Artificial Mates - Chapter 8

The other side of the door has quiet down when I stepped out of the shower. I don’t remember how much time went by only that my fingertips started to wrinkle. I wrapped a towel around me and stopped before a fog-covered mirror above the sink. A distorted reflection of my face stared back at me. A vague human shape. My legs trembled as I got near the door. I reached for the knob, but bite my lips at the thought of facing Demos and Grant. How will they react? I literally told them to leave me alone.

The door creaked open on my dimly lit room. The red neon lights from the building next door filtered through my curtain. It casts a glowing square on half of the bed and let everything else in the shadows. Silence reigned in the room. They were gone. I sighed and pulled the door wider. It left a sick feeling down my stomach. Something closer to guilt, but not quite. The door leading to the living room was also closed. I got my glasses laying on the bed cover and slipped them on. The whole apartment was eerily silenced it was almost scary.

“Lights,” I said in a broken voice. For a second I didn’t recognize my own voice. The overhead light gradually brightened the room; I pulled the door of my closet when I noticed a mug on my nightstand. Pulling my pajamas for the night I quickly got dressed. When I was done, I walked to the mug. I wasn’t here when I came in. Did they leave it here for me? I leaned closer to peek at the content. There was a rich orange soup with a nice aroma rising from the mug. I was still warm to the touch. I narrowed my eyes at it. I don’t recall having soup in my kitchen or had the ingredients to make one. All my fridge had, were leftovers from my favorite Chinese restaurant, juice that I wasn’t sure was safe for consumption, frozen vegetable bags from the times I tried to eat healthier foods, and pizzas. With Grant’s stir-fried rice, the veggies was gone already. Where did that come? Don’t tell me they borrowed money again? I crossed the room and pulled the door open determined to give them a piece of my mind, however, I met more silence in the living room.

“Where did they go?” I murmured as my heartbeat increased. “Lights,” I said in a slightly shaky voice. The warm light flooded over empty couches. The one I found Demos sitting on the previous night was empty too. My guts twisted with worry. The kitchen was sparkling clean. My eyes roamed on the sparkling knives that hang above the sink. Has Grant cleaned the house while I was at work? I noticed that he also put my closet back in order. I squeezed my eyes shut to keep that nagging voice away. The tiny little voice that kept saying I a terrible person. I’m ungrateful.

“Shut up!” I whispered, but it was so loud in this empty room. When I opened my eyes again, I found myself in front of the pods next to the fridge. There they were, I felt relief washed over me in waves. I chuckled at my near panic attack. They said they had nowhere else to go and that I was their everything. Somehow, it crushed me with responsibility.

“I’m sorry,” I choked. Demos wore only his bottom stripe pajama pants while Grant had the same thing he had on this morning. I stung that I couldn’t afford decent clothes for them. I gazed at their peaceful faces, I felt terrible. Leaning forward I rested my forehead on Demos’ glass cover and sigh.

“Are you feeling better, Liliane?” his deep voice snapped me from my darkness. I slowly looked up at him. He gave me a weak smile.

“Thanks for the soup,” my head was blank, I couldn’t come up with anything else. He nodded without taking his copper eyes off me.

“Please eat,” he added, then he closed his eyes and slipped back to sleep. I waited in front of his pod for him to speak but he didn’t. He didn’t breath, he didn’t move he just lay there ignoring me. I frowned at my own reflection onto the glass.

Weren’t you the one who told them to leave you alone? I pushed that terrible thought away. My eyes roamed to Grants’ expressionless face. I wonder what memory, he was replaying. I remained in front of their pods for a moment, then moved back to my room. By that time, the soup was cold, but it still tasted good. When sleep came, I was too tired for nightmares. I slept like a rock until morning.

A thin beam of light filtered in one of the corners of my curtains onto my face. It’s been cloudy all week long with a thick blanket of dirty clouds. I pushed the sheets away as I placed my feet on the cold floor I was fully awake. Everything was quiet. My nightstand said 6:55 am. It was surprising that I got up early. I took a deep breath resolved to make the best out of the day.

I hopped into the bathroom to freshen up and got ready with my usual style. Blue beat-up jeans and an extra-large black sweater with the word DOWN printed in white on the front. With my outfit, I chose a black pair of sneakers. Finally, I ran a brush in my tangled hair; it’s been days since I’ve combed them. My bleached hair really needed treatment, but I couldn’t afford a hairdresser right now. I styled it in a loose bun. I gave a last look in the mirror and exhaled. I looked dull and somewhat pale, the perfect style I was going for. I didn’t need to attract unnecessary attention not after what happened yesterday.

“Shit!” I sighed and all the events from yesterday replayed in fast-forward before my eyes. “Shut up! Stupid brain, I really don’t need that kind of flashback right now,” I murmured. I squeezed my eyes shut, took a deep breath, then opened the door to access the living room.

Demos and Grant were sitting in the living room. Both of them had their eyes closed almost as if taking a nap. I felt terribly nervous as I got near. Grant’s eyes popped open and he got up in a fluid motion to face me.

