BOOM!

 

Another blast of thunder shook the house, followed even closer by lightning than before. The storm was near the heart of the town by this point, the dark clouds shadowing us like a blanket. The intensity of the wind had increased as the time ticked by, thunder rumbling every few seconds in-between. Cocoa and I had the weather channel turned on to keep track of it, but had it turned down in the background as we stared out the window, her hot chocolate and my orange juice sitting on the coffee table behind us.

 

“When do you think it'll let up?” Cocoa ask, lazily tracing her fingers on the window, a bored expression across her face. We've been stuck here since this morning, right when it rolled in. It was no surprise that neither her nor I were bored.

 

“I couldn't say for sure,” I tell her, wondering how long we'll be stuck in here, the storm holding us like prisoners in a cell.

 

 

 

“I hate the rain, and storms even more so.”

 

Standing just outside of the dome shaped structure, I looked up at the sky to see how long this storm would last. To see if it would intensify more and force me to secure my home further. But it had not changed much in the past hour and as for much I was relieved. Thunder rumbled against my expectations, indicating it didn't like the fact that I was smarter than it.

 

“My home is secure, at least from you,” I tell it, my voice coming across flatly. Being alone in the junkyard, I didn't have much to keep me company or entertained, aside from all the electronic equipment and appliances. But even that couldn't hold my attention forever. The storm was about as much excitement I've seen here since Cocoa came by.

 

“Cocoa... I wish you'd come back...” I whisper, looking toward the entrance, hoping she'd show up.

 

Sighing and then turning around to head back inside, I'm thankful for the new glass shield I put up the other day, extending just over the entrance. It kept the rain out and allowed me to examine the pattern of the clouds, to try to discern their course of action. The rest of the dome was solid; no way to see outside of it. I also had no weather equipment made quite yet, so it served a great purpose for me outside of mere decoration.

 

Ding!

 

“Finally done,” I exclaim, my stomach growling loudly, almost in comparison to the storm. The food processor I had created malfunctioned only the day before Cocoa had showed up, causing me to have to repair it or forfeit eating. It had taken a day and a half of on and off work to repair, as each problem I solved seemed to cause another one elsewhere. I couldn't keep up with it or locate the source of my problems. I found it...unsettling. But eventually I was able to finally finish it.

 

“Do not break again,” I tell it indignantly as I take my plate of perogies over to the small crow space I had created to allow an area of freedom and relaxation when I wasn't repairing something or modifying something else.

 

It's area contained a smaller than normal arm chair to make up for my height placed roughly in the center, an imitation fire place glowing faintly on the opposite wall, its fire crackling loudly amidst the storm. To the right of the arm chair against the furthest side of the dome held my row of shelves, all containing the various tools I needed to work on everything built around me. The robot-Millennium, as I call him-has helped keep it organized and has assisted me by allowing me to stay in a constant pace of repairing, altering or modifying by getting me what I needed at the most crucial moments. His body structure was shaped similar to mine in size to allow him to move swiftly about the dome I've created, looking like a 15 or 16-year-old boy, but having the grace and agility of a ninja or acrobat. He's come in handy more than once, but often malfunctioned. I'd work my hardest to perfect him, but for some reason I couldn't quite come up with anything like Tipsy, no matter the hours I spent toiling over new and old design plans.

 

Setting the plate down on the small, round table to the left of my arm chair, I swear under my breath. When I was staying with Random, perogies slowly became my favorite food. I didn't eat much when I was living with my family, and the browned, outer shell along with the cheese and bacon on the inside always melted perfectly inside my mouth. It was something I became addicted to.

 

“Random...” I whisper, slowly lowering my pierogi from my mouth. Suddenly thinking about Random seemed to have gotten rid of my apatite. The words Cocoa told me the day before had been racing through my mind ever since she left. Of putting my trust into Random. That she isn't a bad person. That's when the images of her assaulting me came back. Us tumbling through the bed room, her on top of me, her attacking me over and over again, Tipsy clawing her face to snap her out of it. I shuddered, placing my pierogi on the plate.

 

“Is there anything I can do for you, Dizzy?” Millennium asks, sending me out of my spacey mood. “I notice that your hunger level has suddenly declined and that you've gone colder and paler.”

 

I turn my head toward him, my eyes narrowing. I knew he was only trying to help, but since I met Tipsy, something felt off about Millennium ever since then. Random had managed to create something almost artificially human, while I could not. It had been my dream to do the very thing Random was on the verge of doing, only her emotions held her back. But even with my lack of emotions, I still can't do it.

 

“Emotions...” Cocoa had told me it was those very things that made her who she was.

 

BOOM! More thunder rumbled from outside, the loudest I've heard this entire time. The rain also began pounding harder against the dome and lighting cracked the sky, giving the appearance of almost opening a portal to another dimension. I was starting to get fed up with it all though. And whenever I got fed up, I went to go work on a project to distract my mind from what was causing it. It was funny though; anger, or more so, frustration, was the only emotion that I could never shake off. And since I wasn't going outside any time soon, I left my food where it sat and headed to my make shift work area, not worrying if it got cold or not.

