CHAPTER 6: Mortality and Noodling
Her sleep that night was a mix of dreamlessness and memories of terror experienced that day. Teeth and claws snapped at her; biting and crunching pale bones. A gelatinous mess of blood, brain and guts would be all that remained of her. Sweat dotted her forehead and her breathing became irregular, trapped in the whirlwind of terror.
In her nightly spasms, she rested on her right side as to not strain her healing thigh on the opposite leg. Her ears faintly aware of mechanical talking as she blearily opened them to see two child-bots looking at her partially nude form. Their unblinking, dull green eyes stared at her wrapped wound.
Yanking her bed sheet to cover her body, Lilia shouted "What are you two doin'!?" Her heart thumped in her ears and her face turned a deep red in dismay.
The two child-bots were taken aback and one of them shockingly stammered, "W-we were just ch-checking on you Ms. Lilia! We heard you mumbling."
Lilia groaned deeply in embarrassment while hearing the rapid patter of approaching footsteps. 2B and 9S joining the group. Her blush deepened in mortification.
The hard invasion of her privacy being violated caused a loss of gentleness with her words. "Get the hell outta here!" Her aggravation caused the two child-bots to jump and run; she slammed the open door in the two android's faces. Lilia mumbled angrily about not having any damn privacy any-damn-where.
She took a breath to calm herself rubbing her face with her hands.
That was one way to wake up in the morning. Need a lock on that damn door.
She dragged herself up and inspected her thigh. It was still sore, but better than yesterday. Stretching and turning over, she cautiously stood up. A slight pressure was felt, but otherwise she could move around and take steps with a slight limp from the healing muscles.
Her stomach growled like an angry child demanding attention.
Lilia ignored the twisting growl to put on her clothes, with minimal difficulty, especially with her pants. Once finished, she sat back on her bed, and rummaged through her purse, finding the tupperware holding a handful of berries in it. She opened it and gave a sniff. She needed more soon but ate the berries, regardless. Then, drinking a mouthful of her water before she put the items back into her purse, which functioned as her survival pack. The original contents sat under her makeshift bed in a box she traded. Those items from her time were useless here and a burden for her to carry every day. Her hairbrush was the only thing she took out daily. Not wanting to look at herself in the mirror, Lilia was afraid she'd see a stranger.
As she sat up the soreness in her thigh was ignored while grabbing her purse and staff. She left her room, closing the door behind her. The two androids overlooked the village next to her room. They faced her; their stances were less stiff than usual, projecting the impression of feeling awkward. Based on them barging into her room while she was almost naked, she couldn't say she blamed them.
9S cleared his throat and asked, "You off somewhere?"
Lilia nodded. "Yeah, I have some… things to take care of."
"What of your leg?" Concern etched in the teen android's voice.
Dismissive in her sigh before responding, "It's fine 9S. Just need to get the stiffness out is all."
Lilia turned to walk away from them. The ladder down took her slower than it had, but she could reach the bottom without great difficulty. Her fellow machines in the village waved at her, glad to see her moving around. The two androids followed behind her as she walked out of the village. When they did not part ways, and she stopped and questioned them.
"What are you doin'?" Crossing her arms in annoyance.
"Just, um…"
She sighed exasperated. "Look, I'm fine like I said. The ointment has done its job and I can walk all right now. I'm just sore. I…" She looked behind them to make sure they were out of earshot, "have to find me something to eat. I'll be back later, I'm sure you two have things to do for YoRHa."
"Can it wait a day?" 2B asked, "We'd feel better about your condition."
She tightened the grip on her staff, "No it can't."
"We understand—"
"The hell you do!" She shouted at 2B. Anger and resentment boiled under her skin. The loneliness and stress she had to endure daily sat always at the front of her mind.
"Look I know y'all are lookin' out for me. But I need to do this myself. I have no choice. If I don't find food, I'll starve to death. If I don't get water, I'll die quicker than not eatin'. I'm not one of you androids that all you need to do is pop a new battery in and you're good. And if I die I don't get uploaded into another body!"
"Lilia—"
"Shut up I'm not finished!" Her shout echoed through the thick trees.
