"Hey, thanks for coming over. I have someone for you to meet. Here, follow me." He said, leading me back down the hall to his room. I noticed he was covered in grease and oil stains, and even had some black gunk smeared in his hair. It was painfully obvious he had been working his behind off, but what for?
Dirk opened the door, and standing at the window was a tall, well-built male. He had his back turned to me, but he turned when he heard us entered. I stopped dead in my tracks, and my eyes felt like dinner saucers. Standing before me was Dirk, but not Dirk. His hair was snow-white, his skin a faint milky hue, and circuitry adorned his facial features, red standing out against white like blood-stained snow.
"W-who are you?" I asked, my voice seemed to shake, and the white Dirk smirked, the telltale Strider smirk not lost on his pale features. His appearance was... Ghostly, and it frightened me, just a little. He walked over slowly, and if I weren't frozen in place, I would have taken a step or two back.
"You haven't told her?" He asked, stopping right in front of me. I finally snapped out of my daze at his voice. It was Dirks, but there was a slightly different tone to it. It sounded... Mechanic? No... Robotic was more like it. Dirk let out a chuckle.
"It was supposed to be a surprise. I wanted to see how she would feel being in the same room with two of me." Dirk said, but I spoke without thinking.
"He isn't you." The words came tumbling out my mouth, and Dirk looked down at me, surprise crossing his features. The white Dirk locked eyes with his creator, and they smiled.
"She catches on fast, but according to all my programmed memory of her, this has been one of her significant traits." The white Dirk said, and I stood confused.
"Programmed memory?" I asked, quietly, and Dirk smiled down at me, and the white Dirk extended his hand to me.
"My name is Lil Hal, or Hal for short. I was created by Dirk as his auto responder, and we've actually spoken on a number of occasions. 413 to be exact out of you and Dirks regular 1325 in a 6-month period. I'm sure you've been unaware of these solicitations. Dirk has decided to finally give me a body, due to my recent actions becoming more independent from him. I'm becoming my own person, and it's nice to be able to see you in the flesh." He said, grasping my hand softly and giving it a small shake.
"This all seems familiar...like deja vu..." I mumbled, shaking his hand softly, and he smirks again.
"You always do catch on fast, don't you?" He asked, and I looked at him confused.
"What do you mean? Why doesn't this feel real?" I asked, and everything suddenly began to crack, and it all shattered away, leaving only me and Hal in a room of white, and red circuitry began to line it's way across the walls.
"Very good, ________. I knew you would catch on." Hal said, releasing my hand finally.
"Hal, where are we?" I asked sofltly, and he smiled.
"Don't worry, we're in a dream bubble. YOUR dream bubble to be more precise."
"What does that mean?" I asked softly.
"It means that you're dreaming. Everything that you see is being dreamt up by you, including me." He said softly, walking around a little.
"But I'm aware that this is a dream...so am I lucid dreaming?"
"No, dream bubbles work differently. I suppose you should be thankful that you're here though. You could have been having a nightmare." He said softly, and I blinked a few times.
"A nightmare?"
"Yes, this one, to be exact."
Suddenly, I was in a crowd of people. Hal was gone, and I had no idea where he went. The crowd seemed to all be going in one direction, and I fought against them, trying not to let them take me with them.
"HAL!!" I screamed, over and over. I fought against them as hard as I could. 'I WILL NOT CONFORM. I WILL NOT CONFORM!' was being chanted again and again loudly, and I realized it was my own voice chanting at me, but it was outside of my own body. I fought and fought, closing my eyes in frustration and despair. I wasn't going to make it, I had no choice but to conform. I felt a small tear slip down my face.
I felt a hand under my chin, and relief flooded over me, my eyes remaining shut. Warm, soft lips pressed against mine, and the rushing crowd disappeared into thin air. I didn't open my eyes, not even when strong, reassuring arms wrapped around me and comforted me. I was safe, and I was protected.
~~~~~~~~
I woke gently, my eyes fluttering open to the morning sun. I slowly realized that I was dreaming, and groaned, wishing I would have opened my eyes to see who was holding my dream self. I heard shuffling in response to my groaning, and I remembered that Hal had slept over. I turned over to see him, and he was laying on his side, gazing back at me.
"Good morning, ________." He said softly, and I smiled.
"Good morning, Hal." I said, groggily.
"You slept well. You look fully rested." He said softly, and I smile.
"I'll take that as I compliment." I said as I sat up, stretching and cracking my back. I got up out of bed, looking over my crazy hair and chuckling, remembering I had went to bed with it wet. I felt really good, despite my crazy dreams. I shivered a little from the lack of warmth from the bed, and I felt Hal grab my hand.
