Sparks and a Girl (Rewritten to publish)

15. Sharing Playlists

"Sounds like a cool song." said Jeisa.

"Oh, yeah. It's a fun song," the girl confirmed. "Nowhere near as awful as what they've been playing on the radio all day today!"

Jeisa swallowed the guilt that flared up. "I haven't watched that movie yet. Maybe I will, tonight."

"I don't really like the movie itself that much. It's a little too Disney for me," the girl said with another shrug. "But I love that biker song scene."

Before Jeisa could reply, the girl suddenly doubled over in pain for a few seconds before sitting upright again. The elevator stopped. The girl's floor was the floor above Cass'. Jeisa wheeled her out then knelt to get down to her height. She reached for the girl's cheek. Jeisa closed her eyes and found the malignant cells almost immediately. Damn it. They were everywhere. She tried to follow the cells' commands, but there were too many. It was too much. The girl wouldn't last long. Jeisa sighed. She let her technopath tendrils find the pain receptors. She could at least ease the girl's journey.

Jeisa opened her eyes when she felt a tiny hand brush away a tear from her cheek.

"You can't take it away, can you?" the girl asked, her blue eyes piercing right through Jeisa.

"No." said Jeisa. "I'm sorry."

"Thank you for trying." said the girl. She smiled. "Who are you here to see?"

"My girlfriend." said Jeisa, smiling back.

"Oh. I have two mums." the girl said proudly. Then she frowned, the sadness clear on her featured. "Is your girlfriend on this floor? Does she have cancer too, like me?"

"No. She got shot." said Jeisa. "But she'll be okay."

"Good." said the girl, nodding then smiling again. "Tell her I said hi. I'm Corrine, by the way."

"I'm Jeisa."

*

"I cannot believe you let that witch shoot me, Jeisa." were Cass' first words to Jeisa when she entered the room.

"Hello to you too, Cass." said Jeisa, standing at the foot of Cass' bed, arms folded over her chest.

She glared at Cass. Jeisa couldn't remember the last time she'd felt so betrayed. So angry. So heart broken. It was a pure, righteous anger. A feeling she wanted to hold on to because she was sure it was hers. No one had put it there. Programmed it in her. She sighed and let her hands fall to her side. Let the feeling of pain and heartbreak wash away. This was Cass. Her Cass. Despite everything, looking at her again, Jeisa knew that that still meant something.

"I was angry at you. Still am, to be honest." said Jeisa. "But you're right. I shouldn't have let her hurt you. I'm sorry."

"What the hell could you possibly be that angry at me for?" Cass asked, a little indignant.

"You programmed me Cass!" Jeisa shot back.

Cass froze. The blood drained from her face. Jeisa couldn't overstate just how satisfying it was to see that reaction. She'd been holding everything back for far too long. Seeing Cass falter and realise her blunder was incredibly cathartic.

"How did you do it? How did you program me? You made me protect you Cass! You made me love you! Everything about my feelings for you were a lie. Lies that you planted inside me. I'm just a stupid machine, right? Just something that you and everyone else can use and abuse any time you feel like it!"

"Jeisa..." started Cass.

Jeisa cut her off.

"How did you do it Cass?" Jeisa demanded, knowing that she was being unreasonable and that she should let Cass speak, but not caring. "And why would you even do it? How would you even..."