Okay, here's chapter 2!

My writing has slumped, I don't think this is the best I could have done personally. But I can't see a way to improve it, and I know it'll get better once A.I.B.O.U is in the picture because then we can have some interaction at last!

Lots of description, I won't be replying to reviews in this chapter, but thanks so much for everyone who gave an opinion and reviewed. It's very encouraging when a writer has little drive to write, I can't say Thanks enough, really. But I hope that this chapter will spark things off again for chapter two.

Some OOC because of context, but I hope you'll agree it's what Atem would have done if he was raised in the way I described in chapter 1.

Enjoy!

*Bleep!* *Bleep!* *Bleep!* *Bleep!*

"Ugh …" Atem groaned, feeling exhausted even though he had slept the whole night. He opened his red eyes and glanced around, he already knew what was wrong, he grumbled to himself as he sluggishly dragged himself away from his flat mattress and his thin blanket. It was similar every morning. His sight was burred and his movements reluctant as he dragged himself out of bed.

Atem looked down at his chest as he stood up, yawning loudly and cracking every joint that could be cracked in his stretch. Through his shirt a red light flashed and beeped loudly, alerting the Atem to his low levels of solar energy. He couldn't afford to run out of that because he didn't have the fat stores to compensate, and that would mean he would lose his muscle tissue to energy. So to keep the Atem from deteriorating, his life support shrieked at him to get him up and to get in the sun to recharge.

Sleep seemed to be just a left over trait of human DNA. He, physically, didn't need to sleep or rest for long periods of time as long as he had solar energy and food. But he did sleep; it was healthy to sleep, for his mental wellbeing. It also slowed his energy use in the night when there was no light to use for energy. But in ideal conditions, with lots of food to keep him going in the night, he didn't need to sleep.

Atem trudged over to his shoes and socks and lethargically pulled one onto his foot, leaning himself against the wall as he did so. He picked up the box with the cleaning gel and quickly extracted the nose filters and the contact lenses. He hissed a little as they stung his eyes, and his nose had to adjust to the feeling of being stuffed, but it was all part of the daily routine. He reached up and set the door to open as he pulled on the second sock.

As the door opened Atem had to close his eyes and wince as murky white daylight shone through the opening door. It invaded his comforting darkness, his safe cabin, and his contacts slowly helped his eyes adjust to the growing light and radiation. But not before a few stings got to them first, but his eyes wouldn't water, he couldn't afford to lose the moisture.

When the door opened onto the polluted brown and grey world of dust, soil and concrete, Atem picked up his shoes and pulled them on. The ramp was still in shadow, and thanks to the skyscrapers, only the roof of his building was in sunlight. However, even in the murky shadows he could feel his energy building. The shrieking of his energy alarm wasn't as loud as before too.

Atem climbed up onto the roof and began to inspect the solar panels connected to his home as he absorbed solar energy. They hadn't been damaged by any flying rubbish, but they were covered in dust. Atem began to clean them with his fingertips, clapping his hands at random points to dispel the collected dust. Then he looked at the miniature wind turbines. They seemed to be working fine too. One was a little rusty from the acid rain weeks ago, but Atem knew where to find oil, so he could quickly fix that.

As he worked in the sun, the rays also revitalised him. The sun warmed his skin and the solar bands and wing on his upper arms and shoulders slowly woke him up. The beeping softened while he basked, then stopped, but Atem stayed a little longer; he wanted to be fully charged, not just above the danger zone.

After five minutes he felt nearly hyper on energy. He jumped down onto the ramp and went to wake up his robotic dog.

He touched the dog's head and the robot woke up with a welcoming whine, it sounded slightly static because it was merely a recording, but Atem smiled anyway "Morning," he lowly greeted, reaching over to open a hatch on the dog's back, he plugged in a solar panel and picked up the robot to sit him in a patch of sun to charge him. He patted the dog's head, even if he wasn't a real dog, the way he acted to happy to see him made Atem glad. And even more thankful that he'd found him in the first place.

