Patrick woke up refreshed and ready to start another day. The planned curfew lights in his room had just turned on as soon as he stood up, making him blink a few times and rub his eyes to get used to the now lit up bedroom. He walked to his closet and took his uniform, dressing up and walking out to the stairs.
As he scurried down the steps, Pat realized that his parents were still both at the table, with their Gemoid sitting on his carpet. Pat's eyebrows furrowed in confusion, and he made his way down, walking up to his mother. “Uh, hey mom, why aren't you at work..?”
His mother sighed, putting a hand on her face. “For security reasons, they've decided to take away all Gemoid workers from schools and shops. It's understandable, of course, we don't want any attacks, but now it means they'll have to hire more people, and I don't know if the shop can afford that right now… not only that, but my shift was ended early because of the guards who came in, they asked to clear up the place so they could check around and all that. What a pity, look at me, staying at home as if I were a rock.” She sighed again, looking at the Gemoid sitting silently next to her.
Patrick's father stood up, grabbing his bag and looking at the clock on the wall. “Well, I'm off to work. Bye.” He quickly walked out of the house.
They both looked at him walk out the door, not saying a word. Patrick's mother turned back to her son as soon as the door slammed close.
“Your school will be crawling with guards and government officials, so I don't think you'll have classes today…” she took out her tablet and searched up Pat's schedule. “Whiiiich won't change much, since you didn't have any classes anyway this morning.”
Pat sighed and looked around. What was he supposed to do now? He turned back to his mother. “What about OB, is he still able to work for us and all that?”
She nodded. “Yeah, at least. I have to go to the veterinarian to give him a background check, actually, make sure all his vaccines and meds are in check. You could always come with.”
Pat shrugged. It's not like he had anything else to do.
“Sure.” he said, going back upstairs to remove his school uniform and dress casually.
When he walked back downstairs, he saw that his mother wasn't there. The boy walked to the bag with all of OB's belongings, and took out his leash. He considered the bag of Vita for a while, and then sighed, taking it with him. He then walked to the cabinets and grabbed OB-7's water bottle, filling it with water. He dropped a Vita in the bottle, sealing it shut and shaking it vigorously to disintegrate it. Patrick then walked up to the Gemoid, taking out the leash in front of him. OB-7 presented his neck silently, and Patrick tied the leash around the creature's collar. He then handed over the bottle.
“I mixed your Vita with your water.”
OB-7 stared and blinked in confusion. “V-Vita?”
Pat groaned and showed him the bag. “Your supplements, your food, whatever.”
It always annoyed Pat whenever someone would correct him over him saying “Vita” instead of “Gemoid food”.
Vita was the name of the company that made OB-7's and other Gemoid's food/vitamins, which replaced their need for sunlight, as Gemoids fed mostly on it, kinda like plants. Since house bred ones tended to stay indoors for most of the day, Vita was essential to keeping them healthy and alive.
“Oh.” OB-7 looked down in shame. “S-sorry.”
“Whatever, I told you before to stop correcting me.” He flicked a finger on the Gemoid's forehead, right on the big dark spot in between his eyes, and OB-7 flinched and closed his eyes, making a very soft painful noise.
Patrick grabbed the other end of the leash and stood up, leaning against the kitchen counter in silence.
OB-7 stood up as well, fiddling with the bottle of water.
“You've been pretty chatty lately, also really clumsy, what's the big deal?” Pat said, looking at the Gemoid.
OB-7 looked down. “I do not know, sorry…”
Patrick sighed loudly, looking back at the window. “I hope you're not sick, you're already costing us this much by just being here.”
Pat's mother walked down the stairs, a few papers tucked in a folder under her arm along with her. “Hey, sorry it took me a while, I was searching for the Gemoid's papers. The doctor always asks for them, you know.”
Pat shrugged and tugged on OB-7's leash. “Let's go.”
The three of them walked out of their house, the familiar beeping of the automatic security system engaging being heard as soon as the mother closed the door.
They arrived only a few minutes after. As Pat stared up at the giant white building, he realized he'd never been to the veterinarian before, not even in his old town. He followed his mother inside and went to sit on one of the velvety red chairs, OB sitting on the floor beside him. He looked around the place. It was fairly crowded, although he couldn't recognize any faces. He inspected the other Gemoids, a bit put off by how different they all looked. There were some small, some tall, some strong built and some skinny. Suddenly, as he was looking at the other customers, his eyes met familiar ones, and the person smiled, walking up to him and tugging their very big and muscular Gemoid on its leash. “Hey Jane! Didn't think I'd see you here today.”
Jane giggled and sat down next to Pat, her Gemoid sitting on the ground silently in front of her. He looked at it for a second. It had the same greyish skin color as OB, but with purple hair and spots on its body, and shorter hair. Its antenna was also bright yellow, but a bit shorter than OB's. “We got robbed a few times so my mom thought it'd be a good idea to get a guard Gemoid.” She tugged on its antenna and the Gemoid didn't flinch. “See? I'm touching his antenna and he's not even doing anything!”
Pat huffed. “Neat. Was he trained to be like this or was he born this way?”
“Not sure. We're not his first owners, last ones he had ditched him after they bought a smaller one.”
She tugged on the antenna again, but this time, it was a bit too hard, as the Gemoid growled softly. She quickly moved her hand away and squeaked in terror. “I have to admit he’s really scary sometimes, and with the news I just wanna make sure he's not gonna go rogue like these other Gemoids” She exclaimed, pouting.
Pat looked at the Gemoid. He seemed pretty silent, and didn't show much emotion other than slight annoyance.
“Not the talkative type, huh?”
Jane stopped in her movement and turned around slowly. “You… you let yours talk?”
