570 Sols

"She didn't even bother to take that ring off."

1441 walked out of the house disappointed. Soj flew by his side while looking at the lady who remained inside.

"Please be back early, dear. You never know when a dust storm may come!"

"Intervention: Dust storms can be predicted way before they..."

"Are you really going to argue with her on that?"

The robot did not continue its idea. It just followed the man going out on a walk.

After about five minutes of walking in complete silence, the robot decided it was time to speak its mind.

"Question: Does No. 1441 plan to stop its journey here?"

The man didn't answer. He just kept walking.

"No. 1441 still has 585 sols left. We do not know how much that woman has left. We do not even know her number. Is No. 1441 sure this is the right course of action?"

Again, the man just stayed silent. He got on top of a cliff and sat there looking at a massive block of ice spreading across the horizon.

"Upon calculating, the scales tip heavily in favor of leaving this place and..."

"And what? Keep wandering alone on this deserted planet?"

The sudden answer made Soj stop and compute where this conversation was going.

"Question: Is this not what No. 1441 plans to do until the end of civilization?"

"People change their mind from time to time, ya know?"

"Question: Did 1441 change its mind?"

"I...I...don't know. Ok? It makes no sense. We just met her. Why would she be so kind? But...if I leave...I will just go back to counting the days until my death."

30 sols ago, after they left the infected South Pole, they stumbled upon a lady fainted on the ground.

After confirming she was not infected, they gave her some food and drink and waited there until she could walk again.

The woman, thankful to 1441 for what he did, invited him to her house. Aware of the dangers of humans with few sols left, 1441 hesitated at first.

"It's not like I have anything to lose."

That same night, the woman called him in the middle of the night to her room, and under the faint light reflected by the two visible moons, she fell into his arms.

She told him about her past. About how she got there. About her husband, who left her without a word. About how she spent her life in isolation.

1441 stayed there and listened to her. He shivered at the familiar thought of being left alone in a world he knew almost nothing about, and he could not help but notice the ironic semblance between his own story and hers.

Ever since then, they had been staying at her place. Having someone to wake up next to every morning again after all this time felt both right and wrong. It was confusing, so 1441 just refused to think about it too much.

The woman would not leave him alone. She would cling to him whenever he was at home. The only time he could be alone was when he went out on a walk. Even then, she desperately asked him to not be away for long.

"All this while still wearing that wedding ring on her finger."

She never took her wedding ring off. She would keep it on every night. 1441 didn't even notice it at first, but after Soj asked about the meaning of that ring, he could not stop thinking about it.

He understood that something was not right with her. But his heart was longing for someone. He couldn't help but remember the consequences of his tardiness all those years ago. It felt like the universe was trying to make up for it.

"Maybe that ring doesn't mean anything to her?"

He knew he was lying to himself, but he didn't know what to do. He didn't want to give up on the hope that he may be able to spend his last days together with a partner.

...

The woman, getting worried that the sun was already setting, decided to go look for 1441.

While it had only been half a day, the thought that she may be left all alone again could not leave her mind. Feeling her pulse all the way to the tip of her fingers, she anxiously opened the front door of the house.

"Not again not again not again nononononono."

In only a matter of seconds, she was already beyond herself with grief and anxiety. It only took her from her room to the front door to transform her slight worry into something close to a panic attack.

She hurriedly opened the door...there he was.

"Anything wrong?"

On an armchair, looking at another gorgeous sunset, were the man and the robot. Not a word was spoken between them, hence why she didn't know they arrived. She breathed a sigh of relief and recovered her dignified, loving demeanor.

"Off... Please say something when you get home. Don't scare me like that."

1441 felt his heart tighten at the word "home." He stayed there in silence for a couple of seconds before he could finally put his next answer into words.

"Haha. You are right. Sorry. By the time we got back, the sun was setting, so we just got back to our usual routine."

After so many sols spent in isolation, the concept of letting somebody know about your whereabouts became alien to the man. In the first place, he couldn't think of a time he ever felt like home. He felt warm. He felt like his presence here had meaning.

Floating next to him, Soj noticed the unusual reaction from the man. If only for the blink of a second, it noticed it again.

"This is the second time he has had this look." Yet, somehow, it felt like this time it was a bit different.

The lady, having calmed down, showed a soft smile before casually entering the house again. "I see. You really like doing this. Then, I will leave you to it a bit more. Come in when you want to eat. I love you."

I love you.

It was the first time he had ever heard those words. His late wife never felt the need to say it out loud. She hated stating the obvious. That is why he had no idea how to and just went back to his usual activity. Or at least he tried.

"No way I can relax now."

No matter how much he tried to take his mind off it, it was too late. His thoughts were already fixated on her. Without waiting too much, he entered the house, leaving Soj alone to look at the scenery.

That night, he felt like he belonged somewhere. 1441 finally felt like more than just a number in a colony. He felt like his own person. He felt like he had finally built a relationship with somebody. All the worries he had during the day were fading away.

There was no way to confirm this, but he felt like that was the first night he was able to completely separate himself from his mechanical self. That night was the same yet different. It felt right. It felt natural. He, the human, gave himself to her. She, the human, gave herself to him.

Looking her in the eyes felt different this time. It made him feel like he belonged somewhere. He understood that beauty lies in more than just sunsets and scenery.

...

By morning, you could find the two of them still in bed. They were not asleep. They were just looking at each other, talking with a bright look on their faces.

"If you keep looking me in the eyes like that, I may get shy..."

The woman put her palm on his eyes to stop his newfound obsession.

He let out a small sigh. "THIS is what you get shy about."

The woman who all but forced herself on him until now displayed an uncharacteristic trait that he found pretty cute.

"Fine... you can look all you want. What is so special about them anyway?"

He took another look in the two small brownish mirrors. "Damn, I look good. Did you modify those? Never knew eyes could reflect like that."

"Ha?..."

"..."

After a short pause, they both burst into laughter.

This is how the first ray of light caught them. It sparked in the man's eyes, reflected by a ring that for the first time found its place on the nightstand.