"What are you?" A raspy voice in the darkness asked. "Why are you really here?"

"I told you already!" Rena growled back, straining at the chains around her wrists and calves. "We escaped from the Bot that crashed the Savior!"

The man tsked. "I don't believe you. How did this young man," the shadow gestured at Tob beside her, pulling on the chains, "get to the sky? And tell me, how was he able to download our database in the Chamber of Memories?"

Rena looked at the Bot. Memories. So that was what he had showed her. She could still taste the blood, the salt of bodies meshed together during the war, the fear in everyone's eyes. She needed to know what those memories were.

"Are you Aldrock?"

A wheelchair squeaked behind her.

Rena tried to swivel her neck to see the elderly man behind her. She didn't hear him squeak through the door; was he lurking in the shadows the whole time?

The squeaking came closer until the sour-plum breath of a man blew at the nape of her neck. "How do you know that name?"

She didn't reply, only tried not to suck in his awful breath.

"The memories told you, eh?" The wheelchair moved and stopped in front of Rena. The man's blue eyes flashed his eyes accusingly at the Bot.

A shadow stepped into the spotlight, next to the wheelchair; and Rena could finally see the owner of the raspy voice. A scraggly young man crossed his arms and tried to look strong—but he was really too scraggly. "They're definitely servants of Eden," his voice spat out.

"Are you Aldrock?" Rena asked again, louder, bolder.

The wheelchair stopped in front of her. "Tell me how you discovered that name, then I'll answer."

"That's unfair," she replied, clinging onto her thread of confidence. "If I answer, you'll have to untie us a-and help us get back to the Savior."

The Bot rattled his chains, his eyes widening. Are you crazy? His eyes spoke.

She glared at him. Of course we are going back! She widened her eyes in reply then looked at the man for his reply.

The man cocked his head sideways. She took that as a Yes.

Rena breathed as heavily as the pounding in her heart; but she answered, "There are stories that I heard on...on the Savior."

Blinking, Rena didn't realize the tears that welled or the pang shot through her chest as she continued, "We liked to have nights where everyone crowded in the Common Room, and everyone would just step into the middle of our circle and share their stories. We all had stories to tell, pain to share, tears to shed, loved ones to remember."

A salty trickle fell down her cheek. "And there was one story from...Sid. His eyes were blacker, colder than usual. His demeanor was...distant as he entered the circle and shared a tale. The tale of...of the three brothers who brought the fate and the hell onto this earth."

She nearly forgot the audience she had, their attention fixated on her, unlike the usual audience she had on the Savior. The man on the wheelchair nodded and waved for her to proceed.

"W-well... There was Almas, Altain, and Aldrock. They only had each other ever since they became orphaned as teenagers. They became wanderers, floating in and around the world. They lived in the slums, balanced jobs on the streets, became hunted by the government."

It had been a year since Rena heard this story spewed from Sid's lips, but she tried to relate the story as accurately from her memory and as smoothly and wondrously as Sid.

"They hid inside factories that they toiled in and fed off rubbish. They were sick—of their lives, of the slums, of the world; so they decided to change the world. In between their shifts at the factories, in the wee hours of twilight, they planned. They envisioned a world with no evil, no poor, no money, no wars, no pain. And...and you should know the rest."

The Bot furrowed his straight eyebrows. She didn't tell him that she already knew the story of those memories, the story of the doom of the world. She remembered Sid finishing his tale, an ember of black sadness in his eyes, as he told everyone that he needed them to know the truth about the world that they escaped from and to appreciate the world that they were in now.

Another pang shot through her as she realized it felt like it had been months since she saw Sid. Since she saw anyone from the Savior. What were they doing now? Did they miss her? Did they know she was gone? They must know. Paul would've told them that-that she flew away with the Bot. Oh, what would Sid think of her now?

She jolted. They were on an island, which meant they must be near Eden... What if Eden found them?

"Okay," she said. "I'm done with my story. Now tell me who you are and untie us!" Rena masked her face into one of calm and confidence even though she was sure her voice hitched, revealing her nervousness.

