V: Learning to Live

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...initializing...

...running diagnostics...

All systems are functional.

"Welcome."

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I blinked my eyes as my readout monitor began to give me some feedback.

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Status Report:

Head-System-Yellow-Damage: movement of head restricted, IR sensor dead, HD3 destroyed, HDBCKUP damaged 66 percent, speech unusable, hearing sensor L disabled.
TorsoT-System-Red-Damage: hydraulic pressure 23 percent, various wire damage, majority of touch sensors destroyed.
Arm L-System-Red-Damage: Arm L destroyed.
Arm R-System-Red-Damage: hydraulic pressure 0, sensors in lower forearm are damaged.
TorsoB-System-Red-Damage: hip joint fractured, unable to support weight, leg sensors connection dead.
Leg L-System-Red-Damage: Leg L destroyed.
Leg R-System-Red-Damage: Leg R destroyed.

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I turned on my eye sensors, and saw that it was still pre-dawn, and that Brand was gently reattaching my head to my somewhat fixed torso. I tried to blink my eyes, but as I tried, I found I couldn't even do that, only let the dead color remain as I tried to tell him something without speaking. I finally got a few sparks going in my right arm, and he turned to me.

"You awake" he asked, a bit more concern in his voice than before, but still saying I shouldn't do too much.

I let my right arm spark again, and after fixing my head back on, he turned to me, hooking up a text pad so I could at least "type" to him.

"WHAT.HAPPENED.TO.THE.OTHERS."

He typed back.

"THEY.DIED.IN.THE.ATTACK."

"WHAT.IS.WRONG.WITH.ME.I.CANNOT.SPEAK.I.CANNOT.MOVE."

"YOU.WERE.DAMAGED.IN.THE.ATTACK."

He continued to type.

"YOUR.HEAD.WAS.SMASHED.AND.IT.DESTROYED.YOUR.VOICE.SYSTEM."

"I.TRIED.TO.REPAIR.IT.LAST.TIME.BUT.SOMETHING.SHORTED."

"AND.I.TOOK.IT.OUT.SO.NOTHING.MORE.WOULD.GO.WRONG."

My system was shorting?

"ONCE.I.GET.YOUR.EYES.WORKING.AND.YOUR.AUDIO.INPUT.WORKING."

"I.WILL.TALK.TO.YOU.MORE.UNTIL.LATER..."

I needed to be shut down again...

"LATER..."

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"How do you feel now" Brand asked me, as I was propped upright against a tree, where he had been working on me for the past month or so. "Can you move most of your body"

As I tried running diagnostic tests, I moved whatever I could: eye cameras, head swivels, some right arm function, chest compartments, audio and visual aides...

"Are the legs still dead"

I nodded, as we both felt a pang of despair. Despite his best efforts, there was no way he could carry me, an old 450-pound RAcaseal PROto77...so we were pretty much condemned to this small patch of hallowed ground.

"Try your speech module. I tried fixing it last night..."

"...ffzzz...Hhh..h..h...e.y..y.y..e...y.."

He looked downward, and then held my shoulder. "I'm sorry...I thoughtI had it fixed..."

I used my right arm, my only working appendage, and held up the text pad for him, so he could see what I wanted to say.

"ITS.OK.I.CAN.LIVE.WITHOUT.SPEECH.NOT.SO.BAD."

"AS.LONG.AS.I.CAN.USE.THIS.TO.TALK.TO.YOU."

"Oh..." He smiled as he brought a little box close by. "That reminds me. I'm sure this little guy will be happy to see you..."

I watched, and although damaged, I saw my little Mag hover out awkwardly, and rest on my shoulder, as it always had. Even he didn't escape the wrath of the Boomas...his armor on the top had been dented in severely, and although Brand probably fixed it, it left a huge metal scar, and the Mag's hover system was scrambled a bit as well.

"I'm sorry I couldn't fix him up...I don't know Mags the way I know Androids..."

"ITS.OK.HE.SEEMS.HAPPY.THANKS.FOR.SAVING.HIM."

As he was about to turn away, I added:

"THANK.YOU.SO.MUCH.FOR.FIXING.ME.UP."

"I.WOULD.HAVE.BEEN.DESTROYED.BACK.THERE.IF.YOU.DIDNT.SAVE.ME."

"Hey, I can't leave behind the only friend I have left, can I" he asked, with an awkward smile of sorts. "Besides, you suffered relatively little damage, compared to..." he suddenly trailed off.

"THE.OTHERS.WHAT.HAPPENED."

I wanted to know so badly, and yet...

"I'll tell you...slowly though. I don't really want to remember it all..."

"I.UNDERSTAND.PLEASE.TELL.ME.AS.YOU.SEE.FIT."

"OR.AS.YOU.THINK.I.NEED.TO.KNOW."

"Most of them died rather peacefully...Ordron didn't get up, so he got buried under the plate we used as a lean-to...Sheri and Alfred...well, Alfred got trapped in the hole he made for himself...and Sheri...they killed her in her sleep."

"DID.KYRIN.AND.DIANE.DIE.PEACEFULLY.TOO."

"No."

I watched then as Brand began to let a few tears fall from his face. "They tore Kyrin up...she fought with every working component of her body until they completely smashed her up and threw her into the ocean. She shorted out over the course of a few hours..."

I almost didn't want to know what had happened to my other friend...

"Diane...they tore her up too."

And that was all he would say. He turned away then, and I wanted nothing more than to comfort him...to take away that pain...

I reached out with my right arm and tapped him on the shoulder.

"IM.SORRY.I.DIDNT.MEAN.FOR.YOU.TO.HAVE.TO.REMEMBER."

"I.WONT.ASK.AGAIN."

"No...it's alright." Brand wiped his face off as he turned back to me. "It's your right to know...what happened to your friends..."

And we sat there for hours, remembering our friends...their lives, our experiences together...

It was just about all we could do.

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That night, oddly, amidst the gravity of the situation...I felt...well, a sort of joy.

I didn't know how to describe it.

As Brand returned with some berries, we both ate, although of course my diet was more like a few Dimate pills instead...

And then he dozed off, next to me.

I remembered seeing a scene like this once, on the digital screens on Pioneer 2...

It was supposed to be a...soap opera?

I think that was it...anyway...in that show, the guy takes care of the girl, and they fall in love at the end...

Was that what I was feeling?

I didn't know...but I felt relieved...and happy. Maybe it was because for the first time in my twenty long years of life, I knew now what it was like to be "loved..."

And as my energy dipped, I felt a strange sense of ease...and it felt good.

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