Scraps stretched and systematically went through the process of moving every join and limb to ensure he wasn't rusting, then he sat by the entrance to wait for his daily instructions.

Atem ate a packet of crisps and heated up some condensed soup, mixed with filtered rain water, for his breakfast. The soup tasted chemically and it was lumpy, but it was food, and it was filling. With food in his stomach the day looked brighter because he wasn't hungry, he hummed absently as he tidied up. The left over soup went into a flask and then into his bag for lunch.

Atem packed up his bag, checked he had his capsules and his tools were all in good condition, and finally stood by the entrance. He sighed, to himself. Another day at work.

He took a step, then yelped as he fell down the ramp "AH!"

Scraps had decided to lay down in the middle of the exit, and Atem hadn't noticed him until he was tripping over him. When his master fell Scraps barked and rushed over to comfort, as his computer brain told him that this was the appropriate response.

Atem sat up and glared at Scraps before pointing down, making him sit. He wasn't happy that he'd fallen on his face so soon after leaving, accidents normally waited until he was halfway through his work. He unplugged the solar panel from the robot's back and pointed towards the city "Go seek," he commanded.

Scraps jumped up and was off like a shot, going to look for Atem's next meal. Atem shook his head fondly as he stood up, he pulled the leaver and his home sealed shut for the day while he went off to work.

In a small clear space of rubbish Atem found a Decomposer waiting for him. He carefully moved the pair of dead Atems away from the machine and took over their work load. He gazed sadly at their faces, seeing the dead always made him feel sad, they were just another pair he might have known if they had met before their deaths. They had been there a while as they were already partly rotting, but he could tell one was a woman and one was a man. He frowned as he tried to give them names, so they'd be unique. "Jack … Jill," he decided. He remembered his Mother Atem reading to him from preserved books they found. Reading was a survival skill if you could read you could read instructions and better your life. Unfortunately, Atem couldn't read very well, but he remembered hearing a story about Jack and Jill.

He left the pair in a patch of sunlight, over fertile soil and picked up the shovel and began to pile the junk into the Decomposer.

The machine hummed as it turned everything it could into soil, and eventually beeped when it was full of non-decomposable materials, many shovel loads later. Atem reached up and heaved the heavy leaver down, the machine compacted the plastic and metal into a cube with the help of Atem's strength, and let out a satisfying crunch when it was solid.

Atem reached into the compartment and pulled out a cube of 'useless' material, then placed it beside the growing tower that the past Atems' had started. Maybe one day it would be large enough to match the concrete skyscrapers?

The Decomposer was spraying out fertile soil and collecting capsules for Atems' uses in the future when Atem turned back to it. He shovelled again, but paused when he found something interesting.

Amongst the brown dirt, grey plastic and murky dust that was a mixture of the colours, a splash of colour jumped out at him. Atem reached over and picked up the colourful item and turned it over and over in his hands, completely fascinated with it.

It was a cube with six different colours on it, there was no rhyme or pattern for the colours, but it was interesting. Bright and colourful, Atem grinned and placed the item into his bag. His home needed more colour, the Christmas lights he'd found had some colour, but not enough to overwhelm the grey and brown that somehow seeped into every nook and cranny of this lifeless city.

Shovel, tip, fill, leaver, crunch, add to wall.

Atem placed the new cube of metal and plastic, with some difficulty, onto the top of the wall. It was getting high now. Atem turned to go back to the Decomposer, but didn't see the elastic loop sticking out of the ground. It barely covered his shoe, but it was enough to trip him up.

Atem caught himself on his hands and winced when hidden sharp edges dug into his toughened skin. He warily pulled them back to look at them again, they were luckily only grazed. Atem sighed and then turned his attention back to the thing that tripped him.

He glared at the innocent loop of elastic. He grabbed it, feeling angry that such a thing could have hurt him, and yanked it free from the ground. He was prepared to rip it apart but stopped and stared in confusion at the item he held.

