I am picked up yet again by the girl.
Honestly, I don't know why. She brought me to this large place where she keeps on moving around. Many other humans are surrounded by each other, but she walks alone. They don't have cuts on their arms, but she does.
Is my human just weird?
She types away at my keyboard. A message to her mother, asking if she can go home.
Home. That must be the large brick building with a red roof, where there's two bigger humans and a smaller one as well as my human.88Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡy9Xhi0V8C6
Because from the moment she entered the store where I was on display, she was my human.
As she walks through the long corridors of this weird, overcrowded place, I see a lot of signs posted across the white-washed walls. Some make no sense to me, but one in particular does.
It's a small simplistic cartoon of one of my fellow mates, all in black. It's not a very good drawing, because I know that my human can draw other humans as well as those weird creatures with long beaks and colourful feathers very well.
Better than whoever drew that sign.
But it wasn't the bad drawing that drew my attention to the sign. Nor was it that it looked suspiciously like me, and like my other distant cousins all carried by humans in this overcrowded place and at home.
It was the fact that the drawing was in a red circle and that there was a red stripe that diagonally cut it in half. I could barely make out the writing underneath the drawing for it was so terrible faded and covered in some colourful stickers, but as my human got closer to the sign, I read it.
NO PHONES AT SCHOOL.88Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBElKNAuKvj
Wait. A phone is me. Then why is my human carrying me around in this place, if I'm not allowed to be here? And is this place called school?88Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyYY9aa3PGv
That's a rather odd name.
An older human walks in the corridor, and instantly the younger humans steer clear of him. Though they had been bumping fists and slapping each other's hands and whatever else young humans do these days, they suddenly straightened their clothes and politely greeted the older human.
Humans work like phones. They respect their elders.
As my human gets very close to the older human, still using my keyboard to text her mom, the older human frowns and taps her shoulder. She almost jerks away, like I notice her usually doing whenever other humans touch her.
She touches me, though. I don't jerk away.
"Hey, miss. I'm afraid that I'll have to confiscate your phone. As the sign over there says, no phones are allowed at school. Hand it to me. You can collect it at the end of class," he says, outstretching a hand towards her, non-verbally telling her to place me into his hands.
"S-Sir, I was texting my mom. I'm really sorry-"
He tuts, like he is disappointed. Why? My human didn't do anything. Her mom is sick, I saw her text to one of her Discord friends. With something called lung cancer. She needs her because she's the oldest of her siblings, she says.
"I'm afraid we cannot make an exception to the rule every time you are concerned, Miss Smith, even if it is regrettable that your mother is sick," he simpers in that very fake way some humans do when they're trying to look sympathetic.
I prefer being a machine. At least we can't lie.
Her lip wobbles, and for the three days that I've been with her, I already know that it is a telltale sign that she is going to cry or is holding back tears. She cries a lot, my human.
"Mr. Ellison, I know that you're the principal and you need to enforce rules, but this was really urgent and I needed to-"
He tuts again, and I feel a twinge of annoyance coming into my CPU. Even phones can feel protective towards their humans. Especially in the face of such a... condescending attitude.
"If you don't give me the phone, Miss Smith, it is detention," he snaps, apparently over waiting even if my human hasn't done anything wrong.88Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnBLdHl5rD3
She obediently places me gently into the older human's hand, but her face shows that she is displeased and wants to cry. He thanks her, though it doesn't look sincere or honest, and waves her off. 88Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjysZIdsHnk
Leaving me with him.88Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGUL8z18Wjg
He walks back down the corridor, and other younger humans steer clear of his way. No one stops to talk to him, not even the older teachers. Like he is some kind of important person.88Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgjZRRfagXB
Or a monster.88Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXMkmbhtq1I
He opens the door to a room with a lot of chairs that is empty. He walks over to the other side of the room where there is a more comfortable looking chair than the others and a larger desk. There is a laptop, a key card and a bunch of papers with numbers written on them.88Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHb9oXTHjpg
Maths, the top of one of the worksheets says.88Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9VdPoRj2r1
He opens one of the drawers, humming quietly some human tune that he must like. In the drawer are a bunch of my long lost cousins, similar phones with the same apple sign that I have on my back. Some don't, but most do.88Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡs8c6ALVGe7
"You're going to be staying with me," the man says, laughing to himself, as if thinking that I can't hear him.88Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjdmeE5GFTW
Are humans really that stupid?88Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOrDT3AErfL
He places me in the drawer on top of another phone, and then closes the drawer very brusquely. There is suddenly no light, and everything is dark.88Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgbwAk4fW5j
Where is my human? Where is home? Why am I here?88Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiR7xtoDDIM
And most importantly, how long will I be staying with that man?
88Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSBfB0VwYlN
