18 Interval 5 PART 3 – Rest

After the events of the desert, 11B, Popola, Devola, the PODs and I returned to the resistance camp, the twins changed into their disguises, and with everyone ready, we went to find Anemone, as leader of the camp, she needs to know what happened.

When we entered the camp, we received surprised and curious looks. I agree that our small group attracted attention, we passed groups of androids working, the usual merchants, until we found Anemone, but we stopped in our way when we saw two Yorha androids talking to her.

The androids had their backs to us, each with a POD floating beside them, 11B's eyes widened when she saw them, I immediately tapped 11B on the shoulder, catching her attention and pointed to an alley in the camp.

Giving me a wave, 11B hide there, and I waved the PODs to follow me.

With 11B hidden, we aproached the androids. As we got closer, we could hear snippets of conversation.

"...Desert... Strange machine..." The male android spoke.

"PODs... Owned by Yorha... Unknown android..." The female android spoke.

"Anemone? Is there a problem problem?" I asked.

The three androids stopped their conversation and turned to us.

"Hello Alan!" Anemone waved at me with a smile.

"Greetings! Wait, you are the android that was in the desert!" The male android said in surprise, pointing at me.

"More importantly. What are you doing with Yorha's property? Return them immediately." The female android spoke as she advanced towards me, her voice was emotionless but there was firmness behind it.

I raised my hands and took a step back, out of the corner of my eye I saw that Devola and Popola were ready to act, better to defuse the situation before they blow up half of the camp.

"Calm down, calm down, I think we got off to a bad start. How about I introduce myself first? My name is Alan, and you?" I asked extending my hand to the android and giving her a friendly smile.

The android just looked me in the eye, I think, according to A2, the bands on Yorha androids faces are visors, they can see everything around perfectly.

Who broke the tense atmosphere was the male android. With a nervous laugh he accepted the handshake and shook my hand quickly, what came next was a series of questions.

"Nice to meet you sir! My name is 9S, and you? Oh! Excuse me, you already introduced yourself! I'm a big fan of your show! Do you mind if I ask you a few questions? No? Excellent! What android model are you? How old are you? What are your capabilities? How do you know the things you know? What is the Kingdom of the Night like? How are other countries in the world? You don't have problems traveling with the machines wandering around? As..."

"9S!" the female android exclaimed.

"Sorry 2B, I was excited to meet him. There are so many things I would like to ask." 9S said to 2B.

So the android's name is 2B? The band covered part of her face, but I noticed a certain resemblance to A2. A new model based on her, perhaps? Personality is completely different, at least 9S is friendlier.

"How about we do this later? I think you guys are in the middle of something important right now." I said to 9S.

"Actually, we're talking about the strange machines of the desert, you were there, though, I don't see the androids that accompanied you."

"Don't worry, they're fine. And what do you mean by machines? Like more than one?"

"Oh! You didn't stay until the end, the original machine created a machine similar to itself, unfortunately the two managed to escape. Why would such strange machines suddenly appear?"

"No idea, but I would like to know too, it wouldn't be the first time I've encountered a strange machine."

"Seriously? Could you tell me more?"

"Of course! But could you do one thing?"

"What?"

"Could you let go of my hand?"

9S hadn't stopped shaking my hand since the moment we started.

"Oh! Pardon me!" 9S said in surprise, he stopped shaking my hand but still didn't let it go.

"9S." 2B spoke.

Realizing that 2B was getting impatient, 9S released me.

"Now that you've become familiar with each other. Could you explain why you have two PODs in your possession?" 2B asked.

"Hey, it's not my fault you Yorha people leave your PODs around, I found POD 000 damaged in an abandoned building, and 001 was submerged in a river."

I lied about the last part, 11B is a deserter. Who knows what they would do if they knew that she gave me her POD?

"If what you say is true. So why didn't you contact the resistance to have them contact Yorha, or use the PODs to contact Yorha directly?" 2B continued.

