Chapter 15 Movie

The roar of the crows from the androids surrounding us grows louder as Captain Rose attempts to calm the crowd down. Tension crackles in the air, and my eyes are drawn to the girl before us, her mantle gripped tightly by one of the androids, fear etched across her face. 

"Should have known that defective android would have caused trouble!" 

"Yeah yeah!" "That's right."

The android girl stutters, her wide, fearful eyes darting from one furious face to the next. "I-I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I'm so sorry—" she whimpers, barely audible over the angry shouts, her voice cracking as she repeats herself in a desperate mantra.

After listening to the reason that the android gives to me, I take a deep breath, draw myself up, and raise my voice.

"Enough!"

The single word slices through the cacophony, and silence falls as every eye snaps to me.

I take a single step forward and glance at the crowd.

"So... let me get this straight first, you want me to execute the android that pointed her gun at me for treason is that correct."

I don't know why, but these android already feel like a human both in character and personality with the way they act.

"Look, If you want to blame someone, blame me," I say

"How can we blame it on you, sir?" a voice from the crowd protests, skepticism lacing their words. 

"Yes yes! It's her fault for having a defective model and for not noticing that you were human in a single glance!"

"Look," I continue, "I snuck into this camp to gather information. I don't place blame on her for carrying out her duties, even better she did it flawlessly in dealing with intruders."

The crowd murmurs, glancing at each other, still unsure. "I don't want to see this kind of hostility ever again!" I add, raising my voice to ensure I'm heard. "And besides, if I executed every android that made a mistake, then the whole android population would go extinct!"

This whole situation does not make sense at all, why would I kill someone just because they make a single mistake? That does not make sense at all.

My declaration leaves everyone momentarily speechless. I can see their expressions still angry not at me but directed at the girl that was about to be executed. But I was not going to let anything happen again.

"Disperse this crowd immediately!" I command, my voice leaving no room for argument.

As they disperse, I notice a few hesitant glances thrown toward the girl, still standing where I had defended her before the glare I give them prompted them to finally leave us behind.

Once the crowd has thinned out, I take a moment to collect my thoughts. That's when I notice Lily, her small frame trembling as she sobs quietly nearby

I kneel down beside her, trying to approach gently. When she glances up at me, her tear-filled eyes shimmer with confusion and fear. "Are you okay?" I ask softly, my voice low and reassuring.

She nods slightly but then shakes her head, her expression wavering between relief and despair. "I... I thought they were going to hurt me," she whispers, her voice trembling and she begins to sob slowly.

I take a slow step forward, wanting to bridge the distance, but my movement causes her to flinch. She seems startled by the sound of my footsteps, and I pause, not wanting to overwhelm her.

I look down at her, kneeling closer, and gently lift her chin, meeting her hesitant gaze. "What's your name again?" I ask, keeping my voice soft.

She glances at my face for a moment, her eyes still watery, before she wipes a tear away. "I... I'm sorry, but I don't possess a designation number like the others."

I shake my head slowly, a small smile tugging at the corner of my lips as I clarify, "So, you weren't made in the factory, then?" I pause for a moment, then soften my tone even more. "But that's not what I'm really asking. I mean… your name."

She seems to hesitate for a brief moment, almost as if unsure of how to respond, before finally speaking again, her voice small but steady. "Lily. My name is Lily."

I lift her mantle a little to get a better look on her face. She is cute, 

Naturally, if I see something cute I start by pinching those cheeks.

The name suits her, I think. Gently, I lift her mantle, studying her face for a moment. She's... cute, in a way that's almost disarming. A small smile tugs at my lips as an impulse takes over, and I reach out to pinch her cheeks lightly, feeling the softness of her synthetic skin.

Her eyes widen a little in surprise, but she doesn't pull away. I let my hands linger for a moment longer, feeling the warmth of her cheeks.

Once I'm done with her cheeks, I gently wrap my arms around her waist, pulling her into a soft embrace. Her body tenses, and she makes a quiet, surprised sound.

