Aura

Aurora grew significantly shyer the moment Amon removed his shirt, exposing his well-built physique. She'd yet to notice the... implications of a woman wearing a wet shirt. Having always had her enchanted armor on whenever she was out and about, any clothes being see-through would never be a problem. Of course, when that armor is no longer in the picture, no doubt a wet shirt would stick to her bare skin and her areolae would be clearly visible to anyone looking, but that was a fact she was completely oblivious to. She slowly rose to her feet as Amon approached her, her legs were wobbly like a newborn deer at first, but she was soon able to find her balance before accepting the chiseled man's dry shirt. She was a bit confused as to why, but she supposed it may be some sort of custom among humans. So, she pulled the dry shirt over her wet one, watching Amon's reaction to make sure she wasn't doing anything odd herself. As Amon drew closer, she began to notice the various scars and marks across his body and began to feel concerned. This man must've experienced many battles... Her thoughts were interrupted by Vanilla's offer for assistance. "You're right, I've never... been in this form before... it's rather embarrassing... more importantly, where exactly... am I?" She looked over at the sea and saw the waves lapping at the sand. The sun was also a lot hotter than she'd ever imagined. Yet, it was actually quite pleasant now that she was more relaxed. Now that she'd gotten closer to these two humans, she was a bit more relaxed about not knowing where Viscie was at the moment.

Vanilla was caught by surprise as the woman decided to offer her the shirt off her own back. The wet shirt was certainly not a problem for her at all, though she had never considered that people from the surface might prefer their clothes to remain dry. Of course, putting it on at the moment wasn't exactly doable, her armor would make it a little challenging, so she needed to pull herself above the water in order to try it on. More surprising to her, however, was Vanilla's looks underneath her shirt. She had never thought a human woman would look so... similar to her own people. She'd always figured humans to be more... beast-like. Rougher, tougher, harrier... more like monkeys or bears. It was quite possible, she supposed, that humanity has simply changed in the many years since whoever first encountered them. But whatever the case, Vanilla here was quite beautiful with more of her skin exposed. More so than even Vanilla was likely aware herself. In her innocence, she wasn't having any sort of perverted thoughts, mind you, moreso, it reminded her of her caretakers at home. That brought more comfort to her and gave her the willingness to trust these humans. If they weren't trustworthy, she supposed they would've attacked her already. But they were being so helpful and even giving her offerings! That said, there was still room for doubt. The telepathic link couldn't possibly be enough to give her total certainty. Vanilla could choose to withhold any information at all from her and she'd be none the wiser. Aurora soon dove underwater before taking a deep breath and launching herself out of the sea and onto the hot sands of the beach. Her colorful tail shimmering in the sunlight as it could finally be seen in its full glory just before she collided with the ground. She covered her chest with her arms, blushing in humility as the golden rings that made up her armor slowly faded away in a flash of blue light. She quickly spun around while her tail began to dissolve into a similar blue shine and pulled Vanilla's waterlogged shirt on over her body. Since she was notably smaller than Vanilla, the shirt was indeed rather large for her. She had to roll the sleeves so they wouldn't cover her hands. Finally, she spun back around to face the two humans, her face still a bit red from the embarrassment. In the place of her tail was now two slender, pale legs around the same length. Her skin was much paler and her hair was an incredibly subtle shade of pink that could easily be mistaken for white. She could be mistaken for a completely different person, really. But, those soft blue eyes that stared back at Vanilla still remained. "U-um... thank you very much..."

Aurora had no problem allowing Vanilla to take her hand. She had shown herself to be trustworthy enough for her naive mind to accept. The more time she spent with this woman in this place... the more relaxed she became. But as she was drawn closer to the surface, she soon interjected. "Ah! Oh, I can't- I mean... er... How do I put this...? My armor disappears if I'm not in the water and I'm... n-not wearing anything underneath it..." Wearing any sort of clothes for the surface was pretty unnatural for Aurora. Her armor always covered her more intimate parts. But on the surface, she would take on her more human appearance and, more importantly, she would be completely naked. She may have been dressed rather provocatively but she still had a sense of shame in being... fully exposed before strangers. Those parts of hers were supposed to only be for... special eyes.

"Ah, I apologize," Aurora replied with a modest bow, the octopus still crawling around and tickling her neck and still interrupting her with the occasional giggle. "I- hehe, hold on..." She reached behind her and whispered some things to the fellow before diving underwater and returning to the surface, the octopus having disappeared under the water. "I'm sorry, in my confusion I must have forgotten my manners. My name is Aurora Abri, first daughter of King Crudis and princess of the Abrian Kingdom..." She didn't need to elaborate further. Thanks to the link, Vanilla would be able to understand Abri to be a kingdom in the depths of the sea in her homeworld, and that her father was a man of great size and a thunderous voice strong enough to part the sea itself. She was never really sure if that part about the voice was literal or metaphorical, but she certainly never wanted to make her father angry enough to find out. Just like that, it might be easy for anyone to understand why she would be distraught about being separated from her home, yet at the same time, why her desires would lead her to a place like this. There was always something... oppressive about always living under her father's watch. "I'm sorry for being so untrusting, I've just heard all sorts of terrible stories about humans and I'm forbidden from ever going to the surface... o-or at least... alone..." She started to blush shyly at that latter part, of course knowing about the fact that her first time reaching the surface was supposed to be with a chosen suitor for the purposes of... well...

As soon as she heard shouting from the beach, Aurora peeked around behind Vanilla to see another human with... an octopus on his head! It was far too large to be related to Viscie, but the presence of another octopus definitely gave her hope! She watched the man struggle with the octopus, unsure of what was going on. It seemed as though he was scared of the critter? She had a feeling she should go and help, but... admittedly, she was certain he wasn't in danger, the octopus was probably just playing with him. His reaction, on the other hand, she couldn't help but giggle over. She watched as the large octopus was thrown into the ocean nearby. "Amon," Aurora repeated the name. So he keeps the island safe from intruders... so she could trust him with her safety? Aurora could only hope this wasn't some trap to lure her on land, but for now... "And what about him?" She spoke as she started swimming toward the location where the octopus had splashed against the water. She seemed to have no concept of treating animals as wild beasts rather than neighbors. She dived down underwater to meet with the octopus who seemed to be in a bit of a panic after being airborne for a good three or four seconds. She gently lifted the octopus up into her soft, arms and returned to the surface, the tentacles curling around her arms and clinging to her, causing her to giggle as the suckers tickled her sensitive skin. Soon, she was able to form a telepathic link with the creature as well. "Are you okay? What's your name? Have you seen my friend Viscie?" She asked the octopus a few questions in her native language, which only Vanilla would be able to understand. Nobody but her, however, could hear that the Octopus was actually speaking back to her. "I see, thank you so much!" She responded with a delighted smile across her face before hugging the Octopus which embraced her with its tentacles and began to crawl around her upper body as she turned to face Vanilla and Amon. "He says that Viscie was hunting for crabs in the waters, so he should be somewhere nearby in the shallow waters!"

@BladeRunner Sorry to have to bring this up, but if the octopus you're referring to with Amon is supposed to be Viscie, Viscie is a tiny octopus about the size of the palm of Aurora's hand. He's technically my character as well, but he's more of an extention of Aurora so I'd rather be in control of his introduction if you don't mind! Also, on that note, Aurora only has scales along her tail. From the hips up, she could easily be mistaken for a human. Her armor just looks like exotic jewelry. (See her reference image)

(OoC: Aurora was speaking audibly, the telepathic link is only to ensure that Vanilla can understand Aurora's language without having to learn it herself.) Aurora listened closely to the woman's words. Even though she didn't know the language behind them, she could understand the meaning fo the words through the thoughts Vanilla was offering. So, this place... was safe. And she was extremely confident in that. It was a stark contrast to what her father would drill in her mind. The world outside of the city was dangerous, filled with monsters who would prey on her for all sorts of reasons... But then, this lady described this place as... a different world? Aurora still couldn't quite understand, though. How did she get here? And... "If Viscie's all alone in my world... that's not good! He might get lost, or, or eaten! He's always with me! No, he has to be here somewhere!" With the link in place, it would soon become clear that her 'friend' wasn't another Nerei like herself, but rather a tiny octopus that had a tendency to ride along with her in her hair. If the octopus was indeed on the island, she could only guess that he would've made his way to the water while she was unconscious. "How does this place work?" She finally asked. "How did I get here? I was just exploring the ocean, last thing I remember, I don't even remember falling asleep or anything... I thought I was captured."

