{WARNING}

(This chapter contains a small section where topics of pedophilia and the sexual abuse of a minor is written. Reader discretion is advised. (Because it is in here, I think it’s appropriate to just say it. I did make it as child-proof as possible, I wrote “did the deed” instead of the original wording.)




LOAC: Chapter 4: Nostalgia




When I turned the light on, i was faced with a spacious room, with various painted flowers on the walls, ranging from lilies to roses. The floor has a soft red carpet, and in a few corner is a big bed, with white blankets and a few stuffed toys, like a stuffed teddy bear, robot, and kawaii cats. In another corner was a desk, with a mirror. There was the faint smell of fresh lavender air conditioner and freshly washed bed sheets. I sat down on the chair at the desk, and let my fingers run along the desk. It had an eerily familiar feeling. Like I’ve known this feeling for so long, it feels so natural. I laid down on the bed, and covered myself in the blankets and the plushies.

As a cyborg, I still needed sleep. Dr. Quinn said that sleep was my way of ‘recharging’. I felt at peace, and calm. The smell of the freshly washed blankets were like a sleep gas, and the soft plushies helped with it.

Within minutes, I had fallen asleep, my systems going in standby mode. Practically the only system that was online was the movement detection system. While I slept, I dreamed about being with Lily, holding hands.

She was happy. Only then, did the chaos unfold. In the dream, or might I change it to nightmare, she tripped, and fell. I wanted to help her, but she got shot. A massive hole punctured her head, with brains and blood gushing out of the wound. I screamed. Only then, did i get shaken awake by Ruby, with a worried look on her face.

“Are you alright dear?” She asked in a worried tone. “You were screaming, did you have a nightmare?” I nodded, wiping my face. If I would sweat, I would’ve wiped sweat off my face, but I was a cyborg, and cyborgs don’t sweat because they don’t have the organs for it. I suppose it was a human reaction to it. I finally spoke. “I.. had a nightmare…”

“Do.. you want to tell me what happened in the nightmare?” She asked. I nodded, and then started to tell.

“I dreamt about.. me and Lily… holding hands, and she was happy, and smiling and all… but then.. she got shot.. in her head.. and there’s blood and brains gushing out of her head..”

Ruby looked at me with a compassionate expression, and stroked my hair in a reassuring way. “It was just a dream, honey, and I am sure that what you dreamt won’t happen, and now that you know, you will prevent it. You should record the dream, and save it, that if you are in the same environment as in the dream, you will be able to prevent it.”

I let the theory sink in for a moment, while calming down from her stroking my hair. “You’re right..” I said, and started to download and save the dream, in video form. I stored it in a folder, which is proven to be unhackable.

I watched it back, and seeing the environment, I saw it was a grassy area, with butterflies and flowers. It looked like it was an island, given there’s a blue-grey stripe on the horizon, under the blue clear sky. Every way I looked in the dream, when I was frantically looking around for those responsible, there was the blue-grey stripe, indicating that there was sea all around us.

I got out of the video file, and looked at Ruby. “The dream took place on an island.” I stated. She then smiled. “Then you know where to be careful!” She said with a happy tone. It was rare to see someone so happy all the time, as if she never knew otherwise. It intrigued me. But I shrugged it off, assuming it was just part of her personality.

“I’m going to check up on Lily.” I said, and then I stood up, and went out of my room, to Lily’s room, with Ruby following closely behind. I silently opened the door, and peeked inside. The sight i saw, was disturbing . I saw Daniel, doing the deed with Lily, to put it lightly. Let’s just say they both had their underwear off. My systems immediately went danger mode. Without thinking, I pulled Daniel off of Lily, and onto the ground. Ruby went to Lily to get her underwear on and then get her out of the room. I glared at Daniel, and said: “I see Ruby isn’t giving you the pleasure you want huh? That doesn’t mean you can’t abuse your own daughter for Cyber’s sake! That’s disgusting!” Daniel stayed silent. “You know damn well that this is just unacceptable, Daniel. You have endangered Lily’s safety by engaging with her in that disgusting act! She could’ve gotten one of the diseases that can come with this! Let alone the pain she has to endure! If you men wouldn’t have needed your private part to pee, I wouldn’t hesitate to cut it right off.” I glared at Daniel, with a furious expression. To make it extra clear that I was angry, I changed my eye color to bright red. “If I catch you doing the deed with underaged girls, I will personally cut it off, I don’t care about you being the Emperor. If you then go and tell the country that I cut it off, I will tell them what despicable act you committed on Lily. Am I clear?” Daniel, whose face is now white as a ghost, nodded. I pulled him up, not caring about it being painful. I couldn’t care less. I then stormed out of the room, in search for Lily. I stopped for a second. This would be a good opportunity to test out the new systems Dr. Quinn has installed. I quickly found the advanced target locating system, and used it to find out Lily and Ruby were in Ruby’s bedroom.

