A Companion's Journey

Chapter 1 - New Beginnings

"Don't call me. Just take your stuff and leave."

Tony stared out the loft window. A moment passed before he sighed softly.

Rachel sat in silence, having no more tears to cry. Tony's declaration was final. He crossed the room, opened the door and waited for her to depart.

She stood from the couch and picked up the waiting bag by the door, already stuffed with her belongings. She took one last glance as she left the apartment. Rachel heard the door shut with a resounding click. Her lips drooped in a frown as the finality of the situation weighed on her.

She wandered through the maze of hallways and ended up in the parking lot. Her mind replayed events from the conversation, looping them over and over. Snippets of words; interspersed flashes of memories from the last year. Rachel barely realized she was already driving out of the parking complex. She mentally forced her brain to snap out of the distracting fog. She punched the radio button and music blared as she headed in the direction of her own apartment.

She lived about 20 miles from Tony's place, and decided to avoid the freeway. She hoped the drive would clear her head. Stopped at a light, she noticed the projection billboard on the corner displayed an advertisement for the new Fifth Generation line of personal Companions.

Rachel always found them interesting, especially as a child, but never seriously considered adopting one. The advertisement displayed a canine and feline, each greeting their new friends and expressing merriment as the new families accepted them into their homes. The people's emotion looked artificial, but it stirred something in Rachel. She pulled up directions to the Companion agency on impulse and turned at the next corner. Now seemed like the perfect opportunity for her to get a Companion.

The Companion moniker sounded cliche when introduced but quickly caught on in true fad fashion; now the term was commonplace. With much of Chicago and a noticeable percentage of the country adopting Companions, it was not unusual to see them in public places. Some families wanted a nanny for their infant, others a personal assistant.

Occasionally, there were allegations of Guardians treating their Companions like slaves. The army of Intellectual Horizons Corporation lawyers made sure any negative press got downplayed, but everyone knew Companions were mistreated. Protesters were in the news lately lobbying equal rights for the engineered sentient animals, but it was not uncommon to see discrimination against the Companions away from the camera eye.

Rachel pulled into the facility parking lot a short time later. It looked like a standard office building with thick glass doors and a reception lobby. She got out of her car and walked up to the main entrance.

Once she stood in front of the darkly tinted doors, what little motivation possessed her to come evaporated. She struggled with internal conflict for a moment, and made a few false starts to reach for the door. Just as she reached for the handle a final time, the door drew inward and a couple emerged with their young daughter. The little girl held a leash and skipped out of the door next to her father.

"Can Cleopatra stay in my room Daddy? Huh?? Can she watch movies and play dolls with me? Can she come with us to the ice cream shop? You said we could get some ice cream, Daddy!"

The girl tugged animatedly on the leash collared to a pretty Siamese Companion. The feline briefly glanced up at Rachel as she strode by, and the father spoke over his shoulder as they moved down the walkway.

"Can you eat ice cream Cleo?"

"Yes, sir," she intoned.

"Good," he said, "climb in the back seat with Betty so we can go."