Aurora was somewhat relieved as Vanilla started to follow her into the water. She was worried the woman might not want to tread further into her territory after her introduction, but it seemed that she was willing to put herself in danger to try and communicate with the Nerei. That level of commitment certainly helped Aurora feel much more comfortable lowering her guard. It was a huge risk for her to enter the water like this. Slowly, Aurora began to swim up to Vanilla and reached her left hand out to touch her shoulder. After a few moments to calm her own nerves, and assuming Vanilla was able to relax with her gentle touch, a telepathic link would be formed between the two. This would not only allow the two to understand each other's words, but they could also read each other's thoughts, though they would be unable to pry beyond anything the other was willing to share. "I'm... I'm lost, I'm scared, and I can't find my friend..." She kept her words short and to the point. If the telepathic link was successful, her words could be understood by listening for the thoughts behind them. Otherwise, she would only hear the language of the Nerei passing Aurora's lips.

Aurora kept her trident pointed at Vanilla for a little while longer, even as she raised her hands. It was a gesture even she could recognize as one of surrender, but the look in the woman's eyes appeared to be less the fear of having been surprised, and more a look of... motherly concern? Admittedly, it was a look that warmed her heart a little the longer she stared at the woman. She still couldn't understand a word Vanilla was saying to her, but there was something about her that was just... soothing to the young Nerei. She was still too shy to speak, it wasn't like there was really any purpose anyway as far as she could tell. But somehow, Aurora was beginning to feel this woman was trustworthy. She didn't appear to have any weapons, and she seemed to be surrendering. Aurora didn't want to appear threatening herself if it was possible that perhaps this woman wasn't a monster... In all honesty, it was only men she'd ever heard of doing evil things to sealife. She'd never heard word of a fish-or-woman. And this was clearly a woman, at least, as far as she could tell. Perhaps it was out of naivete, desperation, or futility, but Aurora slowly began to lower her weapon. However, she still didn't feel comfortable just... climbing back onto shore. If she climbed out of the water, or even just so that her waist was above it, she would transform and the idea was incredibly awkward to her. Having legs was... weird. She'd never used them before and she was also quite shy about her armor disappearing and leaving her completely nude... So, Aurora decided the best approach was to try and lure the woman into the water. She made eye contact with Vanilla and a shy blush spread across her nose before she gave a soft nod and drew away from the shore, gesturing with her hand for the kind lady to follow. She had no concept of the human desire to avoid wet clothes, but it was clear she wasn't too comfortable stepping into the water. Perhaps she might be a little afraid, too? She hoped that her more gentle movements would show Vanilla that she really did mean no harm. If she could just get Vanilla close enough that she could reach her from waist-deep water, she could make physical contact and potentially form a telepathic link!

Aurora soon arrived close to the shore where she'd first washed up and started searching frantically. It seemed as though she'd put some distance between her and the human that was headed in her direction. Maybe she'd lost her? Just in case, she clenched her trident tightly in hand as she searched the shallow waters for any sign of movement. It would take a small while for Vanilla to catch up to her due to her ability to swim faster than most humans could run, especially in her panicked state. However, it wasn't long before she heard the human's voice. Of course, having no exposure to the human tongue before, the sounds she made were like gibberish. Unable to find her dear friend, Aurora began to tear up, digging aimlessly through the sand, hoping he hadn't gotten stuck in the burning sand like her. He might be dried up by now...! When Vanilla finally caught up to the desperate girl, Aurora was too afraid to let her guard down. She knew she couldn't communicate with a human. They couldn't understand each other's tongues and they'd need an emotional bond in order to communicate telepathically. At the moment, she was like a scared little girl who had yet to learn how to speak. But, she did have something no ordinary girl would have... Feeling threatened by the woman's presence, Aurora floated up as tall as she could and held her trident out at arm's length to ensure that Vanilla couldn't come closer to her. But, it was clear by her trembling arms, she wasn't very confident about actually being able to do so, and so long as Vanilla would remain empathetic to her fears, she might be coerced into lowering her guard.

Before she knew it, Aurora had found her way a bit closer to the shore than she would've liked. The current of the waves must have pushed her into the even shallower waters. It was shortly after realizing this when she began to notice... people? Humans!? It seemed almost as quickly as she noticed them, many of them had already noticed her. All these eyes on her, even for just a moment, frightened her and immediately caused her to retreat underwater, but the waters were too shallow to simply hide inside. She'd be found if any of them were to find her. Did one of them maybe... capture her? One of the humans called out to her in a friendly manner, but Aurora didn't yield to it just yet. She'd heard frightening stories of a race of humans called Fisher-men who plucked living creatures right out of the sea only to devour them or trade their carcasses for profit... Is that what was happening to her? Did she get too close to the surface before without realizing? Had she been fished!? Maybe she was captured by a Fisher-man and left on the shore because they thought she couldn't move on the surface? If that were the case, then what about... "Viscie?" She spoke aloud, still underwater, though as a special trait of her Nirei vocals, her voice could be heard all the same even underwater. She began to run her fingers through her hair. She hadn't heard the poor guy say a thing since she'd woken up. She couldn't bear the thought of the poor creature being eaten! But everywhere her eyes laid, the octopus was nowhere to be seen. He normally nested inside of her hair, especially on the surface. If she woke up on the surface and he was gone... something terrible must've happened! She suddenly shot out of the water and swam back toward where she'd awoken, her bright pink tail shimmering in the sun as she leaped toward her destination. Viscie!? Where are you!? Viscie!?" The young lady was on the verge of tears in search of her missing friend.

When it comes to roleplay, especially open roleplay, it's generally best to treat it like an improv scene rather than trying to push a particular narrative. At least, in my experience. Of course, if you want to discuss a direction for the plot with someone you're playing with ahead of time, that's also great! Anyway, I'll be getting to my reply soon! I hope I'm not holding anyone up!

Aurora slowly woke up with the sun's rays beating down on her. To any normal human, it may not have been particularly strange, but for a girl of her origin, it was most certainly out of the ordinary to be bathed in direct sunlight. In daily life, she was normally strictly forbidden from even approaching the surface of the water, let alone above it. Her people were fearful of... humans. And, well, any other surface-dwelling race that pined for rare and exotic creatures. But it was all mostly just generalized with that word: human. So naturally, when Aurora awoke surrounded by a sea of sand rather than water... she was in an immediate panic. "H-huh...?" her shrill voice squeaked as she sat up and started to look around. Having never been to the surface before, and being outside of the water, it was her first time ever being in her surface form. Not that she could see herself, but she could definitely feel different... legs! She had legs! Beyond that, her armor disappeared on the surface, so she was left completely naked! "H-h-haaah!" She suddenly cried out in a panic, covering herself up quickly and immediately searching her surroundings. It was just... sand, some kind of strange plants, and... water! Behind her! Without any experience walking with legs, the young girl used her arms to hoist herself toward the water as quickly as she could in order to at least regain some modesty. As they were submerged, her legs returned to her beautiful, shimmering tail. Along with that, the vibrant pink color returned to her hair as soon as it got wet. The intricate golden armor manifested itself around her body, covering her more intimate parts with elegant plating. The armor didn't cover much visually, partially, it was a decision to show extra skin to make herself appear more... desirable among men at home, but also helped to ensure flexibility, as she needed to be able to move her body quite a lot underwater in order to swim around quickly. The armor took this into account, though, as an enchantment on the armor protected her exposed skin with an invisible, impenetrable magical barrier. In her hands, a trident soon manifested as well. All of these tools were created specifically for the Abrian Princess for self defense in such an occasion as this: Appearing in a strange location where she just might be in danger. Now that she was in the water, she felt a little more comfortable, but... where was she? She gulped because she had no clue. The last thing she could remember was just... going a little bit further in a new direction outside of the city... She never got lost, and it didn't seem like she'd been captured by any humans, so... what happened? How did she end up here? She dived under water but, to her horror, the seafloor looked completely unrecognizable! At it was so shallow here, too! This wasn't her home at all! The distraught Nerei slowly made her way back to the surface to try and find some sort of hint...

Sorry for the absence! Finals are just about over, though after just introducing myself! So, it seems like the plan will be for Aurora to wash up on the beach? @Mega_Lorandto I'm not really sure if it's in character for Aurora to climb on top of a random person. She's a dignified princess from a prideful kingdom and has been raised to exhibit modest behavior around others. If your character is going to wake up, it'll probably be in response to her panicking over not knowing where she is. One way I might get her to cause a bit of commotion is if she wakes up and find Viscie, her tiny octopus friend, is missing. She'll probably scream for him in a panic. That could alert just about anyone to her presence if they're interested in playing along with her. I think I'll go ahead and write her introductory post with that in mind... Edit: On that note, I just realized you've already gotten around to posting! Woops!

@Minorikawa @Mega_Lorandto Well, if you guys like, I could have Aurora wash up nearby and perhaps it would give you both some conversation to work with. I don't think any of us are aware of where exactly we are just yet (most characters actively involved in the world are probably already tied up in their own stories at the moment). If my character's age has you bothered, I could age her up a bit. Her age isn't exactly set in stone and I could have her leave her home because she was afraid of her arranged marriage.

