O2

6

Kirsi wasn't keen on being awoken, but Nym didn't care. She roused her groggy friend and dragged her down the stairs to meet their new friend. Kirsi complained, fumbling to get her air tank onto her back as they hurried out the airlock. She had it on by the time the airlock door hissed open and rubbed her face as they stepped outside.

Nym ignored her grumbling for the most part and just dragged her outside, smiling to see the Android still there. It was on its feet, moving around the carport slowly, sluggishly picking up various tools and objects, scanning them.

The minute they stepped outside, Nym saw it's attention snap to her and Kirsi.

It gingerly set down the small bouncy ball it had picked up. "You have brought a companion," it stated.

"This is Kirsi," Nym said, patting Kirsi's shoulder. "Kirsi, that's O2."

The android stepped closer and looked Kirsi up and down. Then A blue light appeared, passing over both of them.

"What is it doing!" Kirsi jumped, scrambling back and grabbing at Nym. Her eyes went wide, her hand now clamped around Nym's wrist.

Nym slowly pried her friend's fingers off her wrist. "I think it's just scanning us."

She watched Kirsi shudder and wrap her arms around herself. Nym just laughed a little and stepped up to the android. It towered over her, standing at what she estimated to be a foot or more taller. Nym watched it's head slowly turn down to look at her. She suddenly felt tiny, but straightened up and squared her shoulders to give herself the air of height.

"I need to ask you some questions," she stated boldly, her stomach twisting a little. She held no fear of the Android, but she also hadn't gotten this close to it or demanded anything from it yet. She still possessed no way of gauging all its reactions.

It simply cocked its head. "I can provide some answers."

Nym let out a small breath and heard Kirsi audibly exhale behind her. Backing up a step to see easier, Nym tilted her chin up confidently. "So, um, you said that the other androids attacked you. Do you know why?"

It hesitated, then shook its head. "Memory core was corrupted in the attack, memory retrieval failed."

"I'll take that as a no," Nym said. She bit her lower lip and rocked back on her heels some, looking back as she heard Kirsi step closer. She offered her friend a bit of a reassuring smile before returning her attention to the android.

"Um, you mentioned some stuff...while you were glitching and broken. Do you remember that?"

"Yes, though, the playback is incomplete. Would you like me to repeat it?"

Nym shook her head, a chill running down her spine as she remembered the eerie stuttering from the night before. "No. Rather, could you tell me what you were trying to say?"

It appeared the android froze up, and Nym frowned, starting to move towards it. Then it lifted it's head again and looked back down at her. "I believe I can piece together the complete message for you, yes."

"Okay..."

Cocking its head again, it stood there for a long moment before responding. "Regarding the event of citizen--error, information missing--'s death as recorded, a false cause of death was implied by the medical team. Citizen died from--error, information missing--not polluted air. An analysis shows poison detected. Composition--error, information missing."

After relaying the message, the android straightened back up, looking at her. "Was this the information you needed?"

Nym nodded slowly, her mouth too dry to swallow. She didn't know exactly what event the android was remembering, but it sounded awfully similar to the three cases of death she'd heard of and witnessed in the past few days; Namely, Cormac's.