“Where exactly are we going after we get to Tinyon?” 895G asked.
“So you can tell your buddies? I don’t think so.” Indo curtly replied, signaling the end of that conversation.
The Scout walked in silence next to the robot who was pushing the floating stasis tube over some rocky ground. He wondered what was going through its head, if anything; it was a robot after all. 895G thought about his escape plan being put in effect in Tinyon. Would the Patrol agents kill everyone or take them captive? They would probably take Indo captive and the robot, but Petri would probably die since he didn’t have any information worth the effort. He had been Indo’s assistant for a good part of two decades, so there was a chance Petri might know about Indo’s projects and would give up details faster than the doctor would. Although these people had taken him captive, it didn’t sit right with him to have unnecessary deaths on his conscience. Even though they had constantly threatened his life, they hadn’t electrocuted him since they had left the bunker, so that should count for something.
They stopped when Indo’s ticker went off, signaling the end of a day although the sky remained a bright red. The group quickly set up some tarps to protect them from the atmosphere, but they would all have to sleep with their respirators on and remain fully clothed if the didn’t want to asphyxiate or get atmosphere poisoning, calling for a very uncomfortable night. Indo and Petri shared a tarp while 895G got his own. He as beginning to think that the two shared some history together and were potentially a couple, although they hid it well. Laying on his back, his mind refused to calm itself so he left his tarp in the hopes of walking it off.
“What are we going to do?”
895G stopped partially out of tarp when he saw the robot laying on its back next to the stasis tube, talking to it. He felt bad eavesdropping, but he consoled himself by telling himself the robot was the reason he was in this mess, so what if he overheard a conversation not meant for his ears?
“I should have never made that wish. I fucking hate this body and I hate this world. Nothing exciting goes on and I can’t feel anything. And Alter’s gone so I can’t talk to anyone besides you, and you don’t even talk back. Seriously, body, how do I get back. I hate not sleeping or eating. And there aren’t even good fighters here to beat the shit out of either! I hate this world!” The robot screamed at the air. “Where is the sun! Where are the stars! You asshole sky!”
The robot rose up and started picking up rocks and launching them into the air. 895G watched as the stones disappeared into the hazy sky and hoped they didn’t hit anything important on their way down. That robot certainly had an arm.
“What the fuck do you want?” The robot turned around and saw him listening in. “You want to remind me that I’m a goddamn robot again?”
“No, I…” 895G spoke, but couldn’t finish his sentence.
“Yeah, that’s what I thought.”
The robot twirled back around and kept launching rocks into the horizon, screaming obscenities to the atmosphere. The Scout stayed there for a good few minutes, half his body in his tent, half his body out, until he fully removed himself and started launching rocks into the distance with the robot, though he got nowhere close to the length the robot’s went.
“What’s up with the girl?” He finally asked.
The robot sighed and deflated as if it had given up.
“I guess since you’ll be sticking with us I might as well tell you. It’s my body. Apparently, it holds some genetic marvel that can save this world. This world has already gone to hell and there’s nothing worth saving. What kind of world doesn’t have a sky?” The robot looked forlorn when it looked up at the red.
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“Does that mean Indo successfully transplanted a human conscience into a robot?”
“That’s your question?” The robot laughed, the sound genuinely sounding human after the voice modulation. “No, I don’t think Indo did this. If anything, this is all somehow my fault. It always is.”
The robot’s arms suddenly smacked itself on its cheeks.
“Don’t fall into the hole again! Look on the positive side!” The robot stopped slapping its mask and stared at it’s gloved hands. “This would be more effective if I could feel it.”
“Are you alright?” 895G asked, concerned over the robot’s self-destructive behavior.
The robot stayed silent for a while and 895G wondered if something in its code had gone wrong.
“I’ve noticed you never call me by my name.”
“You mean Terra? Why is that so important to you? It’s just a name.”
“I guess it is.”
The robot went silent again, this time staring at the body in the stasis tube. Did that body really belong to the mind inside the robot? It seemed plausible that Indo had taken this girl’s mind and placed it in whatever robot he had available, but Indo had claimed that he hadn’t done it and now the robot itself couldn’t explain how it had transferred, so 895G was beginning to doubt whether this was a scientific marvel and more of a fluke of nature.
“So you’re that girl?”
“And he finally gets it! Let’s give him a hand everyone!” The robot applauded for him mockingly, but he was too curious to care.
“How old are you?” Looking closely at the girl in the tube, 895G realized that the girl was very young, probably only half his age.
“Last I remember I was ten, but I don’t know how long I’ve been here. It feels like I’ve been here for years and I’m so tired but I can’t sleep. I hate this body so much.” The robot’s voice cracked and the Scout was surprised to hear the raw emotion in its voice.
“What does it feel like to be in that body?”
“It doesn’t feel like anything. I’m controlling something I can’t feel. It’s something I wouldn’t even wish on my worst enemy.”
“But you don’t need to eat or sleep and you don’t get hurt even when you get shot. I can imagine that can be pretty convenient.” 895G defended. Having a robot body didn’t sound too awful in his opinion. He’d be stronger than a human and didn’t have the vulnerabilities others would have. Plus, if he ever lost a limb, it could easily be replaced.
“Trust me, it’s not a life worth living. I need to find out how to get back in my real body before I go completely insane.” The robot touched its mask. “It probably has something to do with this, but I can’t remove it myself. I’ve tried.”
“Do you want me to take it off for you?”
“Yeah, and then what are you going to do with a mask and a robot who is useless when Indo and Petri wake up. Do you think they’re as merciful as me?” The robot’s eyes had a humorous gleam from the scenario.
“That probably won’t work in my favor would it?” He realized, feeling ridiculous for offering.
“Go to sleep and have some good dreams. We finally get to Tinyon tomorrow and we’ll be free of GreenHouse, who is apparently some evil corporation responsible for the skies turning this way and is hell-bent on people not finding out. Anyways, have a good night!” The robot sat down and leaned against the stasis tube and gave 895G a little wave.
895G robotically returned to his tarp covering and laid down, trying to process the last few words Terra had just told him. GreenHouse was the parent company of the Scouts and Patrollers and manufactured robots and respirators. GreenHouse kept them safe from threats. There was never anything bad said about GreenHouse, ever.
But the seeds of doubt were planted in 895G’s mind and he dreamt a giant red monster was chasing him down a street, swallowing the light from a blue sky and growing until it suffocated everyone on Earth. Terra was there too, but as a human, screaming at him to run as far away as he could from the green shadows the red monster was creating. But he couldn’t get away and was snatched up between the teeth of the red creature, sliding down its throat and landing on a couch in his apartment. He grabbed his screen remote and switched it on, jolting himself awake when he saw a world on fire.