Nothing bothered Tzuyu more than the break.

It was extremely noisy but she never tried to escape it.

She’d never tried until she saw a pink-haired girl running down the hall and entering a random room.

That place seemed silent and empty.

She watched and stood for a few seconds, wondering: should she just follow the girl or not?

Actually, she wasn’t following her, she just wanted to enjoy the peace that the room seemed to be.

“What if she thinks I’m really following her?” Tzuyu thought and took a deep breath.

Was it worth it making a bad impression on the pink-haired dwarf in exchange of a quiet and peaceful break?

The answer was obvious.

Yes, it was worth it.

It wasn’t like making a bad impression would change something in Tzuyu’s life.

She already didn’t have anyone to speak, so that girl not liking her wouldn’t make any difference.

She approached the door of the closed room, and looked at the little window that stood in the doorway.

The pink-haired girl was sitting at the back of the room, near a window, with a strange backpack on her back.

She seemed to be alone.

“I don’t want to disturb her…” Tzuyu was about to give up of the idea of entering the room, but as soon as she saw a group of boys in the hall, she recovered her courage.

It was definitely better to face the small pink-haired girl, than some older and unbearable dudes from the last year.

She quickly entered the room and closed the door carefully, not wanting to make any sound that would bother the pink-haired girl.

Tzuyu just wanted to enjoy the peace this room was.

She would not even talk to the other girl.

She was going to sit on the other side of the room, but then she felt the girl’s gaze on her and then she was static.

After a long silence, Tzuyu watched while the pink-haired girl was looking for something.

The girl seem to formulate something to say, so Tzuyu continued there, just watching her.

“Do you... want this?” The pink-haired girl asked, while holding a juice box.

“What?”

There were another seconds in silence, the girl still had the juice box in her hands, pointing to Tzuyu, with an expression that Tzuyu couldn’t define.

“Are you sure that you don’t want to drink this?” Tzuyu asked. Accept juice from strangers didn’t look like a good idea, but that girl looked so inoffensive.

She looked like a child with that hairstyle.

“I can’t.” The girl spoke and again, the silence took place.

“Is she allergic? Do I ask this?”

Tzuyu bit her lip and did the best that she could think: smiled weakly, accepted the juice, and sat down in front of the other girl.

“No, Chou Tzuyu! Why did you choose to sit here?”  She swore in her head and realized that the girl was looking at her, curious.

Soon she saw the girl return, or try to reciprocate, her smile.

That situation couldn’t get any weirder.

The girl looked like she was analyzing her.

Tzuyu just put the straw in the box and began to drink it.

They stayed in silence for a long time.

The positive side was that the girl seemed as good at socializing as Tzuyu. The negative side was the same.

Not that Tzuyu was bothered by the silence, in fact, it was comfortable.

And well, she had gained a juice.

She had nothing to complain about.

After that day, Tzuyu had become accustomed to spend her break with the pink-haired girl, that she discovered to be nicknamed Vivi.

They were sitting in silence.

Vivi already had given Tzuyu the little juice box and now she was there, sitting with her backpack on her back.

Everyday was like that, and neither of them had something to complain.

Until they heard someone open the door.

“Hello!” The girl screamed, excited, and by her voice, she was  young.

Tzuyu and Vivi just looked at each other.

“So, y’all aren’t talkative… I got it.”  The “intruder” spoke and sat down at the same table that the other two were.

“Let’s try again! Hello, I’m Yeojin and you are?” The girl looked excited.

Tzuyu wanted to ask what the hell she was doing there, but her conscience didn’t let her be rude to the little girl.

“Well, I came here to study, and y’all look old so I think you can help me with that, right?” Yeojin said, taking her notebook off her backpack.

Vivi looked at Tzuyu, and realized the girl was as confused as herself.

“So, none of you will help me?” She slowly closed her notebook, looking to the girls with a sad expression “I got it, unnies! I got it! I’m just one more unbearable brat… oh well…”

Tzuyu rolled her eyes and took the notebook while Vivi just watched.

After some seconds, Tzuyu huffed.