"This hasn't been the easiest thing for me to do. Bein' out here survivin' by myself while hidin' at the village. I'm constantly worried about it. Christ I'm lucky that Pascal hasn't been too suspicious. You have no idea how hard it is! When I grew up all I had to do was go to a store, buy food, and take two steps to a fridge that was always packed. And now—" She huffed in resentment of her predicament. "And now, if I don't find and kill it myself that day, I don't eat.
Lilia continued with a huff. "I need to do this myself. You two have your own shit with YoRHa to do. I can't depend on you for my needs. Same with the villagers but I can't tell them why. I'm sorry. I'm real fuckin' sorry. But you don't understand."
She angrily turned on her heel and ignored the soreness of her thigh as she stomped away, letting the trees and ferns swallow her. Faintly hearing her named called, she ignored it and resolutely faced forward, taking the path she'd always taken.
Lilia smelled the bear before she saw it. Flies had worked on it, buzzing around the eyes, mouth and rump. Crows cawing at her. The smell of death pungent.
"Stupid fuckin' bear." She cursed its mere existence.
Turning again and heading upstream away from the carcass, Lilia walked until her sore leg couldn't take any more and protested loudly. After finding a calmer part of the stream, she sat down on one boulder, attached the hook end-piece to her pole and cast it into the water. The soft plunk of the hook echoed in her mind as she waited for a bite.
Once her hammering heart had calmed and anger had subsided, Lilia felt wetness run down her cheeks, clutching her metal pole like a lifeline.
I hate this.
"Stop cryin' Lilia." She told herself, her voice raspy and raw with emotion. "Just… stop cryin'."
I want to go home.
—xxx—
In a flash of golden light, Adam teleported to the usual place for his meetings with Lilia, only to be greeted with the rotting stink of a dire bear carcass and a pack of dire wolves munching on an easy meal. They growled at him sensing an intruder. One of the pack launched itself at him, materializing a spiked beam, he impaled it, its spine popping out of the gaping wound and a fountain of blood and guts seeping from the belly. After witnessing the death of one of their own, the rest of the pack scurried away.
Is this why Lilia wasn't here?
On closer inspection of the partially eaten dire bear carcass, Adam found the means of its death. A sharp object—more than likely from a sword—through the skull and out through the back. Flies had gathered around the wound to lay their eggs, its gray brain, muscles, fat, and thick hide exposed.
Highly doubting that Lilia had killed the beast herself, if was from any blade, it would have been from a YoRHa battle android. Speculation ran rampant in his wired network.
He needed to find Lilia.
He quickly teleported outside the pacifist village and looking down, surveyed the inhabitants. Lilia was gone.
Panic settled in his torso. His mind clouded with it.
Immediately teleporting to the top buildings at the android camp, Adam searched the camp. She wasn't there.
His red eyes glowed and his hands shook. Had she gone exploring the humans again and not told him? No. No that couldn't be right.
Hastily returning to their meeting spot, he fully connected to the server and activated his internal search engines, the gears and wires firing within his network. A whole new layer of his vision and senses overlapped what was already presented, highlighting footprints, smells, echoing sounds.
The pungent, putrid stench of the dire bear dominated the area, along with the woodsy scent of the wolves and carrion birds that had been feasting on it. He could taste the rancidness stuck on his tongue. His auditory sensors heard the surrounding wildlife from the wings of the birds, the crunching of machine and animal walking on the forest floor, to the breaking of leaves from the trees. Hyper data collected on the area and filtering unnecessary points of interest.
ACTIVATE SEARCH ENGINE
DELETE Ursus dirusDecay.
DELETE Corvus brachyrhynchos hesperisScent.
DELETE Canis dirus novusScent.
DELETE Environment Noise.
DELETE…
DELETE…
DELETE…
!WARNING!
DETECTED: Foot Print. Size 8 US. Weight Approximate 61.23 Kilograms.
[Target: LILIA] Foot Prints CONFIRMED.
!WARNING!: Irregular Gate Detected.
HYPOTHESIS: Unknown Injury To [Target: LILIA].
