Automata

CHAPTER 9 - Origins

AuthN1: Hello! Sorry for the lengthy break, my senioritis finally caught up to me and so I had to complete lots of late work, but I'm back! After this chapter, I will try to stay somewhat consistent and upload on a bi-weekly schedule. Enjoy!

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Annette awoke inside of a makeshift tent in a shallow cliffside cave at the crack of dawn. It was incredibly cramped as Isabel was practically squished between the thin tent fabric and Annette.

Isabel was using Annette's satchel as a pillow, and as Annette tried to quietly grab it, Isabel woke up and stretched.

"Mm.. hi Ann.." Isabel wiped the sleep from her eyes and crawled to the entrance of the tent. The bright sunlight momentarily blinded them both. Annette followed Isabel outside to a tiny patch of ash where a small fire once burned. 9s appeared from around the corner of the cave, in his hands were small round cacti that were split in half, revealing purified cacti water.

"Hey, you two. Have a nice rest?" 9s handed them the water-filled cacti. "I made sure to cut off all the sharp bits from it, but still be careful."

Annette and Isabel shared a look before taking a sip of the water. It was strangely sweet but refreshingly cool.

As the two girls sipped on the water, 9s checked their coordinates with a holographic map.

"I have good news. The tracker I've placed on Courtney's cloak seems to be around this area. It's only a 15-minute walk away." He smiled.

"We should get going then!" Annette hastily put down her drink, grabbed her satchel, and got up.

Isabel quickly finished her drink and the last of Annette's before wiping her mouth and catching up with them.

"Is that some of.. metal pyramid?.." Annette pointed into the distance. It shined like a piece of glass reflecting off the sunlight.

As they walked up to it, Annette reached out to touch it but 9s grabbed her wrist firmly.

"Don't touch it. Haven't you ever touched the metal part of the seatbelt in scorching hot weather? Wouldn't want charred fingertips right?"

Annette nodded and pulled her hand away from it.

"So.. your tracker said she was here? Are you sure?"

9s nodded. "Let's look around."

"Okay."

Annette walked around the perimeter of the structure and kicked up some sand in boredom, but something under the sand caught her eye. Something green and a tiny beeping noise.

She knelt and dug up a dull green cloak that was covered in sand. On it was what appeared to be a small circular device with a flashing red light on it.

"Is this-"

"You found it?" 9s appeared behind her, causing her to jump up. Annette held up the cloak to him, allowing him to remove the tracker.

"She should be around here somewhere then, right?" Annette was beginning to think the worst. She hugged the cloak tightly to prevent her negative thoughts from escaping.

"Realistically...uh.." 9s tried to build his sentence in a way that could hopefully calm her down.

"Yes." He responded a little too quickly.

"Good." Annette carefully wrapped the cloak around herself.

"Guys! I found something!" A voice called out from behind the building.

They both arrived at Isabel's location which was around 5 meters away from the metal structure. She pointed at a sealed sand-covered hatch in the ground. It wasn't hot to the touch due to being buried underneath the sand. It doesn't look to be tampered with.