Chapter Eight

Aaron

The same as when Aaron first brought Five and Valerie out to the mountains with him, both Arma and Alexis are glued to the windows of the truck. Other than the farmhouse, neither of them have ever been anywhere outside of Welan City in their entire lives. By the time they reach the tree at the base of the mountains, both of their minds have been blown.

He chuckles while the two of them climb around from one side of the cab to the other, trying to catch everything there is to see. In hopes of spotting another logging mech, like last time, he pulls off into the first truck pullout he comes across. It’s the only place their truck will fit off of the pavement anyway. As he expected would happen, a large forest robot comes out from through the trees towards them.

In a deep buzzing voice, the robot berates them for parking in the loading pullout. “Equipment license SSSBIG-UN is not listed or authorized for loading. Remove equipment from area immediately.”

He knows this machine and has worked with it before. “You are correct unit Four Five Six Twelve. We will move the truck.” He then continues to ignore the machine while talking to the girls. It should take another four-or-so minutes before it bothers them again.

For some reason, the mech doesn’t give them even a minute to comply, like he said he would. It makes a step closer to him and goes off again. “Remove equipment SSSBIG-UN from loading area.”

The machine’s size and insistence really pisses Arma off. “I will fucking remove your eyes from your face if you do not shut up!” That was obviously the wrong thing to say to it.

“Authorities have been notified. Do not attempt to use force.”

As much as it’s pissing him off to, he knows better than to let it get to him. If any of them so much as scratch the thing, a ranger will be looking for them, and then it’s probably get worse from there, given his current temperament. After all Arma’s talk about having removed herself from human conditions, she sure is spiteful. He has to pry the rock out of her hands so she can’t throw it.

She‘s not done with it though. She rails at the robot anyway. “We’re gonna run you’re dumb ass over with our truck if you don’t get the fuck outta here you stupid shit.”

Arma squirms away from him and chucks another rock, hitting the thing right in the face. When it postures threateningly, she and Alexis get the hint a little better and flee to the truck. They’re not afraid, but know they’ve overstayed their welcome. He’s a little upset that the thing has surely recorded and reported them now, but they haven’t really done anything to warrant someone to come looking for them. With the looks of the three of them and the obvious SSS truck, it’s not likely anyone would dare anyway.

After another half hour of squeezing the huge truck down the dirt logging roads, he parks it at the last junction where he’ll still be able to back up and turn the thing around. With the offshoot road that leads to his campsite completely blocked by the truck, they all hop out and start rounding their things up. He doesn’t need them himself, but since he plans on spending the night, he finds a couple fire blankets in the emergency storage bin and stuffs them in his pack for Alexis. Even in the middle of the summer, a night in the mountains is no joke.

Since Alexis will be riding alone on Monster, he ties his pack to her machine and has her take the lead up the trail. He was going to let Arma be up front on Runner, but she insists on riding behind him. As soon as they climb up on it together, she wraps her arms around him and rests her chin on his shoulder. It’s a little awkward, but she’s too happy with herself for him to make her let up.

It reminds him of Five, and how she placed so much trust in him. She has that same innocent kindness in her too. Her soft voice in his ear is gentle and peaceful. If he weren’t mistaken, under her hard shell, she’s probably more caring of a person than even Five is. He can tell it in the way she says things. Her expressions aren’t as constructed as Five’s are, but the pauses, and the inflection of her voice carries as much weight with them as her words do.

The three of them stop along the trail every time they come across especially large trees, animals, or even extraordinarily mossy areas. They have all the time in the world to soak in the lush beauty of the place. While Arma is in awe of the biggest trees they can spot, Alexis finds herself drawn in by the outlandish density of all the vivid green ferns they’re walking through. She wants to take them home and fill her apartment with them. She’s only ever seen weeds that grow out fo the cracks in the pavement and maybe a few trees here and there. To her, it’s like being on a completely foreign planet.

“Aaron why don’t homeless just come out here, to live in the forest? They could just keep to themselves and live like they should out here.”

The forest is beautiful right now, but he knows how unforgiving the place can be. “I’m not trying to bag on your people here, but you can’t exactly survive out here by scrounging. The things that do live out here survive on almost nothing. Animals either eat twigs, or each other out here. Anyone but an expert would starve in pretty short order, and that’s not even during the winter. This place will be buried in about eight feet of snow in a month or two.”

“Clarice told me that you’re ancestors used to live out here.”

“Yeah. What else did she say about them?”

Her voice is a little less forthcoming this time. “That they used to eat… the others.”

“She didn’t lie. And that’s why no one lives out here anymore.”

