RAM WAS FRUSTRATED.
He racked his hands through his hair, then yanked them so hard that he was afraid he was going to rip them off. Ram stopped yanking, but kept his hands through his hair and dipped his head down.
He stared at the floor, which was depressing dark color. Or was it his illusion in the works?
Ram tried to be happy, but he couldn't. Ram closed his eyes and imagined his days with his Aunt El, laughing with her, watching movies and playing games, learning from her. He imagined how he felt during those times and slowly his heart warmed.
Ram opened his eyes again and he was greeted by a sunny yellow colored floor.
Ram lifted his gaze to see that he was inside his mind, where he had met with Em. Previously it had been a white room. But now, it was sunny yellow. All around him.
What the heck was going on? Has the endless white room existed in his mind evolved?
Ram was worried for a moment. "Em, are you there? Please, it's been so long since I talked to you and I have a damned good reason to believe that my life is in imminent danger," Ram said.
Em didn't respond.
The sunny yellow colored room all around him started to dim. It looked like a bright yellow dress that had been used for ages, slowly loosing it's color, finally becoming so worn out that the color faded entirely from it.
The room turned back to depressing grey color.
He was all alone. Ram really felt so hopeless that…
Em suddenly appeared in front of him, in a wrinkled flight attendant blue suit over white shirt that's stained with splotches of red wine, a blue skirt that had creases all over that reached her knees, and a blue colored cloth over her head that barely resembled a hat. This time, her eyes had dark circles beneath them, a ruined mascara making her looking like a ghost, leaving trails of tears that ran down from the corner of her eyes in a shaky line around her cheeks and down towards the jaw.
Despite her looking horrible, Ram felt warmth spread all around him. She was still with him. Ram hadn't contacted her ever since Chandra knocked him down and after what had happened with him almost disintegrating as well as learning the that Aunt El and Elder of Air were sisters, their situation and all, Ram needed a friend of his own.
And Em is that friend.
Ram didn't think for a moment and hugged her. When she stiffened, he hugged her hard, when she struggled, he hugged her harder till she hugged him back, patting his back. Ram let go of her after a long time.
Ram remembered how hurt she had been when he rejected her plea to change her appearance. Ram regretted it now. "Em, you could change your appearance to whatever it could be, but could you at least keep the name as it is?" he asked.
"No," Em said, her voice raw as if she had been crying for a long time.
"Please. What do you think about Emma? Isn't it nice?" he asked.
Em shook her head.
"Diana? Havana? Syl? Zoe? Crap!"
"How dare you suggest my name as Crap?" she asked, glaring at me.
"No. It's a curse word. Not a suggestion. I realized that me choosing your name while I asked you to treat me as a friend doesn't feel right. You can chose whatever name and appearance you wanted. I will be happy to oblige. You can even take however long you wanted. But please don't be angry at me," Ram said.
She was silent for a while. "For the time being, you can call me Em. Once I decide on an appearance and name, I will let you know. Until you would be struck with horrible looking Emily Roxane and I will make sure that you would never forget that face in your life. And why are you so defeated. You look like you need someone to talk to," she said.
Ram nodded. "I really, really do. Haven't you heard what had happened in the room just now?" he asked.
Em shook her head, but when she scanned the room all around them, she gasped. It was a shade of yellow that was neither too bright. Nor too faded. It's just right. Like the way Ram felt watching Em in front of him.
"What the heck is happening to our meeting room?" she asked.
"I think it might be because of my ability to use the Powers of Light now as well," Ram said.
"What?" she asked.
Ram revealed to her what his Aunt El had told him, about him being experimented by The Forces of Darkness. And then his ability to use the light as well as his past. How he used the Power of Light to create an illusion of the old man and almost disintegrated into nothing.
She looked at him gravely. "You never do that ever again. I have already lost so many masters in my life. If I were to lose you I don't know what would happen to me. You are the one that I had been close with more than anyone else. Please, promise me that you would be careful from now on," she said.
Ram nodded.
"Well, now that's settled, can you see how your refusal of my request to change my appearance effected me?" she asked, pointed at her face.
Ram looked at her ruined mascara and tear-streaked face and his mouth twitched. "Yes, I have seen it. But I thought you could also keep an eye on my surroundings whether you are down or not," he said.
"That would've been the case hadn't you refused my request. I was so angry at you that I went into a dark corner of your mind and locked myself in. I wanted you to suffer how much ever you could, to teach you a lesson, to make you realize that even though I am an A.I. , I was much closer to being a human than you could ever realize," she said.
Ram swallowed. He didn't dare to think what she meant. It was very complex for him to understand now, especially after just receiving a huge threat for his life from Elder of Air. "I realized my mistake. Can you please forgive me? I have so much to tell you. You wouldn't believe the crazy shit that had happened to me when you locked yourself in," he said.
Em shook her head. "Sorry. I am still angry at you. I will let you suffer more," she said and disappeared from the endless yellow colored room that turned depressing grey.