Click. Click. Click.
Mechanical whirring echoed in her ears.
Then—
Her eyes shot open.
Colo sat up in bed, bolts of confusion running through her system.
She stared at the ceiling, unmoving.
"…I'm alive?"
She blinked.
Then, in a rush, she tossed off her blanket and grabbed the old paper calendar pinned beside her bed.
She stared at the date.
Monday.
"So this is real…" she whispered, placing a hand over her chest.
No pain.
No hole.
No spear.
I could've sworn I got stabbed… right here. Dead center.
Her fingers pressed harder, almost like she was expecting to feel the wound reopen.
Is this a dream? A glitch?
Her thoughts spiraled.
Then—
groan.
She realized what Monday meant.
"Ugh… school."
She grabbed her electric rockstar guitar, slung it over her back, and stepped out into the corridor of her bunker-city apartment.
The hallway lights flickered as she walked.
"This civilization's doing… surprisingly well," she muttered, looking around. "Even though it's all underground in a sealed-up bunker."
She continued down the street, still chewing on the surreal feeling bubbling in her chest.
Something's off. This isn't just survival anymore.
"It feels like I'm in a video game or something… like, every time I fail, I get another chance."
She snapped her fingers.
"Reset. I can fix my mistakes."
The realization sparked a flicker of hope.
"One thing down," she said. "But that still doesn't explain… why would an Eradicator Robot protect an Android like me?"
Her brow furrowed.
Androids and Robots aren't the same. We were never meant to mix.
Then her thoughts turned again.
Should I skip class? Maybe go back out there… find them again…?
She hesitated.
The memory of the spear punching through her chest came crashing back.
"Yeah, no. Definitely not doing that again."
At school…
Colo sat at her desk, absently doodling.
Her mind was elsewhere—rewinding, fast-forwarding, looping the moment Rt1 stood in front of her like a shield.
Then—
She blinked.
Realized what she was doing.
She looked down.
A marker.
She had drawn him.
Right on her desk.
"Oh, come on!"
Colo desperately scrubbed at the drawing with her sleeve, then with her hand—no luck. It was permanent.
"Great," she muttered, slumping over the desk in defeat. "I just drew the killer robot who saved my life. On my school desk."
Panicking slightly, she slapped a sticky note over the doodle. A perfect cover.
Crisis… barely averted.
After school…
The halls emptied.
Voices faded into echoes.
Colo walked home alone, her steps quieter than usual.
Her eyes were fixed ahead, her thoughts even more so.
She reached her door, paused, then looked up at the flickering lights above.
"All right," she whispered.
"I've thought about this a thousand times. It's time to put a plan into action."
She didn't know what the plan was yet.
But whatever it was—
She was done waiting.