“Listen, I’m gonna to teach you just once, got it?” Tzuyu spoke and saw Yeojin nod happily.

After that, Tzuyu explained calmly to the younger girl.

“Oh, that’s so easy!” Yeojin commented, beginning to write notes on her notebook.

“Ah, this girl, do you know her?” Tzuyu asked and Vivi tilted her head to the side, watching the younger girl take notes.

“Nope.” Vivi spoke and Tzuyu shrugged.

“So, both of you stay here everyday?” Yeojin asked.

“Yup.” Vivi spoke and Tzuyu looked at her like she did something wrong, Vivi only looked confused to Tzuyu.

“Cool! I’m going to spend my break here too, unnies!” The girl spoke excitedly and Tzuyu pretended a smile and Vivi did the same.

They could see the peace going away.

Tzuyu had one question about Vivi.

It was no big deal, but why was she always with that backpack?

It looked more like a equipment than a backpack, actually.

She really wanted to ask her, but she felt as if she were going to cross the thin line that separated peace and strangeness in that silent friendship if she asked.

She only saw the girl take her backpack off when she was going to run.

Yeah, Vivi was part of the school’s racing team.

No, Tzuyu had no idea that such a thing existed, but Vivi had invited her and Yeojin to see the training, and well, there she was, sitting on the grass, with Yeojin at her side, watching the pink-haired girl and three other girls in the track.

“Maybe it’s something special to her.”

It was  no big deal.

It was no big deal, right…?

She was taken from her reveries when she heard Yeojin’s voice.

“Unnie, you look thoughtful.”

“Ah?”

“Unnie, don’t you think Vivi looks like a little robot? Look! She’s so cute!” Yeojin spoke and pointed to Vivi, who was standing expressionlessly near the three girls.

“Ah, I wanted to have the inner peace that Vivi has…” Yeojin spoke dramatically shaking her head.

“Good times that are never coming back…” The girl spoke looking at the horizon.

“What?” Tzuyu spoke “You are a child, like, what times are that?”

Yeojin slowly looked at Tzuyu.

“You have a good point...”

“But you agree, right?”

“No, you are too young for…”

“No, I ain’t talking about that! Look, don’t you agree that Vivi is like a superior being? I never saw her upset, never saw her eating. Gosh, I never saw her go to the hair stylist or talking about buying hair dye but look at her hair, still pink since God knows when…” Yeojin spoke and scratched her chin, as if she was reflecting.

Tzuyu was thoughtful too.

Yeojin had one point, they never saw Vivi eat something.

The juices that she get at the break, she always give them to Tzuyu and when Yeojin took something to eat, Vivi always said she wasn’t hungry…

“Maybe an alien…” Yeojin spoke and Tzuyu looked surprised.

“An alien!?”

Okay, maybe she shouldn’t give so many credits to Yeojin.

“Unnie, think about it! She is always at the same place, she never eats. Oh, and what if she is a reptilian like the Facebook guy!?” Yeojin looked scared with her own hypothesis.

Tzuyu rolled her eyes.

They listened to the sound that indicated the start and looked at the track.

“So, this is a relay race?” Tzuyu asked and Yeojin nodded.

She had not realized this until she saw the first girl running, carrying a baton in her hands.

“Do I have to cheer or something like that?”

When she saw Vivi running, she smiled.

She really looked like a little robot.

“Go Vivi! You are already a champion!” Yeojin was shouting, she was a crowd of only one person.

Tzuyu, again, rolled her eyes, but she didn’t stopped Yeojin.

She would let her enjoy the moment.

Today was a weird day, Tzuyu had arrived in the room before Vivi.

Even Yeojin had appeared before Vivi.

“Oh no! The reptilians kidnapped Vivi!” Yeojin shouted, throwing her backpack at the table and bringing her hands to her head, she was desperate. “Damn, it’s all your fault, Mark Zuckerberg!”

Tzuyu was silently watching the girl.

It felt strange, as if something very wrong was happening.

“Maybe she is just late.” She thought and stood there, waiting.

Yeojin looked uneasy, but Tzuyu ignored her.