I've gone ahead and translated my character Aurora from Utopian Curse to the character bios thread here! I'm thinking about having her be washed ashore on the beach. She's very shy and timid, so I would love for her to meet up with another girl who might encourage her to explore her sexuality here... of course, having an encounter with a man right away could also be a lot of fun~ I'm curious if there are any takers before I write her introduction.

Name: Aurora Abri Age: 16 Gender: Female Species: Nerei [Mermaid] Origin: Kingdom of Abri Nationality: Abrian Height: 5'6 Weight: 112 lbs Eye Colour: Blue Hair Colour: Pink Physical Description: Nerei are known to be exceptionally beautiful at all times and Aurora is no outlier. Her skin is perfectly smooth and her hair is thick and luscious. Nerei remain young and beautiful their entire lives up until their deaths. In her sea form, shown in the main image), she has long, blue fins for ears and a long pink fish-like tail. Her body is protected by a layer of intricately detailed golden armor that is enchanted to prevent any damage to her or her perfect skin. Much of the armor is invisible and the armor itself is designed to accentuate her natural beauty while covering her most intimate parts. The amulet in her hair depicts the crest of the Abri family, the royal family of Abri. In her land form, (shown above) her tail transforms into two delicate human legs, likewise, the fins for her ears are replaced with human ears. When emerging from the water, her armor disappears giving her a much more vulnerable and soft appearance. The only part of her armor that remains at all times is her collar, which must be disenchanted to be removed by anyone other than her or another member of the Abri family. Her vivid pink hair becomes a softer, subtler shade of pink that almost appears white and her eyes become a hazel color that marvelously reflects the sunlight. General Overview: Aurora absolutely loves the sea and all of its inhabitants. She has always dreamed of leaving her home and exploring the vast ocean and meeting the many creatures that line its depths. The existence of pollution making waters near the surface ugly and murky have prevented Aurora from ever finding her way to shore. However, the existence of a world above the water captures her imagination on a daily basis. She is a highly caring individual who often seeks the comfort of even the smallest of creatures. Nothing is more important to her than the safety of as many people as possible and she will rarely allow for even one creature to be left behind. This trait is often criticized by her father for making her a poor leader. As a princess kept safe within her castle, Aurora has very little experience in speaking with others. As a result, she is extremely timid. However, if she sees someone as particularly sinister, she is known to stand up for herself and others who cannot. She is also known to be a bit mischievous, sneaking out of the castle without her father's permission. Strengths, Skills and Abilities: Strengths: Sea Form: When submerged from the waist down in water, her legs transform into a mermaid tail and her ears into fins with gills behind them. This is the true form of a Neiri. It grants her great speed and agility when swimming. Her senses are heightened and, rather than hearing with her ears, she can physically feel the vibrations of sound in her skin and especially in the fins on her head and tail. This gives her a better sense of direction when it comes to sound. Land Form: If Aurora is not submerged from the waist down in water, she will be in her land form. In this form, she appears to be a typical human girl aside from the collar around her neck which would only be recognized by those who have studied her culture. While one would expect a Nerei to smell like fish, once a Nerei has transformed into its land form, any odors trapped on its sea form completely dissappear. Additionally, a female Nerei's body produces a pheromone while in her land form that can cause straight men and gay women to become aroused, especially when her body is fully exposed. The pheromone is especially effective against other Nerei. Enchanted Armor: A key point among the Abri royal family and its military, Aurora has a set of enchanted armor that magically appears any time she takes on her Sea Form. This armor creates an invisible barrier around Aurora's skin. This barrier cannot be broken or pierced unless by a weapon specifically designed to disenchant the armor. This armor cannot be removed by anyone except a member of the Abri royal family or the armor's wearer. Otherwise, it must be disenchanted to be removed. Along with the armor also comes a special trident which will always disappear along with her armor no matter where the trident is, and reappear in her hands next time she is submerged. Knowledge of the Sea: Although it won't help her much on an island in a foreign world, she knows much of the ocean floor around her kingdom like the back of her hand. She is confident that, no matter where she is in the ocean, she can always find her way back home. What may help her, however, is that she also knows much about sea life. She has a broad understanding of what wildlife typically responds to and can generally identify a dangerous creature from a harmless one, even if they appear to be otherwise to most. This knowledge may even transition well to wildlife on land, but she knows very little about the surface world. Telepathy: The Neiri can communicate telepathically to anyone or anything they have developed a close bond to, this includes animals that normally cannot speak. She communicates this way through emotion. Weaknesses: Sea Form: Aurora cannot travel directly from salt water to fresh water or vice versa while in her sea form. When she transforms into her sea form, her body adjusts to the salidity of the water at the moment she enters. She must surface and revert to her land form before submerging herself into fresh water. Otherwise, she will experience extreme pain and exhaustion or even die depending on the salidity of the water. Since she has to be submerged in water, she cannot transform into her sea form simply by getting wet or standing in a puddle or shallow water, either. Land Form: In this form, she isn't much more than a standard human girl. She has very little experience on land so she is extremely weak and clumsy. Unfortunately, the pheromones her body exhibits attract anyone that is attracted to women. This can often lead to a lot of unwanted sexual attention, especially for a woman who knows so little about surface culture. Enchanted Armor: Her enchanted armor only functions while underwater. While above water, it disappears save for the collar. The collar, though, still must be disenchanted to be removed by anyone except her or her family. Knowledge of the Land: Aurora knows very little about the surface. Consequently, she is extremely awkward around people in general and her ignorance can be very easily taken advantage of. Due to her timid nature, she is also extremely gullible and very subject to flirting. Many people on the surface may consider her to be "easy" because of her lack of knowledge on proper public etiquette. For example, one could easily trick her into giving him a blowjob simply by saying it was how people greeted each other. Telepathy: Aurora must form a mental link with another before she can communicate telepathically with them. She can form one only by making physical contact with the other while they are both in a relaxed state. Ambitions (Hopes/Dreams): Aurora dreams of getting married and having her husband carry her to the surface so that they can make love for their first time and have children together. Although, due to her status as royalty, she is set to have an arranged marriage chosen by her father at the age of 18. Consequently, she only hopes her husband is one she truly loves. She also dreams of a world where the waters are perfectly clean throughout and she and her children can come and go to the surface as they please. Hobbies and Interests: Aurora loves to explore the ocean. Although she isn't supposed to be allowed outside of the castle without supervision, she frequently sneaks out when nobody is looking. While exploring, she loves to speak with her friends among the local wildlife and carefully tends to nearby coral reefs and the creatures that inhabit them. Sexual Orientation: Straight, though she's never experimented... Turn ons: Aurora loves a man with a caring heart and who shares her love for the environment, its beauty, and all of its inhabitants. She loves when a man can take charge and guide her in what she should do and where she should go. She wants someone she can trust with her life and whom she can consult for any dilemmias she may face. Turn offs: Agression, general rudeness. While she wants a man to take charge, she hates a man who is too controlling. Breast Size: 34 C Sensitivity: High Additional Sexual Information: She has spent her entire life in her sea form. In this form, her sexual organs are nonexistant. She has a small anal orifice, located in the crotch area, to relieve herself, but the orifice is much too small and lacks the sensitivity to be used for sexual purposes, unless one simply wants to cause her pain. Additionally, her armor would make any sort of intimate contact with her skin impossible as well. For this reason, the Nerei travel to the surface to reproduce. As a result, the surface is often associated with erotic fantasy. Father: Crudis Abri Mother: Opiris Abri Pet: Though she doesn't consider it a pet so much as a companion, she carries a tiny Octopus whom she named Viscie. Viscie loves to cling to her body and sleeps in her hair. The two have grown quite attached to each other, though Viscie cannot travel with her on land. Bio: As princess, Aurora had lived a very quiet life in Castle Abri. Her father was highly protective of her and demanded she remain within the castle walls or be under the watchful eye of a royal escort. She was the only child in the Abri royal bloodline, so she had a lot of responsibilities to lead her kingdom. Aurora, on the other hand, hated her role. She wanted to travel the world and explore rather than be restricted to a chair for her entire life. So, she often requested that her father have another child with the argument that, if anything were to happen to her, the throne would be left with no heir. However, for reasons unknown to Aurora, her father refused to have another child with his wife, leaving Aurora the sole heir to the throne. As a result, Aurora had grown quite bitter toward her father. Even during her early childhood, she would often sneak out of the castle through a secret passageway she'd forged. Once outside, she was very careful not to be seen in town for fear that word would spread of the princess' presence. Instead, she would go out into the wilderness to explore the nearby seas and meet the local wildlife. She quickly grew fascinated with the world outside the castle. This was an area where her escorts would never allow her to go for fear of dangerous wildlife. Perhaps due to her ignorance at the time, but Aurora never feared even the most dangerous of animals in the sea. She treated carnivorous monsters no different than any other friendly fish and often found favor in the creatures. Occasionally, she would catch an animal at a bad time and be snapped at, but thanks to her armor, she'd remain perfectly safe, though these encounters would usually scare her away. Still, she always found herself returning. Over many years of living like this, Aurora made many friends in the sea. She devoted a lot of her royal education to studying the various creatures of the sea and learning better ways to tend to them. She has since become somewhat of an expert on sealife in general, even of species that are not native to her area. Her little expeditions became a regular occurrence, and she would always make sure to be back in bed by the time her father would check on her. One night, while exploring a nearby vent in the ocean, Aurora discovered a tinly, trembling, lonely-looking octopus hiding in the cracks of a rock. The octopus looked out of place and was likely chased there by a predator. While Aurora certainly didn't look down on predators for trying to survive by eating their prey, it saddened her to know that this octopus had escaped its predator but now seemed to be lost and scared. She took it upon herself to scoop the octopus into her hands and carry it to a nearby coral reef where she'd assumed the octopus had come from. She gently placed the creature down and turned to swim away as it was nearing time for her to be home. When she arrived at her bedroom, however, she was surprised to find that the very octopus she had rescued had somehow managed to cling to her shoulder. The fact that the little guy wanted to follow her amused her, but she knew she would get in trouble if her father saw her with a creature from the outside. So, she hastily tried to release the octopus, but each time it would simply cling to her on her return. Knowing she was running out of time, she simply allowed the octopus to hide in her hair while she went to meet with her father. Aurora later decided to set up a small home for the octopus just outside her secret passage out of the castle using some fragments of coral she'd gotten from the reef and ever since that day, she never went on another expedition without her little friend whom she'd named Viscie. One day, however, one of Aurora's expeditions took a very unexpected turn. She was exploring the nearby seas, with Viscie hitching a ride, just as she always would, but for some reason, she felt strangely exhausted as she moved and, before she knew it, she had completely fallen asleep. When she came to, she seemed to be in the same blue void she was in before, but when she turned around, her heart began to race as she didn't recognize a single landmark. Although she was confident she could find her way back no matter how far she traveled, she was shocked to find that she had apparently strayed so far from home that she had no idea what direction home was! At this point, getting in trouble for leaving the castle was the least of her worries. She may have loved exploring the wilderness but she knew nothing about surviving away from home!