He feels that it was a bit more meaningful to have walked the whole the way, the last time they came out. In only an hour’s time, they cross the large crevice in the rock and make it all the way to the big waterfall. It’s not disappointing, but he’s used to working harder for it. The appreciation Alexis and Arma have for it means the world to him. They’re nearly speechless when they spot it a ways off the trail, and keep looking back to him as if they need him to confirm that it’s actually real.

As the cool mist from the falls drifts through the trees out to them, he watches the other two hold their arms out to feel it on their skin. He can’t feel it like he used to, but he remembers it well enough. As if he were still his old self, he takes in a deep breath of the fresh air and slowly lets it out.

They park their machines at the edge of the trail, so they don’t make track in through the ferns, and walk in to the big pool under the falls. Unlike last time, he goes straight for the pool while taking all of his clothes off, and wades out into the water. The way Arma had referred to the way he’s been holding onto his old appearance makes him feel like maybe he should try letting go.

He tries to do what she said, to be the machine that he is, and realize that he no longer carries the shame of imperfection with him. He‘s not a man anymore and he’s going to have to face it one way or another. He looks at his palms, and the translucent black skin starting to show where his paintjob has been worn away. He closes his eyes and imagines all of his paint shedding off as he lets himself fall into the water.

Having already been told every little detail about swimming in water by Five, Arma follows in right after him. When the water abruptly becomes too deep for her feet to touch the bottom, she reaches out and grabs ahold of him and accidentally pulling him down with her. Under the water, he holds onto her, gives her a little bit of a shake, and locks eyes with her. He loosens his grip on her, but doesn’t let go, making sure she stays calm and still.

It’s not what he meant for her to do, but when she relaxes, she wraps her arms around him and pulls the two of them together. When her ample chest presses against his, his initial reaction is of alarm. His he tenses up, but doesn’t want to hurt her feelings by pushing away. He finds himself holding his breath against more than just the water now. Her eyes don’t leave his, and he doesn’t dare look away from hers.

When she closes her eyes and rests her head over his shoulder, she wraps around him even more, embracing him with so much woe. He can feel all of her troubles completely shed free of her all in one moment. In solace with her, he does the same. He has never felt such comfort in all his life. The entire world around them is stripped away, leaving behind nothing but a timeless moment of such pure loyalty.

The deep splashing and churning of Alexis clawing her way into the breathtaking cold water jolts them out of their serenity. Under the water, he holds his arms out to his sides and shows her in one big stroke how to push herself up to the surface. Once she does that, it’s all it takes for her to get the feel for it. From there, the two of them tread their way over to Alexis, where she can still reach the bottom.

Unexpectedly, she has stripped down completely naked too. He didn’t mean to make her think that she was supposed to do, but it’s a little late now. It seems she thinks nothing of it anyway. She piggybacks on Arma out into the deeper water to where they both climb up onto the big flat rock in the middle of the pool.

He had left SSS to reorient himself with the world, and he’s certainly getting what he asked for. When Alexis scurries up out of the cold water, he can’t help but take in her muscular beauty. He’s never seen anything like her in his life. If there were ever such a thing as a guardian angel, she is what one would look like.

Her porcelain skin and long straight platinum hair reflects brightly across the water towards him, making her presence even more striking. When she looks down at him in the water, it’s with a fair and confident gaze. Her face clearly states that she has given him his one and last glimpse of her body. She has no shame, and bears herself with pride, but the moment is in no way to ever be taken lightly. She has shown her trust in him, and he must return it.

When he climbs up onto the rock, he towers naked alongside her. Arma stands proudly with him. With nothing left to the imagination, she proves her height over him in a daunting but elegant way. Out of fairness, Alexis looks across his bare chest, taking note of the many small marks of damage on his skin. Some of the small seams that have been glued back together are the same as scars.

“I’m sorry for what has happened to you Aaron. Being torn from your previous body and life like this, it couldn’t have been easy on you.”

He looks down at the choppy reflection of himself in the ripples on the water. “Sometimes I feel like I’ve lost everything that I once was, but then I remember it’s not true. I have so much more than I ever did. Before I met any of you, I was alone and so afraid. Afraid that, one day, I’d die that way. Then I met all of you. Hell, I even died too. But I won’t ever have to feel that way again, and neither will any of you.”

Alexis looks up at him, to Arma, then back to him. “I know you sometimes second guess what you’ve become, but you are absolutely magnificent Aaron.” She looks back at Arma. “Both of you are. It’s not easy being the woman that I am. I am as strong inside as I am on the outside, but I’m nowhere as strong as either of you. The things that terrify me no longer mean anything to either of you. Death had always been only a matter of time for me. I’ve had to face what I was sure to be my end many times, and now, those days are going to be coming even more often. You may have lost a lot in the trade you made, but don’t forget what you’ve gained either.”

