I Am Machine

Chapter Two

"Give me one good reason why I shouldn't send you straight to hell." My voice is cold, distant and steely. It's not my voice. I feel like I recognize this person but I can't tell from where. I don't know where I know them from. I wish I knew though.

"R-Ronnie, please, R-Ronnie, don't y-y-you remember m-me?" She sputters out. That nickname. Ronnie. Only one person was ever allowed to call me Ronnie. Only one. That was Tia. My best friend. Is this person Tia? Is that where I knew her from? Is it Tia?

"...Kofi Bean? Is that you..?" I murmur. My voice is going back to normal. The girl holds out her hand and I notice a bracelet with a small button on top. It matches my necklace. I press the button on both my necklace and her bracelet, and two cutout figures pop out and spin around a little inscription the center of the locket while a soft tune plays.

"Ronnie and Kofi Bean's best friends forever friendship locket"

"K-Kofi Bean... It is you..." It's Tia. It really is. It really is Tia. How did I not see that it was her. She looks so scared. And small. But she's so tall so that makes no sense.

"R-Remember? R-Ronnie, y-you remember?" Tia sputters. I nod, and she reaches for me and I just hug her because I missed her so much and I didn't know how much I missed her and I want to hug her.

I feel her crying into my shoulder. She doesn't stop crying. Her body is racking with sobs. Her sobs sound so painful. I wish I could take all her pain away, I just want her to be okay again. She keeps crying.

"Oh, Kofi Bean, shh, it's okay. Shhh, you're okay." I do my best to offer any sort of comfort that I can. To make sure that I know this is Tia, I use my goggles to make sure it's Tia, and my goggles confirm that it is. I missed her.

"R-Ronnie? I-I don't k-know where to go... Ronnie, I don't have anywhere to go. M-My radio is broken, I-I need to go somewhere.." Tia mumbles. She's gone from murmuring to mumbling. I don't know why she's mumbling. I just hold her close while she cries.

"It's okay. We need to take all these materials back to Aurora, I'm sure she'll understand. I'll vouch for you if you wanna stay in the bunker with me?" I ask her. Her eyes light up and she looks up at me. Her eyes go wide and I smile softly.

"Y-You'd do t-that f-for me? R-Ronnie, th-thank you. Thank you, Ronnie.." Tia murmurs. I help her stand and I notice her scuffed up blanket on her back. I don't know what she's covering and I don't know why she's covering anything to be completely honest. She hands me the things she stole from Aurora and I stuff them in my bag.

"K-Kofi Bean, y-you look so different.." I murmur. She does look different. She's carrying something on her back but I don't know what it is. She looks sickly. She's shivering. Maybe I'm the one that's cold. She looks so much taller than I remember. Much taller than me.

"Y-You look way m-more different th-than I do, Ronnie." Tia points out. She's clinging onto me like her life depends on it. She's never acted this clingy before, I don't know why she is now. She used to make herself out to be so different from this.

She was always a tad bit shy, but she was always ready to be the loudest voice in the room. Even if she tried to be quiet, it was impossible not to hear her. And normally people say that I'm the loud one. But Tia was always much much louder.

She used to make herself out to be a lone wolf. But I was always with her, so that never really made sense to anyone, so I don't know why she tried to make herself seem so mysterious and lonely, because she always had me. She always has, and always will.

Another thing was that she always wanted to seem way tougher than she was. She's really a big softie, but I think she was taught to believe her sensitivity was a weakness. It wasn't and I hope she knows that it wasn't. I don't want her to think she's weak.