“Unnie, we need to fight for Vivi freedom!” The girl screamed and Tzuyu looked at her, surprised.

“Wait, what!?” Tzuyu asked and saw the girl take a breath, Tzuyu regretted it in time.

“Maybe we still have time to save her from the clutches of the reptilians, Tzuyu...”

“You don’t have like, lessons to do?” Tzuyu interrupted her.

“Ouch, Tzu…” The girl spoke with one hand on her heart “But yes, I do. Help me.”

The girl placed her notebooks on the table and Tzuyu rolled her eyes.

Almost at the end of the break, Vivi came running with a small box of juice in her hand.

“Ah… Are you okay?” Tzuyu asked and Vivi nodded, sitting on her place.

“Unnie, oh my God, you’re old, you can’t do this! Running is exhausting.” Yeojin spoke.

“Yeojin she is literally a RUNNER, we saw her training…” Tzuyu answered.

“Good point.” Yeojin nodded “But anyways, where were you?” The youngster asked worried.

“Oh, it was a... busy day.” Vivi said it smiling and Tzuyu noticed something: she was without her backpack.

“I almost forgot.” Vivi murmured and handed the juice to Tzuyu “It was very crowded today.”

Tzuyu nodded and smiled.

“What happened to her backpack? Is this weird? Should I ask?”

“Oh my God!” Yeojin screamed and the older girls looked at her.

“Where’s the Minion ?”

“What?” Vivi asked, and Tzuyu only looked confused to Yeojin.

“Your backpack! It was my friend! I can’t believe its dead!” Yeojin made a crying expression while putting her hand over .

“At least she asked about the backpack…” Tzuyu thought.

“My backpack…” Vivi murmured and looked around.

Tzuyu heard a noise, similar to a notification of a cell phone.

“Unnie, I think your battery is running low.” Tzuyu called and Vivi looked confused.

Yeojin looked angry to Vivi.

“Unnie, you have a cell phone and never gave me your number!?” Yeojin complained, feeling betrayed.

But soon both realized that Vivi was looking surprised.

“Battery running…”

They heard a thud against the table.

It was Vivi, her head was on the table.

“Oh my… Vivi, it was a joke! You don’t need to fake a faint just to don’t give me your number!” Yeojin spoke, sounding scared, while she was trying to wake up the girl.

Tzuyu got up and approached the girl

She didn’t even move.

“What’s going on?” Tzuyu asked while analyzing the girl, thinking on what to do.

“Tzuyu what happened? Is she dead!?” Yeojin asked, she was as confused as Tzuyu.

“I need help! But what if I leave and the doors lock? What if she gets worse?”  Tzuyu’s brain was working so hard that she was starting to get dizzy.

“Unnie, what do we do!?” Yeojin asked and Tzuyu stayed in silence.

After a lot of thought, Tzuyu took a deep breath and, in a somewhat desperate way, supported Vivi on her back.

“What? Are you going to disappear with the body, unnie!?” Yeojin was desperate.

Tzuyu scolded Yeojin with her gaze and took a deep breath.

“Don’t die, don’t die, don’t die…” She murmured repeatedly and prepared to leave the room, with the girl on her back.

Yeojin grabbed her backpack, getting ready to go with her unnie.

“What’s wrong with you, unnie!?” Tzuyu asked hoping for a answer, but the only thing that she heard was the signal that the break was over.

“This is the reptilians, unnie.” Yeojin murmured “We have to protect her body!”

“I’m going to tell your mom to keep you away from any sci-fi related stuff!” Tzuyu complained, finally leaving the room and looking through the halls.

They didn’t have any ideas of what to do.

“Unnie, wait, I have an idea!” When Tzuyu heard Yeojin talk, she looked to the sky, hoping that what she was about to say wasn’t even remotely related to reptiles.

“We can talk to the girls of the running team.”

Tzuyu gaped.

“Oh, that’s actually a great idea.”

“I’m full of these.” Yeojin spoke and shrugged.

Yeojin was right, maybe they know what to do.

Or not, but the field was much closer than the infirmary.

