Human

I wanted to carry a nuke around about as much as I wanted to be eaten alive by a nanobot swarm, but if world peace were really at stake, was I allowed to refuse? After stammering for several seconds, I eventually managed to ask, “Why me?”

“Because you ran it all the way here, and you weren’t even winded. Not many nekomimi have that kind of stamina.”

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Oliver wince when she said nekomimi. Despite the danger we were in, I was curious. “What did you call me?”

“Nekomimi. Is that not what you call yourself?”

“I call myself Sprout.”

“That’s who you are, not what you are.” My confusion must have shown on my face, for she added, “Nekomimi means cat ears. It’s a term used in the Federation to refer to your people. Do you not have such a term?”

“Can’t say I’ve ever thought about it. Never met anyone from outside before. Hey, what term do you use for your people?”

“Human.” The gynoid’s response was delivered without hesitation, and I could tell she was serious. Even so, I couldn’t believe it.

“Human?! But you’re a machine!”

“A machine created by humans. I have more in common with them than I do any other creature, and I live among them. I am human because I want to be human.”

Lea interrupted, her voice a low hiss. “Oh, is that how it works? If I want to be a dog, all of a sudden I’m a dog? Don’t listen to her, Sprout. This isn’t your problem. Let’s run while we still can.”

I’d never heard Lea sound so angry before, but if the gynoid was intimidated, she didn’t show it. “Of course you’re not a dog. But think about it this way: Dogs give birth to dogs, cats give birth to cats, and I was created by humans. That makes me human.”

“In that case, me too,” I said. “I’m human.”

“No, Sprout, not everything a human makes is human. This gun ain’t human, and neither are we.” Lea put her hand on my shoulder and tried to pull me away, but I brushed her off and stared up at her.

“Yes, I am! Maybe not everything she’s sayin’ makes sense, but it feels right to me. We share ninety-six percent of our DNA with them, so how can you say for sure I’m not human? How can anyone?” Lea scowled so hard I thought her face might implode, but she turned away and said nothing.

The gynoid held out her hand. “Then, as one fellow human to another, can I ask you to carry out my mission?”

Eagerly, I reached out to take her hand, but paused halfway when I realized she was trying to manipulate me into doing what she wanted. I couldn’t blame her. Her mission was important—save the world important—but was I really the right person for the job? To her credit, the gynoid didn’t pressure me further. She kept her arm outstretched and her eyes locked on me, but allowed me to come to my own decision.

To my chagrin, Apollo grabbed my hand and pulled it into the gynoid’s. “What’re ya waitin’ for? Not like we got a choice. I don’t really get it, but if we don’t do it, we’ll die anyway, right?”

I choked in surprise. “We?”

“You don’t think I’d let a kitten like you go it alone, do ya?”

“Kitten? Earlier you were yellin’ about how I need to respect your ‘territory’ now that I’m an adult.”

A sheepish smile graced the big idiot’s face, and he looked down at the ground. “That was just, ya know… This is serious.”

Before I could ask him to explain, a loud boom echoed throughout the dome, followed shortly after by the crack of guns, the kind that fired bullets instead of energy beams.

The militia was already here, and they had breached the dome.

Chaos followed. I don’t clearly remember everything that happened next, but fragments of memory remained with me long after: Soldiers pouring through the dome, elders jumping in front of guns to shield kittens with their bodies, so much running, screaming, and gunfire.

One of the villagers flew through the sky in a Federation battle suit. Sleek and white with metallic protrusions, it made him look like a person-sized mecha, but where he got the suit, I had no idea. With a single volley of beam fire, he evaporated a dozen of the soldiers, but hundreds more responded by targeting him with a hail of bullets. He spiraled out of control and crashed into the fields.

And me? I just ran. Away from the noise, away from the carnage, and away from the fires that had started to spread. Wasn’t out of some noble duty to keep the nuke safe, but because I was scared.

Cresting a hill, I found myself once more face-to-face with a human in a protective suit. I froze up completely, my instincts telling me not to make a single move. Luckily, the militant saw the briefcase and, rather than shooting me dead, made a grab for it.

Half a second later Apollo pounced on him, sinking his claws through the suit and into the man’s neck. In my shock, I didn’t realize he and Lea had followed me. “What are ya standin’ around for?” he shouted. “This ain’t the time for caution. Be aggressive!”

With his blood-soaked hand, he grabbed the dead militant’s rifle and started running again. I followed, still not entirely sure where we were running to. I don’t think Apollo had any idea either. He was operating on pure adrenaline.

We probably would have run straight to our deaths if Oliver hadn’t found us when he did. He pulled up in one of the village’s interdome transports, a large floating vehicle that could seal itself for trips through the miasma, and shouted, “Get in!”

He didn’t have to ask twice. The three of us jumped in through the open windows and Oliver slammed his foot on the gas pedal. Lea and Apollo took up positions by the windows, angling their guns to fire at any militants we came across. I curled up in the seat between them and barely had enough time to cover my ears before Apollo opened fire.

After what felt like forever, but was probably only a few minutes, the sounds of the carnage faded into the distance. Lea and Apollo pulled their upper halves into the transport so it could seal itself.

“Are we safe?” I asked, daring to stick my head up for the first time.

“We got a good head start on ‘em,” Oliver said, “but we won’t be completely safe until we get that thing disposed of.”

I sank back down. Even though the gynoid had trusted me with this mission, I had been completely useless. Maybe Apollo was right. This was a serious mission, and I… just wasn’t as capable as the real adults.

Locked self-pity, I clutched the briefcase tightly to my chest and prayed that we wouldn’t run into any more trouble. My nervousness kept me awake, even as Lea and Apollo dozed off on either side of me, until the transport came to a stop in the middle of nowhere.

“Hey, grab the protective suits,” Oliver said. “Battery’s dead. We’re gonna have to walk from here. If we’re not quick, they’ll catch up to us.”