Hilargi woke up at around noon with a yawn. She rubbed her heavy eyes and then sat up, smacking her lips absently. She glanced at the clock sitting on her nightstand.
It took her a moment to realize what time it was. She yelped. Oh no! I overslept! Ellia’s gonna kill me!
Hilargi leapt to her feet and rummaged through her drawer for fresh clothes. She found some and, turning around, yelped again when she saw Yair sitting sleeplessly in a chair in the corner of the room.
She breathed easily. Wait a minute--it's just Yair. He's harmless.
He had been a fever dream for so long that she didn’t remember that he was now real enough to touch in her sleepy state. “Good morning, Yair. You didn’t have to stay by my side all night. I’m sure Ellia has some orders for you to fulfill.”
“I asked Ellia if she had any duties for me to perform, but she asked me to stay at your side, instead. She said she wants to keep me a secret as much as possible. She didn’t want me to accompany neither the resource gatherers nor the hunter-gatherers on their forays in case they encounter enemy groups.” Yair informed her.
“I see. She wants you to be her secret weapon…” Hilargi murmured to herself.
“She also wants to give you the day off. She said that you haven’t had a full night’s sleep in three days.” Yair continued.
Hilargi was shocked. “Really? She hasn’t given me the day off in… Well, ever.”
“She says you earned it.” Yair replied.
Hilargi smiled. “Wow… The whole day to myself. What will I do?”
She looked at Yair, realizing he was still dented and scuffed up from the night before. “I’m going to clean you up right after I shower! That’s what I’ll do! You stay here while I hose off, alright?”
Yair merely nodded in response.
Hilargi was glad she had slept in so long. This way, she didn’t have to wait for the rest of the women to finish with their showers before being able to take her own like usual. She had been forbidden by Ellia to ever take a shower at the same time the other women did.
Hilargi headed to the showers, and while she scrubbed her stringy hair, she remembered that the Last Man was among them. She hoped against hope that she would get to meet him, her heart thumping in excitement. She was sure the rest of the tribe would try to prevent it, though. She would be lucky if she bumped into him during the day.
Once she finished with her shower, she collected Yair and then headed down to the lab. First, she removed his heavy helmet from his head by sliding it off. Next, she had him sit in a chair and hummed while she set about popping off his metal cranium. She pressed down on two, black buttons on his temples, pulling the sheet of metal off and revealing the metal wires underneath. After that, she grabbed a spare cranium she had made him from her work bench, clicking it onto his head.
“Good as new!” She announced.
At her exclamation, he began to rise, but she pushed him back down by the shoulders, tsking and waving a chiding finger at him. “I need to fix up your hair!”
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Hilargi grabbed a comb that also happened to be sitting on her workbench and began running it through Yair’s golden locks.
Hilargi kept a brush in the lab not because her hair needed it--her hair would always be a tangled mess--but because she had always found the act of combing her hair soothing.
Something about being able to straighten tangles… Hilargi thought to herself. Tangles in her day-to-day life sometimes seemed impossible to straighten at times (constructing new technology, improving on old technology, trying to be friendly with the other tribe members), which made hair-combing particularly satisfying.
She also found the act of hair-combing soothing due to what she remembered of her childhood. She could comb her mother’s hair for minutes on end, and found it incredibly soothing.
In the midst of brushing Yair’s hair, she heard the door open. She was so nervous that Ellia was paying a visit that she dropped the brush.
When she glanced down the hallway to see who it was, she became even more nervous. The Last Man! What is he doing down here?
She felt the distinct need to hide, despite the fact that she wanted nothing more than to meet him for the longest time.
She picked the brush up, combed her hair, and stood up straight.
The Last Man was accompanied by Elizabeth and Annie, two women who Hilargi knew as acquaintances, and who she was somewhat scared of. To be fair, she was somewhat scared of the entire tribe, however.
As the Last Man came closer, she was able to make out his features. Like everyone in the Wasteland, he was tanned, but had a lighter skin color than most. He was entirely unremarkable but for the fact that he was a pygmy human. He had blue eyes, blond hair, a gigantic cranium, and short arms and legs that rendered him four-and-a-half-feet tall.
The Last Man was grinning at her, and she lowered her gaze bashfully.
“So you’re the mutant scientist of this tribe. I’ve searched everywhere for you.” The Last Man said. “My name is Nikodemus. It’s nice to meet you.”
He held out a hand for her to shake. She nervously reached out and shook it. “Nice to meet you, too. My name is Hilargi, and this is Yair.” Hilargi motioned to Yair, wishing to take the spotlight off herself by putting it onto Yair.
Nikodemus’ eyes lit up with curiosity at the sight of the robot. “It’s very strong—”
“He!” Hilargi interrupted, and then covered her mouth in embarrassment.
Nikodemus cocked his head to the side. “He?”
Hilargi cleared her throat. “Yes. I programmed him to be like a man in personality.”
Nikodemus grinned as he examined the robot, who looked at the Last Man unblinkingly—a neutral expression on his metal face. “You know, somehow I can tell you did. I have to ask, though… Why did you design him to be so… Cute? He doesn’t exactly inspire fear.”
“Hilargi designed me to look like a male child because there are no male children left. She thought that she could boost the morale of the tribe with my appearance, and she also thought that my appearance would catch other tribes off guard.” Yair explained.
Nikodemus’ gaze drifted from the robot to Hilargi. For a moment, he looked far more impressed with her than he did with her work, something she had never experienced before. “I like him much more than the other robots I’ve met. Much gentler—much more regard for the fact that I’m human.”
Nikodemus noticed how she was blushing. He was intrigued and somewhat repulsed by it. A mutant had never shown attraction toward him before.
“Did you also design him to be so cute because you would like children of your own?” Nikodemus questioned, intentionally prying at her obvious insecurity.
Hilargi immediately shook her head. “No, no! I’m perfectly happy just being a scientist.” She changed the subject quickly. “What are you doing down here, anyway, Nikodemus? Is there anything I can help you with?”
Nikodemus shook his head. “I’m just doing some exploring and I wanted to meet the scientist of this tribe to compliment her on her work. You wouldn’t believe some of the tribes I’ve been captured by… They don’t even have appropriate fortresses sometimes—they just live in tents out in the wilderness!”
Hilargi was flattered. “Thank you. I’ve done a lot of work for this tribe. I designed the weapons and Yair, and I even helped install the plumbing system. I can’t take credit for the creation of the fortress, however. I helped design pieces of it, but… It was scientists who are now dead that we can truly thank for it.”