"I… uh… Fuehh?" she stammers, clearly caught off guard by the sudden affection.

I pull back just slightly, still holding her gently, offering a reassuring smile. "It's alright, Lily," I say quietly. "You don't have to be afraid anymore."

She is like a doll, a bit colder on the outside but warm once you get the feeling of the warm reactor running inside her. As I hold her, I run a hand through her hair, the strands smooth and delicate, and rest my other hand on her cheek, caressing her lightly.

A quiet giggle escapes her, surprising me. "Hehe…"

And then, to my surprise, she wraps her small arms around my body, hugging me in return. It's a soft, almost tentative embrace, but I can feel her warmth, her body slowly relaxing as she starts to enjoy the moment.

It kind of reminds me of the past when I used this technic with Popola.

The last time I did this was when I tried to manipulate Popola, I was just testing the theory from the Progam that is contained inside her core about android enjoying being rewarded by humans.

It did work and Popola literally melted and began to return the hugs which was kind of cute, to be honest.

But it did not take long for Devola to come to the rescue and push me away from her sister who was giggling her self from all of the affection I gave her.

...now that I think about it, will I ever see them again?

It's already 10.000 years, 100 years is enough to drive a normal person to insanity. But 1.000 and maybe even 10.000 is enough to break the android and human mind, so I doubt I can see them.

Maybe if there is a chance I could ask around if anybody knows Devola and Popola, and if possible...

Nah... I doubt the 6 androids I built in the past are still alive. It would take a miracle in itself.

Well, my existence and Aria are a miracle so maybe there is a chance who know?

I give Lily one last, gentle squeeze. "There," I murmur softly. "Feel a little better?"

Her cheeks flush just a little before answering "Thanks..."

After seeing her expression turn back to normal I glance back only to find both girls staring at me. Aria is giving me a weird look, an eyebrow raised in a way that makes it pretty obvious why. But it's Rose's expression that truly catches my attention.

She's staring at me with a kind of intensity that I haven't seen before. Her gaze is focused, almost like she's studying me, trying to figure something out. It's disconcerting, but also... almost unnerving.

"Something wrong?" I ask

Rose blinks, snapping out of her trance, but the intensity in her eyes doesn't fade completely "...nothing, shall we continue with the tour?"

/

After a brief tour of the camp, I decided to ask for a break, both to give our minds a chance to relax after the intensity of the events that just happened a moment ago and to give myself an opportunity to dig deeper into some lingering questions.

To be honest, it's not just a simple break. The real reason I ask for this moment of downtime is because it's my only real chance to get some answers—especially about Aria.

The situation's been moving too quickly, with too many distractions, for me to ask what's been on my mind since I first met her.

After both Aria and I finally sit down, A light meal has been laid out before us, the cold drink prepared by the maid glistening with condensation. We sit across from each other, our expressions unreadable, like two pieces on a chessboard sizing each other up.

We've settled ourselves in a corner of the camp, away from the main bustle but still in the area where other android can hear our conversation.

Since privacy doesn't matter much to me, though I catch a few of the androids stealing curious glances in our direction. I ignore them, focusing solely on Aria. 

If her situation were the same as me then... she could come from the same world as me, and the only way to know that is to ask her information that only knows in my world.

Leaning forward, I meet her gaze, searching her eyes for any flicker of recognition or lies.

"Alright," I begin, keeping my tone steady, "since I answered plenty of your questions yesterday, I hope you don't mind if I get to ask a few of mine."

"Shoot."

"No need to be tense," I say with a slight smile, hoping to keep things casual. "Most of my questions are simple yes or no."

She pauses, then tilts her head. "Uh... what for?"

"Security reasons," I reply cryptically

Since noticing the androids' capabilities, I've been forced to re-evaluate everything I learn from the legion war like tactic, and even how to keep secrecy. I'd come to realize that the odds of someone, or something, listening in were higher than ever.

