MIRA - a goofy story of a clueless murderbot and her discoverer

MIRA vs. Gas Station

Eric was driving the new car. Or at least, what appeared to be a car. He still wasn't quite sure about the nanite (or moxel) swarm that was sitting right next to him and calling herself Mira. Eric was unsure what to make of her. She was clearly a late-teen girl sitting right next to him, but her actions had demonstrated god-like powers and... lax moral compass, to put it nicely. She also still had those metal nails, though they weren't covered in blood anymore.

"I'm thirsty, can we get some fluids?" Mira asked.

"When we find a gas station, as I've said the past dozen times you asked."

Eric was blessed by a few moments of driving without this supposedly

super-smart AI asking about every little thing her mind thought of. What did that bumper sticker mean, why did she detect hydrocarbon byproducts, why were people driving like this, blah blah blah. Eric was having to concentrate on driving, which was probably why he didn't notice Mira eating the upholstery of the car until the seatbelt started clicking from overextension. Eric glanced over and nearly swerved off the road as she took another bite from the tough fabric, slicing through the weave effortlessly.

"WHAT are you doing? Why are you eating the SEATBELT?"

"... I was hungry?" Mira looked sullen. "Why can't I eat it?"

"Aren't you a machine?" Eric looked somewhat indignant.

"Yeah... but I'm hungry. The fight took a lot of energy, and you haven't gotten me any fluids. I need to consume." She seemed somehow indignant at this.

Eric couldn't split his attention between driving and this surreal conversation, so was relieved when he saw a gas station on the horizon. "Look, can we save this conversation for five minutes? There's a gas station up ahead, and you'll be able to get a drink there." Mira looked a bit too happy at this, and before Eric could stop her, her wings formed, and she rammed her way out of the top of the car and started flying towards the station fast enough to leave a wake of dust beneath her.

Eric hadn't exactly expected this, and drove unreasonably fast to try to keep up with her. A futile endeavor, as Mira's dust trail was receding from his view rapidly. He pulled into the empty gas station a few minutes later, and found Mira guzzling gasoline right out of the nozzle.

"I'm afraid to ask, but why are you drinking gasoline?" Eric was quickly losing ways that Mira could surprise him.

"I was thirsty" she said between gurgles of gas entering her mouth.

Eric tried to drag her away from the pump, but she didn't budge. "Hold on, I'm almost done!" she insisted. Eric couldn't really think of a way to actually move this apparently immobile object, so he turned away and said, "well OK, I'ma go get a soda inside."

This apparently got Mira's attention, as she dropped the nozzle and flew over to Eric. Right. The wings. "Ok, before we meet anyone, you need to dissolve or delete or whatever to make your wings go away, right? Oh, and I'll do all the talking."

Mira apparently really liked the wings, because she made a little "hmmph" of disappointment, but her wings did reluctantly morph back into her body and disappear.

They walked in with surprisingly little fanfare. Eric asked Mira to point at what she wanted, he bought some of the things she'd wanted, and they walked out calmly. She hadn't even tried to eat the shelves.

Eric finished filling up the car, and then parked as they drank their sodas. Mira had eaten her bag of chips in three bits, not bothering to open the packaging.

"So," Eric said between handfuls of peanuts, "what exactly are the limits to your whole apparition deal? What can you make?"

This may have been the wrong question, as Mira's face contorted in a malevolent grin filled with too-sharp, shark-like teeth. "Want a demonstration?" She raised her hands and started to form another impossibly dark sphere between them."

"Uh, no. Thanks. I don't feel like dying."

Mira lowered her hands and the malevolent joy left her face. "Ah."

"Well... can you make a tent? And a sleeping bag? And a blanket while you're at it?"

Mira looked at him. "Oh, you want to camp tonight." A bit of joy returned to her face, she waved her hand nonchalantly, and a few black spheres formed in the back of the car and morphed into the mentioned items.

Interesting - Mira could materialize at a distance. "Hey, Mira... you just materialized those objects at range. How did the moxels get there? I didn't see them leave you."

"You didn't see them, obviously. They're microscopic."

Eric's eyes bulged. This was new. "So what, you told them to coagulate around the spheres? So they're just floating around us right now?"

"Yep." Mira was clearly bored by this line of questioning, and brushed her hair aside. "So, what are we going to do now?"

Eric already had a plan. Mira was clearly going to take a while to get used to other people, and her murderous tendencies made a city a daunting endeavor. "I guess we should camp for the night. I don't think you're ready for a hotel."

"Why not? Do you doubt my abilities, human?"

"I'm honestly just worried you'd kill everyone we saw."

Mira looked hurt. "But it's so much fun! If I tell you I won't kill them, can we go to a hotel? Please?" Mira's eyeballs now grew in a near-perfect imitation of puppy-dog eyes.

Eric wondered exactly where Mira had learned this type of manipulation. Also the implicit statement that Mira could lie to him. He clearly had some power over Mira - he wasn't dead. But what exactly were the limits to that power? "Uhhh, no. We're not going to a hotel, I don't want to end up on the news. We're camping far away from anyone else."

Mira looked pathetically sad, and made a small "awwwww" noise that would have torn up Eric's heart if he hadn't seen Mira's massacre hours earlier.

"Cmon, we're burning daylight." Eric started to pull out of the parking spot, having finished his peanuts.

"You know I can see the entire electromagnetic spectrum, right?"

"Yeah, but I can't. Aren't you supposed to have all-seeing godlike powers?"

"Sorry, I keep forgetting your stupid human limitations." Mira looked genuinely embarrassed, even managing a... blush? Eric raised his eyebrows, but didn't otherwise respond. Did Mira actually feel human emotions? He mulled over the question as he tracked down the highway, absently looking for a secluded place to camp.