It was a strip of fabric with two circular parts sown on, and two elastic straps. "Whoa ..." Atem held it up in confusion. The colour was so faded it might once have been pink, but was more a dirty cream now. Atem looked at the tag, the writing barely there, and frowned as he tried to make sense of the markings on it.

B … R … A … and lots of other little marks that were too smudged and faded to see.

Atem held it from a different angle, it was made of soft material, but what was it for? Atem absently stretched it; the item was elastic all the way through. A small amused smile turned up the corners of his mouth, the action amusing him like a child pulling something stretchy for the first time.

He pulled as hard as he could, to see how far it could stretch. But the mild entertainment was cut short, however, when one hand slipped on the fabric, sending the end with little metal hoops snapping onto his opposite arm.

Atem yelped as the sharp sting hurt him. He growled, holding the item at a distance, remembering his hatred of it.

It had hurt him, so it was a bad object. He didn't want it, and he definitely didn't like it. The basic association process went through his brain. At first he didn't know what to think of this item, he had a neutral view of it. He tried to figure out its purpose, but then it had caused him pain. Hurt = Bad.

Atem angrily stuffed it into the Decomposer, wanting it gone forever. He rubbed his stinging skin and continued to growl wordlessly under his breath. He sounded like an animal, most with any language skills would have cursed or perhaps raged at the item. But Atem, with little vocabulary, could only use noises and actions to express himself. Like growling for angry, and large smiles for happy, an animated tilt of the head for curious.

When the machine had decomposed it as much as possible Atem relaxed and picked up the shovel again.

Shovel, tip, fill, leaver, crunch, add to wall. Again.

Atem shoved the shovel into the ground and jumped when a loud squeak, sharp and piercing, sounded in response. The noise made Atem jump backwards, shovel held like a baseball bat to ward off whatever threat there was.

But nothing happened.

Atem warily poked the spot, it squeaked again, and when he slowly retracted the shovel, the noise turning into a wheezing squeak as if it was breathing in. Atem prodded the spot again and slowly cleared away the soil and rubbish scraps till something yellow was revealed. Another prod revealed it as the squeaker.

Atem picked it up and his eyes lit up in delight. The item he held was bright yellow, a little dirty but everything was, with orange for its nose and mouth and blue for the eyes. It felt hollow, Atem squeezed purposely and let out a rare chuckle at the noisy response.

He tilted his head as he recalled something from a long time ago. Someone - his Mother Atem? - showing him something that made a similar noise. Then reading to him and showing him pictures to help him sleep …

Atem's lips trembled and parted as he struggled to find the sounds that made this item's name. "D … uc ... k," he said at last. He squeezed the creature again and grinned, "Duck," he decided, happy that he had been able to give it a name. The item soon disappeared into Atem's bag.

Shovel, tip, fill, leaver, crunch, add to wall. Again.

*Bleep!* *Bleep!* *Bleep!*

Atem's life support on his chest began to sound its familiar warning. Atem looked down, pulling his shirt from his chest a little, and saw that he was dehydrated. He needed to stop and drink.

Atem sat down, his back to the sun, and opened his bag to get out his container of filtered rain water. He took a few long swigs before slowly sipping. While he worked off his compulsion he completely forgot about his bodily needs, if it wasn't for his life support he would have worked himself into malnutrition and other illnesses and injuries a long time ago. It was thanks to this that he remembered to pace himself, and decades of practice to be able to pace at all.

He couldn't remember a time when he was mindlessly working, but he was sure that there was such a time. Everyone experienced it, from birth Atems wanted to work, but until six months of age they were unable to walk or work, so the compulsion got them anxious and upset as the need to get rid of the pressure to work couldn't be done. It couldn't be eased. When they were finally old and able enough to work the children Atems did so mindlessly, working off six months or more of stress and anxiety. It was only when they were fully grown, about two years of age, that they were able to calm down.

Atem reflected on how lucky he was that he had a Mother, and possibly other family, to help him through that. Now that he was alone, he could survive.

While drinking and remembering he let his eyes wander. His eyes travelled over the skyline, from the murky sky and clouds down to the buildings and the mountains of rubbish that lined the streets. He looked at what he had cleared, a pitiful little, and felt the rich soil under his hands.

