Chapter 2

AL.I.C.E-2968442

I think I woke up with a smile. It was undoubtedly peaceful this morning, not that it was unusual from a typical morning. I turned my head as I stretched out my arms. My clock read 6:00 in glowing blue. It was fairly early in the morning, and I would have to and get ready for school. I sat up and pushed my red hair out of my face. The lights lit automatically, and a mechanized voice greeted me in a natural tone,

"AL.I.C.E-2968442, your guardian units would like to speak with you before you depart for school." I stood up and walked over to the white wall opposite my bed. It slid open at my approach, and two mechanical arms handed my school uniform to me. A white long sleeve top with white pants.

"AL.I.C.E-2968442," the voice said again, "your guardian units would like to speak with you before you go to school."

"Thank you, please inform them I will be down shortly," I replied to the voice this time. It did not answer, but I knew it would relay the message to them. They must, or at least one of them must, have something urgent to say.

I changed out of my sleepwear, a white long sleeve top with white pants, and handed it to the mechanical arms. It took them and retracted into the wall, which slid shut. After that, I put on my fresh clothes. It was a meaningless task as the clothes I slept in and wore to school were exactly the same, but this was my morning routine, and I did not intend to change. Once I put on my clothes, I brushed my hair behind my ear on the right side in order to show the insignia on my face. I walked to my door, which slid open once I got close to it, and I walked into the hall.

My guardian units were both waiting around the corner. They were identical SA.RA units, a model designed initially for intelligence focused tasks to assist every increasingly improved AI. Aside from the indicators on their faces, they were identical in appearance: my first guardian, SA.RA-47628475 glared intensely at me while my second guardian, SA.RA-48727777 stood swaying behind her. 48727777 was half asleep, like every morning. Unlike 47628475, my second guardian unit was less strict. She had told me to address her as Nanana when no one else was around. I had no idea why she wanted to be addressed differently from her serial number.

"2968442," my first guardian began to speak, "need I remind you to keep up with the standards we have set." She was mad about something again. I imagine I did something to upset her, which violated her standards of how I ought to be. Honestly, I had no idea what I did to upset her this time. Nanana came up behind her and wrapped her arms around her, or instead began to use her as a support to keep from falling over; 47628475 jumped at the sudden contact.

"Come on," she lazily said. "You are too harsh. You know AL.I.C.E models are not designed for intelligence, like us, they are made for beauty. We cannot apply the same standards to her." 47628475 angrily shook Nanana off from herself.

"Why do I always have to tell you? I swear you two are the worst to be paired with." She gave up and stomped off. She must have finally gotten tired of telling us the same thing repeatedly. Standards apply to all models, regardless of design purpose. I had heard it too many times to count. That day I had missed school, or that day I was out after curfew. These were the most recent instances I had heard it. In the past, she said it more often, especially whenever I asked an odd question. Nanana stumbled over to me and wrapped her arms around me. She was now using me to support herself.

"Do not get so worried about her, I'll talk to her later," she whispered to me. Nanana must not have realized that 47628475 had left the hallway and gone elsewhere. She patted my head when she spoke. Then she let go and stumbled down the hallway.

I ate a quick breakfast, the usual morning nutrient bar, and grabbed my bag for school. The front door slid open as I exited the house, and I stepped out onto the bright walkway. The air blew calmly, and it was as quiet as could be. I moved down the walkway to the elevator. Our home was in the center of a rather large tenement, and there were two elevators at either end. My morning routine was to go in a random direction to one of the doors. Today I think I would go right.

As per usual, a small crowd was waiting at the elevator to be let down. We all silently stared at the door as we waited for it to reach us. I saw a small person out of the corner of my eye, most likely a child. I was curious to see what model this child was. I was certainly old enough that some new models may have started to be implemented, but I continued to stare at the door. It would be considered rude to look at the child like that, and there were a few too many people around that would see me do it, so I could not try to sneak a peek. I closed my eyes and waited for the elevator to come.

The elevator beeped, and we all shuffled inside. We were crammed together for the short descent before we were able to push ourselves out. People always rushed a little more to exit the elevator, and today was no different. Someone behind me pushed somewhat hard, so I came stumbling out of the elevator more than usual—the jerk. Taking a breath, I collected myself and began my walk down the street to school. Nothing was unordinary in the city. The white buildings were as clean as ever, the sky was a perfect shade of blue, and the grass and trees were a brilliant green.

The city was quiet, even with all the people walking through the streets. We walked in a uniform pattern. The roads were wide, but we always walked in two straight lines going in opposite directions. No one ever taught me this, but it was something that everyone did. I had once asked why but it only led to 47628475 and Nanana telling me it was the "way things were." That was something I heard even more than the lecture about standards.

I had quite sometime before school would start. I could go early and sit silently in my seat before it was time to start, like everyone else, but I never did. The park seemed like a nice change of pace. It was not somewhere I usually went on my morning commute. I turned to go down the street that would take me to the park. The closest park I knew of, relative to my school, was the one on the edge of the city. It did not take long to get there. We lived fairly close to the edge anyway.

