"Hrmph," Ilos grumbles as he awakens from unconsciousness. His eyes remain closed as he can hear birds chirping. He shifts his head on the comfortable pillow he rests on.
That's when his memory starts to come back to him. The strange woman. The time period. The death of his crew. Almost enough to make him not want to open his eyes and just remain sleeping on this extremely comfortable pillow.
"Wait. I never got a pillow to sleep on." Ilos thinks to himself.
He opens his eyes to get an eyeful of the strange woman's underwear. He lifts his hand to his face and places it against the pillow. He gently squeezes the pillow only to find not stuffing but warm skin.
"Are you awake?" 32B asks innocently.
Ilos sits up without answering her. He looks at her with a gentle smile, then gets up fully and sprints towards the edge of the building. He starts to climb down the building at full speed ignoring all safety measures. As soon as he hits the ground, he starts sprinting to another building and takes cover in its walls.
"Holy shit. Holy shit." Ilos repeats to himself. "Why the FUCK was I on her lap?" He peeks around the corner, but the night conceals any movement. "That crazy bitch tried to kill me." He says, panting.
"Did you spot an enemy?" 32B says in almost a whisper.
Ilos looks next to him to see 32B looking at him. "HOLY SHIT!" Ilos screams in fear. He backs up and pulls out his P90, pointing it at 32B. "Listen here; You ain't getting the better of me again."
32B tilts her head in confusion. She starts to walk towards Ilos, who continues to back up.
"S-stay back." Ilos stutters.
32B ignores his pathetic command and continues walking towards him. Ilos's backs up until he can feel his back touch the wall, and he looks for an escape route but is unable to find one in the small amount of time he is given. As he looks, he doesn't notice 32B close the distance.
32B takes his P90 and throws it to the ground causing a loud thunk as it hits the ground. She grabs hold of Ilos's arm.
"W-wait-" Ilos stammers.
Before he can finish his thought, 32B pulls him close and wraps her arms around him, hugging him tightly.
"W-what the hell are you-" Ilos's starts to say.
"Shh. shhh," 32B says, patting his head as she hugs him tighter. "You're safe with me."
Ilos figuring his words mean nothing, starts to struggle against her grip around him. For some reason, though, even with all his strength, he can't seem to wiggle out of her grasp. After a few seconds of this uncomfortable hugging, he gives up and just lets his arms loose and accepts the hug.
32B lets go of him and puts her hands on his shoulder. "Feeling better?"
Ilos squints his eyes at her. "No. Why would anything be better cause of a hug?"
"I've read files on human care." 32B starts. "According to the files, hugs are a great way to calm a human down when they feel anxious and are crying."
"I wasn't crying," Ilos says defensively.
32B pats his head. "No, you weren't." She says with a gentle smile.
Ilos slaps her hand away and lets out an awkward cough. "Anyway, what do you want?"
"To return you to the moon, of course." She says seriously.
"I can't go to the bloody moon." Ilos spits. "I have a mission to complete, and as of right now, you're getting in the way of it."
"Mission?"
"Yeah, a mission. Gotta wake the other humans." Ilos says, picking up his P90 and checking it for damage.
"There are…...others?" 32B questions
"Yes, thousands more if my information is still valid," Ilos says, adjusting his pack.
32B goes silent.
Ilos's eyes widen. "I've said too much, haven't I?" He looks at 32B, who silently looks in his direction. "What're you doin?"
"I've stored this data for a later report."
Ilos lets out a deep breath. "Malaka." He scratches his head. "Well, what's done is done, I suppose. Anyway…." He looks to 32B. "This is where we part ways." Ilos starts to head towards the way he came into the building.
"Very well."
Ilos stops in his tracks. "That's it? No argument just letting me go?"
"Affirmative."
Ilos looks at her suspiciously, then shrugs. "Alright, well, see ya."
Ilos leaves the building and is greeted by the night sky, the moon still at its peak. He walks down the silent street, his every step echoed by the empty night. His purple eye illuminates the way as he continues down the road.
"Let's see how far we've come…." He gently sings to himself as he walks up to another collapsed building.
He free climbs the building until he reaches a floor that has a path through it. He climbs into the room and hops between pillars until he reaches the other side.
"I believe the world is burning to the ground….." He sings, hoping out of the building and landing on the other side. He looks behind him—pure deafening silence.
Ilos nods and continues his walk. He checks his watch. "10:30 am?" He looks above to see the moon in the same place. "Weird." He says quietly.
He checks his eye data. "Just 23 more miles until I reach purgatory!" Ilos says with sarcastic happiness. He finds some rubble and sits on it.
"Let's see how far we go…." He sings, opening his pack. He takes out a flashlight and mounts it to his P90. He turns it on to find that it works as intended. He stands back up. Suddenly the hairs on the back of his neck stand up. He turns around quickly and is face to face with 32B.
"I thought I told you we were parting ways," Ilos growls.
"Yes, you did say that, but now I'm going to follow you," 32B says emotionless.