“Morning Liliane,” he greeted me with a grin. Demos slowly opened his eyes, but didn’t get up. He nodded at me with a ghost of a smile. I was a little surprised by Grants’ cheerfulness.

“Mmh… hi,” I quickly lowered my eyes to the floor. “Ab-about… yesterday…” my voice trailed off.

“It’s ok,” said Demos getting off the couch. “You don’t have to explain,” he added in a calm tone. I looked up at both of them. Grant kept his smile and Demos his usual stern expression. I nodded at both of them.

“Mm… I was thinking that we don’t have a way to communicate and that I also need to send you money for various small purchases. What about we create an EWink* account,” Grant turned to Demos, they appeared to converse without words then he focused back on me.

“Liliane we do have a way to communicate, through the mate’s program. Whenever you’re not safe, we’ll know. We’ll always be together,” he said with a frown. I took a step back, he was about to add more, but Demos nodded one and he closed his mouth.

“We’ll not pressure you. Ewink is ok with me,” said Demos crossing his arms over his chest. “Also, I’ll accompany you to the gates of your work and will wait at the station,” I opened my mouth to protest, then the memory of what happened yesterday came back making me sigh with resignation.

“Ok,” I added and he nodded at my response. We quickly created the accounts with a private group for us three to chat whenever something came up. Grant picked a sun as his avatar, Demos a crescent moon no surprise there, and me, a white flower. I transferred three units to both of them for groceries and ticket fare.

“A lily for Liliane how cute,” commented Grant. My cheeks burned from embarrassment. “Sorry, I couldn’t prepare anything for your lunch. I’ll redeem myself for dinner. Send me a text of what you want to eat, ok!” he leaned and gave me a quick peck on the cheek. My face turned bright red.

“Can we go now? I don’t want to be late,” I cleared my throat and made my way to the door. Demos followed me to the corridor.

“What were you doing when I first entered the living room?” I asked as we stepped in the elevator. He gave me a quick peek then stared straight ahead.

“I was reading Grant a story,” he mumbled. I raised my eyebrows at him. He shifted on his feet showing his discomfort. “I like reading,” he added reluctantly. I smiled at my reflection in the door.

“Me too,” he gave me a quick glance.

“I know,” the door beeped opened before I could answer. He got off before I could and walked straight to Jil. The AI’s projection materialized on the glass panel by the front desk. She wore the same corporate blue dress as before.

“Morning Dee. How are you doing?” she winked at him and he nodded. They’ve now reached the cute-name level. Their friendship was progressing much more rapidly than ours was. My mates and I have barely found our footing. I keep f.u.c.k.i.n.g things up with all their efforts going to waste.

“I want to give you back the money,” said Demos as the blond projection. Her smile dropped instantly.

“I don’t want it,” she gave me a side-glance and shook her head. “I like you, you’re a unique model. I just want to help. Next time if anything happens, come find me,” she winked and one side of Demos lips curled up. Ah! Here they go flirting in front of me. It made my blood boil.

“I’ll wait for you outside,” I said as I rolled my eyes. Damn what was up with those two? Didn’t Demos say he was into me? I slammed the door behind me. A couple of seconds later, Demos stood behind me.

“No need to take out your jealousy on that poor door,” he chuckled. I sprung around with my hands into fists.

“I’m not jealous!” I snapped. “And what is that between you two?” I simulated indifference.

“Liliane,” he sighed. “Jil runs the building. She’s not a person. She can’t have that type of relationship with another artificial and I can’t cheat,” he tilted his head to the side with a smile. I frowned at his answer. We started down the road towards the station.

“What do you mean ‘you can’t cheat’?” I asked, making air quotes with my fingers. He slipped his hands in his pockets and lowered his eyes.

“As I told you before, we were made for you. Why would we want someone else?” I took a couple of minutes to let it sink it. Actually, it took me the whole trip to my work to fully digest that information. He waved me goodbye at the bottom of the stairs leading to the main building. Employees gave us questioning looks as they entered the facility. I quickly got in and slipped my bracelet on the panel by the door.

The rest of the day went by as usual. I was happy I didn’t have to set foot in the cafeteria for lunch. Walking down the corridor, I went to a sandwich vending machine. Two middle-aged women were leaning by the coffee machine, sipping from their carton cups. I slid my bracelet to get a tall latte with cream. As I waited for the cup to fill up, I couldn’t help overhearing their conversation.

“…Some bitch from quality control did a scene at the station yesterday,” said the chubby one wrapped in a purple dress. Her lab coat made her look wider. Next to her in a similar lab coat stood a slim woman with a crooked nose.

“Yeah, it was that Jay Dawson guy. I’ve heard him talk about it this morning. What a nasty woman… and she was with some artificial, right?” commented her friend.

“Gross!” the chubby woman’s lips twisted with disgust. “I don’t know what’s wrong with those disgusting s.l.u.ts sleeping with fakes when you can get a real meat man,” their laughter echoed in the small space. My hand shook when I grabbed my cup. I quickly went back to my workstation and slammed the door behind me.

Ewink* a safe and private way to communicate and send small amounts of virtual money.