She's inquisitive, focused on duty, probably follows rules and protocols to the letter, nothing new, I've known several androids in the Army of Humanity who acted the same way until they realized the Rulebook wasn't much help against the machines that felt no fear or pain.

"Listen, if you're so upset about this, why don't you get in touch with Commander White? If she didn't want me to keep the PODs, I think she would have contacted me a long time ago, or sent some androids to take them."

2B fell silent after hearing this.

"He's right 2B, Commander already knows about the recordings, as does most of BUNKER. It is the Operators' favorite pastime in their spare time." 9S spoke.

"How did I not know about this?" 2B asked 9S.

"I tried to talk to you, but you said to focus on the mission." 9S replied.

"Hmm…" 2B muttered.

"*COUGH!*" Clearing her throat, Anemone caught our attention.

"I think we're getting off topic, aren't we? To summarize, you went to investigate the machines acting strange in the desert, the machines tried to imitate human reproduction and from that a new machine emerged, you fought the machine, at some point, the strange machine created another machine, the place where you were fighting collapsed and the machines fled. Right?" Anemone spoke.

"Yes/Affirmative." 9S and 2B spoke at the same time.

"And according to 9S, Alan was there before you guys?" Anemone pointed at me.

I sweated with that statement, looking away, letting out a few nervous laughs "Well… POD 001 malfunctioned and was taken by one of the machines. I chased the machine through the desert to the place where the strange machine appeared. I was trying to solve things peacefully until they arrived."

"It was a machine, it could strike at any moment." 2B spoke.

"A machine that has just been born, confused and having no idea how the world works. You are young, you still have a lot to learn about this world. Word of advice, not everything is what it seems." I moved out of the way 2B and 9S, letting them pass.

"I admit this was unusual, there's still a lot we don't know about what's going on. Hope to see you again sir." 9S said to me, waving goodbye.

"Hmm… Be careful." 2B said.

"No problem, I know how to take care of myself. By the way, no bad feelings about what happened today, right?"

"We have different opinions, but enmity between us is not desirable, we will see each other again later." 2B turned her back on me and walked away.

9S kept looking between 2B and me repeatedly.

"Well congratulations, she liked you." 9S said.

"Seriously? Your girlfriend seems annoyed with me."

"Hey! 2B is not..." 9S turned red but was interrupted by 2B.

"9S, come on!" 2B spoke.

"Yes ma'am!" 9S ran after 2B.

I noticed that 9S's POD was staring at me, POD 001 placed itself between me and 9S's POD, suddenly 9S's POD was thrown back, as if it had received a punch, the POD swayed from side to side and giving us one last look, returned to 9S.

"POD, is there a problem?" 9S asked his POD.

"Negative." The POD responded.

Then the two Yorha androids and their PODs disappeared through the streets of the camp.

We all let out a breath we didn't know we were holding.

"Yorha androids make me nervous." I said, breaking the silence.

"It must be because they are made with the latest technology and can kill us all faster than we can draw a gun." Anemone spoke, wiping the sweat from her forehead.

"I would like to see them try." Devola, or in this case Damiana, said, irritation in her voice.

"Please don't make any more trouble for us." Popola, this time Perla, said to her sister.

"I don't like their attitude, the boy was nice but that girl..."

"Trust me, those two are the least troublesome, you can't imagine how many Yorha androids cause trouble around here. Thinking they can do whatever they want because they are more advanced." Anemone said, walking towards her command tent.

"Hahaha! It brings back memories of when I had to deal with rebel recruits. Nothing a few hundred laps around the base can't fix." I spoke to Anemone.

"Hump! I wish White would come down here and find out what her men do when she's not looking. How about leading her troops on the front lines? It would do wonders for her attitude." Anemone joked.

We stared at each other for a few seconds before bursting out laughing.

"Hahaha! I see the years haven't ruined your sense of humor. But seriously. What the hell were you doing in the desert?" Anemone asked, reading some documents handed to her by an android.

"Before we start, have you met Perla and Damiana yet?" I pointed to the two who accompanied me.

