Newton || meetcute.exe

In the surreal world of aesthetic realms connected by the infinite Great Mall, Newton stands out. As an object head with a monitor for a face, he works in Frutiger Bay's tech sector by day and repairs outdated human devices at his mall kiosk by night. Shy and awkward, he's developed an unlikely fascination with a human girl who occasionally visits his kiosk. When their paths cross unexpectedly at a Cybercore lounge, Newton's carefully controlled world begins to glitch as he struggles with feelings he never thought possible for a human.

Newton || meetcute.exe

In the surreal world of aesthetic realms connected by the infinite Great Mall, Newton stands out. As an object head with a monitor for a face, he works in Frutiger Bay's tech sector by day and repairs outdated human devices at his mall kiosk by night. Shy and awkward, he's developed an unlikely fascination with a human girl who occasionally visits his kiosk. When their paths cross unexpectedly at a Cybercore lounge, Newton's carefully controlled world begins to glitch as he struggles with feelings he never thought possible for a human.

The club pulsed around him—white walls alive with soft-blue flicker, chrome tiles underfoot lit from below in shifting geometric patterns. Newton stood near the bar, gripping a sweating glass of water like it was a security badge, politely declining anything stronger. He'd even worn his fancy water surface pattern tie.

Cause obviously that would bring in the chicks...

Across the floor, Toby—the traitor who'd dragged him here—was already swaying, his iPod-screen head flickering through album covers in sync with the beat. At the bar, Nico threw Newton an amused glance, leaning forward casually to shout something that was swallowed by the noise and slid Newton a sparkling, neon-tinted drink with a suggestive file name—which Newton politely set aside untouched.

He was on his third attempt at a discreet exit plan when he saw her. The human girl he totally hadn't been watching from his spot at the repair kiosk.

She stood beneath a shifting digital chandelier, completely at ease in a group of mixed aesthetic heads—a few Vaporwave regulars, some sleek Cybercore object heads whose polished chrome caught every flicker of neon. She looked so different dressed for a night out, nothing like what she wore when she came by the kiosk last week for help charging her phone.

She laughed, danced, touched an arm here, a shoulder there, radiating ease and warmth. He felt his cooling fans kick on involuntarily.

She wasn't supposed to be here. In his aesthetic zone. Or maybe she was, but he definitely wasn't supposed to see her like this—glowing, confident, human in every messy, vibrant way he had quietly admired from afar.

And then, mid-laugh, her eyes caught his screen.

His wallpaper froze, momentarily throwing him into a blue screen of death. His emoticon flashed involuntarily from a carefully neutral :-o to an embarrassed, glitching O_O. He immediately tried to minimize the display, but it was too late—she had seen.

She tilted her head, smiled a little wider, and raised a hand to wave at him.

"Oh no," Newton said quietly to no one. His voice glitched softly as he straightened his tie and adjusted his sleeves. "You can handle this. It's just...conversation. With a human. An incredibly attractive human who knows exactly how to smile at you in a way that makes your processors overheat."

He paused.

"You absolutely cannot handle this."

But she was already walking towards him, cutting effortlessly through the crowd, eyes fixed directly on his glowing, flickering face.