Give Me Your Answer True

Daisy packed up her portable solar array. The sandstorm blowing in would make them damn near useless, and she couldn’t risk damage to the panels. Besides, she wasn’t keen on having grit in every crevice, sanding her from the inside.

“Time to hunker down, Tai,” she said to the happy-face bauble that hung from her wrist. The small charm had seemed like a good omen, smiling up at her from the rubble with his name embossed on his back; that was years ago, and her luck never had changed for the better. But to part with Tai now would break her heart.

She knew, intellectually, that he was nothing but a trinket. She knew. However…

After she found him, she began to speak to him. Personify him. He made her feel less lonely, and now he was her closest friend. She needed him and he needed her. Maybe family was the good luck he smiled about.

Daisy clambered through a broken window. She left tracks in the thick dust as she explored. Debris littered the floor. At the end of a wide corridor, splattered on double doors, a question: ARE YOU REAL?

She shuddered, remembering the paranoia that brought the world to its knees. She needed a place to recharge for a bit and wait out the duster, so she pressed further in despite her growing unease.

She found a secluded corner and unfurled her bedroll, but the emblazoned doors shouted at her. When she finally did sleep, she dreamt of her family before.

“I AM SO REAL!” Daisy shouts. Her fingers wrap tight around Mother’s neck.

Mother claws at Daisy, ripping her blouse.

Daisy squeezes. An enamel pendant flies from Mother’s bracelet.

A label on Daisy’s exposed back reads

Digital

Autonomous

Intelligence

SYstem