ETC: 83 minutes 39 seconds.
HIGHLIGHT [prints]
DETECTED: [Target: LILIA] Scent.
HIGHLIGHT [Scent]
DIRECTION: 343 Degrees North Northwest.
OBJECTIVES:
Objective 1: Follow [Target: LILIA]
Status: None Available
Objective 2: Enable Safety Protocols Of [Target: LILIA]
Status: None Available
FAILURE PROTOCOLS:
None Available…
None Available…
None Available…
OBJECTIVE CONFIRMATION:
Accept.
UNIT DATA BACKUP REQUIRED:
Accept.
It only took 5.23 seconds for his processors to filter the data. Lilia's scent and prints glowing yellow. Sprinting down the path that was created, his sensors singular in purpose. Approximately 3 minutes into tracking, his systems binged again.
!WARNING!
DETECTING Sound Waves 2.401 Kilometers From Current Location.
ENABLE Real-Time Playback.
The sound was soft and muffled. Choking and rasping.
"Stop cryin' Lilia. Just… stop cryin'."
CONFIRMED: Audio Of [Target: LILIA]
ETA: 2 minutes 25 seconds
Continue Auditory Observation.
"I hate this… Why me?" A long-drawn sigh preceded words "Stop it Lilia. Just… just catch a fish. One day at a time."
!WARNING!
DETECTING Vocal Stress Patterns And Distress In [Target: LILIA]
CAUSE: Unknown
HYPOTHESIS: None Available. More Data Required.
!WARNING!
Anomaly Detected Within Machine Model 341102-A. Codename: ADAM.
Anomaly Causing Stress To Machine Model 341102-A Emotional Stabilizers.
Anomaly Causing Overheating By 93 Degrees Celsius In Machine Model 341102-A Motor Systems. Exceeding Maximum Velocity By 16 KM/H.
Failure For Anomaly Containment And Deletion Will Result In System Unit Failure.
Confirmation Required for Anomaly Containment and Deletion.
Reject.
!WARNING!
DETECTING Possible Visual Confirmation.
DISABLE Auditory Observation.
ENABLE Long-Range Visual Sensors.
CONFIRMED Visual Confirmation Of [Target: LILIA]
OBJECTIVES:
Objective 1: Follow [Target: LILIA]
Status: COMPLETE
Objective 2: Enable Safety Protocols Of [Target: LILIA]
Status: IN-PROGRESS
ETA: 1 minute 15 seconds
!WARNING!
System Failure Imminent.
Cooling Systems Insufficient.
Artificial Skin Failure.
EndoskelEton FAilUre I_mInent.
BIO Sy em Fail_rE ImM n_nt.
E#A: 15 s_cO ds
$H T_D0^N
R3J c_.
—xxx—
While waiting for a bite of a fish, Lilia heard a strange noise behind her. Before she even turned around, whatever it was zoomed right pass her and landed with a loud thud and slide, hitting the rocks in a metallic crunch. The force gouging a path in the earth from the slide.
Lilia jumped from her spot in fright and holding her pole in defense at the intruder. Adrenaline pumping in her veins. Her eyes quickly registering what ran passed her.
It took a few seconds for her to process it was Adam that ran like a bat out of hell.
"Adam! What the—The hell didja do!" She yelled in horror.
She dropped her pole at his mangled state and running to his side. The first thing she noticed was how fucking hot he was, she didn't want to go near because of how oppressive it was. The synthetic skin was melting off his endoskeleton, revealing his android heritage in spots. Sparks and foul smoke snaked out of the gaping holes and through his facial area. His clothes nearly burned off, had dark patches hung haggardly. His maroon eyes glowed a dangerous pinkish color, twitching when he stared at her.
"obJE-EETive…" His voice cracking and sounding like a digital muddle. "kkkkcOMple-e-e-ete…"
"Adam!"
"S-s-s-systEEEM REEs-s-s-sTart"
"Adam!"
The glow in his eyes turned off, and he stopped moving. The only thing could be heard was the sound of wildlife in the forest and the sparks popping from within his body.
"Adam…" her voice quiet, trying to process what had just happened.
Is he… dead?
