Flare

Chapter 1

          Violet  stepped out of her apartment door. It was 4:00 PM, and time for her to start her shift. She put on her transparent poncho. She had to wear tight revealing clothes, and a transparent jacket so she could sell her body. Violet was headed out to work on the streets of Battery City. She was a porno-droid, which meant her one sole purpose in life was to be a sex slave to the humans of Battery city. 

           Violet locked her tiny apartment. Battery City was run by Better Living Industries, or better known as BLI. They made sure that everyone obeyed the laws down to the smallest crime. If you were caught breaking or bending the rules in any way, a Draculoid or Scarecrow would execute you. It was absolutely perfect, and that's what made it unbearable.

          She crossed the street. She was almost at the Lobby, where she made her living. Her model, the violet droids, cost 500 carbons. There were different models that ranged in price. The most expensive one was the red model, which cost 1000 carbons a session. The cheapest was the blue model, at only 50 carbons. 

          The droids weren't even given names, just the color of their make. They were all defined by the color of their hair, which were all short neat bobs. Violet made her way to the Lobby, when she was soon approached by a person with cash in his pocket and lust on his mind.

          Violet ended her shift at 3:00 in the morning. She made 3,500 carbons that night, and needed the time to re-charge her battery. Anyone will tell you that BLI is perfect in every way possible, and that is for the most part true. Although, they had made an error when designing their robots. The robots had developed a mind of their own, and that was a giant mistake.

            Violet was always unhappy. She was never given a chance to even think about having a life. all she knew was work and laws. She remained conscience when she recharged, so she couldn't even escape her cruel reality into a pleasant dream. All she could do was think. Think about how horrible her life was, and how much she wanted to end it. 

           The buildings of Battery City loomed so far overhead, stars were nearly invisible. Clouds could not be seen, just a dull grey cast across town. Violet had always wanted to see the stars when they weren't blocked by skyscrapers, or to just sit and do nothing and be alone. She wanted freedom.

            Battery City wasn't endless. It was surrounded by a desert. Violet had contemplated running away to try and live in the desert, but remebered that the power line ends at the city's borders. If she tried to cross it, her power would be cut and she would die. Painfully? She didn't know. All she did know was that she was completely and utterly trapped, and there was almost nothing she could do about it. Except for one fate, one that many of the citizens of Battery City awaited, though they didn't know this yet.

            Suicide is a big decision. How much must you hate your life in order to end it? If you were successful, you escape everything that has led you to this decision. On the other hand, what happens when you die? Is it worth is? Are you punished for eternity? is it unending bliss? Does your consciences snap out of existence? 

           Violet thought about death a lot like an eternal numbness. While she had never been gifted the ability to sleep, she had remembered the soothing nothingness from being rebooted in the factory. A warm dark lake of nothing. No problems or worries. Just peace. Or at least that's what she imagined sleep was like. For all she knew, death was not a warm lake of peace, but a cold and turbulent ocean of pain and worry. Not so much like floating, but more like drowning.

          Violet thought this over while she charged her battery. Death wouldn't be so bad, would it? Violet got up. Her battery was charged. She looked out the window of her small apartment. It was 5:00 AM. The sun would rise soon. Violet wanted nothing more than to dee the sunrise, unobstructed by buildings and skyscrapers. 

          Violet, even though she was a robot herself, she loved all things nature. She marveled at how the sun managed to rise and fall everyday with out fail, or how the light from trillions of light years away travelled to meet her eye. It was settled; she would see the sun set, even if that meant dying for it

          Violet felt happy, for the first time in a while. She would run to the outskirts of town, where she would jump across the power line. In her final moments, she would see the sun set into the desert without anything in the way. A final glimpse at nature, something that had been happening since the dawn of time. How lucky she was, to be able to see such a feat of nature. Luckier still, she was certain that she would not die in an alley cold and afraid like most of the robots in Battery City. 

           Tonight was the night, she decided. No one would miss her. There were at least a thousand carbon copy's of her out there. She had no friends, no one was allowed to have interests of any sort other than BLI. Of course she had no parents, she was made in a factory. No one would miss her, which was perfect.

          She put on a shirt and pants. She didn't need to advertise herself off duty, but her clothes were still tight to show off her "perfect" body. She looked around her apartment. It was almost 7:00, which was when the sun was supposed to set. She was ready to do this. Nothing matterd enough that she would feel nervous. Just excited for her escape. She left her room one last time, turning off the lights as she walked out the door.

          Violet held her head high as she walked out to the border. She thought about how they would be checking her room soon, when they found out she wasn't on duty. That put a smug look on her face. The satisfaction of BLI knowing they did something wrong, and that they could do nothing about it was extremely satisfying. Violet put her hood up as she walked past the Lobby, so no one would notice she wasn't on shift. Luckily, all the droids looked almost exactly the same, so she wasn't spotted. 

          She finally made it to the border. This would be a little tricky. Scarcrows patrolled the border, making sure no one could escape. She needed to time her dash perfectly. All the Scarecrows had ray guns, so she needed to be able to dodge their flashes. Two Scarecrows that had been patrolling a set of stairs that led up into the desert had turned around, and walked opposite to each other, leaving the stairs unguarded.

          Violet ran. She dashed past other citizens, swerving while she sprinted to make her a harder target for the Scarecrows. She heard the boom of ray guns, but it didn't quite process. She was going to see the sun! She was going to leave the hell of Battery City one way or another, and nothing could stop her. She made it to the stairs. 

          Without hesitating, she ran up the stairs as fast as her two metal legs could carry her, skipping every other step. The sun was right there, and it was more beautiful than anything she'd ever seen. A glowing orange marvel sinking beneath the horizon. It was everything she'd hoped for and more.

          She then ran towards the desert, knowing that at some point she would cross the border, and she would die a happy death. She saw the thin blue line on the ground. That must be the border. She got ready for her sprint to the death. She could here the clamouring of Scarecrows behind her. 3....2....1.... She jumped over the border. At this point the Scarecrows had given up, and just watched her. Even if they didn't shoot her she would still die. She braced herself for unspeakable pain. It never came. She landed in the desert, very alive and very confused. Violet broke off in a sprint.