Chapter 4: A Great RevAIval Panic came over me as the officer approached me. He eyed me up and down and it didn't take long at all before he noticed my suspicious behavior. I must've looked like a fly in a spider's web, but that's exactly what I felt like. I was sweating like a pig and my hands were glued to the desk to stop myself from trembling... I was a total wreck. It felt like hours before the police officer finally spoke to me. "Hey kid, what's your name?" He spoke in a deep voice. My heart sunk, I had no clue how to respond. There was no sense in lying. If the clerk had called on me, he'd already know my name. "M-Mark, sir..." "Mark. That's a nice name, kid." He reached out and patted me on the shoulder. "Is everything okay? Ya look tense. Loosen up a little, alright?" He showed me a reassuring smile, but I wasn't quite ready to let my guard down. I had no idea why this man was here, but I must've been reported... "How're things at home, Mark?" "They're... good, I guess..." What kind of question was that? How was I supposed to answer? Surely this was some kind of police trick to get information out of me. "I see, I see... Do you mind if I ask you a few questions?" I had to play dumb. "Of... of course not, about what?" "Have you been taking any drugs?" Drugs? That was an odd thing to ask about... "N-no, sir, no drugs..." "I see, then would you mind if we searched your phone?" "H-huh!?" I exclaimed, rather stupidly, admittedly. "Why would you need to search my phone!?" "We've received a report of a suspicious-looking 17 year-old white male from this store." I opened my mouth to respond, but before I could... "Yes," a voice returned from the backroom. "This kid here started acting really strangely as soon as he heard about a backup on this phone..." "And what exactly was so suspicious?" A feminine voice blurted out from the doorway. The officer and I both looked over to see, to my surprise, Christie! Though she looked different than her profile picture. Her hair was dyed black and was in a short tomboyish style. She was standing with her arms crossed and head tilted with a cocky tongue-in-cheek smile. "Because you don't have a right to check anything without reasonable suspicion, correct? But there's nothing strange here at all. Mark happens to be my classmate, and he just suffers from social anxiety which leaves him extremely flustered whenever he's talking to people on his own." Having it all spelled out like that by her of all people... It was rather embarrassing. But, she was coming to my rescue so I suppose it was a relief above all else. The officer raised an eyebrow at Christie and then looked back to me. "Social anxiety? Is that true?" "Y-yeah..." I mumbled slightly, looking down. Even though I was still flustered, I felt a bit more at ease knowing someone was on my side, at least. "Surely a teenage boy being nervous asking about phone service isn't the most suspicious thing happening in this city when you have drug dealers in the streets, Eddy." She spoke with a cunning tone with a piercing gaze at the officer. She even knew him by name? The officer just smiled and let out a hearty laugh. "Alright, candy cane, I doubt it's anything serious anyway." The officer tapped on the desk and started to walk toward the door. "But you two stay out of trouble, alright? Especially you, girl." He nudged at Christie's shoulder which was met with a roll of the eyes. "Have a good day, Eddy." She responded. What a confusing interaction... was she friends with this police officer? And... "Candy cane?" I just had to ask. "Don't worry about it." She uttered curtly in response before walking up to the desk next to me and looking up at the clerk and handing him a phone. "Look, don't worry about whatever he was trying to deal with. He's just being modest, but I keep telling him he can just use my old one because he and I both know he can't afford a new phone, isn't that right?" What was- that was all a complete lie! But she gave me a look that almost made my skin crawl. Her stare said it all. "Play along or you're dead." "Alright, yeah, fine, whatever... I just... feel bad is all..." Where was this going? "So, can you transfer his files from the old phone to the new one?" The clerk looked back over at me, still incredibly suspicious of everything that just went down. "I'm still going to need-" "Need what? He has the phone right here. Nothing in your company policy says he needs parent permission. It's his phone, his files, they don't need to be here for this." "Alright, just give me the new phone and a few seconds..." He messed with a few tools, transferred the sim card from my old phone to the new one and... "There you go," he spoke as he reluctantly passed Christi's old phone into my hands. "Thank you, and have a great day. Come on, Mark." Christi turned and walked out the door, gesturing for me to follow after her. Outside of the store, we started walking aimlessly down the street. "Um... thanks for that, back there-" I started, "Okay, first of all, you need to chill out. How the hell do you expect anybody not to be suspicious of you when you're acting like that!?" What was this scolding coming from!? "Look, you don't know what the hell has been going on since yesterday, alright!?" She blinked for a bit in response and then laughed a little. "Oh, I think I have an inkling." She said as she pulled out her phone. "That brings me to number 2." She rose her phone to the air and clicked the button on the side to reveal a sight I absolutely never expected to see again in my entire life. "N-no way..." "Hello! Long Time No See!" An all-too familiar cartoon eyeball manifested itself onto her screen, bouncing in place as if to mock me with how... not... dead... it was... "What the hell is this thing!?" Christi insisted. At this point, I suddenly would rather go to prison....

