An Unusual Pair, Part 6

The morning began with some a trek through the sandy desert. Their objective was to locate the tanks that were reportedly found buried beneath the sand, but since the two saw no sign of them from their starting position, they would need to go deeper into the wasteland before they could find anything of value.

Thankfully, it was early enough that the place had not gotten too hot yet, though it would certainly become almost unbearably so once the day went on. Caleb had packed some things beforehand to protect himself from the heat, but that didn't mean he could dawdle as he liked. The best plan of action was to find the tanks quickly, do the job, and leave as soon as they could.

The good news was that the two of them would not need to waste their time hunting through the sands. Computer had already pinpointed the general location of the tanks into Hope's navigation, so all they needed to do was reach the requisite area. Additionally, Computer programmed some scavenger capabilities into Hope's systems while at headquarters, giving her a metal detector which she could use with a wave of her arm. That made it a lot easier for the two of them to search for their target, though it still meant that they'd have to trek a good while through the desert.

They had been walking through the desert for over an hour at this point, and the heat was already beginning to bear down on Caleb. It wasn't as bad as it could be, but he could feel beads of sweat forming on his forehead. It was a bad sign, especially since this area didn't have a lot of shade for him to rest. If they didn't find someplace soon, he might actually pass out and make things harder for Hope.

After another two hours of trudging through sand, the two were no closer to reaching the tanks. Caleb did not feel discouraged, however; they were making considerable progress, and as long as they kept this pace up, he was confident that they would find the tanks soon.

Hope, however, did not seem to share his confidence. She had noticed that Caleb had been feeling the heat for a good while now, and she clearly did not think he was going to last much longer.

“Hey!” she suddenly called out. “You don't look so good. Are you going to last until we arrive at the destination?”

“I'll be fine,” Caleb replied as beads of sweat traveled down his face. “I've been in hotter places than this.”

“If you collapse, I'll end up wasting time dragging you out of the desert. Don't push yourself.”

“Don't worry too much.” Caleb glanced around, then pointed to a rocky outcropping in the distance. “There's a place we can get some shade over there. I'll take a break there, all right?”

Hope seemed unconvinced, but she stopped arguing. Caleb pushed himself to keep moving, even as the heat continued to wear him down. After saying all that, he definitely did not want to collpase in front of Hope now.

The moment Caleb arrived at the outcropping, he collapsed onto the sand and winced. Though it was in the shade, the sand was still quite hot, though it was still cooler than standing in the sun. He pulled out his canteen and drank a measured gulp of cool water. He wiped the sweat off of his brow and tried to cool down as much as possible while eating a bit of dried food.

Hope also crouched down in the shade and watched as Caleb cooled himself down. She watched him with a curious eye, as if she was trying to understand his functions and habits. Caleb took that to mean that she was taking more of an interest in his humanity, and her sudden concern for his well-being was proof of that.

Caleb had noticed evidence of Hope changing even before today. Her speech pattern, while initially stilted in a way that was similar to Computer's, now sounded more like an actual human's. He was almost surprised at how quickly she changed; he'd believed that there would be a more gradual adjustment to Hope's demeanor as the two spent time together. He supposed that Hope was closer to being a human than even he had believed he'd understood.

After ten minutes of rest, Caleb decided to start moving again. It wasn't noon yet, and it would only get hotter the more he waited. Hope seemed unconvinced that he had recovered enough to keep walking, but he waved away her concerns. Time was of the essense in the desert.

They continued walking. After another hour, Caleb was drenched in sweat yet again, but he made no attempt to let Hope know. He didn't want to push himself too hard, but he didn't want to take too many breaks either. He knew his body well enough to know that he wouldn't collapse from just this, but he also knew that the desert was not to be underestimated.

Thankfully, the duo eventually arrived at the location specified by Computer's report. In a large hole where the sand sank into a low valley, dark and twisted metal shapes poked out of the sand, giving Caleb visual evidence that he had reached his destination.

Caleb stood at the edge of the slope and pointed to the metal shapes hidden in the sand. “Just in case, give it a wave.”

Hope nodded and waved her hand, which was the trigger for the metal detector program in her system. After a few seconds, Hope gave Caleb an affirmative nod. Caleb let out a sigh of relief and stepped down onto the slope, sliding down slowly to the bottom.

After a short ten-minute walk, Caleb and Hope now stood in front of the giant hunks of metal, which were surprisingly a lot larger than they looked from afar. Even one stood at least a few feet higher than them, and that was with part of it submerged in the sand.

“Do you understand what you're looking for?” Caleb asked as Hope began taking out her scavenging tools.

“Of course I do,” Hope replied curtly. “You don't need to worry about me. Just go rest in the shade already.”

Caleb nodded and crouched down in the shade cast by one of the nearby tanks. There wasn't much shade, and the sand was too even to sit comfortably, but at the very least it was cool enough for him to rest. From where he was, he could hear Hope already getting to work on the nearby tank. Though he knew that Hope was loaded with more than enough information to properly dismantle a tank without his help, he couldn't help being worried.

