Synopsis: Starch goes to an island in the space to explore. There she interacts with a cyborg named 01A.
My nickname is Starch. I can do whatever I want forever. That's my nature. I am on an island. This island is in space. It floats in a random direction and can travel across time every few millennia. But I don't plan to stay here that long. I am a passenger.
What am I doing here? I do have unlimited time to spend and a juvenile mind. This combination sometimes leads me astray. As it has happened this time. But I want to make the best of the moment, so I will stay here.
I will find something to occupy myself. I always find an interesting activity.
After all, I perceive everything in a way that satisfies me the most. I sense like this for example. Every living being is in a female body. The only difference between a man and a woman is their genitalia. They look beautiful, and that beauty is not for perverseness.
My eternal perception is beneficial, not just for me, but for all, due to one fact: I sense no pain. When there is no pain of any kind, people seem to live life happier. They express their souls at the maximum level. That's my contribution to existence.
For example, I am now on a beach. My feet are in the sand. I look around and see people walking down the nearest pavement. Some smile, while others grimace. This indicates to me that life, as always, brings problems. At least because of me, it is painless and beautiful.
I walk to the pavement, climb up the little steep slope, and get on it.
Before I explore the environment that awakens my curiosity, I will check my appearance. I wonder about it. Suddenly, a mirror appears. It crawls out of the ground and stands still. I walk around it and stop right in front. My reflection smiles at me because I am smiling.
I say, "Looks like I am a girl of medium height."
I have short white hair, with the front dyed red. My eyes are emerald green. My skin is pale. I am wearing a tight-fitting outfit that covers my whole body. There are some openings on the shoulders and the sides of my waist in this clothing. It is pure black. My feet are bare. That's enough information for now. I conclude that I will stick with this look for the time being.
I can also change my ego, self, and personality at will. This current body relies on craziness, apathy, and recklessness. I hope I can navigate it.
Suddenly I laugh hard as someone passes by me.
I think, "Why don't I kill that person over there? They will never cease to exist. They will die and be reborn forever. There is no pain. What is good for the senses is normal after all. That’s because of me. So I deserve to act as I like."
Unless I calibrate my persona, it will cause frenzy. But I wonder what will happen. I will just observe my current instincts.
I raise my hand. A gun materializes. It is a purple, technological one. There are three holes stacked on top of each other at the tip of the gun. My index finger rests on the trigger. And the gun aims at the person who just passed by me. What will I do now?
I think, "This trigger will trigger intense joy. Do it!"
I pull the trigger. Three laser balls blast out and hit the person. She disappears and a cloud of dust erupts.
I shout, "NEXT!"
I aim at another person and fire the gun. She disappears. Her clothes drop to the ground. I run to the clothes, squat down, and check them one by one. I find a phone, pick it up, and press the button to switch it on. It has a digital lock. Too bad. I can do whatever I want, but now I need the password. The password comes to my mind and I unlock it.
A picture emerges on the screen. She is a beautiful person. Technically I praise everyone for their bodies. So because of this, I will call her a normal person. I never discriminate among people. Anyway. I look at the picture.
Who is she? I start to hear sirens as I think about her. The sound comes from behind me. I turn around and see it. A car drives fast toward me. It is a futuristic car, adorned with neon lamp decorations. Its wheels spin wildly. It suddenly stops as if frozen.
The car begins to turn around where it is. Its front moves away to reveal its side doors to me. It is within walking distance. Probably it would take only seconds to run to it.
The car's doors become transparent. Now they resemble a hologram. I can now peek inside. I see someone inside. She gets out of the car, her body moving through the hologram.
She stands still. Do I have to describe her body? I know I can kill her at any moment. Okay. I will fire my gun. If she dies, I will not mention her appearance.
I raise the gun, aim at her, and fire. The laser balls blast out, however, they disappear right before they hit her. She is staring at me, her hands in her pockets.
Okay, that doesn't prove anything. She hasn't demonstrated her worth to be described by me. One more test, please.
I raise the gun, fire again, and see the same situation unfold. This person, whose gender I don’t know, is just standing still. She is staring at me with a lifeless expression.
