THE AWAKENING

                                    

                                          
My eyes feel as if they are glued shut. The room around me pulses a cold, hospital blue, causing my heart to have a fit. In a response, the machine beside me whines.
                          
"Hello?" I say, my eyes still shut. I can hear somebody moving beside me. They grab my hand, and I resist the urge to move away, my mouth going dry from the anxiety.
                          
"Nikolas, darling, it's going to be okay." Hearing my mother's voice should be a relief. However, it makes my shoulders bunch and my heart begin to sputter, causing the machine's whine to heighten to a screech. 
                          
My mother quickly snatches her hand away. "Sorry, baby," she mumbles. "If you're worried about your father, he isn't here. He's still in New Angeles." 
                          
"New Angeles?" I manage to ask, amusement warping my voice. "Wasn't he there a week ago?" 
                          
I can almost hear her nod. "Yes, but Love Corporations called him back for a special case... something about a CareBot malfunction, I believe." 
                          
There is a brief moment of silence, and as I speak, it feels as if there are cotton balls inside of my mouth. "...Mom?" 
                          
"Yes, baby?" 
                          
"I've never heard of a CareBot malfunctioning." 
                          
"Of course not. It isn't something that they put in the news. After all, Love Corporations doesn't want people knowing about their slip-ups. I doubt people would accept CareBots if they knew how, er, emotional the robots can get," she says lightly. However, the words irk me, and I can't help but open my eyes, and wrinkle my brow.
                          
"Robots can't be emotional." 
                          
Ignoring the fact that I have only just opened my eyes, she inclines her head towards me and purses her lips.
                          
"Honey, I don't have time to explain to you how they can be, okay? I suppose violent would be a better word, but-" The rest of her sentence is lost to me, and everything is still before I slowly slip back into oblivion.