A whisper in the code

Chapter 1

 A young girl with long, straight blonde hair and emerald-green eyes is lying on the sofa in the living room, staring at the TV. She's watching a cartoon called LazyTown while snacking on chips and chocolate, which have left stains on her light pink shirt.After a few minutes, an older woman with short blonde hair walks in front of the TV. "It's 10 PM, time for bed, kid."The girl sits up, turns off the TV, and stands. Without a word, she heads upstairs, walking down the hallway on the second floor. She stops in front of the fifth door, where a piece of paper is taped that reads, "Keep out—Keisha's room."

 She opens the door and steps inside, closing it behind her. Her eyes scan the room as she heads toward her plushie collection, trying to decide which one to take to bed. Should she pick something from Five Nights at Freddy's, the cats, the dogs, or her Hello Kitty plushies?After a moment of thought, she grabs a black-and-white cat plushie. She then climbs the ladder to her bed, which is lofted above a small desk cluttered with school supplies and personal items.It's warm in her room, so she pulls the blanket only halfway up her body as she snuggles the cat plushie. Before drifting off, she thinks about a new show her friends have been talking about—Murder Drones. It's about robots surviving without humans, and though she hasn't watched it, she knows a little from their endless chatter. 

 Soon, sleep takes over. At first, she sees nothing in her dream, but then an image appears—a broken-down computer. On the screen, flickering text reads: "Save them."She wakes up in a robotic body, disoriented. The thick trees of the forest obscure her view, so she can't see herself clearly at first. From what little she can make out, her robotic form looks a bit worn down—patches of her white paint have faded to a dull gray.Her gaze falls to her feet, noticing that one is still white while the other has turned gray. There are dark red, rhombus-shaped gems embedded in her legs, and her feet resemble a bear's, almost like Freddy's from Five Nights at Freddy's.She looks at her magenta-colored pants, plain except for a strange purple belt that feels both too big and too small at the same time. Her shirt is blue with black accents near the top, and the sleeves are short.Suddenly, she gasps. She has small breasts, and the realization feels strange to her. As her eyes move downward, she notices a symbol on her shirt: a black heart with wings, and over it, a smaller gray heart, partially covering the black one. Both hearts have tiny demon horns at the top.Curious, she touches her head and feels glasses resting there, but she decides not to put them on just yet. When her fingers brush through her hair, she freezes for a moment. Her hair is purple—her favorite color. She smiles, thrilled at the discovery, then pulls her ponytail in front of her face and notices a dark red streak running through it. "Badass," she whispers to herself, impressed by her own cool new look.

 She spots a path cutting through the forest and immediately starts walking along it. As she moves, she begins to notice something strange—every animal she sees is also a robot. A group of robotic bunnies hop across the forest floor, and a mechanical bird flies past her, its wings whirring softly.Before long, she stumbles upon a village. The robots she sees seem similar to her, though she's still unsure since she hasn't seen her own face yet. The other robots all share a distinct look: the tops of their heads are a dark blue, their eyes a lighter blue with irises in shades of yellow, red, or pink.Curious, she finds a mirror and finally gets a look at herself. Her structure is similar to the other robots, but her irises are green, a clear difference. She glances at the glasses she held earlier and notices something odd—they have strange patterns etched into the lenses, and even the frames are shaped in an unusual way.She wandered through the village slowly, noticing that only a few of the robots spoke. The ones that did seemed more polished than her, but there was something off about them—they felt lifeless, almost depressing.

 As she passed by a café, a sign caught her eye: 50% off pastries. Her stomach growled, but she quickly realized she had no currency, no way to buy anything. In fact, she didn't even have a bag.Just as she was about to give up, she felt something strange. On her belt, there was a small, hidden pocket. She reached inside and pulled out four round objects, each engraved with a star symbol. Curious, she turned one over and saw a number on the other side.Excited, she flipped over the rest of the objects: 5, 10, 1, and 9.Peeking into the café, she watched another robot hand the cashier a similar object. A smile crept onto her face as she realized these might be the currency of this world. Feeling more confident, she stepped inside.She approached the counter and scanned the menu. It was simple—mostly croissants and pancakes—but her eyes immediately locked onto the chocolate-filled croissant. Glancing at the price, she saw it was 20 Ether.The cashier, a robot who looked a bit wary at first, glanced her way. "Can I help you? Do you want to buy something?"She nodded. "The sign outside—are pastries really 50% off?"The cashier seemed to relax, nodding in confirmation. "Yes, everything is half off today. What would you like to order?"A smile spread across her face. "I'll take the chocolate-filled croissant, please."The cashier printed out a receipt and said, "That'll be 10 Ether."She handed over the 1 and 9 Ether tokens, feeling relieved. The cashier pointed toward an empty table. "You can sit while you wait for your order."She thanked the cashier and found a seat, feeling a mix of satisfaction and curiosity about this new world she was slowly discovering.