Aiden's plan for a nap ultimately failed.
Not long after lying down, Yakor barged into the room and dragged him up.
"Aiden, co with sowhere."
Aiden yawned and said grumpily, "What for? I'm trying to catch up on sleep, and I've got sothing to do later too."
"It won't interfere, co with , plus, we agreed yesterday. You'd help gather ingredients for making soap. You didn't forget, did you?" Yakor reminded.
'There was sothing like that… but didn't she say in a few days?'
So Aiden lay back down and said, "I didn't forget. But didn't you say a few days later?"
"If we wait a few days, there won't be ti."
"…Fine."
Aiden sighed and reluctantly got up from the not-so-comfy bed.
In the living room, not seeing A2 and 11B, Aiden asked Yakor and was told they just left, said they were going to find sothing.
"I asked, but they didn't say what. All secretive," Yakor said. Even though she knew a lot, now the plot had beco blurry, and she couldn't see through an android's "heart." She had no clue.
"Probably going to find Anemone." Aiden guessed.
Then he put on his sandproof hood and scarf, and went out with Yakor.
But before leaving the camp, Aiden had to go see those two first.
Though most of the area around the resistance camp was desert, there were rivers and forests too. After all, this used to be a human settlent. Abundant water sources were one of the main reasons they built cities here.
Sa with the androids. Although partly mimicking humans, industry also couldn't exist without water. Plus, many androids in the camp still consud food and water.
Just like the two female androids that Aiden was going to et.
They were two red-haired girls, one with slightly wavy hair, Devola, the other with straight shoulder-length hair and blunt bangs, Popola.
They were a pair of sisters, also twin androids manufactured back in the human era, "antiques" that had existed for thousands of years.
At this mont, the two android girls were squatting on the ground, sorting through parts collected from machine lifeforms that were covered in oil and dirt. Then, they would put usable parts into wooden crates and carry them into the cargo bed of the transport vehicle nearby.
They repeated this process, not knowing hardship, not knowing fatigue, and also... no complaints.
After all, what they were doing was, even among androids, considered dirty and exhausting work. Yet they showed no laziness or slackness and instead worked very earnestly.
However, even so, so idle androids nearby still shouted, "What's going on? You two are too slow. The maintenance departnt is urgently waiting. No wonder you're defective units, you can't even do this right."
"I'm really sorry, please wait a little longer. We'll be done soon," said Devola, the one with wavy hair, bowing her head and speaking softly. One of her legs was injured, making it very inconvenient to carry heavy items.
Beside her, the younger sister, Popola, also bowed her head and said nothing, simply quickening her pace, trying to carry more goods to ease her sister's burden.
"You say that every ti, really... defective units should just be destroyed. Why keep them around? They're just wasting energy," another android said.
Hearing that, the two red-haired android girls lowered their heads even more but made no sound in rebuttal.
Just as Devola was struggling to place a crate weighing several hundred kilograms onto the cargo bed, before she could turn around, the crate suddenly slid down. Although she managed to block it quickly with her hand, she wasn't a unit specialized for heavy labor. Plus, with her leg injury, her body wobbled from the weight pressing down.
Her younger sister, who had just turned back, imdiately put down the crate in her hand and rushed to help. But it was too late, Devola's body was already bending under the weight.
Just as Devola was about to lose her balance, a hand suddenly appeared from behind and pressed down on the crate. With a light push, the crate was pushed back into place by the owner of that hand.
"Thank you, Aiden."
Devola didn't even need to turn her head to know who had helped her. In the entire camp, aside from him, no other android ever showed them a kind face.
"Sorry, I didn't know you had to start working this early today," Aiden said softly.
"No need to apologize. That would just make feel even more guilty," said Devola, bowing her head again, and walked past Aiden to continue carrying crates.
Aiden sighed, tossed the bag he had brought to Yakor nearby, and took the initiative to help.
"Thank you."
Another "thank you" rang in his ears, this ti from Popola. But after saying that, she hurried away again.
"Hey, you guy, why are you helping them? Don't forget, they're sinners, defective androids."
"I want to." Aiden glanced at the android who spoke, then added, "Keep talking and I'll make sure you're the one missing a leg."
The android went silent. Of course he believed him. Those other androids who didn't believe last ti? They're still lying in the maintenance departnt.
"Whatever, if you want to help them, help them." But that android still muttered a bit, only to back off in fear after Aiden shot him a fierce glare.
He really didn't want to beco disabled. After all, he was just a logistics-type android. Compared to the much more important combat-type androids, the maintenance departnt would absolutely not waste even a bit of resources on him. If his leg got broken, he'd be stuck doing nial chores in the maintenance departnt for the rest of his life.
With Aiden's help, the crates were quickly loaded onto the transport vehicle. Once the vehicle left, the android sisters walked up to him.
"You've worked hard, Aiden. Have so water." Devola wiped her oily hands on her clothes, then took out a bottle of water from behind her and handed it to Aiden.
They were androids made during the human era. Not only could they drink water, but they could also eat food. In fact, they were very advanced, high-end models.
Aiden didn't mind the dirt on the bottle at all, he took it and drank a big gulp, then handed it back.
Devola shook the bottle and found there wasn't much water left. She handed it to her sister, then said, "Actually, you don't have to co by every day."
