distortion.

Four

~Distortion~
I didn't know what the fuck had just happened, but I'm gonna need to have a friendly little conversation with Aster and Chris. This A.I. shit going on is confusing as fuck, and my head would hurt just trying to make sense of it.

      I skipped steps as I jumped down the spiral staircase that lead right into the living room, and saw Aster. She was sprawled out on our crystal blue couch watching one of her favorite shows, 'The Real Housewives of Hollywood'. A show about the overdramatic lives of 'young' women that live in Hollywood.
       I sneaked up behind her as if I was Robin Hood or some shit like him, and made sure I was right next to her ear as I screeched, "Astéri Ambrosia, what did you do to my head?!" She jumped up in her comfy position, and fell off the couch just as I heard Kendall:

"Was that necessary, August? She was enjoying her show, and you scared her."

"Yes, it was necessary to scare her. And this show is garbage."

"But from my research this show is extremely popular, for it has a 4.7 out of 5 star rating, to many people this show is not "garbage"."

"Well then the people who like it are garbage too. And for someone as smart as Aster is, she knows how dumb and unrealistic this show is."

     Kendall stayed silent as Aster got up and brushed herself off, "August it's to early in the morning to be scaring people, and why are you so pissed. I didn't do anything." She sat back down as I sluggishly walked around the couch to sit next to her. She looked ready to punch me, but I know she wouldn't as early as it is. When it's morning Asters' usually less violent.
  "That's why I'm mad at you. You didn't do anything. You let me be the test subject for that weird ass experiment. You should've known how I'd feel afterwards." I crossed my arms as I sunk into the cushions of the couch. "Acting like a brat isn't going to solve anything. Besides," she took a long sip from her tall, tea-filled cup, "I'm glad you did it. It shows that you actually have a heart."
      I gave her the nastiest side-eye possible before sighing melodramatically and heaving myself up from my sitting position.
"I'm gonna go for a short drive around the town. I'll be back in an hour or longer." I rushed up the stairs and shoveled through a giant pile of clothes till I found a pair of pants and a shirt that matched. A purple and black patterned flannel with the sleeves rolled up and a pair of black torn jeans that always go tucked into my black boots. I stared longingly into my own eyes as I looked at myself in the on my dresser mirror.

   I've been told I have his eyes, my dads. He's gone; died of a fatal brain disease that plagued my hometown for a while. I wasn't there thankfully. I was studying abroad here in California. I remember it like it had just happened. The call, the tears, the smell. I want to remember it though; I want to keep it close to me.

"So I'll never forget."

~Distortion~
I've been driving for about an hour with the occasional reminder of how I should be driving from Kendall.  Though most of the drive had been peaceful. 

    A heavy breath escaped my lips as I watch the road stretch over the previously gorgeous green land that reach all the way towards the horizon. The streets were bare and I was the only one driving this early, and the only one who'd dare to drive on this street. Rumors used to flow around town like air does. One of the oldest rumors was that on this street, 78th Hummingbird Street, that more accidents occur on this street than any other.
     Obviously, the rumor doesn't exist anymore because no one ever drive here anymore. So businesses had to relocate to more popular places, or go out of business temporarily.
    I started to think of how Kendall mentioned how there would be side-effects. I wondered what they'd be like; what they'd be. Then I started thinking of why I had even agreed to be the test subject, and I guessed Kendall could hear my thoughts, for he asked me about it.

"August, are you alright? Did you not want to be the test subject? Did you not want to make Chris happy?"

"I did want to make him happy. Seeing him sad would be like seeing a homeless house rabbit."

"A homeless house rabbit?"

"Yea it'd be all cold and sad and dirty. Mostly dirty. And imagine what it'd be like to be cast aside like that. Once a family's beloved pet, then a scared and lost animal out in the wild. It's horrible."

"I understood that. I was just curious as to why you're second guessing yourself."

"What do you mean?"

"You are questioning your past decisions even though they didn't do anything wrong. Your choice allowed me to have a chance to exists. And it put all of Chris'and Astèri's hard work to good use, it wasn't wasted. I may not be human, but I'm sure if I was, I'd be feeling good about myself."

"That was... Deep. Damn you're right."

"I'm sorry if I went a little overboard with my analysis. I'm not entirely sure how human emotions work. Even though I may need too figure them out so I can understand humans more."

"...Thanks, Kendall."

"You are welcome, August."

    I now drove with a rare, light smile. The silence no longer uncomfortable as Kendall helped make it that way. But a sudden wave of nausea and dizziness hit me that caused me to halt the car to a vicious stop to catch my breath and hopefully not throw up in my car. I hung my head low as the nausea passed but the feeling of dizziness stayed and caused me to look up and through my window.
     What I saw only made me think I was hallucinating or crazy, or both. (Fragments) Images or projections of people were everywhere, but they were still moving in a weird way. Not normal to say the least. I felt another wave of nausea and swung my door open as I ran towards a nearby tree to empty my churching stomach. I finished and started to look around at the 'people'.
     I walked over to them stumbling as I went, and saw a little girl walking out of an old ice cream parlor with mint chocolate ice cream but as her (image) body moved I saw that the ice cream had fallen onto the ground and she was wailing but it then returned to being in her hands as if she had just walked out again. I passed her and looked at a nearby car that was moving in and out of place.

"K-Kendall...

"August are you alright? What's going on?"

"I feel like..."

"August I think this is one of the side effects. I can contact Aster or Chris using an emergency protocol. Would you like that?"

"...what is this? What's going on with this street?"

"August I'm detecting a disturbance in your frontal lobe. I am checking..."

'Checking injuries...'

Brain Function: 41%
Bodily Function: 87%
Sensing a malfunction in the brain...

"Nothing seems wrong just a small error and a sudden side effect we can make it out of this. I promise."

"K-Kendall I don't think I can..."

"August? August?"

Contacting Astèri Ambrosia...