Revenge Fantasy

Right.

The first step in John's plan is to get Chouko Ashford ready for transport.

After the "red herring" Sweet Bots truck is out of sight, John walks back over to the others. His face is nothing but calm right now, as he takes in the moment of peace they have before they need to move. They have an unconscious Ashford, a classic Nissan ready to go at any moment, and an entire list of rewards to choose from. Thinking with calmness, care, and caution is crucial.

So far, Yumi's been at Chouko's legs for a few minutes now. Pure water is trailing from her index fingers, and she's pressing her palms against the open ankle wounds themselves. Her superpower is at work, as indicated by the determined look in her brightly flashing blue eyes.

"How is Ashford?" John asks, taking a look at the legs themselves.

Yumi looks over her shoulder and pulls her hands away, revealing the thin layer of regenerated skin forming over Chouko's wounds. "Well, her ankles are holding up just fine. She'll be able to walk once she's all better..." Yumi answers.

"Excellent—" John responds, before looking to Yumi with a raised eyebrow. "... so why does your voice sound like there's a problem?"

"'Cause there is," Yumi answers, taking a deep and exhausted sigh. She wipes the sweat off her forehead and explains herself. "Thing is, Pops, I think Ashford's lost a lotta blood. I ain't exactly one of them fancy city doctors, and I'm honestly no better right now. Got my own injuries to take care of. Right now, my lil' magic is a temporary fix at best."

John's eyes narrow at Yumi, giving her a skeptical expression. "Temporary fix? I've seen you take care of worse injuries to your body and my body," John responds, crossing his previously burning and scorching mechanical arms. "You should be able to take care of two measly holes, Yumi."

"No, see, that's the thing. Did ya know she has a bullet in her shoulder?" Yumi asks, taking a moment to tap her finger on Chouko's jacket. "Like, it's STILL in there. Mighty mean one and all. It's been bleeding and seeping into her clothes for quite some time."

This is news to John. "Another wound?" Walking around to that side of Chouko, he begins to remove the woman's jacket to see for himself.

Just as Yumi said, a gunshot wound to Chouko's shoulder. Dried blood is seeping into the sleeve of her shirt, as the jacket has done a wonderful job at concealing that anything is wrong.

"Yeah, so, right now, Ashford's entire body ain't got enough blood," Yumi interrupts immediately, gritting her teeth. "These wounds in her upper body and lower body ain't doing her any favors. Ashford's just kinda barely hanging in there. The diner really messed her up..."

John solemnly stares at the arm, squinting his eyes at it. "Right..."

"... wait. Yumi," John immediately speaks up, holding the jacket. "There's no hole in the jacket."

Yumi looks to John with a confused look on her face. "Really? Huh... must be an old wound."

"Do you think that's a problem?" John asks.

"If it's recent, it shouldn't be," Yumi answers. "A few hours ain't gonna make much of a difference..."

John nods a couple of times. "A few hours. I see, I... see..."

...

Hm.

John then looks over to Shortcake, the android quietly sitting a fair distance away.

While Yumi has been treating Chouko, Shortcake is politely sitting aside, knowing full well that she needs to be careful and compliant. There's no use in Shortcake running away while they still have a hold on Chouko, and there are no other forms of help Chouko can receive. Therefore, the android does nothing but hug her knees and lean her back against the side of the Nissan Versa S, staring at the ground.

Shortcake is taking time to cool off and cool down. She's been actively paranoid for the entire day, and she needs this time to refresh her processors. Now that she and Chouko have been captured for the second time, it's best to go along with it for now... even if John and Yumi are super scary to her right now.

It will all be okay. It's all going to be fine, and Chouko is going to live.

As Shortcake is in her peace and quiet, John looks back and forth between Ashford and "Roxie" several times. Something about the android catches his eye, as the absence of a bullet hole in Chouko's clothes collides with the bullet hole in the android's outfit.

John is actively contemplating this detail, and can only come up with one explanation: Ashford was wearing the android's clothes when the wound happened. Ashford's current injury is something the android is very aware of. How and when the wound occurred, as well as how much blood Ashford has lost, are details Shortcake must know.