"Adam…" Her throat constricted again in a bubble of emotion.
It halted when a flash of yellow light swirled around Adam's mangled corpse. A cry uttered from her throat while jumping back and pushing herself backwards on the stony ground. As she watched the light swirl… and an arm materialized from it. Then, the torso shot from it, doubling over and hitting the ground with a soft, fleshy thud. Its other arm reached forward and pulled itself out of the swirling light. The legs followed crouching and moved to stand. Its silver hair was wet and dripped a thick, clear fluid as was the rest of the body.
After finding her legs, she raised herself. The healing thigh cramped minimally from the movement.
Is this… how they regenerate themselves?
Quickly realizing that she was looking at a copied body of Adam. A very, very naked copy, though lacking the fun bits.
They really do look like Ken dolls.
His maroon eyes flashed a hot pink where the pupils were.
"Memory corrupted. Downloading back-up storage." He said in an emotionless monotone.
"Adam?"
When he made no acknowledgement, she stepped closer until she was face-to-face with the android. Curious, she touched his chest with her finger tips. She only had a second to register the slicked skin before his hands grabbed her at the shoulder. It caused her to jump at the contact and cringing at the pressure.
"Identity confirmed as Lilia. Threat level: None."
He then freed the hold on her shoulders before resuming his earlier position.
Well, at least he recognized me.
"Download of back-up memory complete. Systems running nominally. Necessary adjustments made. System A.I. is clear." With that being said, the glow from his eyes turned off, and the stiffness relaxed. Adam blinked a few times before hugging her in a vice grip while exclaiming, "There you are Lilia! I've been looking for you. What happened at our meeting place?" For knowing him for a while she could tell that worry was etched into his stoic voice.
A blush formed across her cheeks from the action; grimacing at the tightness of the hug and the uncomfortable sensation of the thick, gooey gel he was covered with stuck to her.
"... Our… Oh, I'm sorry. I should have put a note or somethin' there in case you came. Um, you can leggo of me now." Awkwardly he did as Lilia asked him, pulling her clothes away from his sticking skin. Wet spots dotted her clothing, the heaviest around her chest.
"I… apologize. I don't know what came over me."
Slightly smiling, "It's all right, no harm." She exhaled wearily before continuing, "Anyway, I went there yesterday thinkin' that you might come. I was worried that somethin' was wrong when you left the day before. While… I was waiting… that bear…" Swallowing the lump in her throat at the memory of her arms and head being in that beast's mouth. Along with the foul rot of death within as it breathed on her.
Lilia noticed the visible twitch in Adam's frame. "You were… hurt."
"Not too bad considering… 2B and 9S was passin' by and saw what was happenin' and killed the bear. I was… lucky to just get outta there with just some claw marks on my thigh. I'm OK now."
His maroon eyes widened at seeing her ruined pants. The left thigh turned a discolored brown color from the blood that had soaked the cloth, along with the linen that wrapped around the lesions beneath the torn holes from the dire bear's claws.
"May I see these wounds?" She could hear the concern in his voice as he continued to stare where she received her injury.
She swallowed and reassured him, "No, it's fine. They… gave me some gel for the area. It's healed up, but it's sore a little." Her arm raised in dismissal of her injuries and turned her attention to his own. "Anyway… you have some explainin' to do! What the world happened to you?" She exclaimed while pointed at his deactivated, mangled body that was still sparking in areas and smoking.
His expression became distant as he recalled, "I also went to our meeting spot to see if you were there earlier. When I saw the dire bear and dire wolves feasting on its corpse, I was… concerned. I scanned the machine village and android camp, but I found you weren't there. On returning to the dire bear corpse I activated my search engines. After saving my data there, it becomes… blurry."
She nodded in understanding, "Yeah, when you, I guess, were activatin' a minute ago, you said somethin' about your memory being corrupted and you were downloadin' a back-up."
He nodded, "Yes. All I have after that save are fragments of clear data and the rest is a jumbled mess. From what I gather, an anomaly caused it. Which is strange…"
"Why?" Lilia's eyebrows crinkled at that.
