So, in short - I was brushing my teeth when it occurred to me (if you think about it like that, for some reason all good ideas come to me when I brush my teeth) but anyway
B lives alone in his house, he has a boring life and is lonely.
One evening he is sitting in a chair in his room and reading a book when he hears a hoarse whisper, barely audible: "Hey?"
Of course, he gets scared, turns his head, trying to find the source of the sound, when he sees two completely white eyes staring at him from the wall, glued to the faded shape of a human silhouette on the wall. Like a pale shadow.
"Oh, sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you," — it mutters.
B, of course, thinks he's going crazy and ignores the shadow as he goes to bed (yes, I think that's reasonable, leave me alone)
The next day, however, the shadow does not go away, on the contrary, it takes on a more intense dark appearance, and resumes timid attempts to talk to B.
B finally gives in and talks to it.
It turns out that the shadow was once a person, a human, A, and then was imprisoned in the shadow in this very apartment (I’ll think of this better later), and so - since then he has been wandering here in the form of a shadow, lonely and intimidated, until B appears.
B sympathizes with the shadow, and even tries to somehow console it, touching the dark form, until... lo and behold! The shadow crawls right out of the wall, taking the form of a guy!
A is too weak, which is clear, since he was imprisoned in his own shadow for a long time, literally. He is thin and lethargic. But, nevertheless, under the good supervision of B, he becomes stronger every day, gaining the strength to live a normal life. His demons still haunt him, but he's ready to move on.
Oh, and at a time when the weight of life and his painful anxieties becomes greater and greater, and B is not around to console him, A again turns into a faded shadow, after which he again needs to be taken out of this state, as a result of which he becomes even more weaker.
So B finds a roommate he never knew he dreamed of, and A a friend he never had.
You know what, I really love this plot. I will write this, get ready. And I will draw it too. Aeh.
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Revati knew, as she walked back to Baker Street, that once again she was on the edge of things.
Revati could barely remember the first edge she encountered, four years old and holding a balloon while drones flew above.
The second edge, seeing her father’s twitching hand under the rubble.
And now, Amma standing in the doorway with Dusk.
Her arms were folded, and she glared when she realized Camilo was with them.
"Hello, Camilo," Amma remarked.
"Sugafanna! I haven’t seen you since…" he began.
"Jay’s last birthday; you drank too much of your honeymede and threw up on the walls," Amma pointed out.
"Ah, yes," Camilo blushed with embarrassment.
"And I suppose you’re here to help Revati with this insanity?" Sugafana asked coldly.
"Is saving the ones we love really that insane?" Camilo asked Sugafana, who sighed, rolling her eyes.
"I’m going to the station now, Amma; where’s Nanni?" Revati asked.
"I’m right here, Dimpy," Nanni said from behind mother.
"Don’t die while I’m gone; you’ve lasted eighty years. You can last a little longer," Revati said firmly.
Nanni pulled her down, kissing her forehead, and then draped something around Revati’s neck.
It was her precious Kasithaali, a gold chain dotted with gold and coral beads.
In the center of the chain, there was a tiny golden idol, its features finely carved.
The Kasithaali was ancient, trailing far back to the first Sheik born on Mars.
The coral beads had been picked from a long-ago dead and abandoned Earth.
"Nanni, you know I can’t take this! Raiders will try to steal it," Revati pointed out.
"Hide it down the front of your clothes! You will need Lakshmi’s protection," Nanni said firmly.
"You will also need this," Amma replied, sliding off one of her bangles.
"Why are you both giving me wedding jewelry? I’m going on a rescue mission; I’m not getting married," Revati asked as Amma slid the bangle onto Revati’s wrist.
Amma tapped the bracelet four times, and it suddenly glowed a faint purple.
"DNA approved user confirmed, current balance nine thousand six hundred and eighty-three credits," the bracelet chimed.
"It’s not a bracelet; it’s my portable bank account! You’re not going to go out into the world with no funds," Amma said as Revati stared at the glowing numbers.
"Is this a lot of money?" She asked curiously.
"It’s enough. Now here’s everything else you asked for... including your sister's hairbrush," Amma asked, handing Revati a bag, and Revati nodded.
"Good, well, I best be off then," Revati said, and Amma nodded.
Revati realized it was probably time to say something else.
"I love you both," she added before reaching forward to embrace Amma.
Revati firmly believed in only hugging on her terms.
Still, Amma deserved it.
It took a moment to realize that Brigadeiro Bun was politely following her and Camilo.
"Why are you trailing behind me?" Revati had to ask.
"He's following you as well, as well as what I suspect is the android wearing a cloak," Brigadeiro pointed out.
"I need Camilo to help me at the train station," Revati replied as they reached the maze's entrance.
"I’m pretty sure I can turn the train on for one ride; I salvaged a power cell from the dragon," Camilo explained.
"Well, I’m following you because you’ll need my tent if you want to survive the elements," Brigadeiro replied.
"You got your tent back, then?" Revati asked as they entered the maze.
In the distance, Revati could hear someone giggle among the leaves.
