The Chosen Outsiders

Diane's POV Chapter 1

           

The afternoon was a blast of color. The shades of blue and orange intermingled to form a blanket over the sky. It was nice to see such beauty in that bland city. The buildings loomed above as a constant reminder that the individual was as insignificant as an insect. I continued to walk, picking up my pace to try to leave behind the painful truth. As I passed by the grocery store I was startled out of my thoughts. It was my turn to cook dinner. While I was darting through the aisles I picked up a bag of Wolfy's favorite snack, meat flavored potato chips. They were a little pricey but it was worth it if it would make her eat. I went through the checkout that was now completely automated. This was new to this side of town that rarely got the newfangled things. I couldn't help but smile. It seemed that the economy was getting a little better, but also felt a bit threatened by it. These simple jobs, as low paying they may be, were giving someone the cash to survive. This thankfully didn't apply to me because I was also a robot. I preferred the term AI at the time. Later, AI was an even more offensive term, but that is a topic for a later time. I finished my route back home. I had grown accustomed to the nasty looks, but I still decided to turn off my interpersonal feelings so I wouldn't feel the sting from human criticism. I turned the last corner and walked another eight feet before restoring my emotions. When I looked up, I was happy to see that the apartments weren't coughing up smoke like usual. As I fumbled around my backpack for the keys something caught my eye. My lens usually wouldn't pick it up, but this wasn't the common piece of trash. I bent down to pick it up, pulling at my hoodie strings out of habit. It was a document chip. Luckily I had the software for it. I stuffed it in my pocket and unlocked the door. I had to yank it a few times before it finally opened. Relieved to be back home I set down my backpack and groceries. Then went to go check up on Wolfy. She was an off the books genetic hybrid that was a mad scientist's idea of a pet. The tail and ears kind of made it seem that way; although she didn't like talking about it. She preferred to just set things on fire. Then there's Rain, who tended to just speak her mind not caring about the timing. I didn't mind it though. It was actually somewhat amusing. I sincerely could not imagine living without them. We were the misfits of that neighborhood. All of us were shunned from the rest of the world no matter how hard we tried to blend in. Wolfy in particular had a hard time, since there was no way of successfully hiding her animal like features. Luckily, my human like characteristics made it a little tougher for people to pinpoint what I was. As I opened the door I noticed that the lack of smoke was probably because she was asleep. I tiptoed in and set the bag gently next to her laptop. When I closed the door the squeak was unbearably loud. I went back into the living room and sat down on the couch. Rain wasn't home yet so I figured that I could use the time by myself to check out the chip. It had a silver metallic coat which was expected, but also a small red trim that I had never seen before. I inserted it into the port bellow my left ear. Everything went black. There was a new feeling that went against my programming. From the descriptions told to me by my friends, I was pretty sure it was referred to as fear. Suddenly a coded message scrolled across my retina. It was so excruciatingly bright I had a hard time focusing on the letters. Once I became accustomed to it I started process it. To top my mounting horror, the answer brought me the closest to a mental breakdown a robot could get to. Thanks to my memory file I copied it down before the real world came back. The chip then shot out and self-destructed. The tiny puff of smoke diminished almost as soon as it appeared. I abruptly stood up and ran to wake up Wolfy. I threw the door open making enough noise to startle the birds that nest in the tree outside.

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Quick little note: Hey! So this was my first thing written on wattpad. Yay! Sorry for for any grammar mistakes and thanks for reading! Have a fantabulous day!
-SeafarerAD