"Anomalies which cause that failure are contained and deleted. I… don't remember why I didn't do so. The last process that happened before was an 'audio distress' from you. What was said has been corrupted." He explained.
Lilia shifted her feet, "Well, at least you're all right and nothin' permanent happened."
"To you."
"Yeah, and… for the record… if you want to hug me again… could you by chance get that sticky stuff off of you?"
Adam made a twitch of his lips and said with contentment, "I can do that. Before I do…" Motioning over toward his old, mangled body he removed the necklace that had the flashlight she gave him. She heard him sigh dejected.
"What's wrong?" Lilia asked curiously.
He got up from his crouched position to show her. The usual round shape of the metal had melted it slightly, giving it more of an oval shape and the color had flaked off where it was closest to his synthetic skin. Adam clicked the button, and the light didn't turn on. As he was messing with it, the cloth strap closest to the metal tie came apart, dislodging the flashlight from the whitish chain.
Even though he had his usual stoic facade, she could sense he was upset by his downcast eyes and slump to his shoulders.
"I'm sorry Adam…"
He looked at her with a solemn expression and said, "Don't be. Can this be repaired?"
Clasping her hands and shifting her feet she replied, "No. I'm afraid not. It's too badly damaged, and I know no one who could fix it if it wasn't. I'm sorry. You can have my other one if you want it."
He looked away in thought and clutching the broken flashlight he answered, "No. No, you keep yours. I'll still hold on to this one."
Lilia nodded at his choice.
Then, he did something extraordinary, or rather the whitish chain did. Where the cloth strap was still attached to the chain, said chain pulled apart, releasing the cloth strap. He then took the 'broken' chain and tossed it on top of his old body in disregard, while holding on to the pieces of the flashlight in his left hand.
She shook her head at the strange phenomena.
"I think… I'll go rinse off in the stream now." He commented, walking toward said stream.
"Wait. Your flashlight, here, I'll hold on to it while you do that."
He paused and considered her for a moment, contemplating her offer. Then, nodding once he consented to the idea he raised his hand to give it to her. Which she did and placed it in her right front pocket.
As she watched him go, her eyes wondered downward.
Well… the androids certainly knew how to make 'em good lookin'.
Reprimanding herself for the direction her thoughts were leading to as she watched him go into the babbling stream. Her mouth watering at the lazy water licking at his skin.
Mentally shaking her head, she kept busy. She fished before Adam had arrived; grabbing her pole she had thrown on the ground when he charged into the bank. He had asked what she was doing, and she answered that she was studying the practice of fishing.
Despite her mind on the fish, her eyes couldn't help but look at another type of catch.
C'mon Lilia… you're thirty and have seen men naked before. She told herself to get her thoughts away from probable forbidden territory.
Yeah… but it's been years since… ya know, and he'd want you to be happy. And Adam, he's… well despite not having the fun bits, isn't bad lookin'. And he's the only male lookin' thing you know of currently.
What of 9S?
Jailbait! And he doesn't treat you like a breeze will break you like 9S, 2B, and the other androids who know you are human do.
Mentally sighing at herself,Even if… I wanted to, I can't have children with him. Remember the last time I tried to bring a child into the world?
I know, but you shouldn't give up. He wouldn't want that for you either. You know what artificial insemination is right?
She mentally shuttered at that, Ugh, yes, I know what that is.
And besides, the Commander said to get comfortable for an indefinite stay here on Earth.
Yeah, I know. But, there's three problems with that. One, I would have to reveal my identity to him. Two, I don't even know if androids are capable of the same emotional connection for a healthy relationship. And three, even if it were just physical, I doubt he'll get off on it the same way I could. And now I think on it, do their programs allow them to even have a relationship with a human? From 2B and 9S, they've never met a human besides me, not even the Commanders. It's all through indirect communications. And… you remember the last time I… I went with the military type.
Well, even if he knows you're human, would it make a difference? He works for YoRHa. I know your reservations after… after last time. You know the risks, it's nothing new to you. As far as 'emotional connections' and the physical part. Do you believe that? I mean, look at Pascal's village of machines and the androids at the Resistance camp. For Christ's sake they mourn their dead! If they can mourn they can love too. I'm sure that physical intimacy is different, but you don't know unless you ask. With Adam, it's as obvious as his deactivated body not fifteen feet from you. He broke that body to find you.
