518 Sols - Seeking Control is Natural

"Huh...there goes my surprise, I guess."

By the time 1441 and his newfound partner reached the familiar house he had been spending his time in, the lady he used to call Ann was already waiting for him on the porch.

"Oh my, this is awkward. How do I respond to this? Welcome home?"

As if mocking him, she spread her arms while showing her teeth in what could be confused with a kind smile of a loving girlfriend waiting for her tired lover on a weekday evening.

"Is that really the best you've got? I was expecting some more, I don't know, remorse? Waiting for your prey out in the open with no way of trapping them in is really not like you."

"Remorse? Now that's a lot coming from you. On the contrary, shouldn't I be the devastated one? Oh no, my man faked his death to rendezvous with an unknown woman, and now they are coming to take my home! Oh, woe is me! Hahahahaha!"

From a simple conversation, 1441 could already feel the blood boiling within his veins. He hated it. He hated how pathetic he looked. He hated how a bit of companionship was all it took for him to fall into her trap. He felt ashamed, and in his shame, his eyes unconsciously got stuck on his new temporary travel partner.

And yet, the lady wearing a lab coat didn't seem to mind what was going on. If anything, she wouldn't take her eyes of No.7 for even a second. The balance of power was already set in the favor of the two visitors, and even if Ray was the one to set it up, 1441 felt the courage welling up inside of him.

"Ok, 1441. So, what do we do now?" Ray asked while leaning towards the man only to be met with a "Huh?" in return.

"Was I supposed to have a plan?"

"..."

"Don't look at me like that! Whatever attempt at a plan I had fell apart the second we found her waiting for us."

"Truly a fool."

"Ha...haha...HAHAHAHAHA. GREAT! Truly great! Oh dear! So full of yourself, yet so dumb! Such a great man falling to this level. But it's OK. I accept you like that. If anything, I prefer the current you! A gifted fool just waiting to be used. Just waiting for me to pick you up again! Come! Come back in the house. Let us continue as if nothing happened!"

"Ray, bear with me. I plan to do something even more stupid."

"Are you sure about that? I could always just stun her, shoot her, or freeze her. Whatever you want, really."

"No." The man answered while slowly taking his steps towards her.

"That wouldn't be half of what she deserves."

He only stopped when he got right in front of No.7.

"Ok, let's go in and talk it out. But I have one condition. Ray comes with us and gets to listen to what you have to say."

"Ha?"

"Tsk, fine. Come here, house wrecker!"

The lady with a peculiar tattoo on her neck went in first while mumbling to herself under a grin. "Not like I am letting you go out alive."

...

"So, dear, would you and your side piece like dinner? Or maybe I should prepare for a bath?"

Sitting around the familiar kitchen table, 1441 was not planning to waste any time on the teases of his lover; he wanted to understand one thing before leaving for good.

"Was it really you? With all of us?"

"Yes."

The answer came with a straight face. Uncharacteristic for the lady who was playing around just seconds before.

"Why?"

"Why? What kind of question is that? I just felt like they would be troublesome, so I got rid of them. Not my fault I couldn't find a single perfect man."

"Do you even hear yourself? What do you consider a perfect man? Just how many people have you killed for your own twisted ideals?"

"Who is keeping count? This is the closest point to the glaciers. People just kept coming. Who knows how many more I could have met? Hihi."

"It takes some guts to even giggle at that. It makes me wonder if your husband getting infected was really just a coincidence."

"DO NOT DARE SPEAK OF HIM IN MY HOUSE, YOU UNINVITED WHORE!"

The replica given by Ray during the conversation between the broken couple seemed to have been the point that changed the flow of the whole conversation. Suddenly, the woman known as Ann lost her playful, flirtatious demeanor.

"What do you know of him? What do you know of what we have been through? What do you know of what happened then? Do you know how I felt? Do you know how much it hurts to be left alone? Not a single word, nothing! He left his wife to worry for sols on end before the news finally reached me. He did not even have the decency to leave a note!"

"And was this your retaliation for how he left you and made sure you wouldn't be at risk?" 1441 jumped back in the conversation after giving a thumbs up to Ray for helping him get her to open up.

"Risk? Don't tell me you want to say he protected me. You don't even believe yourself! That half a man did it for himself. He didn't think about me for a second, and I know it. So I just did the same."

While defending herself, No.7 went as far as to get out of her chair.

"I just did what I wanted. Aren't we all going to die either way? It doesn't matter what we do anymore. We are all free to have fun here! Maybe I did them a favor helping them escape their boring life!"

"You did? Because it sure didn't feel nice for me to fall like that."

"No. Not you. You are special. You came back to me. So let's just forget this! Get rid of that woman and let us go back to our life together! Come on! Kill her!"

While saying this, 7 jumped at the chest of her ex-partner like a maid in distress going to her knight for protection. For 1441, this move was awfully similar to their first night together, so he got up in disgust and pushed her back.

"Ha...HA HA HA! I SEE! I see how it is! You fell for her! You replaced me for a hot lady with glasses! You must have gotten crazy from a new virus or something! I will have to kill you both, and I will keep you for myself until the day my mind finally goes blank. Or no, I will die with you. We can both just lie here frozen forever!"

"Are you even hearing yourself? Is this really the moment to end your own life?"

"If not now, then when? When our time runs out? When we get too miserable to stay sane? No! I want to die happy! That's how they all died. They died thinking they had a caring girlfriend at home. None of them had time to hate me or be scared. They were gone before they knew what happened. They were happy. The last thing they felt was bliss! They escaped that awful memory wipe. Is that what you want? You want to see what the wipe does to you? Do you not want me to save us?"

1441 paused for a moment. He wanted to give her an answer, but he could not see a fault in her reasoning.

What do we keep on living for if every day we just get closer to our predestined end? It does not get any better tomorrow. Why die in desperation when you can just end it with the lie of love? Who am I to tell her what she did is wrong?

Smack

"I thought you were above being swayed by a crazy lady. Is this what you are into?"

The slap received from Ray pulled 1441 out of his fit of doubt for a second, but that second was enough to change the flow of the conversation once again.

"Leave him alone already!"

From her back, No.7 pulled a knife and ran towards Ray. Her speed was far superior to any man back on the old Earth, yet she was stunned when she found both of her arms held in place by 1441 as if he had just teleported there.

The man could see the bloodshot eyes of the woman who could not understand why her movements and strength were nothing compared to the man in front of her. For 1441, this was not anything out of the ordinary, but looking at Ray, he understood that what he did was far from the current average even for important people.

Still, the very proof that even 1441 was startled by the actions of the woman he used to call Ann was the fact that a single note in a sterile container fell from his pocket.

"Let go of me!" was the answer Ann gave him, pulling her hands back.

As if she knew what just fell, No.7 quickly crouched and took the note that read a single number. Unable to hold back her tears, she fell to her knees and started screaming.

Not knowing what to do, 1441 wanted to at least make sure she was not injured, but before he could even ask her, the woman darted out the door screaming, "You didn't forget! You bastard! Why did you do this to me?"

1441 could not help but feel the pain and lack of sanity in those words.

"So, you got dumped, huh?"

"Haha, guess I did. Now I only have a robot to keep me company."

Saying that, 1441 and Ray went to the next room in search of Soj. But after opening the door, the man froze in place. Ray looked at him in confusion and got on her toes to peep over his shoulder just to see an unexplainable piece of modern art.

"Is this… weird lump of metal… what you were looking for?"

Without giving an answer, the man fell to his knees.

"Soj...what did she do to you?"