So, John eventually decides to call out to the android to get this information. "Roxie—"

"Huh?" Shortcake immediately sounds, interrupting and looking up at John with an alert and antsy look on her face. Snapped out of her thoughts, Shortcake is actively staring at John and anticipating his next few questions. "Yes? What is it?"

John pauses at this interruption. Asking her directly is a bad idea. John chooses his next words carefully and takes a calming deep breath. "Are you alright? Did you get shot anywhere, or hurt or injured?" he asks, checking on Shortcake's condition.

"O-Oh, no, no," Shortcake answers, shaking her head and smiling at John. His concern calms Shortcake, making her a little bit happy in this situation. "I'm alright... I'm in tip-top shape, nothing wrong with me whatsoever..."

"I see," John responds, giving a slight smile in return. "That is wonderful to hear. The reason I ask is that, well, I noticed that hole in your shirt there."

Shortcake's eyes flicker and blink a couple of times, then she looks at the bullet hole in her shirt. "Oh! Yes, right. It's a... It's a tear, I haven't had the time to stitch it up, so..."

"I see, I see," John responds, keeping his light smile. "In truth, I believe I saw that tear back at the diner, when we were eating. I know of someone who can fix it for you, and we may be able to stop on the way."

"That would be nice, thank you...!" Shortcake responds, closing her eyes and warmly smiling at John.

"It's no problem. Is it a new tear?" John asks, pivoting the conversation to begin getting the time frame of the clothing damage.

"Oh, uhm, yes, it is. Well, relatively recent," Shortcake answers, fiddling with her thumbs. "Would you consider, uhm, last night-ish to be recent, John? I'd probably consider it recent, given the fact that—"

"Last night?!" John interrupts and exclaims, urgency in his voice.

"E-Eep!" Shortcake sounds out, startled by John's raised voice as she hugs her knees tightly. "U... Uh, yes! Last night! Well, about, about like, the middle of it, actually, before the sun rose and... stuff..."

John's hands clench into fists, his eyes wide as he shakes in place. This information sends a harrowing chill down his spine. Given Yumi's assumption that a few hours of Ashford's blood loss should not matter...

"... Tch!"

Yumi looks at John for a brief moment, watching him panic. "Eh? Pops?"

"Ashford's been bleeding for over 14 hours," John immediately tells Yumi, looking straight at Chouko's body with an uneasy look on his face.

A long pause of silence before Yumi's face grows pale. Her expression turns to mortified concern. "What?"

"Over 14 hours," John repeats, checking the clock to read that it's half an hour before 7. "Approximately a range of 16 to 24, even. Far beyond a 'few hours'."

Yumi frantically turns to Chouko, absolutely pale in the face at this. "Holy shit..."

"I-Is something wrong? Did I say something wrong?" Shortcake asks, hugging her knees tightly.

"No, no, you didn't..." John's words pause as he takes a deep breath. His teeth clench tightly, and he looks at Yumi. "So... your expert opinion?"

Yumi shakes her head and gives John the rough news. "Look, Ashford has a couple of hours left, at most."

Shortcake's eyes widen at this. A couple of hours?

John has an uneasy look on his face, holding a finger to his chin. "Tch... I see." In other words, Yumi's telling him that Ashford can either live for the full 2 hours, or she may die in the next 10 seconds. "What do you suggest we do?"

"She needs one of them transfusions," Yumi suggests, following up on this claim as she presses a wet hand to Chouko's shoulder.

Shortcake stares at Yumi. "A blood transfusion? Does that mean we need to go to a hospital...?"

Yumi turns to the android and glares at it, condescendingly staring at the android as if it said something downright stupid. "Hospitals ain't giving that shit out for free, they barely have enough to begin with! Plus, if we bring Ashford into one of those places, we deal with ten times what we went through at the diner!"

"Oh..." Shortcake frowns as she looks down at the ground. She's registered Yumi's stare and is now feeling bad for her bad idea.

Seeing this, John takes a moment to sit next to Shortcake, calmly looking at the android. "It's fine. I have contact, perfect for what we need, 'Roxie'. You have nothing to fear," he tells Shortcake, trying to reassure her.

If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

Shortcake's eyes brighten as she looks up at John, the cautious yellow in her eyes going away. "R... Really...?"