He thinks back on the first time he came across her. She was in a true fight for her life against a good dozen men. She was never going to make it out of that place alive, and she knew it. She almost didn’t make it out of Evan’s either. “I remember. I was there the last couple of times. The almost had you, but you’re not alone anymore. It’s going to take a whole lot more than hell itself to take you down now.”

Arma looks at him, and then down to her with a sly smile. “And even if it does, we’ll be coming for you on the other side.”

Alexis takes a long deep breath, lowers her head, and closes her eyes. After she exhales completely, she opens them again and nods. “Things were tough you guys. It’s always been hard. But I’ve never had to answer to anyone but myself like this. “What if this man sends me to my death Aaron? What if Gabriel and Valerie aren’t there to save me?”

The inside of his chest tightens like a fist at the thought of it. “Then I’ll make sure his body is in the ground before yours is.”

Arma looks up at him with such worry on her face. “But that’s not going to happen. We won’t let it.”

He didn’t want to start thinking of things like this. To change the subject, he crouches down and swings his legs over into the water. “C’mon, I’ll show you how to swim.”

Arma enthusiastically climbs down into the water too and gives it another shot at treading around. It takes her a couple tries, but she manages it well enough after hopping back up off the bottom a few times. She excitedly bears her teeth in big grin. “Teach us how to swim like you do it Aaron!”

He hadn’t thought of it before, but this is actually his first time in the water with his new body. “Just take a full deep breath and hold it. You should be able to just float pretty easy.” He pushes himself away from the rock with is feet, flat on his back, and coasts out across the water. Instead of staying afloat like he was supposed to, he gets a mouthful of water. “Blah! Crap.”

Alexis laughs at him, almost doubling over. “Is that what was supposed to happen? When she climbs down and tries it, it works for her.

“Now keep paddling your feet a little, and swish your arms like this to keep yourself going.” While he keeps an eye on both of them, he turns over and shows them a couple other things.

With only minimal effort, Alexis is able to keep herself afloat. She takes quick breaths fairly often and starts putting some more strength into her movements. After a little while, he gets them to start holding their breath and even swim underwater like frogs. It’s a whole new world for them again, and swimming eventually turns into flying, but underwater. At the bottom of the falls, where the water gets twenty feet deep, he shows them how to get to the bottom with a Frenzel technique. They don’t believe him when he tells them that people can dive down hundreds of feet if they want. Arma thinks he’s fibbing when he tries to explain how big the oceans are.

Like Five had done, he finds it fascinating to be able to stay under the water for as long as he wants. He sits on the pebble bottom of the deepest part of the pool with his knees in his arms, watching the other two swim above him a little ways way. Everything is so calm and serene under the water. The soft drone of the falls is relaxing and helps keep his mind from going to dark places.

Where his thoughts do go though, is not entirely peaceful. After staying submerged for what seems like almost an hour, he decides to take a break from the water. It has lost its allure for the moment. He finds it amusing that he needs a break from his break. It’s not quiet enough. He needs a moment alone, to set something straight in his mind. When he starts to walk out of the water at the shallow edge of the pool where they came in, the other two start to follow after him.

“We’re not leaving yet, I’m just gonna poke around out here for a bit. I’ll be right back.”

There’s something he feels he needs to get off his chest. He never seemed to be able to get his words right back at SSS, but now that he’s here, what he needs to say is clear. He takes his knife out of his pack and finds a nice smooth oval shaped black stone the size of his palm to write on. With the tip of the blade, he slowly scratches a note to Valerie. He takes his time, only saying what he means to. This time, he can say what he means to, once, and without her picking it all apart. He knows she’ll never see it, so he tells her the absolute truth.

I will always have a place for you in my heart Valerie. You are all that could have ever kept me held to this world, but I never meant to burden you with that.

Deep down, he knows that he’s going to lose her. He dreads the day he will no longer care, but knows it will still come before the end. When he’s done, he takes the stone and carefully places it at the edge of the water, where the wetness turns the letters black again, hiding them. The rock, and his message will always be here, in the place most dear to his heart. He imagines it remaining there undisturbed, long after his many lives have come and gone.

After spending so much time in the water, Alexis is starting to get quite cold. He gives her his shirt to dry off with, since it’s the really the only thing dry and large enough for her to use. It’s not like he will bother it being damp when he puts it back on. It doesn’t make a bit of a difference anymore.

When they get back on their runners, he gets one of the fire blankets out for her and wraps it around her to keep her warm while they ride. They still have a ways to go before nightfall, and the sun has dropped behind the trees. There’s still one more place he wants to show them, but it has to be at the right time. It’s what he’s come all this way to see for himself at least one more time. He has a feeling it will be his last.

