Neon Rain

The rainy night was young, hitting the windows while the young girl was traveling the dense jungle inside her father’s manor. Running away from tigers, creatures already extinct long ago, capturing dead insects and raiding long forgotten catacombs, until she finally found the golden fox statue… but suddenly, everything disappeared, letting her standing in the middle of the giant library. The projector went off, and there was her father, looking at her with a big smile.

“Dad? I was about to deliver it and save the village.” She complained with some fake tears in her eyes.

“You know what time it is, sweetie, it is better to sleep well if you want to grow healthy.” He told her, picking her up in his arms.

“Just a little more, pretty please? I just have to deliver the golden fox, and the village will be finally safe!” Her father gave her a book-shaped digital disk, the cover was that of a man standing in front of a jungle and a giant pyramid in the distance.

“You have teachings tomorrow, the tutor already told us she will not tolerate you sleeping on her classes again.” He sentenced with a faint smile. “You can continue playing once you are finished.”

“But dad! It’s not playing. You told me! It is an interactive program designed to improve and evolve how the history is studied.” She said, trying to imitate her father’s tone of voice.

“Nice try, little lady, but you need to go to bed. You can play… ‘study history’ tomorrow.” The lights went off with a smooth hum, the little girl watched how stars appeared in the library’s ceiling. She looked every corner and wall while walking to her room, the manor was her favorite place of the world, but, even at her young age, it was the only place she had ever met.

“Dad?” Her father was covering her with her bed sheets.

“Yes, sweetie?” He smiled, watching the curious little eyes, only her head was uncovered.

“When can we go to the sea?”

“Soon, missy. I just need to get some things done, and we will be traveling the ocean together, you, your mom and myself.” He stood at the door, ready to turn off the lights.

“But what about Claire? And Jonah?” There were a few of the people working at the manor that she really liked, as they were the only ones that played with her sometimes, the butler and the housekeeper were the most important. “What about Eleanor?”

“Them too… if they would like to, remember they have their own families, do you want them to abandon their families?” He asked while turning off the lights and leaving the room.

“I guess not… but Eleanor is a… a robot, she can still go with us, right?”

“Yes… yes, I guess she can go with us.” The little girl fell asleep slowly, looking at the rainy night through her window.

The sound of a thunder woke her up in the middle of the night, she tried to hug the stuffed doll that was usually lying next to her, but it was not within her little hand’s reach. She stood on her bed to look for it, still scared by the loud thunder noise.

“Eleanor?” She called, with her eyes barely open. “Can you help me find Mr. Jungle?”

“Please, wait.” The robotic voice answered her. The dark room was only illuminated by the garden’s light, projecting her shadow to the room’s door.

“Eleanor? Why don’t you turn on the light?” She asked. “Can you see in the dark?”

“Yes, I can. Besides, the master gave the instruction of not turning your light on.” The voice answered. The girl realized there were voices outside of the room, but also some calm music trying to cover them.

“What’s is that? Is someone visiting? Isn’t it too late to come at night?” She asked.

“Per the master’s instructions, please, disregard it.” The voice answered with the neutral tone. “You will find the toy in its home… please, take it.” A secret door opened in the wall next to her giant closet, inside the little box, a dim light went on, revealing a puff chair, some snacks and a holographic screen, inviting the girl to sit inside.

“But it’s not time for playing, the tutor will get mad if I fall asleep again in the class.” She protested while entering and grabbing some snacks.

“The master authorized it, so you can stay within Mr. Jungle’s house.”

“Fine… but if I get scolded it will be your fault.” She ran to get the doll, giggling while running. The secret door closed when the girl was falling asleep once again in the puff chair, this time, holding the stuffed fox to her chest.

Once again, the girl woke up to a loud noise, this time, coming from inside the manor, she was able to see a young woman grabbing her wrist gently, and recognized her but was too sleepy to talk, until the rain woke her up completely. The woman was carrying her in her arms, running through the artificial woods surrounding the manor.

