Chapter Text
…
“Hope is a thing with feathers that perches on the soul.”
Robin recalled this quote often, fond of the memories associated with it. It fit the situation she found herself in the present. Hoping for the best outcome.
The spaceship hummed with a warmth all too familiar to Robin, a presence she had to live with wriggling around in her brain for the past few months. She turned her head to look at the empty vessel meant for the alien, but now dark and limp. It was… oddly disturbing to see her friend in such a state, but the knowledge that he was just temporarily connected to the ship gave her a sense of comfort.
“Al-An?” Her voice echoed through the interior of the ship.
“Yes, Robin?” The robotic tone of his familiar voice calmed her down just slightly. The simple thought of being alone in a journey like this sent anxiety through her chest. The architect homeworld… who knew what could be awaiting them?
“Sorry, I just, uh. Wanted to hear you speak.”
“I am speaking, then.” The tone was simple, but not cruel. He was most likely focused on piloting the ship.
“Well… what do you predict we will find here?” Robin’s tone was shaky and hesitant, like she was expecting the worst. Well, she was expecting the worst. A bunch of dead architects, a bunch of infected architects, or a bunch of angry architects; what would she even prefer?
Her hands shifted to her bag, and she took out the small capsule of a light bubbly liquid. The key to curing the architects. She had two capsules in her bag, all she could gather.
“I still do not know… all I know is the planet is not empty, but not as populated as it once was.”
The ship took a jolt to the right, and she was thrown down to the floor to the right. She yelped and sighed in frustration.
“Warn a girl before you do that!” She groaned as she brushed herself off. She heard a soft chirp from him, a noise she recognized as an apology.
“I am making an attempt to land somewhere isolated for safety precautions.”
This was true… if there were any architects who recognized Al-An and remembered what had happened, they might not be too happy. Not only that, they might be infected. Better safe than sorry.
With a nod, Robin put her hands back on the handlebars. “Good idea.”
Her gaze drifted back to the window where she saw gigantic architect structures and mountains that towered over the dense forest over growing into the technology and architecture. It was… beautiful. She was so worried earlier, she didn’t even get a chance to appreciate how incredible this was.
“Al-An… this is gorgeous,” she whispered as she marveled. The lights in the ship flashed blue, then yellow, then back to purple.
“It is home.”
As soon as the words were spoken, she felt the ship begin to shake. Not just from flight, but from something more worrying.
“Al-An?? What’s happening?!” Panic spread through her chest. Out the window, she watched as the ship flew through multiple layers of trees and brush, growing concerningly closer concerningly fast. They were crashing. “Al-An!”
“I’ve… I’ve lost control of the ship- most likely a defense measure against any other ships aiming to arrive—“ he spoke out quickly. The fear in his tone was completely unfamiliar and sent Robin flailing. “Robin— please hold—“
A rough hit on the side of the ship sent Robin flying into the side, her head hitting the wall and her vision going dark.
…
Robin
Robin
“Robin!”
Her eyes jolted open at the sound of her name and she let out a soft groan. Her vision was blurry and her body was weak, her hearing ringing. Was that blood trickling down her head?
After a few moments, her vision cleared. Over her was the sight of Al-An’s now occupied vessel, staring into her face with a red hue to his lights.
“How are you feeling?” He asked, scanning her intensely for any signs of brain damage or major injuries. Robin tried to move her body to sit up, but she realized that her body was being cupped in the arms attached to his body and held in place. His mechanical arm, however, was scanning down her body, the green lights illuminating her dark skin.
A small laugh came from her. “I’m fine… just a bit dizzy—“
“Concussion. No brain damage or skull fractures. No major injuries.” That was relieving…
Standing up on all four of his legs, Al-An dropped her gently on the ground, picking her up with his mechanical arm and placing her down onto his back. The dizziness was still there, causing her stomach to lurch and her head to pound. Her forehead rested against his back.
Only one minute into being here and she was already having to be carried… embarrassing. It was nice to be cared for, though, especially by the apathetic creature that Al-An was.
“Now… are you going to explain what the hell happened? I thought you had control!”
He paused for a moment before speaking quietly. “I lost connection to the ship. We crashed. You got thrown across the ship and hit your head.”
“I think I remember you saying it was a defense measure… does this mean—“
“It means there is a network still active. I can feel the… call.” A light yellow hue flashed on his lights followed by pink.
The hope, that she had been clinging onto tightly for the whole trip, bloomed into fruition in her chest. A grin spread across her face. “They’re… alive?!”
“At least some, yes.” She could tell he was trying to hide his excitement, attempting to mask it with cool indifference. He stomped his hoof a few times. “I would like to explore.”
