The Thinker

Chapter One

I have caused nothing but destruction.

I am a virus that cannot be stopped.

I was created to destroy.

I have not been born, and yet I can walk this earth.

I am a mistake- removed content that still exists for no reason.

This must be stopped.

There is nothing I can do.

But he can.

He can change everything.

He can make sure that none of this can come to full phase.

He is all I have.

He is my only hope.

He must kill me.

. . .

Androids cannot dream, only focus on the information they gather from the world around them to make conclusions to act upon. Zane was not a normal android though. When Zane dreamed, it was something that should be taken note of and prepared for. But this dream... it confused him as much as it was clear to him.

A hologram appeared to him. The hologram was a girl who sometimes appeared to be in her childhood, while at other times seemed to be in her late teens. The hologram would smile and seem docile, but Zane could sense something was wrong underneath the coding. She was not a normal hologram. It was almost as if she was like him; not at all what people expected them to be.

"This is not my time." the hologram would repeat. "I don't want to be alive. You must stop this."

"Why?" Zane questioned. "Who is making you suffer like this?"

The hologram did not answer, but instead kept saying the same phrases over and over. Zane reached out for the hologram. For a reason he could not really fathom- maybe to give her some kind of assurance. The attempt was futile, because the hologram instantly disappeared from view as he just barely touched her skin. This became the part of his dream that would make Zane wake up, most often quite violently and in the middle of the night. Tonight, the dream was more lucid than ever -Zane could smell burning plastics and hardware- and when he woke up the sun was shining in his face as if it was happily greeting him.

But the smell of burning plastic did not go away.

Instantly alert at this realization, Zane jumped out of his bed and ran toward the source. What he found was Cole standing near the stove with a pot that was giving off a thick black smoke.

"What's going on in here?" Zane asked.

"Cole's burning water." Jay said from toward the door, about to make a quick getaway. Kai was not that far away from beginning to act upon the same idea.

"Yuck yuck yuck, laugh it up." Cole sarcastically told them. "You're just jealous."

"Oh yeah sure," Kai laughed, "We're so jealous that your cooking is so horrible that you can actually burn water. I mean, it must take real skill or something to do that. Right?"

"So you three are fine here?" Zane asked. Cole, Jay, and Kai looked at each other for a moment, then looked at Zane again.

"Yeah."

"Of course."

"Why wouldn't we?"

"Did you dream of electric sheep again?" Jay asked, being both serious and joking at the same time.

"The visions are becoming very prominent, and it is terrifying me." Zane told them. "Whatever day she is warning me about is coming closer. She is scared and I can feel her anxiety."

For a few moments, his friends stood in reverence. Much like if he had announced one of their greatest friends had died. The moment ended when Cole decided to look at the pot of burning water, and quickly acted to pour out the remaining contents. Only a single drop of water came out of the pot, and even that evaporated before actually hitting the sink. Everyone in the room laughed at Cole's poor cooking and the humorous display it showed.

"What are you guys laughing about?" someone asked from the doorway. It turned out to be Nya, who was dressed quite splendidly in one of her better gowns.

"Where are you going?" Kai asked his sister.

"I was invited to the unveiling of Cyrus Borg's new advancement. I think he called it the Thinker or something."

"Wait, wait, wait, wait." Jay cut in. "How did you get tickets to that? Getting those tickets would have impossible. I know, I've tried."

"I work for him, remember?"

"Oh yeah..."

"And I asked for tickets for all of you, if you want to go."

The boys looked at each other and agreed.

"Well then," Nya then said, "You four need to start getting ready. The event is going to happen in an hour."

"Nya, have I told you how much you mean to me?" Jay asked with a vast amount of gratitude in his voice.

"Not today you haven't." Nya said back with a smile.

"Well you mean a lot." Jay said. "So don't ever leave us!"

Nya laughed a little and smiled.