Why did soil feel different that polluted dirt? He wondered, but not with words, one hand held the barren dust that made up dirt, the other felt the soil. Why were they different? He let them run through his fingertips like sand and absently reached down again.

Only this time his hand came into contact with a weird item. He brushed away some of the dirt and found a little, black, rounded box with several buttons and white symbols on them. Atem looked at it in a bored way.

It was black and didn't appear to do much, it wasn't colourful or interesting and it was attached to a silver shiny thing with a jagged edge and a smooth edge. Atem didn't touch it; he didn't want to risk the chance that it was sharp. But he pressed buttons absently and jumped up in fear when a double beep sounded in the distance.

Atem looked at the box again and pressed the button, it sounded again. Unsure what to do with it Atem put it back where he found it and finished his break. He didn't want to go look for it, curiosity had gotten him a few bruises and it had gotten him lost a few times. Some things were best left alone.

He learnt that the hard way.

Shovel, tip, fill, leaver, crunch, add to wall. Again.

Around midday Atem found a funny looking contraption. It was a paddle with a stretchy string and rubber ball on the end of it. Atem was wary of the elastic, remembering this morning, but at least it didn't have any metal on it that could hurt him.

"Oh," Atem found that the paddle's extending end fit into his hand in a perfect handle. He held it up and suddenly thought of something to defend himself with. He made a swinging motion like one would with a hammer, and the ball shot out … then went back and smacked the paddle.

Atem looked confused. It didn't go anywhere, or do anything. He tried again and as soon as the ball came back he hit it again. His eyes lit up in delight when he found the rhythm that kept it going. He turned the paddle over and found it a lot easier with the ball coming towards him.

Was this what it was for? Amusement? Atem wondered, he could have done it all day, but was snapped out of his play-time with a careless hit to his shoulder by the rubber ball. Atem winced at the sting but knew he had been distracted, so merely stopped and put it into his bag. He'd keep this for a day when he was forced to stay inside.

Shovel, tip, fill, leaver, crunch, add to wall. Again. Shovel, tip, fill, leaver, crunch, add to wall. Again.

He shovelled in another load and a small blue box fell off the shovel. Atem looked at it with interest, he put in the shovel load and kneeled to see it better. The box was navy blue with a velvety surface and a golden ring around the middle. It felt nice in his hands, and it wasn't too big.

Atem turned it upside down and heard something move inside it. There was something in the middle!

Atem saw hinges on the box and remembered the larger ones on his home door. He grasped the top and pulled it open. He struggled a little when only one side lifted, but followed the movement and soon had it open. Inside was a ring of silver and gold, with a large shiny bit of glass in the middle, being held up by the metal.

Atem picked it up and stared when the light shone through it, it made rainbows! He twisted it this way and that and the light danced at his feet and across his skin. He was fascinated; he had never seen such colours before. Red he knew, he knew yellow and orange, but the blues! And the greens and the colour at the very edge he had no name for … they were beautiful.

He put it back into its box and closed it before placing it carefully into the bag. That was going on his treasure section.

Shovel, tip, fill, leaver, crunch, add to wall. Again.

Atem took another drink and break and began to pick through items again. He lifted up a bright red item, there was an image of a flame on it. Atem felt the phantom pain of his shoulder burn when he remembered the pain of being burnt by fire, and cautiously held it at arms-length.

There was a black handle and a leaver. Like the one that lowered his front door. Atem thoughtlessly squeezed it and was shot backwards by the force of the white stuff that escaped a funnel-shaped end. Atem landed on his back, still clutching the handle down, and stuffed the funnel into the ground to try and stop it.

But that only propelled him up and made him stagger around in confusion and slight fear as the thing continued to hiss and shoot out bubbly white stuff. He was so out of control he ended up spilling his only can of water, and it went everywhere!

The closest other drinking source was his home an hour away!

