The Butterfly Effect [DISCONTINUED]

Chapter 2.02 ー Caretaker

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Hᴀʀᴜᴋᴀ

Innately, Hibiki left, but not without handing out orders.

I was to look after Daichi, despite every mechanism in me urging to regroup with Tomoe. If he was injured, or worse, dead, I was sure it would hinder the mission. That's what I told myself. It was easier then confessing I was feeling anything but artificial distress.

Anzen Rozu... was an incongruous city. It was designed like a maze, according to my GPS, with too many varying aspect to positively know where you were going. Not to mention the colliding auras. You had magic, next to an office building, next to a series of mid-to-late 19th century bar. Absolutely nothing matched, and it glitched my systems to stare at any signs of witchcraft for too long. 69.5 square miles of randomly sorted areas... that was my definition it all.

They did not need a Caretaker anyway. They wanted to survive on their own, and we would be parting ways if what they spoke of was true, so there was no need to look after them. Nonetheless, I stood in front of a fountain, which was part hologram, part stone. Water containing heavy chlorine spewed from a statue of a common flower at the very top. Coins littered the sides, and I sat on the exterior.

I watched Daichi skip from stall to stall, asking merchants and vagabonds if they have seen a girl who looked identical to him. Socializing was a bit difficult for me, so if I followed him everywhere, I may have seemed out of place.

The plaza was bustling with energy, with tourists and peddlers on every side, crates and barrels littering the stone-embedded ground, and carts with fruit, bones, cloths, and other goods all around. They were even selling hardware.

I took one glance at Daichi, who was the center of attention around a group of minstrels. He was describing his sister to them, with a variety of gestures to explain what she looked like. They were visibly confused, so I predicted that he'd be in the same spot if I were to look around a smidge.

I got up from my seat on the fountain's side, and drifted towards a blue-themed trailer in the back. There was a table set in front of it, and a makeshift canopy over the goods. Wires, gears, memory cards, and even a limb, with the wires of it's original owner still attached, all sprawled out on a neat blanket. A dealer put his hands on the table, and I peered up.

Full-faced theater mask, with grayed eyes narrowed at me through the masquerade. I could hear the ticks of machinery behind their facade, like clockwork. They were a different model, perhaps someone who had gone rogue long before I had ever existed.

"Good afternoon, Miss! Anything yer' looking for in particular?"

I was being assessed, and I could feel it. "No," I stated.

A subtle tick echoed through the air, much too quiet for organic ears to pick up. "I've noticed you're a little devoid there. How about some personality chips?" He bent down, rising with a box of various installments. I scanned each vigorously.

My systems responded:

Out Of Date

I looked at the stranger and shook my head. "All of these components are old."

"What do you mean? These are the latest on the Factory's Market." Their mechanical voice held an inch of panic, and a centimeter of curiosity. "Unless you're willing to take it from straight from the source, or one of the recently developed models, though I hear they're only assassins and spies. Evarthil's loaded with gadgets. There's a trolley to the sou--"

"I don't want to hear any of it." I spat, trying my best to mock the threatening glare that Hibiki always gave."

"Suit yourself."