Amil walked silently beside Dumal, his feet leaving faint imprints on the endless dunes. The sky above was an empty expanse, the horizon stretching out with no end in sight. After hours of walking, Amil's mind stirred with a question.
"How are we going to find Neato if you don't know where he is?" Amil asked, his voice devoid of emotion but laced with quiet curiosity.
Dumal kept his eyes fixed on the sky, the light of the sun reflecting off the white sands. He sighed, his posture unbothered by the weight of the question.
"Amil," Dumal began, "me and you… we're both not living. You know that, don't you?"
Amil glanced over, his eyes blank. "What do you mean?"
Dumal stopped walking and turned to face him. "We're both robots, Amil. Made by the Professor. We do not breathe. We do not need food. We do not feel hunger, nor exhaustion."
Amil remained silent, processing the words. The desert wind whispered around them, a faint hum in the otherwise dead world. Dumal resumed walking, and Amil followed.
"The Professor…" Dumal continued, "he explored the world, searching for parts to build us. He traveled every inch of this planet, every wasteland, every decaying city, just to find the necessary pieces to make us what we are."
Amil's gaze flickered for a moment but still, he said nothing. Dumal pressed on, his voice carrying over the desolation.
"He used unique parts to make us. I can sense life, no matter how faint. As long as something breathes on this planet, I will find it."
Amil, emotionless as ever, spoke quietly. "Then where are we headed?"
Dumal pointed to the east, a direction that seemed no different from any other in this forsaken land. "East. It's the only place I sense life."
For a moment, there was silence between them, the wind swirling around the emptiness.
"Our mission is to save this world," Dumal said, his tone sharpening, "and nothing else."
Just as Dumal finished speaking, the sand beneath them began to tremble. From behind, a massive sandworm emerged, its enormous body slicing through the dunes like a serpent. Amil tensed, but Dumal remained calm, watching as the creature rose and then dove back into the desert, vanishing into the sand as quickly as it had appeared. The world returned to silence, as if nothing had happened.
END OF CHAPTER 62