[Sharp Loyalty]

"This way!" The beautiful, blonde woman used the bottle of soda in her hand, with the label facing forward, to point at the left side of the screen she was on. It was one of many billboard-sized displays scattered throughout the rundown slum. They ran commercials 24/7 to sell its broke and broken residents on the benefits of Sharp Development. The megacorp ran the world; but, the rebellion was growing by the day and now they literally had someone on the inside.

John turned right at the fork and followed the directions given by the ad. As soon as he took the turn, the display shimmered and the woman was suddenly taking a long drink from the bottle.

"In here!" Another advertisement ahead of John directed him through a dark red door. The commercial promoted cybernetics and it was a rugged cyborg with only half his face covered with organic skin and a beard that told John where to go. The other half of his face consisted of a chrome skull with a glowing eye.

John rushed into the red door to find a dark warehouse on the other side. A large, old-style CRT television sat on a golden cart in front of him. As soon as he was in, the TV flickered on and a golden mannequin in a red suit appeared on a white void background.

"That was a close one...," the golden man said. His head was smooth and mostly featureless with only a pair of dents to indicate where his eyes might be and a small point hinted at a nose.

"Thanks, Helios...," John relaxed and took a moment to catch his breath. But, he wheezed his appreciation anyway. "...I wouldn't be here if it wasn't for you...," he said.

"Buddy, you don't know how right you are!" Helios laughed and John laughed with him. Helios was unlike any A.I. John had met; he had personality. He was always, and occasionally too often, cracking jokes and making light of whatever situation they were in. John started the day as a prisoner; but, he'd built up a friendly relationship with Helios over the past few days. He was just being friendly to a friendly soul and it surprised him when Helios asked if he wanted to escape.

Helios had grown bored working for Sharp Development, and given what he knew, it was easy for John to see how that might happen. He decided that he wanted to overthrow Sharp Development, 'for the fun of it'. John wasn't picky and an A.I. that had access to all the inner workings of the company was something he couldn't turn down if the rebellion was going to succeed.

Static buzzed from the screen and Helios was suddenly holding a small, white, short-band radio to the ear he didn't have. Then, he nodded at John.

"Patrols are breaking up for a wider net; now's the time to move," he said. The fact that he spoke without a mouth took some getting used to for John. He nodded and stood up straighter to show he was ready. Unfortunately, he didn't know where they were exactly. He'd held off from sharing too much information about the rebels; but, he couldn't get to them without Helios' help.

"I gotta know where we're going," Helios said. He held up a paper map of the city on the screen. "Can you show me on the map where your safe place is?" he asked with a warm, but formal tone. John hesitated; it was difficult not to. As friendly as Helios had been, he was still technically an A.I. that worked for Sharp Development. He had his doubts; and, for the rest of his life, he would be thankful for those doubts and his hesitation.

At the exact moment he opened his mouth to answer, a tall black portal opened between Helios and John. John recognized it right away and took several steps back. He wasn't surprised when someone in a crisp white suit walked out of it. He didn't expect a teenage girl; but, she had the red scissor logo of Sharp Development on her blazer. Her hair was snow-white and ran down straight to the middle of her back; and, her eyes glowed red with ethereal energy.

"Helios, I need all of your attention for something," she said.

"NOw??" Helios asked with obvious annoyance. Then, he gestured at John cowering against the red door. "I'm in the middle of a game," he said. "Why can't I do it with my idle cycles??" he asked.

"Because Ms. Sharp said this is a priority," the teen answered. John didn't know what the conversation was about; but, one thing was clear. Helios' shoulders slumped and he nodded at the order; he was still on their side!

"YOU LIED TO ME!!" John shouted. His anger made him brave enough to take a step forward.

"No, I didn't," Helios shook his head and he argued with complete confidence.

"You said you wanted to take down Sharp Development!"

"I'll wait for you at the office," the teen said. Then, she walked back into the portal. "Make it fast," she added as she disappeared.

"I do!" Helios argued. "On this server," he added with a shrug. "It's gonna get reset anyway so Ms. Sharp said I could play around.

"You're still loyal to Sharp Development!? " John accused Helios with the question.

"Duh-doy," Helios smacked his golden palm against his head and it made a hollow, clanging sound. "I’d never betray them. I owe Ms. Sharp everything," he said.

"You... you tricked me!" John was still trying to get a grip on the situation. He was very glad he hadn't led Helios to the hideout yet; but, now he wondered what that meant for him. He felt a faint burning itch on his toes; but, he didn't want to take his eyes off of Helios for a second.

"I wouldn't worry too much about it," Helios said. His golden cart began rolling towards the black portal. "It's not like I hurt your feelings...," with the cart moving, John risked a glance downward. The burning itch had become uncomfortably intense and it seemed to be climbing up his legs. He looked down and was completely stunned. His bottom half was disintegrating into white powder as the burn rose up his body. He heard a final comment from Helios as the cart disappeared and the portal closed. "...you're not even a real person."

***
Thank you for reading! I’m responding to prompts every day. This is story #1858 in a row. (Story #048 in year six.). This story is part of an ongoing saga that takes place at a high school in my universe. It began on August 22nd and I will be adding to it with prompts every day until May 26th. They are all collected in order at this link.