 

My work area was just adjacent from my small bed room, containing a swivel chair-that I rarely used because I preferred sitting on the floor-a work bench right next to it, and a shelf housing more of my tools sitting just above it, as well as one under it for when I sat on the floor, which was almost all the time. I also had a work bench I could sit at, but preferred not to. Being up high didn't sit well with me; it never had. Maybe it was because I was short that I liked being closer to the ground. But whatever it was, I didn't know.

 

“Maybe now I can get some peace and quiet,” I grumble, taking my multifunctional tool containing everything from a screwdriver to a mini laser from the work bench and plopping down on the floor. While creating and developing a perfect AI was my top priority, I had started on other side projects varying from iPad’s to old hard drives as well as plating to help with the domes overall structure and stability. And I just happened to be working on an iPad at that time.

 

“Poor iPad,” I whisper, turning it over in my hand. “They could have fixed the melted circuit and cracked screen, if they cared.” I spat out the last word like it was poison. If they had the money they always bought something new instead of thinking of repairing what they had, never giving any thought or care to their old device at all.

 

People never cared about technology, and this junk yard is a perfect example of their carelessness. Even as I was unscrewing the screws I could feel all the devices around me-a side effect of my self inflicted experiments-all with minor flaws or error's that would only take five minutes to fix at most, five minutes of careful attention. But instead they deduce it's broken immediately and throw it away like yesterday's newspaper. It pained me to know they all needed to be repaired but was also a huge headache to be unable to fix up every single one. I was only one person. And this storm wasn't making it any easier to get out there to even attempt fixing anything besides this iPad...

 

Setting the back cover of the iPad to the side of me, I switch to mini pliers and begin moving the small metal pins around. The circuit was slightly fried and melted onto the motherboard. I've run across this before. “An easy fix,” I shake my head, turning to reach for replacement parts then realizing I have none with me.

 

“Millennium, can you bring me a spare circuit for an iPad?” I call over my shoulder, carefully trying to remove the glass screen. I always hated how they sat in the frame, but there was nothing much I could do about it; I worked with wires, gears and broken parts, not outer structures.

 

“Here you are, Dizzy.”

 

“Thank you, Millennium,” I tell him, taking the new cicuit and returning to my work. I had replaced the glass screen, now all that was left was to replace the circuitry in the motherboard. This was where my expertise came into effect. I was a wiz when it came to things like this, my mind hard wired to move my hands in the most skillful way possible for maximum performance. But for some reason something felt wrong, off almost. Just a few minutes ago, I was able to move my hands just find. Now I found them making minor mistakes, even errors I wasn't taking into effect. I was replacing it much more slowly then I wanted, my mind blanking at critical times.

 

“Are you all right, Dizzy?” Millennium asks, obviously noticing something off with me. “You aren't operating at 100% like you normally do.”

 

I scowled. As much as I hated to admit it, he was right. Something felt off with me and I didn't know what it was. Was it the storm? That was the only difference from when I normally work on things. My head then began to feel fuzzy and my arms sluggish. I had almost dropped my tools multiple times by the time I finally got everything put back together. When I did finish, my head still felt strange, but I was glad I had finished it and began to stand.

 

“Ow!” I cry out, raising my hand to my head as a sudden burst of pain starts surging through my head. “What is wrong with me?” I ask to no one in particular.

 

Thankfully the pain had stopped as quickly as it came on. Millennium was staring at me, expressionless. But that was to be expected; he was no Tipsy. Putting it out of my mind, I go to flip on the iPad. As it began booting up, all seemed normal. That's when I sensed a spark, followed by the sound of crackling. Then the top left corner burst into flames.
Shocked, I dropped it to the floor as I stumbled backward and fell over, the sudden fire startling me as the flame started to spread across the floor as soon as it made contact.

 

“Dizzy!” Millennium cried out, a mini fire extinguisher extending from his left wrist. He then began sweeping it back and forth underneath the flame, making sure it was completely put out before retracting it and returning his attention to me. But all I could do was sit and stair, astonished by what had just happened. In all of my time of working with any electronic device, never has this happened. I was always so careful, making sure each piece was connected correctly.

 

“Why?” I asked myself, staring blankly at the black pile of a burnt iPad.

 

But I couldn't answer my own question as the sudden surge of pain returned, more intense than before. Both my hands shot up to my head, trying to make the pain stop. My entire body than began pulsing and throbbing in pain. It felt like every part of my body was on fire, burning every vein. I soon doubled over into the beetle position, rolling back and forth as the pain swam through me. I hadn't felt like this since... since I experimented on myself. The skin curling pain, feeling like the blood inside me was boiling. It was a feeling I never forgot.

 

“Dizzy, Dizzy!” Millennium calls out while standing over me, unsure to what to do. But I couldn't see much more beyond that as the pain sharpened again, in conjunction with a loud crash of thunder. That's when my vision began to blur.

 

I wanted the pain to stop, to disappear and spare me. I laid there, rolling back and forth crying out in pain, wishing it would stop, trying to will it stop. But I was no match for it; it was too severe and soon I began to black out. My mind began to draw nothing but a blank and the last thing I saw was Millennium panicking as much as someone like him could before I finally blacked out completely, overcome by the severe, blood boiling pain.