"These are a lot heavier than they look," Nym complained, managing to lug the broken android out of the alleyway and into the street. She dropped it unceremoniously on the sidewalk, panting.

"Doesn't surprise me." Krisi shrugged. Then she knelt down and poked at the head of the android, which had ceased to respond.

Nym bent down and began to try and discern the various limbs from each other. "What do you think led to him being left all tangled up?"

"Couldn't say. To my knowledge, no one here has weapons that could mess up an Android," Kirsi said. She moved to help Nym untangle the Android from itself and soon the two girls had it mostly laid out. One of the arms was missing and all the joints mangled in some respect, but they looked salvageable. Thankfully, the head remained intact, despite dents a couple of dents.

"They're not really that scary up close," Kirsi said.

Nym shrugged. "They never scared me."

"You're weird."

Both girls laughed. Then Nym bent forward and tapped on the android's blank faceplate. "Hello, Mr. Android?"

No response.

"Is it dead?"

Nym looked up a Krisi with a blank stare. "It's an android, Kirsi. They don't die."

Krisi waved her off. "You know what I mean."

Rolling her eyes with a humored smile at her friend, Nym looked at the dents on the back of its head. "I don't think its "dead" per se, but it does look damaged. Should we do something about it?"

"Don't ask me," Krisi said.

"Alright then miss indecisive." Nym stuck her tongue out at her friend and laid the android's head back down. She thought a moment, scanning over the damage. "It looks like it could be fixed. Help me move it?"

Kirsi nodded and gathered up the android's legs into her arms, grunting with effort. "Oof, this is heavy."

"I told you."

Nym gathered up the upper half carefully, resting the androids head against her stomach. She hoped it wouldn't wake up or turn on or whatever while they were carrying it.

"Will your parents get mad at us if we take this back to your house?" Nym asked, looking back up the hill they'd walked down. She silently doubted her idea, her own intrigue pushed the doubt aside.

"I don't think so. They let me collect scraps for my school projects, so why would this be any different?" Kirsi said, following Nym's gaze. She just frowned at seeing the hill, sighing a little. "We just need to be quick. Mom did say dinner would be at 8."

Nym nodded and looked back down at the android, starting to move carefully. "Here, switch with me. I'll go ahead so you don't have to walk backward."

"Thank you," Kirsi said as they carefully turned the android around.

Nym took the lead and carefully led them back up the road. They moved slowly at first as both girls struggled with the weight of the android and their own footing. Nym fought to keep the tube of her oxygen mask from catching on the sharp pieces sticking out of the android's messed up shoulder.

By the time they reached the top of the hill, both were panting heavily, and Nym could feel sweat dripping around her oxygen mask. The house sat only a few feet away. With a little more effort, they dragged the android into what used to be a carport and settled it among the other junk.

"You don't think it'll magically come on while we're at dinner?" Krisi panted, backing off.

"I hope not," Nym said, wiping the sweat off her brow as she took deep breaths. She stared at the android some, though, frowning. A strange feeling crept over her but she shook it off and looked over at Kirsi.

"Dinner?"

Kirsi nodded and led the way back into the house. Stepping into the airlock, both girls waited until it sealed and air filled the chamber, then they removed their tanks and continued inside to the kitchen.

Unlike the shelters, which had small communal airtight kitchens supplied with just enough oxygen to breathe so food could be prepared and eaten without the aid of an oxygen mask or feat of polluting food, Kirsi's house was already airtight. Therefore, the kitchen didn't need to be sealed off. 

Nym consciously took in a deep breath of the slightly stale but clean air, wondering if this was what it was like all the time in the domed cities. 

"Hey, girlies, you two ready for dinner?" Kirsi's mother asked as she turned to face them, her black curly hair bouncing in front of her face as she set a bowl of salad on the table. Kirsi's family always ate fresher foods, something about health. Nym didn't mind, but she didn't see the point in the effort. Most rations already contained healthy foods, they were simply compressed and packaged so they could withstand the outside air during transport.

"Yes, ma'am. We're definitely hungry," Nym said with a small smile as she walked over to the table. She'd eaten with Kirsi's family more times than she could remember. She was practically a part of their family. Regardless, Kirsi's mother always made enough to feed her family twice over.

"Hey, Nym, how's your day been?" asked Mr. Brooks as he helped his wife set the table.

Nym took a seat and forced a smile at them both, her gesture feeling empty again. "It was alright. Just long," she lied, hoping Kirsi wouldn't blow it for her. She loved and trusted the Brooks family, but she wasn't really up to just telling everyone that she'd lost her brother.

Thankfully, Kirsi said nothing on the matter as she scooted her chair up to the table. "What's for dinner?" she asked, surveying the food.

"Use your eyes and you'll figure it out," Mr. Brooks teased as he took his seat between his wife and daughter.

Mrs. Brooks sat beside him and looked at Nym with a gentle smile. There was a tired look in her eyes that had been there for as long as Nym could remember, but it never dulled the joyful light in her face. It was part of what made Nym wish could have her as a second mother.

"Hmm, salad and...meatloaf?" Kirsi deduced, her eyes scanning the table. Then they lit up brightly. "And cheese biscuits," she grinned.

Nym rolled her eyes to keep herself from getting too excited over the notion of something other than soup, pasta, and the other three meals she and Cormac had known how to make. Deep down, though, she couldn't deny wishing she'd come here more often for dinner.

Plates were passed around the table and everyone loaded them down with food. After that, all four joined hands and bowed their heads.