Atem growled in frustration and fury, and swung his arm around, before letting go of the red and black object, sending it flying like a discus over the mountain of rubbish and far beyond. With his levels of strength it would have easily broken any old-time Olympian record.

Atem continued to growl and restlessly pace until he was sure that it wasn't coming back and that it had stopped spitting. Atem sighed and carefully stepped over and around the white foam on the floor; he definitely didn't want to be near that ever again. He picked up his cup and looked into it sadly when he saw there wasn't even a mouthful left. His full day of work would only be a half day today, what a disappointment and pain.

Shovel, tip, fill, leaver, crunch, add to wall. Again.

Atem had cleared all the rubbish from around an old-time fridge. He examined it for a bit, before realising that it could be put through the Decomposer if he cut it up into smaller pieces.

Atem took his hand with the glove and aimed it at the door of the fridge. He used his free right hand to steady his left as he took aim, then activated the laser with his will-power – biologically he was sending all his solar acquired energy into the glove through electric pulses under his skin, it was absorbed through the metal band and powered the laser. The red light shot through the air and hit the fridge door.

Atem cut slowly downwards, his arm moving at a steady pace until he reached the bottom. The cut sizzled a little with smoke when he was done. He shut off his laser and grabbed both sides of the fridge door and pulled them off an apart. It was easy since there was only a thin layer of lead holding them together, and the magnets in the fridge door.

Atem readied himself to cut again, but saw a splash of colour that completely distracted him.

Inside the fridge, growing out of rotten foods and such that had become soil, was a little green … thing.

Atem crouched to look at it, something in his pre-programed brain telling him that this was special. It was wiry and thin, with three little flat and slightly rounded things attached to the main stem. It was tiny, not taller than a can of soup, and so frail looking. It was hiding away from the polluted air and from the poisoned dirt.

Atem saw another little green blob growing – wait, Growing …

Atem realised suddenly why this thing was so special; it was Alive!

"Alive," Atem whispered. Like he was, they weren't like those dead Atems or Scraps the mechanical canine, they had life. Atem gently reached out and touched the top blob. "Leaf," he somehow recalled – unknown to him, but he already subconsciously knew what it was and how to care for it, even if his conscious mind could only wonder and treasure it.

Atem looked around in the clearing. The wall was about two feet off the ground, and was about fifteen meters by fifteen meters, there wasn't anything here the … Plant … needed to survive. Atem looked at it sadly; it was alone like he was. Maybe he should take it home and look after it?

A grin broke out over Atem's face when he thought of that, it was a great idea! Atem took his empty drinks can and packed a little freshly Decomposed soil into the bottom, before scooping up the Plant, its many white feet and all, and placed it into the can too. He touched the leaves again gently, a silent promise to look after the living thing.

Atem met up with Scraps on his way home again, since he'd found the Plant a half day of work didn't seem so bad, the living plant had brightened Atem's day.

Scraps had found some wrapped rock candy; Atem was absently sucking on a piece as they walked to their home. The sugar wouldn't help his empty stomach pains, but it tasted wonderful.

Atem pulled the leaver and waited for his home to open up so he could find the plant a better home. He needed the drinks can for tomorrow.

Atem turned on 'Hello Dolly' and hummed a few of the opening notes while he placed the blue box and rainbow maker on his shelf, as well as the bright yellow duck and the coloured cube. He looked at the plant and then searched for something that could hold soil. His eyes landed on the golden Puzzle.

Atem took it down and smiled; it was hollow, and the cracks would allow drainage. Why did the plant need draining? Atem had no idea, but his Directive gave him his ideas without any need for explanations. Atem went outside and packed the bottom of the puzzle with fertile soil, then placed the plant inside and patted it into place with his fingertips.

He washed out his drinks can of soil and used the 'wasted' water to give the plant a drink. He then set it by the entrance, where it could bask in the sun.

Atem took his bag outside and smacked it on the ramp to get out any dirt and dust. There wasn't as much as yesterday because he'd only worked half the normal amount of time. But it was best to get it clean anyway.

He turned to go inside but when he turned around there was a red item on the floor.

