Fallen Heaven

HOME COORDINATES: set

Unit on route to owner's residence

Traffic forecast: light

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The blinding morning light shined upon the dead city. The once busy street is nothing more but the combination of a cemetery and a garbage heap. A hundred derelict cars were scattered on the ruined road, broken down from crashing or because of the prejudiced hands of time itself. A thought appeared in the freshly awoken nandroid's mechanical brain. The depressing realization and dread have finally settled in.

She stepped off the concrete stairs of the building and looked in both directions before crossing the quiet street. Not a single living soul was around. It was all just her, the crumbling cement and rusted steel. Skeletal remains of people from her age appeared between the ruins of the urban wasteland. One could only hope that judgement day came down on them fast and without pain.

If her memory was still correct, and the city's layout hasn't changed too radically after the apocalypse, then she could find her old home before dark. She missed her family, and as time passed more and more terrifying thoughts appeared in her artificial mind. But whatever happens, she will find them. She started her long walk down the dead street, carefully examining this dead new world along the way.

Nothing could have made this forgotten hell more tolerable. The toxic air of the new age was filled with the smell of dirt and rust. After just a few minutes, a man's lung could have been full with the dust of the past. The sun's deadly rays radiated at the lost metropolis. This desolate hellscape is nothing like it's former, glorious self. No, this era is the age of a fallen heaven. An Earth without God's guiding presence.

The journey appeared to be longer than it was way back then. Collapsed buildings and toxic sinkholes could have blocked the roads around every corner. And sometimes the feeling of someone watching her made the automaton slow down. It has been an hour since she entered the inner city and the rest of the "tour" was still ahead. As she stumbled upon another desolate avenue, something caught her eye. It was a small, greyish newspaper vending machine. It's vibrant colours faded out over the years. She walked up to the box with haste. After clearing the dust off the glass with her left hand, the headline was readable. "The Caribbean gets hotter!" The huge letters in all capital were nothing out of the ordinary, but the nandroid had a feeling that the sentence wasn't about the weather. She checked her dress for any change, but her pockets were empty. The only thing that stood between her and the answers to her questions was an insignificant little piece of metal. She would have left the box there, but as she stumbled away from the machine she stepped into something. Looking down, the robot yelled out in panic, her voice echoed between the crumbling skyscrapers. She was standing in the ribcage of a man, dead for decades. She quickly jumped out of the skeletal remains and took a few steps back. In normal circumstances, she would have called the police, but even a chauffeur droid with the most simple programming would know that the current state of the nation lacked in any form of law enforcement. She calmed herself down, unknowingly imitating the movements of a human taking a deep breath. As she took up a more relaxed stance, she started to think. If we don't count the economic situation of yesteryear, and we presume that the deceased gentleman was from a good neighbourhood, then he must have some money left from the old times. This horrible thought couldn't leave her mechanical mind. Desperate times call for desperate measures. She approached the skeleton and while she had second thoughts about it, she started searching through the corpse's clothing.
"Sorry" she muttered to herself, acting as if there was anyone left around who she could apologize for. After just a minute - that seemed like another hour to her - she finally found the man's wallet. The paper was mostly gone, eaten away by the fifty years of decay. A single quarter was the only thing left, still reminding her of the ancient order of things. She stood up and went back to the vending machine. With a confident motion, she put the coin into the box. Then she waited. Nothing happened. Realizing that the battle is lost, she gave a defeated expression and went on her way.

The day was coming to an end. The hideous maze could confuse the most adventurous spirits. The dusty void without any resemblance of it's former glory. Dirt has gotten into her servos. She was about to rest in a building nearby, hoping she could recharge inside. Tired, dirty and losing hope, the nandroid missed mankind. Looking back, she started to miss the busy shops, the loud children of the neighbourhood and the packed buses. She needed someone to talk to, even if for a minute. The sun was going down. She was lonely.

