Automaton (WIP)

	“Is anyone there?” I hear someone call from outside the rubble.

	Please, don't find me.

	Something begins to shift the massive stones above me. I hide myself beneath a slab of concrete. Light begins to pour out from between the cracks. A rain of pebbles and dust begins to fall from the sky. Then, the final, massive stone is lifted from the top. A whirring woman leans into the hole in the rubble, and our eyes meet.

	She greets me with a simple, “Oh, hi.” An artificial hand with visible joints is extended toward me. I back myself into a corner, and swat at it.

	“Go away!” I yell.

	“I am here to rescue you. My current primary function is to search for and rescue survivors. Is there anyone else here besides you?”

	“I don't need to be rescued. And, there's no one else here.”

	“My vitality sensors detect that you are malnourished. I have rations. Would you like some?”

	“Save them for yourself. I'll be fine.” I lied.

	“I do not eat.”

	“What are you?”

	“I am a machine. Automaton Model XI-R 31D. My functions include scavenging, rescue, and survival care. A distress signal over the radio informed me of a boy trapped under a collapsed building. Are you not him?”

	“I was trapped, yeah, but I don't want to be rescued. This is my house.”

	“This area fails to meet the structural security standards required for it to be identified as suitable human housing. You also seem to need food, water, and sanitation. I have identified a severe wound to your left leg that will become infected if it is not cared for.”

	“So what? This is where I live, this is where my family lived. I'm staying here, got it? I don't need to go out there.”

	“I can lead you to safety.”
	“Why should I trust you, when there are thousands of other NHSB's out there that want a piece of me?”

	“What credentials do you require? As I am not a living creature, I do not qualify as a Non-human Sentient Being.”

	“Who made you?”

	“I... do not know. I was activated in response to a severe catastrophic event. There were no scientists or maintenance staff inside the deployment center, and flashes of bright light were seen traveling south.”

	“The Northern Lights.”

	“I beg your pardon?”

	“What you saw were the Northern Lights. I saw them, too, before the NHSB's started showing up. Which means you're not one of them, I think.” I grabbed her hand, and she pulled me out of the rubble.

	“Are these lights the cause of the catastrophic event?”

	“No, just a side effect. The real end-of-the-world happened about a day or two before we saw the Northern Lights. For whatever reason, people started sprouting plants from their bodies. Some people said it was a disease, others thought it was a parasite, but it killed off so many people so quickly that we didn't really have time to study it. It got a hold of my dad, my mom, and eventually even took my older brother. You wouldn't find the bodies anywhere, but if there's a concentration of plants anywhere, that's where they went. I'm just waiting for it to happen to me.”

	“It will not.”

	“How do you know?”

	“At the laboratory, there were documents of this disease. It was dormant in the human body for up to three months before symptoms began to show, and it was transmitted through sexual activity. Then, when one colony of the disease was active, it released pollen that would start a chain reaction, activating the disease in other carriers. Approximately ninety-nine percent of carriers should be deceased by now. Your exposure to the pollen should have activated the disease by now.”

	“I've been trapped under here for a while. Maybe I just haven't breathed in enough pollen yet.” I joked.

	“That is an insufficient explanation. Your hormone levels would suggest that you have not had any sexual activity in your life.”

	“W-what's that supposed to mean?!”

	“That it is extremely improbable for you to be a carrier.”

	“Oh, right. So, where are we going?”

	“I cannot disclose that when enemies may be present. Follow me, and be on your guard.”

	“Alright, not what I wanted to hear, but I've come this far.”

	She guided me by the hand out of the ruins of my home, and onto the street. Rows of dilapidated apartment buildings coated with overgrowth lined the quiet path away from home. The sky was tinted a golden orange, and the air reeked of floral scents. I thought for a moment about everyone else I knew. I wondered if they saw the same things I did, if they thought the way I did, if they were surviving. Did they know if this was a life worth surviving?

	The automaton takes me down a narrow alleyway, toward a smoldering barrel. “Oh.” She chimes. “This is the drop-off point specified by the radio operator. However, I do not detect anyone else in the vicinity. This area is still adequately secure. Would you like to have a meal?”

	My stomach howled at the mere mention of food. “Yeah.”