519 Sols

"Finally. I thought you may never open those eyes of yours again."

Looking around him, the man saw a room he was not familiar with.

"Dad! David is making my dolls fight again!"

"No, I am not! They started fighting on their own! I was trying to hold them back."

"Liar! You always do that!"

"Ok, kids. Dad is really tired. How about we let him rest for a bit?"

"Ok. Good night, Daddy! Muah."

"Night, Dad!"

After the kids left, the man turned his face again to his wife. As if by instinct, his hand started caressing her somewhat short hair.

"Listen. Whatever you choose to do. I will always be by your side. You don't need to worry about me. Just do what makes you happy. That is where I live now, in your happiness. This is where we are."

Before the man could understand what was going on, his eyes started feeling heavy. As much as he tried to fight it, he felt his consciousness drifting away. Before drifting away, he heard a faint laugh.

"Haha. It seems you want to keep going a bit more. That's my man. Go get them. And never forget one thing. It was not your fault."

...

A sudden jolt of pain in the chest woke 1441 up.

"HAAA..."

For what reason he decided to let out a scream now, not even he understood. However you look at it, staying silent while falling and screaming when you wake up is a weird thing to do.

"That aside, it is even weirder to wake up after falling from that height..."

1441 looked up; he could see the edge of the canyon climbing towards the sky for more meters than his state-of-the-art eye could calculate at a glance.

He took a second to gather his thoughts.

"Ok. So the one who pushed me was clearly Ann. I guess that solves one problem."

He didn't like it. Going back and forth like that between decisions seemed like a waste. But he wasn't the only one who couldn't seem to decide where to take this relationship.

"One second she clings to me; the next she throws me off a cliff. I guess we both are missing something up there. Haha, too bad. That would make us perfect for one another."

Thinking back on the dream he had after hitting his head, maybe the best choice was to get himself away from her. It became pretty clear that his heart was somewhere else altogether.

"But I can't even do that now, can I...?"

Contrary to human nature, he had decided on a course of action that led him into danger. He had decided to go back there.

"I have to go back and take my things. I tend to get attached to objects. Oh, better not say that with it around."

He was not going to let his partner behind. Be it just a robot, he luckily noticed just a short while ago how important it is to him.

"You better still be in one piece by the time I get back, Soj."

Speaking his mind out loud, 1441 was finally ready to get up the cliff rising in front of him.

Just before getting up, he patted himself as a final check, making sure all his limbs were still attached.

"Ok. 1 leg, 2 legs, 3... huh?"

Upon noticing something was wrong, 1441 brought the extra leg into his field of vision. The next thing he did was throw it away with a scream.

"What the fuck was that?"

Feeling his pulse all the way in his ears, 1441 took another look at the detached member. He confirmed it was not his, but then, what was it doing there?

Through his heavy breaths, 1441 turned his head to the ground; there he saw it: the head of another man was lying right in front of his eyes. It was hard to tell its age because of the robotic parts that would not decompose, but it was clear that it had been lying there for a long time.

With a trembling hand, he took back the leg he had hurled just before and put it at what he considered the right distance from the head.

Walking a bit further, he also stumbled upon the hand of the long-deceased man. The hand was still holding an iron plate. After 1441 gathered his courage, he checked that plate, thinking he may find the number of the man scattered into pieces. But he was wrong.

Instead of the number, he found an inscription. "Belle"

"No way, that is a name a man would pick. Or is it?"

He didn't give in to his curiosity. He had had enough of this graveyard horror story. But he didn't even make five steps before hearing something that froze his blood.

"D...n…"

"Nonononono. No way I am going towards that voice."

"Da....."

"Oh damn it. Imma regret this."

Against his will, 1441 started digging in the wall where the sound was coming from. As he was already expecting, a torso with only a head attached fell out of the wall.

"Dap...." "D.....e"

"What are you trying to say?"

1441 slowly got closer to the body of the dying man, trying to hear his final words.

"DAPHNEE!"

"Woah!" In a fit of panic, he kicked the head of the man clean off the shoulders. The last thing he could hear was "Why did you do this, Daphne?"

Already getting used to the horrors, he kept going through the canyon that was serving as a cemetery.

"Belle, Daphnee, Clara. What is up with all those girl names?

"Don't tell me you still don't get it."

"WOAAAAAAAHHH"

Throwing his hands and feet around like he was inventing a new style of martial arts, No. 1441 turned towards the person who suddenly started speaking.

There, he saw a lady dressed in a weirdly combat-oriented lab coat, fixing her eyeglasses on her nose and letting out a sigh. Her hair tied in a careless bun gave off the impression that the way she looked was the least of her concerns. Even so, her natural looks were nothing to scoff at.

Still, the determined, confident, genius beauty look she was rocking was not something 1441 was a fan of. He believed dealing with such people was a headache.

"Soooo... are the pieces finally clicking into place? Will you also write her name around here?"

...

The kind and clingy Ann who would not leave the side of her lover. The cold and secretive Clara, who would refuse romance unless in moments of weakness. The shy and scared Belle, who always seemed weary of her lover's actions. The ballsy and flirtatious Daphnee who seduces her partner, leaving him uninterested in his surroundings. The always happy and energetic Sayori, who would lose her cool just as quickly as she would regain it.

"And who knows how many more…"

All of those personalities. All of those girls who, on the surface, seem unrelated. Everyone writing their own story on this planet. Everyone living a peaceful life together with the man of their choosing. All of them shared something.

"Face, body, home, past, memories... identity..." and remembering the one clue that he had stumbled upon ever since he had gotten close to this pole.

"Number 7."

"Bingo. Wait... How come you know her number?"

1441 felt his strength running away from his legs. Maybe it was the shock of his finding. Maybe the stress of walking through cadavers finally caught up to him. Maybe it was the aftermath of hitting the ground. Maybe it was all just too overwhelming, and his way of dealing with his torn heart was to take a nap. If Soj were here, it would bet on the last option.

"Hey! What do you think you're doing? Stay with me now! You didn't answer my question! How do you kno......"

For 1441, whether he liked it or not, the day ended then and there.