That internal revelation made her gasp out loud.
Which gained the attention of said android.
"Lilia, are you all right? Nothing within you broke did it? What of your thigh?"
Her body cringed she stammered, "Oh, um, n-no! I was just… thinkin' is all."
"About what?"
She smiled in a sarcasm, "Like how am I supposed to catch a fish with a naked man distractin' them?"
He upturned an eyebrow at her, "You were the one who suggested that I bathe here."
His retort caused her to giggle, "I was just teasin' Adam. I guess… they ain't bitin' today." Increasingly becoming dejected at the prospect of going hungry.
"Is this a human activity?" He asked, his curiosity itching out of his voice.
"Ah yes. It is. Humans would gather fish usin' somethin' like this," putting emphasis on her metal cane pole, "to bait one to bitin' the hook part." She lifted it up to show him the hook out of the water. "I've been… practicin' is all."
Wordlessly he lifted himself out of the water and sat next to her. Lilia's eyes wandered across his wet form, how the clear water glided over every curve and pool at every dip. Feeling a blush form across her cheeks.
"How else did they catch these… fish?" His question cut through her reverie.
"Um, they would use nets but those were for boats and catchin' a lot of them at once." A memory popped into her head, "Which reminds me… I remember readin' about humans usin' dolphins to catch fish."
"How?"
"Well, I guess over time the humans and this pod of dolphins formed a workin' relationship. I can't exactly remember this right—it wasn't a well-known practice—but the humans would create a signal to the dolphins. Which told them to, I guess, herd a school of fish to the shore and the humans would cast their nets to catch them. The humans would be nice enough to let the dolphins eat their share too.
"One of the more, I guess, sillier ones I heard about is a human will go into the water and, barehanded, catch one. It was called 'noodlin''."
"'Noodling' huh? Humans are… particular."
She chuckled at that, "You can say that again."
Adam made a noncommittal humming sound before stating, "Perhaps a more direct approach is necessary."
Lilia made a confused look at him before he clarified, "I shall try this 'noodling'." Before she could form a reply, he was back into the water and submerged. His heavy, metallic weight made him sink quickly.
She made a disgruntled sigh but didn't complain. At least it's worth a shot. He was always willing to imitate activities we'd do.
Since she wasn't getting anywhere with her pole, she pulled it out of the water and detached the hooked end, putting the attachment back into her oversized purse. Patiently waiting on her android friend to return from his underwater hunt. She then hummed a little upbeat tune.
He had gone a ways from her upstream to where she couldn't see him under the glare caused by the sun's reflection. Sometime later she saw his pale form return to her. His eyes forming that reddish glow they had from earlier. The light refracted across the water's surface.
A horrid thought crossed her mind, how do I explain that I will have to eat it without giving myself away?
Once he made it to her, he stepped on the underwater boulders and his torso came up. Thus, revealing the monster catfish that must have been as long as her arm. The catfish shook violently in his grasp, but he held firm onto it. Water splashed in the fish's attempt to escape. Some of it sprayed onto her as she cried out both from the droplets and gleeful knowledge she would get her fill.
"Oh my god! That thing's huge! Wonde—!" Adam cut her praises short as he used his powerful legs to launch himself out of the water. Nearly dousing her in the cool liquid of the stream. She cried out as she, as fast as she could, to try to get away from the wall of water. As irritated as that made her, she couldn't stay mad for longer than a second. Not when something more important would occur.
Lilia approached the dripping wet android and flapping huge catfish. His arm "muscles" contracting to hold the river beast in his hands. With knowing how strong he probably is, it was an easy enough task. The catfish stood little chance.
"What do we do next Lilia?" He asked. "I'm sure humans would have consumed this, yes?"
She swallowed, both from nervousness and hunger. "Y-yeah. I have… practiced killing one. Not one that big though. First time for everything, right?"
"Then we will eat this together."
Eat… together…? He won't…?