"Your reflexes appear normal, but your body temperature is lower than normal. Are you feeling well?" I realized that his hand was warm, which was odd, considering he isn't human.
"I'm okay, why?"
"You appear to be fine, yet your vitals tell me otherwise. Did you have a bad dream? Fear can make you cold, you know." He said, and I nodded, telling him all that had happened, including my dream savior.
"It was so weird Hal, I didn't know that I could have dreams like that. What's bothering me the most is that as soon as whoever it was touched me, I stopped panicking, and I knew I was safe and it was all okay." I said, looking at him through the mirror as I pulled my hair back into a ponytail. His face remained stoic for awhile, which I assumed he was calculating and thinking. With a shrug, I went into the closet and got dressed, deciding on jeans and a nice wool sweater.
As I walked out, I noticed that Hal was no longer in the room. I suppose he went to the kitchen or decided to look around, since he didn't get the tour of the house last night. I finish getting ready and head out to go see where Hal went.
I found him in the living room, waiting for me. I smiled softly as I rounded the corner.
"Hey Hal, I'm done." I said, looking around the kitchen for some granola bars.
"I'm surprised. It only took you 7.34 minutes to get ready for the day. Most women take up to a half an hour." He said, and I laughed softly.
"I don't have complicated makeup routines to put on a whole new face every morning. Although, I could stand to at least put a little on every now and then." I said, getting up on my toes as the granola bars were out of reach. I felt him approach me from behind, leaning up over me and grabbing the box.
"By my calculations, your facial structure is only slightly off from the 'golden ratio' that makes humans perceive perfection. You don't need makeup to be beautiful, you are already so close. My calculations tell me that excess makeup would give you the opposite of your desired effect." He handed the box to me, and I could feel my face and ears heat up. I shakily tried to pry it open, but my fingers had turned into noodles, and I was fumbling too much to get a good grip on the top.
"You've become nervous. Is everything alright? Your vitals tell me your heart rate has accelerated, and you've suddenly become tense." He moved a little closer and placed his hands just under my jaw, his fingertips resting on my pulse. I relaxed a little, closing my eyes as I sighed a little.
His touch was always so warm, and it never failed to provide me with a great deal of comfort. His hands were so strong, strong enough to hurt me if he had wanted to. I trusted Hal, though. I knew better than to ever think he would hurt me that way.
"________..." A voice was calling me, and I was being pulled from my own thoughts again.
"________?" Hal's voice rang with concern, and not realizing I had closed my eyes, I opened them. I was against Hal's chest, his arms around me loosely. I looked up at him, and his face was one of concern. I stepped away from him, and his arms fell from me as I looked away, embarrassed at what had happened.
What had happened?
~~~Hal's POV~~~
I wonder if ________is okay. Her physical and vital signs show that other than her current hunger, she is fine. Her heart rate suddenly began to race faster as I neared her to help her with the box. She had just moments before stated something about her appearance?
I quickly looked though my sources to see what made human perceive perfection, and I found the rules of the golden ratio. I quickly found an image of the perfect face, along with a diagram of the golden ratio, and did a side-by-side comparison of this face with hers.
She has a few errors in her features, but everyone claims that these errors are what make each person different, so I will not inform her of them.
"By my calculations, your facial structure is only slightly off from the 'golden ratio' that makes humans perceive perfection. You don't need makeup to be beautiful, you are already so close. My calculations tell me that excess makeup would give you the opposite of your desired effect." I said to her, handing her the box she was reaching for.
There goes her heart rate again, higher this time? Is it me that has this affect on her? I 89% doubt it. I asked her if she was alright, but I got no response from her as she fumbled with the box. I placed my hands under her jaw so that I could observe her heart rate and blood pressure. Seem relaxed visibly once I had done so.
I have never seen a human react to a non-human touch before, so this was new data that I stored away. Before I went to pull away, she laid her right hand on mine that was on her right cheek, seeming to lean into my palm just a little. Her eyes slipped shut, and she smiled softly.
"________..." I tried calling to her, but her conscious mind didn't seem to be responding to sound stimuli. She moved in closer, and she eventually came to rest herself on my chest, her arms wrapping themselves around me. I almost didn't want to break her out of this trance-like state she was in. It was hard, but I had called for her a few more times before she came back to the here and now.
She looked up at me, a pink tint spreading across her cheeks before she quickly let go, moving to open the box again.
I was told by Dirk that no human would be able to develop emotions for me, since I'm too unlife-like for anyone. I think Dirk may not have considered ________'s mindset. She could be different from everyone else.
She could be the one to set me free.