Shattered Hope

"Once the machines began to live a life much like that of humans people wondered about what they were truly capable of. They were doing jobs man had usually done, but they were advancing. Machines were made to evolve and grow. Many even developed problems similar to that of man such as boredom, complaints, and happiness. These emotions being shown by the machines puzzled man, as machines were becoming far more than the sum of their parts.”

Herbert Stein, Machine Historian - 

The building down the street from them had just blown up with massive flames bursting from the ground floor windows climbing and crawling up the sides of the walls. The initial explosion shattered the cement around the first floor throwing pieces across the block smashing into windows and other buildings. It was only a moment after that the metal supports no longer protected by the cement crumbled under the immense force of the explosion shattering the supports. Only another moment later did the building come falling down on top of itself while leaning against the surrounding buildings. As it collapsed upon itself the speeding walls scraped and screamed against the neighboring buildings leaving marks like a monster had crawled through.

In the instant of the explosion Satoru had grabbed Asami putting his back towards the building seeing the fire burning up. Pieces were already flying past them as he rushed to protect Asami from spreading debris. He could hear her screaming as the painful noise of the building destroyed windows in its concussion. The sound was like nails dragged against a chalkboard multiplied ten times with the frightening screeching of crows looking for a meal mixed into one. It was deafening, one that Satoru didn’t remember the last time.

Once it had all settled into a huge pile of flaming rubble Satoru let go of Asami. He turned to her looking at her frightened face. "Are you alright?" They had both miraculously survived the destruction without a scratch. There were others in the street that weren't as fortunate as them. Some were crushed by falling debris or cut in two by speeding metal. There was blood thrown everywhere across the street as though it was raining it.

"Y-yes, thank you."

"What just happened?" Satoru looked around, having a terrible feeling about what it was. He looked down the street to see the hulking wreckage of the building burning brightly. "It's happened again…" There was little doubt in his mind what it was that occurred. This was no accident. 'Its happening again…I can see it…the fires…' His mind became invaded by his memories and false memories of the last time blending together with what he saw before him. '…the voices…make it stop…' None of it would leave him drilling deeper into his thoughts ripping apart his sanity until he collapsed to the sidewalk.

"Satoru!" Asami shouted, kneeling down to catch him scared that she didn’t know what was happening to him.

It had been peaceful; there was only blackness in the void painted over the ugliness that he had seen. But it was lifting now and the black faded away. Satoru opened his eyes slowly, looking around, seeing that he was inside another building. "Satoru? Are you alright?"

He looked up at the voice to see that it was Asami staring down at him. The worried fearful expression that she held melted away in easing relief to see that he was awake. Satoru lifted his head up off Asami's lap looking around confused as to why he was inside now. "Uh…what happened?"

"You collapsed outside."

"I did?" Satoru said while trying to remember what happened to him. It was all a haze in his mind like before. All he could recall at the moment was that the building had been destroyed and then it all went blank. 'How embarrassing…in front of her…but she stayed this whole time.' Satoru's face became a little red as he thought about it and the fact that he had been resting on her lap the entire time. But he was pulled back sharply by the images of the building burning. "The building, the explosion!" Satoru jumped up suddenly feeling lightheaded.

Asami quickly got up and pulled him back down to the couch in the lobby of the Benihoshi Building. Satoru eased back down with little resistance. "No, please…"

"Damn! Why…why again?" His fist clenched together against the couch seat knowing that so many had died again. 'This conflict is never going to end…'

"You should probably rest," Asami said, trying to keep Satoru sitting. She could see in his eyes that he wanted to do something. The confused struggle was clear in his eyes as it ate through him.

"I'll be fine. I'm sorry for making you worry again."

"No, it's alright." Asami stared at him with that worried expression again. "You sure you're feeling alright?"

"Yeah, I-I was just a little overwhelmed by my memories. Nothing to worry about." Satoru gave standing another try. He wasn’t so lightheaded this time, but it still felt a little strange. There was nothing he could do that would be gained by sitting around, but it wasn’t as though he could do anything to prevent this from happening.

Asami followed Satoru as he slowly made his way through the lobby. She could easily see that he wasn’t doing so well, but he was stubborn. "What if you faint again?" If she could find a reason to get him to rest she was going to try.

"I'll head home and rest," Satoru said, looking at her knowing that she wouldn’t let him return to work. He didn’t feel like going back to work, but there was nowhere else for him to go at this point. Though if going home made her feel better he would.

She stood between him and the door, still worried about what was going to happen to him. The look that he had was easy to read and she didn’t know what he would end up doing if he went alone. If there were nothing else she could do it would be to make sure that he was safe. "You shouldn't go alone."

Satoru stepped back from Asami reading her face well enough to know what she was intending. 'I have to…I can't let her…' He couldn’t let her follow him all the way, even if it did seem like a pleasant thought. Though as he looked at her he could see that it was going to impossible to dissuade her. "But what about…" Even still, he was going to try to make the attempt.

"Please, I'll worry about you knowing that something could happen to you again." She moved closer to him, closing the gap that he had set between them previously. Satoru could nearly feel the body heat coming off her.

"A-alright…" he said reluctantly, knowing already that it was a futile effort. Satoru could see that she was honestly concerned about him and his well being, even if he was still somewhat of a stranger. He fought with his mind over the conflict when he couldn’t verbally. 'I should just say no. What am I going to do now?'