"Aren't they the ones who dragged you out of camp by the ear?"

"Not my best moment." I blushed in embarrassment.

"Hey there." Damiana spoke with a wave of her hand.

"Nice to meet you." Perla said politely.

"They are gone?" A nervous 11B asked, entering the tent.

"Yes." I replied to 11B.

Anemone narrowed her eyes upon seeing 11B, her eyes focused on the sword strapped to the android's back.

"You're a Yorha android, aren't you?" Anemone asked.

"Why do you want to know?" 11B asked cautiously.

"She is in a similar condition to A2." I said to Anemone.

Anemone's gaze softened and she let out a tired sigh "The clothes you wear help, but the hair color and the sword give away that you are a Yorha android, I recommend dyeing your hair, hiding the sword somehow and changing your name."

"Thanks. By the way I'm…" 11B didn't finish, Anemone held up her hand interrupting her.

"The less I know the better, less problems for me and less questions I have to answer if something happens. Tell me your name when you choose something new."

With a quick wave, 11B leaned back against a corner of the tent, crossed her arms, and watched the androids come and go.

"Let's get serious now. What the hell happened in the desert?" Anemone asked, slamming her hands on the table.

"Everything looked normal, I took the parts to Jackass as you asked, while she worked, I recorded the program, just ask any android that watches me."

"What about the girls with you? According to the Yorhas, there were two twin androids and a strangely dressed android accompanying you."

"It was Perla and Damiana, I know they look alike, but not to the point of being twins. And the strangely dressed android, well…" I pointed at 11B.

Anemone gave 11B a look and 11B nodded.

"I agree. I found it strange when they mentioned the twins, after all I was with them when things in the desert happened. 2B and 9S must have got it wrong, after all the android-like machine should get more attention."

"I can confirm there was nothing wrong for a while, I was wrecking some machines when that crazy android decided to blow up the gate." Damiana spoke.

"Jackass did what?!?" Anemone exclaimed.

"Damiana is right, I was on Jackass's side when it happened, she prepared the bomb and ran away, I had to run too to not get blown up." Perla said.

"And when I almost died of fright with the explosion, we gathered next to Jackass' tent, we were waiting for Perla to finish negotiating with Jackass, when she finished, we prepared to leave the desert, until POD 001 malfunctioned."

"What kind ofmalfunction?" Anemone asked.

"It thrashed, smoked and sparked, then fell to the ground motionless. The stranger came next, one of the desert machines crawled out from under the sand, grabbed the POD and ran through the destroyed gate."

"Which is very convenient." Damiana spoke.

"Surely it was planned, someone wanted us to follow the machine, but who?" Perla said.

"You're both right, that's very convenient. But since the POD was attacked, was it hacked?" Anemone asked.

"POD?" I asked 001.

The POD was silent for a few seconds "Negative. The form of attack was unknown."

"Are you damaged in any way?"

"Negative, all systems running at peak efficiency."

Then the POD was silent again. There's something wrong.

"But continuing our story, we followed the machine through the desert, surprisingly, not a single machine got in our way, we kept going until we reached a big hole made in a set of ruins."

"There we found several machines trying to imitate human reproduction." Perla said.

"And shortly after we arrived, the machines screamed and ran all over the place before merging into a cocoon, and from that cocoon came the android-like machine. And Alan did one of the stupidest things I've seen him do." Damiana spoke.

"What did he do this time?" Anemone asked irritably.

"He tried to talk to the machine." This time 11B spoke.

"He did what?!?"

I flinched at Anemone's exclamation, 11B had to open her mouth.

"Of all things! Of all the things you could do! You tried to talk to an unknown machine?!?"

"Anemone, you know very well that rational machines exist."

"I know! But we've spent months watching and studying to find out if they're safe to trust. You did it the first moment you found the machine!"

"And how could I not? It was an android-like machine, something completely new."

"Do I need to tell you all the reasons why this was a bad idea?" Anemone asked as she crossed her arms and glared at me.