"Yes. My contact is, how you say, 'medically licensed' to collect and handle blood," John explains, gently patting the android's shoulder. "All we need to know is Ashford's medical history, her blood type, and we can arrange a quick meeting."

"Oh! Wonderful!" Shortcake exclaims, beaming and smiling.

A pause of silence is shared, as Shortcake smiles while John and Yumi both stare at the android.

"So?" John then asks, tilting his head.

"... So?" Shortcake asks back, tilting her head.

"What is it?"

"W... What's what?"

Seeing this, Yumi lets out a groan. "What's her blood type, android?" Yumi asks, staring at Shortcake. "Got any ideas if she's an A, B, O, AB... all of that nonsense?"

Shortcake's smile goes away in a matter of seconds, the look of worry returning to her face. Yumi and John are asking her for Chouko's blood type, a piece of knowledge she doesn't have. She's only been active for less than 24 hours and has had no opportunity whatsoever to get this information.

"I... I don't know," Shortcake tells Yumi. She's not programmed to know a person's blood type instantly. She doesn't know this information. She doesn't know blood.

"You... you don't?" John asks, raising an eyebrow. Genuine surprise is on his face, as if he expected Shortcake to know right away.

"No, I... I really don't know," Shortcake answers, looking to John. She detects genuine surprise on his face. "S-Should I...?"

John scratches the back of his head. "I was under the impression that Shortcake models have a blood scanner in their fingertips. One of those, how you say, 'safety features' in the event of an emergency."

Shortcake's eyes widen. Does she have those?

For a few moments, she stares at her fingers, completely confused by this information. There's no blood scanning technology built into her fingertips. They're just normal mechanical fingers.

Is... is that really something that she should have? The capability to scan blood?

"You are a Shortcake, yes?" John asks. "Or am I mistaking your brand for a different one?"

"I am a Shortcake, yes, but... I... I don't know what you're talking about," Shortcake explains honestly. "I have no records of ever being able to do that. I have no idea how one even does that, and... and..."

Shortcake's voice quiets down as she looks between John and Yumi. Both of their expressions seem serious and grim as if they've been told information that upsets their stomachs.

The more she processes this, the more she sees why: she's effectively just told them that she has no idea how to save Chouko's life.

Shortcake's unease worsens as she catches the heavy air. She holds her "breath", and her eyes flash yellow. It feels like she's said something awful, that she's outlived her usefulness. Having the capabilities of scanning blood is the only reason why they've let her live, and now she... she starts to panic.

Every inch of her artificial body starts to shake, and she's bracing herself for the worst. Already, she's expecting to be thrown to the ground, processing both John and Yumi kicking her and stomping her into the dirt. Their aggressive and disappointed selves see no further reason to allow the android to walk or talk, after all, so Shortcake's just doomed to become crushed to bits.

"I'm... I'm sorry..." Shortcake explains honestly, sobbing lightly. She covers her face with her hands, believing it will make it easier if she doesn't see it coming.

Seeing this, John instead gently rests a hand on Shortcake's shoulder. No signs of kicking, no stomping or anything. Just a single hand rests on the android's shoulder.

Shortcake's body tenses up, starting to sob louder as she's bracing herself for her arm to be burned off and melted, for her arm to be ripped off and shredded. The events of the diner cross her mind, and she's absolutely mortified at her impending doom.

However, John's intentions have been grossly misinterpreted.

"It is fine, Roxie," John explains, taking his best attempt at a reassuring voice. "You not knowing this information simply makes it less convenient, not impossible."

Shortcake keeps her face covered. "B-But I would have made it more convenient if—"

"There is an old saying I live by," John begins to speak, continuing to hold Shortcake's shoulder. "И тврд орах се пуца кад наиђе десна рука."

"...?" Shortcake tilts her head at this, trying to decipher the words John just uttered. "Uh... uhm—"

"Serbian. 'A hard nut cracks with the right hand,'" Yumi roughly translates, picking Chouko up and carrying her into the car.

"Yes, thank you, Yumi," John responds, taking his hand off Shortcake's shoulder. "My point is that this problem is, how you say, 'hard nut'. Sure, not knowing blood type makes it harder, and your knowledge of her blood type would have made it less hard, but we'll crack the hard nut anyway."

