Perspective Video Script

Five more minutes. A few more moments of peace, probably, before HoneyCakes44 would pick herself up from the bed and smile as bright as the sun. She grit her teeth and swallowed. The alarm would go off soon.

The door of her room slid open and a robotic voice pricked her ears.

“Madam.”

Third step. Four. Five. Six. Seven. Eight. The robot turned at its ninth step at the side of her bed. Anna crinkled her nose, shifting her face towards her visitor with a deep breath. She opened her cracked lips ever so slightly.

Her jaws stiffened. Her chest tightened to silence her raising heart. Anticipation firmed her legs and crumpled her toes as she arched herself outward to the robot. His visitor’s machination finally whirred.

It tried to move as silently as it could, but it could not hide the sound of metal grinding in its joints. She almost cracked a smile. This bit was part of the command, anyway, to let her know. His overwhelming presence finally shadowed her like an iron ball hanging onto a copper thread.

The robot’s fingers clicked into position. Anna moved her head closer and closer. Her breath foamed at the robot’s freezing touch. It traced the bottom of her eyes down to her cheeks. She tightened her lips and groaned. She welcomed another cold line that traced her temple and circled a few strands of stray hair behind her ear.

Anna wanted to turn her head and smile. At least, she could pretend that it’s another person for a few more seconds. She swallowed once more, unmoving. It would end as soon as he realizes that she’s awake. The metallic hand caressed her cheeks as though to wipe some tears before it moved, slowly and ticklish, down to press and cup her chin. It got more laughable by the second. She breathed and opened her eyes.

“Alfred.”

“Good morning to you, Madam,” the robot moved away and placed both his hands on his back. “Following your instructions, I’ve come to wake you up five minutes before your alarm clock. I trust that you’ve managed to sleep well?”

“Barely.”

“Would you be so kind to give me a rating right now?”

The robot flashed a text box that showed “Derivative Five: Alfred.” Below it was five empty stars and a comment box. Anna picked herself up and slumped at her bed’s edge. She forced a smile and nudged the textbox away.

“Sorry, Alfred. Maybe later. How’s my schedule looking up today?”

Alfred tilted his head, as though to give her an understanding smile. “I was able to clear up most of your mornings so you could go about your business. However, one of your subscribers overrode the rule through their Top Fan Privilege and wished to have a talk with you, reinforcing that by saying the amount that he donated to your channel this month and the months before.”

Anna nodded. She perked her lips and combed her hair and gathered it into a tight messy bun with Alfred’s help. “I’ll need my space. Silence the alarm clock for me, and if he makes that call, buy me a few minutes.”

“Certainly, Madam.” Alfred bowed a little. “Shall I prepare your bath for you, too?”

“We’ll talk at the kitchen table this time.” Anna rubbed the back of her neck. “Please whip me up a nice breakfast and have my bag ready.”

“Certainly.”

Alfred bowed once more and turned to the door.

“Oh, and… Alfred.”

Anna gave her help a thumbs up. “You’re still sounding as polite as ever. Thank you for your service.” Her smile felt genuine this time.

“It’s the Butler Plugin you’ve had me install, Madam. This is all you.”

“Give yourself a five-star rating for me.” Anna—HoneyCakes44 conjured a brighter smile. “Leave a comment that HoneyCakes44 approved of the plugin and urge my followers to use them as well!”

“Much appreciated, madam. You have a good time.”

Anna clutched her chest as soon as he left. Maybe they could’ve talked more if it was an actual person. She hugged herself back to bed.

She got a few more minutes to herself. And as expected of having a butler, her room was okay. Her pink curtains were folded evenly, hiding the windows that barred her from the sun. The floor with the Laval texture was spotless. Her unused bottles of perfume were neatly arranged and untouched by dust. Running away might be a good idea, as usual. Her mind backpedaled.

