Page 31 of Ruin

“I did it.” She huffed an incredulous laugh. “I can’t believe I actually did it.”

The bot swiveled its narrow head toward her, two long antennae twitching. The photoreceptors, made to appear like large black eyes, pulsed with a soft pink light as it scanned her.

“Hello. I’m Lira. Can you vocalize?”

It gave a tinny, “Brr-ta zeep.”

“Okay, um, how about… nod your head like this for ‘yes’, and shake it like this for ‘no’. Can you do that?”

It nodded, antennae twitching.

Pointing to where Ruin lay slumped against the far wall, she asked, “Can you carry that much weight?”

The bot nodded confidently and skittered over, its articulated legs easily navigating the uneven floor. She sucked in a breath just as it reached for him, holding out a staying hand.

“Be careful, please. He’s—” She paused. Ruin wasn’t fragile by any stretch of the imagination, and yet… “He’s mine.”

With surprising gentleness, it maneuvered its two front limbs under Ruin's body and lifted him.

As it stood up on its back four legs, holding Ruin aloft with the front two, Lira's brows rose. The bot was much taller than she’d anticipated now that it was standing. It was also kind of creepy looming over her like that, holding the most important being in her universe.

It tilted its head down at her, then looked at the unconscious Ruin cradled in its grasp, then back at her, tilting its head again in what felt like a questioning manner.

Creepy in a cute way, she amended.

“You did good. That’s perfect, thank you.”

The bot’s wings gave a wiggly flutter in response to the praise.

Lips quirking, she waved. “Okay, follow me. We need to get him back to our hideout.”

She hadn’t gone more than a step when a thought had her turning abruptly to squint up at the bot. “Is anyone accessing, or able to access, your visual data? Or control you?”

It shook its head.

“Would you tell me if there was?”

It nodded vigorously.

Lira studied it a moment longer, then gave a little nod of acceptance. “Alright, let's go then.”

As they made their way through the winding passages, Lira kept glancing back nervously, both to check on Ruin and to make sure they weren't being followed. Even upright, the bot moved gracefully, keeping Ruin's unconscious form steady, and there wasn’t any sign of another being in the corridors.

Still, every shadow made her flinch, every distant sound had her whipping her head around.

Finally, the hideout came into view.

Lira's palms went clammy as they approached. Ruin had sensors and security measures scattered throughout the area, invisible to the naked eye, but deadly.

That morning, before they left, he’d added her bio-signatures to the nexus, so itshouldbe safe. But there was no way to know if him being unconscious changed things.

She pulled in a deep breath and glanced up at the bot. “There are security measures, okay? So be really careful. And stay right next to me.”

Its antennae twitched in acknowledgment, big black eyes flashing pink.

Moving slowly, she followed the path Ruin always took, steps cautious and deliberate. Every muscle was tense, her nerves frayed. She more than half expected to be shot or blown up any second.

They made it into the old warehouse without incident, but she didn’t relax. Arriving at the door to their room, she disengaged the lock with a grimace, shoulders hitched up around her ears. A soft beep sounded, making her entire body jolt with expectation…

---