I was just a machine, but it wasn't really me... (Connor x OC) D: BH

༻ 2, Rosalie ༺

ROSE'S POV

As soon as Leo left the Manfred residence I put my gun back in its place, then immediately rushed to Markus.

"Markus, are you okay? Are you hurt?"

"I'm fine, Rose. Don't worry about me."

"What about your biocomponents?"

"I ran a diagnostic. All systems fully operational." he said with a comforting smile on his face, so I calmed down. It could have been a major problem if one of his biocomponents was damaged, especially if it was his synthetic heart or his thirium pump regulator. If any of them were damaged, then it would certainly lead to Markus' death. Fortunately, it didn't happen. I let out a deep sigh, then turned back to Carl who was deep in his thoughts since Leo left the house.

"I think it's time to go home. It was good to see you!" I said. "Oh, and Carl... As for the opening of your retrospective at the Museum of Modern Art, the day after tomorrow. I hope it won't be a problem but I would skip this year..."

"No problem, Rose. Trust me, I also want to skip it. The previous opening was by far the most boring party I've been to in the last 25 years. Every time I go to one of these, I ask myself: What the hell am I doing here?" Carl said with a chuckle at the end and his attitude made me laugh too. "I hate cocktail parties and all the schmoozers that go there..."

"Well, it's a chance for all those people who admire your work to meet you." Markus stated as I picked up my backpack.

"Yeah, yeah... No one gives a damn about art. All they care about is how much money they're gonna make out of it."

"Some people are still interested in art, Carl. It's just hard to find them." I said with a playful smile, then after a quick farewell I was about to leave the living room.

"Wait, Rose, I accompany you home!" Markus said once I had crossed the threshold between the living room and the hallway.

"Thanks, but not necessary. We live on the same avenue... Remember?"

"Yes, but almost two miles from here." he said. As I looked at Carl's cheerful face I instantly knew what he was going to say. It was almost written on his forehead that 'Do not try to convince him, Rose... You will not succeed...'

"All right." I said with a small chuckle, then went to the hallway. While Markus put his three-quarter-length sleeve black jacket on, I walked to the golden birdcage which was in the corner of the hallway. Two tiny yellow canaries were sitting on the branches, but they didn't move. I knew exactly why... I opened the door of the cage, took one of the canaries in my hand and touched the tiny little LED circle on its right temple. I did the same with the other one as well. Suddenly the silence was broken by the cheerful song of birds.

"Shall we go?" Markus asked. I nodded, then finally we left the huge house... The rays of late afternoon sunlight was painting orange and gold colors on the magnificent view of Lafayette Avenue. The gentle breeze swept through the area as we walked under the hazel and bronze colored trees along the road. The sky was filled with bird chirping, while a few autonomous vehicles passed on the road. Of course, none of them had a driver, because those where self-driving vehicles. Thanks to technological advances, people don't have to deal with driving anymore. Instead, they entrust their lives to something which may be malfunctioning at any time and can cause their death in a possible accident. Personally, I never supported this lazy and dangerous lifestyle, so I kept my well-proven manual car, which was in the car service right now. Why? Because in the morning of the previous day an autonomous taxi at the red traffic light didn't stop, instead it bumped into the rear bumper of my car. Well, one of the perfect achievements of modern technology... We've almost arrived to my house when I changed the topic of my conversation with Markus.