Automata

CHAPTER 7 - A Small Detour

9s agreed to take Annette to Courtney's location. He used a special watch-like device on his wrist to locate the tracker.

"Wait.. 9s? Do you still know how to get to that village you were talking about? I know that Courtney probably isn't still there, but I had to get rid of all my food a few meters back because I realized it was.. kind of.. inedible." Annette held out a bag of orange slices also filled with specks of green and white fluff. 9s snickered and shook his head. "You really should invest in a portable fridge. I mean-- where you live they have those, right? It wouldn't make sense for humans to create androids before portable fridges. At least I don't think so. Jeez, humans are so needlessly complicated." he rambled. "Er-- no offense, by the way, ma'am." he added. Annette made a waving motion with her hand. "None taken. On the night I left, I didn't really think I was gonna be out here for this long, you know?" Annette sighed.

"Also... please stop calling me 'ma'am'. Just call me 'Ann'. You calling me 'ma'am' makes me feel old." she admitted, catching up to 9s and walking beside him.

"Whoops. Sorry m- I mean.. Ann." 9s responded, his voice uncharacteristically stammering. "While we're on the topic of nicknames though, my companions usually call me 'Nines'. You can too." he suggested. "So instead of giving your friends a normal handshake or something, you slam them into concrete? Interesting." Annette replied as she nudged him. 9s walked slightly faster and looked back at her. "Hey! I told you I didn't mean to do that! I can't believe you're still mad about something that happened a few days ago."

"Hm. I digress. So, does your code tell you to befriend stuff or..." Annette's sentence trailed off. 9s didn't answer her question. Instead, he kept walking.

Eventually, they arrived at the same village where 9s first saw Courtney. It was oddly quiet. Too quiet as opposed to what 9s described from his memory.

"Where is everyone?" Annette asked. 9s didn't answer, but he muttered something. "3 weeks.."

"What?"

"I've only been gone for 3 weeks."

His voice sounded almost human. The way his voice shook confirmed Annette's suspicions. Something happened here, something bad.

The sound of blowing sand and creaking houses filled Annette's ears as she followed 9s into the village. She was a bit worried that she was following too closely behind him, but she didn't want to get attacked by the Molded again.

While traversing through the newly abandoned village, Annette helped herself to a watermelon that was cut into edible pieces courtesy of 9s.  "Thanks." she smiled as she bit into a piece of the ripe watermelon. She put the rest of it in a little clear container. After rummaging through more village markets for supplies, her satchel was fully restocked.

"Did you find anything?" Annette asked, eating an apple as she walked into the middle of the village. "Nines?"

Annette shrugged and assumed that his data collection led him into one of the houses. She randomly entered one, took out a weak flashlight from her satchel, and shined it before herself as she slowly walked through the house. "Anyone home?.." she muttered. The house seemed to be quite decrepit. Mold grew on the ceilings and in the corners. She slowly opened the door to one of the bedrooms.

"Please don't kill me!" a little shriek called out. Annette's body took a screenshot and she almost had a heart attack. In a panic, she shined a light onto the small figure in the corner of the room...

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Author's Note: Cliffhangers amirite?? Sorry if this chapter seems a little short compared to my other ones. The next one will be longer (I promise!) If you're enjoying the story so far, feel free to press the vote button. My next update will be later this week. So expect a new chapter either on Thursday or Friday! 

Have a blessed day/afternoon/night! <3