I walked over, and opened the door. I saw Lily, crying. Once she saw me, she ran up to me. I knelt down to pick her up and hold her in my arms and try to comfort her. “Shhh, it’s over.. don’t cry…” I said, as I cradled her in my arms. She slowly but surely calmed down.

Meanwhile Ruby was busy calling various people, essentially to get away from Daniel. “Get a Cybersecurity Taxi here as soon as possible.” I heard her say. (A Cybersecurity Taxi is an aircraft that is equipped with VTOL (Vertical Take Off and Landing system), and it is the most reliable, safe, and efficient vehicle.) I sat down on Ruby and Daniel’s bed, and held Lily in my arms. My systems picked up the movement of Daniel, standing at the door.

He opened the door, but was immediately greeted by two angry women glaring at him, and a terrified child. I and Ruby glared at him. The amount of tension was clearly evident, as well as a deafening silence. Ruby broke the silence with one word. “Leave.” Daniel did just that, he slammed the door shut, and then proceeded to open his office door and slam that shut too, and a second later, the sound of a plate breaking was heard.

“The bastard broke my plate!” Ruby said angrily. “Should I collect all the plates?” I suggested. Ruby nodded. “I’d appreciate it.” She said.

I looked at Lily, whose eyes were red from the crying, and who was still sniffling, also from the crying. “Want to help with collecting the plates?” I asked her, to essentially distract her from what had just happened. She nodded. “Yes.. i wanna help!” She said. I placed her in my left arm, while i opened the door with

my right hand. When I peeked in the hallway, I saw a servant already cleaning up the mess. “Good” I muttered to myself, as I carefully removed the beautiful plates Ruby made, and gave them to Lily, who laid them in a box. Lily was sure to be extra careful with the plates. After a few minutes, all the plates were in the box, every individual plate was sealed with bubble plastic. I carried the box downstairs, and gently placed it on the ground next to the front door. I went back upstairs and saw Ruby packing some of her belongings, and Lily doing the same. The three of us then went downstairs and waited for the Cybersecurity Taxi to arrive. We saw a Cyber Taxi arrive, but it wasn’t a Cybersecurity Taxi. Two men in black suits stepped out of the Taxi, and opened the door for us, gesturing to get in. Lily wanted to get inside and was already walking to the Taxi, but I pulled her back while glancing at the men. I looked at Lily, crouched to be level with her and whisper: “This isn’t the right Taxi, Lily. These men are going to do bad things. We will have to wait for the real one.” Lily nodded. “Okay” She whispered. I smiled, and gently nudged her towards Ruby, and stood up to look at the men. “Leave.” I simply said. I put my hands behind my back, and had my hands disappear and have them replaced with the machine guns, without the two men noticing. Ruby however, noticed and tilted Lily in her arms, ready to cover her ears and eyes. The men hadn’t responded yet, so i said again, “Leave.” After a few seconds, one of the men smirked. “Not without what we are here for, ma’am. You, Lily, and Ruby.” I cleared my throat. “It’s Empress Ruby for you.” I said. The man chuckled. “I can say whatever and do whatever I want.” He said coldly, while putting his hands in his pockets, acting casual. I look at Ruby, and nod, as a sign to her to cover Lily’s eyes and ears. The two men suddenly pulled out their pistols to try to shoot, but before the pistols left their pockets, i had already shot them in their heads. Their dead bodies fell to the ground, heavily bleeding and I went inside, tasking servants to clean up the mess. I replaced the machine guns back with my normal hands.

“You gotta be quicker than humans to outsmart me, idiots.” I said with a grim expression. I then turned to Ruby and nod, signaling that Lily could see and hear again. She removed her arms and hands from Lily’s ears and eyes, and Lily looked around. “What happened, Daurine?” She asked. “They were trying to kill you, Lily. And I prevented it.”

“Why do so many people want me to die?” She asked, with her innocent tone. I don’t know.” Both Ruby and I said in sync. We shared a look together and then Ruby chuckled. “It seems like we both don’t know!” She smiled at me. I smiled back softly and sat down in a seiza position, looking out for the CST (CyberSecurity Taxi). After about half an hour, it finally came. It landed, and a few Royal Guards came out and escorted us inside. The aircraft took off, and when I looked back at the mansion, I saw a paper taped on the window of Daniel’s office, saying in capital letters: “I WILL END BOTH YOU AND YOUR LITTLE SISTERS LIVES.” I shrugged. I was sure that IF I had a little sister before I became a cyborg, he wouldn’t know where she was. I turned around to Lily, who was tightening the seatbelt, but because they were quite strong, I helped her out. She smiled. “Thanks Daurine!” She exclaimed happily. I smiled. At least she was happy and safe. Away from that pedophile.