UNKNOWN

The crystals surrounding him have him kneeling, picking at the shards. "Executive Jeon, these crystals are sharp enough to pierce skin. If you fall, they could puncture and hurt you. I'm equipped with spray to close wounds, but if it's in a fatal area like the chest, I won't be able to save you, sir," Stevie says, hovering by his head a few feet away.

"Noted."

Stevie's engines are the only sounds in the area. Well, that and the breaking shards of crystals snapping under Jungkook's feet. "You don't trust me, do you, sir?" Stevie asks, breaking their momentary silence.

"Can you blame me? I'm not exactly the most trustworthy with things that can't feel emotions. How do I know you won't just leave me behind?"

"Sir, with all due respect, no one's asking you to trust me. Not even me. The real question is do you have faith in Commander Park's engineering abilities?"

"Well..."

"Sir."

"Okay, maybe a little." Jungkook shoves his hands in his pockets despite knowing he should keep one by his pistol. He ignores that itch in his mind, sauntering down the navy ground beneath him. "Gosh, what are these made of?"

"Would you understand if I told you?"

"Not even a little."

Stevie keeps his distance, scanning over everything he comes in contact with. "No detection of other lifeforms as of yet. Would you like me to play music to fill the silence?"

"What, you don't want to have an engaging conversation?" Jungkook asks with a sly smile.

"If I wanted that, I wouldn't talk to you, Executive."

Jungkook blinks a few times, Stevie playing some relaxing tunes. Instrumentals. Classical music. He was never a big fan of classical music, hence why Tae and him stick to more pop and ballads whenever they're recording songs. Jungkook misses that, making music with his husband. He has to admit it makes him feel special.

He kneels, eyeing the footprints he's following. "If they're so far ahead of me, how will I be able to find them?" Jungkook asks, keeping his fingers away from the crystals this time.

"I can move much faster than the average human, sir. So can you. If they're walking at average human speed at around four miles per hour, and we're going at a pace of seven miles per hour, we'll be able to catch up with them despite their head start. If they pause to sleep, however, then that gives us an even larger advantage as we won't be sleeping."

"We won't?"

"My recommendation would be not to sleep until we find them, Executive."

"Great," Jungkook says, keeping up his pace. "What if we up it to nine miles per hour?"

"It'll exhaust you faster. You'll need more nutrients to keep up a consistent pace, but we'd get there quicker, yes."

Jungkook nods and spins his finger, motioning for Stevie to increase their speed. The two of them pick it up, Jungkook nearly sprinting now. He doesn't complain. Those are human footprints. Human. All he has to do is follow them, then maybe, just maybe, he'll find people. People he prays are Namjoon and Sehun.

Several minutes pass of them traversing, the crystal trees shimmering in the dark lighting the sky provides. Jungkook huffs, ignoring all the hundreds of reasons he has to break down and cry right here, right now. Crying in front of a robot would be embarrassing as hell, so he chooses not to. If he does, well, he can't guarantee Stevie won't be an ass and record a video for Jimin. Jungkook doesn't need more embarrassment; he's built up enough over the past two decades.

"Sir, I'm detecting heavy movement not far from us," Stevie says.

"I feel it too." Jungkook plants his feet, uncloaking his AR and pulling it forward. Stevie takes out his little lasers, scanning the environment while being ready to shoot. "If it gets too close to me, let me do the fighting. I trust Jimin's programming, but I also don't want to risk being shot in the head with a laser. Only if I'm about to die, got it?"

"Understood, sir."

Jungkook relaxes by a bit, but only a bit. The ground rumbles, Jungkook keeping his defensive stance. That is until a hole breaks free only ten feet away, shards of crystals flying at him. Jungkook groans when one penetrates his thigh, the pain not as intense as he thought it would be thanks to his glowing eyes and cheeks. It still hurts like a bitch, but the adrenaline is masking most of it.

