Automata

CHAPTER 5 - Is This Fate?

Morning approached and Annette opened her eyes. She sat up and her head began to spin. Ugh..where am I? She thinks as she observes her surroundings. She wasn't in her home, but instead in a tent. She had a blanket over her and a small pillow under her head. A lantern was right next to the tent's entrance. "Well, at least I'm not dead...I think..", she whispered. A second later, she realized that she didn't have her satchel with her. "Where's-", she began as her heart rate began to rise. She ran out of the tent and realized that she was inside a tall abandoned building.

Who makes a tent indoors though?

Her legs were still sore from running yesterday, but she had more energy. Annette looked out what was left of a broken window and realized that she was on a higher floor. She heard shuffling sounds coming from above and decided to take the stairs to find out what it was. After walking up a few flights of stairs, she reached the roof. She went to the edge and sat down, forgetting the sounds that had led her there. She looked at the view. The city looked small compared to the seemingly endless dunes of sand covering most of the landscape. It wasn't that windy today, but she still felt the warm sand hit her face, and she occasionally had to squint and wipe her eyes. The sunlight was warm and comforting. She looked down. Annette had never experienced being so high up before, but instead of being scared, she was mesmerized. Everything looks so small from up here..

As she was beginning to stand up, she slipped because of all the sand that had accumulated on the bottom of her shoes. Adrenaline rushed through Annette's body as she lost her footing. She didn't notice that she had hit her arm on one of the broken windows during the fall. She tried to grab the top of the building in a panic but she missed. No! She shut her eyes, accepting her fate, when something suddenly grabbed her wrist, stopping her fall, and in one swift motion, they swung Annette's body back onto the roof of the building. The force of the grab slammed her onto the sand-covered concrete roof. She winced in pain, but thankfully the sand below her took most of the force. "..Of course! Because it's totally not rude to bodyslam a person once you save them from certain death! Thank you!" Annette shouted sarcastically as she dusted the sand off of her clothing. She wiped her eyes as footsteps approached. "So you're the rude per-". Annette stopped what she was saying when the mysterious person grabbed her arm and examined it.

This time, Annette got a good look at the so-called "rude" person. Her eyes went wide. In front of her stood someone who looked to be a young male wearing a black blindfold around his eyes which contrasted with his snow-white hair and almost deathly pale skin. It was obvious at first glance that he wasn't human.

He looked down at her for a moment, not saying anything. Annette furrowed her brows and tilted her head. Is this a Scanner?... So this is what they look like in real life? How.. strange... The Android didn't say anything and walked over to her. He kneeled and took off the tiny backpack he was carrying, unzipped it, and pulled out some bandages, stitches, and an antibiotic spray. Was this the one who killed my father?... Annette thought. Annette was afraid to make any sudden movements, but it's not like she could move even if she wanted to. Her body was frozen in shock and she felt oddly dizzy. "...Your arm.", the Scanner commented as he took out a travel-sized bottle of antibiotic spray. Annette looked at her arm and realized that it was cut pretty deep and bleeding out. How did I not notice this earlier? WHY IS IT ONLY STARTING TO HURT NOW? She thought to herself as the Scanner carefully took her arm and began tending to her wound. Annette flinched, but she didn't look away. The Scanner applied the antibiotic spray onto the gash. Annette winced and averted her eyes. "It's also a numbing agent.." he added as he prepared the stitches. "So this won't hurt". Annette felt a tugging sensation on her arm. She still didn't want to look, so she focused her eyes on the sand-covered concrete roof below her, observing the individual grains of sand. Finally, the Scanner used a pocket knife to remove the end of the bandage that was hanging after he wrapped it around the injured part of her arm. "There. Sorry about earlier, by the way, ma'am.", the Scanner spoke as he put his pocket knife and other supplies away. "Well anyway, I'm 9s, what's your name?". Annette slowly looked at her arm and then back at the Android.

"Please don't kill me!", she pleaded. It was silent for a moment. "Well hello there 'Please don't kill me'! It's nice to meet you!", 9s responded gleefully. What the... Annette had a confused and scared look on her face. Since when did robots get a sense of humor? "No, my name is Annette!", she quickly snapped back. 9s tilted his head. You're a human. That's quite a rare occurrence out here. I don't recognize you. I'm honestly surprised that the Molded weren't there when I found you.", 9s said curiously as he placed his hand on his chin. Molded? Annette's eyebrows furrowed. "What are you talking about?". "Well I found you a few miles away from there lying headfirst in the sand. My systems detected that you were severely dehydrated, and since you appeared to be very unprepared for the Surface-". "What's 'the Molded' and better yet- where's my satchel? Tell me now! I bet that you're hiding it somewhere!" Annette interjected. "Ma'am, please calm down..it's on the first floor right now. I-". Annette rushed past him and ran down to the first floor, her numb arm banging into the steel bars and railings on the way down. It was pretty empty on the first floor except for a table and a chair, but it was the brightest floor since there was a huge gaping hole where the front double doors used to be. Annette went up to the table and snatched her satchel. She quickly opened it and all of her stuff was still there, but it smelled bad because of the already rotting fruit.  She threw the fruit out. Some grains of sand were there too. She pulled out her family picture and examined it, making sure it was okay. Nothing seemed to be tampered with. Annette sighed in relief.

Suddenly, she heard a gurgling noise coming from nearby. She quickly stuffed the picture back into her satchel and looked around frantically. She looked towards the entrance of the building and saw a hoard of what appeared to be deformed humans covered in a black, mold-like substance quickly approaching. They also had extremely large and sharp teeth. Their only hindrance seemed to be the fact that they were quite slow. She remembered 9s' words about something called "The Molded". While her school in the Underground taught her about the military's duties, they never told her about what they'd be fighting out here.

Annette tried to back up but ended up tripping over the chair behind her. The monsters shuffled in. There had to be around 10 of them. "HELP!", she screamed as she scurried into the corner. She shut her eyes tightly and clutched her satchel to her stomach with enough force to crack the glass on the picture frame inside.

Suddenly, she heard loud gunshots coming from in front of her and opened her eyes wide. 9s stood in front of her and used a futuristic-looking pistol with a laser sight to headshot each of the Molded with blinding speed. He made it look so easy.

After the hoard of Molded was defeated, more strange sounds could be heard from afar. 9s looked back at Annette as he turned the gun into a hologram, which faded and disappeared in an instant. "Come on, ma'am. We need to get out of here. More of them will arrive soon. It might get dark before I'll be able to take you home, so we'll have to rest at a nearby camp. I have a map though, so don't worry.". 9s began to walk out of the building. He quickly took a small sample of black goo from one of the defeated enemies before leaving.

Annette gathered her belongings and stood up. Her legs were a little shaky. "Wait! What map?".

9s tapped the side of his head and stepped outside.

"Fair enough." Annette muttered as she exited the corner and walked to the front of the building—careful to not touch the lifeless abominations decorating the floor.

Annette pondered as she followed closely behind the mysterious guide, questioning herself once again. Was this really the Android that killed my father?

———

Author's Note: Two updates in one day?! Yep I'm locked in! Hey everyone! Thanks for reading! I think I mentioned this in another chapter, but I have a pre-written draft of every chapter that I created around 2 years ago. Although I might change some events that will happen in the next few chapters for a less confusing/rushed reading experience. Due to that, my next update will probably be this Friday or Saturday.
On a different note, I might eventually change the book cover to something that will fit the story better. So please don't be too surprised if it changes within a few days!
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I hope y'all have an amazing day/afternoon/night! If you have any questions about the story or characters so far, feel free to send me a DM or a comment. I'd love to hear some feedback! :)