"Yes, Isabeau found it in the lost property pile," Brigadeiro replied.
"And you’re going to give me your tent?" Revati asked.
"I’m going to share it with you; it’s a two-person tent! My ex and I were supposed to travel together, but we broke up," Brigadeiro said with a small shrug.
"You don’t seem that upset about it," Revati pointed out as they turned a corner.
The giggling was coming from two small children in medical dress fighting with sticks.
"I was; then I went out to find diamond roses for her, and everything else happened," Brigadeiro admitted.
"So you’re going to travel with me for an indefinite amount of time? Finding my sister plus take weeks or months," Revati said as they turned right.
"Or years; when appliances want to hide things, they stay hidden," Camilo pointed out.
"Well, I’ll stay with you until we reach a public teleportation station; then you can keep the tent," Brigadeiro said, and Revati shrugged.
"Fine, that’s a fair exchange for saving your life twice," she admitted.
The maze suddenly opened up onto the grand entrance of Olde Landon.
The ticket booths, in the shape of castle turrets, had long ago been abandoned.
The giant Elizabeth Twin statue was covered in gently glowing fungus.
Revati stared at them briefly.
One of the queens was in a grand solid carved ballgown.
The other in a neat suit and hat.
Both of them had lizard faces.
"We have the exact same statue on the South West Sydney Space station; apparently, the lizard faces allowed the queens to live for centuries," Brigadeiro remarked.
"That was just a myth; come on this way," Camilo replied.
The park bullet train ran from the park to Leeryasoar, the country's capital. Years ago, the station teemed with tourists. Feet would pound over the shiny tiles, the exact same gold and purple as the domed train. Creatrix vending machines were constantly humming next to the benches. Revati remembered Amma punching in several numbers to get Dityaa a bottle of mango lassi. There had been a stand in the center of the platform selling park maps and plastic magic wands. Pink and red roses grew in orderly bushes. Holographic signs floated on the walls, stating that all data cloud technology would stop working inside the park. Revati had dim memories of her father checking the news on his communications bracelet before they went inside. The signs had long ago been smashed to pieces and were now nothing more than broken screens. The Creatrix vending machines had been looted and were now filled with spiders. The roses all grew in wild tangles flowing over the garden beds.
"Wow; these roses have gone feral! They're singing about how much they wish they could prick people with their thorns," Brigadeiro remarked as Camilo approached the abandoned purple shuttle train with his tool belt.
"Are we far enough away from the wall?" Revati asked.
"We should be! All the vending machines were, so they led the attack during the invasion! The only thing that stopped them was the station's power supply getting cut off," Camilo said, gesturing about. Camilo was right; the station was dim and depressing under the grey Martian sunlight. Revati nodded and whisked the cloak off the figure. The maternity droid stared back at her. Camilo had taken the time to repaint its face. Its lips were a deep scarlet, its eyes bright cheerful green. Camilo had also replaced its broken legs with bulky steel ones he had spray-painted blue with cheerful flowers painted down the side. The belly door had been reattached and was now filled with a healthy white light.
"Hello, I am your custom-built Materno 4000 Deluxe prenatal droid! Would you like to grow a new baby or link to your pre-existing infant?" The android chirped in a flat metallic voice.
"Pre-existing infant," Revati said, and the Android's eyes fluttered.
"Your pre-existing infant is 218 months old, is this correct?" The android asked.
"Correct," Revati said, and the android blinked again.
"Your pre-existing infant is currently out of detection range; would you like to create a new infant?" The android asked.
"No! I want to talk to the lady who was using you as a microphone before," Revati said.
"You have to tell it to open maternal communication! I turned the channel off," Camilo said from where he had managed to open the front panel of the train.
"Open maternal communication!" Brigadeiro said eagerly.
The android's eyes fluttered shut once again. There was nothing.
"I don't think we're far enough away from the wall," Revati sighed.
But then the humming began. A faint, child-like humming came from behind the Android's lips.
"Whispers in the motherboard, a haunting tune,
A phantom dancing in the light of a digital moon," Brigadeiro sang along, and Revati shot him a confused look.
"It's humming Circuit whispers! From the hit musical 'The Android of Music,'" Brigadeiro explained.
"I've never heard of it," Revati confessed.
"You've never heard of 'The Android of Music'? Praise group! Once you've rescued your sister, I'll have to take you! Everyone needs to hear 'The Android of Music,'" Brigadeiro said firmly. Before Revati had a chance to reply, the android's eyes snapped open again.
"Thank Krishna! Finally, a decent signal; it's been eighteen years," the android exclaimed in an incredibly annoyed upper-class woman's voice. The Android reached clumsily toward Revati, snatching her bag. Then it reached inside, pulling out Dityaa's hairbrush. The belly door swung open, and the Android shoved the hairbrush inside.
"Did it just do what I think it just did?" Brigadeiro grimaced.
"How else do you expect me to trace my daughter's DNA?" The Android asked, and then her belly glowed green.
"Right, the last recording of her DNA imprint was in New Singapore six hours ago! Let's go find my baby," the android said firmly and cheered as the train burst back into life.
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