The Cold Unknown

Chapter 6 - Starting Over

(This is the music for this scene, I honestly love it... It's so soothing - Daffodil)

Today is the day. It's 3:30 pm, and Todd had left to go get Kara about an hour ago. I was home alone, again. Even though Kara was coming back home, I was nervous. What if she had to be reset? What if she doesn't remember me?

I also didn't want Todd to come back. After what had happened on Halloween, it had scared me enough to not even want to talk around Todd. I usually just spent my time playing with Timothy, and reading books, trying constantly to avoid him. It didn't help though that Todd never stopped his bad habits. Even though I feel like I should run away, I knew Todd would get someone to find me real quick. Plus, he's right. He bought me, so technically, he owns me. I hate the thought of it, but it's true.

It was about 4:50 ish, and I heard Todd's car coming down the street. His car had such a recognizable sound to it, and a loud one too. I went and sat by the window with Timothy. I watched as he pulled up, then he and Kara got out. They began walking towards the house, and suddenly my nerves got the best of me. I ran upstairs to the hallway as the door opened. Standing there, I just listened.

"You've been gone for two weeks, so the place is a mess." Todd said. So she was reset, wasn't she? His next words confirmed my suspicions. "You do the housework, the washing, you cook the meals. And you take care of... Ah, dammit, where the fuck's the brat gone now?" 

Oh, he's talking about me. I quietly, but quickly made my way down the stairs and sat down on one of the steps near the bottom. "Alice?" Todd called. "Alice!" He spotted me on the stairs. "Oh, there you are. That's Alice. You look after her. Homework, bath, all of that. Got it?" 

Homework? Like Todd of all people put me in school. "Yes, Todd." Kara replied. And she's back to android mode. 

"Get started down here, then you do upstairs." Todd told her. He then went and sat on the couch. "TV on." The TV turned on, playing a hockey game. Kara went and gathered dirty dishes from the table and counter. She went to put them in the dishwasher, then seemed to decide against it, and started hand-washing them. She must've noticed that the dishwasher doesn't work. 

Subconsciously, I had started to to walk toward her. I ended up standing by the edge of the counter, watching her. Kara seemed to sense eyes on her, cause she turned around and saw me. She smiled a little, and it was then I realized where I was. Still nervous to talk to her, I ran away back to the window.

"Kara!" Todd called. "Yes, Todd?" She asked. "Bring me a cold beer!" He ordered. Kara turned off the sink. "Right away." She grabbed a beer bottle from the fridge, and set it on the coffee table in front of Todd. Of course, he didn't say 'Thank You'.

Kara continued cleaning, and she turned on the roomba vacuum. It started whirring away at the dirty floor, while Kara grabbed garbage to throw away. The vacuum came closer to me, and I stepped in front of it. It detected me, and went to move out of the way. I went in front of it again, making it move. I blocked it a few more times, cause I thought it was funny. "Alice!" Todd almost yelled. "You better stop that right now!" I immediately backed off, afraid of what Todd would do if I didn't listen. 

Instead, I walked out to the backyard, away from it all. I loved hearing the noise of the wind blowing, construction going on in the distance. I sat down on the back porch steps, continuing to play with Timothy. The sky looked a little gray, with clouds slowly forming together. There's probably going to be a storm tonight. I thought to myself. I looked down at the ground, and I spotted a four leafed clover. I picked it up. But, maybe luck will come after all.

A few minutes later, Kara walks outside. She doesn't notice me at first, and starts taking down the laundry, and putting it in a basket on the ground. She then picked up the basket, turned, and started to walk back towards the house. She saw me, and being the friendly android she was designed to be, knelt down and began trying to start a conversation.

"You like playing out here?.." She asked. I didn't respond to this new Kara. "You look bored. Would you like to play a game?" I would... with the other Kara, with MY Kara.

I turned away and silently walked inside. She's acting really friendly, but she's not the same. I thought to myself. I went into my room, put my clover into my treasure box, then began reading The Little Mermaid for a little bit.

I put the book down after reading a few pages, and sat in front of my fort, playing with Timothy. All of the sudden, my door swings open. I shrink back into my fort, thinking it's Todd. But when I look up, it's Kara.

"I just want to tidy up your room a little." She tells me. "I only need two minutes. Is that okay, Alice?" I don't say anything. Kara looks at my bookshelf full of books. Her LED spun yellow. "Seems you like reading." She said. Yeah, especially when you had read stories to me.

Kara sees a book on the floor, kneels and turns it over to look at the front cover. "Alice in Wonderland." She looked at me, and smiled. "Of course." Kara then put the book down, and went to make my bed, and open the window. After that, she knelt over by me, seemingly interested in my playing.

"I'm sure we used to be friends before I was reset, maybe we can be friends again... Your father said you chose my name, 'Kara', it's nice. How did you choose it?" But, didn't you suggest it, Kara? Can you really not remember? Kara continued on. "You should tell me about yourself. What you like to do, where you like to go, your favorite foods... That would really help me." You should know all that already, Kara. I can't believe what Todd did to you was so bad, that you had to be reset!

I started to run out of the room, but then a thought came to me. She needs to know what happened. I walked back over to her, and placed the key to my treasure box from my pocket into her hand. Then I ran out and downstairs.

Kara didn't come down for a little while, so I assumed she was looking in my treasure box. Meanwhile, I was sitting at the dining table with Timothy. Todd started walking  over to me, and out of the corner of my eye, I saw Kara coming down the steps, but then stopped as Todd started speaking.

"What're you doing?" He asked me. "I-I'm playing." I told him, shyly. Todd scoffed. "You're playing... I know what you're thinking. You think your Dad's a lowlife, huh? Fucking loser? Can't get a job, take care of his family?" That's not what I think, that's what you think. I wanted to say, but didn't. 

His voice started to rise. "Don't you think I tried to make things work? But whatever I do, when someone comes along, they just fuck it all up!" He knocked over a chair, which caused me to stand instinctively. "I know what you think of me." Todd growled. "You hate me. You hate me, don't you?" He picked me up and shook me. "Say it! You hate me!!"

I had started to cry silently, tears streaming down my face in fear. Todd noticed and came out of his anger into immediate grief, thanks to his anti-depressants that cause sudden mood swings. "Oh, God." He sobbed, and put me down. "What am I doing?.. I'm sorry, honey. I'm sorry. You know I love you don't you? You know I love you..." He said, and hugged me.

No you don't. I thought, also with grief. I didn't hug back, and looked over at Kara while Todd hugged me. She still stood on the stairs. Her LED was blinking yellow, and looking at her face, I could swear I saw... concern in her expression.

Kara? I thought. Is that you?