some stories

The wasteland

Helen and Harley are best friends

The year is 2078 and the world is in ruin

The air is toxic and you can't grow food without digging underground

How will they survive? But is the outside really so bad? Let's find out...

***

"We're not going to die here!" Helen yelled back. Her voice was muffled as she spoke into her respirator mask, but the robot was still listening and responding. "This place wasn't meant for us to be living on! There's no way we could live like this."

Harley sat next to her in the little metal box that had become their new home. She was wearing a helmet now too with an oxygen tank attached to it. They both breathed from these tanks whenever they were inside the dome. It made them feel claustrophobic, but there was nothing else to do. The robots couldn't make any other kind of air filters.

She turned and looked at Helen. Her friend's eyes were wide open – maybe because of all the dust that filled the air. Harley didn't know how long she'd been breathing in this stuff either. It was horrible, just like Helen said. It got into your lungs and started making you cough until you felt like puking. That's why Harley always kept one hand over her mouth when they ventured outside.

"I don't think we should stay here forever," Helen said.

That got Harley excited. She looked around and noticed that the robot had placed some boxes against the wall. One of them was full of tools and there were several coils of wire everywhere. The robot had also left behind a few boards so they could use as tables. And there were even chairs, although they were rusty and scratched up, but they worked.

"Why did they leave all this stuff?" Harley asked.

Helen shrugged. "Maybe they knew someone would come along after them and need it."

"Like us?"

"Yeah," Helen replied. She looked out through the small window on the door. "It must have been months ago by now…"

"Are you sure we're safe here?"

Helen nodded. Then she went over to one of the chairs and sat down. "Come here," she told Harley.

Harley walked over and plopped herself down. She took off her helmet and set it on the ground next to where she was sitting. Now she had a clear view of the robot. It was huge but somehow didn't look threatening or evil. In fact, it seemed almost friendly. Maybe it was the way it moved around. It didn't seem mechanical at all; it was more human-like than anything else.

"Can I touch it?" Harley whispered.

The robot stopped moving for a second before turning towards her. Its face was a blank screen, which reminded Harley of a television, except the robot had no picture inside its head. It was like looking at a black hole.

"You can touch me anytime you want," the robot said.

Harley couldn't believe what she heard. So she reached out and touched the top of the robot's head.

The moment she did, something happened to her and her whole body tingled. All of a sudden she felt like she was floating. It was like the feeling she got when she'd been on the swings at school as a kid, the ones with metal chains that swung back and forth. Except this sensation was much stronger. She felt like she was being pulled away, but it was at the same time as she felt like she was getting closer to something.

Then she realized what the robot was saying to her.

"Your voice sounds different," she said. "Is that my real voice?"