Following the destruction of the ground, a medium-sized creature, probably around three feet tall, pops out. Jungkook lowers his weapon, shock overriding his body. It looks like a hybrid between a fucking drill and a beaver. He's not even kidding. Instead of a face, it has a circular, saw-like machine that spins. That must've broke the ground and allowed it through. The rest of its body resembles that of the animal Jungkook mentioned prior. Dark fur, a tail made of the same metal of its face, four legs, and buck teeth hanging out of the front of its fur.

"This is so fucked," he says right as it starts to charge him. Jungkook's senses snap back to him and he opens fire, the bullets ricocheting off the metal of the drill. Stevie fires lasers at it, burning the sharp tip of the weapon away. The beaver-like thing snarls and whines, hopping to dodge the red beams exiting Stevie's cylinders.

The Executive keeps firing, gaining some distance between him and the beaver. The beaver doesn't let up despite Stevie's best attempts to halt it. It continues storming at Jungkook rather than the flying Stevie. Most likely because Jungkook actually qualifies as a snack while Stevie is a hunk of wires and bolts.

He rolls away, crystals digging into his body and drawing blood because of the action. He snaps up and fires at the beast, finally hitting skin. He hits its front leg, the thing sobbing but doing one final death run. Jungkook yelps when the alien hops on him, his rifle being thrown away. The drill spins, and even though the tip is cut off, it will still cause damage. Jungkook, not used to his enhancements yet, weakly tries pushing it back. The beaver doesn't budge.

Right when Jungkook thinks he's about to die to a fucking beaver of all things, Stevie plays a loud, screeching sound that causes both Jungkook and the creature to yelp in pain. Jungkook recovers first, pushing the beaver off and taking out his sidearm, shooting it in the gut until it stops moving.

Jungkook pants, Stevie turning off his speakers and soaring down to him. "Sir, you're bleeding badly from your thigh. Take off your shirt, I must inspect your back."

"Is that you or Jimin talking?" Jungkook asks, heaving while he does as the robot says. Stevie scans over his bare chest and back, spraying a relieving medicine all over the cuts littering his skin. "Will I live or do we need to amputate anything?"

"Oh gosh sir, I think your head needs to be amputated. Hold still while I aim my lasers."

"Which head?"

"For that comment, both."

Stevie takes the shard of crystal out of Jungkook's thigh, him squeezing the sides of his pants and holding back a shout. The two little cranes Stevie's using as hands part the broken fabric of Jungkook's pants, the cylinder containing the medical spray hissing out in a fog of white, hitting his injury and instantly bringing relief.

"Will I be able to move at full speed?" Jungkook asks.

"If I keep you on medicine, yes. If not, no. Stay near me so I can administer the boost every ten minutes."

"Ten minutes?"

"Yes sir, be grateful this spray can stop infections, otherwise we'd have much worse problems." Stevie retracts all his compartments and scans the environment. "Scanning for the path of footprints, sir."

Jungkook mentally thanks him, sighing and slipping back into his shirt. He gears up again, making sure he's all okay before following Stevie. He scans around for the footprints they were following. Unfortunately, it kills a few minutes of precious time trying to find them. When they do, Jungkook starts down the path again.

Each minute is valuable. Each minute brings him closer to people that could be his son, but that's assuming these footprints really are recent. Stevie claims they can't be more than a day old, but Jungkook still feels unease coming and going in waves inside him. What if the footprints really do belong to Sehun and Namjoon? What if they faced creatures like this on their own, without weapons? Well, they've survived this long.

More time passes, Stevie playing music once again to fill the empty void. Jungkook eyes the metallic orb floating in the sky, wondering why Jimin would make such a thing. There had to be a reason. "Hey Stevie, can I ask you something?"

He shuts down the music. "Make it quick, that was my favorite song."

"Surprised you have favorites." Jungkook chuckles, limping ever so slightly. Stevie takes the hint and goes down to his thigh, them still moving while he applies another coat of the medicine on him. "Why did Jimin make you? Did he tell you why, or was he just bored? I don't see a reason why he'd make such a cool robot and not use it."