Atem tilted his head at it. He didn't remember picking up any round, red, shiny objects today. Had it fallen out of his home? He looked up and tried to see where it might have come from, but nothing seemed obvious.

He looked back down, only to see that the red thing was gone! He gasped and looked around- Ah! It was behind him. Atem edged closer, dropping his bag as he moved; so it was a moving, red, round, shiny object? He reached out to touch it.

It moved!

The item shot away over the uneven ground and stopped a few feet away.

Atem's eyes lit up in curiosity and surprise. He let out a confused noise before following the round thing. He reached out again, aiming to pick it up in a pincer like grip, but it jerked away. Atem slammed down his arm to block its escape and the light went the other way to get around him. Atem bounded after it and only jerked to a stop when it did.

He stared at it tensely, waiting for it to move, feeling the trembling anticipation and fun building in his chest. When it moved, it did a dance behind Atem's back, making the humanoid spin on the spot to keep up with it. It stopped after Atem had gotten a little dizzy.

Atem growled at it, annoyed that he'd gotten so off balance. He loomed over the tiny object and smirked "Ha!" he shouted at it, as one would when making something jump.

The red circle at once shot off across the ground and down a ramp leading into the dried up river. The moment it moved Atem pounced and ran after it, determined that this little red dot would not get the better of him.

Scraps watched Atem run away and tilted his head in confusion.

Humanoids were strange.

Scraps' robotic hearing suddenly picked up a strange sound. He looked up and growled at the sky, neither Atem nor robot noticing the many more red dots circling closer to the first one was ominously.

Atem skidded to a stop when the red dot finally stopped dancing around. Atem panted and crouched to pick it up, only to find there was nothing there. He turned his palm up and saw the dot on his hand. It was light!

But light had to come from somewhere, his brain reasoned. He looked around the horizon.

A deafening roar came from above him!

Atem looked up and yelped in fright. Through the clouds and hurdling towards him was an enormous metal mass spewing flames!

Atem took off back towards his home in a mad sprint, but stopped so suddenly he landed on his backside when a large funnel of flames angrily blasted into his path. The heat was unbearable!

Atem closed his eyes and covered his face, he ran in the opposite direction. But two more appeared, trapping him. Atem let out a scream and fell to the ground, curling up into a ball and activating his shield.

His energy flowed into the shield and blocked the heat from his head and shoulders and most other exposed body parts. Atem cowered inside his shield, the sphere stopping the flying dust and flames and smoke, but the heat and noise still blasting him, he wondered if this was the end-

Then the ground shook and the fire stopped.

Atem's ears still rang from the mind-blowing noise those fire-blasters had made. He opened his eyes and looked around, seeing nothing but dust.

He got up onto his hands and knees and did a quick check of himself. His heart monitor showed that he was very much alive, if not a little in shock. His skin was a little tender on his lower back where his shirt had pulled up, but it wasn't burnt, nor blistered thankfully.

Atem breathed a little then slowly got to his feet.

"Ah!" Atem cried out in shock and pain when his head knocked into a metal thing right above him. He staggered forwards rubbing the back of his head, and anxiously looked up at the large structure above him. The metal mass had landed!

He gulped. It was about as tall as a small skyscraper, was vaguely rounded in shape, and had three legs holding it above the ground. Its colours were grey, white and blue. And it hummed with technology and hissed while letting off steam and energy. It could have easily flattened or incinerated him, and Atem knew it could do it again, so quietly began to sneak away. He didn't want to alert the flying building that it hadn't succeeded in killing him.

He got to the edge of the first leg when Atem heard the sound of an automatic door opening. He cowered to the ground in a defensive crouch and looked up.

He saw a long metal arm reach out; it unfolded several times until it was a meter from the ground. On the end was an eye, it scanned left, right, then all around. Atem ducked out of sight when the blue scanning light came near him, the unnaturalness of this metal beast made him scared, what if it saw him? What if it tired to get him again? He was trembling in his boots.