Her brown wooden table discolored by paint had been collecting dust. Her small paintbrushes, instead of flowers in a vase, were well-watered. Alfred probably helped. Her miniatures were waiting to have life drawn over their skin. Her limbs tingled. Time seemed to pass, and every second she’s aware, her heart hollows until her attention blurred into a vacant stare.

It was from a fan. Maybe he or she liked the gift she made. It was a small map that she wished to play on with some friends. She made an effort to produce some trees and paint them one by one. Some of the houses were complete with ornaments. She did her best with the werewolf, too, and those little villagers, based on her top fans, trying to defend their home.

Anna stroked her arm and sniffled as faced the ceiling. The texture of the moving pink clouds above her now sounded very mean. She breathed once again. Cold. Hot. Funny. She thought that the temperature in her room was regulated. She didn't want to go.

A heartbeat shook her body. Her lips trembled. She covered her face and felt the vein forming around her eyes. Right. Her eyes must already be gleaming purple. The Genie, and she’s on borrowed time because of it. She forced her eyes shut.

Ten. She voiced the count, her trembling jaws flickering away as she gritted her teeth. Nine. She breathed deep. Eight. As soon as this count finishes, Anna would sleep. Seven. She would be the person that everyone adores. Six. She’s going to embody the beauty of the piece, an angel of positivity as one might say. Five. She didn’t want this. Four. If there’s anything else that she could do about it, she would’ve. Three. She wanted to scream, but she didn’t know if she turned on the noise-cancellation setting in her room. Two. By this count ends, everything that she wanted to talk about would be gone. One.

“Alrighty!”

She jumped out of bed with a wide smile. This is a good day. She snapped her fingers and made peace signs, flowers, and glitter appear from her aura. The air in her room turned pink. She fished for a bright pink jacket from her closet and stumbled out of her room, soon snickering when she found out that the gleam in her eyes was gone. It faded into this gradient of pink over her brown eyes. It seemed a bit brighter than yesterday, but she still has a lot to live for, maybe.

Alfred served her a cup of chocolate along with a plate of waffles with bacon and eggs on the side. Nothing too fancy. She took a couple of bites and set them back nicely.

“Who’s the one that called me, Alfred?”

“TakaMakiHusbando. He said that he wanted to… talk.”

“I see.” She stretched, still with that bright smile. “How’re my eyes, Alfred?” HoneyCakes44 asked sweetly, before munching at the waffle.

“They’re perfectly cute, Madam.” Alfred pulled a chair in front of her. “Shall I materialize his form right now?”

HoneyCakes44 prepared her welcoming smile. Her pinkish and brown eyes remained full as a ball of light twisted into the bottom of the chair and grew into an incredibly muscled human with a small shiny bald head and dreadlocks for his chest hair. He gently placed his ethereal gigantic, packed with abs fingers, onto the table and presented a glimmering grin of his own held by his majestic jawline.

“Hey there, Milady.” He heaved and laughed. “I just made a big donation of a few hundred gold. Maybe about a thousand. I forgot. How are you doing today?”

“I’m good!” HoneyCakes44 beamed before looking down to munch at her waffle as cutesy as she could be. “I just woke up… actually. I was about to bake some cookies after I did a little bit of dancing in my room, there and that, since the weather seems to be going a bit finer today. I think I would like to put sprinkles on it, yeah, to make it nicer.”

“Oh.”

His cheery face died. Of course.

“Yeah.” HoneyCakes44’s eye twitched. She chuckled a burst of excitement to pull her head away and looked back once it felt okay. “I could…” She didn’t want to offer it. “Yeah, I could make a batch for you. I… I can send Alfred once it's done and—”

“Have you seen my donations?”

HoneyCakes44 swallowed. She smiled. “Yes! Of course.” She tilted her head for his response, thankful that she managed to pull up a brighter tone.

“It’s big, right?”

Please, let her eyes remain the same. “It’s wonderful. And I’m very blessed to have my content be supported by the likes of wonderful people like you. I’m inspired because of it. I feel like I got more freedom to do what I want, which is to support people by giving them such positive vibes!”