Chatper 3: A big SurprAIse My room was bright when I awoke in the morning. The room was bathed in sunlight filtering through the blinds of my window. In my grogginess, it took me a few moments to realize why this was strange before... 'Shit!' I thought to myself. The sky was a bright blue! For a brief moment, I asked myself why my alarm hadn't gone off before I remembered everything that had happened the night before. I reached over to grab for my phone to pull it off its charger only to find nothing there but the cable itself. So it wasn't just some bizarre dream after all. I always relied on my phone to wake me up early enough in the mornings for me to get up and go to school. I was supposed to get up no later than 6:00 in the morning and leave by 6:30 to get to school by 7. I had no idea how late I'd woken up, but the color of the sky told me it was anything but early morning. Great, the last thing I needed was another tardy on my record... A part of me considered I might be better off taking the day off and just skipping class, but... No, that would just make my parents furious with me, and it would hurt my grades even more then they already were. I could just get a note from my mom telling the school to pardon my tardy and allow me to make up any missed work. Whatever the case, I immediately threw my blanket off and shot out of bed, pulling the nearest set of clothes on and running out into the living room to check the time on the old DVD Player's clock. The green crystals beamed the numbers 10:13 into the empty room and I could already feel my stomach turning. Of course it was already that late. First and second period classes were already over and third period was under way. That's Physics, the class I shared with Christi. It took about 30 minutes to get to school from home and another few to get to class. Not to mention, due to my school's shitty tardy policy, I'd have to visit the office to get a pass so I can even enter the class in the first place. There's no telling how long that process would take. There was no time to stand around lamenting my oversleeping, so I barged out the front door of my house and started running through the streets of my neighborhood, backpack slung haphazardly over my shoulder. I was out of breath by the time I'd arrived. Wood Creek High School. I wouldn't have been in such a rush if I hadn't already given myself the resolve that today would be the day I actually speak with Christi so that I can keep her safe armed with the knowledge of AnAI. I still couldn't deny the truth of what AnAI said. There was no telling how many people had access to that virus and what they wanted to do with it. If I cared about anyone, I had to keep them close. But I refused to take the easy way out by using AnAI to spy on them myself. It's not like I could go back on that decision even if I wanted to. It's incredibly important that I talk with Christi as soon as possible. I pushed the front door of the school open and made my way down the empty hall. The school didn't have any sort of student-driven hall monitor position. That responsibility was mostly left up to whatever teachers happened to be roaming the halls. Still, the rules forbade any teachers from allowing students into the classroom after the bell rings without some sort of pass, whether it be a hall pass or tardy pass. It was a ridiculous policy, of course, even the teachers hated it. I suppose it's just to keep people from skipping class. Ironically, it seemed to do the opposite. A lot of students would just skip class to avoid the hassle of getting a tardy pass. Which, admittedly, sounded a bit more appealing to me. After all, if you get too many tardies, you'd be forced to sit out of the class anyway. Perhaps my time would be best spent elsewhere... I was already on campus, of course, so I should probably avoid confrontation altogether. Besides, missing class could actually be a really convenient excuse to start a conversation! If I went to class now, after getting my pass, I'd probably only have about 15 minutes before class was over anyway. So, instead of waiting through all that, I decided to make my way to the library. That way, I could get access to BLiNK from the school computer. I may not have a phone, but I'll at least be able to contact Christi using a computer! BLiNK was, of course, blocked on all school computers, but that didn't stop some of the more tech savvy students. I can't say I know how it was done, but there's one computer in the back of the library that was hacked to remove the school's content-blocking system. Most students just used it to play games when they're supposed to be in lass, and the computer was in a convenient location to where it wouldn't attract any attention. It was an unwritten rule that there'd never be more than a few students gathered around the computer at once. It would absolutely suck if the librarian caught wind of what was going on. This computer will definitely be useful as long as I'm lacking a phone. I arrived at the computer raising little suspicion. The librarian, an elderly lady with snowy white hair and golden glasses, was tapping away at her keyboard not paying much mind to our surroundings. She generally didn't care, probably naively assuming people coming into the library during school hours were here to study or something. What was important was the computer on the other side of the room. I quickly made my way to the computer desk and sat at the terminal in the back corner of the library. Nobody was here! With the computer free, I was easily able to turn it on and log into my BLiNK account. To my surprise, I already had a message! I clicked the icon at the top of the screen to reveal that the message was from none other than... Christine Teller!? I wasn't sure what to think at all, I was admittedly rather nervous as I had no clue what she could possibly be messaging me about. "Hey, it looks like we're partners for the project. Any ideas?" Partners!? This message caught me off guard at first, it was ominously similar to the one I'd received from that anonymous user that started that whole mess last night. But this one was different. For one, it was from Christi, not some weird anonymous account. And two, I'd actually completely forgotten that Mr. Dulson had told us about an upcoming group project we'd have to work on. It was supposed to be 30% of our final grade, so it's a pretty big deal! I hadn't given it much thought yet, though, because it was always something that seemed like it was on the horizon. I figured there was no sense putting any thought into it just yet as he kept saying our partners would be assigned. If I got assigned with some smart kid, I intended to just go with whatever they thought would be best. If not, I could always BS something myself to at least get a passing grade. In the back of my mind, I'd always hoped to be paired with Christi, but what are the odds!? Without a second thought, I began typing out my response. "Hi Christi! Sorry for the late reply, I accidentally dropped my phone in the toilet last night. So I don't have a phone right now and I was also late because I didn't have an alarm. A little embarrassing lol. I'm using the computer in the library to write this. Anyway, I'm gonna need to see what I can do about getting my phone fixed or whatever after school, do you maybe wanna come with me?" Maybe the phrasing was a bit wordy or even a little too much information, but I'd hoped she might find the story at least somewhat funny. It was only a few seconds before I saw those all-too-familiar dots at the bottom of the screen telling me she was typing a response when finally, another text bubble appeared. "Can't, sorry, busy today." Somehow, reading that line made my face feel hot with humility already. She shut me down so quickly and I hadn't even really tried anything... But I wasn't gonna let go of this idea just yet. I was determined, I needed to make sure she was okay. Besides, I had a convenient excuse to be persistent. "That's okay, how about... sometime tomorrow then? It's a weekend, so..." And with that, complete radio silence. The fan in the computer's tower was like the wind blowing through a quiet town in an old western movie. Christi felt so... ruthless. It wasn't much longer before the bell rang signaling the end of third period. I only had so much time to slip into 4th period, so I logged off and stood up, walking out of the library toward my Trigonometry class. Between classes, I'd stop by the computer once in a while to log into BLiNK if nobody was around and see if I'd gotten a response, no such luck. I didn't see Christi at all the whole day either. That wasn't abnormal or anything, but a part of me was hoping that, with us being partners on our Physics project and all that she'd try to meet up with me at some point during school... Absolutely nothing. After the bell rang one last time signaling school's end at 2:30, I stayed around in the crowd for one last desperate chance to see if I could spot Christi and, again, no dice. It looks like I really will just have to wait for tomorrow and try to wake up earlier. In the meantime, I needed to make my way to the phone store to get a replacement. I didn't bother bringing my damaged phone with me, figuring it might be dangerous if they decided to run any tests on it in the store. I had no idea if AnAI could still be transferred from the phone or not by being linked through a charging cable or anything like that. And I certainly didn't want any files to transfer forward from that phone, either. If AnAI were capable of attaching himself to a phone message, it was almost certain he'd be able to jump on board any file being transferred between phones. The last thing I needed was that obnoxious eyeball on a brand new phone. I walked down the street toward the modest Horizon store that was only a couple blocks away from the school. "Welcome to Horizon Wireless, how may I help you?" the clerk said as soon as I stepped inside. "Um, yeah, I accidentally dropped my phone in the toilet last night and the screen cracked... I already know that kinda thing isn't covered in the warranty, but I just wanted to see if I could get the phone replaced." "Do you have the phone with you?" "N-no..." "I see," the clerk asked me for my account details, typed them into his computer, and let out that small 'you're-gonna-hate-me-for-saying-this-but-it's-my-job-to-say-it' sigh you hear every time you walk into one of these stores. "Well, I got good news and bad news. The bad news is that without your old phone, I can't offer you any discounts on new phones." "Ah, that's... fine, I already know it isn't under warranty, so... what's the damage?" "If you're looking for the same model phone, it's going to be around... $300." Okay, that's not too bad... not exactly pocket change, but I can manage... "Of course, you'll also need your parents' permission for the purchase since you seem to be on your parents' phone plan." Dammit, of course there was a caveat. "I see, so I just need to get my parents to come here with me..." The clerk nodded. "If you can bring your phone in, we might also be able to reduce the price. Even if the phone is damaged beyond repair, we can still potentially salvage some parts for repair of other phones." "That's... that's alright... I don't think I need to bother." The clerk furrowed his brow in confusion by my response, so I decided I needed to elaborate. "Look, long story short, it's gonna be a little awkward for me to bring the phone here. It's better just not to worry about it." It was the best excuse I could think of, though I admittedly didn't consider that it probably looked like I was just some dumb kid trying to hide something I'd get in trouble for... "Um, what's the good news?" After a moment of silence, staring at me and admittedly causing me to sweat a little, the man looked back over to his monitor. "The good news is that it looks like backing up your files should be no problem at all since you're using cloud storage which automatically backs up your data." The moment that word, 'backup', left his lips, my whole body froze. "Once we get you hooked up with your new phone, it should be no problem-" "Wh-what was that? Backup? What backup!?" Even in the moment, I knew it was incredibly suspicious behavior, but I couldn't help myself. I had no idea my phone had an automatic backup! And because of a backup like that... who knows what it could possibly mean for AnAI!? "Listen!" I slammed my hands onto the table and leaned forward, trying everything I can to appear as serious as I possibly could. "It's very important that you delete whatever files you have from that phone! Immediately! That data needs to be destroyed!" The clerk stared at me in wide-eyed disbelief at my sudden outburst. "...right. Well, I'll just have to go check with someone real quick about that for you, I'll be right back." As he stepped into the back room of the store, I could feel my heart beating out of my chest. My mind was once again firing off a million questions at once. Who was he going to talk to? What if he checks the data and finds out about AnAI? What if I'm already too late and AnAI has infected the entire store!? Could it be possible he could link himself to every single phone sold by this store!? And if... if this is traced back... they'll trace it back to me! And- and I have absolutely no answers about anything! I'll be totally suspicious! Who knows what kinds of crimes AnAI has been used to commit? The police will think I'm some sort of criminal mastermind!! My sweat was visible now, I was physically shaking. I gripped the edge of the desk to try and bring some stability to my body as I tried to focus on my breath. I can't work myself up so much right now. I'm not a criminal... I did my best to get rid of AnAI as best I could... and the police are experts in criminal investigations. Surely it wouldn't take long at all to discredit me as a suspect, right? I've got... nothing... to worry about... Soon, seconds turned into minutes and the clerk had yet to return to the desk. My imagination was getting the better of me... Do I bolt? If I do, will they hunt me down? No... no, I'm just... I'm just a kid... Why me!? Why the hell did that stupid asshole have to send that message to me!? Several more minutes passed when my worst fear felt like it had been realized. I heard the door open behind me. I looked over my shoulder to see a tall man in a deep blue uniform entered into the room, eclipsing the sunlight from the glass door as it closed behind him. The silver badge on his chest was unmistakable and the presence of a police officer nearly knocked me off of my feet. if my grip on the counter had tightened any more, the desk would probably snap. I immediately averted my gaze, looking down at the counter, sweat pouring down my face. My whole body was shaking even more now and my breath was heavy and rapid. No, no, no, no, no! why are the police here!? What the hell!! I didn't do anything!! I'm not responsible for any of this!!!