“Eleanor? What is happening? Are we outside? It is raining.” Passing through the holographic trees, most of them were real, but the little girl’s father, the owner, had a hobby to recreate extinct species, a perfect place to hide in certain cases.

“The master gave the order to take you somewhere else, please, be quiet while we…” She went silent, covering the little girl’s mouth, hiding inside of one of the holograms. A few men were running around, all of them were armed with heavy assault weapons, avoiding entering the fake trees, probably thinking they were all real. Eleanor put her finger on her lips, asking her to be silent.

“Oi! These rich bastards have the money to have actual trees…” One of the men told another one, both were walking close to them, looking everywhere.

“I don’t recognize this one… thought these were extinct.” The other one answered looking at one that seemed different.

“This dude was supposed to be a historian or some shit like that, no?”

“According to boss, he invented some stuff that made them stupidly rich. Shit only rich people buy.” The man looked up, admiring the height of the trees.

“Well, where that took them? They all now have a target on their back.” Both men laughed, the little girl was about to cry, but Eleanor was still covering her mouth.

“Oi! You think we can get some of this… how is it called… wood? With me?” One asked, approaching to the tree where they both were hiding.

“Oi! Bastards! Why the fuck are you slacking? Get your asses here.” Eleanor yelled with a rough man’s voice, projecting the voice to get them away from them.

“Fuck… c´mon.” One of them said.

“Yeah, I will come later for it… but who was that calling? A new one?” The other one said, walking away from the girl and Eleanor.

“With all the useless mercs we hire, we never know.”

“Right… Still, let’s find the little missy so we can…” They were too far for the little girl to understand what they were saying. Eleanor did not move for a few minutes, waiting for them to be far enough.

“Eleanor?” The girl asked.

“Yes, young master?” The android answered running through the holographic forest, they were almost at the edge of the manor domains.

“Where are mom and dad? And Claire? And Jonah?” She asked with a low, timid voice.

“They will reach to us as soon as we are safe, but the master’s order was to take you to the highway.” Eleanor answered without looking at her, not sure if the little girl will notice the lie, she just told her, but the programming wasn’t good enough to let her read emotions effectively.

“Where are we going?”

“As master said: The highway, somewhere safe.” This was not a complete lie, but she was not certain either, the order was to take her there safely, and wait for someone.

“Eleanor? I’m cold.” Elanor turned her face immediately to the little girl, noticing the blue-ish lips, her normally pale was unusually white.

“I understand, I will take care of it, but, please, keep your voice down until we can reach to the safe spot.” The android started to raise the heat in her cybernetic body.

“Thank you… Are you okay?”

“Yes, I will not overheat for a few more hours, and the cold rain will cool me down in the meantime.” Eleanor answered.

“Oi! Missy, where are you going?” A man was standing near to the wall, the highway was on the other side, Eleanor could see he was part of the mercenaries attacking the manor, and he noticed the little girl in the arms of the young woman. “There is a party there, why don’t both of you come with me…”

“No.” A single shot was fired; the little girl saw for the first time how a human brain looks when it’s pushed out of the skull by a gun cannon, specifically, the one coming out from Eleanor’s wrist, returning to the original position a few seconds later. “Let’s proceed.”

“Is he going to be okay?” The girl asked, knowing perfectly well the man was dead.

“No.” Eleanor jumped the wall without effort, covering the eyes of her little master.

The minutes passed slowly and the rain was getting worst by the second. There was no police or medical team on sight, meaning someone planned this, but Eleanor could not know from that position, and her mission was not complete yet. The android’s body was covering the little girl, both waiting for someone none of them knew. The rain was hitting the android furiously when someone showed up. A black car was driving on the highway at a low speed, stopping in front of the hidden duo.

“I assume you are Eleanor.” The deep voice of a woman came out from the interior of the vehicle.

“Indeed. Are you the contact the master was waiting for?” She responded.

“Perhaps… but what if I’m not?” The girl chuckled. “Calm down, I knew your name, didn’t I?”