Pat shrugged. “Sometimes, only if I feel like it, and as long as it's not too loud or disturbing me..”
He paused. "I guess that is a bit weird to say now that I say it out loud."
She blinked a few times, made a weird face and then sighed. “The more I talk to you, the weirder you get, but eh, it's alright, I respect that.” She pet his shoulder “You're not the only owner who lets their Gemoid talk, although they're rare, I guess they do still exist..”
“I'm the only one in my family that does this, though. My parents can't stand his voice.”
Jane chuckled. “Eh, to be expected, they have a weird way of talking.”
She then gasped. “OH! On the topic of Gemoids, did you know they're getting rid of the workers at school?”
Pat lifted an eyebrow in curiosity. “Really?” he vaguely remembered his mother telling him that, although he was curious as to why exactly.
“Yeah, precautions. Same as the veterinarian thing, they wanna make sure none ends up like the ones we saw in the news. They're also forbidding any Gemoid of walking outside alone for a while, so good luck with grocery shopping if you're too busy.”
Pat looked at OB, who was now drinking from his bottle.
“We've never had Gemoid workers in my old school. What does it feel like?”
Jane shrugged. “They're not as skilled as humans, that's for sure. The principal put them there as a test. Definitely failed in my eyes. Gemoids aren't made for this kind of work anymore.”
Pat nodded. “It's sad how nowadays Gemoids are mostly just accessories. At least back then they could be useful.” he said, looking around in the room.
“That's just how it works. The first computers were used for science and then they became more just a way to entertain yourself.” Jane answered.
She tapped her chin with her finger. “A bit like dogs, wouldn't you say?”
Pat tilted his head. “How so?”
“Well, dogs were only used for hunting and protecting at first but now they simply sit in your house and look cute, maybe play with you sometimes. If I had to guess I'd say Gemoids will be just like that one day.”
She then rolled her eyes. “Wouldn't be a bad thing, to be honest. They do more harm than good where they are now.”
Pat shrugged. “Guess so.”
“Jane Primerose?”
Jane stood up and tugged on her leash, her Gemoid getting up and following her. She waved at Pat and smiled, and he waved back, looking at her walk into a cabinet.
The blonde felt something tug on his pant leg, and he looked down at OB. He was whimpering softly and his bottle was on the floor. Pat frowned and crouched down. “OB? Are you hurt?”
He looked back slowly, not saying anything, but still whimpering. Pat could feel the creature trembling under his hand, and he looked around, trying to find out the cause of the pain. And then OB's eyes widened, and he turned his head to the side quickly, vomiting a bright yellow powdery liquid. A few customers around slid away from their seats, all staring at the Gemoid laying down on the floor, trembling.
Pat looked at the crowd around him, both confused and embarrassed from the looks of disgust he was getting, hearing people whisper all around him.
A veterinarian quickly arrived and crouched down to Pat's level. “Don't worry kiddo, your Gemoid's fine, he's just going through a rough patch. I'm guessing this is why he's here..” the man said.
"O-oh, alright, I trust you know what you're doing." Pat handed him over the leash and the doctor stood up, tugging on the leash to make OB stand up and follow him to a cabinet.
Pat entered the room, seeing that his mother was already there, papers still in her hands. She smiled and waved at him, before they both sat on chairs while OB sat on the table. The veterinarian quickly ausculted him, before turning to the two humans.
“Noisy, clumsier and vomits? I'm guessing you're at this point in his life, hm?”
Pat's mother nodded.
“What point?” Pat asked, a bit confused.
“It’s, as we call it, “second puberty”. Your Gemoid is now fertile, and so you'll have to decide if you want to give him to breeders or castrate him and keep him.” The doctor explained.
Pat looked down. “Shouldn't we wait for father's opinion first?”
His mother scoffed and made a confused smile. “I know his opinion on the matter. The same as me, like always.”
She turned to look at her son. “I think we'd be better off giving him to breeders, right?” She smiled and blinked a few times, probably very happy to finally get rid of the creature.
“No.”
Pat gasped. What did he just say? He didn't mean to say that like that. He couldn't just disagree like that, without saying anything else. What was he doing?
His mother's eyes widened a bit. “No?”
“I-I mean, I really do think we should ask father before taking the decision, j-just in case he disagrees. S-so sorry, I didn't phrase it very well!” He stuttered nervously. That wasn't a complete lie, as he did think it'd be safer to have his father's opinion. Although even then, it's not like he knew the truth.
His mother scoffed, then looked at the doctor for advice. “I guess if I may, I would say it is preferred to wait, just in case, as your son said. I've only asked the question, but if you're uncertain, it's okay to take your time.” He then grinned, petting OB's head. “You can come back once you've taken your decision. I know a few breeders who'd be more than happy to take his race of Gemoid with them.”
Pat's mother smiled politely and stood up. “Thank you. And for the checkup, we'll come back in... a hour?”
“Thirty minutes should be enough for it, so I'd advise you stay nearby.” The doctor answered, removing OB's leash and placing it on a chair.
Pat followed his mother back in the waiting room.
"We'll talk about your behavior once we get home." She said, dryly. Pat nodded silently, looking down in shame.
She sat on one of the chairs and sighed, hanging her head low and rubbing her thumb and index against the bridge of her nose.
Pat looked around to see if Jane was still there. It seems she was, he noticed as he spotted her right outside the building, talking to Ludoviko. Pat turned to his mother. “I see a friend outside, do you mind if I go say hi?”
She shook her head and waved her hand at him in a gesture that meant he was free to leave.
“Thanks!” He said, walking out of the doors.
Any excuse to get away from his mother was good, he had to be honest. Staying near her made him feel anxious.
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