I have a feeling that even in the most secure, hidden places, there is a possiblity machine finding away to hear and even recording our convervation even when I don't have a single proof of it. With this unsettling thought in mind, I'd decided to keep my questions short and specific, limiting what information I reveal.

"Uh… sure?" She sounds a bit hesitant but leans in, ready.

"Good, first question." I pause, watching her closely. "Do you know Lord of the Rings?"

She blink her eyes, rubbing her eyes at the same time "I am sorry but can you repeat that?"

I sigh, though part of me is amused at her surprise. "Do you know Lord of the Rings? The movie?"

Her brow furrows, and then she nods slowly. "Uh… yeah…?"

"Good." I press on, leaning closer. "Next question, do you know Terminator?"

"You mean those robot killing machine-"

"Aria, I told you before the answer have to be yes or no. Now I will repeat this again do you know the Terminator from the movie?"

"Uh... yeah?" 

That was all the confirmation I needed. She came from the same world as me.

Maybe I should ask for more information, but after asking her the two 2 movie only exist in my world it was all the confirmation I needed.

A mixture of relief and disbelief surges through me. Maybe, just maybe, there's a thread to pull on here a hint on how she got here, and if I play my card right maybe... I can find a way home.

Despite knowing the near-impossibility of it, a tiny part of me begin to have a hope.

"Hm, good," I murmur, keeping my tone casual. "Then I'm sure you know about Skynet, right?"

She hesitates, her gaze flickering over to the androids around us, who seem to be half-listening. But when she takes a closer look, she sees their blank, slightly puzzled expressions. They clearly don't understand what we're discussing.

She swallows and gives a hesitant nod. "Yeah… I know about Skynet."

"Well, that's good then," I say, nodding "That cuts down a lot of explanations. And you know how Skynet was created, right?"

She nods, brows knitting together, as if trying to make sense of the implications.

"That's what we're dealing with here," I continue in a low tone. "Minus the time travel."

There's a brief moment of silence as she processes what I've said. Her eyes widen, and slowly, a look of understanding dawns across her face. "...Oh… Oohhhh."

The android around us were confuse, but that does not matter since this information needed to be keep on both of us.

No need for the androids around us to know since there could be a high chance of information leak since these android can even listen to my heartbeat from far away.

But for the first time since I was transported into this world, I feel relief since I was not as alone in having this information that I always afraid to share.

But still, if my memory serve me correctly, the machine main goal are to evolve. They will continue to create hardship so the machine have more ways to evolve.

They give up over control in the space to make androids have a better chance, they give up attacking in order to prevent a total anihilation of the androids army, and they even give up a total control over pacific in order to make the androids stronger.

Great... I pinch my forehead and sight softly, dealing with the Legion was one thing but dealing with warmonger AI was another difficult in it self. Just when I though living in this world can't get any worse...

"...crap, now I kind of understand why this war lasts this long," Aria said

After I was done I look back at her "Right, 'that.' So, I trust you can keep this to yourself, okay? Don't go telling anybody." I lean back, crossing my arms. "Now that I've asked my question, we're done here."

"W-wait! I still have questions!" She jumps up, her hands planted firmly on the table as she stares at me, almost in shock.

I raise an eyebrow, letting her impatience amuse me a bit. "Hm... You are right I forgot," I say with a shrug. "Since I already had my turn, I'll allow it. You can ask your questions."

She breathes a sigh of relief, practically collapsing back into her seat, her eyes still fixed on me. After a beat, she hesitates, then asks, "...Do you know a way for me to go home?"

The question catches me off guard. "That's… a rather strange question." I pause, turning toward Captain Rose. "But first, Captain Rose—"

Before I can even finish, Rose is already at my side, as if she's been waiting for this exact moment. "Yes, sir! Here's the map," she says, extending a carefully folded piece of paper with a slight smile that seems more nervous than usual.

Despite keeping a neutral expression, I feel a flicker of surprise at how quickly she appeared. It's like she materialized out of nowhere.

"A-and… how did you know I needed a map?"

