Without Artifice

Chapter 2

Luckily for us, the paparazzi don't know that I'm here yet. It'll be a bother when they do - I don't need them sniffing around when I want to try and focus on my character - but I'm more or less used to it now. Right now though, nobody knows I'm working on this.

So I walked into the studio, chatted to the receptionist to sign in and get pointed to where I'm meant to go. Kai walked in front, his yellow eyes scanning the area.

Finally, after what seemed like rows and rows of corridors, we arrived on set. I made my way to the director - a skinny guy with dyed blue hair - who perked up the moment he saw me. Andrew Black, the director that's becoming quite the rising star these days, after his big hit "Last Season", one of the saddest, most beautiful love stories I'd ever seen on film. This was his first take on sci-fi though.

"Ah! Rina, darling!" He skipped up to me, beaming. I noticed he had an interesting sense of fashion, what with his yellow ski pants and stripy green tank top. I guess it's pretty normal for directors to be a bit eccentric - I hope he's not the sort that'll force me to do weird shit for hours just for the perfect take. Granted, those kind of directors end up having some of the best movies, but still... "A pleasure to see you at last! Let me tell you, I'm a big fan of your music! You're quite the talented singer!"

"Oh!" I blinked, surprised that this guy was so in love with my music - my music's more for nightclubs and teenage girls' bedrooms than a man's home. "Thank you, Mr Black! I loved Last Season myself." I beamed.

"Oh, you don't need to call me that. Just call me Andrew! Or Andy. Now, blow us away like you did at the audition!" He clapped his hands together. "Run along and get dressed, I'll call you when you're needed."

"Okay! Bye for now!" I waved at him and walked off. As I made my way to my dressing room, Kai walking behind, I briefly looked back to see Andy go from "peppy mode" to "serious director mode", making arrangements and orders. Good to see that he's serious where it matters. Bet he'd love Kayla and Cass too... maybe I'll introduce them, if I get good with this guy. I smiled to myself and went in, immediately sitting down at the chair, while Kai stood next to the door. Almost immediately after, a tired-looking make-up artist walked in, almost bumping into Kai as she rushed towards me.

I relaxed under her quick, expert touch and let myself get into character.

The story for this movie I'm starring in is about this dystopian world where a robot girl called Kara fights to free the humans from robot control, and falls in love with one of the humans. It's an interesting story, not what I expected for my debut, but if I do this right then I can become much more than just an A-List celebrity - I'll become a legend.

I think of numbers, of sequences, of pure logic ahead of emotion. I let my face drain itself of all feeling. Today, we'll probably be shooting the starting scenes, where Kara learns about the humans' plight and also how to feel like a human, so I can't show too much emotion.

My make-up done, I looked back at Kai. But this time, I wasn't looking at him as Rina, but as Kara, a fellow robot. I mimicked his unblinking gaze and gave him a brief nod as I walked behind the screen to change into my costume, already laid out behind the screen.

For a moment, I could've sworn that he raised an eyebrow at me, but I didn't have time to think about that. The costume designer burst in with my outfit, so I changed into my costume quickly and made my way out of the door, making sure that my steps were measured, steady, slow.

*

"Please don't run away! I'm here to help!" I declared, gripping my fist. The man sitting by my feet looked up at me with cold eyes.

"How can I trust you? You're one of them!" He shuffled backwards, panic in his features.

"Because I... I..." I shut my eyes and wince. "I can't say it."