“The police nor the medical team has arrived, there is a possibility the communication was compromised.” Eleanor prepared the gun in her hand.

“No need to turn violent… Mr. Rockford informed me about the little girl in need of shelter during a rainy night.” Eleanor could see 2 red dots in a complete darkness. “You can leave the little missy on my hands, it is what we agreed.”

“Eleanor?” The girl asked.

“Go with her, she will take care of you until the master comes for you.” Eleanor smiled, then put the girl in the car.

“Nice to meet you, little one.” A white hand came out of the darkness to greet her. “I am Miss H., and I will take care of you during this rainy night.”

“Eleanor, don’t leave me.” The girl cried.

“Don’t be afraid, young missy, I will go find the master, then we all will come for you.”

“Eleanor… are you lying?” The android smiled at her and the door closed, the girl was alone with just the woman inside, and the driver.

“Are you hungry?” The woman asked, but there was no answer from her companion, the little girl was looking through the rear windshield how the android was crossing the highway to enter the manor once again.

The minutes passed, and the young girl was still waiting in front of the door she used to enter a weird dark place, filled with bottles without names, a dim smell of wood and what Jonah used to put in his mouth when he thought no one was seeing, pictures of people and a lot of chairs.

With the hours, people entered to the same place, all with a sad look on their faces, looking at Miss H. then entering in a back room the girl wanted to see, but was too busy waiting for Eleanor.

She woke up early in the morning, the bed was bigger than her own at the manor, but she looked for the bathroom, until she found Miss H. sitting in one of the bar sofas, eating breakfast while reading the newspaper. A man was next to her, the girl knew it was the driver, who was also eating with her.

“Eat, we need to speak about something.” The man let out a deep voice. The girl was only 9 years old, but she knew the depth of those words, and she didn’t like them. Normally, they were related to complaints from her tutors or something broken by accident, but her parents where nowhere to be seen.

“Where is Eleanor? She never breaks a promise to me… and mom and dad?” The girl asked.

“Eleanor is already here, and she wants to speak with you.” Miss H. told her, but the girl was not happy, something was wrong.

They all entered the room she was curious about, there was filled with dozens of bubbles with people inside, all of them smiling while sleeping.

“What are they doing in there?” She asked the two walking beside her, approaching to one of the capsules.

“They are dreaming of beautiful times, remembering old eras where a person was not worried of what they would eat or if they would be eaten by the monster we live in… I mean, the city.” Miss H. answered.

“How can a city eat?”

“Oh, it can eat, it is famished, craving for the joy and hopes of the unfortunate ones.” The woman put her hand on a panel with an oval shape, then, a door appeared and opened, revealing an elevator, where they all entered. Down below, there was Eleanor, laying in pieces in a stretcher, barely awake.

“Eleanor!” The girl screamed, running to her android’s side. “Wake up, Eleanor, why are you like this?”

“Please, Eleanor, let my little Sophie know this: I…” Her father’s voice came out of the android’s mouth. “We may not see each other again, but if that happens, know that I will forever love you, your mother and I, nothing will change that… please, Sophie, forget about this, let it go, be happy, and we will found you, one day, we will be together, once again… mom and dad love you, my little missy… Miss H. will take care of you until you are old enough, so, please, pay attention to your tutor, this time, I mean it…” There was a sudden silence, then it all started again.

“They are here, master…” Eleanor’s voice came out of her stiff mouth. “We should proceed to the saferoom.”

“No, they took my wife, and I will get her back-“ The recording stopped and Eleanor woke up when the sun was setting, the light rain was hitting in her window, and the recording she programmed to have every time she went to sleep was returned back to the initial point, ready for when she goes to sleep once again.

The woman standing in front of the remembered those old days with a sad look in her face, remembering the look in the little girl when the last words of the head of the family was heard, but she dismissed the thoughts in her head. Taking a bath and gearing up to go out, ready for another night, lurking in the belly of the famished Neo Cartago City.