Relocation and the beginning of the battle - The Fall of Touimai (Part 4)

The android closely monitored my every move. I didn't mind it, as my head—my emotions were in a slurry. I walked up to the closest concrete support pillar and punched it with all my might. As expected, there was no damage to the concrete, and my hand was bleeding and withering with pain. 

Tears were flowing down my face as the pain was too much for me to bear, but this pain was nothing compared to the pain of those who lost their loved ones. I dug through my memories, even memories I wanted gone from my mind. I remember. 

My first murder of another human being for a mere piece of mouldy bread. The desperation in the man's eyes, the vivid, chilling cries of that man's children for their lifeless father's body, swimming in a pool of his blood, that ionic metallic stench of iron, and the emotions that I felt in that very moment. I remember breathing heavily, looking over at his two children. What emotion did I feel? 

Panic? Fear? Pride even? No. all I felt was guilt. Overwhelming guilt. A suffocating weight that had never left me. 

As I resurfaced those memories, I bit my lips in agony and punched the same concrete pillar again. I know that I am no hero of justice. I know that I'd killed others and made my hands dirty for my selfish decision to live. I know that. But the whole thing that caused this—this war... if I could end it, could I be forgiven for everything I'd done?

Wiping away the tears that streamed down my dirt-covered face, I turned to the android, her crimson eyes still monitoring my every move. "I've made a decision," I declared, with my voice hoarse but steady. "Let's do this." I slapped my face with my hands twice to get my thoughts in order.

First things, first, since Uto said the android is mine now, should I give it a name? Hmm... She has ruby hair, rosy lips and pale white skin, so Vermiculus should work fine. Or could Ardens? But Sanguis sounds good too... 

In the end, I thought of many names for her but couldn't choose one. "I need more time to figure out a name for her..." I said aloud.

"Understood." She responded suddenly. I dismissed the thought and headed towards the exit. I walked with the android to the exit while thinking about some questions. 

I would need to know what she uses as power and energy. Secondly, I probably would need to know what kind of android she is, normal, battle, or work.

After crawling through the hole again, and double-checking the items I had, my instincts reacted. Quickly I grabbed the android's arm and ran to a corner with shadow and cover. 

"Master, what's wrong?" she asked me. 

"I don't know if you noticed, but the smell... it smells of blood and gunpowder. Clearly, someone has been shot with a material gun. I don't know what's going on right now, but I figure that hiding will be the best for now." I replied while popping my head over the cover."

After scanning the surrounding area and confirming it to be safe, I slid to a sitting position and let out a huge sigh of relief. I then looked up to the sky, which was covered in rising ash clouds, and then looked back to the android. 

Gazing at the ash-covered sky, I addressed the android like it was a real human being. "Listen, I apologize for the abruptness. This place, Touimai, it's not safe anymore. Androids like you… they're incredibly valuable. The ultra-wealthy are the only ones who can afford and maintain you."

"And the problem?" she inquired. "I am programmed to protect you at all costs."

I sighed, shaking my head.
"You don't understand. You are billion-dollar device here. Walking around a war-torn city with a target like you on my back… it's insane! Even the technology or broken parts of older generations of androids fetch prices of over thirty million."

Her processor whirred faintly as she absorbed this new information. "I understand," she finally acknowledged. "But where do we go from here?"

"I don't know. But it's safe to say that the whole of Toui- no, the whole of the Sagen Republic is out. We can maybe go to the Eastern Sagen Republic but we'll have to cross the frontline.

Neutral countries like Ashten and Armidilon offered safety, but reaching them meant traversing vast distances through the Dusmoru Kingdom. Going northward, across the Sagen Channel, lay Phermanue and Atsero. It's pretty safe up there, however, it's also the least likely. The waters of the Sagen Channel are powerful and unless we acquire a military vessel, there's no way we could cross it. 

"Okay. I want you to decide. Should we move down south to a neutral country like Ashten or Armidilon, or go north and cross the Sagen Channel to either Phermanue or Atsero?" I asked the android. 

"I'll go with whatever you picked." she replied. 

"Hm? Alright then. This might sound crazy... but let's head towards the Blae, the capital of the Cloud Empire. After deciding on where to go next, I lay on the ground, using my bag as a pillow, and closed my eyes. "Alright, you should get some rest as well. Since I don't think anyone will even go near West Touimai, we should be safe." I said. 

The android stood up and looked around before nodding. "Understood. All systems shutting down and going into sleep mode." She laid right next to me but I didn't mind it. Slowly but surely, my consciousness faded away. 

...

When I woke up, as I expected, no one came here. I looked up to the sky to see if any ash clouds were rising and there were none. A beautiful deep blue sky smiled down at the city. "Blue skies huh. This is extremely rare for a city being so close to a deadly frontline." I uttered. Once I got my surroundings, I grabbed my bag and woke up the android. 

"Greetings Master. I apologise for making you wake me up." she said. 

"Please, no more formal speech thanks. And don't you call me master again, I have a name, Void, you know." I replied. 

"Request granted. Shall call Master, Void from now on."

So easy!

I double-checked my things and laid out a route to exit Touimai. 
"So, we're going to move west, north and then northeast okay? For the route itself though... just follow me." 

The android nodded back and we began to move. 

...
....

Meanwhile, at the Eastern Gate of Touimai, soldiers, tanks, big and small robots from the Second Entanian Alliance were waiting for the signal of attack behind the gate. And as the commander of Operation Traitor, Colonel Yashki smiled with glee. 

"Good. Very good. All according to plan." he said. 

He then raised his arm and swung it down. All three thousand tanks fired their fourteen metre main guns and showered hell to both the remaining two and a half thousand soldiers of the enemy forces deployed there and the citizens of Touimai.