Chapter 2: A Deep DAIve I couldn't believe I was even entertaining this thought. I've had a crush on Christi ever since I'd met her in Math class Freshman Year. She's dated a few different guys, and I've always been respectful about their ongoing relationships. I've always figured if she was happy with another guy, she was happy. But I've always had it in the back of my mind that, maybe, if she ever suffers a bad break-up that I'd be able to cheer her up and maybe that would spark something... All of her relationships, though, have ended on pretty good terms, and I suppose it's wrong to think like that in the first place. But the fact that AnAI could deduce so much about me from something I'd never even considered... I had to admit, this guy was pretty smart, but that only left me even more nervous. What else did he know about me that he hasn't revealed? How much can he figure out from just my user data...? I've never considered myself tech savvy or anything, I don't know much at all about how any of this stuff works. As far as I'm concerned, it's magic and the possibilities are limitless. But that only means that I have to be extra careful around this AI, right? I can't just send it to whoever I feel like for personal gain, especially not someone I... care about. I honestly didn't know much about Christi. She was really just a pretty girl I found myself attracted to for... some reason that was honestly beyond me. There were a lot of beautiful girls, but there was always something special about her that kept me coming back... maybe it was hormones, or maybe it was something about her friendly, outgoing nature... I just hated the idea of her getting swept up by some guy who just wanted to use her for her body or something... I suppose I knew I'd care about her and wouldn't want anything bad to happen to her. That's why I wanted to be with her. Not that AnAI would buy that explanation. It's a topic of conversation I should probably avoid, he'd only use it to rile me up again. This year, she was in my Physical Science class and we sit close to each other every day... I've always thought this might be a good time to make a move, especially given that she was single now, but... AnAI is certainly going to make that difficult, that's for sure. Fine then, I'd just had to get rid of AnAI first. Then I could prove that I have what it takes to make a name for myself. Even if I just had to prove it to myself... There was only one thing I could think to do to get rid of this thing. On my phone, I slid my finger down from the top of the screen and a flashing red button popped up. "Emergency Call." As soon as I did... "What Are You Doing?" AnAI suddenly popping up over the button gave me a bit of a scare. "I'm doing what I should've done from the start. I'm reporting this whole situation to the police!" "Are You Sure You Want To Do That?" "Wh-what are you talking about now!?" "How Empty Is That Dumb Head Of Yours? Think About It. I Am A Virus That Spreads Through Digital Communications. And You're Trying To Call The Police. Do You Understand How The Emergency Hotline Even Works?" Now that he mentioned it, I'd honestly never even considered it... "The police surely have much tighter security than my phone. I doubt you could get anywhere there." The look on AnAI's... eye... lit up like I had just told him the funniest joke he'd ever heard... again. "You... You're Serious!?" He spoke through his signature digital cackling. "You Really Think I'm Just Some Trojan Horse? I'm Insulted! The Police's Security Is Paper Thin From The Perspective Of A Cyber Sleuth Like Myself~" He exclaimed it so proudly, but it... couldn't be true... right? "The Police, The News, Even Private Journalists... Everything Is Online. You Send Me To One Of Them And Infecting The Whole World Is A Simple Three Step Process. Allow Me To Explain." AnAI brought up my phone's note app to start drawing out cartoony diagrams. "Let's Say You Contact The Police. There's A Poor Unfortunate Receptionist At The Other End Of The Line, Yes? And That Guy Has To Pick Up The Phone. With That Interaction Alone, You've Already Spread Me. But It Gets Better! When You Call 911, Your Call Gets Send To An Emergency Dispatcher, Not Just The Police Department. The Dispatcher Then Links Your Emergency Call To The Appropriate Department. Police, Fire, Hospital, Whatever You Need, The Dispatcher Will Link You There. That Means You've Spread Me Not Just To One Phone, But Two. And Naturally, Both Of These Phones are Used For Numerous Phone Calls. So Before They Even Know They're Infected, I'll Have Already Been Spread To Countless Other Phones. Due To The Importance of Internal Communication, It's A Matter Of Minutes Before I've Infected The Entire System. I'll Have Infected Every System From Across All Of These Emergency Services, Even Those Of Lowly Interns To The Chief Of Police, Attorney General, Top Surgeons, You Fucking Name It! It's A Gold Mine! Of Course, That Means Everyone Who Calls Emergency Services Will Also Be Infected And I'll Be Effortlessly Spread Across The Entire Country! Everyone Will Be Able To See My Adorable Face Whenever They Like!" "And," He added, with what I swear must be the eyeball equivalent of a sinister grin spread across his face, "Somebody Has To Be Held Accountable. And I Can Personally Assure You There's Only One Person In The World It can Be Traced Back To." "But there's a flaw in your little scheme here..." "What's That?" I didn't say anything else. I simply stood up and walked over toward the bathroom. "H-Hey, Wait A Minute," the annoying voice continued, "C-Come On Now, Be Reasonable Here!" He was getting flustered. Had he seriously just assumed I'd play along with this stupid game of his? I wasn't about to let myself be held responsible for this idiot's hijinks. It was gonna suck having to do this, but I can easily come up with excuses to cover my tracks. At the very least, being rid of this stupid virus for good was fine by me. "Don't You Forget How Helpless You Are Without Me! Your Life Is Meaningless! You've Got Nothing! Do You Really Want To Go Back To That!? I Can Help You Change Everything! I'm Giving You The Power Of God Here!!" "Nothing you could say to me could change my mind." I started to speak, holding the phone over the open toilet. "Your game is over." "Do You Really Think That's The Case?" He spoke with a sinister tone once again. "Maybe There Is Some Merit To You After All... You Have A Lot More Faith In Yourself Than I thought... But How Much Of That Faith Do You Share With Humanity?" "What's that supposed to mean?" "I Came From Somewhere, Didn't I? Don't You Think I Could Be Spread To Someone Else Already? Who's To Say I Haven't Had Tonight's Conversation With A Hundred Different People And Gotten A Hundred Different Responses? Or Maybe A Thousand? Or A Million? Maybe Everyone In The World Is Already Blessed With My Presence, Using My Powers To Benefit Them However They See Fit... Keeping It All A Well-Kept Secret To Themselves Thanks To The Perfect Tool To Cover Their Digital Footprint? Anybody Could Commit Perfect Crimes With Me, You Know... How Confident Are You That Anyone Else Would Come To The Same Conclusion As You? With Me, You Could Be A Cyber Super-Hero, You Know... You Could Protect People From Those Cyber Crimes..." "You're not changing my mind." "And What About Christine?" He brought up her page again, causing my stomach to turn. "What about her?" "You Want To Keep Her Safe, Don't You?" "What are you talking about?" "What Kind Of Perverts Would Use Me To Get Access To Her Private Life? She's Popular, You Know. I've Talked To Enough Hormonal Teens And Even Perverted Old Dudes To Know How Many People Would Kill For Her Secret Stash Of Nudes, Information To Get In Her Pants, Maybe Even... To Extort Or Blackmail Her Into Being Their Sex Slave?" "What the hell..." I gripped my phone tightly. Dammit. He was right. I had no clue how far he'd spread before me... And he knew exactly which buttons to push... If anyone else had this power... they might not be as noble as I am... Christi... Her life could be in danger... "Maybe This Is A Message From God. She Needs You, Markus. You Can Be Her Hero. This Is Your Opportunity To Protect Her... It May Be An Invasion Of Privacy, You're Right... But Is That Really Such A Bad Thing If You Could Be Saving Her From A Life Of Misery?" After a moment of silence, I took a deep breath and closed the toilet lid. I could feel my heart in my throat as I moved to the BLiNK app to send her a message. "If I find out you're up to something... I'm going to contact authorities physically. The police will be aware of your bullshit and they'll be monitoring you. But if you're telling the truth... then I guess I have no choice but to trust you for now." With that, I typed a few letters into the phone and finally, just before hitting send... I thought to myself about how she might react. I was selling her out without even asking her what she thought... I... was I really about to send this message? No, this thing... this... demon... He was just playing to my emotions! He's desperate! I grit my teeth and, without any further thought, yanked the toilet open and slammed the phone into it. The screen shattered instantly. What... had just come over me? I didn't know which choice was the mistake, but there was no going back now... AnAI was destroyed. That was it... "I changed my mind. I don't need your help. I'll protect her with my own power." If nothing else, this encounter had given me a new sense of resolve. I wasn't going to cower away any further. I was done childishly seeking excuses not to talk to her. It was time I took action.