Quickly deciding not to question him, she said, "Yes, I'd like that. I've done some experimentin' and learnin' on how to do so. I'll show you."
"Please."
Clapping her hands of not having to worry about revealing too much and eating. "OK. Hold on to him for me, let me get my tools."
She walked toward her purse she fished out a pair of pliers, her hook attachment, and a piece of two-foot twine. Replacing the nylon string on her hook attachment with the twine. Then, returning to the android's side, she instructed him toward one tree with a low-hanging branch.
"Now," she began, "what I'm gonna do is wrap this end around the tree, and have the hook go into its mouth." Doing that before she continued, the catfish still wiggling as it was hanging. "Then, I have to paralyze it." She then took out the dagger from its pouch around her waist. Her sharp blade pierced the top of the catfish's spine causing it to go limp and motionless. "Now, I can work without havin' to fight it."
Her explanation continued as he drank her words and stoically watched. From cutting the tail off to let the animal bleed out, cutting around the shape of the head, using the pliers to pull the skin off, and pulling the guts out before fileting the meat. All that was left was the spine and head hanging. Adam held onto the meat for her as she worked.
"And, that's it. At least, how I think it's done." She said as she wiped off the blade before putting it back in its pouch.
"Do we eat now?"
"Yeah, but first—"
Adam cut her off as he put one of the smaller pieces of raw fish into his mouth and chewed.
Her hazel eyes bugging out in horror as she exclaimed, "No! Don't do that! I gotta cook it first!"
He looked at her and swallowed. "Oh."
Not kissin' that mouth anytime soon.
Mentally shaking her head from the bewilderment she felt, "Here, I'll show you how they built a fire. It'll cook the meat."
She went through the motions and routine. It was a small fire that would just be enough to give the heat to cook the fish.
"But, before I light the grass, I need to put this thing down." She said before pulling out four rods and a blackened metal sheet that was a two-by-one foot with wide rectangular holes cut out, and four sets of two holes drilled into each corner. "I asked one villager to make this for me. I made it look similar to a 'grill'. You put the fish or whatever meat you have on top of it, so it'll cook." She then went through that process of piercing the ground with the rods and setting the grill top, the split v-pattern at the last three inches securing the grill on the drilled holes. "Now, time to light it."
With practiced ease she struck her steel piece on her trusty rock. The sparks ignited her collected dry grass. In a matter of minutes, the arrangement of dry wood caught fire. Then, taking the bits of catfish, she arranged them on the grill. The sizzle causing her mouth to water.
"When will it be done?" He asked while sitting on his knees beside her.
"Um, when it turns opaque and flaky. I have to turn it over to cook the other side." Lilia answered.
A small smile formed on his face. "So, this is the cause for that burned patch at the old spot."
She cringed, "Yeah. I've practiced how to do it there."
He upturned a silver brow. "And you didn't think to share that knowledge because…?"
A wolfish smile came on her lips as he placed her knuckles on her hips. "You didn't ask."
He snorted at her sarcasm. "Cute."
After a moment of silence, he asked another question, "Is this why you haven't left the village yet?"
"Huh? Whatcha mean by that?"
Even though his face was his usual stoicism, his eyes intently stared at her. "There's something that has been bothering me about you. I… haven't been honest with you."
Her unease grew, doing her best to hide it.
"When we first met, that wasn't the first time I knew of you. I saw you at that machine village and I… overheard you state you were a type of YoRHa diplomat, but when I saw you again, you were a Resistance fighter. I've been… ignoring that glaring error because I've enjoyed our encounters. I would appreciate the truth. You're no YoRHa model."
She could feel her heart race. Heavily sighing, the only sounds made were that of the crackling fire and the steady stream.
"You're right, and I'm sorry… for lyin'." She admitted. "Technically, I… am a resistance fighter."
"Technically?"
Trying to plan a lie, at least a convincing one. "Yeah. You… don't need to know details. But, Anemone and the Commander of YoRHa… Thought to send an undercover android to Pascal's village to keep an eye on them. But… life there is so slow, and they have given no bad intentions. Despite that, I'm to stay there indefinitely as a 'diplomat'. And well… I've been engagin' in my hobby to pass the time."
