Work Text:
How could it have been? The vast expanse of space and the seemingly infinite lifespan. Science had proved it; the world relied upon its consistency. It was the only constant phenomenon that existed other than death. But now, Helios turned his head and whipped his chariot, not at his horses, but at himself. Bruising, bearing flesh, blood pouring out of his skin like radiation after undergoing nuclear fusion.
The sun had started to expand at an unprecedented rate. Its shape grew bigger, the surface hotter. And everything in its path must either perish or be consumed. He swallowed Mercury whole, then Venus dried to dust, the gold pockmarked surface not unlike the moon turning an angry bright red. But everyone believed it would not grow much more. The end of the world could be avoided by ignoring its existence. The moon became the Earth’s shield and weapon. It absorbed the heat, and spit it back at them. The world’s oceans then took the heat in. The glaciers melted, the ocean level rose. Floods devastated mainland countries and wiped islands off of the map. Then came the rain. The rain that was steamed by the ocean, carried by the vapors and winds, came pouring down on the heads of those unsuspecting fools at a moderate temperature of broiling. It scorched the trees, stripped those unprotected of their skins, killed any life that couldn’t find shade, shelter, or a cover. Even then, there were still people who insisted it was a temporary change, that soon the Earth would readjust itself like a household air conditioner, and set everything in equality again. Water, then, became the next feared thing after the Sun.
But everything, all life, depended on that hateful liquid. So those who were left turned their backs against the night and dug, digging into the dirt, squirming like worms, deeper into the Earth, farther and farther, pushing themselves into shale and granite and clay to dig into the center of the Earth, where the temperatures dropped and then rose, to escape the scorching apocalypse that threatened everything they’ve worked for.
Those who were left buried themselves, or stayed and waited for their deaths.
The scientists and environmentalists and politicians tried to at first, mollify, then to force down the hysteria the people were brewing with each new day. Death tolls rose, while they argued in meeting rooms on the right solution. There was no right solution. They only needed a solution. But even at the end of the world, there are those who want to have one last chance to grasp something. Power, money, control. Things as ephemeral as a one-time-use coffee cup.
Kasane Teto didn’t care about those things. Her hometown had long since been abandoned after everyone evacuated to an underground shelter. Even those stubborn enough to stay never left their covers, cowering in fear, long since given up hope. But she left, searching for the solution, a solution, anything. Anything to change humanity’s fate. To change her own fate.
But she was not alone. She doubt she could’ve handled it alone. An android, built by her own hands, was her sole relief. When she had heard of the news, the first findings of the abnormal heat emitted through space, she began to prepare. HCI3-P0 was heat resistant, shock proof, water proof, and powered through her own kinetic movements through her battery. No need for electricity, when those power plants workers fled in terror, too distraught to continue working knowing they could save themselves. Adachi Rei was her companion on a journey to the River Styx, the boundary of the living and the dead.
“We are traveling near Southwest, 215 degrees. The weather today is mild, only 78 Celcius, and current humidity is 66%. The weather forecast predicts there will be a shower around two thirty PM.”
“What does the time matter?” Teto muttered, slipping the aluminum shawl tighter around her head and shoulders. Already, the thirst is getting to her. “When we’re only making a few miles a day.”
“If we are to be caught in the shower, it would be most unpleasant, especially for you.”
“It’s also a chance to collect that water for later.”
“The risks outweigh the benefits, but I can assist you in the collection and cooling.”
“Don’t get yourself hurt. I can’t fix you if you do.”
“Understood.”
So they traveled together, camping in steep crevices, under edges and rifts of limestone damp with acidic rain, and in abandoned factories and apartments. They lived off of canned foods, scraped and salvaged supplies from those left behind, and searched for fresh water constantly. She watched the sun every morning fill the sky with blood red heat, a giant blinding bright shadow that swallowed everything in its path, gripping the recorder in her hand tighter each day.
“Teto?”
“What?”
“Why are you standing over there near the entrance? The wind is strong tonight.”
“Nothing. I’m just looking out. Go back to sleep mode,” The grip tightened. She bent over the doorway and coughed violently into her sleeve. Rei’s orange eyes flashed from the darkness.
“Take care of yourself, Teto.”
“I know.”
The recorder’s film stopped. Teto faced toward the night, watching the dim stars in the sky. The blackness looked so much brighter than those burning lights. Slowly, she clicked a button and raised the recorder to her lips and whispered words into them. The blood on her cuff looked like ink. She wondered if she could hide from her anymore.
“Oh Jesus.”
“What is it?”
She stepped back, breathing heavily. Her boot scraped by a peek of white bone. A fractured skull with missing teeth grinned at her from the dead underbush, its hands splayed out as if it was trying to crawl towards her. A pair of hands, warm from the surrounding heat of the air, enveloped and supported her sides.
“Your heart rate is too fast. Take a few deep breaths.”
“Rei…”
“Try not to cry. You will waste your fluids.”
“I was sleeping right next to it. I didn’t even know.”
“I am sorry.”
A moment of silence.
“I’ll end up like that. Whoever they were. But you’ll go on, won’t you? Even if I’m not here anymore.”
“I could. But you possess knowledge that I cannot and do not have the means nor time to acquire. I can only search for a way to save the remains of humanity, but by then you are already gone.”
“What, am I that important? I’m only one out of a few hundred thousand. But you’re special. You’re a robot, so you can go on for a long time.”
“You are important to me.”
Teto turned and looked at Rei, her face reflected in the gentle light inside her eyes. Her face, perpetually flushed with the blood circulating underneath her skin, pulsed with heat straight from her heart.
“You are too.”
Rei blinked, her hands still gripping Teto.
“Is this true?”
“More than true.”
“More?”
“More.”
“I see.”
“...Stay with me, okay?”
“I will.”
“Agh!”
She stopped and turned around, hearing her scream. It was cut off with a strangled choke. Quickly, she raced towards her as Teto slumped to her knees, blood splattering onto the dusty ground.
“Your cough. There is blood.”
“I…I know.”
Rei’s eyes searched her face, her hands slipping underneath the shawl to feel her heartbeat and vitals through her sensitive hands.
“From my diagnosis, you have lung cancer. Why did you not tell me this before? From your pulse, it has already reached Stage Four. It must be from the radiation exposure.”
“Couldn’t… worry you,” Teto rasped, her body hot. “I’m sorry. I was… trying to keep it from you.” The blood spilled from her mouth, red as the sun, her hair, the dimming light in her eyes. Rei gripped her shoulders, leaning her back to rest her on the ground. For the first time, she looked like she was in agony, even though she knew herself her system did not feel pain.
“T-Take… it.”
Reaching up, she held her trembling, blood stained hands to Rei’s face, the recorder in her loose fingers.
“Why? It cannot save you. Nothing can save you. I cannot save you. What can I do? I cannot do anything with this.”
“No. For you. A-After I’m go-” A violent cough, this time shaking her entire body. More blood. More helplessness.
“And when I’m gone…” she breathed, looking up at the midday sun. The scorching heat, abnormal. “Listen. Listen to… my life.”
“Your life is here. Your life will be gone. I will have nothing left.”
“Everything. In there. Everything I hid. F-From you. Because I was a coward,” she tried to laugh, but everything felt hot, so hot. She wanted to sleep, the heat was drying her tears into vapor before they even left her eyes. “Coward from you. Because I…”
Rei leaned in, cupping her face, listening.
“Loved you.”
She stood, looking at the sun. The recorder next to her ear. The aluminum shawl around her body. Slowly, she clicked the button to play.
“My body heat has risen once again.”