"Dear Lord, please bless this food and our family. Please be with our daughter and her friend in their day to day life and keep them safe from harm. We thank You for bringing us together again after another day and thank You for Your Son who died that we might live. Praise be to Your holy name. In Jesus name, Amen."

Mr. Brooks squeezed Nym's hand gently at the close of the prayer, and she lifted her head. Then reached for her fork and dug in.

"So, anything new from work?" Mrs. Brooks asked her husband.

Nym listened to the two silently, reaching for another cheese biscuit as she watched them. Two wouldn't be too many, right? Kirsi had eaten three last time, surely two wasn't too many. Nym just snatched it up and put it beside the first on her plate. 

"Not really," Mr. Brooks responded to his wife, digging into his meatloaf. He looked up a moment later as his wife. "Did you hear about the new disease outbreak? They said it's getting bad up North. I think the numbers for the New York outbreak were edging into the thousands."

Nym cast a slight glance at Mrs. Brooks, catching the older woman as she looked up with a small tight frown.

"No, I hadn't heard about it. I know the outbreaks have been all over the news the past few days, but I don't keep up with that stuff very well. Do they know what disease?"

"They're not sure. They think it's a sort of airborne disease that's getting spread through the oxygen. So far it's mainly affecting the upper regions, but I've heard rumors of deaths in our area too. Most of them older people who didn't live near the shelter. Regardless, there's concern that if it hits the shelter, hundreds could die."

Nym struggled to swallow the bite she'd just taken, finding her throat had suddenly closed up. She coughed, putting a hand to her mouth in an effort not to spit out her food as she choked up. Finally, she swallowed taking a hasty swig of water to wash it down.

"You alright?" asked Mrs. Brooks, looking over at her.

Nym nodded. "Went down the wrong way," she lied and managed a weak smile, coughing lightly into her hand.

"Alright, well slow down some," she teased and smiled.

Nym took a deep breath but noticed Kirsi eyeing with concern. She avoided her friends gaze and slowly took another bite of her biscuit, her appetite gone.  Still, she managed to get down the last of the biscuit before finishing.

The Brooks conversation quickly moved away from the topic of the disease rates, and Nym sat silent for the rest of the meal. After, she did her part in cleaning up. Then Kirsi excused both of them. Nym followed her out of the kitchen, relaxing some.

"You alright? You were quieter than normal," Kirsi said as they mounted the steps. "And don't think I didn't notice you choke when dad brought up the shelter."

"I'm alright, it just caught me off-guard," Nym said. She leaned forward and hugged Kirsi. Arms wrapped around her in return, holding her close. 

Nym closed her eyes and held on tight for a long moment. Then she pulled away, rubbing at her face.

"Better?" Kirsi asked.

Nym nodded.

Both girls headed into Kirsi's room and got out clothes for bed. While they dressed, Nym's mind drifted back to their new friend sitting outside under the carport.

"You think he's still there?" Nym asked as she slipped on a warm long-sleeved shirt to sleep in, made sure to pull the tube and her oxygen tank through, and settled the tank back on her back. She zipped her bag back up and stood up.

"Who?" asked Kirsi.

"The Android."

"Oh yeah, Mr. Android. I forgot about him honestly. He might be."

"I wanna go check on him," Nym said. "You coming?"

Kirsi frowned in indecisiveness, then got to her feet, stretched, and nodded. "Sure, why not."

Nym smiled, threw on her shoes and lead the way down the stairs. She hoped the Android was still there,  worry fluttering in her stomach. She knew it wasn't a person, but it needed help just like any person might, and she somehow felt important for helping it.

They donned their air tanks before slipping out of the house and into the carport. Kirsi flipped on a light and Nym blinked to discover the android laying exactly where they had left it. 

"I guess he didn't move."

"How do you know it's a he?" Kirsi quipped, kneeling beside the android.

"You're the one who keeps calling him Mr. Android," Nym pointed out.

Kirsi shrugged and poked his head again, frowning at the lack of response. "Do you think Androids have names?"

"No, they have like unit numbers or whatever. They probably don't even need to communicate out loud." Nym picked up the Android's head, looking for some sort of unit number to tell them more about it.

"A number like this?" Kirsi pointed to the string of thin numbers etched onto the android's chest just below a major crack.

Nym squinted to inspect them. "Unit 457768902. That's gonna be easy to remember," she said dryly.

"We could just call him O2," Kirsi said.

Nym nodded. O2. She rather liked it. It would definitely be easier to remember. "Alright, O2 then. I hope he responds to that."

"You're talking about him likes he's some sort of pet or whatever. He's an Android, not a dog." Kirsi crossed her arms over her chest, cocking one eyebrow seriously. 

"What? He's not human, plus, I don't know many humans that respond to stuff other than their well-known names," Nym pointed out.

"Fair," Kirsi grumbled. She yawned and stretched her arms again. "I'm going to bed. Are you coming?"

"I'm gonna stay down here a bit longer. Can you bring me my journal from my bag?" Nym asked.

Kirsi looked around, disappeared into the house, then returned with a pencil and the worn-out journal. "Hope you get what you need," she said, handing it over. "I'll set up the mattress for you in my room, just please be quiet when you come in."

Nym flashed her a thumbs up and sat down beside the android. She looked it up and down, setting the journal on the ground. Quietly she scribbled down the date and a few notes, inspecting the damage to the Android and making note of it. It had been a while since she did anything journalistic, but Kirsi had mentioned she needed to start again.

Tapping the pencil against her lips as she thought, looking over the android, Nym sat back on her heels. Why not start now?