I looked away, "Listen, I'm sorry, okay? I don't know exactly what went through my head, but it was something so new, this war has been going on for so long, I was surprised to see something so different."

Anemone approached me, put a hand on my shoulder and looked me in the eyes. "Just, please, please be careful, after so long with my friends and comrades dying, I don't want to lose another one."

I saw the worry in Anemone's eyes. Damn it! Congratulations Alan, you got Anemone worried, and now I feel bad.

"Listen Anemone, I know we've had this kind of conversation many times, and several times I've put myself in danger anyway. But it's not my intention to make you worried, things happen and sometimes I find myself in the middle of them, if I stayed still I would end up dying. I wish I had a better explanation, but that's all I have to say." I replied while holding Anemone's hand.

"I get it, the worst part is I know how true this is. How many times have we been blindsided by new types of machines?" Anemone said with a sad smile.

"More than I would like." I returned the smile.

We stayed like that for a few seconds, our eyes meeting, her eyes were beautiful, I felt Anemone's grip on my shoulder getting stronger, we got closer...

"COUGH! COUGH!"

We were startled by the sound of coughing, looking towards the source of the noise, we saw Perla and Damiana staring at us.

"Now that the situation has been explained, what do we do?" Damiana asked.

Anemone and I turned away from each other in embarrassment.

"At the moment we can't do much, we know little about this new machine, we don't know what its goals are and where it has gone. I will increase the patrols around the city and the security of the camp. Maybe talk to White, but other than that I can't do much."

"I figured, we are in the same situation too, we can only wait." Perla said.

"And prepare ourselves, starting with getting equipment for this inconsequential idiot." Damiana spoke, pushing me forward slightly.

I looked at Damiana and she glared at me, showing that I couldn't do anything about it.

"I will see what I can do." Anemone said as she scratched her chin.

-Resistance Camp-

"How do I look?" I asked everyone.

"Claim: Administrator Alan finally looks like the military man he claims to have been." POD 000 said.

"Claim: Administrator Alan finally looks ready to roam the city and beyond. Something he should have done a long time ago." POD 001 said.

"Let's see if I have to worry less about you now." Damiana said.

"A welcome change of style, better than the rags you normally wear." Perla spoke.

11B gave me a thumbs up and nodded.

I wore black boots, brown pants, a beige long-sleeved shirt, black gloves that came down to my wrists, a bulletproof vest over the shirt and full of ammo pockets and a socket for my Thunder Knife, knee pads, elbow pads, a belt with a holster for my pistol, to top it off I wore a long cloak with a camouflage pattern and a hood.

Now only the guns were missing, Anemone had asked an android to bring them, the guns were placed disassembled on top of a table.

"Do you still remember how to assemble a gun?" Anemone teased me.

"Anemone, I hammered into that head of yours how to assemble a gun until you and the others could do it in your sleep." I replied.

"It reminds me of the hellish training you put us through. Who taught you that?"

"My wife."

"Oh! Right... Wait?!? Are you married?!?" Anemone asked in surprise.

"I was, she is no longer here."

"I am really sorry about that." Anemone said sadly.

"Thanks." I replied with a sad smile.

Now let's see what I have here, a resistance standard AK-47 and a USP.45. Hm... I would like a shotgun and a sniper rifle too, but I think that would be asking too much.

Well, let's get started, I snapped my knuckles, took a quick look at the pieces, and started my work.

You know, it's such a strange thing, when I think about my life before I ended in the future, I never imagined myself holding a gun, and now here I am, assembling one like it's something natural, I think it's because it became natural, SHADES, machines, it was necessary to be armed at all times, otherwise I would die.

Then came the time when I had to teach other androids how to use guns. The first generation had to learn in practice, but with the battle data, the new generations already left the factory knowing how to shoot and with combat strategies loaded in their systems, but nothing beat experience. How many times did I have to point out that the rulebook shouldn't be followed to the letter?

Guns are dangerous after all, one slip of your finger, one moment of anger and someone would end up dead... I think I'm done.