The eye closed, satisfied that everything was as it should be, and retracted up into the main bulk. Next to come out was a tube that nearly touched the ground, it was very thick, more like a colossal pillar. Atem hid behind the leg and peered up at the extending metal limb. When it was three feet from the ground the very bottom section bent outwards, turning on a ball joint until it was like a suspended bed.

Atem was curious again, but this strange metal monster was enough for him to keep his distance. His hands still shook from his near-incineration. He glanced away and saw his home, he could run for it … or wait for it to leave or fall asleep. But what was it doing? What was it for?

The bed like end of the tube suddenly hissed and opened, Atem cringed away from it, and several robotic arms appeared from the bottom.

Atem couldn't stifle the gasp that escaped when a human hand gripped the edge of the opening. The robotic arms reached into the 'bed' and pulled out something dressed in white. Then they dropped it onto the ground.

The 'it' turned out to be a person!

Atem stared, leaning forwards as much as he could to try and see the first living person he'd come across in decades!

The person lay in a heap and seemed stunned. They looked around, left and right then shook their head to clear it before sitting up. They cautiously put their feet on the floor and slowly stood up straight, when they were stably upright they turned back to the waiting machine.

Atem's eyes widened.

It was an angel!

That was the only explanation, the only thing someone so beautiful and white could be.

The young man opened his eyes and looked around sleepily, as if he had just woken up. No dirt or dust clung to his clothes from his rude awakening. His eyes were amethyst, a colour Atem had never seen before, and it was beautiful. His hair was star shaped, similar to Atem's, with purple tips and ebony mass, golden bangs hung over his face. The face was young, clean, and flawless. Slightly rounded and yet it seemed to fit his short stature. He had pale skin that was just as flawless.

His clothes were a skin tight all in one costume of white with thin blue lines in techno patterns down the arms, legs, and spine. On his chest was a silver star, like the net of a 3-d cube. He wore white short shorts, most likely for modesty, and had a thick belt with two bulks on each hip; weapons. On one ear was an ear piece and he wore some heavy duty boots too.

Atem breathed slowly outwards, beautiful ... so different from the Atems he was used to seeing.

The man in white looked at the robotic arms and reached out to a screen the arm presented to him. He tapped it a few times, entering data. Then allowed another to gently grasp his head like a helmet would, the arm projected something on the left and the man raised his left hand. They then repeated the same on the right while the arm scanned his eyes.

Atem tilted his head, what were they doing? Light into the eyes wasn't a good thing was it? From what Atem remembered direct light into your eyes hurt.

Satisfied the arm retreated and the young man was presented with a see through stick, he put that in his mouth and typed a few more things onto the touch screen before handing back the stick. The robotic arm bleeped, a green light flashed and the young man smiled slightly before reaching up to his head/earpiece.

When he touched it some scanning blue lights shot out to where he was looking and a small screen extended out from the earpiece over his right eye. Atem leaned forwards and heard three small bleeps before a resounding negative tone. The young man looked around and, to Atem's astonishment, began to fly!

The boots on his feet emitted a light blue glow of advanced technology and energy, and the beautiful stranger hovered off of the ground. He flew away as graceful as an old-time swimmer-dancer gliding through water, he slowed with a tilt of his feet and scanned again. When the same negative tone came again he moved on.

And repeated the cycle.

Just like Atem did with his daily job.

Atem followed him silently, forgetting about home, and safety, and the fiery inferno. The robotic arm and pillar retracted and Atem heard the low roar of the engines firing. He gasped and turned, sure enough, there was the fire!

Atem cringed and ran away, shield around his head as the metal monster took off again. Atem turned around and watched it fly into the sky.

*Boop * *Boop* *Boop* *Nerr!*

Atem turned around and saw the angel look up at the machine too. He watched as the serious face relaxed and a breath taking smile lit up the angel's face. The stranger looked around, his eyes full of excitement, and raised his arms, his boots powering up and sending him up into the sky in a graceful spin.

Atem held his breath, not daring to breathe encase he went away or stopped. He never knew it was possible to leave the ground like this, it was amazing, impossible, and so much like a dream that Atem didn't dare pinch himself for fear that it was.