The man only smiled. "Alright, girl. You got me. My name is Aldrock. I am the third brother." His teeth flashed, and the grey peppered in his blonde hair twinkled as he tilted his head again. "And how do I know what would happen if I untied you two? Your boyfriend over there could very well kill us and run away with you."

"He's not my boyfriend," she replied, ignoring the warmth blossoming in her chest. "And we're all against Eden here. Please...Aldrock, sir. I just want to get back to the Savior."

"Don't listen to that brat," the scraggly boy spat out, his arms crossed tightly.

"Hush, Nat," Aldrock said, his stocky hand in the air, and leaned forward to the girl. She flinched. "Your arms are red. Nat, go unchain them."

Rena couldn't hide the smug on her face. "Yeah, Nat," she taunted. "Unchain us."

She could almost feel the glare heating her face as Nat walked behind the metal chair and slowly unlocked her wrists that he had so gleefully wrapped onto her when he dragged them into this room from their dungeon.

Rena had been dizzy, confused, still swimming in the past when another round of guards took them from their stinky cell. She vaguely remembered Tob also being dragged beside her, his hands to his head to stop the memories.

"Don't forget the boy." Aldrock cocked his head to Tob, who continued to squirm against the chains, battling metal against his metal body.

Grumbling, Nat trudged to the other prisoner. The chains fell in a loud thump. The chair screeched. Rena watched as Tob stood up to wiggle his shoulders and arms and legs. Then he pounced.

He shoved the young, scraggly boy to the ground. He twirled the wheelchair round and round and round. He scooped Rena up over his shoulder and ran blindly.

"What are you doing?" Rena shouted, her voice bouncing up and down as the Bot ran fast and heavy.

"Saving you," the Bot replied, "and bringing you to Eden."

"I said we are going back to the Savior!"

"No. We are not."

"Yes, we are!" Rena bounced, trying to keep her voice even as she bounced like a sack of cabbages on Tob's shoulder.

"Enough!"

The ground shook. The Bot fell to his knees. Rena rolled onto the metal floor.

"Enough,"Aldrock growled. "I am for peace," the man hissed, "and you know that." Looking at the two figures—one standing and the other still scooped like a baby—Aldrock said, "I had enough of this game." He massaged the temples of his skull and pressed a button on his arm-rest.

Blue, glittering light flooded the room and blanketed everyone. A smoke of stars encircled Rena and the Bot; but Rena didn't notice. She felt like a bug attracted to the light as she gazed at the ethereal light. The tendrils of the smoke and the light wrapped around her waist like a coil; then her mouth opened voluntarily, "My name is Rena. I came on the Savior when I was seven-years-old. Almost every night I dream about Bots attacking the plane. In my dreams and nightmares, I see a grey-haired man with a cane of a serpent."

She rummaged at her lips, trying to stuff her innermost thoughts and fears back inside; but an invisible string seemed to pull them back out.

"And Tob here is actually a Bot." The machine stiffened next to her, but it could've been because of the thick tendril around his waist and throat. "He was the Bot who crashed the Savior. Everyone wanted to kill him. He almost killed me, twice; but I didn't want to kill him. I think he's human. I know he is." The words rambled off her tongue in warbles, but her words rang loud and clear in the room.

"Interesting," Aldrock said, tapping on another button on his super-wheelchair. "And what do you have to say, Bot?" He spat the last word out like curdled milk.

The Bot bit his lips. Rena watched mutely as he clawed at his throat and clamped his mouth shut; but the string eventually got ahold of his innermost thoughts, and the Bot spilled out his story.

*･゜ﾟ･*:.｡..｡.:*･'*ﾟ▽ﾟ*'･*:.｡. .｡.:*･゜ﾟ･*

Tob has a story to tell!! Is it confusing whenever I switch from Tob to Bot?
Well, please give me some input! Inspiration sure did take a while to find me. I will probably change some little details of past chapters and maybe even this chapter, so I'm sorry if something randomly popped up 😁😅 this is still a draft after all.
Anyways, thanks for reading! Don't forget to vote so that I know people actually like this story 💖