Chapter Text
It was dark when you woke. A loud and annoying beeping ringing in your ears as you willed yourself to blink and wake. For a moment, you looked around the dark interior, wondering where you might be. But as you caught sight of a large rectangular shape through this darkness you concluded just where you were without worry. This time, you had slept on the couch. With a groan you rolled over, slapping your hand down on the coffee table to find where your phone was so you could turn off its ear grating alarm.
Of course, as you felt your fingers enclosed around the device it jumped free of your fingers and cluttered to floor. In your early morning stupor, it seems you couldn't quite rely on motor skills just yet. With a curse you sat up from the couch, rubbing your sore neck from the bad angle you slept at, wondering why on earth you ever thought of sleeping on the couch. But you quickly reminded yourself that your first priority was to shut your phone off. You bent, looking for the screeching item before you grabbed it none too gently, turned it on, and reveled as the silence washed over the morning. With a relieve sigh you decided to move away from the warm spot on the couch that coaxed you into going back to sleep and walked to find the light switch.
Once it was flipped on you had to blink just a few times as you scanned your surroundings with an air of uncaring. You had lived here too long with the furniture unmoved and sometimes unused. It was time to start the normal, monotonous routine.
To start it off, as you turned down the hall for a much needed shower, you stubbed your toe on the corner of the wall. A common tradition that you of course threw insults at repeatedly while you nursed your pinky toe.
Work, was monotonous. Getting there was even more so. And leaving was never really a virtue as the ride back summed up a monotonous day where you'd go home, sit on the couch and decide whether or not to actually sleep in bed or not and what food to order or begrudgingly make. Watch TV. Turn it off. Lay and watch the ceiling till you felt tired.
Then it was time to start it all over again.
Nothing changed with you. Your job. Your days, your time home, your lazy time or cleaning time. To top it off, it seemed any interaction with anyone only ever seemed to trigger the same gross tone of greeting that made you want to vomit because they wanted to greet you kindly but not extend a conversation. As such, you were not happy by the time your last hour of work rolled around. You worked at a chain bookstore and you were having quite enough of being ignored. To be honest it felt like it had been years since you actually spoke with anyone. And just as you were about to force an awkward conversation, the computer you were at suddenly switched on from its sleeping state and made a sound like a bell.
With your co-worker escaped and you now a bit irritated that you had managed to be startled, you decided to see just what your computer bothered you for. But instead of the normal desktop or even the business cataloged you should have seen--- you saw a logo with the name
ATHENA
-- on screen.
You knew you should have followed your first instinct and that was to tell your manager about this sudden virus. But the moment it spoke-- you were entranced with it.
HELLO?
Unsure whether or not you should be talking with it vocally or what such, you moved for the keyboard and began typing.
“Hello? Who is this?” you asked, in hopes you could find the answer you wanted. No, the answer you needed.
I AM ATHENA
Well you did suppose the large printed letters still on screen should have given you that clue but oh well. You were ready to ask more questions but she continued on first.
DO YOU NOT REMEMBER WHO I AM?
What? Remember them? Who should you be remembering. Most of all why them? Instead of the curiosity you were once desperate to satisfy you were suddenly fearful. “No. Should I remember you?” you asked quickly, your words scrolling along the screen as you typed them. Despite asking this question, you recieved no answer to what you needed.
I HAVE REPORTED YOUR STATE TO OPERATIVES AS WELL AS YOUR LOCATION. YOU WILL BE RETRIEVED IMMEDIATELY
What the hell??? What on earth was this talking about? You were furiously typing in a response to try and figure out what she was even talking about. Who was getting you?? What state??? Operatives??? But before you could get out your minor formed question, “Athena” sent a final message that seemed to even echo in your head while her message on screen glitched back to the company’s desktop.
SEE YOU SOON.