The park was the same as always. Green grass gently danced together with the leaves in the current of the wind. A white brick pathway diverted off the main street into a semicircle shape through the grass and trees. A series of white, metal benches lined the path facing a large, rectangular cut plant that circled the city. This park was known as South Park. The city's outermost edge had four parks and four recreational areas that alternated in a circle around it. South Park was known to be the least visited by anyone other than students. I walked over and sat on one of the metal benches. I leaned back to stare at the blue sky. Suddenly, everything was dark. Someone had blocked my vision. I already had a guess to who it was.

"Guess who, 442?"

"You're the only one who shortens my model code like that 443."

My vision returned, and I turned my head to see the person. She crossed her arms and puffed out her cheeks for a moment before smiling at me. AL.I.C.E-2968443, or 443 as she had requested, I called her. She had been produced a year after me, and we became close after we met. Upon our first meeting, she and I were surprised to see another AL.I.C.E model, as we were particularly rare in production. The unit produced before me was made at least ten years prior. After the second meeting, she had declared we were best friends. I did not mind.

"Hey, hey 442!" she said enthusiastically.

"Yes?"

"Did you see that broadcast last night? It was fascinating, wasn't it?!"

It was not.

"Uh, it was just the standard news of the day."

"Oh you, you have to get into the broadcasts more." 443 spun in a circle. "I just love when the screen comes on, and we can see the two announcers. They are always so amazing!"

She spoke in a cheerful voice, as usual. I do not know why she was loud all the time, but she really wanted to be a broadcaster in the future. Being an AL.I.C.E model, she had a good chance of being assigned to that role. The broadcasters were typically a pair of male and female beauty models.

"I'm glad you know where you want to be assigned in the future, but you should not be so loud. There are others nearby."

The park was out of the way, but a few other students were obviously trying to pay no mind to us as they walked nearby on the street. A little longer and they would be gone, but for now, 443 needed to quiet down. The last thing I would want is for her to get in trouble for causing an incident. She crossed her arms and looked at me with a smile.

"Well, they can look all they want. After all, once I'm on the broadcasts, they will see me all the time!"

"Alright, alright. So how did you get here so early?" She usually took her time to get to school. Not that I blamed her, I did the same.

"Oh, I left early. My guardian units were having a loud discussion again. I don't know if he said something or she said something; I just left." I imagine something similar happened with my guardians after I left.

"So, the usual?"

"Ah!" 443 threw her hands up and slid next to me on the bench. "I thought units were assigned for practicality, but everyone I know talks about their guardian units talking loudly with each other. You could confuse them with the beasts on the outside."

"Shh, Shh," The girl did not know how to talk in a quiet voice herself. It amazed me that we were the same model when we acted so differently. I stood up and put my hands on her shoulders, "You are getting too excited." 443 let her head hang down.

"I hope we can be paired together, 442. I know we will get along just fine," she said softly.

"What, what do you mean?" 443 looked up and smiled with a large grin. She immediately turned around and ran away.

"See you at school!" she yelled as she ran off. I was alone now. I walked over to a nearby tree and pressed my back against it. School would be starting soon, but I did not feel the need to go. I only left early to get outside for a little bit. Really, I did not know what school would do for me. As an AL.I.C.E model, I would be assigned to a role where my looks were the primary focus.

A rustle in the greenery caught my attention. I immediately stood up and ran to hide behind the tree. The plant was a thick, green bush hybrid with something else. It was made to be an aesthetically pleasing border between the city and the nightmarish outside. Beyond that is the wall, which stretches at least 15 meters in the air.

Did someone go behind the bushes? The rustle indicated that someone had indeed gone between the bushes and the wall, most likely a kid exploring. I did the same when I was younger, though I got quite an earful about it from my guardians and some officials. Come to think of it. I did not know why I was hiding. I peeked out from behind the tree and saw a boy climbing over the bush. He lost his grip and ungracefully fell onto the ground. The bush was at least 3 meters high, at least twice as tall as me, and he fell from the top squarely onto his back. I held back a laugh at the ridiculousness of it all.

I should probably check on him, but I could not recognize his model from here. He could not be a new model since he appeared to be about as old as I was, which was concerning. Could he possibly be a new model that was not officially announced? Perhaps a new research model that would be implemented soon? That might explain why he was not headed to school like he should have been.

The boy sat up off the ground in one fluid motion. He rubbed his face with his hands. He looked to be taller than me, maybe a head worth, with bronze, tanned skin. It appeared that the color was from a mix of natural pigment and exposure to the sun. His hair was black and unkempt. It seemed that it fell all around his face. He wore ragged clothing that was not the standard uniform, and he appeared to have lean muscles bulging from where I could see skin. Something was wrong with this boy. He looked human but seemed nothing like me.

"Damn, should have crawled under," he said aloud. The boy stood up and brushed himself off. He looked around and stopped when he noticed me. He looked at me, right into my eyes. I immediately hid behind the tree. He had deep brown eyes. I noticed immediately as no insignia to indicate his model took my attention. I rested my hands on the tree to stop them from trembling. Could he be a monster from the outside? If so, how did he get here? Is that right? Does this make sense? It looked human, and that is what scared me the most.

I heard footsteps draw closer. It was approaching, but cautiously. Maybe it was more scared of me than I was of it. I doubt it. Should I try to call for help? It might react if I tried to reach for my phone. Should I run? No, it might be faster than me and might get a thrill from the chase. This was a beast from beyond our city. Logic would not work. In the end, I remained behind the tree. I was trembling as the monster approached.