I hadn't expected to see anyone again.
But thank goodness for my messed up sleep schedule.
I heard the sound of a gunshot outside, then another. Androids?
Were they here for me?
I jumped up and grabbed the shotgun that was still leaning by the door. Well, if this was my time to die, so be it.
I threw the door open, and even though it was very early morning, I was still blinded by the light.
What was going on?
There were two people, standing in the sand, and a third figure, coming closer in the distance.
After regaining my senses, I assessed the situation. Two humans and an android.
I waved at the two to come inside. But was the guy…was he manipulating sand? Or was that just the beginning of a sandstorm?
After they had gotten to safety, I raised my shotgun and fired.
Androids. I hated them.
I would never allow them to hurt others again.
But the girl wanted the android alive, apparently. So after incapacitating it I headed back inside.
If it came forward I would kill it for sure.
"Who're you guys?" I asked, shutting the door behind me. Right…it was far too dark in here, with only the glow of the monitors.
"We're from Shuijing," the guy replied.
Shuijing? Could they have seen Mr. Akiya?
"What're you doing here, then?"
"We wanted to leave."
I scoffed. Leave… "You've got everything you could possibly need in there. Why would you want to leave?"
"It just wasn't the place for us anymore," the guy replied.
"What're your names?" I asked, taking my headset off. They would probably need a place to stay…and that place was not here.
"I'm Vano, she's Nova."
"Vano, Nova…I'm Darius." I opened up the backdoor, keeping the shotgun with me. "Well, c'mon, then. We haven't got all day."
"What?"
"You oughta be tired, coming all the way from Shuijing, and with that guy chasing you—" But there was a sandstorm outside waiting for me, so I slammed the door shut instead. "There's bunks over there. Get some sleep."
"Do you…live here?" Nova asked.
"Hm? That I do." Hopefully the sandstorm would be over soon…I didn't want them staying in the base with me for too long. "What are you two, married?"
"…not quite."
"Why's that android after you?" I sat back down in my swivel chair, putting my headset back on.
"Oh…because the high prince sent him after us, because we left," Vano answered.
"That place really filled with androids?"
"What?"
"Shuijing. Is it really populated with androids?"
"More androids than humans, yes."
Part of me wanted to scream. I hadn't seen another human for years and years and—
"So what are you guys doing there?"
The two exchanged glances, then Nova replied simply: "Living."
"Must be nice, huh? Having oxygen and all that."
"What do you do?" Nova asked, changing the subject.
"Me? I'm an operator. I listen to the radio waves. Though there isn't much to listen to now…"
They fell asleep quickly, leaning against each other, so I tried to make myself busy, working on some projects on the monitors. But they were just wasteful dreams. Nothing much to look at. The files always ended up in the trash.
But eventually I dozed off myself.
When I woke and pulled the back door open, the storm was over. We could go out into town again.
Town…
"C'mon, let's go," I said, waving to the other two. "You need supplies, don't you?"
The back door of the base led directly into the cage. The cage where no one was allowed to leave. I hadn't been here since I was a child…
The streets were bare, and covered with sand. Windows were shattered, boarded up. A wind blew through the buildings, whistling, reminding me of how empty it really was.
A lot emptier than it had been.
The places were familiar yet strange to me. Everything seemed to have grown smaller in my absence.
"You live here?" Nova asked.
"Used to," I replied. I wondered, if I went back to my old house, if my family would be there…
Of course they wouldn't. No one was left.
I hadn't expected them to stay.
As I approached the swing set down the street from where I used to live, I was suddenly reminded of that dream that I had had, months ago.
You will go outside soon.
So come to Shuijing for a visit.
What?
How could this be?
But they were here, so…it was worth a try.
I cleared my throat. "I…had a friend, who was going to Shuijing. Have you seen him?"
"We did have an outsider come, several months ago," Vano replied. "Did your friend have dark hair?"
"I don't know what he looked like…"
"He could probably use your help," Nova said.
"What?"
"He was cast into the dungeons. For attempting to assassinate the Prince."
So was that what Mr. Akiya had gone there for?
The Prince…only a vague figure we had heard about…the one that had built these cages. The one who had sent out squadrons of androids to wipe out bases.
I only knew him as the one to limit our freedom. To cause our suffering.
To kill my family.
There was a small convenience store on the street corner, and as soon as I touched the door, it fell over, sending up a cloud of dust. Stepping over it, I went in.
I shouldn't have expected there to be anything left within. Only a few cans of food on a nearby shelf, toppled over and labels missing. A few packs of medical supplies on a shelf in the back, a couple of shirts hung over the counter.
"I'm afraid…this is probably it," I said, sighing, then coughing, in the thin atmosphere. "We had everything delivered from the outside monthly. Not like we had many department stores or anything."
But…if everyone was gone, then who had been supplying me with food and water?
I went outside again, this time going down to my own house. Pushing aside the fence, I went into the narrow backyard. Wilted skeletons of what had once been grandmother's plants.
There was a rusted faucet on the side of the house, and, after a few tries, I turned it on.
I didn't expect anything, but after a few drips, came out a flood of rusted water, which gradually turned to clean water. I ran my hands under the stream, splashing the coolness upon my face. Water…
I turned to see the other two staring at me, so I stood, face dripping. "Want a drink?"
After turning the faucet off, I went indoors. "Mom?" I breathed, but there was no answer.
Dust and sand covered every surface, but other than that…
I picked up one of the china ornaments that grandmother liked to keep on the mantle, and blew off the sand. A good fortune kitty, unchipped…
Where had they all gone…?
But I knew that they had disappeared with the wind.
I was the only one left.
Why me?
And who had kept me alive for all this time?
I put the kitty in my pocket, and went outside again, where the other two were discussing something. They stopped when I approached.
"Did you find anything?" Vano asked.
I shook my head.
We went back down the street. Another storm was rising…why were there so many storms lately?
"Dang…I thought there would be more. Sorry 'bout that."
And back into the base we went.
Shuijing…should I go? But these two had just left, they had no reason to go back, they had spent so much trying to get here…
Was I just trying to find an excuse not to go?
Everything else the dream had said had come true…
So why couldn't this?
Mr. Akiya went there…and look what happened to him.
But hadn't I seen the town? Everyone, everything that I had ever known, was now empty and broken and gone…
There was no harm done in going to Shuijing.
Perhaps I could find my end there.
Back inside the base, I put on the headset one last time, to listen for any messages. But there were none.
Mr. Akiya was probably the last person to contact this base.
My job was done here.
I could rest.
As I placed the headset down, I asked the others, "So…how do you get to Shuijing?"