Doomsday Unit AJ-001 (III)

RL walked down the aisles of the convenience store, searching for items on the shelves that caught her eye. Candy bars, peanut butter crackers and many other assortments of branded snacks filled up the store. She had already found a few bags of salted pretzels and chocolate chip cookies for her to eat.

She used Owen's storage capabilities to free up her hands. Stuffing him with enough food to last a month. He was becoming somewhat annoyed that he was being used as a storage unit but he complied with her desires.

The people inside stuck in time were alive which gave her reprieve. Seeing that there was a D-Bugg in the store just moments earlier made her worry that many of them would have been dead.

So the scanner types can't attack us, then why do they mark us? To alert the other types of where we are?

RL started to spin her head in thought as she perused the shelves. The different functions of the D-Buggs appear to depend on their look. Their movements, despite being mechanical and telegraphed, also seemed to be done with intent.

There had to have been a sophisticated process in their creation and, even deeper, in their motive, however detestable it may be. Their design suggested a designer and ultimately, involvement of human thought. 

Wait. They come from The Falling Sky, or even beyond it. Then it probably isn't humans , but another lifeform. Could it be that the end of the world is some alien invasion of our planet and the dying sky and mechanical beasts are a means to accomplish their conquest?

She looked at Owen, deliberating on whether she should ask him about her crack theory but decided against it. She asked him so many questions already that she felt like she needed to piece this together on her own. Besides that, Owen was being tight lipped with the information he was giving to her. 

They had quite a different relationship than what AJ had with his Orbital Warden. His seemed to answer him with complete honesty and aid in his plans without much pushback. It also wasn't as expressive. Owen had much the same capabilities but had more of a personality, and one that could be somewhat impassioned. They were very much different.

RL found a sandwich aisle with packaged ham and cheese sandwiches that drew her eyes in. She picked up the meal and flipped it over, finding the expiry date on the back. It said June 2, 2245. Next month.

"I wonder if this date really matters anymore."

"I should not," Owen's eye went yellow, "for such food to go bad and start accruing mold, time is required to pass so that moisture and alterations in temperature can affect its properties. Without those reactions, the food is essentially preserved for as long as you desire."

"Hmm, I guess I'll grab a few more for a later time, then."

She took a couple of different types of foods and drifted her way back to the entrance where AJ was waiting for her. The machete balancing under his forearm, he munched on some sunflower seeds, tossing a few in his mouth and spitting them out when he was done. 

He noticed RL approaching her, "Got everything you need, RL?"

She nodded, "Everything for the next couple of… I don't know if days is the right word to say."

"Just say it, I know what you mean."

She scratched the back of her head, "So, what now? Are we heading to the City Command Center?"

He shook his head. "No. Speaking of days, I've been up for almost an entire one, I need some rest."

He observed RL's exhaustion, "You must be tired too. There's a hotel a few blocks across from here. Let's eat there and get some rest in the lobby. Besides, this place has been marked, other D-Buggs might come here."

As much as his last notion unsettled her, she agreed that that was the best course of action.

…

The hotel was bright with a chandelier filled in with hundreds of powerful lights blasting the room with whiteness. It seemed to be somewhat of a fancy hotel. Marble spires spun towards the ceiling, contrasting heavily with the dulled atmosphere of every other building RL has been inside of so far.

Many people were frozen in the lobby, a snapshot of their experience in a hotel. One customer appeared to be angry with the AI attendant at the front office, the reason for their anger completely unknown. A middle aged man slouched on the main couch, sleeping peacefully with a magazine covering his eyes. Carts filled with luggage were being pulled toward an elevator by robots. The elevators seemed to be separated by the ones that people use and the ones where the luggage goes. 

AJ briskly scanned the area, " All right. The Orbital Wardens don't need to eat so let's have them stay here and keep look out."

Owen's sides started to spin, "I strongly contest that."

RL waved him down, "Owen, alert us if any D-Buggs come our way."

As much as he wanted to argue, he reminded himself that he is her Orbital Warden and swiftly followed AJ's Warden to the entrance.

The remaining two made their way to the second floor. A bit safer than the lobby as a doomsday unit would have to travel up stairs to get to them. But it could also prove dangerous as space is limited should they have to fight one.

They found a small dimly lit lounge area at the corner of the hallway. It had the same chairs from the lobby, a small leather couch, a holographic tv and a motion detected window that was currently closed. The window obviously didn't work because it was stuck in time.

The ability to Time-tread has been more annoying than anything else.

AJ took his seat on the chair and rested his sword on the back of it. It squeaked lightly under his weight.

RL went to the couch, splaying herself on the cushions and perching her head upright on the arm.

Tossing the empty bag of sunflower seeds, AJ pulled out a chicken sandwich for his meal. RL did the same, biting into her ham and cheese. A rush of elation spilled over her. Her tongue danced as it contacted the conglomeration of textures and flavors that the sandwich produced, providing sustenance for her body tired from all that had happened.