Far beyond the pond, the trail gets much steeper and less travelled. For another two miles, they switch back and forth up the rocky mountainside. There are times where it is easy, and times when they have to struggle up solid rock. When they finally reach the peak of the mountain, it’s just in time for the sunset, like he wanted.

After laying their machines down for the night, he walks Alexis and Arma out to the ledge of a sharp granite bluff where the mountainside drops off below them out of sight. A gentle fog starts to collect in the valleys below as the treetops glow in the dimming yellow light under the clouds on the horizon. As far as they can see, there are forested mountains and more rocky peaks that jut out over the land below. There is no Welan City, and no SSS for them to worry about anymore. It’s only the three of them in the world as far as they can see of it. Of all things, he is most grateful that the awe of the natural world has not been lost on him.

Alexis lowers her head, a little upset. “I wish I had known better. I’ve wasted an entire half of my life crawling around in the gutters of a place that only ever hated me. How could I have been so naïve?”

He nudges a small rock over the edge of the canyon with his boot. With his hands in his pockets, he shrugs at her and Arma. “Your lives were never wasted. Look at me. I’ve become complacent with even this place. I’m jealous of you right now. What I would give to see this place in the same way you do right now. That will never happen for me again. I wonder if, in time, everything in this world will one day lose its luster.”

Arma looks over at him in her usual curious way. “Most of the time, Aaron, I feel like you’re searching for what you don’t have. Sometimes it’s like you can’t see things that are right in front of you.” Frustrated, she folds her arms while she faces him, and shifts her weight to one hip.

He’s still looking out to the setting sun when he answers her obliviously. “I suppose you’re right. Just because I have time, doesn’t mean I should waste any of it.”

Alexis is not lost on what’s going on with Arma, but she’s not about to be any part of it. She gives Arma the side-eye, trying to get her to knock it off. “Some things still do need time.”

An hour after the sun has set, the lights of the far away city start to make a tiny point on the horizon faintly glow. He wishes he hadn’t noticed it. “I didn’t think I was going to go back, to tell you the truth. I could stay here with the other robots in the forest, till the end of my days if I wanted, but I don’t suppose I will. As beautiful as it is here, I’d rather be home with all of you. It’s what makes me want to live.”

It does not take much longer before the forest starts to lose its charm. The uncaring cold quickly singles out Alexis and forces her to bundle up next to Monster while he gathers dry branches. Like he had wanted to do the last time, with Five and Valerie, he builds a small campfire for the three of them to sit around. Without any body heat of his own, the heat of the fire is much sharper on his cold skin than he would’ve liked.

While Arma sits on the bare ground, leaning her back against Runner, Alexis lays on her side between Arma’s long legs and rests her head up across one of her hips. While Alexis sleeps, Arma makes sure the thin foil blankets keep her well covered and warm.

Throughout the rest of the night, he feeds the fire short sticks while the two of them keep each other company. The depth of Arma’s voice seems to sooth Alexis, as she never wakes up from it. During long moments of quiet, they watch one another across the low glow of the coals. Sometimes she looks like she might be upset with him, but she never says anything about it. Other times, he can tell she is trying to avoid looking at him.

At times, he feels like he understands her better than most, but then, often enough, he realizes that he really has no clue what’s going on in her mind. She never lies to him, but yet seems to also hide everything. When she’s finally had enough of exchanging curious looks with him, she decides to close her eyes for the night. He has a feeling her eyes are never completely closed though.

He can never seem to wrap his mind around what’s been going on with her. The two of them have been through a lot together, and have bonded strongly because of it, but it feels like there’s something still unfinished between them. It’s like she is giving him the silent treatment, but in a different way. She’s holding something back, and whatever it is, it’s bound to surface soon. When she’s finally asleep for sure, he gets up to meander about. He’s not up for trying to sleep tonight.

After slowly exploring wherever he can still see, he eventually works his way back to their little camp spot with some more broken dry branches. Arma has wrapped herself around Alexis and her mouth is hanging open. No matter how long he looks at her, he can’t stop smiling. She will always have a place in his heart.

For being an immortal, it feels like forever for the sunrise to come. When the morning finally comes, Arma is in a much better mood when she wakes. She smiles at him as if she hasn’t seen him in a while. She groans as she gets up, and stretches for the sky up on her toes. She’s as tall and lean as a tree when she does it. He figures she used to do that back when she was whoever she once was before all of this. Alexis is groggy and stays bundled up tight until he has the fire loaded up and hot again. Neither of them ask how long they plan on staying out.