catsudon

My Robatsu: Episode 2, Prologue

Added 2020-02-04 03:41:30 +0000 UTC

[ RECHARGING STATUS ]
96%
97%
98%
99%

…

-__--_--KSSHHHSSHHKK-__-_---

It’s 70° today, slightly on the cold side, but some may argue that it’s warm. That doesn’t matter though, because it’s very windy out. I’m wearing a thick wool sweater with a light parka over it, and a fleece lined beanie to keep my head warm.

I’m walking down a narrow path surrounded by houses on both sides. It looks to be somewhere deep within a neighborhood. There’s a barely audible, muffled voice next to me, asking me something, but I can’t quite make it out. I respond, “It’s nice to be out of the house for once.” We continue walking down the pathway, but just before we reach the end, I hear another voice call out to me.

It’s a familiar but hazy voice. We keep walking at a comfortable pace, ready to turn the corner into another street, until time appears to slow down. Everything is silent. There is no sound from the wind or my footsteps. Just a low static sound that I hadn’t noticed before that grows steadily louder. I look around me, but there’s nobody there. The static is almost unbearable now, until I hear the other voice call out to me again, now loud and clear.

I open my eyes. I’m sitting on the couch in the living room that I first awoke in just yesterday. Did I have a dream? Robatsu are programmed to have dreams after all, to further simulate the experience of being a living person. Or perhaps, I simply received a visual interference from a nearby Robatsu.

I look ahead to see Chawan’s bare midriff right before me. Perhaps I’ll be given permission to touch it one day. I turn my head further upward to see Chawan’s face.

All at once, Tako and Maki come out from the hallway, pulling their crop tops over their heads. They take their place beside Chawan, who gives them a look as if he’s been impatiently waiting on them.