He rested with seven sols left from all His work which He had run from

For the remainder of the seventh sol, 1441 and Soj just stood there.

"Question: Will you not ask why No. 7 had her memory wiped earlier than planned?"

"Ah, it must have been that damn red-eyed bastard. He probably modified her at some point just to mess with me. How else would I learn gluttony if not by losing her with so little time left? That guy wanted me to go on some kind of crazy hunt right at the end. That's probably also why he let Ray go, so I have some prey left. Did I get the gist of it?"

Soj was shocked at how quickly 1441 caught on to the plans of No. 2. The robot could only wonder how much the man understood now about his life being influenced from the very restart. But it didn't say a word about it. There was nothing more that could be done, for the end was closing in faster than anticipated.

The two of them stayed together for the rest of that sol. Neither of them spoke about what happened or what was going to happen. They just went back to their usual sunset gazing activities, keeping the silence for the most part and only starting light conversations or cracking a joke here and there. Apparently, 1441 considered the fact he taught a sense of humor to a robot his biggest achievement from his life on Mars.

Right before the hour reached midnight, 1441 spoke to the robot.

"Yo, Soj. You know what? I want to learn about Earth. Do you have any documentaries saved or something?

"Affirmative. The lessons about Earth will start once the clock hits midnight."

6 sols left

"Question: What should we start with?"

"Let's start with the worst of them all. How did humans get to rule the Earth? Where did they come from?"

"They?" Soj asked, confused as to why 1441 separated humanity from himself.

"Don't act so surprised; you saw what I did there. I kept denying it, but there is no way I can be called human anymore. I hope you can welcome me to the family."

The robot made some sounds that could be interpreted as happiness and started his explanation.

"You see, humans did not just spawn out of nowhere. They evolved from animals. To be more precise, they evolved from primates. You are, to an extent, land mammals." The robot answered while showing pictures of primates and prehistoric humans."

"Wait, were we really animals? That may just explain it all. Haha! Then tell me more about those animals. We didn't really have a reason to learn too much about them."

Soj and 1441 sat on the rocks at the top of Olympus Mons talking about animals and laughing every time the man found another explanation for the savage human nature. This continued deep into the night.

5 sols left

"And the animals of air and sea were even more numerous. It is said that the human killed most of the ocean animals before they could have even discovered them."

"Why am I not surprised..."

The curiosity of the man seemed to know no bounds.

"Still, what a beautiful life they had. I never thought nature could look this good. I wish I was able to go back there."

"Unfortunately, almost nothing of that nature is left. It is said that life always finds a way, and that nature may sprout again where humans once lived, but humanity will have been long extinct by then."

"But how do those plants keep making it back?"

"It is thanks to the sun."

"Huh, didn't seem to do a lot here. Sun and Moon... I often hear this comparison. Mars also has moons, but I never thought they would be too special.

"Actually..."

4 sols left

"So they didn't even know that much? Did they really think they were the center of the universe? The more I see, the more unbelievable it becomes."

"It may not be so surprising. If you think about it, everyone has their own bubble. You were not that different up until recently. Even a medieval human may find it hard to believe that you knew so little about animals."

"Touché."

3 sols left

"Doesn't that mean that plants will never go extinct? Isn't it amazing how they just come back?"

"Well, in the optimal environment, with the right gases, warmth, and light..."

"So you're telling me everything has somehow adapted to work with the environment of Earth? And it keeps changing? All those weird animals, all those crazy plants, it all just ended up like this?"

2 sols left

"Wow...so the sky there is always blue?"

"At least it used to be. We have no idea if it has changed since. Although, it shouldn't."

"Wow... Blue during the day and orange two times in the morning and evening. Wait, ain't that exactly opposite to here?"

"Haha...I guess so. Do you like it more this way?"

"Are you kidding? I spend every evening admiring a blue sky. The orange one is also nice at times, but far from this sunset. How I wish I could remember what it looked like.

1 sol left

The first light of dawn reached the eyes of 1441, who had almost fallen asleep after so much time spent learning. Opening his eyes, he saw his robot friend blocking out the sun right in front of him.

"Haha. I guess the lessons are over."

"You've pretty much learned all I had to teach. It is impressive how you memorized it all."

Soj flew next to 1441, and the two of them together enjoyed their last sunrise.

"Soj, maybe it is time I asked you, what will you do once we are gone? Will you just wander around? Or something like eternal sleep?"

"The second option was oddly close to the truth. How did you know?"

"Lucky guess."

"I see. Yes, once the final wave of memory erasure starts, I will also cease to function. There is no real use for me past forcing sin on you. I can consider myself lucky that I even got to experience these last few sols as the Soj you know."

"I see. I can't say I am happy either way. But, surprisingly, this is not the worst sol of all. Somehow, the ending really isn't that bad."

"After all, the ending is the last thing you see, right? It leaves the strongest impression."

"Haha! For a robot, you sure do know how to learn new things! You've come a long way, friend."

The man hit the robot from behind like you would hit a friend over the shoulder.

"You too, friend." The robot answered while replicating the same movement with one of its many small arms."

That's how they spent their last hours together. They laughed and admired the planet that brought them so much pain but also their final moments of joy.

...

"So, the sun is setting. I guess it will be any moment now."

"It should be. To be precise, it should be within the next minute."

"Haha. I see. Well, I guess that's it. What can I say? It was interesting. No, I guess there is no need to say anything anymore. I just hope your sleep will be a peaceful one. Who knows, maybe some aliens will find you one day, and you can start a new life."

"Waking me up may not be possible, but they will sure find it weird that a single robot was left here, especially since the plan is to wipe any traces of humanity. So maybe take me with you to your next destination!"

"Wait...what does that even mean?"

"..."

"Soj?"

"Look at the time."

1441 checked the time only to notice that the minute that should have been the last in his life had already passed, yet he was still as sane as ever.

"Wait...What is going on? Did I get the wrong day?"

"No. You did not. The only mismatch was the person and the plan."

"What?"

The man looked around in confusion. To his surprise, rising from the edge of the crater was a friendly face he never thought he would see again.

"Ray?"

The woman was giving her all to crawl as close to 1441 as possible.

"You better make it up to us if we ever meet in another life. It took me a damn long time, but I held my promise, oh, King of Earth."

Those were the last words of the girl before she collapsed, never to awaken again. But it was enough. That simple sentence was the last piece needed for 1441 to be hit by a sudden burst of memories.