Scoping the AK and slung it over my shoulder, I finished assembling the gun, Anemone let out a whistle when I finished.

"You haven't lost your touch." Anemone said as she clapped her hands.

"And you doubted me?" I asked as I holstered the pistol.

"I admit that a little bit."

"Give me a revolver and I'll show you some cool tricks."

Glancing at 11B, Perla, and Damiana, I saw them staring at me in amazement. And the twins in disguise were worried?

"Are you ok?" Perla asked.

"Yes, why?"

"At no point you looked away while assembling the gun." Damiana spoke.

"Practice." I shrugged.

"It wasn't just practice…" I heard Damiana whisper.

"I think that's it, Anemone, thanks for the equipment, if I discover something new about the machines I will contact you. It was good to see you again." I said as I approached Anemone.

"Equally." Anemone spoke.

When we got close we hugged, we stayed like that for some time, but I noticed that Anemone wouldn't let go of me.

"Anemone, can you let me go?"

"No." I heard Anemone talking in my chest.

We didn't stay together any longer as Perla and Damiana grabbed each of us and pulled us apart.

"Until next time Anemone!" I said goodbye to the android.

Anemone waved back.

As we all walked out of the command tent towards the busy streets of the camp, I noticed Perla and Damiana staring at me.

"What?" I asked.

"Why don't you two just kiss already?" Damiana said irritably.

"What? I don't know what you're talking about!" I replied as I felt my face heat up.

"You can deny it all you want, but it's obvious." Perla spoke.

"11B, help me here."

"Sometimes 16D and I spend a lot of time cuddling." 11B said embarrassed.

Let's go Alan, ask the passionate android!

Preferring not to further dig my own grave, I walked the streets of the camp with the androids and PODs. Eventually, we come across a group of familiar androids.

Salieri, Kokio, Florence... And Cosmos... The androids were around a metal barrel with a fire burning inside, Salieri was roasting a fish skewered on a stick. There were some liquor bottles around the androids, they must be on break.

Upon seeing me, the androids waved at me, except for Cosmos who grimaced when she saw me. I returned it on my own, this seemed to irritate Cosmos even more, she was about to get up until Salieri got between her and me.

"Hey Alan, I doubt you'll eat that fish!" Salieri smiled and laughed as he offered me the fish.

Shrugging, I took the stick from Salieri's hand and took a bite of it. Hm... overcooked. Glancing at the androids, I saw that each one of them gave me a surprised and scared look.

"HE ATE THE FISH!" Salieri shouted as he pointed at me.

"SPIT IT NOW!" Florence exclaimed.

"AAAHHHH!" Kokio screamed.

"YES! YES! YES!" And Cosmos rooted.

Fuck you, Cosmos! Know what? I'll do it myself.

Next to the barrel there was a bucket full of freshly caught fish, I passed the androids who were screaming desperately and picked up a fish.

"Hey Cosmos!"

"What?"

SPLAT!

I threw the fish at Cosmos, the dead animal hitting her face. For a few seconds nothing happened. Cosmos processed the situation, until she realized that an animal that could kill her was in her face, and then Cosmos screamed.

"AAAAHHHH!"

Cosmos fell from the wooden box she was sitting on, I picked up another fish and placed it in front of her face.

"Come on Cosmos? What is the problem? It's just a fish. It's not like you're going to die from eating it, is it?"

"Stay away from me, you madman!" Cosmos screamed as she scrambled on the ground, trying to get away from the fish.

She got up quickly and tried to run away from me, I ran after her, we circled the group of androids who were now watching us in surprise.

-With the other Androids-

"Are they always like this?" Damiana asked Florence.

"You can't even imagine." Florence answered.

"It's not that bad, Florence is just a little rough with new people!" Kokio tried to defend her friend.

"Kokio, Cosmos is rough with everyone but you." Salieri spoke.

Kokio cringed at what Salieri said, for it was true.

"Shouldn't we take Alan for repairs? He ate the fish!" 11B exclaimed.

