Soft lights. Early factory morning. The machines are doing their low “mmm” background noise like they’re also half asleep.

Lily has just woken up. Not dramatically. Not with a gasp. Just… eyes open. Blank.

Her star is glowing at 5 percent battery mode. One strand is still loosely coiled around her arm like it forgot the shift ended.

She shuffles into her dollhouse kitchen with the posture of someone whose soul is still buffering.

Breakfast is already set out. A little plate. Something simple. Toast shaped like a star because of course it is.

She sits.

Stares at it.

Bl bl bl bl… brain loading…

One braid gently pushes the toast closer.

She blinks twice. Picks it up. Takes a bite. And then just… chews... Slowly, Mechanically.

One full minute of nothing but soft chewing noises. Her eyes unfocused. Staring at the wall. No thoughts. Just chew.exe running in the background.

A crumb falls.

She keeps chewing.

One braid checks her pulse like it’s mildly concerned. Another strand pats her shoulder. The third is just kind of… hovering. Also buffering.

Finally, after what feels like a whole season of a show, she swallows. Silence.

“…Oh,”

she says softly, as if discovering the concept of food for the first time. “Breakfast.” She takes another bite, chews again.

This time she slowly becomes more aware. Her star flickers brighter. Her pupils actually focus on something. She glances down at the plate like she’s meeting it properly.

“Oh. It’s toast.”

Pause.

“…I made toast.”

One braid perks up proudly. She continues chewing for another long, suspiciously intense minute. Just sitting there like a creature that has not fully returned to her body yet. Somewhere in the factory...

if The Prototype happened to walk by and witness this, he would probably reconsider all assumptions about her being a tactical threat.

She’s not dangerous right now...

By the third bite she finally blinks hard, shakes her head once, braids tightening slightly.

“Oh. I exist,”

she whispers, Star jumps to 40 percent brightness.

The Player, who's code name is Angel, passes by with a single glance but he immediately walk back in reverse just to confirm what he witnessed.

"Is she even conscious?..."

He whispers.