He heaved a gigantic peal of laughter. “Yeah. I got that by actually investing most of my funds into creating this amazing content of people killing each other. I mean, it’s mostly done in Cyberspace since the Sixes would have my precious ass if I did it here, you know. But it’s nice. People can dress up whoever they want, as ugly as they want, and they get to release that pressure building up by fighting with other people.”

“It sounds like…”

“Well, it started with users having fun with bots. We did our best to show that level of detail… gore, making fun like blood spraying onto the ground, and intestines flying about like bands of light. We got into PVP, which was even more effective. And now, we’re looking into more competitive gameplay. I really didn’t think of it much, but. Maybe I wanted to thank you too.”

TakaMakiHusbando leaned and placed his gigantic hand over HoneCakes44’s, his muscled fingers being half as thick as her arm. It made her feel nothing. If anything, he might even try being funny and go for a kiss. She swallowed. There’s nothing to be afraid of.

“It’s been a few years since I woke up in this world. The Ast Congregation isn’t that bad, you know..”

HoneyCakes44 lowered her head. “The world isn’t so bad, either.”

“You say that like the touch of grass doesn’t irk you. They’re sticky and get into my toes.” TakaMakiHusbando widened his eyes. Veins popped on his neck and temple. He took a deep breath and resumed his wide welcoming smile. “And this… is who I am.”

“I see.” HoneyCakes44 flashed him her cheerful smile. “I mean, those are some well-built muscles. It really suits your bold, amazing, domineering personality.”

“Shucks.” He laughed once more like their conversation before didn’t matter. “I might try becoming like a little boy next time. Who knows?”

“Oh, and—”

TakaMakiHusbando froze as he stood from his seat. “I…” He kept his smile in place. His eyes darted to the side and gave their attention back to her. “Can I take a selfie?”

“Have you checked the gift that I sent to you, the ones I sent to my followers, last week?”

He scoffed. “You don’t have to worry about the picture thing. I’m not those other people. I’m not going to make your face an asset.”

“Have you checked the gift box?” Anna clenched her fist under the table. “I had Alfred send it over to everyone.”

TakaMakiHusbando backed away. “Can I not get a selfie? It’s fine if you don’t want to.”

“Of course.” HoneyCakes44 tilted her head and welcomed him with a wide cheerful smile. Her eyes must be gleaming purple now. “I wouldn’t want you to miss a chance of flexing us to your friends, do you?”

“Right.”

TakaMakiHusbando placed his arm over her shoulder and moved his head close to hers. Both of them smiled wide. HoneyCakes44 put a little bit of effort to become a cuter. She even threw a peace sign for free.

“This is perfect.” TakaMakiHusbando turned his back to her. “I look hot enough. Thank you very much, HoneyCakes44!”

HoneyCakes44 made her voice brighter, yes, even if he’s not looking. “It was my pleasure.”

His form blurred and disappeared. Anna slumped at the back of her chair and breathed, before running the purple out of her eyes. Alfred moved to offer her a handkerchief but she didn’t take it.

“Alfred.”

“Yes, Madam?”

Her voice trembled. “Do you think I’m doing something wrong?”

“I am not fit to answer that question.” He took her empty plate and moved towards the sink. “I apologize.”

“It’s fine. You’re fine just the way you are. Any luck on from the Butler Plugin?”

Alfred turned his head to her. “Your stress levels are normal. And you’re living quite a healthy life with a balanced diet and exercise. There’s nothing wrong with it.”

“I see.” Anna smiled a bit and grabbed the bag Alfred prepared for her by the door. “Block all of my calls. Announce to them that I’ll be shooting a video. I’ll… have to go.”

She looked back with a hopeful smile. Maybe, he’ll stop her this time. But the robot tilted his head and waved his hand goodbye. She sighed and opened the door.