A Ghost's Journey
It came to surrounded by others. There was so many of them that it would have taken an exceptionally long time to count them all, but in its vicinity, there were 763,453 ghosts. All were floating around orienting themselves before breaking into flocks to leave the Travelers side and moving on. All with the same command…Find them.
The little Ghost considered everything excitedly. So many voices and movements. Excited, it followed one group as they moved on towards the cities. As they broke the city limits the flock scattered. The Ghost moved around watching others scan dead bodies for a moment before wandering off. Moving nimbly through the rubble, the Ghost didn't feel their person was nearby so moved on. The sun was setting so it paused while the light shifted.
Suddenly lights shifted on as the cities automatic systems kicked on. Looking up at the billboards and other advertisement paraphernalia, the ghost wiggled in excitement. At that moment, the ghost came up with its name. Pixel, after looking at a particularly vivid billboard.
Humans are so neat. It thought while it looked around. Frames moved around doing the tasks they had before. Pixel hadn't seen a living soul yet but was eager to see people. As it moved around, it scanned less bodies as there were so many things that drew its attention. Like a hyperactive child, it moved from one thing to the next that drew its interest. One Frame waved a broom at it when it drew to close. It was pushing rubble to the side from its shop's doorframe. The stoop it stood on was exceptionally clean.
Pixel had no destination in mind as it moved around. The Ghost was drawn to each new sight like a child. One memorable moment with a Blue Jay's nest taught it to stay clear of birds with sharp beaks and no fear. Moving between places it became aware slowly that it was being followed. Stopping it looked around and scanned the area. Two blips showed up on its radar and it moved forward to investigate. Coming around a broken chunk of rubble he found his first living human. It wore face mask that hid its features and the other was a dog of unusual size. At least from what few Pixel had seen roaming the streets. They stared at it, so it did what it does naturally.
"Hi, I'm Pixel!" Its voice came out high and childish. The human pulled off their mask revealing a woman's face. She looked started and reflexively waved her hand. The Dog jumped up like it wanted to bite the ghost and Pixel hover back. "Hi, Doggy!" The woman commanded the dog to lay down and it did so, but its eyes never strayed from the little drone above it.
"Hello," The woman's voice had a soft twang to it and used the back of her hand to rub her forehead where the mask had left a red mark. She squinted at the drone and asked.
"What are you?"
"I'm Pixel." Came its chipper reply.
"No, I got that's your name, what are you?"
"Oh, I'm a Ghost!"
"A Ghost?" She echoed confused.
"The Traveler made me." Pixel supplied.
The woman looked impressed as she walked around the ghost that kept turning to look at her then back at the dog whole was now scooting forward in a crawl only to stop when looked at.
"I haven't heard anything since everything went to hell." She lifted her rifle a little that Pixel missed seeing.
"The Travelers is still here?" Pixel missed the hostile tone she had. It wiggled happily.
"It made us right before it went dark. I'm need to find my person."
"You're looking for somebody? Good luck with that, everybody around here is dead."
"That works." Pixel chirped
"What…?" Before she could finish her sentence a sharp crack of a gun filled the air and she hit the deck and crawled for cover while Pixel turned towards the sound. Instantly, he triangulated the sound and flew towards it.
"Where are you going?" She asked, but Pixel was focused and ignored her.
Pixel flew upwards to a broken window a couple of stories above and slipped inside. Dust and darkness filled the air, the only light from the window that it just came through. Pixel turned on a light function and used it to look around the room as it came further into the gloom. Taking in the trappings of a living quarter it scanned things as it went past looking for the source of the gunshot.
As it slipped out of the room a soft tinkering sound began to be heard better and it followed it out into a hallway. Cleaning droids moved along the clean floor, and one took advantage of Pixel pushing the door open further as it came through. Pixel came closer and closer to the sound scanning as it went. So focused on its mission it missed the sound of feet on stairs behind it as it found the door that the sound was coming from.
The door was closed, but a moment with the keypad beside it opened for Pixel, and it went inside. On the other side of the room a music box played in the hand of a corpse. It lay opposite of the door and the lovely song played while in the other hand was a gun. Pixel knew without scanning. Excited it flew quickly and it didn't care about the gore. It knew this was its person and it wanted to see her face.
Unleashing the light, it made her whole again. Skin healed and the head reformed. Scarlet hair fell like a waterfall, unmarked by blood and brain. Her heart shaped face turned up and her eyes opened to reveal two different colored eyes, one amber and the other green. Light filled them and awareness came through.
"I did it! I did it! I found you!" Pixel cheer and did a happy dance, its shell wiggling all over the place. The woman looked up at the dancing Ghost amused.
"It seems you have." Her voice was soft and warm.
"I knew I'd find you." Pixel flew close and she flinched. Backing off, Pixel began flying back and forth telling her about all the things it had seen coming to find her. The woman noticed what was in her hands. Dropping the gun, she looked at the music box which by then had gone silent. She ran her fingers over the palm size wooden box like she was seeing it through touch. Pixel left off telling her about a dog in a sweater leading a dog pack to come and scan the music box. Rainbow hues flowed overs its eye as it took in the info. It looked at her.
"It's playing helped me find you." The woman cranked the key, and a lovely song filled the air.
"Swan lake." The woman looked up to see the woman that Pixel had been talking to looking in at them. Her face was slack with wonder at what she had witnessed. Pixel's woman rose to her feet but still stood shorter than the woman.
"Hello." She held her hand out to shake. The other woman chuckled and too her hand.
"Well, Hello there. My name is Reba."
The woman opened her mouth to reply, but a confused look passed her face.
"I…I don't know my name." Heavy unease filled her voice. Reba looked concerned.
"You're not that person anymore." Pixel chirped behind her.
"What do you mean?" She asked looking at the Ghost.
"You were dead. Now you are alive and my person."
The woman was confused by the answer, but Reba spoke.
"Makes sense in a way. People with head trauma tend to lose memories. And you…. had a lot. Still..." Reba looked uncertain.
"You need a name. If you do not mind, how about Odette?"
"Odette?" Odette asked.
"That's the name of the princess in the story of Swan Lake."
"That's Perfect." Pixel exclaimed excited. It began to zoom around her and Reba and both wobbled trying to keep watching the Ghost move. Right then the big dog jumped in and tried to catch Pixel who quickly went up.
"Mac, off" Reba barked, and the dog immediately stopped. Seeing Odette, Mac went straight to her for pats. She obediently began to scratch the dog's chest and head and he flopped over for belly rubs. Reba watched it a little surprised.
"Mac never warms up to people that fast. You got a charm with animals."
"I like animals." Odette said unconsciously. Reba contemplated the other woman.
"Say, I'm a part of a group of survivors. My leader was an army man, and he might have an idea what is going on. You want to join us?" She asked. Odette looked up at her then at her Ghost. Pixel had stopped and looked at Reba. Rainbows covered its eye as it though then chirped.
"I don't see why not. Safety in numbers." The ghost looked at Odette and Odette looked at Reba.
"Okay."