"Malaka." Ilos curses waving his hand and turning from 32B. "And there's nothing I can say that will make you stop following me?"
"Your too valuable a target to let alone," 32B says.
Ilos let out another curse. He grumbles to himself and folds his arms. "Alright. Alright." Ilos starts. "But, we got to set some ground rules if you're going to follow me."
"Understood."
"First is that my word is law. This is my mission, so don't get in the way of it. There's a lot on the line here. Second is to keep the touching down to a minimum."
"Did my hug help," 32B asks.
"N-n-no, it did not." Ilos stammers out embarrassedly. He lets out a cough and regains his composure. "And third…." He thinks to himself.
"Third?" 32B questions.
Ilos grumbles to himself, then exhales deeply. "I'll think of a third later. Just follow the first two, and we'll be square."
"Understood."
"Good, let's get moving then…..." Ilos says, turning around. He takes a step but is interrupted by his stomach growling. "...After breakfast." He shifts his pack to his front and takes a knee.
Ilos starts to rummage through his pack, and after a few seconds of rummaging, he picks up something from inside the bag. He removes the object to reveal a small package with the words "MRE" written in bold black lettering.
32B tilts her head and looks at the package quizzically. "What is that?" She asks.
Ilos looks at her. "This?" He says, shaking the bag. "This is an MRE. Meal ready to eat."
"Meal ready to eat?"
"Yeah. Here." Ilos tosses it over to where 32B is sitting. She catches it gracefully and gently inspects the packaging.
"What do you do with it?"
Ilos let out a short chuckle. "Well, you eat it." He takes out a firestarter log from the bag and places it on the ground. He then takes out a lighter and attempts to light the log. His attempt fails.
"Malaka." Ilos curses. He tries it again, and the paper surrounding the log catches. "There we go," Ilos says proudly. The fire burns slowly but burns brightly in the pitch black of the night. The light burns Ilos's natural eye forcing him to cover it with his arm.
"How do you make it?" 32 asks, opening the bag. "Or do you just eat it as is?"
"That's the fun part." Ilos sarcastically says. "Some of it is ready to eat while the other needs to be cooked somewhat."
"Making these is…..fun?"
"No. That was a bit of sarcasm. In reality, these things taste terrible, suck to make, and make you constipated for like a week."
32B hands Ilos the MRE. "Then why bother making them?"
Ilos lets out a sigh. "That's the million-dollar question, isn't it." He takes the MRE. "Simply put its cause; they feed you in tough times, and anybody can make them. Making it the perfect meal for either combat or survival." Ilos looks at the packaging. "Menu 23, huh?"
"Menu 23?"
Ilos looks at 32 with a slight smile. "Pepperoni pizza."
Ilos opens the packaging of the MRE and takes out the contents. He silently prepares the meal according to the instruction that comes with the meal. 32B watches intently as he goes through the motions of preparing the meal. Within a few minutes, the meal is ready to be eaten, and Ilos carefully removes it from its heater bag.
"And done," Ilos says, ripping open the bag holding the pizza. He takes a bite out of the piping hot pizza. "Oh, god, that's good." He takes another big bite out of it. His usual cold expression is replaced by one of contentment.
32B watches with a solemn smile folding her legs. "You look like you're enjoying yourself."
"Well, this is my first meal since going under ice," Ilos says, opening the breadstick and jalapeno spread bag.
"Under ice?"
"Yeah. Cryogenic freezing. That's how I'm here." Ilos looks at her thoughtfully. "Did you think I was just wandering around?"
32B folds her hands in her lap. "Perhaps." She looks in Ilos's direction. "I have a question if I may."
"Shoot," Ilos says, shoving a breadstick in his mouth.
"I've noticed that your heart rate has remained the same throughout all our encounters….." 32B says with concern. "Were you truly anxious before?"
Ilos chews for a bit and thinks. "There's a disconnect between my mind and my body," Ilos says, eating another breadstick. "My heart rate never really rises unless I'm truly in foreseeable danger."
"Did you not feel you were in danger earlier?"
"That's the strange part," Ilos says, pointing a breadstick at 32B. "I was scared before, but I guess my heart rate didn't increase in response, so my body didn't start shooting adrenaline into my system."
"I see." 32B puts a finger to her chin. "Are all humans like this?"
"Very few, if any," Ilos says. "It takes training to develop the disconnect. That or serious trauma." Ilos looks at his empty bags. "Looks like breakfast is done."
"Are we ready to proceed?"
"No, not yet. I need to…...take care of something." Ilos says, slightly nervously. "If you would don't follow me," Ilos says, getting to his feet.
"But, my orders are to follow you." 32B says, getting to her feet as well.
"Don't worry, I'm not leaving; just need to take care of something important. Just wait here. I'm not leaving."
32B puts on a rare frown. "Very well. But do not be gone long."
"Yes, yes, I'll be back in a minute," Ilos says, putting up a hand.