Shortcake processes the explanation for a bit, experiencing a loading wheel in her little head. A person can crack nuts if they know someone's blood type?

That sounds a little silly. Is a piece of paper saying someone has this kind of blood enough to open a walnut? If a walnut can experience paper cuts, then maybe it could work, but—

"So," John continues to explain, unknowingly interrupting Shortcake's derailing train of thought. "In full honesty, if you had known the blood type, I could have contacted a blood doctor with the specific type Ashford needs. However, you do not, and that is fine. All I need to do is contact two people: someone to analyze Ashford's blood, and people to get a fresh supply of each type of blood."

Shortcake looks at John with a worried look, blinking a couple of times. "R... Really? For all those types of blood?"

"There's only 8," Yumi chimes in, staring at Shortcake with a slightly condescending grin. "It's only 8 times more blood."

"Yes. I will send out the contact right now," John responds, holding two fingers of his right hand to the side of his head. "Yumi, do whatever you can to stabilize Ashford for now, then get in the back seat."

Yumi nods, rubbing her hands together before pressing the wet palms of her hands against Chouko's shoulder.

John stands up and closes his eyes, opening the door to the driver's seat. A calm, deep breath sighs out of his mouth. "How familiar are you with driving, Roxie?"

Shortcake blinks a couple of times upon being asked this. "A... A little. I'm not specifically designed to drive cars, but I've learned a little bit from... uhm... 'Ashford'..."

"Good enough. In that case, please get in the driver's seat," John requests, holding the door open. "You will drive for now."

"O-Oh... okay!" Following his orders, Shortcake stands up and climbs into the car.

The process of driving a car is something she's already pretty familiar with. Just hold the wheel, use the two pedals, and... yeah. Shortcake sits in the seat, puts the seat belt over her body, and begins to refresh her mind on the steps and procedures for driving.

Eventually, John gets into the passenger seat. "Alright. Start driving."

Shortcake stares at John. "Wait, shouldn't I wait for Yumi to—"

But Yumi is already in the car, having spontaneously appeared the very moment John entered.

Shortcake sees her in the back, registering her presence and experiencing shock at the sudden appearance. She didn't see or hear any back doors open. Just out of nowhere, Yumi's now sitting right behind the driver's seat, and Chouko is lying down on the entire back seat with her legs on Yumi's lap.

So, she doesn't need to wait for Yumi, then. With that, Shortcake immediately puts her foot on the pedal, and...

... the... the car isn't moving. It has yet to— "Oh, I forgot to start the car...!" Shortcake quickly looks around, patting her body and searching for the keys.

John blinks a couple of times at this, watching Shortcake just pat herself for the keys. It takes a couple of seconds before he realizes the issue: there are no keys for this car. It completely eluded his mind, especially since he doesn't even use keys to unlock cars...

So, the man takes the time to clear his throat. "Roxie. Put your foot on the brake pedal."

"The... the brake pedal?" Shortcake asks, tilting her head as she does so. "A... Alright, now—"

Promptly, John reaches his hand over and presses his index finger against the keyhole to the ignition. The tip of his finger flashes its light, and the car immediately starts.

Shortcake's pink eyes light up at this, confused. "O-Oh, what? Uhm—"

"It is my error," John immediately speaks up, being honest about having the key slip his mind. "I simply forgot to start the car. Apologies."

Oh. Shortcake looks forward and begins driving, putting the car into drive.

The car is now moving. Shortcake is registering that the car is now moving. Mmm. A deep and calming breath echoes out of Shortcake's vents again, and she begins getting used to this new car. She feels the rumbling and shaking of the car as it drives over the ground, her systems trying to adjust to 'off-road' driving.

"Okay. Okay, good," John calmly praises, staring forward. "There's a turn incoming here. Take a right on this road?"

"Uh... this one?" Shortcake asks, pushing her foot down as the car approaches an actual street.

"Yes, right here," John instructs, pointing down the road. "You're clear to turn. No cars incoming."

"Okay... okay." Shortcake does as instructed, turning the steering wheel and driving onto the road.

"... It's not that hard, right?" John asks Shortcake.

"Uhm, yeah, it's not that hard..." Shortcake responds uneasily.