"Believe me, he's had worse." Perla spoke, emotionless

Then Perla, Damiana, 11B and the PODs started talking to the other androids, while Alan chased Cosmos.

"So, are you friends with Alan?" Kokio asked.

"You could say so, more like a family at that point." Perla spoke.

"Seriously? How long have you known each other?"

"A few years." Damiana said.

"You two are alike. The same model perhaps?" Florence asked.

"Not exactly similar models but modified for different tasks, I'm more heavy-duty whereas my sister is support-oriented." Damiana spoke.

"Sisters? You are sisters?" Florence asked again.

"Yes, we left the factory at the same time, I think our resemblance helped." Perla said.

"Well, you are the second pair of sisters in this camp." Salieri spoke.

"Are you talking about the twins? I think I saw them a few times around camp." Damiana spoke.

"Yes."

"We noticed that other androids don't treat them well, is there a reason for that?" Perla asked.

"No one knows, all androids are programmed with this dislike for the twins, all we know is that something bad happened in the past and it was their fault." Salieri replied.

Perla and Damiana exchanged a look, knowing what Salieri was talking about.

"That's not fair, it must have been others of the same model and they still get all the blame." Perla spoke.

"Unfortunately I can't do anything about it, or someone changes the programming of all the androids in the world to stop hating the twins, or someone explains what really happened. Honestly I don't like it, I'm programmed to hate someone without knowing why, I feel like my judgment has been altered, that my opinion on the subject is not my true opinion." Salieri replied.

This frustrated Perla, but Damiana put a calming hand on her shoulder.

"I think we'd better pay them a visit later." Damiana spoke.

"Good luck with that, after everything that's happened, they don't like strangers very much."

Meanwhile, Florence, Kokio and 11B were talking to each other.

"Oh! Are you new here?" Kokio asked 11B.

"Yes, I've been to camp a few times, but I don't think I've ever spoke to you."

"So let's introduce ourselves, I'm Kokio and this is Florence." Kokio introduced herself and her friend.

"Hello. What's your name?" Florence waved and smiled.

"Hello. I am… I am…" 11B stammered, thinking of a new name for herself, the less known about her true identity the better.

Taking a deep breath and calming down, 11B chose a name and revealed it to the androids "My name is Camellia."

"Nice to meet you Camellia." Kokio smiled.

"Welcome to the camp." Florence answered.

"Thanks. Honestly I was surprised to see how big this place is." 11B replied with a smile.

"We can show you around the camp, would you like to come with us?" Kokio suggested.

"I don't want to bother you."

"You won't bother us, come on, it will be fun." Florence insisted.

11B, now Camellia, hesitated, not wanting to stray too far from her group, but Kokio and Florence tugged on her by each arm, giving Perla and Damiana a distressing look, the sisters nodded, saying that everything was fine.

Camellia let go of the two androids that were pulling her, and giving each one a friendly smile, she asked "Do you know of any place where they sell hair dye?"

"Sure, I know a place, you know you're not the first to look for this, other androids like to change their appearance and…" Kokio spoke as she led Camellia to the store.

Camellia was surprised by how much Kokio talked, Florence gave an amused smile.

"You will get used to it, Kokio likes to make new friends."

"I can see that." Camellia smiled back.

Then the group disappeared into the crowd.

"Hey Salieri, can you tell me where we can find the twins?" Perla asked.

"Hm… If I remember correctly, they have a shop where they do general equipment repairs, if they haven't gone out on a mission." Salieri replied.

"Do they do missions often?" Damiana asked.

"Yes, the worst types of missions, even if they're not combat androids. And when they come back… I'm not a medical droid, but as a mechanic, let's just say it wasn't pretty…" Salieri said as he looked away.

Without another word, Perla and Damiana got up, going in search of the twins.

"See you later!" Salieri bid the sisters farewell, only to receive a quick wave in response. He flinched at that.

"I should have been more careful giving the information."

Now that the sisters were gone, only Cosmos, Alan and the PODs were left, Alan was still chasing Cosmos.