"I'm assigned to Park Namjoon, sir, not you. If he's here, I hate to tell you this, but he'll be my new master."

"So Jimin made you for him?" Jungkook asks, but it's more of a statement.

"He made me around twenty, maybe twenty-one years ago, sir."

"Wait really? That long ago?"

"At first I was a basic recording device that could record and send messages. A safety precaution, really. Then he upgraded me over the years until I became what I am today. He only finished me a year ago, sir."

Jungkook nods, but the curiosity still isn't squashed. "Why did he make you for Namjoon?"

"I thought the answer was clear. I was supposed to be a present to Namjoon when he went to explore his own path in the solar system, hence why he never used or mentioned me. He didn't want news of Namjoon's surprise getting out. Sorry sir, but he talks a lot about you, you have a tendency to spread drama, don't you?"

"I'm not Jin," Jungkook murmurs.

"No, but you're equally annoying."

"Hey!"

Stevie makes a noise that's the human equivalent of a chuckle, Jungkook allowing himself to smile at Stevie's words. "For whatever it's worth, sir, I am enjoying our adventure together. It's nice being out of the ship and somewhere I can truly make a difference."

"Oh really?"

"Of course, sir. Humans crave purpose. Every being in this universe does. Some purposes are smaller than others. Some are simply alive to eat while others exist to lead, or to find something that makes them feel whole. Dogs need a purpose. Commander Park mentioned something about making all his dogs guard dogs so they feel they have a purpose. My purpose in life is to serve Mr. Park Namjoon, but this isn't so bad, I'd say."

Jungkook keeps moving, not replying for a few moments. He needs a second to process that. Robots aren't uncommon in daily life. On the Tokyo, Jimin decided to use mostly human labor, that way there were a lot of high-paying jobs available to anyone qualified. The creation of the Tokyo was probably the single best thing Earth has ever done. More protection over the solar system, hundreds of jobs, and a home to many. Jungkook can't recall a single time he's had a deep conversation like this with a robot, which is why he's so concerned.

"Do you have human emotions?" Jungkook asks.

"I don't know, Mr. Jeon. I'm not being sarcastic, I really don't. For years I've watched Jimin talk and talk, express his feelings and show his emotions. Sometimes I've seen him breaking down crying after a particularly stressful day. But I still don't know if I have emotions because of that. Am I supposed to? I don't think it's in my programming."

"Stevie, do you want my opinion?"

"I can't really say no to you, sir."

"But do you want it?" Jungkook asks, stopping them for a moment.

Stevie and Jungkook stare at each other, the cyan lines of Stevie's face unmoving. Then, his mouth blinks into a smile that looks like a D. "I would like your opinion, yes."

Jungkook grins. "I think you act more human than some humans I know. Emotions or not, be a little proud of yourself for that. Plus, you saved me. Thank you."

"You're welcome, Executive."

"Oh please, we're on this alien world together, fighting flying fish and drill beavers. I think you've earned the right to call me by name."

"I'd hope so. After all, you named me Stevie of all things. I'm still mad at you for that."

"Uh oh, guess I'm not getting a Christmas card from you," Jungkook teases.

Stevie and Jungkook laugh, one sounding human, the other sounding robotic. "Very well, sir." At Jungkook's glare, Stevie dips his metallic body. "Jungkook. Very well Jungkook."