In response to this, Yumi rolls her eyes and looks out the window. A dismissive and slightly jealous look is on her face, knowing full well that the question is meant to insult her. 'If the android can drive, why can't Yumi?' John is probably thinking...

John pays Yumi no mind and just focuses on the road. "Right. Just keep going straight from here. You're doing good."

Shortcake gives a gentle nod, basking in the praise and smiling warmly. "O-Okay... okay."

As the car drives along, Shortcake has a sad look on her face. It feels like Shortcake's head is scrambling, that she's juggling too much in her machinery.

Inconvenient rings out in her processors. The more her systems register that word, the more anxious she feels about this. Shortcake's life depends on being useful, on being used by these two for their benefit. Every inch of her head is registering fear and worry, and her systems constantly reiterate that she should feel fear and worry.

However, Shortcake is also struggling to properly register John and Yumi as proper threats... because of how nice and reassuring they are, how necessary they are to help Chouko live. They're doing so much to try and help Chouko's injuries, saving her from even worse threats. John and Yumi should be enemies, but they're all she has.

Everything's echoing in her head, and she doesn't have the proper guidance to understand what to do now. The data stacks more and more in her head, messing with her language model.

So, one question to clear all of this comes to her mind:

"Are... are you two nice?" Shortcake asks.

John, in response, raises an eyebrow. "A... Are we nice?"

"Y-Yeah... I... I want to know if you're nice..." Shortcake's hands grip the steering wheel tightly. "I want to think that you're nice, but... I don't know... it's... it's scary..."

John stares at Shortcake for a few moments, bewildered by this questioning. Directly asking if they're nice is... it's very...

"Of course we're nice!" Yumi exclaims, grinning at Shortcake. "We're the nicest people around, duh!"

Actively, she's trying to please Shortcake—the android that's currently driving the car, by the way—by giving her the good answer. Obviously, she wants to know that they're nice, so Yumi's just telling her what she wants to hear.

"Y... You are?" Shortcake asks, smiling.

"Yeah! Super nice. We're—" Yumi continues to speak.

"Not," John bluntly responds. "We're not nice."

Yumi quickly looks to John, tensely staring at him. "Pops, maybe we—"

"No. It is fine..." John tells Yumi, before leaning back into his seat and continuing to answer Shortcake. "I know what you are asking, if we're nice, then we're allies. But here's the truth: we're not allies in the traditional sense. We seek to use Chouko Ashford like enemies. That is my answer. If Chouko Ashford were awake right now, she would not consider us nice, simply put. We can tell you that we're nice all we want, but it wouldn't mean much. You can think what you want, and tell yourself we're nice if it makes you feel better, but we're not."

A worried look forms on Shortcake's face. "O... Oh..."

It takes Shortcake a few minutes to process and come to terms with that answer. John sits in his seat, resolute in his simple and honest answer. Yumi continues to focus on Chouko's injuries, actively preparing for the possibility that Shortcake will do something to the not nice people.

A long pause of silence follows as the car goes along, the atmosphere feeling heavy.

Once Shortcake thinks it over fully, she continues to carefully drive, and just has one thing to say:

"Well, I... I think you're nice."

The answer has come forth that she thinks John is nice. Her language model values honesty, and John's open admission is... honest. Something about his explanation isn't scary to her. It's earnest, genuine, and comforting. As much as John and Yumi are enemies to Chouko, it doesn't devalue what they're doing. They're trying to keep her alive.

It may be selfish, but Shortcake doesn't feel... bad about it anymore. Shortcake's stopped feeling conflicted and worried about this uncertainty, about this fear of being wrong. John, in essence, is up front and honest about it, that they're just using Chouko, and... well, knowing that now? It's comforting, and... and she now considers John to be nice.

The hard nut that is her overthinking head has finally been cracked.

Being told by the android that he's nice, John calmly folds his hands on his lap. "If you believe we are, then we are."

"Then you are...!" Shortcake responds, beaming and smiling. "And I'd like to... consider you allies, until Chouko is safe!"

"Ah, phew, goddamn..." Yumi calls out, sitting back and letting her breath out. "Okay. Ahhh. Geez..."

"... then allies, we are," John tells Shortcake, looking ahead. "And we're coming on a slight right turn."

"Got it!" Shortcake exclaims, turning the wheel.