Fine. I will describe her appearance. She is taller than me, has white hair, pale skin, and golden eyes. She wears a sophisticated white jacket that reaches her knees. Sleeves cover her arms. She wears gloves, boots, and pants. A sheath rests on her back, but it is empty. There is no sword in it. She has mechanical horns on her forehead. There is a thin mechanical armor encircling her neck to the nape.
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I start to shout aloud, "Why would I spend time on her? She will die as soon as I want. Let's kill her and go eat some donuts."
I cover my mouth to stop this tantrum. That person over there is watching my insanity, I guess. I will learn her name by sheer will. What? A number has turned out to be her name: 01A. Interesting.
I can know everything about her if I want. Including her favorite intercourse pose. Or I can control her by my will. But I will not attempt these because I respect free will. At least for now.
I will throw away this gun since it is useless now. I toss it aside, and it diminishes in the air.
01A pulls a cigar from a box and lights it. She brings it to her lips, smokes once, then throws it away.
She brings her hand to the sheath. Her hand closes as if holding a handle. She pulls her hand as if drawing something from the sheath. She then lowers it. Her hand still looks like it is holding something.
A small opening appears in the ground next to her as she lowers her hand further.
I ask, "Do you use an invisible sword?"
No answer comes. I knew this would happen. I should have done something else instead of asking.
I wish for the car to go crazy. Suddenly the car's headlights flicker. Its horn sounds loudly. It starts to spin rapidly. The back of the car is about to hit 01A.
01A dashes forward just before the car can hit her. The car continues to rotate in place. Let it rotate like this! I will focus on her.
I jump off the pavement and land on the road. I keep walking until I stop in front of 01A. She suddenly thrusts, swinging her arm. I see her hand still holding something invisible. I wish to know what it is. It is indeed an invisible sword. I wish to see it and I begin to see it. Now I can see a sword that matches her clothing in style.
I open my mouth and bite the sword before it can hit my head. My bite breaks the sword apart and its blade falls to the ground. I have always liked doing this! And I am happy that I managed it.
01A jumps backward. She doesn't seem impressed. I know she doesn't realize that I can see her sword, but she must have noticed from my biting.
01A moves her hands to her torso. She slides them underneath her jacket. Pulls out two metal boxes and squeezes them. The boxes transform into two pistols. And she fires them. The bullets come out.
In fact, the bullets are transparent and made of electricity. Don’t ask how I know this. I can know everything. Moments like this are great opportunities for me to brag about myself.
The bullets are about to hit me across the body if I don't do anything. I have many options to act upon now. I can freeze time. I can use teleportation to get behind her. Or summon someone to fight for me. Hmm, the last option appeals to me now.
I summon someone. She appears right between me and the bullets. She is floating in the air with her feet not touching the ground. Her name is Charletto. You would recognize her if you have read "Renee Ray: The Hunt For Dust Thirst." However, I will describe her briefly so she looks good in action.
She has long, straight black hair, pale skin, and blue eyes. She is almost the same height as me. She is naked. There is a black mist floating around her. It is covering her like clothing. Charletto is a pet weapon, which means that she provides weapons as well as acts like one. This doesn't sound entirely accurate, though. Actually I won't delve into that.
Charletto raises her hands and the bullets are enveloped in black mist. They reverse their trajectory in the air. 01A jumps aside as the bullets burst past her. They go straight through the spinning car. The car explodes as they hit it. The explosion pushes 01A back. This causes her to fall to the ground. She rolls before hitting her head on the ground and then stands up.
I point at 01A and order Charletto to attack. Charletto lands on the floor. A dark mist appears across the ground, enlarging between her and 01A like a fine line. 01A starts to run away, but the line of mist reaches her first. Many ropes emerge from the line, wrapping around 01A's limbs. She can't move.
She is immobilized because Charletto's mist is paralyzing her. To be honest, I am ashamed of using Charletto against her. It's unfair. Charletto can cut, kill, or paralyze even gods or supreme beings. On the other hand, 01A is just a cyborg soldier responsible for daily crimes. That was an unfair fight, so I can't brag about myself. Actually, I want to play fair.
