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Till's heart dropped as he ran down the halls of the white place he once dared to call home. It had been an average mission, trying to gather intel and figuring out more things about the next season of "Alien Stage", as the creatures liked to call it. Yet he had pushed his luck a little too far when he tried to save one of the kids trapped in this prison. And now he was being chased down by countless things he didn't know the name of and robots. Their constant footsteps echoing behind him. Till heard shoots yet they missed him, hitting the floor and wall instead. He continued to run until he was far enough from them and rapidly hid into a dark room, the kind with "Only staff allowed" written on its door.
Till couldn't see anything once inside, yet he waited until he heard the endless footsteps slowly decreased, then he turned to face the room. A black void along with a small, red, flickering light was all that he could see. He got excited for a second. Had he found the power room? Was the electricity and robot guards at his mercy just a few feet away. He almost jumped at the thought.
Till's Perspective--
'Is this it?' I thought to myself, my hands searching the walls for a light switch. If I had really found it, me and my group could infiltrate the garden more easily, giving us time to save as many humans as possible while they try to fix it.
My left hand finally came across something that felt like a light switch, and by gently lowering it, the lights turned on. I sighed with relief, it didn't activate a random alarm. I turned around and was startled by the sight of a familiar pale face. The one appearing in my dreams, the one who taught me more in three minutes than in my whole teenage years. The only one that- never mind, I should stop thinking about him. It's just hallucinations. Yet I couldn't help myself, my feet moved on its own, toward the reappearing illusion. It seemed different this time, for its dark, bloodied clothes now shined brightly, like metal or steel. It looked so real I could almost touch it..
My hand moved upwards to the taller figure. Beautiful as always.
My heart stopped in my chest as it grabbed my hand.
Narrator-
Till had stopped dead in his tracks- because maybe he was. Maybe those bullets from earlier had carved themselves into his head, or maybe he was drunk somehow. Yet he kept quiet as the cold metal tightened around his skin.
"Till." Said the man, or creature, Till wasn't sure yet.
"Ivan, is it you? Do you remember me? How are you alive?" Those were the questions running on Till's mind, yet he kept his mouth shut, he was frozen and shook to his very core. He paused. Then nodded.
Ivan tilted his head to a perfect 90 degree angle before letting Till go.
"You're dead." Stated the taller man with an unnatural voice.
"No, you are." Till finally responded, taking a step back and looking over at him. The black haired man didn't respond, he didn't need to. The empty black eyes with crystal lenses spelled it all loud and clear. He looked so similar to the man who had once sang with Till, yet the Alien's brand on Ivan's neck gave away all Till needed to know.
"You're a tool- for the museum maybe?" Till spoke up again. He only received a disapproving nod from the other man- rather, robot.
"A security guard?" Till inferred again.
"Yes, but I'm still in progress, phase one isn't completed." The robot finally replied. Till stopped to think.
"Why are you telling me this?" Till asked, not thinking twice. But, why? Till wasn't a staff member, neither was the a participant anymore. To the Aliens, he was dead. The robot struggled to answer the question, was it not on his system? Till could only wonder.
"You're not a threat." Was all the robot had replied once a minute or two passed. A longer while in complete silence went by, and Till couldn't help himself but stare at the creature in front of him. The skin, so real, the eyes, the same ones he remembered, the mouth, carved down into a frown, and the hands, now wearing shining metal. Same hands that once attempted to save his life. And succeeded.
Ivan's Perspective-
My system was wrong, everything seemed to be. Till was dead, that was what the files said, yet the man in front of me still bore the same features. What was he doing? Looking at me like I was a ghost, as if he knew me. Maybe he was amazed at my complexity, every scientist who comes by seems to be too. Yet beneath the steel, I could feel it. The pulsing of my damaged heart increasing, this was the first time this happened.
"You look so real... I mean, like a human, in that way," Till said, his eyes looking at my hands.
He was right, I was real, in a way. My being was a disgusting mix of flesh and steel, something that took months for my creators to get right. I was a box driven by a system and little to no emotions. My creators were still working on that behalf. Yet I couldn't shake the feeling that the person in front of me knew me more than the systems. More than the endless files describing me as the perfect human, the most pricy valentine's gift, the most dramatic death... That was it. I was dead. I was wearing dead skin and shiny metal, was Till too? How had he survived?
"How did I die?" I suddenly asked, an aching feeling that soured my expression drove through me as those light eyes darkened. He was sad, his featured said so. He knew me. Were we friends?
I kept wondering as Till took his time, standing firmly beside me as he recounted the events.
Till's Perspective-
I stood by the shiny skin, my throat dry and water threatening to run down my eyes as I looked down at the floor. I was over it, all the progress I had made trying to forget him, just so he could appear back in my life. Knowing nothing. Loving nothing. Not even me.
"Your body was gone the moment they dragged me away, sleep only came by the company of your bloodied jacket." I finished, taking a silent deep breath and collecting myself before looking at those eyes. The eyes that were now shiny, looking down at me.
"I," Started the robot, the voice uncharacteristically cracking.
"I remember," Ivan said.
"What?" Was the only thing that left my lips. I felt the tears tugging at my eyes again. Had the universe finally granted me some mercy? Was this God's apology? I couldn't contain myself, grabbing the replica of Ivan's shirt and pulling him forward, our lips clashing in a familiar feeling. This time, it wasn't forced. It was awaited.
Epilogue- Narrator-
Till successfully left the garden with the help of Ivan, running down to the hidden places even Ivan's files weren't aware of. The rebellion camps and bars, where a leader with a weakness once stood. Now there was only Isaac. There, Ivan was greeted nicely, seen as a great source of information by most, a great weapon to others, and a blessing from Till.