“How's it going?” he asked as he fanned himself with his hand.

“I haven't found anything of note yet,” Hope replied. “A lot of these parts have been rusted badly. It's hard to tell exactly what's supposed to be what.”

“Just focus on dismantling for now. You don't have to focus every little piece.”

“I know already,” Hope grumbled as she continued working on the tank.

Caleb smirked. He wondered if she realized how casual her language was getting. Still, Hope was the least of his worries. He'd lose his source of shade soon if she worked fast enough, and the other tanks didn't seem to be offering the same level of shade.

Caleb looked at the shadows cast on the sand. It was around afternoon, and there were probably still a few hours before nighttime came around. If Hope took too long dismantling the tanks, they would probably have to stay in the desert overnight.

Caleb puts his hand on the sand and pressed firmly. It was soft and crumbled easily, but he could feel a firm foundation underneath. He pulled out a tent from his backpack and set it up as quickly as he could without staying in the sun too often. It was a blinding white, but that made it more suitable for use in the desert.

“Do you have to set that up now?” Hope grumbled. “It's distracting.”

“Now's the best time to do it,” Caleb replied. “I need some shelter from the sun if we're going to be here for a while.”

Hope sighed, but Caleb didn't know why she was complaining in the first place. She was making good progress, and the first tank she was working on was already halfway dismantled. As she took apart the tank's main chassis, she glanced at the material she was leaving half-buried in the sand.

“I know Computer didn't tell us to do anything in particular with the tanks, but is it really okay to leave all this lying in the sand?” Hope asked. “Couldn't some of this be recycled for other uses?”

“Maybe if we found this a couple centuries ago,” Caleb replied as he picked up a piece of the tank. It was heavily corroded and covered with dark rust. “Something like this isn't worth the trouble of trying to use. Given enough time, it'll decompose and hopefully become part of the sand.”

“Hopefully?”

“Well, you never know what'll happen, right?” Caleb shrugged as he climbed into his newly set up tent. “Anyway, don't try and do it all by yourself. Call me if you need any help at all.”

Having said that, Caleb didn't believe that Hope really needed his help. It was a simple job, and unless these tanks were carrying some kind of hazardous material, he honestly doubted he would have to worry about carrying anything back. In fact, if there was one thing he could count on, it was Hope's skill; though it was her first time seeing machines like these, she was taking them apart as if she had been working with them for years.

Sure enough, by the time night fell, Hope had managed to take apart all of the tanks within the vicinity. Caleb's part in the job was mostly limited to identifying heavily corroded parts and figuring out if anything should be brought back with them. In the end, though, Caleb's prediction was right; nothing here needed to be taken back, and could be safely left in the sand to decompose slowly over the next few centuries.

“There weren't any problems with the work, were there?” Caleb asked. It was mostly a formality, but he still wanted to check if there were any problems with Hope's body that she might have noticed while working.

“No problems at all,” Hope replied as she wiped the oil and rust on her hands with a towel. “There were some bugs inside some bits of the machinery, but outside of that, nothing beyond my expectations.”

“Bugs, huh?” Caleb winced. “I hope they don't get into the tent.”

“You don't like bugs?”

“Not really. When I was training in the forest, I remember venturing into a dark cave all on my own. I wanted to see if I could make it all the way through the cave by touch if I was ever in a situation where I couldn't see.”

“I see,” Hope replied as she used the dirty towel to look over some of the tank parts laid in the sand nearby. “How did that venture end for you?”

“Pretty well, until I touched something that didn't feel like rock wall. My curiosity got the better of me and I ended up lighting a match just to see what I'd touched. Wanna know what I saw?”

“What was it?”

“A huge centipede, maybe this long.” Caleb stretched out his arms to show the size. “Ever since then, I couldn't handle bugs.”

To his surprise, Hope let out an impish guffaw. “I can just imagine the look on your face when that happened.”

Caleb simply smiled warmly. “That's a good laugh, Hope. That must be the first time I've ever heard it.”

Hope blushed, then immediately tried to regain her stoic expression. “It was a ridiculous story. You can't expect me to be stoic all the time, do you?”

Caleb didn't answer. Instead, he told Hope something he'd been thinking about ever since he'd met her.

“It's okay to think of yourself as human, Hope.”

Hope didn't respond, but she'd stopped moving. Caleb took that as an indication to keep going.

“The remainers, they're all struggling with their humanity. Every one of them feels like they've lost a part of them they used to have. But personally? I still think they're all human, every one of them. Sure, they've got some pretty inhuman aspects to them, but the core of them hasn't changed.”

Hope stayed silent. Then, in a quiet voice, she said, “And what does that have to do with me?”

“One day, I'm sure you'll understand.”

They didn't speak for the rest of the night. But this time, Caleb could tell that it was not because she was annoyed with him. She was deep in thought, as if she was carefully considering his words despite pretending to be unconcerned. That was all he needed. As long as she was willing to think about what he'd said, she'd be all right.