I order Charletto to stop before she kills 01A. She complies and then flies toward me. Now she is floating calmly around me.
The ropes around 01A's limbs disappear and the mist across the road shrinks. I just realize that the car is on fire. The flames are consuming what is left of it.
I sigh. I think I would like to exchange some words with her to show my sincerity. I might have killed two innocent people, but I can resurrect them at any moment. Let me talk to 01A.
I say, "I will play fair if you talk to me. My nickname is Starch. What is yours?"
01A seems to calculate the odds. She understands she is no match for Charletto. She is a smart and well-engineered cyborg. Therefore she utilizes her only option.
01A replies, "I will talk. Now I have talked. Will you fight fair? Or are you a liar who deceives her opponents?"
I adore her voice. It is solid, firm, robotic, yet algorithmic. I hope the last word indicates something positive because I used it as a compliment.
Let me show her my trustworthiness by sending Charletto away. Charletto senses my intentions now and disappears from sight. A cloud of mist emerges where she was. It floats to my right forearm. It moves around my forearm so fast that it forms into a solid fabric. Then it becomes a black leather glove.
Suddenly, five keen, long claws emerge from the fingers of the glove. They glow under the sunlight.
01A steps backward upon seeing this. She bends her knees slightly. Her hand moves to her right thigh. It opens a small box attached to her pants. She takes something out and brings it to her mouth. She puts it inside but don’t swallows.
I ask, "What is it?"
A wish would have revealed my answer though. But I would have seemed antisocial if I had relied on my nature too often.
01A replies, "I have calculated the odds. That's my secret guard against your uncertainty. You are too unpredictable."
I shrug. "I can revive the two people. Will you go away if I do so?"
01A responds, "Your punishment would be alleviated. But you will still be guilty because of the damage done to the public and the car."
I wish for the two people I killed to come back to life. They revive near the mirror I created and start to run away screaming. Then I wish for the car to repair itself. The car repairs itself as the flames are extinguished. After all of this reversal, I smile at 01A.
01A crosses her arms. "My central employer declares you are still guilty. I can't judge your actions, as I said, because I don't possess the right to pass judgment—"
I refuse, "Please! There is no damage around. I know they are watching me through your eyes, from their comfy seats in their offices."
I check. That's correct.
I say, "So focus on this with your sharp eyes."
I stretch out my right hand with the claw and raise my middle finger. I think the long claw will convey my message better.
01A sighs with her eyes closed as she sees me doing this.
01A says, "I have been ordered to terminate you for your arrogance."
I giggle because my persona signals me to do naughty things on this island.
I think: "Kill them. Resurrect them. Erase their memory. Then repeat it."
I will not do what I thought. But it's an alternative nonetheless. Then I look into 01A's eyes.
I say, "The fate of your island will depend on this."
A coin appears in my left palm. I show it to her.
I say, "I will toss it. If I see the pictured face, I will go away. If I see the numbered face, I will destroy your life with my bare hands. Despite that one of my hands is in a glove."
01A doesn't say anything.
Regardless, I toss the coin. It drops to the ground, rolls for a short time, and then falls on one side. 01A clenches her fists as she sees the result. I laugh as I see it.
The result of the toss is the number. That means I will have to destroy this life. However...
I say, "I am a firm believer in free will. At least for now! So I will leave your life despite the result. And my word count is up. But that doesn't mean I won't come back. So wait for me in the near future!"
01A blinks. I know she is waiting for an order from her employers. But I will not wait here. It is time for me to leave. Before I go, I want to immortalize this moment.
I take off my black leather claw glove, which indicates Charletto is still around, and toss it in front of 01A. She steps backward as she sees it drop.
I smile at her and say, "She is very friendly. I promise she will obey you, 01A. It's just a souvenir for you. Because you entertained me. Anyway I am leaving. Take care!"
I bend my knees and jump up. A green portal emerges below me and I fall through it. The portal spits me out elsewhere and I land on my butt. But I close my eyes. I will not open them.
I shout, "Enough for now!"