Year : 771
A little more than 3 years after the Cell Game
Carrying the elephant had not been too complicated for 17. To him, she didn't weigh much. She was also so weak that she hardly moved at all. Within minutes he had located and reached the watering hole.
But once there, he was faced with a completely different problem. How to make her drink?
17 didn't know anything about animal behavior any more than he knew about human behavior. To begin with, he tried to make he elephant drink a little by taking some water in his hands and running it over her head. Without much success. She had responded a little by stirring, but not by drinking.
"You may have to force her a little"... Ruri's words came back to her. Easy to say, but not so simple to do. So he tried to take the head of the elephant and plunge it partially into the water. But this time, the elephant didn't let him do it and shook herself off. 17 immediately released her. He knew how to control his strength, but he wasn't sure he could do it if she struggled. By keeping such pressure on her, he was taking the risk of seriously hurting her.
Without any solution, 17 decided to take a few minutes to think. The easiest option was to wait for Ruri to arrive, she would undoubtedly know what to do. But she had also told him that he had to be quick. Wouldn't it be too late? "What kind of trouble have I gotten myself into again... ". This thought suddenly came to him. After all, there was no reason for him to stay here and take care of an elephant. This situation was simply ridiculous to him. It was not his business. So why should he stay?
As soon as this thought entered his mind, he was seized by a strange sensation. Suddenly, he thought of Ruri, snuggled up against him, a few minutes before. He had been more than surprised by her attitude, but at the time he hadn't really had time to analyze what was going on. 17 didn't really like being touched. After being captured by Dr. Gero, he and his sister had been kept in his laboratory for years. The cybernetization process they had undergone there had been long and painful. His body had suffered for many months before he acquired his current strength and resistance. Deeply hurted, he had kept an aversion for physical contact. As if he associated the sensation of touch with the suffering he had endured.
But he had not pushed Ruri away. Why not? In fact, when he had felt her trembling next to him, she had suddenly appeared so frail, so fragile. She had told him that she needed his help, and it was the first time that someone had made him feel like that.
In retrospect, those few seconds had not been so unpleasant after all...
17 looked at the elephant again. She was hardly moving, but it was obvious that she was in pain. She was panting, keeping her eyes closed and occasionally uttering very low moans. She, too, needed his help.
"Okay, you win... I'm staying" he finally said, before returning to the watering hole. He took in his hand the biggest quantity of water that he could, and poured it gently in the mouth of the animal. The animal reacted, but did not drink. But this time 17 was not going to give up. With the female deer, he had seen that it was possible to make himself understood by an animal and to reassure it by taking a calm tone. So he started again, again and again, always bringing her a little more water, and taking the time to talk to her gently.
"Come on, you have to drink. I don't want to hurt you, everything will be fine. But you have to drink. "
And finally, little by little, the elephant did indeed seem to calm down. She stopped panting. She finally opened one eye, then two. Her gaze was fixed on 17, watching his every move. And finally, she agreed to drink. At first slowly, then more and more.
"Yes, that's right, girl, go on! "17 immediately encouraged her. To his great satisfaction, the elephant finally tried to get up. He immediately came to her aid and gently lifted her to her feet. He then guided her to the edge of the watering hole, and finally, the elephant bent down and began to drink by herself.
"Haha great! Here, go on, keep going, it's good for you! "he exclaimed.
17 felt a new sensation that he couldn't explain. He was really proud to have succeeded and above all, he was sincerely happy to see this animal, which seemed to be on the point of dying, healing.
"You really amaze me, 17"...
He immediately turned around. Ruri was there, a few meters away from him.
He stopped dead in his tracks, confused. He sincerely hoped that she had not seen him "exult" as he had just done. On her side, the young woman had not missed anything of the last seconds. To see 17 struggling so much had filled her with satisfaction, she was delighted to see that he could be sensitive to the fate of an animal. But she was especially surprised by the tenderness and interest he showed. From their first meeting, she had immediately perceived that he was not as cold as his detached attitude could let it appear. He was also clearly not dangerous, but she had no idea he could be so caring, so kind. Suddenly, he appeared to her in a completely new light. It was as if a part of his personality had just come through, resurfaced.