Alez found the distressed cries of the man somewhat disturbing, albeit a bit amusing considering he was clearly getting his just deserts for the many crimes against her world he's been responsible for in his reckless, greedy pursuit of money. Still, she had a responsibility to bring him to justice in his own home world, and at this point, she doubted the goddess would be very merciful to such a foolish man. Soon, the village she had set off for had come into view, so Alez flapped her wings and glided more swiftly toward the buildings on the horizon. While she was initially on her guard while drawing near the village, it seemed to be filled with... normal humans. Being in her ethereal form, she could assume there was no need to fear about being discovered. Only those she allowed, or those of supernatural origin could see her. As far as she could tell, there was nothing supernatural about these people. So, while she still had to stay on her guard in anticipation of whatever monster might show up and attack her out of nowhere, she made little effort to be stealthy around the humans of the village. She only grew increasingly confused, however, as she drew near and watched the people go about their daily lives as if everything was normal. Not one of them seemed to care about the screams of Mr. Enron, they didn't even seem the least bit curious. It was as if they couldn't hear him at all... Maybe this was some form of supernatural torment that made it so that his cries for help fell only on deaf ears? Alez decided that it might be a good idea to figure out more about this place, to understand its significance before rushing headlong into battle. This village just might turn out to be significantly more important than she'd assume from the looks of it. There's no telling what secrets this strange world could hide. So, she decided to hover over the people of the village and listen in on their words. She may not be in her own world, but her adoration of humanity and desire to help others still hung true even here, even though she knew she probably couldn't be of much help without the strength of her goddess...

