Dear reader, this isn't a regular fan fiction. This is written for weird people, people who like to think. You're about to embark on a philosophical journey, so consider this a warning. I post questions at the beginning or end of some chapters, and if you'd like, you're invited to respond to those questions by leaving a review for the chapter who's questions you're answering. If you don't want to answer the questions, I love receiving regular reviews, including criticisms. P.S., sorry for the short first two chapters, the others get longer. If you still dare venture, then enjoy!
Chapter 1: A Wordless Exit.
"Brother, can you help me open this door?"
Already dozens of meters inside a mountain, Akhmatova pointed to a colossal steel blast door, several feel thick.
"Sure," Aeschylus replied, "I just need to hack in; there, simple."
They grabbed the huge handle and opened the door together with a great grunt of effort. It was pitch black on the inside, and the two androids switched on their lights. Walls and a ceiling of rough rock lined a spacious and spartan atrium, with steel doors branching out into other parts of the facility.
"I wonder what this place was called?" Aeschylus inquired.
This intrigued Akhmatova, who shined the light which usually hung from her ear in search of an answer. "RAD," she mused, seeing three big letters on the wall. She didn't speak English, but she recognized one word in smaller font underneath it: "American."
Thus began their several hour-long fruitless search for any useful resources or equipment. They discovered one thing during their search: this place was formerly inhabited by the Canadian and United States militaries. Eventually, the pair entered a laboratory looking section of the base. A scary looking metal contraption in the middle of a room lay towering over them, ten meters tall and thirty by thirty meters wide, and covered in complete darkness. Without hesitation, Akhmatova walked over and opened the giant garage-like door on the front. A room lay within, and a single light shown from the ceiling, revealing rows of guns, boxes, and a backpack. In the center of the small room was a man, a man who looked confused, and slightly nervous. "Why is it dark?" he asked.
Akhmatova and Aeschylus marveled, and wondered what an android was doing here, and why he was speaking an ancient language they didn't understand.
Aeschylus spoke. "Who are you?"
The man was a bit startled and drew back, having heard a language that sounded to him like French coming from the darkness outside the room.
Akhmatova drew closer, crossing the threshold of the box. She, like her "brother" was wearing a green camo outfit, with a filthy dark grey backpack, and a rifle resembling a Sturmgewehr 44 slung over her shoulder. She held her hand out to him, palm open. "It's okay, we don't mean you any harm. Where are you from? Can you understand me?"
He in his language sheepishly asked almost the same question: "can you understand English? I'm afraid I don't speak your language." They were in a predicament of misunderstanding.
The androids could see the man was wearing a beautiful military uniform of some kind, probably one for more formal occasions, and a sword was hanging from his belt. Akhmatova asked her brother, with a voice full of wonder, "he is an android, isn't he?" Aeschylus wasn't sure, so they gently spoke to the man while slowly approaching him to check. The man betrayed his nervousness, but allowed them to examine his face, hands and neck closely. The male android tugged back the collar of the man's uniform and stared at his neck, looking for an access point. Akhmatova meanwhile examined his eyes, with one of hers staring a few inches away from his. This uniformed young man felt as though aliens were examining him, even though in his mind he was interacting with human beings.
Suddenly Akhmatova became excited. "He's human!" The shock and weight of this discovery weighed heavily on them. In a world without humans, but with the omnipresent presence of humans throughout the world, finding a living breathing man was incomprehensible. The androids' hearts welled with emotion, their eyes with tears, and their minds with possibilities. Could there be other humans? How did this one survive? How do we take care of him?
"We need to get him back to the resistance camp safely. Maybe someone will know English there?"
Akhmatova approved. "How do we get him to understand what's going on? We need his cooperation."
"I don't know. Maybe we can draw him some pictures? You're pretty good at drawing."
Akhmatova took out some paper and a pencil, walked to the side of the man, and started drawing. She produced a picture of a machine being violent. Next, she paused in thought, and drew another picture of the uniformed man beside her firing a gun at an attacking machine. The drawing was accurate enough, and she motioned to the pictures, then to the guns on the side. The man slowly tried reaching for a rifle, looking to the female soldier for her approval. The girl smiled and nodded in response to his desire for a weapon.