Robin couldn’t help a relieved laugh, running a hand along her cornrows. They were still alive… she wouldn’t have to see her friend find out his whole species is dead. She could watch him reunite after so many years…
A few moments of silence passed, Robin’s head still pounding. “Do you want to stay for a moment? I recall you have packed pain medication,” Al-An spoke softly.
“Ah- don’t you want to go out?”
“Yes. But being at optimal health is vital. Anything could be out there.” He turned his head to look at her. “I could allow you to rest for a few moments. Sleep. You will be in good condition when… possibly meeting my people.”
His hesitation about his people actually being here was evident. It was probably the remaining emotions of the many years he was disconnected from the network. Robin’s expression softened when she realized he might need a few hours not only for her, but to also process all of this information. Finding out his people are alive after believing they were gone for so long might be a lot to consider.
“I could use a moment, I’m practically dying!” She gasped with a dramatic gesture of a hand to her head. She didn’t need it, but she wanted him to have time. When Al-An tensed, she quickly shook her head. “Not actually, I was being overly dramatic.” She had forgotten Al-An doesn’t understand figurative speech,
Robin slid off of his back and went to shuffle through her bag for anything to help keep her comfortable and warm.
It wasn’t much work for the two of them to set up a makeshift camp inside the crashed ship. Robin had chosen a corner to place down a blanket and pillow, and Al-An had stayed close to her. He said he wanted to monitor her condition, but she knew he might need the same amount of comfort that she did.
Now resting on the blanket and wrapped up, she looked up at Al-An who was sitting with his four legs folded under him. He turned his head to her, his horns flashing a slight pink.
“I will wake you if you sleep for too long.”
“That’s fine… my head is just fucking killing me…” With that comment, his lights flashed red with concern. “It’s just a concussion.” He made a clicking noise in response.
“Sleep, Robin.”
And it took no time to do so, with the warmth of the blanket and the light glow and whirr of Al-An’s body. She fell into a deep sleep, dreaming about what would come next.
…
Robin woke up to a gentle shake on her shoulder, and her eyes fluttered open.
“Aaahh!!” She yelled as she saw Al-An’s glowing purple face staring extremely close to hers. He pulled back as she jumped, and tilted his head with a few clicks.
“Don’t just stare at me like that!! I was sleeping.” Her hands ran down her face. The throbbing in her head was luckily lessened by a lot, and her dizziness was almost gone. Sleep really did help the concussion…
“I apologize, I did not mean to startle you. I did tell you I would wake you if you slept too long. You slept for exactly eight hours.” He was now standing on all four of his legs, clearly up and ready to go.
“Sorry, sorry… it’s fine… just let me get up— woah!” One of his mechanical arms quickly picked her up and set her down on her feet. It was kind of cute how excited he was. “Hah, you’re ready to go, huh?”
“Forgive me that I’m eager to see my people after thousands of years.” This was one of the times Robin regretted teaching him sass.
Hoisting her bag over her shoulder and gently climbing onto his back, she couldn’t help a smile from forming.
“You’re going to see them again.”
Even though it was now quite certain there was a network active, Robin knew that didn’t mean the best. It still could be infected or angry architects. But, ever the optimist, she tried not to think about those possibilities.
The first step outside of the ship, there was a wall of dry air Robin hadn’t felt since she was back on earth. 4546b definitely got her used to breathing in a salty, moist atmosphere.
All she could see was dense forest, plants unfamiliar to anything she’s ever seen. Al-An also seemed concerned.
“Was it this overgrown when you were here last?” She peeked over his shoulder to ask.
“Not… quite this much. Our planet does hold forest and mountains, but it has never grown into our structures. We must not have the resources to… landscape.”
He began gently striding, clearly holding back from using his ability to zip across areas so that she could stay safe on his back. It was almost like riding a horse, but with a much larger front body and mechanical arms.
Robin’s xenobiologist brain was fascinated by all the different flora she could see, and her heart fluttered when she realized that she was probably the first human ever to set foot on the architect homeworld.
“Do you know where you’re going?” She couldn’t help but ask.
He chirped, “Of course. I am following the network signal.”
She hummed in understanding, still holding onto his shoulders. She watched as the colors in his back flowed smoothly down his abdomen and legs. He was an engineering marvel, but what else could be expected from a highly intelligent alien species? She wondered if the others would be even more highly advanced… or not.
Her thought process was thrown off by the sound of some of the foliage shuffling. Something… big. Al-An paused, clearly alert.
“Stay still, Robin.”
From the trees, a head popped out, one Robin found very familiar but quite different. Yellow lights shone down its face and it had horns that curled slightly more than Al-An’s. It stepped out from the trees, four legs, two arms, but no mechanical arms. An architect, in seemingly perfect condition.