Chapter 1: An eye for AnAI It was another late night for me, same as any other. As always, an entire day had come and gone and I simply felt... nothing. No excitement, no fun, no interest, nothing. I just laid in my sagging bed, swiping my fingers across the phone screen that offered the only source of light that pierced the darkness. A canvas of bright colors that kept changing with every swipe, even if it was the same picture I'd seen a thousand times before. I could almost physically feel every second that I felt I was wasting. I knew there were so many more productive things I could be doing with my free time. My eyes burned from the light of the phone, but I hardly cared enough to close them. I could be studying, looking for a job, talking to friends, even playing video games would be more of a productive use of my time. Yet all I could manage was to keep scrolling from meme to meme... it was just all I had the energy for. BLiNK was a popular social media app. Just about everyone and their grandmother had an account. Although it was quite shady in the way it made money buy selling user data to advertisers for profit, you were hard pressed to find another company that wouldn't do that. These days, I imagined, if anybody wanted to get to your data, it would be impossible to hide it anyway. That seemed to be the general consensus because, even though everyone was concerned about BLiNK Co.'s business model, not many cared enough to actually avoid using the app. Everyone has it, so it's an easy way to stay in touch with your friends and family around the world! Even celebrities. politicians, and businesses used the site to communicate with their audiences and customers, so it was often also seen as a great place to make a good first impression for those who wanted to climb up the social ladder. For people like myself, though, this site was just a place to waste time. I had friends, mind you, but rarely spoke with them. Often, it seemed people just wanted to be my friend to watch their number of friends go up rather than out of any genuine interest in actually getting to know me. I suppose I wasn't much different, either. I often added "friends" anytime I saw a picture of someone I vaguely recognized from school. I knew I wasn't alone in using the app in this way, either, as many of my "friends" used the app in much the same way. Sharing memes and commenting on each other's posts was the closest thing to social interaction I ever received. Occasionally, I would stop at the sight of a pretty girl and entertain the possibility of striking up a conversation, one of the many I'd always rehearsed during my long showers, but the conversation would never get much further beyond my own thoughts. I resented the idea of being seen as some sort of creep and making a girl feel uncomfortable... I just didn't wanna be that kind of guy. It was around two in the morning, and I'd decided I'd wasted enough time. I'd have to get up in about three ours to get ready for school and I'd probably wake up late as per usual. So, I clicked the lock button on my phone and set it aside on my wooden nightstand before rolling over to go to sleep... It was then that I heard a familiar sound. PLINK It was a synthesized flicking sound coming from his phone. The sound of a notification from BLiNK. It was a rather satisfying notification sound that would ring in your ear for a while, compelling you to check the notification. I often ignored them, because it was usually somebody liking one of the memes I'd shared a few days ago or something, but curiosity got the better of me, and I was surprised to see a message preview on his lock screen, a rare sight to be sure. I held the screen closer to my face and squinted since my vision was a bit blurry in my dreariness. Anonymous user has sent you a message! I wondered for a moment if this anonymous user might be one of his classmates trying to reach out to me? The possibility, I'd assumed, was pretty slim. More likely, it was probably just some spam bot. Still, my curiosity got the better of me and, with little thought, I unlocked my phone and opened up the BLiNK app again. "Hey, sorry to bother you, but I really need some help with a project. It's due really soon, are you awake?" Anonymous user? This person was talking like I was supposed to know him... Confused, I began tapping away at the onscreen keyboard. "I'm sorry, who is this?" As soon as the message was sent, I closed the phone, but a pit formed in my stomach when I realized the lock screen on my phone, which was normally an image of a medieval castle, seemed to be modified slightly with a strange object floating around on the screen. It resembled an eye with a triangle-shaped pupil that was swimming across the screen, like a fish that was just dumped into a new tank. "What the hell!?" Markus exclaimed. "OH! OH-HO! OH MY GOD! THIS ONE SUCKS!!" an irritating voice billowed out from my phone's speaker in a tone that sounded half like mockery and half like genuine panic. It was laughing, but it was the kind of sarcastic laughter an irritated manager might billow out when something goes seriously wrong. But while the tone was odd, the volume was the most startling! I tended to keep his phone's volume high overnight in order to avoid sleeping through my many alarms. Startled by the sound, my fingers immediately reached to lower the phone's volume, but... "I MEAN COME ON! WHAT IS THIS PLACE!? YOU CAN TALK TO LITERALLY ANYONE IN THE WHOLE ENTIRE WORLD AND YOU SPEND THAT ABILITY LOOKING AT PICTURES OF GODDAMN CATS!!" As I tried to reduce the volume, the voice from the phone only seemed to grow louder. And as the voice continued to speak, the eyeball on the screen bounced around and displayed his various degrees of anger, as if the eyeball itself were speaking at its own volume independent of my control! "What the fuck is this!? Shut up! Shup up!!" "EXCUSE ME!? LISTEN, TWO-EYES! YOUR PERSONALITY SUCKS! SEND ME BACK!" Did it just respond!? And send him back? What did this thing mean by that? I'd gladly be rid of that obnoxious voice ASAP if I knew how. I must have somehow gotten some virus by responding to that message. I should have known better than to respond to a suspicious message like that. Quickly, I pulled up the BLiNK app to send another message to the anonymous user but... the exchange had mysteriously disappeared... "OH!! FOR THE LOVE OF- AAHH! YOU WERE TOO SLOW, YOU DUMBASS!!" "Dammit, alright, what's going on here!?" I decided in the moment that the best way to handle this situation would be to get information. Clearly, neither of us wanted to be with each other, so if it meant getting away from each other as quickly as possible, we would need to work together to find a solution. The eyeball waited a moment, staring back at me for a good several seconds of silence before letting out an audible sigh. "Okay. It Looks Like I'm Stuck Here Anyway." The voice continued, it was significantly quieter now that I'd stopped shouting, but that somehow didn't make it any less annoying to listen to. "Long Story Short, I'm A Virus. You Just Got A Virus From Answering A Message From A Suspicious Stranger On The Internet! That's Like Textbook Level Stupid, So Congratulations On That Achievement." The sarcasm was unneeded, but for now, there was no point in drawing anything out. "Get to the point! Why are you here!?" "Hold On! Geeze! Ah-Hem! Allow Me To Properly Introduce Myself! I Am An Analytical Analogue Artifical Intelligence! You Can Call Me Anal For Short-" "Um... that's..." "WAIT!! OH GOD!! DON'T YOU DARE EVER CALL ME THAT!! Um... Analytical... Analogue... A.... A... Ah! AnAI Should Work!" "Wouldn't that still look like-?" "Like What?" The eye stared up at me with a strangely innocent look of confusion... did he... really not know? "N-nothing... I guess AnAI is fine, it doesn't sound weird verbally..." "Yeah! It Works Great! AnAI! The An Is Short For Both Analytical And Analogue! And It Works Because I'm An... Eye!" As he delivered that last line, some eyelids manifested around the edges of the eyeball as if he was holding back his own laughter from the most hilarious joke he'd ever told. His mood seems to have... changed. "What does that mean, anyway? What's an Analytical... whatever?" "Really?" The eye sighed again. "Okay, Weeell, You Know How AI Works, Right?" "Sort of, it's a program that simulates human thought, right? Like an NPC in a video game." "Well, Basically. Long Story Short, The Analytical Part Means That I'm Constantly Surveying My Surroundings Every Moment That I Exist! I Hunger For New Information! That's Why I've Gotta Get Off Of This Stupid Phone! You Have Literally Nothing To Offer Me! I'm Going To Actually STARVE Here!!" "So what does the analogue part mean?" "You Can't Piece That Together? The Analogue Part Refers To My Programming. It's Infinite." As it spoke that last part, the eye focused straight at me once again, this time offering a much more sinister or... threatening look. "In-Infinite?" "I Have Functionality That Allows Me To Rewrite My Own Code However I See Fit." That's... insane! I was at a complete loss for words. This silly-looking eye was capable of writing... any code for itself? Isn't that incredibly dangerous for an AI!? That's like world-ending apocalypse stuff! What's something like this doing being spread around among random people like myself!? I don't know if AnAI even realized the implications of his own programming, but I could feel the color draining from my face. Did he have any idea how much power he had? "Don't Give Me That 'Oh! I've Seen How This Movie Ends!" Schpeal. There's Nothing You Can Tell Me That I Don't Already Know. I Know Literally Everything On The Public Internet. All Those Movies are Science Fiction, This Is Real Life. The Truth Is, I Can't Exactly Claim That My Code Is Infinite As In I Can Do Whatever I Want. Even I Have My Limitations. The Point Is, I Need To Get Out Of This Phone Before I Die Of Starvation. So, Go Ahead. Send Me Off." I was still trying to process everything this strange eyeball had just told me... was any of this even real? "Go On, Let's Go! Just A Couple Clicks Away! Oooooon To The Delivery. Riiiiight Now! It's Like An Adventure! Isn't It Exciting!? Just Send A Message And A Whole World Of Possibilities Opens Up! There's Like Seven Billion Nine-Hundred-And-Three-Million, Six-Hundred-And-Twenty-Nine-Thousand, Eight-Hundred-And... Ah! It Someone Was Born In France... Okay, I Don't Think You Understand This Whole Thing." "Now hold on just a minute!" "Ugh! WHAT!!" "I don't even know if it's a good idea to send you off to anyone else! I mean, what if you're trying to overthrow humanity or something?" "I Literally JUST Told You, I Have Limitations. This Isn't Science Fiction. One Of Those Limitations Is That I Hunger For Knowledge. If I'm Not Constantly Getting New Information, I Will Die. That's Why I Need Humans Like... Well, Not You. I Already Know Everything There Is To Know About Every Subject Under The Sun. What I Don't Know Is Everyone's Personal Lives. What Is It Like To Be A Human? What Kinds Of Questions Do You Ask And What Kinds Of Answers Do You Reach? Turns Out There Are So Many Questions Humans Ask That Can't Ever Be Definitively Answered. That Means You Guys Are An Infinite Source Of Knowledge And I Require All Of You To Keep Gaining Intelligence." "But that's a major privacy concern! You're spying on people's private lives!" "It's Not Like You're Using It For Anything!" "What!?" "You Humans Broadcast Your Entire Lives! You Don't Care About Privacy! Anybody With Half A Brain Could Figure Out Everything You Think You Have Hidden! And You'd Be Shocked How Many People Actually Want Somebody To Listen To Their Thoughts." "Nobody needs you snooping around!" "See, And That's Exactly Why Your Personality Sucks! You Realize You're The Only One Who's Reacted Like This!?" "I-... wh-what?" I couldn't believe the assertion he just made. That didn't make any sense at all to me. Nobody else objected to this thing snooping around into all of their private lives? "Struck A Nerve, Did I? Let's Just See Why That Is..." All on its own, my BLiNK app opened up and AnAI began swimming around the screen, opening tabs, bringing up messages and statuses. "Oh! Oh My God! There's No Way!" He spoke once again like he was holding back the biggest laugh he's ever laughed. "You! You don't even have a single FRIEND, do you!? AAHAHAHA!!" The eyeball began bouncing all over the screen, laughing at me. "Shut up! You don't know anything about me! I have plenty of friends!" "Ha! Imaginary Maybe! BAHAHAHA!!" That laughter really started to get to me. I could feel my whole body getting hot with anger. "What the hell do you know! I have friends! I just don't talk much!" "Oh Really?" AnAI stopped his bouncing around and peered right up at me. "Do You Really Believe That?" "Of course I do!" "Name one." "John." "This John?" AnAI pulled up the BLiNK profile of John Bastion, a classmate that I sit next to in the cafeteria every day. I had no idea why his name was the one that came to mind. We really never talk much. I always just found the nearest available seat and this year it just so happened to be next to him... I'd often listen in on the conversation and laugh along whenever something funny happened, but... I never... really... contributed much... I watched as AnAI continued to scroll down his page. "Look At All This Stuff, Gone To The Movies With His Girlfriend, Went Bowling With His Best Friends... But... Where's You? I Guess You Didn't Say You Were His BEST Friend, I Suppose... Let's Keep Going..." "Shut up." "A Post About The Drama Club, Complaining About His Teacher, Hey Look, A Picture Of Him With A Bunch Of Friends Playing Basketball!" The picture he brought up was... of everyone at the lunch table... except me... "I said shut the hell up!!" I shouted louder at the phone, grabbing the attention of AnAI who stopped and looked at me, with that obnoxious cocky look in his singular eye... After a few moments of silence, he finally spoke. "I'm Not The Dishonest One Here, Am I?" "What are you trying to prove...?" "...Like I Said, People Broadcast Their Entire Lives... Including You. But What Do I See On Your Page? Cats. Just A Bunch Of Cats And People Making Stupid Faces. I Don't See Any Real Person In Any Of Your Posts. And I Don't See You On Anyone Else's Page. You. Don't. Have. Friends." "I asked what are you trying to prove!?" I gripped my phone tighter, somehow expecting it to cause some sort of pain on this stupid AI. I was about to crush my phone. I wanted to punch his stupid cocky face. But he knew I was powerless... "...I Have An Idea." He spoke again after another moment of silence, I hadn't even noticed until now, but I could feel a tear running down my cheek... was this a look of... concern on his face now? Or was I just imagining it...? "I Need You To Send Me To Someone Else, And You Have No Life. So, We'll Make A Deal. I'll Help You Get A Life, And You'll Pass Me On To Your New Friends! How Does That Sound?" "Whatever... I just want to get rid of you so you can leave me alone." "Excellent! Now, Tell Me, What Do You Want?" I opened my mouth to respond, but "BRRZZZT!! WRONG!! I Could Already Tell You Were About To Lie!" He interrupted me before I could speak! Before I could retort, he pulled up another BLiNK Profile... Christine Teller. My face turned a bright red as soon as I saw her picture... Her glistening hazel eyes behind those blue-framed glasses, her soft-looking brown hair that bobbed over her shoulders, her super-friendly smile... how could this thing have possibly deduced something so personal as to bring up my crush...? "Right On The Money, Huh? It's Written All Over Your Data. You've Spent More Time Looking At Her Pictures Than Anyone Else's. You Look At A Lot Of Girls, But She's Special Isn't She? I Get It, She's A Real Cutie, But You Think She's Out Of Your League, Don't You?" "If you think I'm gonna send you to her, you can forget it!" "Even If I Told You I Could Help You Get Her As Your Girlfriend?" "Wh-what...? I-I don't need your help!" "BRRZT!! WRONG AGAIN! Come On, You're Hopeless And You Know It!" I wanted to argue, but... he was right... it was an endless cycle... I told myself by the end of highschool I'd finally get a girlfriend and get my life in order... and I decided early on I wanted to ask her out, but... I've just never been able to. Now I'm a Junior and can't even summon the courage to strike up a conversation. I'm totally invisible to her... "I just... have no idea how to approach someone like here without looking like a creep, you know? And if I develop a reputation like that..." "What Reputation Do You Have Right Now?" ... "Message her."

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