“And where did you get our souls?”

“Infant twins,” Helyana admitted quietly. “Both were near-death—I’d almost thought I was too late when I took their souls. In a way… you can say that I’ve allowed them to live through the two of you. I’ll say it again, I don’t regret what I did; those twins would’ve died no matter if I’d taken their souls or not, and I gave them something more than a fleeting life. You two are my family—and there’s no lengths I won’t go to for you. I decided that the moment I started making you.”

A thought ran through her mind and she was stricken by an uncontrollable panic. “If the demons are here because of what I did to your souls, then we need to get the two of you somewhere safe. We can’t stay here—they know that we’re here. If they take your souls—or worse, destroy them—there’s nothing I can do. You’re both going to be gone forever and I’m just going to be alone again.”

“What about our original purpose, though? What you’d first told us we were meant to do, when you created us?” Rhuni prompted.

Mekha nodded. “We’re meant to protect humans—we’re the most capable out of anyone to do it. So we can’t just hide, not when we could do something if anything were to happen…”

Helyana shook her head. “Humans don’t matter to me—it’s the two of you that I care about. They were the ones to bring me to the place I am now, who wanted nothing to do with me unless I had something to offer them in return. They were never friends or family. Not like the two of you are.”

“But there are more humans than the ones in Cyrene,” Mekha pointed out cautiously. “What about all of them? You know that we’ve come across mean humans before, but… you always showed us that there were nice ones, too. Don’t they deserve to live in a world without the fear of demons?”

“The truth of the matter is, demons are never going away. Not even my Automations, with all of their might and improvements, have been able to stop them for long. The demons just keep coming back, and they’ve only grown in number and strength over the years. Perhaps the fall of humanity is imminent. Perhaps we dabbled too much in forbidden sciences, or tamed the world to an oppressive degree, and that has led the Fallen One to seek our destruction. And if the Fallen One wants to have us destroyed, there’s nothing we can do against his power. All of our attempts are futile before they even begin.” Helyana, though, wasn’t making the point to sound helpless. “But if all of the world is going to fall no matter what… I want to be with you when it happens. It doesn’t matter what any of us do—our fate is inevitable. At least, if this will lead to the end, I can be assured that I have my family. That I’ll still have you through it all.”

Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.

The humans used to boast that what they were building now would be seen for generations to come; that, one way or another, their legacy will be “immortal,” forever etched into the very nature of the world.

But nothing ever lasts forever, and fate was not an easy thing to trick.

“So you’d rather abandon everything else?” Rhuni sounded a mix of upset and surprised. “Everything you’ve raised us to believe, and all of the humans we were supposed to protect? You’d leave them all just like that?”

“I already said it,” Helyana pointed out, desperate. Why weren’t they seeing it? Didn’t they want to stay a family with her? “There’s only so much we can do. Sometimes, you’ve got to know when it’s time to cut your losses—when you have to move on to something new. You can’t protect anyone or save anything anymore. You probably never could to begin with. But at least we don’t have to lose each other.”

Mekha shook his head. “You said that, when you first started making Automations, you failed. A lot. But you said that your virtue was that you never gave up. What would’ve happened if you did? You wouldn’t have made the Automations. Without their protection over Cyrene, you probably wouldn’t have even lived long enough to make us. You wouldn’t have known how to do it, if you did make it that far. So why are you saying now that we just have to call it quits?”

“Things were different back then. I knew there was something I could change and there was something that I wanted. But I have none of that now. All I need is the two of you—I don’t need other humans, I don’t need Automations. As long as we stay together, then everything will be alright. I promise.” She tried to muster a reassuring smile. “You know I’ve never lied to you before. Can I ask you to trust me on this, too?”

There was a knock on the door, and an Automation gave its reason for being there: “Miss Helyana, the mayor has a message for you:”—it took on the mayor’s voice, proving it to be a direct recording of his words—“I would like your assistance in providing a safe place for the citizens of Cyrene to evacuate to. There are demons coming from all directions of Cyrene. We’ve called for additional help from other cities but I fear they will not be answered. Your estate is the most likely to be able to withstand an attack from the demons—-it’s sturdy, and there are enough Automations within it to guard us. Please, if you accept the offer, just open your doors to us.”

“We’re not doing anything,” Helyana decided. “Neither of you are going anywhere, and no one else is coming in. If we open our doors to them, then we open the doors to the demons. We have enough here for me until we can find an opportunity to leave. I won’t—”

Rhuni got up off the workbench and pushed her way past Helyana.

“Rhuni, where the hell do you think you’re going?”