A spider so small it was nearly invisible, shuffled through the grass along a sidewalk. It followed a young girl, a boy, and a raccoon as the girl wove a tale.

The spider could not concentrate on the story being told as it was having a hard time keeping up with the trio.

On the opposite side of the sidewalk was a street. Hundreds of cars passed by in a blur at speeds that scared the spider. A cement divider and a translucent guard ran all along the street.

Was it safe? The spider didn't know. He didn't fear for his own safety but for the girl's. She was of vital importance, almost as important as her raccoon Zix.

They were moving toward the spider's birth place which excited him very much.

The trio paused as they waited to cross the street. A repeating sound played as pillars of stone and metal erected themselves from the ground. They crossed and the spider dashed after them.

A little girl, maybe three or four years old, pointed at the spider as he crossed causing him to duck low as he continued his journey.

He finally made it across when a sudden blast of sound waves came from Azerail.

She clutched her head and fell to her knees.

This was an opportune time for the spider to get the final memory he needed. Then he could reform again, after some processing of course.

The spider dashed and jumped at the girl. He landed on her leg and seeped into her skin.

Through the trio's touch, the spider watched the tale he'd missed.

***

How is that even possible? I thought. It was a question I'd asked myself dozens of times over the past week. This time it was about how the food from a microwave tasted so good.

“Kevin, your friend is here,” my mom called out.

For a while I had Ferret tell me how things worked but I told her to hold off recently because it got old. Especially since Ferret refused to speak in a more natural-sounding voice.

Raccoon was able to do it so I knew it was an option. She also knew I knew she was sentient and continuously denied it. It made my life miserable. I'd thought about telling my mom about it but what good would that do?

I got up, dashed into my room, and headed straight for my desk. After grabbing my keys and wallet, I went straight for the door. “See you later Mom!”

She'd decided that she would lift my lockdown sentence for Azerail's sake. Jennifer and her talked quite a bit about what was going on and I was forced to sit with them while they talked.

Ambition was one of the most amazing places I'd ever been to and I was forced to stay inside.

Being grounded was my fault of course but Jakson had insisted I come. The ride on the train to get there and back was insane though. I couldn't wait till we were fully added as smart city citizens. Then I could travel and live anywhere I wanted.

When I opened the front door Azerail was standing there. She smiled at me and chills ran through my body.

[I stepped away from Kevin's body. What the hell? Another memory? This one wasn't like how Raccoons fix worked. It was so much more detailed.

Kevin's ear moved so I leaned closer. When I lifted it there was a tiny silver ball under it. It was like an earring but stuck to the side of his head.

“What the hell are you?” I asked.

The ball rocked to one side and then the other.

Eight little insectoid legs sprouted from its body.

Shit, Kumori!

Before I could back away it jumped onto my nose.

No interrupt! Need memories! Kumori screeched.

A light pinch and my ears were rocked by tinnitus and a splitting headache formed. My point of view jumped back to Kevin's head.]

Azerail reached out a hand and I took it into my own. She was so beautiful.

There weren't many Asian women in our community back in Wyoming. Perhaps it was how exotic her features were or the down-to-earth way she always dressed. Whatever it was, I loved spending time with her.

She turned and tugged on my arm causing me to take a step. A smirk played on her lips as she glanced at me. “Hurry up, the sooner we get downstairs the faster I can show you my story.”

After another few strides, we broke out into a run. It reminded me of our mad dash through the mall and I couldn't help but grin.

We arrived at the elevator in record time and waited.

Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.

When it opened there were a few people inside but Azerail didn't hesitate to walk in dragging me with her.

She wiggled her fingers in mine and grinned as we descended.

I felt her palm with my thumb. Strangely, even an AR version of her hand had small ridges on her skin.

We spent the majority of the ride glancing at each other and smiling.

When we hit our floor Azerail bolted out and I stumbled as I tried to keep up.

The second we got clear of the building she stopped and faced me.

“Did you visit the garden on the top of the building yet?” she asked.

I nodded. “Yeah, I went there with my mom.” It was one of the places Azerail's mom Jennifer grilled me about the Q.U.B.E.. I placed a hand on my pocket, ensuring my keys were there. They were.

“So you saw the wires holding up the plants everywhere?” she asked.

“Yeah,” I replied.

She smiled and the world grew darker. Soon everything was gone but the sidewalk. Trees and various plants sprouted up around us. Metal wires jutted in every direction and different plants quickly draped themselves over them.

People walked into view and some sat on benches while others wandered deep into the rows of vegetation.

Azerail squeezed my hand and I peeled my eyes away from the beautiful scene to look at her.

“Have you ever heard of the Needums?” she asked.

I shook my head.

