CherryBerry545

It was a dark and stormy night. The sky twisted and roiled, a pitch black ocean raging overhead. Fields of grain and grass were helpless against the maelstrom. The hills sparked and flashed with every burst of lightning. The world exploded with the wrath of a thousand gods. But the Reaper was still. They looked upon the world they had created. It was unintentional, yes, but inevitable. With the last soul finally collected, their work was done. The fact gave them some relief. After eons of reaping soul after soul, at last, they could find peace. Peace. The Reaper chuckled at the irony, the ground beneath them shuddering from a cacophony of thunder. There is no such thing.

“When I told you that you could get creative,” Parker massaged his temples, his headache blossoming, “I meant in a less...obnoxious way. You know, like a banner or some confetti...a normal kind of creative.” Kyle shrugged, “Well, you should have told me that before I paid fifty people to be here for this. By the way, you should see that bill in the mail soon.” “...The what?” *** Parker stepped up to the podium, his head throbbing. He took in a shaky breath and spoke, “Fellow students. I--” And then the music kicked in. It started with one girl, rising to her feet and singing Parker’s praise. Then three, then twenty, so many people. Within seconds, the auditorium became the unwilling venue for both a student debate and a show stopping musical number. Parker’s stomach dropped, “Kyle…” *** “The debate is just three days away. With Louis Barker in the lead, I need your help to win over the school.” Kyle gave his friend a loose salute, “You can’t count on me, man, but...what did

I got my first Artificial Companion about two weeks ago. I found it, actually, in a mostly intact box left outside in the rain. Most people would have walked on by. The only reason anyone would have dumped something that expensive was if it were defective beyond repair. Why would anyone want that? But the little blue light blinking through the hole in the front caught my eye and I couldn’t resist. After hours of drying and charging, my own Artificial Companion whirred to life. I couldn’t help but smile at the treasure I had found, my own face reflecting in its smooth, egg-like head, but its pixelated gaze was blank and empty. I waved, spoke, shook the humanoid machine, but still no response. My smile dissipated. Defective. Maybe. I kept it on charge another three days, hoping that a little extra power was all it needed to become the incredible mechanical friend it was meant to be. What I needed it to be. Three days in and all it did was stare vacantly ahead. I almost gave up on