The table had already been set and arranged by Auralys in conjunction with the
multiple robot butlers at her disposal, so expert at their job that they were undetectable
as they performed their tasks.
That wasn't the only task she took care of, instigating them both to go off to dinner
and enjoy the evening while she and her army of robots cleaned up the kitchen.
"I'll see that the kitchen is clean again, you two go and enjoy your special dinner,
oh and before I forget. Happy 20th birthday and 12th anniversary of knowing each other."
—We will, Auralys, thank you for being so kind. —
—Come on Marcus, I'm hungry. —
Removing their aprons, gloves and kitchen hat as well as washing their hands,
they both headed for the vast dining room highly decorated with a white tablecloth with
golden patterns, stylized lighting, gold cutlery and everything they could both imagine,
pure luxury.
Their clothes had suffered no mortal wounds in the form of flour or hard-to-remove
stains, a miracle considering their curious chef dynamic.
Marcus as usual sat at the head of the table, for as long as he could remember he
had done so of course status he couldn't care less, while Isabella sat to his right in the so
called "seat of honor" according to Auralys, while the rest of the table was set to receive
more potential guests, motivated mostly by formality and appearance as no one ever
visited them. There were only the two of them, Auralys, those little robots and absolute
solitude.
That had its benefits, such as privacy, intimacy and not having to pretend and be
themselves, something that the dinner showed.
With both plates already served, the couple would let out some comment, joke or
just tease each other (mainly Isabella) all in an atmosphere of calm, love and trust. Games
and lots of mutual affection surrounded that special celebration, a pleasant and almost
fantastic moment, nothing bad happened, just the two of them, enjoying the moment.
— Owwww, someone is really enjoying his food. — with strong tenderness and
her eyes widened as she watched Marcus' curious reaction as he tasted his plate.
— Hey! I'm not the only one like that, little ears! —he pointed his fork at Isabella
with false seriousness and then burst out laughing along with her.
Both not only had animal traits, but also shared some of their wilder behaviors
within a civilized context. Marcus with his affinity for axolotls and his love of food, couldn't
help but extend his outer gills and open his mouth and eyes wide as a sign of enjoying
his food whether it was sweet, salty, spicy or if it wasn't prepared by Isabella.
The same was true for her, her ears perked up slightly fluffy as her bristly tail
wagged from side to side like the pendulum of a clock, accompanied by a soft, almost
imperceptible purr.
The rest of the dinner was more of the same, just a pleasant time with the food
slowly finishing until finally ending, both satisfied and not really wanting to do anything (at
least until later in the evening).
Auralys as usual urged them to leave while she and the robots at her disposal
cleaned up, an idea they accepted without hesitation just wishing her luck as they headed
to the living room to rest a bit and perhaps, watch something on TV.
—What if we watch Green War again? That movie is really good. — she
suggested, as it was one of her favorite movies.
—It bored me a bit, we could see what's on TV first, if there's nothing good then
we'll put that movie on, what do you say? — Marcus proposed with the idea of watching
something different if possible.
— All right, let's go watch those boring channels... Pillow! —Without giving him
time to react, she jumped straight up clinging to Marcus having his face at the same level
where a cheeky gaze was watching him straight on. —On the couch now, meow. —
— I told you not to do that, you're lucky I have regeneration or I'd already have
scars from your evil claws. — he pretended to be annoyed but he really liked this kind of
interactions with her, he wouldn't change them for the world. —Pfff, whatever, let me lie
down, just don't hold on too tight, it hurts. —
— I'm not promising anything. —
Holding her as if she were a baby, Marcus laid back on the soft couch letting
Isabella settle in and use it as a pillow with all that goes with it.
He grabbed the remote control with his free hand and began to look up what was
on today's programming. As there were about 100 channels, he scanned what he tuned
in for five seconds before moving on to the next one. There wasn't much, just movies that
bored them at the time, old series they knew by heart, sports they never quite understood,
a music channel where some shark kids played the guitar, a cartoon of an axolotl boy
next to a gray rectangle with a golden eye in the center.
Tonight's evening was really boring as they flipped through the channels, but when
they got to the news channel where they were showing a report on something called gray
neighborhoods, it was immediately interrupted by a breaking news story, something that
was happening at that moment, which was enough to capture the interest of both and
they left the channel.
—Breaking news? Now what happened? — Her ears perked up in curiosity.
— I don't know, and it doesn't look good. —
From one moment to the next the presenters, a boy and a girl with animal features
reminiscent of peregrine falcons along with a silvery hue to their being, presented with
great anticipation and an excitement that they could barely hide what THE NEWS was.
"Good evening, I am your presenter Shirley bringing you this most novel and
important news for our society. As you may know, our supreme pink caste are
characterized not only by their skills that put them in another league with respect to any
other chromatic, but their low numbers and competition for leadership leads them to fight
each other in order to be the only one standing and claim the right to the crown of our
generation that today turns 20, congratulations to all again, with our joint effort the society
stands tall."
"Yours truly Tony confirms Shirley's words, I hope this day has been a good one
for all of you. Back to the news and what my colleague was commenting on, a conflict
between The Pinks is unfolding just as we speak."
The camera alternates between the shots of the hosts to a live recording showing
how a group of pink men and women are facing each other with extreme brutality, there
is nothing but angry faces, pain and a lot of blood with the same coloration of their owners
scattered all over the place around them, and with every second that passes, it only gets
worse.
"The Node with the help of their drones and facial recognition systems tells us that
at this moment there are more than 200 pink bloods facing each other in that evacuated
city. The last members of their caste that in its beginnings counted 2000 members, a
number that should not surprise anyone considering the nature of our species and the
fact that there are only five years left before the abandonment protocol, could it be that
we are facing a historic moment where we will see the last pink blood rise victorious
prematurely? Don't change the channel."
—Why are they fighting? I don't see the point. —
—At least you're here and not in that absurd fight, just look at them, they look like
animals. — She kissed Marcus's cheek hoping to make him feel better, which she did
when she saw his external gills relax.
Marcus on the inside felt uncomfortable watching those images, unable to
understand how they were so violent and aggressive, savage. But something inside him
did not want to stop watching, waiting for something to happen, and he was not the only
one who thought that way. Minutes passed, The Node with the help of more drones
expanded the transmission of the fight saying the screen in four showing all possible
angles that confrontation, all with the best possible video quality to not miss a single detail.
The images only got worse, a pink girl stabbed repeatedly in the face of another
one having a predilection for his eyes, the boy was screaming in agony from the pain that
was only prolonged thanks to his regeneration that fought to keep him alive without caring
about the suffering it caused him. In another chamber a strapping young pink guy was
pulling hard on the gills of another while pain and blood ran down his face, one second,
two seconds, three seconds, the head of that pink guy was separated leaving a large
amount of blood mixed with his brains and broken skull scattered on the floor. And each
image only got worse.
Brutal beatings that sank the unfortunate's face, stabbings with all kinds of
weapons, arms and legs torn off their owners who were defending themselves as best
they could from their enemies, shots that shattered those they hit, a picture of atrocious
warfare, but that was not the worst of it.
When the first pink one died and with it more followed, the presenters celebrated
and gave comments of emotion as if they were watching a game and not a carnage,
things did not get better with the interference of The Node who confirmed each death by
showing in a label at the bottom of the screen, a photo of the deceased with a diagonal
pink line next to a simple message.
STATUS: DELETED.
— What the fuck is wrong with them? Are they crazy or what? — indignant about
the behavior of those two silver ones.