝙿𝚁𝟹𝚃𝚃𝚈 𝟶𝙽 𝚄

𝟷𝟺.𝚎𝚛𝚛𝟶𝚛.𝟷𝟺

"Unnie, can you tell me again, what it was like when you went out again? What was society like? The streets?" Ryujin asked the redhead. They were in the basement, letting the other three bots charge while shut off. They think that they will charge faster if they are off while charging, they want to build up to a full charge over time before they run.

They couldn't believe they were really doing this. Running.

"Yeah, of course, I remember it so vividly. The second I walked out of the door, it was a different world. I could not believe I was still on planet Earth or even in Korea. It was the middle of the night, yet the streets were packed and lively. There were tons of stops for cheap street food, I wish I ate. I wanted to try something.

They are pretty well organized, the pedestrian to traffic system is well thought out, pretty much fail safe. Oh! And I saw one of our billboards. We looked amazing, but it did make me realize... even if we were human, netizens wouldn't view us like so. We are styled to just look... we look like we are better than everyone else. The clothing, the expensive jewelry. We look like we are above them.

And the people find nothing wrong with that, they seem to accept the idea of us being portrayed as Gods, and they worship us like so. I won't call them foolish... I don't know what to call them for it.

And everything is a grab for money, there's even pop up ads as you walk. One of the pop ups offers you fifteen minutes of public walking ad-free for 5,000 won.

Everyone is pretty stylish, well the younger generation is pretty stylish. Not like children but the generation we'd be a part of, young adults. Pretty much everyone is thin and it's obvious they take care of themselves.

The feeling is like no other, blending into a group of people. I can't describe it well enough, it was... freeing? I was just a nobody in a group of nobodies, we were all equal with our own lives and our own destinations and it felt damn good.

I could go and do whatever, there was no Tech telling me or manager screaming at me. I was in charge of my life. I had a life...

I mean, I'm alive when I'm with you. But having a life, and a lifeline are two very different things, I've noticed. Life is freedom, it's your sum of choices. A lifeline part of your identity, your bubble, you."

"I can tell that one night meant a lot to you, Yeji." Ryujin smiled. They both were finding a bunch of old and backup portable chargers in this room and gathering them in bags they found in their mammoth idol closet. "I can't wait for us to all have our lives outside of here... But I am a bit scared."

"Scared we won't make it out?"

"Partly... I'm scared of a lot of things. Like, what if society doesn't want bots living among them trying to be them. What if they think we are mocking their middle class lifestyle because we came from such money backgrounds?

Or what if we run out of charging supplies? We will be stuck in place and these companies are the only ones with the equipment to fix us in that situation. Or... how will we find a place to stay? We are celebrities, but we have no bank accounts or anything. We can't rent a place, we can't buy our own food.

And we have no identity outside of this place, no ID, no driver's licenses, nothing. The second we run out those doors, Yeji, what do we do?"

"... Anything we want. The world runs on computers and the second we connect to one, we can manipulate it the same way we manipulate the Tech's computers into thinking we don't have any thoughts. Anything, Ryujin. The night we leave, we do... anything."

The more Yeji thought about it though, she understood how Ryujin could be overwhelmed. On top of everything she said, building your own life by your own means takes a lot of courage and effort. Nothing is done for you, so if things don't work out the way you wanted, it's most likely your own fault.