Automata

Chapter 11 - Hello, Stranger [PT. II]

"9s? What about you?" A voice called out to him, canceling his train of thought.

"What?"

"Courtney's wondering if you collected more nature samples than her. My money's on you though~" Annette beamed.

9s tilted his head in confusion before turning to Courtney. She had an innocent smile on her face.

What a random topic...

9s unzipped his backpack and pulled out a case of vials that contained colorful blends of plants, fruit, contaminated sand, and organic mold.

The three looked at the case like it was a treasure chest.

"Wow.. you really do keep all your samples..." Annette said.

"Of course, why wouldn't I?" 9s asked.

Courtney chimed in.

"Don't Scanners normally just, you know, scan particular things to store in their databases instead of collecting physical evidence? I've never seen one go against the code..." She thought out loud.

Annette furrowed her brows a little.

"Maybe his creators wanted to try something new?"

Courtney turned her questioning gaze onto Annette for a moment before reaching for one of the vials, but before she could take one, 9s closed the case.

"Yeah." 9s said, not speaking directly to anyone. He placed the case into his small backpack once again and zipped it up.

There was another awkward silence.

Courtney shrugged and turned to Annette.

"Hey, Ann,"

Courtney put her hand on her shoulder and smiled.

"About those commissions.. how about we go on one together? It'll take less than an hour, I promise! It's just surveying the outskirts of our base.

Annette's eyes lit up. She looked over at 9s eagerly.

"Can 9s come with us? Just in case we have to fight th—"

"No."

"What?" Annette raised an eyebrow.

Courtney cleared her throat and corrected her tone.

"The place we're going isn't dangerous, Ann. Trust me. We don't need a little robot guy to protect us. Besides, if something does happen..."

Courtney held out her gloved palm and pressed into the middle with two fingers, revealing a visual list of different weapons. She selected a Pocket Knife and it almost instantly materialized in her hand.

"I'll protect you."

Isabel let out a small, but audibly impressed gasp.

Annette's mind was elsewhere. She remembered when the four-legged Molded almost overpowered 9s because it was presumably a new type of Molded.

"But what if we encounter a new type—"

"Didn't you hear what I just said?"

Silence again overshadowed the group, but Courtney quickly broke it with laughter.

"Pfft, after all these years of knowing you, I never took you as the worrying type, Ann! We'll be fine!"

Courtney rummaged through one of her pockets and got out a holographic keycard. She firmly placed it into 9s' palm before he could react, gripping his wrist like a one-sided handshake before pulling away.