The Twisted Computer

Chapter 3

My eyes were glued to the small clock in the living room on the mantel.

"Two-fifty-nine," I told myself uneasily. I watched the small intricate hands on the clock move to say it was three. The second hand made a knot in my stomach. It felt like the clock held my fate in its parts. "Five," I swallowed, wasting three seconds. "two," I squirmed wearily. "o-one." I stuttered. Here goes everything, I thought with fear.
"Hello?" the same voice called out. With a bit of hesitation, I took in a deep breath and answered.
"I'm here," everything went dead silent. Not a noise could be heard. The birds stopped chirping. The neighbors stopped laughing while playing. Even the clock didn't move. "What the-" I gripped onto the sides of my head in pain. "Stop it!" I screamed in agony. "I-it hurts! P-please stop!" I cried as loud as I could. Before I could say another word, I let out a bloodcurdling scream. I fell to my knees, gasping for air. I closed my eyes and panted. Sweat dripped off the sides of my face and the pain had left me. Nonetheless, I was exhausted. I reopened my eyes to see something in front of me. My eyes widened with terror.

I stumbled for my words. I soon found them. "W-who are you?" I asked, staring at the robotic being. It chuckled and replied,
"What am I?..I'm your Squip, Kiddo." It was obvious that this thing was a he. Just by the way it dressed I could tell.
"W-what's a Squip?" We locked eyes and I raised an eyebrow.

"A super quantum unit intel processor." It said while tapping my nose and saying, "boop," playfully. I scrunched up my nose and snuffed at him. "What are you? A do-"

"What's a super quality unit pie again?" I asked innocently. The being looked at me disgusted.
"It's not a 'super quality unit pie', it is a super quantum unit intel processor." They corrected. "Otherwise known as your Squip. And you are a pathetic creature." He pinched my cheek and snickered. I shoved his hand away and caressed my cheek.
"H-how did I even get you?"
"You obviously took me. There are others besides me."

"I-i took you? W-what? Also, what's a Squip?"

"It's what I told you earlier. They're also a gray oblong pill." He kept an observant eye on me. "You took me with Mountain Dew and now I'm activated. Although I already had access to your mind, you answering me gave me the permission I needed to reach the rest of you."

"I don't understand," I admitted awkwardly. He rolled his eyes and glared at me.
"I suppose it can be confusing for an idiot." He mumbled the last part.
"What?" I questioned him while raising my eyebrow again.
"Nothing! I didn't say anything!" He lied. He was staring out the window of my house before turning around. "Just call me Squip." There was a long pause before anything else was said. I was lying on my bed, daydreaming about what to do with my so-called Squip. I was snapped out of my thoughts when I received a text message. Unaware to me, Squip was peering over my shoulder. I instantly caught sight of him. My temper got the best of me when I shouted,

"Do you have to stare? What good is a Squip, anyway?!" His visage displayed utter disgust at my stupidity. He plucked the phone from my hands and responded with,
"A Squip is to assist their users. To make them better and—quite possibly—completely perfect." He held the phone above me and I reached out for it, only for him to pull it away. "You're stupider than you look!" I heard him tease. Again, I tried to retrieve my phone from his clutches; however, this time he spun it around me. To Squip, I probably looked like a dog chasing after a treat. I stepped around in a dizzying stupor until I couldn't see anything clearly. I latched on tightly to his jacket and held on. "Who's a good girl?" He cooed at me. Without saying another word, he tossed the phone into my hands. I shook my head and opened my phone to see a message from Coco. I read the message aloud.
"Hey Ash! I have nothing to do today and I was wondering if you'd like to drop by! Hope you can! Love you!" I smiled warmly at the message and typed in my reply. "Of course I'll be there!" I repeated to myself. Squip kept quiet, listening to me speak. He kept a careful eye on me when I grabbed my shoes. I turned around to face him and asked, "Care to come with me?" He hesitated before confirming with,

"Yes I will. Besides, I have no choice. I'm your Squip. It's my job to take care of you," he stated clearly while booping my nose again. I repeated the step of snuffing at him and he watched. "Are you ready to go?"
"Yes I am!" I grabbed his hand and we ran out of the house.