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 Posted: Thu Dec 18, 2008 7:02 pm
Kuroi strolled down the street, cane in hand and happy tune whistling in his mouth. His first payday. It was amazing that he had found somewhere to work that hadn't fired him the first day because of his disabilities, and that made him happy. Of course, he was going to blow all the money on impulse buys, but still, he felt like he had accomplished something. He stepped into the drugstore, which was warm, and smelt strongly of cinnamon and leather. He listened to his older brother's friendly voice greeting customers, asking them what they needed, etc. Kuroi smiled, then tapped off to the back of the store and had a seat on the worn leather couch by the heater. He had been taken there so many times, he no longer needed an escort. It was exciting, for him, anyway, to be able to 'make it on his own'. He hated when people had to help him for him to do anything. Being able to do it himself was the first step to leaving help behind.
~!~
"Hurry uuup, Ed!"
The whiny voice of his sister brought Edward back to his senses. He had been reading while walking, making his movements compare to an iceberg going through molasses. He made a mental note of the page, shut the book, and stuffed it into his bag. Then he trotted up to his sister. "It's Edward, not Ed, Isabella."
His sister rolled her eyes. "You're so uptight. And it's Bella. I hate my proper name. I don't understand how you could like yours."
Edward shrugged. "Proper reminds me of dad."
"Well, you shouldn't want to be reminded of dad."
"Shut up."
"You shut up."
The siblings walked together in silence. After a little bit, Isabella went off with a friend to her house, and Edward was left to walk alone down the streets. He was more interested in the book he was reading(which he had retrieved from his bag)than where he was going, and, as such, ended up walking straight into a tree. "Ow...why does this always happen to me?" Edward had fallen backwards, his glasses sliding off his nose and into the grass somewhere. His books, too, had fallen out of his bag. Inwardly, he swore, groping around for the square glasses he knew were there somewhere. He was totally oblivious to the fact that he may have been watched.
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Posted: Thu Dec 18, 2008 7:09 pm
Although she knew that it was going to be bad for her, Katherine strode out of the store. The store owner didn't pay her any mind, and she found a boy groping around on the ground. She picked up a pair of glasses she almost stepped on, then squatted by him.
"Need these?" she asked, wondering how someone fell over like that. She knew that people fell over, but it seemed a bit ridiculous to her. Balance wasn't that hard to maintain, but she tossed that out as she observed this human.
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Posted: Thu Dec 18, 2008 7:37 pm
"Er....Thank you." Edward took his glasses and adjusted them onto his face. Then he gazed up at the woman who had given them to him. "You're a, um, persecom, aren't you? That's what they're called, isn't it?" Edward hadn't really cared much for machinery. He wasn't exactly a computer scientist, and wasn't sure how the A.I. in the machine worked. She almost looked like a real person. But real people weren't so...sparkly.
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Posted: Thu Dec 18, 2008 7:41 pm
"Yes, I am a persecom," she replied, "I was called Katherine," she stuck her hand out, looking him over. He was about her 'age' it seemed, and kind of nerdy looking... in a cute way.
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Posted: Fri Dec 19, 2008 7:04 am
"You were called Katherine? You aren't now? But, wait, when an owner turns a Persecom off, isn't the mind wiped? Or is that one of the newer additions?" Edward couldn't help feeling idiotic about this. Really, he didn't know anything about Persecoms. Only the things he had overheard at school after his tormentors left, and those were mostly sexual references, like, 'oh, I got laid last night and then I turned her off so she wouldn't remember how hard I was!' and stuff like that. Immature, idiotic, and irritating things.
Well....they could use another pair of hands around the house. "Er, Katherine? Do you have somewhere to live? An owner?" If she did, he'd send her off to her owner, and if not, he'd take her home. It didn't really matter, to him.
~!~
Kuroi got into his older brother's car and they headed down the road. The two of them chatted of utterly irrelevant things, such as what was for dinner and whether penguins had knees and Avenue Q and flan. Their house was about half an hour drive from the drugstore, so they had plenty of time to talk.
~!~
"Yes, I need a job here. Yes, I'm eligible. I'm a persecom. An 1877 model, sir. Yes, I can start working right away. All right, I'll be there. Goodbye." Georgie put down the pay phone onto the receiver, and headed towards the building she had been on the phone with. If all went well, she would have a new job. If being the key word.
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Posted: Fri Dec 19, 2008 12:50 pm
She shrugged, "I remember," she said quietly, then heard his question. She thought about it for a moment, "No, I don't," she told him, looking at him. Was he going to take her home or give her away. He seemed fine, but she didn't really know how she'd be treated in any house.
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Posted: Fri Dec 19, 2008 5:16 pm
"Then, I should probably-" Edward stopped. He could hear painfully familiar voices coming down the road, and fast. He knew them. They were his regular tormentors, and he was fairly sure they'd take Katherine and use her like a toy if they wanted to. Without thinking, he grabbed her with the grace of a football player and hid the two of them under a nearby bush. Something in the back of his mind told him that she probably wanted to kill him dead right then, seeing as he was laying on top of her and had his legs around her waist, but he wasn't really worried about that at this point. Even if she slugged him and went off, at least those boys wouldn't get a hold of her body.
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Posted: Fri Dec 19, 2008 5:21 pm
Katherine was pissed to say the least, and glared at him. She pulled her arm back, aiming for his face. She slugged him, growling. She figured that that was what he had been planning for a while. He was probably a nerdy little teenage boy who wanted to get laid, she should've figured that.
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Posted: Fri Dec 19, 2008 7:17 pm
Compared to the smacks he had in his past, the robot's punch wasn't too bad. Edward rubbed his cheek and rolled off of her as he heard the murmuring move on. Perverted slurs still reached his ears until about 30 seconds later. "OK, they're gone. They won't try to attack you now. Well, nice meeting you. You better hurry back to your store or your owner might get worried." He stood up, brushed his pants off, threw his bag over his shoulder, and turned towards his house.
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Posted: Fri Dec 19, 2008 7:45 pm
"I don't have an owner," she replied, "And who would've attacked me?" she got up, walking after him, "You were about to say something before you dragged me down."
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Posted: Fri Dec 19, 2008 7:59 pm
"Wherever you came from. Anyway, those boys who cross the road would have attacked you if they saw you. I know them well. They pick on the weak and hook up with the pretty. It wouldn't be any different with you." Edward shrugged, and kept walking. He was fairly sure she was trailing behind. "I was going to ask you to come over, but after that, it would seem like I was asking you about something else, so it doesn't matter." He rubbed his cheek where she had hit him once again, and continued his path.
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Posted: Fri Dec 19, 2008 8:03 pm
"I could've dealt with them," Katherine muttered, crossing her arms across her chest, "Are you implying I'm pretty?" she asked. She was pretty sure that being pretty was part of what she was made for, but it had never been directly said- or even implied- to her.
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Posted: Fri Dec 19, 2008 8:13 pm
"Not when there are seven at once." Edward looked back at her. "Yes. Is that a problem?" His face was calm, and so was his voice. He had never had a problem with telling people exactly what he thought of them, and robots weren't much harder.
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Posted: Fri Dec 19, 2008 8:18 pm
She stuck her lower lip out, but agreed with him. She didn't say it, but she did understand what he was saying about the seven boys. She just looked at him, "No, not really," she murmured.
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Posted: Fri Dec 19, 2008 8:24 pm
"That's good, then." Edward nodded. "Oh, I don't think I ever told you my name. It's
Edward." He stopped, turned, and held out his hand. "Nice to meet you, Katherine."
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