The man, whose name was Hunter, then started wondering about which gun was suitable to bring. He didn't know how far he would be going, but after seeing the drawings of robots, he thought he should take a more powerful gun which can better rip through metal and damage electronics. That ruled out taking an M4 or AKM, which used intermediate rifle cartridges; no, he needed a traditional rifle cartridge. He chuckled to himself when looking at the M1 Garand: too heavy and not enough capacity. He also didn't favor the military's prototype 6.8mm variant of the Sig Sauer MCX due to the slimness of the bullets. That left an odd choice: the Kel-Tec RFB. "308 Winchester ought to do the trick," he whispered to himself as he picked up a rifle that looked like it was made of Lego bricks. As for his pistol, he took the only 10mm handgun there: a Smith and Wesson M&P.
Hunter started loading magazines with the boxes of ammo on the other side of the wall. "This isn't how the guns and ammo were supposed to be used," he thought, "I wish these guns could have been used for the purpose we planned for them." After slipping the magazines into his body armor plate carrier, he reached for his great coat, thinking that it might be cold outside. The girl grabbed his arm to stop his from reaching for his coat and shook her head, so the soldier grabbed and lifted his large and heavy military backpack instead. It was filled with various supplies which an American infantryman from his time would take into combat.
When Hunter was ready, Akhmatova and Aeschylus turned their lights back on, and in the enduring dark led the human carefully out of the facility, constantly looking back at their charge to make sure he was okay, and in disbelief that they had discovered such a priceless treasure.
As the trio exited the facility, their vision filled with a star-specked dusk, and Hunter looked back at the decrepit base in shock. "How much time has passed?" escaped his lips, almost hoping his new companions would understand and answer. Alas, no such answer came, only walking: walking down a path where he knew a road had been, and thus began their story.
The male android, Aeschylus, looked over at the female and asked, "Where are we going to keep the human after we get back to the resistance camp? Our camp isn't very well defended."
"I don't know, Malcolm Little's town is out of the question. They're crazy, and if androids subject themselves to such humiliation, who knows what those machines will do to him."
Aeschylus responded, "Pensées has a nice village, but they don't have much fighting ability. Maybe that new base YoRHa setup would be suitable? They have the means to protect him, that's for sure."
Akhmatova was lost in thought. It's true that all those elite YoRHa soldiers could guard this man better than anyone else. On the other hand, their resistance camp had only found out about the existence of YoRHa a few days ago. What YoRHa is, their true goals, their methods, and origins, were unknown. "We need to find out more about them when we get back. Perhaps the human will have his own thoughts on where he best belongs if we can find a way to communicate with him?"
"He's been very compliant. It's weird directing a human and having him follow us instead of us following him."
Akhmatova, who's excitement at finding a human was tempered by her inability to communicate with him, suddenly lit up like a kid about to open a mountain of presents. "Do you think he'd mind if I shook his hand, or… kissed him on the cheek or hugged him? I don't know what greeting customs he's used to, or what he'd think of an android behaving like that to him."
"I think offering your hand is the least risky approach. Do you have any ideas of how he survived?"
"No, I'm as confused as you are."
As the androids continued their conversation, Hunter marveled at the change in scenery. There weren't as many plants now, and the pine trees were larger and somehow fiercer-looking than he remembered. He wondered what the young man and woman were talking about, and whether they were siblings, lovers, or simply comrades?
What the two were discussing now was whether to continue heading around the mountain to get to camp and try to stay out of sight, or whether to head to the top of the mountain. If they reached the peak, the mountain wouldn't obscure their radio signal, and they could call for backup; additionally, they would have a more direct route to camp. On the other hand, the direct route would make them more visible to machines, and the human would have to move slowly up and down the steep slope. They decided to ascend the mountain. This decision would soon prove to be wisely foolish, and a tragic success.