“In the gardens above everyone's homes, there lives a race of augmented reality beings.” Everything quieted and I couldn’t even hear the cars passing by. She continued, “They are called the Needums. The Needums don't live in the world the same way we do. Their homes are inside the circuits and wires of the city.”

Suddenly everything changed and we were in what looked like a cave. Streams of light raced past us lighting up the area briefly. My stomach looped and I had to take a few breaths to normalize my heartbeat.

A small girl with purple skin that reminded me of an old cartoon appeared next to us. She looked like a Smurf but purple. The girl took a step forward and Azerail walked with her pulling me along.

“This is Preah.” Azerail gestured at the girl. “Every Needum is in charge of part of the gardens. They all have cameras they can look at through in their menus.”

Preah pinched her fingers together and three monitors popped up. She watched them with a concerned look.

“You see, Preah's part of the garden was special. The cameras couldn't see all of her section so every so often she has to personally inspect it,” Azerail said.

The scene changed and we were on top of one of the wires in the garden. Preah was in the distance running straight toward us. She weaved at the last moment passing us by.

I turned to watch her run. She waved and smiled at me.

Azerail squeezed my hand drawing my attention. “Preah used the wires to traverse the area so she wouldn't be seen by us humans.”

Suddenly we were on a giant leaf and a loud crack came from above.

Preah slid down the vines of the plant until she landed next to us. She walked right by and kneeled next to the edge.

Azerail led us next to her and glanced below before looking away. Then she pointed and I followed her direction.

Below was a spot on the ground lit up by a bright light. At the center of the area was a dark-leafed plant that looked different than the rest.

“It can't be!” Preah said as she stood and dashed to the vine behind us. She slid down and we were suddenly on a lower leaf watching her descend and repeat the process.

We were much closer this time and we could see the wilted plant in much greater detail.

A path of wood appeared in front of us and Azerail led us to it. Preah dashed to the vine behind us, leaping down and out of view.

“While Preah is very observant she and the other Needums all have a very big flaw in their systems. Even though she's up in the air and looking at her assigned area she can't see beyond the boundaries set for her.”

Plants spring to life next to us along the path and ahead we see the dying plant.

“That's a rosemary plant,” I said.

Azerail grinned. “It has a beautiful aroma.”

Preah dashes past us at amazing speeds.

“Even though Preah was high enough to see the problem with the plant and despite being right next to it, like we are, she can't figure out what's wrong.”

“Preah wondered if she and the others were designed this way on purpose. If they were, how would they fix this problem?”

“She thought about it for hours when she finally got an idea. You see Preah has two neighboring Needums.”

A tunnel slowly overtook the path we walked on. Familiar lights streamed past us. We were in the same cave-like place we were at earlier. Then there were three Needums walking alongside us.

“Preah begged for them to show her their screens so she could figure out what was wrong but they rejected her. They told her it was forbidden. When she tried to show them her screens she received a warning. She tapped ignore and showed them anyway.”

The two Needums looked away from her and ran to the walls. When they touched it they zoomed away as beams of light.

Preah fell to her knees in defeat and we stopped.

“You see, Preah wasn't supposed to wonder what was beyond her borders. One of the cameras she was supposed to see through was down and because of that it caused a loop in her programming.”

“Did she become conscious?” I asked.

Azerail nodded. “She knew that a camera was down but had no way to report it so she took things into her own hands and that's why she checked that part of her boundary.”

The cave changed back to the wooden path with plants everywhere. The rosemary bush had wilted further and the plants around it were on the cusp of dying as well.

“Preah had the ability to fix the problem all along. Her job was only to press a button when she saw something wrong. Eventually, the issue spread to the other boundaries and those Needums pressed their buttons. Humans eventually came and fixed the problem. Preah, however, had gone missing. They replaced her with another Needum but no one knows where she went. Next time you’re in the gardens, keep your eyes on the plants and wires because who knows where you might see Preah.”

The garden around us slowly faded away as the bright light from the sun took over. We were across the street from the doctor's office.

“What was the problem with the plants?” I asked.

Azerail smiled. “One of the sprinklers from the neighboring Needum was broken. A power surge took out two cameras but instead of checking the area themself like Preah had, that Needum ignored the issue.”

A beeping came from the crossing sign and we walked hand in hand. Once we reached the offer side Azerail let go of my hand and clutched at her head.

My heart began to pound. “Azerail are you okay?”

She fell to her knees and I sank holding her.

***

The little spider jumped from Azerail's leg and dashed away. No one paid any mind to the spider since everyone was too preoccupied with the screeching girl.

Azerail's parents rushed from the hospital doors to the girl.

Soon two men with a stretcher came out and placed Azerail on it. They rushed back inside along with everyone else.

The spider waited then followed too.

His processing had just begun.

***