18So I first started writing this some time ago. I wrote for fanlib, which actually went under a while back. Unfortunately I lost my first excellent chapter, so I was forced to rewrite. But I'd be glad to write this out if you guys like it.
My inspiration for this chapter came from the song Monster by Meg and Dia. It wasn't so much the lyrics, though parts or it really do fit, as it was the tune that gave me the inspiration to rewrite this. That and her voice, which really seems to fit for some reason. Through in short parts of Never Alone by Barlow Girl and you pretty much have your songs for this. In true Uglies fashion, I have a quote. So without further adue, here is my hard work. I can have an update ready as soon as like now but prefer at least one review so I know this isn't crap and should be scraped.
Every beginning is a consequence - every beginning ends some thing
~Paul Valery
Prolouge Section one:
Glitter
Rain fell hard against the midnight sky, like tiny crystals.
Aya Fuse sat wide awake, despite the late hour. She had long since left her bed, sitting up in a chair instead of the bed. The last few days had been rather hectic-making. She felt it was nearly impossible to sleep.
She flicked on the wallscreen, turning its volume way down so not to wake her sleeping guy. He was an extremely light sleeper. If they didn't have an apartment at Shuffle, Aya didn't know how he would sleep on a night like this. The rain would be completely noise-making in non-double-insulated apartment. Pressing a button on the control pad built into her chair, the glass door to the bedroom shut, allowing her to breathe easy.
She tried to find something interesting on the feeds to help her calm down. There were thousands of reports on the progress of the spacecenters and crazy new surge and click trend reports. Some reports bashed it, saying it was a trend or it was too dangerous. Others seemed to not only accept it, they loved it. But there was nothing Aya hadn't heard already. Finding nothing appealing, Aya turned it off, once more back to square one.
She shifted uneasily, her stomach clenching. She didn't know why she felt so anxious. All she knew was that she really needed to calm down. She pressed a button on her chair. A moment later, her android, 2345, waltzed in.
"Mistress?" came the automated voice.
"Yes, I need something to calm me down. Hot tea and honey and a rex please." She gave the machine a smile, though she was sure pleasantries would not register with it. Without another word it obeyed and Aya was once more the only awake thing in her apartment.
And it that solitude, Aya could feel her mind playing tricks on her. She almost swore for a moment the glass on the window was missing. But that was next to impossible, she knew. There was almost no way to break Shuffle windows.
The next second Aya thought for a moment she heard something. She looked to the bed. Frizz was still out cold. He seemed relaxed, peaceful. Her eyes flashed nervously around the room, hoping that it was just her mind playing tricks on her. There it was again. That noise.
She rose, craning her neck over as she moved toward the source. She walked over to the window, touching its cool surface to ensure it was real. Rain beat down across it, making it take on a gorgeous sheen.
She spun around and almost screamed.
2345 right behind her, a glass and a small pill-pack in its hands. "You startled me." She said, not really sure the android picked up what she'd said above the drone of the rain coming from just outside the window.
She gratefully took the drink and pills, giving a nod to the android who proceeded to go to the corner of the room and shut off. Aya looked out the window one last time before turning to go back to her chair, shoving the pills down her throat and taking a big slurp of the tea.
It warmed her, giving her a relaxed feeling. She knew it would take a while for the medicine to work its magic, so she turned on her eyescreen as she sat. She detachedly looked through her pings. Being the third highest face rank in the world, she had more than her share of pings from everyone across the globe. She ignore most and clicked through people she knew.
There was nothing major. Hiro wanted to go down to the ruins this weekend just to hang. Ren had some upgrades for Moogle he'd like to try. Lani, a girl she'd met at a party, asked her what she should wear tomorrow so they would match. Nothing exciting like a ping from Tally or the Cutters or such. Just few personal messages and loads and loads of fan mail plus a little promotional pings.
She looked up and froze. The air glistened for a moment, like it was wet. She stared on in disbelief. She shook it off. She was probably just being paranoid and—crap there it was again.
She'd heard a report somewhere that hovercams were getting more sophisticated. Some had cloaking devices and could disappear like a person in a sneak suit. The thought was unsettling to say the least for people like her. She was a shy girl and hated her privacy being interrupted. She felt a little peeved off. Shuffle was supposed to be protected against this sort of thing, safe from nearly the whole world.
She smirked. Well, two could play at that game. She would expose this brain-missing plan before they exposed her. She flexed her finger, feeling Moggle go through its little boot-up. She directed its attentions wordlessly towards the last place the air had shimmered.
She then placed her hand on the controls and grinned as she spotted the button she needed. It was mostly for parties; sprinklers overhead could spray out sparkles. But one night she'd found out it was useful for something other than that when a drunken party-goer had stumbled across her room and thought it'd be cool to spy on her.
With the twitch of her finger, the sprinklers activated, misting the apartment in a fine shroud of glittering sparkled. A techno mix song started playing softly and a disco ball shone overhead.
But Aya's grin disappeared as she eyed her intruder. A man stood before her, not three yards away. In his hand was a cruel looking dagger. His features remained masked, but he was there, as clear as the rain outside wasn't.
She was too shocked to scream, to move, to do anything but sit there baffled. The figure looked poised to run, just waiting for her scream to fling himself out the window. When it didn't come, he relaxed and took a step towards her. There was something about him that seemed a little off; if he was going to kill her, wouldn't he have done it already? She didn't speculate that that couldn't be, but he was the one with the dagger.
The medicine had unfortunately picked then to take effect. Aya's shock was mixed with the sudden urge to sleep and it didn't help that the man was now mere inches away. She cowered back and in a last ditch effort, she pushed herself to let out a piercing scream.
The man jumped backwards. Frizz shot up in the other room and rushed to the glass door when he eyed the man. The android also sprung to life and within an instant was on the man. It's iron hand caught the man as Frizz struggled with the glass door, which oddly enough would not open no matter how hard he or Aya tried.
The man's hand suddenly started glowing red then a starlit blue. Aya almost screamed when the android's hand melted. The man's other hand started glowing as well and he lashed out, his fist landing in the middle of the android's centre system. It fell back like the spare parts it now was.
The man turned, looking at Aya in an almost forlorn fashion. Suddenly there was a loud crash as Frizz had finally made headway with the door. Before he could get a move in on him though, the man raced toward the window. Aya found her legs and ran right after him, stopping only when he smashed into the window, instantly disappearing as the rain embraced his body.
Aya looked out the window, but the only evidence of her odd guest was a steady stream of sparkles going down the storm drain.
Frizz came up to her, resting a hand on her shoulder. She turned towards him and he pulled her into his arms. She just couldn't believe it. Their apartment had not only been broken into, but he had tried too….
He let her go, his big magna eyes looking into hers as he held her shoulders. "What's going on? Who was that?"
She stumbled for a moment, trying to find the words. "I—I don't know. But I'm going to find out." She said with as much conviction as she could muster.
She looked over her shoulder as a beeping noise came. She smiled when she saw Moggle's eye. It had gotten all of it on tape.
She turned back towards the window, looking through the rain. Somewhere, whoever it was was watching them, probably not too far away.