She turned around a corner, maybe it was the same street she went through a few moments ago. She strolled past a destroyed bus when she heard an eerie sound. She examined her surroundings and noticed something moving in front of her. A couple of feet from her, someone was laying on the ground on his side wearing a dark brown cloak on his body. The man moved and grunted every couple of seconds. The stranger clearly needed help.
"Hello?! Sir or madam, I'm here to help!" she shouted, rushing towards the poor soul. As she got to the person, the figure rolled on his back. Our android only realized her mistake now. The man slowly stood up, an evil grin was on his face. His bald head was covered in tattoos depicting snakes eating themselves. When he was standing over the nandroid, he pulled out a piece of scrap metal, swinging it around as if it was a sword.
"Tin can got the bait!" another voice yelled from the robot's right side. The attackers started laughing, a third came from her left, armed like the rest. It was too late to run. Their trap worked.
"Stop right there! I'm going t-" before she could even finish what she wanted to say, the bald bandit kicked her. She fell into the mud, trying to understand what is going on. The man raised his weapon, ready to strike down at his victim's head. Remembering her times during nanny training, she aimed with her right hand at the raider. He chuckled, but his smile quickly turned upside down when the robot's arm opened. Pepper spray flew out from her broken arm and hit the opponent right in his eyes. The marauder collapsed, screaming in pain.
"Useless bastard!" a voice from the left cried out. The robot quickly looked in the voice's direction but before she could act, a gas mask-wearing friend of the swordsman jumped on top of her, just a bit taller than the machine. The bandit screamed nonsense while trying to penetrate the android's skull with her kitchen knife. The robot resisted and managed to remove the attacker's mask during the brawl. The woman's tired eyes were full of hatred. It was either her or the nandroid. Just when the automaton was about to lose the fight, a gunshot could be heard. Above them, just as he entered the scene, the third raider's skull exploded into a fountain of gore. A man could be seen running towards them, shooting with his automatic rifle at the last hooligan. The one with the knife quickly jumped up and ran for cover behind a wall, picking up her dead friend's rifle in the process. She swiftly opened and closed the weapon's bolt, and returned fire. The heroic stranger also went behind cover but didn't fire a shot.
"Get away! Go away!" she barked, not realizing that another person managed to sneak behind her. When the woman finally noticed him it was over. The warrior split her head into two using an old fire axe. The fight was over. The runner with his rifle walked out of the rubble. The bald one just managed to stand up, half-blind. He pleaded for mercy but was killed with a single shot through his skull. The fighters' attention was now on the nandroid. Both of them wore the same style of clothing. Their heads were wrapped around in cloth, almost like a turban but with the gunner's face covered and both men's eyes wearing dark googles. The one with the axe had some leather near the area his mouth and nose is. Their torso was covered with a brown-ish flak jacket with pouches storing ammo strapped around them. They both wore gloves and the same type of shirt was under their armor. Both pants were covered in patches, presumably after many years of conflict. Both of them wore jackboots.
"Stop right there!" she shouted again, but the two men only stared at her. Then the one with the machine gun kneeled down. He removed his eyewear and gushed out a sentence while removing the cloth that was in front of his mouth.
"Well look at that, it's a girly cyber" the man smiled. But unlike that monster's grin, his expression was comforting.
"Haven' seen a ro' like this in ages" his friend replied. He sat down next to his buddy and removed his mask in a tired manner. The android was still in shock. She didn't lower her arm and still kept her distance.
"Oh, hey don't be scared! It's okay, we won't hurt you. We aren't from here and only the locals are a threat in Beacon. No offence of course." the gunner joked. "My name is Willy by the way." he offered a handshake to the lonely robot but after she closed her hand again, the two men looked into the distance. The nandroid looked too, and suddenly a third gunslinger appeared, hiding under a cloak, hood on her head. The barrel of a rifle poked through her clothing.
"You are one lucky lady!" she commented "But the bad men are gone now, I hope we didn't scare you. If you can do that."
"Uhm, I'm fine thank you." the android mumbled. "I'm just... I have too many questions."
"Don't worry we won't just leave you out here. You don't want to stay out here during the night." the woman went closer to the nandroid. She examined her and asked "I think your type has names. What's yours?"
"Emmy" she bubbled with a calm voice.