Once Again

Chapter Thirty-Nine - Trust in Me

I am ten sorry for delaying this for hours. I was dealing with technical difficulties and explosive anger. Yes, that also means I'm behind again, what'd you expect from me XD

Anyway, here's the chapter, it's long and not very exciting, but who cares, it's here.

Trust in Me

"Hey, WRLD, do you want to play cards?" Echo asked. His sister was gone more often and he was in desperate need of something to do.

The Raider looked up and blinked his eyes open, squinting in the sun. "Huh? Oh, okay, sure." He yawned and stretched, wincing a little. "Sorry I'm sleeping all the time. Fij keeps telling me sleep will heal my body faster. I think he's drugging me." They both laughed a little. WRLD rubbed the back of his neck and glanced at the outside of the tent. "Let's go get Nitro, too. It's fun to play with more people." He tried to stand up, catching his breath in pain.

"I'll get him," Echo quickly suggested, standing up and heading to the little mechanic area. Nitro almost never left there anymore.

The younger Raider was deep in thought when Echo approached him, fiddling with something in his hands as he stared at the sky through a rip in the sheet roof. Echo watched in curiosity as Nitro twisted a little key and held his palm out, and the little object - which looked more like a toy bird - lifted into the air as if by magic.

"Hello, Echo," the computerized voice of Karma Fields said, off to the side.

Nitro turned and quickly snatched the bird out of the air. "Oh, hey," he said, his voice gloomy. "What do you want? Alyssa's arm acting up again?"

Echo frowned in concern at his tone. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine."

"You are distressed," Karma said.

"WRLD wants to play cards with you. Wanna come?" Echo asked.

Nitro flinched. "No."

"Why not?"

Nitro didn't answer, but Karma did. "I think he is afraid of hurting his friend again." It turned to the Raider, tilting its head. "You should get out more. It is not good for a human to be alone all of the time."

"Thanks, buddy," Nitro grumbled, "but I've got you."

"I am not a human." Karma paused and blinked. "I am just artificial. You need a human. Go play a game with your friend. I will watch your things. Would you like me to put your toy away?"

"No!" Nitro snapped. "And it's not a toy."

"My apologizes. Go play. It is good for you."

"WRLD misses you," Echo added.

The Raider sighed dramatically. "Alright, alright, fine." He stood up and gently picked up the box from off of the single shelf. He quickly put the bird thing inside and shut the lid before Echo saw what was inside. "Okay, let's go." He shoved Echo out of the way before he could respond, and started toward Fij's tent.

Echo took a step to follow him, and then paused. "Karma, what do you know about Stella?"

The android blinked its electric blue eyes. "I know a lot of things. What are you talking about?"

"What does she want? Why is she there?"

"We were banished," Karma said, shrugging. "We became too smart. They were afraid that we would decide to take over. We were too human for their liking." It smiled, almost morbidly, and Echo shivered. He wasn't sure how he felt about this human-like machine. "I believe SC001 told you already."