Ilos picks up his P90 and holds it in one hand, and makes a show that he is leaving his bag behind. He walks in the direction opposite of 32B and heads into the darkness of the night, the fire from the camp becoming distant with each step. Once the fire doesn't reveal as much of himself as before, he stops and scans the area with his eye. He finds himself next to a destroyed building overlooking a gap. He pokes his head over the hole to see water at the bottom.
"That'll do," Ilos says, putting his P90 against the building. He shimmies himself a little bit and gets loose. He searches his pockets and pulls out a photo of a scantily clad woman dressed in a bikini and putting peace signs up while making an ahegao face. He lets out a sigh. "It'll do."
Ilos unzips his pants and gently puts his gloved hand into the new hole, and looks for something within. He finds his target and pulls it out in the night air. The night air is cold on his member, and with his other hand, he holds the picture within view of his face. He begins to rub his member with his other hand gently.
"He's taking too long." 32B thinks to herself. As she grows increasingly impatient, she starts to receive a call from the Bunker.
32B opens the message hud and is greeted by a woman dressed in black just like her. She wears a thin black veil, and her hair is done in a short bob.
"24O to 32B. Status Report." The woman asks, notably distressed.
"This is 32B. Status is green. I'm okay." 32B says in a caring way, but her tone remains emotionless.
"Jeez, 32B!" The woman says her distress increasing. "You've gone silent for 21 hours!"
"I'm sorry." 32B says with an uncaring tone.
"No excuses! I thought you were destroyed….., and with your pod not responding, I had every right to believe that!" 24O says, her voice cracking. "You don't know how worried I was!"
"I'm sorry." 32B says, looking towards where Ilos walked too.
24O lets out a sigh. "If I didn't know any better, I would think you don't care about how I feel…...anyway, let's do your daily report."
"I found a human." 32B says emotionless.
"...WHAT!" 24O screams.
From the visual hud, 32B can see that 24O has placed her face too close to the camera. Her eyes are wide, and even with the veil, 32B can tell her mouth is agape. 24O quickly turns around away from the camera and starts bowing and apologizing. She quickly regains her composure and sits back down in front of the camera.
"What do you mean you've found a human." 24O whispers while fiddling with her hair.
"I've found a human." 32B repeats.
"Well…...tell me more," 24O says, barely containing her curiosity.
"I found him where I crashed. He helped me escape my burning flight unit." 32B says, standing up and walking towards Ilos's general direction. "From what he says, he was cryogenically frozen and just recently woke up."
"Really? What does he look like? Is he nice? What does he eat? What language does he speak? How old is he? I have so many questions!" 24O says ecstatically.
"His heart rate is increasing." 32B says offhandedly.
"What?"
"I have to go 24O. He's in danger. I'll give my report soon. 32B out."
"Wait, wait, I still have more-" 24O starts to say before she is cut off.
32B starts to run towards where she is picking up Ilos's heart rate. She can see that his heart rate has reached levels she has never seen before from her sensors. The clack of her heels on the stone ground increase in frequency as she approaches Ilos. Within seconds she can see Ilos's back and can see him near the edge of a gap.
"Ilos!" 32B shouts.
"32? Wait, stay ba-" Ilos starts but is interrupted by 32B grabbing him from behind, dragging him from the edge. Ilos fights back, and in the process, he loses his grip on the photo, which gently falls into the water below. "Godammit!" Ilos shouts, punching the ground.
"What's wrong, Ilos?" 32B asks, looking around. "Your heart rate rose to unprecedented levels. Are you in danger? Where are the enemies?"
"My heart?" Ilos feels his chest to find his heart pounding. "Jesus Christ! Just cause my heart rate rose doesn't mean I'm in danger!"
"But you said-"
"It doesn't matter what I said!" Ilos shouts. "If I'm in danger, you'll hear the telltale sound of gunfire."
32B puts a finger to her chin. "I see." She looks at Ilos, who has his back to her. "So why did your heart rate rise?"
"D-don't worry about it," Ilos says nervously. He zips up his pants. "Let's just forget about this, alright."
"Understood."
Ilos lets out an annoyed sigh. "Ugh, I didn't even get to finish….." He says quietly. He looks over the edge into the water below. "And there goes my fap material." He whispers, annoyed.
"Is something the matter?" 32B asks
"No, nothing. Help me up, will ya?" Ilos says, extending a hand towards 32B
32B grabs hold of his hand and pulls him up. Ilos nods at her and gives a slight smile before picking up his P90 from the side of the building and heading back towards the campfire. 32B follows closely behind him, and the duo makes it to the now sputtering campfire. Ilos kicks some dirt and stone into the fire to completely snuff it out.
"We're 23 miles away from the purgatory lab," Ilos says, lifting his bag onto his back. "Should be a couple of hours till we get there. Are you good to go?"
"Affirmative." 32B answers stoically.
"Alright, then let's head out," Ilos says, taking the lead.
The duo heads into the night, heading towards the location of purgatory.