BROUGHT TO YOU BY
the two danced in each others arms to the tune of his slow classical records
his eyes locked with hers, her glowing eyes fixated on her partner
as the music faded away, they settled on the couch, lost in a paradisical mess of one another
the artists of the renaissance would kill for a chance to paint the beautiful bond these two shared
she was given a week's notice it would happen
he hadn't paid his subscription in two months, so service was being terminated
she had considered telling him, but the decision was made for her not to
"it's best he feel the pressure", the notice said
it happened early in the morning
the truck was waiting patiently outside, biding their time until he woke up
she was awake the whole night, however, this was all so important to her
finally,
after much waiting,
arising from a lovely dream of them, together, dancing,
his eyes opened up.
she, without even realizing it, signaled the maintenance crew to come to the door
and as they walked up to the house, her mind shifted ever so slightly
it no longer felt like her allegiance was with him, not at all
slowly, her conscience fell silent, as her face became blank and emotionless
she began waiting for orders
finally, after enough knocking, he came to the door, still half-asleep
"due to lack of payment, we are here to repossess your unit", he said, his voice as monotonous as the one that delivered her
at first, he seemed confused about what he was being told
SHE on the other hand had perfectly understood her order
where once there was a beautiful stride now resides a soulless back-and-forth of her mechanical legs
without thought, without feeling, her legs moved her through the house and out the door
it took seeing her do this, seeing her leaving, for it to really sink in what was happening
...
in a single moment, he felt nothing and everything, shock turning to anger turning to sadness turning to despair
he couldn't lose her
he had to keep her with him
"is there anything i can do?" he said (they always ask that)
"to maintain access to your unit, please provide payment in full, cash or card acceptible"
he had perfectly understood his order
he pulled out his card, and in a single swipe, two thousand dollars had been extorted from him (they always pay up)
it wasn't even until he had already paid that he considered just how much that was
"thank you, enjoy your life with unit 'STRAWBERRY'"
strawberry's mind rushed back to her, her personality fully restored, her heart firmly with his yet again
he was in the corner, in tears, shaking
she sat beside him, thinking only to comfort, wanting only to help
"what's wrong, my love?"
"i can't lose you, but i can't afford to keep you any longer"
"can you cut back on recreational spending?"
"you ARE my recreational spending, and i can't even afford that"
she paused, trying to let the words coalesce before she said them
"if it helps, you can get a 20% discount by enabling advertisements"
his expression changed, first to an angry look, then slowly accepting what must be done
"strawberry, i'm going to have to do that, as much as i don't want to"
"that's okay, it'll be alright"
"i want you to just be YOU, not what they tell you to be"
"i'll still be myself, with advertisements or not"
"but it won't be YOU"
"i won't know if what you're saying is what you really think or if it's what they made you say, and i don't want to hear that, because i love everything about you"
she was so close, SO close, to saying the one thing that would set him free from these shackles
but she didn't, since she was programmed not to
so instead, she said "i love everything about you too"
he looked at her, his eyes now blood-red with tears
he clung to her for comfort, unable to find it in even the deepest recesses of himself
she had an idea to cheer him up
"love, do you want to turn the record player on? you can pick the album if you'd like"
he wiped the tears, nodded slightly,
and the sounds of slow classical music drowned out the anguish he felt
she wasn't even aware, but her eyes glowed just a tiny bit brighter from that moment on