"You think so?' Alice asks Danny, a curious look on her face. "You think I'm human?"
"I wouldn't say that, but the way you convey yourself and how you portray yourself, you're as human as they get." Danny shrugs his shoulders.
"Then I guess that's a testament to my creator," Alice smirks.
"Who is your creator?" Danny asks. "If you don't mind."
"Oh yeah, my creator was-" Suddenly, a wave of realisation hits Alice. "My creator..." She slows down her speech to think for a while. "Creator." Alice can't think of an answer, everything seems so blank.
"Do you have a creator?" Danny scoffs at Alice's struggle.
"I do, I think I do..." Alice says in an unsure tone. "No, I'm very sure I do have a creator." Alice starts banging her head against the palm of her head to trigger her memory.
"So you don't remember your creators too?" Danny laughs. "Me neither."
"But I thought you humans were raised by your creators, what was it again... Parents?" Alice asks. "I'm not too sure about the behaviour of humankind."
"Well you would be right in most situations, but I'm not most people." Danny sits back and lies on the back of the couch. "My dad was enlisted in the army and my mom died from a disease," Danny says nonchalantly like it doesn't phase him.
"What disease?" Alice asked immediately.
"Don't care, too late." Danny lies on the couch fully and props his head up on the armrest of the couch. "It was inevitable, she had me when she was terminal."
"Then isn't she at fault for cursing you with a terrible life?" Alice asks without any hesitation.
"Dude, you've got to learn to empathise, even cheap dollar-store robots can do that. Like, pick up a cue or two, you can't be so nonchalant about human death like that." Danny smirks.
"Oh I'm terribly sorry, I'm not so well diverse in the human psyche, am I hurting your feelings?" Alice asks out of real concern.
"Nah, I don't care." Danny turns and faces Alice, turning his entire body. "I do kind of blame her, but I don't, y'know?"
"I don't." Alice rudely interrupts Danny.
"That's another thing you've got to learn, rhetorical questions. I'm not asking you a question, I'm using a question that I already know the answer to and just using it as a way to bridge it to what I want to say, get it?"
"This human talk is highly tiring my brain, I don't think I quite understand." Alice's word choice was like that of a computer but the way the words left her mouth was like a toddler learning to speak, spit flying out of her mouth as she could barely pronounce the words correctly.
Danny sits up and takes a deep sigh before looking into Alice's brilliantly purple eyes. "Basically, my mom was a real scum for marrying my dad and having me, he was a real piece of shit. My mom didn't have a choice, either she stayed in the shit hole that was Los Sandra and rot to death by herself or leave Los Sandra with dad and come to Cathode City. Maybe if she stayed in Los Sandra she wouldn't have had me." Danny shrugs his shoulders and exhales through his nose.
"That must've sucked, like sucked real bad," Alice says as she props her head up on her palm.
"Yeah." The fan blades whirled above their heads, creating the sound of a bee whizzing through the room. The two of them stare at each other, not knowing how to continue this conversation.
"Oi!" Jodi slams her room door open, causing both Danny and Alice to flinch. "It's fucking eleven thirty in the evening! If you guys continue your little chit chat it'll be midnight!" She's dressed in a pink bra with long baggy grey pants that reach down to her ankles where she's wearing bright red sandals. "Danny! Get some sleep, you'll be training tomorrow morning first thing at seven!" Jodi slams the door back closed.
"What a bitch." Alice says as she yawns, stretching her arms.
"But I like her." Danny yawns back, stretching his arms.
"Good for you." Alice stands up from the kitchen counter and walks over to the lamp, pulling the string and turning it off. The only source of light was the endless stream of cars outside on the highway, their headlights lighting up the night sky like the sun.
Alice walks to where the coffee table and sits down on the rug, pulling up one side of it to cover herself and keep herself warm. She lay on the ground like a burrito, snugged up cosily in the dirty rug.
Danny covers himself with a blanket he finds at the feet of the couch, covering himself head to toe. The two of them close their eyes, sleeping in unison.
x x x x x
"Alright kiddo, you ready for some hard exercise?" Jodi standing at the edge of a fence, overlooking a vast ocean with cold waves hitting the walls. "Today is the day your life starts, for real this time!" She's wearing headphones and in a grey tracksuit outfit from her shoulders to her ankles, black running shoes.
"Yeah, sure." Danny is wearing a tracksuit that's slightly too big for him, the parts underneath his arm sagged and there was an excess around his waist. He wore a pair of white running shoes which were heavily damaged and covered in all sorts of dirt.
"Can you smell it? It smells like victory today." Jodi jogs on the spot as she absorbs the air around her. The two of them were standing on the outskirts of Cathode City, north side, facing the ocean. They were standing next to an outpost with one singular lamp over them, everything around them covered in a light fog that made it impossible to see more than 20 meters.
"Sure does." Danny's nose was bright red from the snow that was gently falling on them.
"Remember, your blood is cursed, you can't die, so go all out. And even if you do die, you'll just be brought back to life. Try to keep up with me, we won't be running for long." Jodi smiles as she turns around, getting ready for her jog.
"Alright." Danny jogs into position, standing next to Jodi.
"Three... t-" Before Danny could finish his countdown, Jodi starts sprinting down the road, a large gust of cold wind pushing his hair back. "Wait!" Danny starts sprinting after Jodi, barely able to see her in the fog that had enveloped them. "Wait for me!"