And without another word, they walk away.

~~~

Several hours later, Jungkook is near giant gray mountains with several tiny openings between them. He blinks a few times, knowing this is where it ends. "Shit."

"Jungkook?" Stevie asks.

"We can't find footsteps in here. All we can do is hope the next biome has some. It was hard enough tracking footsteps in the grasslands." Traversing through the grasslands was difficult, particularly when he saw blood on the ground but no bodies. Jungkook gulps. Did something eat the bodies? He can't think of another explanation, that is, unless someone's injured but alive.

"Sir, I'm detecting dried blood on the walls of this opening," Stevie says, pointing his scanner at the crack. Jungkook comes over, eyeing it. "A few hours old according to my scanner. We're catching up to them."

"That's the best news I've heard all day."

Stevie enters first, Jungkook right behind him. The orb scans both sides of the walls, attempting to grasp a better understanding of what happened here. Technology is so advanced, but sometimes not advanced enough. Stevie can't reconstruct what happened or identify who's blood it belongs to. That would be nice, being able to identify if Sehun is the one bleeding or if it's someone Jungkook doesn't know.

"There's an opening not too much farther. How are you holding up?" Stevie asks.

"My leg is hurting like crazy. Can you spray me up when we get out of here?"

"Of course, hopefully it'll heal within the next few hours. I only have so much spray."

Jungkook agrees, the two traversing down the tunnel until Jungkook bursts free. He huffs, pouting when he sees it's just a small opening with another tunnel not far. "This shit is so boring," Jungkook says. Stevie agrees, the two going through the next one as quickly as possible. Jungkook thanks the lord he doesn't have claustrophobia, otherwise this would suck ass.

When they reach the next opening, Jungkook goes down the larger path, patting his feet against it. He peers up in time to see a two-armed, gray creature hopping between the mountains, climbing up the one directly above Jungkook and hopping off again.

"This is getting progressively more dangerous," Jungkook says.

"I've noticed, sir."

Jungkook and Stevie continue. It takes a long time, enough time that Jungkook doesn't even count, but eventually they step foot on dark colored sand. Jungkook furrows his brows, staring out at the next environment. It's not like a desert, it's just a shit ton of sand.

"Well this is boring too," Jungkook says, picking up a few grains of the substance and letting it fly out between the creases of his fingers.

"My scans show this to be a substance not like anything seen in our solar system, sir. It's made up of some of the strangest elements I've ever seen."

"Oh really?"

"Jungkook, sir, there's helium in it."

Jungkook snaps up to face Stevie. "Wait, helium, as in the gas?" Stevie dipped his body as a way of nodding. "Do you want to explain to me how a solid substance has a gas in it?"

"Sir, it's best if we keep moving. You're in no condition for another fight like that beaver. With a flat surface, I'm almost guaranteeing you that more creatures of similar volume and aggression will be in this terrain."

He agrees, starting his pace again. "Ahh Stevie, you don't have to call me sir anymore. You're making me sound older than I already am."

"Very well, Jungkook. May I ask you a question?" Stevie asks.

"Sure."

"Are you friends with any dinosaurs?"

Jungkook whacks the small body of metal, Stevie making a chuckling sound while regaining his balance. After that, they fall into a silence while they traverse the biome. It's quiet for a long time, neither of them wishing to speak. Jungkook's too caught up in his mind not to mention he's injured, so he's a bit disoriented right now.

The ride through the desert is the most excruciating. Having to plop each foot in front of the other and feel the ground sink got annoying after the first ten steps. Jungkook almost asked Stevie if he could fly them out of there with his small body.

Jungkook stops when he hears shouts. His ears perk up, his hands clenching into fists. "You hear that?"

"I do," Stevie says, flying a bit closer to the source of the noise. "Jungkook, I'm detecting heat signatures up ahead. Multiple. Over ten."

"What? Human?"

"Five are human, the rest are something else."

Jungkook finally found them. Some glimmer of hope that will keep him moving. With a laugh, Jungkook runs after Stevie, the two keeping the same pace as the next area comes into perfect view.

It's not too much different from the 'desert' since there's water littering the ground and more flat terrain present. But that's not where Jungkook's eyes are. Instead, he zooms in on the people fighting creatures. People. Humans. Jungkook smiles, zooming in closer to see their faces. That's when he sees them clearly. Their faces. Their expressions, their anger, their pain. Them. Jungkook freezes, letting out a breath when he sees one of the men there. The one that has his heart beating faster and his veins nearly bursting out of his skin.

Sehun.