Of Gears and Humanity

| 02.2

[DAMIEN]

Arvon's cloak worked as promised. Once I put it over my head and walked out under the sun, the heat didn't bother me. I was warm, yes, but not as uncomfortable as I would've been; I definitely felt better than I did within the rover. It made me wonder what type of materials was used to make the hood. Would there be a way to incorporate it in the vehicles I helped build back home?

"Look at me," I laughed as I looked down at my hands. The shimmers from sweat faded away as I walked further into the desert land.

But that wasn't why I laughed, no. My first thoughts were funny; rather than think of how I could make myself more comfortable, I thought of the vehicles I maintained for the Attributions. I agreed to take the walk away from Arvon to think of myself, of what plagued my mind for months, years even. Still, I was concerned about them.

"That's what the book said, right?" Lifting my head, I looked ahead at the open land. "The machines were able to manipulate humans into doing their bidding? Humans easily fell into the traps of technology, blindly agreeing, accepting all the terms without question."

Around me, for miles, were the remnants of the war. Buildings had been destroyed during the original attacks and what remained fell into the dirt; many pieces stunk into the Earth. When the Attributions explained the War of Humans to me, it seemed one-sided. The humans programmed and used machinery against the Attributions; they wished to destroy what they themselves nurtured and created. And, in the end of it all, the humans destroyed themselves, instead.

When I was young, I easily accepted what happened. As the last human under the care of machines, I could only thank them. And when I was a boy, I never questioned the dates within my education, the historical documents provided for me to read. I wondered if the Attributions assumed I would be too dumb to understand or too blind, or if I would simply ignore the facts that the year I was in was well over one hundred years from the last documented war. Or the fact that, if I paid attention to the dates provided to me, humans vanished after the last battle just miles east of Sector twelve; without humans, how was I born and left abandoned near the Gate?

"What if there are still humans?" I whispered, glancing down at my black shoes. I kicked a rock to the left as I walked, and as I passed it, I watched it roll away. "What if they're just in hiding?"

When I read the book the first time, I made up a story in my head. I told myself someone had placed that book in the library to be found; for me find it, to find my home. Looking at the dead horizon before me, I held onto that idea, even now, that there was a pact of humans out there waiting for my arrival. For me to find some secret, some notes within that book and return to my family.

I had to have a family somewhere, right? I was born, wasn't I? But whenever I had that thought, it shifted; why was I abandoned?

Slowly my steps, I bit my lip. "Did Arvon steal me?" I whispered.

No. Arvon couldn't. He'd never.

Shaking my head, I closed my eyes and pushed forward. Arvon may have been the leader of all Attributions, the oldest cyborg built within Earth's time, but because of it, he was more human than the others. He displayed affection and programmed mother to be the same; just for me. It may have been unnatural, but it was the closest thing I had to love. Even if I needed a walk to clear my head, I couldn't clear the past.

Arvon was my father. That was something I'd always believe.

*

My watch chimed on my wrist, a soft beeping sound. Lifting my hand to glance at the time, I noticed the tiny alarm clock on the corner of the screen. According to the newly changed numbers, I had fifteen minutes left for my walk.

And because of that, I sighed and slowed. When I looked ahead, I could see the Gate so I knew there was nowhere else to go. I could reach the metal walls, touch the side, and turn around, just as I'd done in the past. The first time I'd made the walk, I was younger, slower, and made it back to the Sector with every Attribution worried about me. Since then, Arvon never let me travel without him by my side.

But today he allowed it to happen; he instilled faith in me. I couldn't let his trust go to waste because what if I wanted to take this walk again. What if I wanted to bring the book with me and compare notes, seek out detailed monuments described within its pages? If I didn't return in the time he said, I wouldn't have the chance. I'd be stuck at his side for another number of years until I was well and grown and old.

I couldn't have that happen. So, I moved to turn, but a movement caught my eye at the Gate. Squinting my eyes, I tried to see the figure. It sat on top of the wall; it seemed as if it observed me, too. My heart hammered in my chest.

"This isn't an animal," I whispered as I continued towards the Gate's wall. "There aren't any animals this far out."

The figure seemed to shift to the side. As did I. "But why is it up there? Could it be?"

My mind played games with me. Immediately, I thought it was a human, watching me, waiting for me. A smile pulled at my lips as my pounding heart forced a hearty laugh from my chest.

A human sitting on the Gate's wall was all that made sense. Attributions hadn't been sent to maintain the structure; Arvon would have told me if the order had been placed. Because if they had, I needed to be home, I needed to be ready for their repair.

Instead, I was free to walk away. And a human was there, waiting for me.

"Wait!" I broke out into a run. The cloak fell from my head as I hurried towards the Gate's wall. Suddenly, it wasn't as hot, the sun wasn't uncomfortable. I partly wondered if my excitement pushed away from the focus of temperature, or had the heat really shifted into cool winds. Either way, I didn't care. I wanted to, needed to, talk to whoever, whatever sat on the wall.

I waved my hands over my head. "Wait!"

The figure became clearer. A girl, around my age, peered at me from on top of the Gate. As I drew closer, her mouth opened. Wide. A scream shut out from her chest. Before I could tell her I meant no harm, that I was a human, she fell back. I reached the wall and pressed my hands against the cool metal as I heard her land on the opposite side.

Forming a fist, I pounded it against the metal and stone before me. "Wait! Please!" I called out hoping to hear her climb the wall again.

The sound I heard wasn't that of climbing or returning to the Gate. It was a retreat, and there were more than two legs.

Pressing my forehead against the wall, I clenched my jaw and tried not to let my emotions come over me. The figure could've been an illusion, a figment created by my conflicted imagination. "You're walking in a dream, Damien," I whispered to myself as I took in a deep breath. "All of this was because you need to see someone like you, to—"

I stopped. While I meant to look down at my shoes before I pushed away from the wall, I saw a small bag, instead. It was made of standard cloth; a diamond was embroidered on a tiny pocket. Bending down to lift it in my hand, I felt a book tucked inside of it.

"What's this?" I whispered as I pulled at the string securing the bag. The top opened in an instant. Pressing my hand inside, I pulled out an old leather journal, similar to the book I had at home. My jaw slightly dropped as I looked at it. I opened to the first page, hoping to find the same penmanship of the person who authored the book I read.

It wasn't the same. Neither was the ink. But the first line made me nod before I closed it and placed it back in its bag. Rather than leave it where I found it, I could only assume the figure spying over the gate had dropped it. Possibly for me to find.

Holding it in my hand, I listened to the beeps of my watch and turned back to return to Arvon. As I walked, I recited the line over and over again.

"We live in a world divided, and it shouldn't be."

*

[Thank you for reading <3]