Blearily, Rena pushed herself off from the wall before another attack came from Tob—no, not Tob. This was a Bot.

She saw the darkness seeping into him, erasing the person inside that she had come accustomed to; but she couldn't jump away before the Bot's hands slammed her against the walls. She could almost see the plea, the pain, in his eyes.

Now those eyes seemed to smirk at her, a glint of something inky in its irises.

"What have you been doing with my Bot?" The haunting voice asked, gesturing to himself, or itself.

"What have you done with Tob?" Rena fumed out, trying to match the flare in the machine's eyes with her own; but the Bot only tilted its head slightly and smiled.

"I haven't done anything. He has always been my servant, my eyes that oversee everything; I am simply talking through him." The Bot started walking to the girl, its heels bouncing lightly and treading like a cat.

"Stop it!" Rena yelled out. "Get out of his head!" Her feet nearly slipped as she involuntarily walked backwards, away from the machine monster.

"How interesting. I leave my Bot for a few days, and I see that he has made a new friend."

Friend? Was she his friend? She didn't know. She only knew that she hated this scratchy voice, this evil being inside Tob. She kept her eyes on the Bot, trying to find a default switch, a power button, a plug—anything to shut this monster down.

"And what do we have here?" The voice continued, the Bot's lips curved in a smile that didn't reach its inky eyes. "Hello, Aldrock."

Rena whirled her head to see the man on the wheelchair freeze. She almost forgot about him and the scraggy boy. The Bot made her feel so scared, so alone.

Aldrock didn't reply, only stared at the Bot with frenzied eyes that nearly reached his grey bushy eyebrows.

"My friend, my brother, how have you been?"

"I am neither your friend nor your brother," Aldrock spat back, chunks of saliva hitting the floor, "and I have been doing well until you came along."

The young man beside the wheelchair, Nat, finally unfroze. "I told you these two were up to no good! We should've chucked you two out to the sky!" One hand gestured to the Bot and to Rena: the other hand gripped the rubber of the wheelchair's thick arms, his fingers patches of red and white, as if he was practicing to squeeze the life out of the Bot's neck.

The Bot only smiled. Rena hadn't seen that smile since...since the Bot crashed the Savior onto an island. She shuddered as she looked at the malice and glee on the Bot's face like the coating of heavy makeup.

"Yes, maybe you should've," the Bot replied, swiveling its head to Rena. "I distinctly remember telling my Bot to bring you to me. Why didn't it do that?"

This voice was inside the Bot this whole time? Rena's mind whirled and shuddered inwardly at the thought of this being watching her through the Bot's eyes. She tried to process those moments she had with the Bot and wondered whether the voice was there.

"Answer me, girl!" The machine monster stepped closer.

How could she shut him—no, it—down? Rena squinted and tried to examine every bump, every crevice, every muscle of the robot man for any signs of weakness.

The wall behind her trembled, and clouds of dust fell on Rena as she was trapped between the Bot's arms. Hot, oily breath slithered down her back as the Bot's lips faintly traced a path around her neck like a noose.

"I was right telling the Bot not to kill you," the breath heated. Rena's own breath hitched in her throat. "You have potential, so much potential. Oh, I can't wait to have you at Eden."

Rena couldn't penetrate through the thick blockade of the Bot's arms. She couldn't kick or punch him like the first time the Bot mentioned taking her to Eden.

Kick. Punch. Rena kept her eyes fixated on the Bot's—even though it made her sick and oily inside—and she tried to hide the smug in her face as she remembered the weakness, possibly the only weakness of the Bot.

"Why are you so quiet?" It purred like a lover.

"Because of this," Rena replied and shoved her hand into its gut.

The Bot writhed. It clambered onto its knees, neck rolling and eyes closing. "H-how did you...?"

"Don't mess with a Survivor!" She huffed out, looming over the broken Bot and flicking her feet deep into the Bot's stomach. "That's what you get for crashing the Savior and leaving my family lost and unprotected in some freaking island and—"

"An i-i-island?" The Bot's voice sizzled as it glitch and jerked, its mouth curving sporadically into a smile. "T-they're st-still there-e?"

Too late. Too late to say no, to deny, to bash the Bot in the belly button again before the inky liquid drained from those green eyes Rena had come to admire so much.

"Agh!" The Bot, or Tob, grunted out, sprawling onto the floor.

Needing to feel some safety, some protection in the situation, Rena sprinted to the side opposite where Nat stood by the wheelchair. The two figures didn't notice and remained frozen in anger staring at the enemy.

"Tob?" Rena tentatively asked, her voice as quiet as a mouse. "Is that you?"

Clutching the stomach, the weak spot, the Bot pierced his green eyes into the girl's. "He knows..." Tob croaked out. "He's...going to t-the island..."

Rena clambered to the Bot. "What do you mean? Who is this he? What will he do to the survivors?" She nearly shrieked into his ear.

But the Bot only closed his eyes and laid still, not even the familiar whirring of his engine resonated in the air.

Only the jittery jerks of Rena's heart seemed to penetrate the silence in the air as she sat on the cold, marble floor, staring at a dead Bot while floating in a ship-like blimp. Her heart slipped into her stomach as she cried out, "What do I do? What am I supposed to do?"

"Nothing," the man replied with a squeak of his wheelchair as he approached the sunken figure on the floor. "There is nothing you can do."

The girl flew to her feet and stood over the hunched man, her fingers gripping the sides of the wheelchair. "There is always something that we can do. There is always hope." She leered closer, ignoring the strong stench of mint of the man. "And you're going to help me, Aldrock."

Trying to wheel himself away, Aldrock glared at the girl; but she didn't relent. She kept holding onto his chair, holding onto his distrusting gaze, holding onto the remnants of hope she had left in this world because she was not going to float around in a blimp while her family below was going into the hands of Eden.

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

I've been editing and including little details in the past chapters, and in one of them I included how the Bot really didn't like it when Rena kicked him in the gut in Chapter 15! Just for those of you who have been reading this when this was a really really rough draft 😁😆 which it kinda still is haha. I'm really sorry if I change a few details here and there again 😅

Anyways. Hope you like this chapter 💖 don't forget to touch that star at the bottom and comment any suggestions or favorite ice cream flavor or anything 😆