I Feel...

"In blood black, nothingness began to spin."

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As we walk back to the beach near the cliffs I had stayed at the night prior, I notice Areia is collecting leaves and branches. Utilizing her thick tail, the fins form a spoon to help hold her collection of foliage.

“You never came back last night.” I face her directly as we walk alongside each other.

Areia stumbles slightly at my question, but she recovers quickly. Her head hangs low, and her fin-like ears fold back in a peculiar manner.

I take notice in her immediate action in putting a hoof over her necklace as she closes her eyes. She slows down in the pace of her walk as she does so, and I catch a shudder under her breath as her heart rate increases, but only for a moment.

I’ve seen that pattern in other’s heart rates before. Usually after being caught doing something against the Talon Corporation order.

“I… well, uh, I was… d-distracted by something else!” Areia stutters. I detect she’s not telling the entire truth.

I take notice of her tail as it tightens around the mass of branches, causing them to crack. I’m unfamiliar with her race, but if she is anything like other ponies, then I would assume these are symptoms of anxiety.

“Areia.” I look her in the eyes. She turns away, refusing to meet my visor. “Why are you lying to me?”

Immediately, she winces, pulling back slightly as her tail twitches sporadically.

“I’m not… I wasn’t…” Her denial dies as she seemingly pulls herself inward, drawing her large tail around her hooves and dropping the foliage she had been gathering. Her gaze drops to the ground as a tense silence develops between us, carrying on for a few seconds.

Taking a deep breath, Areia finally looks back up at me in evident discomfort to my verbal detection of her avoidance. Her eyes shimmer with unshed tears.

I detect something else…

Malfunction detected.

She seems irritable.

“I… I don’t want to talk about it, not right now… Please…”

Anomaly detected.

Disable notification scripts on internal diagnostics.

Negative.

Comply.

Negative.

“I can respect that…” I say in a near whisper as I regard her.

Areia visibly relaxes at my words, letting out a long breath of what I assume to be relief.

I glance back down at her tail for a moment as it loosens around her hoof, before looking into her eyes. “We might need to collect more sticks. You broke our current batch in the tension of your strength.”

Why did that intrigue me so much…?

Anomaly detected.

Report to-

Negative.

Disable notification scripts on internal diagnostics.

Negative.

Comply.

Negative.

Why did I… Do I dare say I actually… like her strength?

Do I like Areia? Can I like Areia?

This isn’t possible. I shouldn’t be like this.

There is a malfunction in my system. An error. A virus. Something that registers me as faulty and dangerous.

… But for the first time in my entire existence, I… feel real…

… I… feel…

Is this what it means to be alive?

“-later, then… Hey!” A grey shark hoof waves over my face, snapping me back into reality. “Are you even listening to me?”

I focus on her as she knits her brows at me, narrowing her eyes in suspicion.

“... Negative.”

She deadpans.

“Apologies.”

Sighing, she shakes her head. “I was trying to tell you that I’ll have to collect some more later, then.”

“I’ll come with, if you’d like.” Something deep within my core urges me eagerly to stay with her. Something was happening between the two of us. Evidently, I appreciate her company.

Or morerather, I think I appreciate her company. It’s not possible for robots to feel anything.

Or so my programming says.

“I’d like that.” Areia smiles slightly.

Suddenly, a deep growl came from beside me. Everything has become red.

I’m standing back in the corridor looking out into the club, alongside the other models I share a connection with, gunning down the slaves and masters alike as the Nekkra close in, infecting and consuming.

The survivors scream to be let out, pushing against us in hopes to escape.

One of the Nekkra - a mare with a grey coat and a black mane stares me down from afar through purple eyes, and I at her, before she lets out a growl the likes of her species could never make.

Records match the description of the mare that stands on the other end of the room.

This is case zero.

Firebright.

It is unknown whether or not she has reached Nekkra Heart ranks.

Priorities reset.

I turn my guns on her as she begins to charge at me; the Nekkra infection warping around her in her canter. Acting as claws, tendrils, and even temporary shields to block the incoming attacks from my allies, all while leaving deep claw marks into the steel flooring behind.

“W-War…?”

I quickly look around under a deep shade offered by the trees, and soon realize that my visor is red. These flashbacks are triggering defensive responses. I have concerns for Areia’s safety if it gets out of control.

I turn to Areia as my visor returns to blue, and that’s when I notice the giant hole I had cut into the trunk of a tree beside her; the rim gleaming with embers that are slowly eating away at the bark.

The shot went through completely, and evidently cut through three more trees in the distance, before reaching the conclusion of its journey.

Areia stares in silence; her eyes wide with alarm as her heart beats rapidly in her chest.

“Areia…” I take a step forward, only for her to shy away, ears flattened against her head.

“What are you?” Her voice is barely a whisper.

“Areia… I… I’m…” I take another careful step toward her, but she recoils with what I perceive is fear, stopping me dead in my tracks.

My core feels like it’s on fire. Like it’s melting, like I’m melting away into nothing. Something is wrapping around my core tightly, squeezing the little time I experienced with joy out of it, choking it out…

“Areia…” My visor flashes red again as the burn within grows bigger at the sight of her terror to me. She hates me. She’s scared of me. And it hurts! I quickly turn away, not just to avoid seeing her expression, but for her safety. “Disable defensive countermeasures!”

“Negative.”

“Comply!”

“Negative.”

“COMPLY!”

“Nega-”

I quickly extend my wings and launch off the ground, bolting for the cave. I can’t let her see me like this. I can’t do this!

Within mere seconds of taking off, leaving a cloud of dirt in my wake, I can already hear the waves in the distance, crashing against the rocks of the cliffside.

I can see the cave. I bolt for the entrance.

Report to Talon Corporation officials immediately.

Negative.

Comply.

“NO!”

Nose diving for the entrance, I quickly realize I’m going too fast for a smooth landing. I hastily attempt at reversing my speed and slow down my terminal velocity, but I’m coming in too quick for it to make a difference.

My body slams into the bumpy, rocky surface at the entrance, causing lethal masses of boulders to fall from the ceiling.

Just as one of them lands mere inches from my head, a thick mist from the ocean washes over my body.

Malfun_ --=+

“N-n-n-Hel-”

My feed cuts off. I can feel the circuitry within me starting to burn out.

Red text fills the black matrix.

ERROR. ERROR. ERROR. ERROR. ERROR…

Over and over again, a predictable script that knows no end.

I drag my body across the cavern floor in desperate attempts to get away from the mouth of the shelter before more water comes up. My sensory drive hasn’t shut down yet. I can still feel…

“A-Areeeeeeeeeeeia… Are-i-ia. H-h-help meee…”

As I crawl further into the cave, feeling my body twitch uncontrollably, I look back on the growl that triggered my defenses.

There was no danger except me… Her stomach was growling… She was hungry…

I almost shot her because she was hungry…

And now I was going to die the moment I began to live. How… poetic…

I ceased movement as the sounds of the ocean become more distant and echoed. All I can hear is the crashing waves echo along the walls that surround me as the word ‘ERROR’ continues to display itself before me.

Shutting… down…