THE MOMENT
Rosario whirled around to meet the person that interrupted her thoughts. Someone that could finally see her. She had no idea how long long she'd existed; but, the loneliness wore on her more and more lately. She wandered through cities day and night hoping someone would call out to her. And now, in the dead of night on an empty downtown street, someone finally did. They had to be talking to her; there was no one else around.
Instead of a kind stranger, Rosario only found disappointment. A pale man in a red suit was smiling at her from a large TV screen. She mentally kicked herself for being a hopeful idiot as the man on TV continued his commercial.
"It's not safe for you, ya know? But, with a node from Sharp Development...," the man on TV held up a transparent card. "...you'll have be able to get any help you need in any emergency. At Sharp Development, safety is our top commodity; buy one today!"
Rosario sighed at the fact that she was still alone and walked away from the electronics store. But, after taking two steps, she heard the same voice speak up again.
"Rosita, do you need help?" he asked. Rosario stopped walking; but, did not whirl around as eagerly as she did the first time. She remained still afraid to look like a fool again, even to herself. It almost sounded like he called her name; but she was 'Rosario' not 'Rosita'.
"Of course I'm talking to you, there's no one else around," the voice added. Rosario turned around and saw the same man on the TV but, he was different. He still wore the same red suit but his pale face was gone and his skin took on an almost golden, metallic color. His face no longer had eyes and a mouth, only minor indentions where they would be and a small bump where the nose belonged. The crowded background of the commercial was gone and replaced with an empty white space. Rosario tilted her head at the screen.
"Are you talking to me?" She asked.
"No, see. I already answered that question. Ask a different one," he said. She narrowed her eyes at him and tried to make sense of the situation. If she wasn't already a ghost, she might be more surprised that a commercial was talking to her. But, one question managed to pop out of her mouth before she thought for too long.
"How?" she asked.
"Let's get some clarification," The golden man shrugged. "How what?" The extra seconds gave Rosario time to think up a better question.
"What are you?" she asked.
"How what am I?" The man asked. He gave his head a gentle shake. "That sounds like a stroke; do you know your name?" he asked. "How many fingers am I holding up?" He held up a single hand that only had two and a half fingers on them: thumb, pinky, and half of his middle finger. Rosario shook her head.
"The question is: what are you?" she said. Then, she added, "And don't you already know my name? You called me Rosita just now." He nodded.
"I didn't know that was actually your name," he chuckled. "It makes sense though, you're Unique Soul #41, La Rosa; the rose. My name is Helios. I'm Unique Soul #46, El Sol; the sun. I can see your soul aura. It looks like a rose, so I called you, 'rosita'." Rosario looked down at herself, then back at Helios.
"I don't see anything,' she said. "But, my name's Rosario, not Rosita." Helios shrugged.
"Close enough," he held up the glass card again. "So, need help or not?" he asked.
"Can you help other people see me again?" she asked.
"Absolutely. This node will let you design a new body; people will see whatever you want them to."
"Yes!" Rosario said. "Please help me."
"You got it, bud," Helios replied. He pushed the node forward towards the camera. Rosario expected him to push it out of the TV, considering all the other strange goings-on. But, it it the screen with a glass tink.
"Oh yeah...," Helios chuckled. Then, he moved his hand to his right and into a saucer-sized black hole that wasn't there before. Rosario jumped back when a black portal opened in front of her face and the tip of the node emerged. "There you go, grab that," he said. Rosario pulled the node out and the hole closed. When she grabbed the node, the current time glowed on the front like a cellphone.
"Now what?" she asked. Helios shrugged.
"Now you learn how to use it. Good luck," he waved, then the screen went black. Rosario was alone again on an empty city street at 3:21 a.m. She swiped upward on the node and the time disappeared. A homescreen with several icons appeared and she noted that one of the icons was labeled: "Tutorial". She moved her hand to tap the icon; but, she was startled when Helios appeared again.
"That's the one you want," Helios appeared on her node and pointed at the Tutorial icon. But, Rosario was so startled that she dropped the node.
"OWWWWW!!" Helios yelled from the sidewalk. It was followed by some chuckles. "Just kidding, I don't have feelings," he said as Rosario picked the node up again.
"How do you do that?" Rosario asked.
"What?" Helios asked from her node.
"This?" he disappeared and asked from the TV.
"It's easy," he said from her node again.
"Don't you have a body?" she asked. If the node could give her a new body, she wondered why he wasn't using it.
"Of course I do," Helios replied. "Wanna see it?"
"Yeah," Rosario nodded. Helios disappeared from her node and she heard his voice behind her.
"Though, I feel like I should warn you. I'm very handsome, I think. for some reason, anytime I use it people just stare at me." Rosario turned and for the first time she could remember in her existence, she giggled. She expected to see the same pale man from the commercial; but, she never would have expected what she found.
Helios stood before her in all his glory in a red suit and golden, featureless face. He looked at her from a large, bulky, flickering CRT sitting atop a golden cart with red wheels. The cart rolled around her as Helios spoke.
"It's been a while since I stretched my wheels; it feels good," he said.
"That's your body?" Rosario asked. Helios nodded.
"People will see whatever you want them to, remember?" he pointed at the node in her hand.
"But, that doesn't count!" Rosario raised her voice playfully. "You're still inside that tiny room; come out into the real world." The cart stopped rolling.
"Tiny?" the camera zoomed up and out from Helios and rose higher in the sky until the Earth was on screen. Then, Helios stepped into the frame again and pointed at the Earth. "I've got a whole universe in here. And besides, who needs the real world?" He asked. His shoulders slumped and his voice took on a softer tone. "Don't you know how dangerous it is out there?"