I AM NOT A ROBOT

Nine or 'Salt and Burne'

I make a face towards Eli and Orion.

  Across the isle, behind another pew, they both shrug in sync.

  I mouth the word one to them, and wait until one of them mouths two back. Once we all mouth three, we jump up.

   I aim my gun at the first thing I see.

   A woman. And a man. At first glance, anyway. The man has a whole chunk of his forehead ripped away, but there's no blood. Just clean cut silver metal. And machinery.

  They're both crouched over Orion's coat and blood, and I kick myself for not at least dragging away the coat when I hid.

  They notice us almost as soon as we rise, and I know it's because of the sound of me cocking my gun, of Orion pulling an arrow back to his jaw, and of Eli taking two throwing knives from his thigh, one for each hand. 

    I notice that Barron and Terra stand up after us, blades and axe in hand.

    The woman and the man rise up slowly. They look at our weapons like they're not used to seeing them.

  "Oh." The woman says, and her voice is kind. "Hello there."

  "Hi." The man says, and his voice is kind, too.

  I give a sideways glance towards Eli. He glances back, and I know we're both thinking the same utterly bewildered and confused thoughts.

  "Oh, sorry." The woman says, and she flicks stands of blonde hair behind her ear. I don't think she even tried to fasten a bun with the intention of it not coming loose at all. "We forgot to introduce ourselves. My name's Burne."

  The man nods, and electric blue hair bounces with it, nearly covering the rip in his forehead. "My name's Salt."

  They both look young. Older than me, but young. And they smile. They smile at us like even though we've got weapons on them, they don't expect to be in any danger. I'd call them oblivious, but the man looks towards Orion's bow.

  "What a beautiful bow." He says, and then glances at Eli. "And your knives. They're stunning."

  Eli and Orion hesitate. "Uh--thanks." They both say.

  The woman and the man notice the hesitation.

  They frown.

  "What's wrong?" The woman asks, and she's actually concerned. "Oh. You're probably wondering why we're here. Well, we saw a bright flash of light from out boat and we thought something was happening, so we came over. Good to see it's just you, and not any humans trying to blow up the land."

  The man nods. "I tell you, Mother Nature would not be happy."

    I don't know what to do. I search my brain for an idea it may have, but I just come back with the urge to break down and sob. I push that feeling back, far into my head, along with the image of my family being shot that it's tied to.

   "We're human." I burst out, but make my voice sound like I'm calm. I'm not. "At least, all except me and him." I point to Orion. "Our friends helped us escape the city up there. Without them, we'd be nothing but molten."

    Oh, God, I hope that was the right thing to say.

   The man and the woman drop the confused expressions they had after my first words.

   "So, they're nice?" The woman asks me, and then glances at Orion. "They're not going to hurt us, are they?"

   Orion does a good job of laughing at the thought. "Oh, no. Definitely not."