Thinking about it, during their conversations of the last few days, he had sometimes answered her differently than at the very beginning. Some kind of complicity was beginning to develop between them. Ruri liked to laugh a lot, and she tended to tease her interlocutors. 17 had remained relatively impervious to her jokes, but from time to time he seemed to get into her game. She had even seen him smiling discreetly at a few jokes. In fact, she was sure of it now, he had not always been this silent, distant and relatively imperturbable being. This personality he was showing was not 17. Not the real one. Something must have happened to make him that way. "Probably nothing very pleasant... What made you suffer so much, 17? "she thought.
This simple thought triggered a sharp pain in her. She suddenly wanted to know everything about him. Who was he? And what had happened to him? In any case, from that moment on, Ruri stopped seeing 17 as a "simple" bodyguard whose support she was seeking in her future expedition. A much stronger feeling began to grow inside her. A mixture of tenderness, curiosity, a desire to be near him, to know him, to understand him, to support him, to make him laugh...
It was the first time that a man made her feel something so strong. It was strange, instantaneous, completely illogical.
"So, you find us "
Hearing 17's voice brought Ruri back to her senses. She looked at him, and immediately noticed that he wasn't quite his usual self. His look was different. His eyes were wide open, in fact... he was... embarrassed, and obviously trying not to show it. As soon as she realized it, Ruri's heart seemed to melt in her chest.
"Ooooooh but you're so cuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuute! " she said to herself, "hahaha you are irresistible 17 actually! ".
She decided not to torment him too much, and just smiled.
- Well yes, I know where the water point is, I'm the one who told you about it.
- Ah.
- You are very good with animals.
- Ah.
- Frankly, well done. She started drinking again. That's very good. Did you see if she has any injuries?
- No, I didn't see anything specific.
- That's good. Anyway, elephants usually heal well and fast. As long as she drinks, she's safe now. It's really lucky that you're with me 17, thanks to your strength and speed we were able to get her here so quickly ! Alone, or even with the guards, we might not have been able to do much.
- ...Really?
- How do you do it anyway?
- How do I do what?
- Fly.
- I don't know.
- It's really not nice not to share.
- No, really, I ... don't know. It's ... complicated.
- ... mmmmmmmmmmmmmh.
17 laughed out loud as she mumbled.
- What?
- No, nothing. You're noting this down, aren't you?
- Yes, I am.
- ... but how did you get here so quickly? I haven't been here that long.
- With this.
17 then saw a small motorcycle, parked right behind her.
- ... where...
- From my capsule box.
- ... You didn't tell me you had a motorcycle.
- You didn't ask me," Ruri replied, winking at him. I always have my little moped with me just in case. You didn't think I was going to walk across the savannah and be back in less than three hours, did you?
- ...Ah.
- You were counting on the fact that I was going to walk to win the challenge ?
- ... no.
- Hahahahaaaaaaaaa then you are lying. You really thought you had a huge advantage huh, admit it!
- Anyway, none of us found that weasel.
- Mongoose. And speak for yourself 17, I found it.
- ... what ?
Without answering, Ruri went to the motorcycle and untied an object that was tied to the back seat. Then she returned to 17 and presented him with what she had just grabbed. A cage. And in that cage, there was indeed a mongoose.
- It wasn't hard to find. The rangers here are very nice, but they're not great trackers," Ruri explained, "she wasn't very far from her original burrow. It took me about an hour to find her. She's perfectly fine, but probably the battery in her tracking collar is no longer working.
17 remained skeptical.
- How do you know she's the one?
- It's the one.
- Ok but how do you know it?
- In the picture I gave you, you can see that she has a black cross-shaped spot on her head. It's very recognizable, isn't it?
After checking, 17 had to admit that he had not noticed this spot at all, even though it was clearly visible on the photo. And that the animal in the cage had it. "What an idiot! " he thought immediately, when suddenly a detail came back to him.
- ... Where did this cage come from?
- From my capsule box too.
- ….. ok. But if I had seen that weasel ...
- Mongoose.
- Yeah, whatever. If I had found it before you, how was I supposed to capture it?
- Well, in your cage.
- ... what cage ?
- The one I gave you.
- ...
- ...
- You didn't give me a cage.
- Of course I did.
- No you didn't.
- Yes.
- No.
- ... are you sure?
- YES I'm sure!
- Ah well," Ruri replied after checking that indeed she still had her second cage in her capsule box, "that's right. I forgot!