"Oh, you know…" Rose replies, her tone casual, almost playful. "A little guesswork and analysis. You'd pick it up too if you'd been around a hundred years or so."

I swallow, nodding slowly. "I-I see…"

I've always known that androids are capable, especially with their AI-driven adaptability. But this… it's on a whole different level if they're capable of reading me that well.

I really need information about these Android or machine capabilities if I have the time.

After calming myself down, I glance at the map Rose handed us. It's covered with red circles and dots scattered across the landscape.

"She appeared here," Rose explains, pointing to a circle about 540 meters northeast of our camp. "This was two weeks ago. Our scouts found her around six hours later, in this area," she traces a line on the map, "where she was being chased by multiple machines. Our scouts managed to eliminate them quickly and brought her back to this camp."

I study the map closely as Rose continues. "We interrogated her thoroughly, from the moment she claims she left a convenience store to the next second when she found herself in an empty landscape nearby. We've scouted the area since but found no traces aside from a single spot of footprint she left behind... which the trace we track suddenly stops without any other clue where she comes from."

Rose's brow furrows slightly as she adds, "The only strange thing is that she insists she didn't come from the moon."

I glance over at Aria, who simply shrugs. "What? It's the truth."

I nod thoughtfully, still processing. "So… she just appeared here out of nowhere?"

Rose crosses her arms, her gaze unwavering. "That's what all the evidence points to. We have no explanation for it. After we sent the report back to HQ, it didn't take long for High Command to conclude that she might have suffered a short-term memory loss from the shock of encountering the machines. I tend to agree with that reasoning as well. Even though there's some mystery surrounding where she came from, most of the higher-ups were satisfied that Lady Aria was safe."

I stare at her in disbelief, the high command and Rose think she has amnesia just because she said she did not come from the moon. Now that's take a whole new level of brainwashing.

I pause, glancing back at Aria for a moment and back at Rose. "So, they just brushed it off as amnesia?"

Rose nods, her expression a little more serious now. "Pretty much. Not everyone is convinced, but those are in the minority."

I run a hand through my hair, processing the situation. "That's... convenient, I guess... Say, do she have proof that she came out from the convenience store?"

"Actually we do." Rose grabs a handful of photos from inside an envelope and spreads them out on the table. My eyes widen as I see what's in front of me.

Iphone…? Sprite…? And—Coca-Cola?!

There was some doubt inside my heart, but this finally finished it. She definitely came from the same world as I am since I have never seen most of this stuff being made in this world.

But then, a sudden thought jolts through me, one I didn't even realize had been bothering me until now. Coca-Cola.

I swallow and cautiously ask, "Say… do you still have any Coca-Cola?"

She shakes her head "No, all of it was sent to High Command's research division in the Pacific."

"I… I see…" I murmur, feeling oddly deflated. A world without Coca-Cola—just one more reminder of how different this place really is from home.

Rose glances at me, her expression softening. "If you'd like, sir, we could request the High Council to send over the recipe based on their analysis, and we could have some made for you."

My eyes widen in excitement. "Really—"

Before I can finish, Aria claps her hand over my mouth, effectively silencing me.

"Haha… he's just joking!" she says quickly, shooting Rose a strained smile. "Don't mind him he is just talking nonsense hahaha..."

I blink, confused, as Aria pulls me aside, whispering harshly, "Did you forget? Don't tell these androids about your desires!"

Oh yeah, she did remind me about this.

"But-but-but this is Coca-Cola!" I protest, struggling to keep my voice down.

Aria sighs, pinching the bridge of her nose. "Listen! I have experience with these androids. The moment you let slip something you want, they'll go overboard. I'm talking a whole factory built for a single item."

I raise an eyebrow. "It's really that bad?"

Aria gives me a pointed look. "You think I'm joking? Where do you think I got all these tea and snacks from? You didn't actually believe they were made here, did you? There's no time to grow or import them so the solution? These androids created entire facilities to fulfill a few simple requests that I just speak out loud without much thought."

"Oh..."