X and X

Ice-cream is exquisite, what a pity it isn't illegal

"Maintenance," she replies, a false smile on her face. Jay continues to look at me strangely and I shudder. 

 "You had him wiped," I hiss, pointing an accusing finger at her chest.

"Now Ariana, it was necessary-"

"No it wasn't!" I shout. "You just couldn't handle the fact that he didn't love you and was cheating!" My face is flushed with anger as I watch her flinch visibly. My Mother is a tough woman, she has to be for her job, so not much could hurt her like that.

"How dare y-"

"Don't talk to me," I screech, already turning away, dropping the shake on the floor, and running to my room. I slam the door, locking and disabling Walter's control over it so no one could get in. I flip a switch above my desk, the room goes black and music explodes around me. Base thumps in my chest and lights pulse around me in time with the beat. I lie on the soft floor with my limbs flung out carelessly, watching the pictures and patterns swirl above me. The reason I was able to alter Daemon so easily was because all ROMs have the capability to express any emotion, those more desirable are brought to the forefront while others are buried deep, rarely to be seen. Daemon's was easy because he had the loving conscious within him, I just had to reprogram him. However I, along with everyone else, am not allowed to do this. To 'wipe' a ROM is to get rid of all emotions, to have a clean slate. Jay now had no conscious thought or feelings other than what had been programmed while in maintenance.

I don't know how long I lie on the floor, ignoring my parents’ attempts to engage me in any form of conversation. Sometimes I wish our emotions were so easily controlled, if they were, I certainly wouldn't be in the state that I am now. Perhaps I should get some homework done, I think numbly, my body already moving. My body protests and my limbs crack as I stand and I realise that I have been there longer than I thought. Moving to my desk I turn on the hologram that projects a detailed image of a ROMs conversion structure where food and oxygen are converted into resources that they can use. I take out my datapad and begin working through the assigned questions and my mind is momentarily distracted.

“Ariana?”

“I am not in the mood Father,” I reply, frowning as I try to decode a particularly complicated molecule.

“Please let me in, even if you don’t want to talk,” he pleads and I sigh. With a few commands the door slides open and he walks in, a half smile on his face. I glance behind him to make sure no one else comes in. “I’m alone,” he says, watching my expression change to one of relief.

“Is that...ice-cream?” I gasp, eyes zeroing in on the suspicious container in his hand. 

“Perhaps,” he replies, a smile twitching at the corners of his lips.

“You’re insane,” I mutter. Given the new worlds obsession with health, we very rarely had such treats, and Mother was notorious for raging if she found anything remotely sugary.

“Insanity is hereditary, you get it from your children.” He tosses me the container before sinking onto my bed. “You’re Mother left about three hours ago, so you can come downstairs.”

“That’s not why I’m up here,” I reply defensively, to which he raises an eyebrow.

“Then why did you disable the door?”

“Privacy?” I knew he could see through my facade though so I shrug. “I assume you saw what she did to Jay?”

“She didn’t do that,” he says gently, “it was the people at the centre.”