The young man paused in mid-air and leaned forwards, his boots propelling him forwards faster than before, it was like he was a flying. His arms outstretched to feel the air as he looped around a stray rock surrounded by littler, his eyes wide open as he spun uncontrollably through the air in a free fall before swooping up at the last second. His face was alight with fun.

Atem turned on the spot, transfixed and honestly hypnotised by the beautiful display of freedom and fun. He hid behind a mound of sand and drank in the sight.

The angel hovered in the air, losing his momentum gradually, and then sank back to the floor, as if he was letting out a sigh. Atem looked sad too, he was sad it was over. He shifted his weight as the man touched the ground, so he could see him better, and accidently nudged a few stray stones.

The angel tensed and turned with a speed Atem didn't expect, but he didn't have time to think, there was a large blue blast heading towards him!

Atem dived.

BOOM!

The stranger glared at the sand pile. He was sure he'd heard something. He held both guns out, one up to the sky defensively, the other he had fired. When the plasma blast had cleared there was nothing but a crater in the sand. Whatever threat he might have heard wasn't a threat anymore.

The stranger relaxed and quickly returned his guns to their holders before flying towards the city, confident that his shot had caught the noise-maker. He shouldn't have gotten so distracted anyway.

Atem sat up and gulped when he saw the crater in the sand a few feet from where he had been crouching. The middle of the blast had been so hot the sand had turned to glass! He felt trembles taking over his hands as he kneeled upright to see where the man was. His eyes widened when he saw the young man flying away.

Atem shook his trembles off. That angel was dangerous!

But he knew he had been snooping, Hello Dolly had taught him that snooping wasn't a good thing, so he didn't blame the beautiful stranger for reacting. He watched as he disappeared into the buildings, he had to see him again. He had to introduce himself properly and get closer to the angel, why was his heart beating faster?

Atem felt excitement sparkle through his veins as he ran home. Should he approach? Then what, say hello? Ah! He didn't speak very clearly, so that wouldn't work. Should he extend a hand? Offer something to eat?

When he got to his bunker he patted Scraps and quickly packed up his bag again, he was going to follow this stranger. It was company at last! Even if they were scary and clearly dangerous when approached, he wasn't going to let the opportunity pass. He could show them his home, and try and tell him how beautiful he was.

His heart monitor picked up again, but the feeling was so nice ... Atem touched his chest unsurely, happy but confused, it felt ... nice to have his heart jumping in his chest. What was happening?

Atem placed the plant onto his shelf of treasures, but did so very hastily, and sent another item falling. Atem gasped and picked up the only thing his Mother Atem had left him. It was a book, she had read it to him as a young child, he couldn't read, but he liked to look at the pictures and remember her fading voice.

The book was a Manga volume, preserved in plastic.

Atem opened it carefully to check for damage and found his jaw dropping in amazement! He really hadn't read this in a long time, he had forgotten what the main character looked like!

He looked exactly like the beautiful stranger!

Atem caressed the ink and paper and squinted as he tried very hard to recall what his name was, he tried to read the symbols, and slowly, agonisingly slowly, a name spelt itself out: Y … U … G … I

Atem smiled. That was it! And that was what he was going to call the angel. Yugi.

Oh you made it to the end? Yay! I hoped you liked it :)

Yeah, the manga book at the end is a Yugioh volume, it's most likely going to be one that includes Battle city, since that has the most amount of Characters in it. I had to add this because I wanted to try something different, it's unlikely that Atem comes up with 'Yugi' for a name if he's never heard or used a lot of them. So I put that in there to explain why he think's that's Aibou's name.

I hope you liked and smiled and that you're looking forwards to the next chapter. HELP ME GET WRITING AGAIN WITH REVIEWS and I promise I'll reply in the next chapter. Let's do the top five thing again ;D

ebirchalleDOTdeviantartDOTcom/art/A-T-E-M-appearance-418387909

Please copy and past this link to see my drawing of Atem's humanoid appearance. Replace DOT with .