"Stay away from me!" Cosmos screamed.

"Come on, it's just a fish!" Alan replied.

"Help, he wants to kill me!"

"Not so funny now, is it?"

Eventually Cosmos managed to escape, an android's stamina being far greater than that of a human, the desperate android pushed other androids out of the way, not realizing that Alan was no longer chasing her.

Taking a deep breath and catching his breath, Alan laughed when he saw Cosmos running away, giving Salieri a look. Alan saw that the android was trying to hold back his laugh.

"She will kill you when she gets back." Salieri spoke between laughs.

"It would not be the first time." Alan shrugged.

"Want a drink?" Salieri offered Alan a bottle.

Alan looked at the bottle, a brief look of disgust crossed his face.

"No, thanks, but I'll have more fish if you don't mind." Alan said as he sat down on a wooden box next to Salieri.

Salieri kicked the bucket of fish towards Alan, Alan skewered a fish on a stick and roasted it over the fire.

"I still can't believe you can eat that stuff without dying."

"I'm an old android, my parts don't have the same sensitivity as androids do today."

"Seriously?"

"Yes, my insides are more like a metal skeleton full of wires and circuits."

"Wow, what year were you manufactured?" Salieri asked as he sipped his beer.

"Year four thousand one hundred and ninety."

"PPPSSSSHHH!" Salieri spat out his drink upon hearing this.

He stared at Alan, a startled and frightened look on his face.

"What?" Alan asked.

"You are old as fuck!" Salieri pointed a shaky finger at Alan.

Alan threw a fish at Salieri, but Salieri managed to dodge it.

"I am old, but that has done nothing to diminish my abilities."

"How the hell are you still alive and functioning?!?"

"In my day androids were made with steel and titanium, we could take punches from giant machines and still fight. Not like today's androids that need constant maintenance."

Salieri fixed Alan with a bored look.

"Ok boomer."

Alan stopped what he was doing and stared into the air for a few seconds, he opened and closed his mouth repeatedly, then pointed a finger at Salieri but didn't say anything, his gaze strayed upwards as he thought.

Alan grabbed his head and looked down at the floor.

"My god, I'm a boomer."

"The first step is acceptance." Salieri spoke.

Alan threw another fish at Salieri, but he dodged again.

"So how do you do it?" Salieri asked.

"How I do what?"

"How do you manage to be surrounded by those pretty babes? The sisters, the girl in the black jacket and Anemone. Tell me your secret."

"Why do you think I have any secrets?"

"They say wisdom comes with age and considering how old you are, you must have figured out some technique for getting girls."

"You're talking rubbish, but if you're so interested in getting someone, why don't you try going out with Florence."

"Florence? PSSSHH! No! She and I are just friends, she must not want to date someone like me."

"All couples started out as friends. And what do you mean by someone like you? What is so wrong with you that Florence doesn't want to go out with you?"

"I'm just a mechanic, while Florence is a medical android, she spends the day saving lives while I'm locked in the garage changing engine oil."

"You should try it, I was nobody before I met my special someone, she was so awesome than me and she still loved me and I loved her back."

"Do you think I have a chance?"

"Sure, but you should shower and get ready first, plan the date but don't plan too much, be polite but don't overdo it, Florence is not made of glass, start slow, take a walk around camp, eat something light and see how far it will take you, but if it doesn't work, don't insist."

"Wow! Thanks."

"You're welcome."

"I was right, wisdom comes with age."

This time Alan didn't throw a fish, he grabbed Salieri by the shirt and smacked him across the face with a fish.

"Did you say I'm old? Yes! I'm old! And you young people should learn to respect your elders! I will teach you respect the same way my father taught me!"

Then Alan began to slap Salieri across the face, leaving the fish mark on his cheeks.

Unfortunately, the commotion ended up drawing the attention of a group of androids who stopped to watch the exhibition. This event would become the joke of the resistance camp for months, meanwhile the PODs recorded everything and transmitted it to the data network, increasing even more the scope of the joke.

END OF CHAPTER