Forget Me Not

Chapter 2

Chapter 2

 “A-Aislinn…” Robonnas quirky voice fluttered into my ears and awoke me from my well needed sleep.

“Ugh... what do you want?” I threw my pillow towards her voice and cuddled back into the covers after. If she was to wake me up then I was to make it very difficult.

“Your-r-r-r,”

“Robonna?” I sat up quickly to face the robot, seeing it go over and over that one syllable ‘r’. It was quite annoying and frankly it was getting on my last nerve. She did this ever so often, but usually at night when she was depleted. It didn’t make sense that it would be now in the morning. “Spit it out!” I exclaimed, finally jolting her back to focus.

“Your invitations are completed.” That horrid smile graced her fake lips again, making me feel absolutely sick to my stomach. I didn’t know why I hated these things so much, no one else seemed to have a problem, but I sure did.

“Thanks, I’ll take them out today.” With that I jumped back up to my bare feet, quickly venturing into my closet to find a closet. I have many, which is something anyone in Amach can say. We all have uniforms for our schools, casual attire, a few dresses for big celebrations such as our 13th, 16th, and 18th birthdays and then some shoes plus undergarments. The styles may vary of course, but not usually.

I got together an outfit, choosing some well-worn jeans and a t-shirt to match. The jeans read as a darker color to my not-so-perfect-eyes and the shirt ended just past my shoulder blades and waist. Kieran always argues with me when I wear this shirt, probably because it is abnormally blank. All it holds is a simple hue that I read as dark. It’s just as dark as when my eyes are closed.

After getting dressed I slipped on some shoes and headed downstairs. As I passed Robonna I retrieved the invitations without a word although she did try to wish me a good day or something.

My legs worked underneath me carefully as I made my way out of my shared home and to the streets. I decided that I would visit Semira first because she lives closer, a lot closer actually. Aifric lives almost five blocks away and Semira doesn’t even live a block away from me. Her house is probably a few doors down to be honest.

When I got to her home I skipped up the front steps, knocking on the door next. Her mother greeted me at the door, which was very normal, but instead of letting me in she just... stood there.

“Where is your mother?” She whispered a bit frantically, looking me dead in the eye as she said so.

“My mother? You mean Kie-“

“Sh! Don’t say her name!” Almost as fast as she had cut me off her arm was wrapping around my own and yanking me into the room. The door slammed behind me and soon I was sitting next to both Samira, who was around my age, and her mother. She was actually around 15, but I get along better with younger people, they just seem more appealing to me.

“What is it?” I said finally inquired, glancing to both of them with a questionable look.

“Well... it’s the Robonnas. She tried to hurt Semira this morning.” Semira’s mother stared at me crazily, which made me feel just as uncomfortable as I did when my Robonna smiled at me with all her fakeness.

“What do you mean? Robonnas don’t hurt people.” I refused to look at Catrina, Semira’s mother, any longer because frankly she was scaring me. “Are you sure, Semira?”

“I’m positive. I woke up with her face hovering over mine and her arms clutching my arms much too tightly.” Semira said, her wide, blue eyes suddenly filling with dread. I could tell now that she wasn’t lying, she looked much too scared to be lying.

“Well, why are you telling me this and telling me I can’t say K-“

Catrina’s hands smacked over my mouth suddenly, making me gasp in shock under her petite, pale fingers. “When Robonna hears your mother’s name she goes insane again. I tried to call her and when she answered I said hello of course, then Robonna rushed in and smacked the phone from my hand. She also tried to smack me around, but I scurried away fast enough so that she couldn’t catch me. Right now she’s in the kitchen making lunch.” Catrina’s eyes glanced to the room, her hand slowly pulling away from my now red spotted face. “Do you understand now?”

“Yes, I’m sorry. I can help you although; just let me see your Robonna.”

“Are you sure? What if she…”

“I got it.” I said softly, unwillingly interrupting Catrina rudely. Then I rose from the soft cushions to head towards the kitchen. My arms extended to push open the door. I hadn’t ever needed to go into the room and found the door quite heavy.

“Robonna?”

“Robonna #547, yes. May I help you?” The robot turned to me, her whole body suddenly glinting with color. Geez, what was going on here?

“Yeah, 54… something, I’d like to ask what’s going on here. It seems you’re having a problem with Kieran.” I dared to say her name, hoping it would awaken something in the robot, and it did. The bot froze, twitching slightly in certain places.

“Passcode accepted.” It said suddenly, its face dropping to a normal human like expression. Instead of staring at me placidly it gave me an almost animalistic glare. “Why haven’t you done anything, Anam?” It said finally, approaching me limply. It didn’t seem like a robot any longer, more like a real human that I now realized was approaching me with a large kitchen knife.

“I-I don’t know what you’re-“

‘Touch her hand, you’ll understand.’ My second soul whispered carefully through my thoughts. It did make sense that he would have said that, Robonna was currently in color.

“Put that down, please.” I instructed, pointing to the knife in its hand. The Robonna did as I said, placing its hand forward after. It seemed that she knew more than I did.

My petite fingers reached for the robots, a man suddenly standing in front of me instead of this robotic woman. I tried to blink out the vision, but it didn’t work, not at all. I hadn’t ever seen a man before, not in person, just in slight memories that I never quite remember. “Who are you?”

“My name was Ivor, before Kieran gutted me to make this damned thing.” The man said bitterly, gesturing to his body momentarily. I didn’t see what he meant, not at first, but for a single moment the man flashed back to a robot and I comprehended.

“Oh... I’m sorry.” I whispered, staring back at the man. He seemed very grimy and dirty, something that didn’t much please me. I could feel the cold robotic hand around mine, but it didn’t fit with what I saw now. “Why did you need to speak with me? I’m not very important.”

“You have something very important in your head.” He gestured towards me with his free hand then, making me feel quite foolish for some odd reason.

“You mean my second soul? Didn’t you call him Anam or something?”

“Yes, his name was Anam when he was alive. Now he settles in you and a special young boy that you will meet very soon. You must pay attention for the next few days, Aislinn. If you don’t then everyone will pay the price.” The man said his last sentence very slowly, that robotic voice slipping back in at the very end. Then his image flickered until he was no longer there and I was just awkwardly holding Robonna’s cold, metallic fingers.

Quickly, I released the robot as she twitched a bit and gradually stood properly. Well... properly for a robonna.

“May I help you?” She inquired, smiling so strongly that it made my cheeks hurt quite badly. With that final sound from her the colors from her body faded back into nonsense shadows that I found morbidly disturbing.

“No thank you, continue on.” With that I lingered across the room to exit, a bit shaken by the outcome of this simple visit to a friend. “I should stay inside more often…” I muttered before facing Catrina and Semira again.