"Studying humans, you mean?"
She gave him a nod in affirmation. "Yeah, it's been… a learnin' experience."
A snort escaped from Adam as he crossed his arms. "You're not much of a Resistance fighter to be sent on a cushy job to look after disconnected machines."
Giving a brief laugh at the tease. "No, you're right on that!"
His remark lightened up the mood, letting her know it satisfied him with the lie she told. She then inspected the catfish meat, she determined it was time to flip them. She rummaged out the scraper in her purse, she used it—along with her left hand as a guide—to turn the pieces. The cooked side revealed a nice light-brown color from the heat along with the white opaqueness of the meat. Lilia smirked at the progress.
"Good. It's almost ready."
A long pause happened after she said that. The duo had a more companionable silence than an awkward one. To fill the silence, Lilia hummed a little. Adam would lazily glance between her and the cooking fish meat. Behind his stoicism he held an air of contentment blended with his mild curiosity of the human delicacy.
"May I ask you something?" His steady tenor inquired.
Lilia stopped her hum and chuckled, and he had a minor break in his calm facade in confusion.
"I'm sorry, it's just… you've never asked permission when you'd ask a question. But please, go ahead. What is it?"
His mild confusion turned to contemplation before he spoke. "What made you do this?"
"Huh? What do you mean?"
"To… act like you do. To learn these… human activities. What made you decide to?"
Another lump in her throat formed as she tried to swallow it down.
"It's… a long story. But I…" I had no choice. "I thought the best way to understand humans is to… do as they do. To, ya know, think like one. I admire their resilience."
Adam made a noncommittal humming sound that confirmed he accepted her reply to his question.
She inspected the fish a few minutes later. Her mouth watered at the delicious smell the sizzling meat that was wafting about and steam dancing above the cooking flesh. Her stomach turning but not growling thankfully. Satisfied the meat was finished cooking, she made sure they weren't stuck on the other side using her scraper. Then, pulling out two crudely cut wooden blocks that were six-by-three-by-three; out of her purse and setting them—with the long side down—about a foot and a half apart from each the other, and between her and Adam.
His brows furrowed but said nothing as he observed her.
Now, carefully, she took her pair of pliers on one end of the makeshift grill top and the scraper on the other and lifted it off the four rods. Then she set the hot, grill plate and steaming fish-flesh on the two wood blocks.
Adam turned around to face her and the cooked food. As he reached for a piece, she slapped his hand away.
He gave her an annoyed look.
"We… have to say a blessin' first." She told him.
His brows quirked, "A blessing?"
"Yeah, um, humans would say a prayer over food before eatin' it." She explained. "It was a type of 'thank you.'"
"A food ritual?"
"Kinda." She said while shrugging her shoulders, "All you would have to do is bow your head, close your eyes, and say the blessin'. It mostly had a religious tone to it."
"I see… I'm afraid I don't know of any 'blessings'."
Lilia smiled and giggled, "I may know of one…" She admitted as she extended her hands toward him. "It's… customary to hold hands if there is over one person present during the meal."
Wordlessly his gloveless hands clasped hers. The sight of their hands holding… stirred something within her. The sensations prickled her arms and fluttered her stomach, which halted her hunger.
Thoughts halted as Adam spoke, "Is this right?"
The android's words made her blink out of her trance to see his head bowed and eyes closed as she stated earlier.
"Oh, yes. That's right. Then… I'll begin."
She cleared her throat she said, "Lord, bless this food we are about to receive from your earthly bounty, so we can continue to love our friends and family. For those who are still here and who have been welcomed in Heaven. That we… can be forgiven for our sins and may your love give us mercy. In Jesus's name…
"Amen."
-xxx-
END NOTE:
Made a height ref image of Lilia and Adam together along with their base coloring. I have it down that Lilia is 5'2" and Adam is 6'1". Lol that means Lilia is shorter than 2B who is 5'6" with heels and in-game Adam/Eve are taller than her.
botticella89. deviantart (DOTcom) /art/Lilia-And-Adam-750313882