Trying to find home

3

I continued to work on Lilith late into the afternoon. Her update wasn't taking too long so I started analyzing some of my earlier fights. My contact lenses captured everything I saw and there is also a camera on my helmet. The fabric of my suit also recorded all of my movements, so I could watch a virtual video of all my fighting movements. I sipped on my fifth cup of coffee while watching the videos. I watched Iron Man and began to take apart the suit piece by piece. It worked sort of like a clunker version of my suit. I paused when I heard someone walking down the hall and toward my room. I hid my videos and the deconstructed Iron Man suit behind Liliths code.

"Hey," someone called from the doorway, causing me to glance up. The Stark kid was back.

"Oh great!" Lilith groaned. "He's back!"

"I just wanted to apologize for earlier. I didn't know about your spot." The kid shuffled his feet as I continued to tap keys on my computer. "I brought this!" He pushed out a plate of something at me. Food. My fingers froze.

"Did you draw the short straw?" I ask before continuing.

"What?"

"They always draw straws on who brings food. Did you draw the short straw?" Every intern in the tower knew I didn't eat much outside of here, so they always brought "extra" food for me. They didn't mind making extra food, but it was always hard to find someone who will bring it to me. Apparently, I tend to scare people off. Peter frowned at me.

"N-no? I offered to bring it!" My eyebrows rose at his statement, impressed.

"Impressive....." Lilith said, echoing my thoughts. "He's not lying......" Well, at least I knew that Liliths program worked.

"You can set it down on the table," I told him, noticing his discomfort. He gave me a greatful smile as he rushed to set the plate down.

"Wow......! Is that the code for Lilith?" He said after seeing my computer screen.

"Yup. Everything about Lilith is right here."

"Hey!" Shrieked Lilith at my comment. It took all my willpower to not respond to her. I shoved a forkful of food off of the plate and into my mouth. It definitely wasn't enough for my enhanced metabolism, but food was food and I couldn't afford to waste anything.

"How did you come up with all of that?" I shrugged at his comment.

"I don't know. I heard about creating AI's and thought the idea was interesting. I just started building from there." Peter pulled up a seat and sat down next to me.

"That's so cool!" He was smiling as he watched my work over my shoulder. It felt so weird having someone watch me work. The others usually set down the plate and rushed away, as if I would get mad at them for standing too close to me. As if I was dangerous. I took a big gulp of coffee, trying to keep myself awake.

"It's 6 pm, Celeste! Time to go!" Lilith shrieked loudly, making me jump. Standing up, I shoved the rest of the food into my mouth.

"I have to go." I told Peter, grabbing up all my stuff and pushing it all into my backpack.

"Oh..." he said, sounding disappointed. "Well, see you tomorrow!" He smiled and waved at me.

"Bye." I found myself returning the wave as I walked out of the room. Why? I didn't know. Nora almost knocked me over as she rushed out of the elevator.

"Look out!" She cried over all of the files in her arms. "Sorry!" I rolled my eyes and took her spot in the elevator. I swayed as the doors closed, feeling really sick and dizzy.

"Celeste-" began Lilith, but I cut her off.

"I'm fine!" I dug my nails into my palms to keep myself grounded. Lilith went silent, upset that I didn't listen to her. That's when the elevator screeched to a halt. It didn't stop on the ground floor and it didn't open the doors to let inside another passenger. I sighed, thinking something had jammed the elevator, but it then it started moving up.

"Lilith?!" I asked, gripping my backpack straps in fear. "What's going on?!"

"I contacted help!" She sounded proud.

"Hello, Celeste," a voice said through the elevator speakers. "I have been contacted by your AI and have been informed of your situation. I am bringing you up to the top floor immediately."

"Son of a bitch!" I said, wanting to punch something. "Lilith, stop the elevator!" The silence was deafening. "Lilith!"

"I cannot do that. I do not control the elevator."

"Then tell you friend to stop it!"

"I cannot do that either. This is in your best interest." Yeah right. If I was late again, there would be hell to pay.

"Hey, voice!" I called out. "Can you please stop the elevator? Please?" Silence. "Shit!" I dropped my bag on the floor and pulled out my computer. "If you won't help me, I'll help myself!" My fingers flew over the keys as I hacked into the elevator commands. Just before the elevator hit the top floor, I punched in the stop command. It froze. "YES!!" I whispered before putting in the new commands. The elevator began to move down again. I watched as the advanced AI tried to get me off of their system, but I hung on, making sure I would get out. As soon as the doors opened on the ground floor, I grabbed my stuff and bolted.

"Are you OK, Celeste?" The lady at the front desk asked me. I nodded, watching the elevator doors close. That was a close one. I turned and ran out of the building, hoping I could still catch the bus.