Tzuyu almost stumbled when a girl appeared in front of her.

She felt the girl stare at her and the she let her despair take control.

She hated asking for help to stranger but she didn’t have much choices.

Although, if she was not mistaken, the girl was from the last year and her name was…

“Wait, I got it!” Yeojin said it, going in the direction of the girl.

“Do you know her or…” Yeojin whispered to Tzuyu and the girl closed her eyes, as if she was trying to remember.

“I think her name is Haseul…”

Yeojin nodded and looked at the girl.

“So, Haseul-ssi, you know, my friend is going through a difficult situation…” Yeojin started and Haseul alternately looked quickly at Tzuyu, who seemed to struggle to carry Vivi and the looked back to the girl. “The reptilians attacked her and now she is like that, in a state of coma! We don’t know what to do! You’re a reptilian too, aren’t? Help us! She’s dying!”

Tzuyu jumped in front of Haseul, blocking Yeojin.

“Please help us, she’s dying! I don’t know what to do!” She spoke, almost crying.

Haseul analyzed the girls and started to laugh.

Yeojin was pissed.

“What is so funny!?”

Haseul didn’t stopped laughing for some seconds until she saw that Tzuyu was in the verge of tears.

Yeojin was sulky and ready to fight.

“What the heck? That is the way you treat two children carrying a body when you see then? I know old people but this, this is awful! I’m calling the cops, you’re going under arrest for not helping us. You are like this cause you’re old, that is, a old and… That it. Let’s go.” Yeojin spoke angrily getting ready to go and Tzuyu was ready to follow her.

“She’s not dead, her battery is over.” The girl spoke and Tzuyu looked confused, Yeojin couldn’t control herself:

“So reptilians have batteries like robots!?”

“What!?” Haseul and Tzuyu asked in unison.

“Her battery is over?” Tzuyu thought.

“Haseul, look what I found!” Another girl appeared, Tzuyu didn’t pay much attention to the girl’s face, just to what she was carrying: Vivi’s backpack.

Yeojin was impressed with the girl, looking from a certain angle, in perfect lightning, she kinda looked like Tzuyu.

“The reptilians went too far…” Yeojin murmured, staring the girl.

Haseul smiled to Tzuyu, as the other girl and Yeojin faced each other.

“Haseul-ssi, can you explain it?” Tzuyu asked, she was beginning to get tired, but she was curious.

“Who are you?” Yeojin asked, nudging the girl who brought the backpack.

The girl just snorted.

“Oh my…” Yeojin spoke and looked to Tzuyu “You two should be friends.”

“Well, going on, I can explain everything to you, all the story or just hand you the charger…” Haseul murmured and Tzuyu seemed to think.

“Tell me a piece of the story.” Tzuyu saw Haseul take a breath.

“12 girls, deaths, jealousy and…”

“Just hand me the charger, please.” Tzuyu interrupted the girl.

“And you were laughing of the things I said…” Yeojin muttered and shook her head.

“The things I’m talking have PROOFS, and what about the thing YOU were talking?” Haseul countered, folding her arms.

“Hyunjin, tell her!” Haseul asked, looking to the girl with the backpack.

“My source is better!”

Tzuyu looked to Hyunjin and they both snorted impatiently.

“Look, this is getting heavy! Can you both just get to the point!?”

Haseul explained how everything worked, where she had to plug the plug, what to do and Tzuyu felt like she was taking care of some sort of very advanced robot toy.

Yeojin spent the whole time disturbing Hyunjin.

The girl was about to explode when, finally, Haseul finished her explanation.

With a double effort, Tzuyu ran back to the room she shared with the oldest.

Yeojin looked at the two girls before going after Tzuyu and murmured an “I’m keeping an eye on you” before she left.

Now they were there, running.

Vivi heard some murmurs and lifted her head slowly.

“Unnie, she’s waking!” Vivi heard Yeojin’s voice and felt the room darken.

Someone had turned the light off.

“What were you doing on November 11, 2002!?” Yeojin asked, sitting in front of Vivi and pointing a flashlight to her face.