She wore a beaming smile, "This is amazing!" 

AJ joined in on her excitement ...if excitement means his lips curling upward ever so slightly.

"Mine as well, the smell is alluring."

What?

RL was confused by the word 'smell'. A sense unknown to her.

She opened her mouth to ask what he meant by smell but AJ had already moved on with a question of his own.

"So you named your Orbital Warden. Owen, was it?"

She nodded, "Yeah, I think it's easier to remember than their designation. Too many numbers in those."

"He does seem to be…. energetic for a robot."

"You didn't name yours?"

He shook his head, "Names give way to attachment. I don't fully trust them, so calling mine Warden gets the job done.

He noticed RL's bashful movement of the fact that she named her Orbital Warden.

"N-not that I disapprove of you naming your Orbit–Owen. It's just a personal preference of an untrusting man."

Some time passed and they finished their food. A silence entered that made the both squirm in their minds. It felt like they should be having a conversation. But what would they talk about? Their memories only extended so far and their common talking points were how good food is and the D-Buggs they fought. Not very good topics for long form conversation.

AJ finally broke the silence.

"RL, your Orbital Warden, uh, Owen, he might be right."

"Right about what?"

"That I might be 'off mission'." 

RL tilted her head, confused.

"I mean... Doesn't this all feel odd to you. Not the fact that the world is frozen and that it's ending, that's already incomprehensible. I'm talking about what we were told to do."

RL started to piece together what he was trying to get across.

"About us saving the world? You don't want to do it?"

"…I don't know. As much as I would like to think that. The truth is hidden from us. All we know is what the Wardens want to tell us. Who knows what they could be hiding."

So it's not just Owen, AJ's warden has been secretive as well. Good to know he is open to talk about that with me.

AJ continued, "I asked my Warden earlier before we met about how I became a Doomsday Unit. It said we were put in this position by scientists in hopes to 'save the world from certain doom'. In other words, people made us Time-treaders. people made us Doomsday Units. And people have agendas, no matter how pure their intentions may seem."

RL shifted on the couch, letting AJ continue.

"They say we were made to 'save the world' but what the hell does that even mean? They keep dragging us along by the leash pushing us to go to the Command Center to learn more. Is it even true we're saving the world or are we being lied to?"

RL sat up and leaned in, nodding in agreement, "There's a lot to this world that we don't know. I've realized going to our Wardens for answers only takes us so far. And you're probably right, I may have been too cordial with mine. They, too, were made by people, programmed to say whatever they desire with no true will of their own."

Still, Owen seemed so humanlike in the way he spoke and interacted that at times I forgot he even was an AI.

AJ smiled, elated that RL had been thinking the same thing, "That's why I can't help but hesitate when I know so little. We're vulnerable, anything that's said to us could be lies."

He pulled his hand up next to his head. "And, I feel like my mind is fucked up. I try to gather my thoughts, think back to when there was time. But all I get is darkness. Nothing. "

His hand roughly swept up through his bangs, "Even though I know I have a past, I can't grasp a hold of it."

"Yeah," RL agreed, "There are things I faintly remember. Like the names of things and terms that just suddenly pop into my head. Like the food we just ate, I knew that was a ham and cheese sandwich but I can't ever remember seeing what it looked like, let alone what a pig is."

And It didn't just end there for them. AJ and RL both have the knowledge of how to fight as though they've done it all their lives. AJ can wield a sword at near perfect mastery, but not one of them can remember the training they got them to that level, or if they even did train. They know a whole lot of things, but don't remember that they learned them.

AJ's face twisted in frustration, "What's worse than that is the things I know but don't know. What I mean is that I know I'm forgetting something like my name or some term. Those things are knocking at the back of my head, screaming at the top of their lungs behind some sealed door. And I can't let them in."

AJ squeezed his hand tight, "I know I have them, but I can't obtain them. So I have to accept this fake name." 

He met RL's dark eyes, who had been intently watching him, "Before I decide anything, I want to remember who I am, who we are. I want to know why the world is ending. Did we bring the end upon ourselves? Are we truly removed from fault in this situation? It's never so black and white, is it?"

AJ burrowed his eyebrows, his face renewed with a confident countenance, "The truth will set me on the path I need to go on, whether it is to 'save the world' as our Wardens say, or… to let it die, as depressing as that sounds."

He stood and walked over to RL, resting his arm on her shoulder, "I still intend to go to the Command Center tomorrow. Hopefully I'll get clearer answers and, hopefully, the other Units will be there. The only ones we can trust right now are ourselves, not our Wardens. We are in this situation together."

He smiled softly at her, "I'm going to get some rest, best you get some too."

He walked away, picking up the machete and leaving down into the hallway.