250 Sols

Half a sol after he started losing his sanity, the researcher was crawling his way through the Martian landscape.

"I had a family back there. I had kids. Haha. I remember it now! I remember them. But...why am I here now?"

The researcher could feel the chaos welling up in his mind; he saw glimpses of his past life, if only for a mere second before they would be completely erased. His mind was in a constant fight against the erasure of his very being.

"I DIDN'T WANT THIS! WHY? WHY DID YOU TAKE THEM FROM ME?"

While screaming and protesting against events only he could piece together, a voice from the distance was getting louder and louder. Yet he could not discern if it was part of the tricks his mind was playing or not.

"Why? Why punish us like that?"

On the throne of the world, a king stood alone, for none other would dare get near the pinnacle of existence. His very being was so high above the rest that even time itself lost meaning to this king. For as long as any living being could remember, the ruler of the world stayed unchanged.

The king was kind, yet he knew not how to please the very people who were serving him. "How can a god know the will of mortals?" was the question he himself could not find an answer to. So he gave anything to anyone who was asking. With no regard for motives, he was not thinking about how worthy the people were of his gifts, for he could not see human worth anymore.

One day, out of nowhere, humanity came to the gates of his castle and asked for his head. Unsure what the reason was, the king took a good look at the outside world. There, he saw the consequences of his rule. He saw what happens when you don't put yourself in the shoes of your people. The world was already destroyed beyond repair. War, pollution, and the very fingerprint humanity left behind were too much for the world to handle. That was the consequence of giving humanity whatever their heart desired without asking for reason.

Humanity, angry at the state of the world, blamed the king for his incompetence. The king could not argue back, so he promised to try and find another world.

But human nature is foul. Behind the angry mob, there was a group of heroes trying to seize the power. They led the attack that ended up taking the life of the king. The king did not even fight back, for he was torn between the part of him that felt the need to accept this punishment and the part that swore revenge on the very world for creating those beasts.

That was the last the humans heard of the king. After killing him, the new heroes took a select few with them and ran from the decaying world, never to be seen again by the very masses they toyed with and from whom they stole the only being who could really save them.

Upon his last moment of lucidity, the researcher had but one question to ask.

"Could the king...help...me find my kids?"

Upon asking his last question, the researcher gave his last breath and hit the ground. At his feet, the silhouette of a mysterious man wearing glasses and an old-fashioned hat appeared.

"No. Sadly, the king was not even able to find his humanity when it mattered."

The man looked in admiration at the researcher who was able to last for so long. After paying his respects, he kept walking like nothing happened.

"Maybe having too much time on his hands was the reason he lost himself?"

...

In the house where 1441 had spent most of his time lately, the three of them were preparing for departure.

"Do you really plan to go there?" The woman in a science coat asked the man.

"Does it look like I have anything better to do?"

"Weren't you the one who said you want to live out the rest of your life doing whatever you want? Something about wanting to look back and say it all ended well when the time comes?"

"Yup. And how could I look behind satisfied if I don't go to the top of Olympus Mons?"

"Sounds to me like you are just desperately searching for anything to save yourself."

The two of them heard a beeping sound that clearly showed how Soj interpreted Ray's replica as a slow burn on the ego of 1441.

"Y'all can interpret it however you want. How can I say I call my life void of regrets when the top of the world is just standing there inviting me? After so much time spent together, you still don't understand my love for hiking?"

1441 threw a box of items they would bring with them Ray's way.

"Hurts my feelings, ya know?"

"The one lacking understanding is the research subject who pretends to have any value to me aside from being the means to satisfy my curiosity."

That beeping sound could be heard again from the other room.

"Let's pretend this conversation never happened. Come here, both of you! Check this out!"

The three of them gathered in front of a guitar.

"Question: Does 1441 play guitar?"

"Nope, but I've been dying to try. I have to give it a go before we leave."

1441 sat on a chair and took the guitar in his arms. As preparatory measures, Ray had already placed her palms firmly on either side of her head, firmly sealing her ears.

Yet, contrary to expectations, the melody coming out of the instrument did not hurt anybody. On the contrary, both the woman and the robot were left without words when they heard 1441 playing.

The tempo and intensity at which the guitar was being played were in perfect harmony, fitting the room's size and shape together with the taste of the listeners to perfection.

Neither of them was able to form any replica to his playing. The song was not one known to any of the three, yet it sounded as if it had been rehearsed to perfection multiple times. The rhythm didn't falter, and the notes flowed one after another as if this specific combination was the only one that could be called "correct."

For the next 30 minutes, all that could be heard in the house was a sole guitar crying its heart out, and the woman together with the robot could be seen standing there without making the slightest move.

Ray didn't wait long after 1441 put the guitar down.

"So, is there any good reason for lying to us?"

"No, I didn..."

"There were no physical signs that 1441 was lying. This either shows that 1441 is a born trickster or it had no intention of lying to us."

"Yeah, that's wha..."

"How could somebody not know they can play an instrument to such an extent? Only if...but that means he... Have you been lying to us about more than that."

"No, I am not..."

"No, there is no reason to call it a lie since I didn't directly ask you. Are you one of the colony members from Earth?"

"Oh my God, could you let me finish? Of course I am. Where the hell do you think my number came from? I had no idea I could play guitar like that. I have never played it since I came to this cursed planet."

"Is that so? No, no, no. Too many questions that need answers. Did any other unusual things happen to you here?"

"Actually..."

"No time for questions. Get on the table."

"What? What table?"

"Any table. We are starting."

After receiving firm orders culminating in an unexpected smug wink that didn't fit the ambience, 1441 was left with no choice but to obey and look for the most comfortable flat surface he could find in the house.

Meanwhile, Soj took upon himself the task of finding out if the guitar was somehow modified. This task soon turned into curiosity, and Soj ended up trying to learn how to get a melody out of the guitar for hours while Ray was finally getting to enjoy her sweet research time.