511 Sols - She rested on the seventh sol from all Her work which She had done

Seven sols after No. 7 ran away in a frenzy, 1441 was still in that house. In a dark corner of the room, you could see a man who gave up on his fascination with the setting sun and reduced himself to a mere spot of color in a dark room.

Ever since he saw what the woman had done to Soj, he could not bring himself to move forward. Every time he felt like going out and continuing his adventure, he pictured in his mind the image of the robot who, before he knew it, had become an irreplaceable partner.

During those sols, Ray came to him from time to time, trying in her cold demeanor to get the man to stand back up. But Ray was not the type to handle human interaction well, so she gave up soon after entering his room.

On the first sol, she let the light flow into the room during the day, yet the man only turned away and ignored her.

On the second sol, she tried the same thing at night, showing the man the starry sky, yet he was quickly reminded of how he could not enjoy the view with Soj, and fell again into a dark corner of his mind.

On the third sol, she finally brought him some food, yet with a body that doesn't depend on it, he turned her away after drinking just a glass of water. Still, she patted herself on the back because she felt like she made some progress.

On the fourth sol, she once again took the approach of showing him the sky. She did it right when both the sun and the moon could be seen, but the man did not react in any way.

On the fifth and sixth sols, she tried to talk to him. She told him about the animals and humans that used to roam the Earth. She told him everything she learned in her studies, and then she left without a word.

Now, on the seventh sol, he heard nothing from her. The sol was now ending, yet the man did not bother to check the sunset. The only proof that he was not alone was some faint clanking within the house. But he did not care. He was tired.

The man tried to sleep, but every single dream that was not about his late partner was about the journey and the robot he lost.

He found it somewhat strange. How could the robot he was so indifferent about actually mean so much to him now that he is gone?

Yet the harsh truth was that all that was left of his old partner was a twisted lump of metal. Every time he thought about it, he felt like throwing up. Why did he react like that? It is not flesh after all. Why did twisted metal make him feel like he saw a mutilated corpse?

The last memory he had of the robot was when he grabbed what was supposed to be his body. Deep between crevices, he saw a faint yellow light. He screamed the name of the robot as much and as loud as he could. He begged the artificial being to stay with him, but all he could do was stay there and look at the dim light that was slowly fading. It was an agonizing evening of screams until the light finally shone its last.

That memory was vivid in his mind, and this seventh soul felt particularly heavy. 1441 could not sleep the whole night, and by early morning, he finally got up and went out of the house. His mind had never felt more clogged.

"Is this what she meant? If life will only get worse as we all approach our end, why do we keep going forward? Is this just another step on the way to despair? What else can be taken from me? How much will I lose before I will finally have nothing?"

"Standing here just taking it? Living my sols in pain just to remember the time when it hurt less? How bad will it get for me to remember this as a fond memory?"

With his mind full of questions, 1441 ran. He kept running further and further. He was tired not of running, but of this charade he called a life. He ran faster and faster, trying to clear his mind of all that troubled him. He was scared. His future held no light. All he could see ahead for himself was a void. In his future there shall only be more pain and sorrow than he ever thought possible.

That's when he finally felt his feet not touching the ground anymore. He was now right at the place Ann showed her true colors.

"Better stop while it hurts less." He thought as he imagined the abrupt ending of the now 510 sols he had left. Finally, his head cleared up.

That was when, as irony would have it, he again felt something pushing him from the back.

...

On the morning of the eighth sol, 1441 found himself lying flat on the other edge of the canyon he was once pushed off of.

Confused, he tried to get up and look around, only to suddenly feel something pushing his chest to the ground.

"Of all the stupid things you could do, I take my eyes off of you for one sol and this is the first thing that crosses your mind? Maybe putting you on the operation table would just waste my time."

Pushing aside the boot that was holding him down, 1441 gets up and, for the first time since the incident, answers to the woman who had been keeping an eye on him.

"I'm not really into rough play, ya know? How did you even do that in the first place? Or better yet, why save me? Wouldn't it have been easier to check me out limb for limb after I kissed the ground?"

"Why would I stop a crazed sadboy from jumping to his death? No way, do you really expect me to answer that? As for how, I'm not the one who pushed you here."

At the cold response, 1441's eyes widened in surprise.

"If it is not you, then..."

Thinking about it, he remembered the feeling of being pushed with that amazing force didn't come from anything that felt remotely human. If anything, it felt cold and surprisingly hard.

At a first look around, 1441 was too distracted to notice anything, but looking a bit lower, he saw it right next to him. The familiar form of an old partner.

"Soj...how?"

"Are you doubting my abilities now? My patience has limits, you know?"

But what Ray was saying didn't reach 1441; he picked up the robot next to him and screamed his name.

"Soj! Soj! Answer me, Soj!"

Then, the two small LED lights, placed as if to imitate eyes, slowly lit up.

"Command from No. 1441 received. This unit will now identify as Soj. A pleasure to meet you, No. 1441. From today, this unit will be your personal assistant. Please let me know what I can do for you."

"A...ha?"

1441 could feel his feet running cold. The mix of relief and despair within him felt like too much for one person to handle.

"This was a joke. Good morning, 1441. I am happy to meet you again."

"..."

"Hahaha! You got this guy good! Look at that dumb face! I love it!"

1441 stared in the distance for a couple of seconds before he finally burst into laughter. He laughed like nobody had ever heard before. A laugh that should not be present in a world facing extinction. While laughing his heart out, he hugged the little robot as if it was the plushie of a kid coming back from a camp he was not ready for. From Ray's perspective you could even see some drops falling on the body of the robot.

"You know? For a man with such a background, you sure keep up the tough guy act only when it's convenient."

"My background? What would you know about it?"

"Nothing. Not until I confirm some things."

"What? Whatever." The man finally noticed the nostalgic blue hue he had been ignoring for the past many sols. "Soj, I think there is one thing you are forgetting to tell me this morning."

"Analyzing current situation. Time left until complete memory wipe for both 1441 and No. 555: 255 sols."

At those news, you could hear the voices of both of them perfectly harmonized.

"Huh?"