Vivi looked dazed to Yeojin.

“Yeojin!” Tzuyu spoke and turned the lights on, making them blink as they tried to get accustomed with the light.

“I just wanted to tell you the date of my birthday.” Yeojin muttered, turning the flashlight off.

“Vivi, are you okay?” Tzuyu asked, approaching the girl.

She watched Vivi run a hand through the back of her neck.

“Oh, you…” Vivi started.

“Yeah, we found out that you are a reptilian and the crazy old woman, Haseul, is one too.” Yeojin said, folding her arms when referring to Haseul.

“Reptilian?” Vivi muttered.

“She kinda looks like you, Yeojin.” Tzuyu spoke, and Yeojin looked offended.

“The reptilians cloned us, then! I can’t believe this!” The girl complained and Tzuyu frowned.

“You’re younger, Yeojin! You’re the clone, I mean, you’d be the clone!” Tzuyu said and Yeojin looked surprised.

“Am I a clone? Oh no…” Yeojin spoke with her hands on her face then threw herself on the table.

“Vivi, would you still love me even if I’m clone of that old lady!?” Yeojin asked, raising her head and holding Vivi’s hands.

“Yah! Yeojin, give her some time!” Tzuyu complained.

They heard a different noise: Vivi was laughing.

“I’m not a reptilian.” She said it, tilting her head.

Yeojin was about to say something, but Tzuyu practically threw herself at the girl to stop her.

Vivi wasn’t understanding anything.

They knew it about what she was?

The pink-haired girl looked serious and the younger girls noticed.

Tzuyu and Yeojin started to stare at the girl, waiting for her to say something.

“Ah….” Vivi murmured and Yeojin started to feel uneasy as she alternated between looking at Tzuyu and Vivi.

“I have to tell something important.” The girl seemed nervous.

“I’m a kind of android…”

“What!?” Yeojin screamed, with her hands on her face “But which version? Oreo, Lollipop or other!?” Tzuyu held hard in Yeojin’s backpack to control the urge of throw it at the younger girl.

“Uh, not that kind of Android…” Vivi spoke smiling.

“Oh, that’s good, because I prefer IOS.” Yeojin said it, nodding slowly.

Tzuyu rolled her eyes.

“Androids are robots that ressemble humans, Yeojin.” Vivi spoke and the girls were silent.

“I do not know anything about before being an android, or if I really was something before that. I do not understand why I am this either. I apologize for not telling before, I just… did not know what to say. It is scary…” The girl said and lowered her head.

Vivi was ready to go.

After a long silence, Tzuyu murmured:

“Better a robot than a reptilian…”

Vivi looked surprised to the girl.

“Tzuyu, oh my, I’m so proud…” Yeojin spoke, wiping a fake tear from her eye.

Tzuyu just rolled her eyes.

Vivi was confused.

“Ah, you two don’t care about it?” You know…” The pink-haired asked and saw Tzuyu and Yeojin looking to each other.

“No. I believe in that thing, you know, it doesn’t matter who you are, but what you do and well, you gave me a lot of juice boxes.” Tzuyu spoke, shaking the already finished juice box.

Yeojin approached Vivi and began to the older girl’s head, attracting confused glances.

“Do you girls don’t know AFFECTION? Are you scared of my LOVE!?” Tzuyu nodded slowly and Yeojin frowned.

It took less than ten seconds for the girl to stick in Tzuyu, hugging her.

“Still scared!?” Yeojin asked.

Tzuyu looked up and sighed.

“A little.”

“Unnie, why are you so cruel!?” The younger girl complained, outraged, and Tzuyu rolled her eyes as she responded to her embrace.

Vivi laughed as she watched and then, the other two also began to laugh.

“So what now?” Tzuyu asked, sitting down in her good old place.

Yeojin did the same.

“I’m not sure…” Yeojin murmured taking her notebook from her backpack “But then, since you’re happy, Vivi, you could use your Vivibotics skills to help me in math.” The younger girl smiled widely and Tzuyu, for the hundredth time that day, rolled her eyes.

Vivi just smiled and started to help the younger girl.