"I'm bored anyway, moving around a bit is fine." Aiden said with a smile.
But beside him, Yakor looked at him with disdain and muttered sothing like, "Isn't it just because the sisters are pretty?"
Although Yakor's voice was very soft, Aiden and the twin sisters heard it clearly.
But Yakor had said such things more than once. Almost every ti Aiden helped the twins, she would mutter similar words. Still, the sisters never took her seriously.
In truth, they were a little curious why Aiden helped them. After all, they were sinners, "defective" units, hated and rejected by all other androids. They just didn't dare to ask.
After a short silence, the twin sisters invited the two of them to visit their ho for a bit.
Yakor wasn't too willing, she had planned to go out to collect materials for making soap, but Aiden was very interested and followed behind them. Left with no choice, Yakor followed too.
Even though they were androids from the human era, the twins lived in very poor conditions. Their ho was a crude tent made from a few tattered cloths, with wind leaking in from all sides. It looked extrely pitiful.
The tent was piled with various miscellaneous items, things the sisters picked up while scavenging, which they thought might be useful. In the middle of the ss was a makeshift bed made of wooden planks. There was no mattress, just a cloth cover, and perhaps because of the strong morning wind, the bed was covered in dust.
Devola grabbed a rag and did a simple wipe down, then invited Aiden and Yakor to sit.
Aiden didn't mind and plopped down, but Yakor wrinkled her nose in distaste—this android with an unknown background had an unusual obsession with cleanliness. She simply stood to the side.
The sisters didn't seem to care about her reaction—or maybe they didn't notice. As Popola brought over a broken table and placed it in front of Aiden, Devola carefully took out a bottle and so cups from a damaged cabinet and placed them on the table.
Aiden picked up the bottle without hesitation, opened the cap, and imdiately a strong fruity alcoholic sll hit his nose.
"This is fruit wine brewed from the fruit you brought last ti. We only distilled it once, so the alcohol content isn't high. Try it." Devola said, pushing a cup in front of Aiden.
Aiden poured a small glass, drank it in one go, then smacked his lips and said, "Hmm, not bad."
"As long as you like it." Devola imdiately smiled, then poured herself a full glass.
Under Popola's disapproving gaze, she took a big sip, eyes narrowing instantly. Then she said, "You've helped us so many tis and never despised our status as sinners. This is the only thing we can offer you. But really, even the materials for the wine were given by you. We didn't really do anything."
Aiden poured another glass but only took a small sip this ti. Then he sighed and said, "Actually, you've already done enough."
He ant it, and his words had double aning. Though the twins were labeled sinners and defective, the events of the past weren't entirely their fault. The final outco of humanity shouldn't be blad on them.
And over the past few thousand years, the twins had been atoning. But to this day, most androids still didn't understand them.
Perhaps having understood the deeper aning behind Aiden's words, the sisters showed grateful expressions, but only for a mont. They quickly returned to calm.
"No matter how much we do, what's the use? We've already failed," Devola said with a hint of sorrow, taking another sip of wine. "And we've already gotten used to it."
"No one gets used to doing dirty, tiring work," Aiden shook his head, refuting.
Devola gave a bitter smile. "What else can we do? We were implanted with a program that makes us feel guilty toward all other androids. Unless that program is removed, we can only keep going like this. But no one will remove it, and no one even has the authority to. Unless…"
She downed her wine and fell silent.
But even if she didn't say it, Aiden understood and continued, "Unless a human cos to clear your so-called sins, right?"
The twin sisters nodded. "But that's basically impossible. No human would forgive the mistakes we made. At least, that's what we believe. And after all these years, the humans on the moon have probably forgotten about us," said Popola, who had been silent until now.
'They were all wiped out. Of course they forgot…' Aiden mocked inwardly, but a faint smile flashed in his eyes.
Yakor caught the glint in his eye and instantly understood what he was thinking. She shot him a warning glare, then said to the sisters, "Not necessarily. Maybe there's still a human who rembers you. Maybe soday, he'll show up and declare to all androids that your past sins are forgiven."
"If that day really cos, that would be nice." After one glass, Devola's face was already red. Her human-like stomach could break down alcohol, but it also allowed her to show signs of drunkenness. She gazed dreamily into the distance upon hearing Yakor's words.
But she wasn't truly drunk. After all, it was only one drink, she quickly returned to clarity.
"By the way, did you get up so early today because you had sothing to do?"
Her mood shifted quickly. She held her wine glass between two fingers, swirling it as she asked.
Aiden tilted his chin toward Yakor and said, "Yeah, I'm accompanying her to collect materials for making soap."
"I see." Devola nodded and added, "Then could you help collect so fruit for us while you're at it?"
"To make more wine?" Aiden asked. "You finished it already?"
"No way, only my sister drinks. There's no way she drank it all that fast, and she's already slowly cutting down." Popola shook her head. She used to like drinking, but after a certain incident, she quit. Now her sister was the one who liked it, but luckily, she was also starting to cut back.
Then she added, "We fixed an ice machine yesterday. We want to make so ice cream. In this kind of heat, there's nothing better than fruit-flavored ice cream."
"That's true. Sure, I'll bring so back when we return." Since it was on the way, Aiden naturally agreed.
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