- You forgot ? exclaimed 17.
- Well yes, I'm not used to working in a team ! Roooooooh it's ok, you're not going to make a big deal out of it !
- ...
- Anyway, it doesn't matter. We both lost.
- You captured the mongoose.
- Yes, but then I found the elephant, so I didn't get back to camp in time. So I lost too. Too bad, it's a draw. Is that okay?
17 was not really angry. In fact, Ruri was really annoying sometimes, but she was so smiley... He really couldn't blame her. Besides, he knew it, she wasn't a liar. She must have really forgotten to give him a cage. And then, he had to admit it, if she had not met the elephant, she would have passed the challenge. This little human was definitely full of surprises.
- ... you might think it's pretentious, he finally said, but I've never been beaten by a...well, it's rare that I get beaten. Really rare. I admit I thought I was doing much better than you...
- It's not enough to be strong, having a brain is also good," Ruri interrupted him, laughing. That was the lesson of the day.
- ... Thank you. And so, I give you 2.
- 2 what?
- 2 questions. Instead of 3, because of the delay. But I accept to answer 2 questions.
- REALLY ?
- Yes.
- TOO COOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOL! Very fair play, that's classy.
- Indeed.
- Hahahaha great, get ready to be interrogated, I'm going to make you regret your proposal !
- To tell you the truth, I already regret it a little.
Saying this, 17 started to smile, that little smirk that was really starting to crack Ruri up.
- Haha, that's clear, she said in return, but first, we have to take the elephant back to her herd. Could you ... get a little higher up? And try to spot several elephants moving together?
- No problem.
- I have to tell you one thing 17: in you are by far the most practical thing I have ever taken with me on an expedition.
- ... thing?
- Yes, in fact you are much more useful than my moped.
- ... is a compliment?
- Absolutely.
- ... uh... Thanks?
- You're welcome ! Hurry up ! We won't stay here all day long !
They exchanged a brief glance.
"Shameless girl... "thought 17, amused. But he complied without question, and within minutes he had spotted a herd of elephants. Luckily, it was not very far from where they were. The journey could be made on foot. Ruri had some equipment with her, including a rope. The elephant seemed to have recovered and was not at all afraid of 17. He was able to wrap the rope around her without any problems.
Then, all 3 of them started to move, Ruri and 17 advancing side by side, in silence.
- You know," Ruri finally said, "you are very good with animals. I mean, beyond what you can do with your strength, you have a good feeling with them.
- Really ?
- Yes, it's not common to be able to walk an elephant on a leash like you do. It is not given to everyone, I assure you.
- Ah.
- You want my opinion? Actually, it's because you're not afraid of them. You are so powerful that you know you are safe. And so you are perfectly calm. That's probably why you can calm them down so quickly and why they let you approach them.
- Ah.
They continued to walk in silence for a few more meters, when this time it was 17 who spoke up again.
- ... uh, Ruri?
It was the first time since they met that he called her by her first name, and that he even initiated a conversation. And the young woman obviously noted it.
- Yes?
- How did you find the mongoose?
- I followed her trail.
- What does that mean?
- It means that ... in fact you have to spot the tracks left by an animal when it moves.
- Tracks?
- Yes. Just like a predator hunting a prey. Except that humans don't have much of an advantage in doing this.
- They don't?
- Yes, they don't. Their sense of smell is very bad and they can't see very far. On the other hand, we have a great capacity of deduction. For example, following an animal's footprints in the ground is something only humans can do.
- Really ?
- Really. And that's what I do, actually. I follow the tracks. And trust me, I'm the best.
- Ah.
- ...You ... would like to learn?
- ... yes.
- If you want, once we're done here... I'll teach you.
- ... okay.
- So, let's hurry up and get this young lady and the other runaway back to their families, and let's get to your first tracking lesson!
- Ok.
He had responded so enthusiastically (of course, 17's enthusiasm was not very exuberant; at most, he had smiled more than usual), that Ruri could hardly contain her excitement. The prospect of sharing time with him, of discussing, of having moments of complicity suddenly put her in a great joy, which she had difficulty to explain, but especially to contain.
So much so that she forgot to tell 17 about her concerns about the hole she had examined. Because if it was indeed a trap, by whom had it been laid?