Kirsi wasn't keen on being awoken, but Nym didn't care. She roused her groggy friend and dragged her down the stairs to meet their new friend. Kirsi complained, fumbling to get her air tank onto her back as they hurried out the airlock. She had it on by the time the airlock door hissed open and rubbed her face as they stepped outside.

Nym ignored her grumbling for the most part and just dragged her outside, smiling to see the Android still there. It was on its feet, moving around the carport slowly, sluggishly picking up various tools and objects, scanning them.

The minute they stepped outside, Nym saw it's attention snap to her and Kirsi.

It gingerly set down the small bouncy ball it had picked up. "You have brought a companion," it stated.

"This is Kirsi," Nym said, patting Kirsi's shoulder. "Kirsi, that's O2."

The android stepped closer and looked Kirsi up and down. Then A blue light appeared, passing over both of them.

"What is it doing!" Kirsi jumped, scrambling back and grabbing at Nym. Her eyes went wide, her hand now clamped around Nym's wrist.

Nym slowly pried her friend's fingers off her wrist. "I think it's just scanning us."

She watched Kirsi shudder and wrap her arms around herself. Nym just laughed a little and stepped up to the android. It towered over her, standing at what she estimated to be a foot or more taller. Nym watched it's head slowly turn down to look at her. She suddenly felt tiny, but straightened up and squared her shoulders to give herself the air of height.

"I need to ask you some questions," she stated boldly, her stomach twisting a little. She held no fear of the Android, but she also hadn't gotten this close to it or demanded anything from it yet. She still possessed no way of gauging all its reactions.

It simply cocked its head. "I can provide some answers."

Nym let out a small breath and heard Kirsi audibly exhale behind her. Backing up a step to see easier, Nym tilted her chin up confidently. "So, um, you said that the other androids attacked you. Do you know why?"

It hesitated, then shook its head. "Memory core was corrupted in the attack, memory retrieval failed."

"I'll take that as a no," Nym said. She bit her lower lip and rocked back on her heels some, looking back as she heard Kirsi step closer. She offered her friend a bit of a reassuring smile before returning her attention to the android.

"Um, you mentioned some stuff...while you were glitching and broken. Do you remember that?"

"Yes, though, the playback is incomplete. Would you like me to repeat it?"

Nym shook her head, a chill running down her spine as she remembered the eerie stuttering from the night before. "No. Rather, could you tell me what you were trying to say?"

It appeared the android froze up, and Nym frowned, starting to move towards it. Then it lifted it's head again and looked back down at her. "I believe I can piece together the complete message for you, yes."

"Okay..."

Cocking its head again, it stood there for a long moment before responding. "Regarding the event of citizen--error, information missing--'s death as recorded, a false cause of death was implied by the medical team. Citizen died from--error, information missing--not polluted air. An analysis shows poison detected. Composition--error, information missing."

After relaying the message, the android straightened back up, looking at her. "Was this the information you needed?"

Nym nodded slowly, her mouth too dry to swallow. She didn't know exactly what event the android was remembering, but it sounded awfully similar to the three cases of death she'd heard of and witnessed in the past few days; Namely, Cormac's.

"Yeah...," she finally managed to stammer, the world around her going into a bit of a haze. She realized she'd been holding her breath, lightheadedness washing over her as black spots clouded her vision.

"Kirsi...I...think..." she didn't get the whole thought out before her knees buckled.

She saw Kirsi move, but the Android got there first.

A cold metal arm broke her tumble and gingerly settled her down, gears grinding loudly in her ears as the android knelt beside her.

For a moment everything just looked like a static screen, devoid of color and pixelated beyond recognition. She heard Kirsi but didn't register a word the girl was saying. A muffled monotone voice joined Kirsi's but Nym still couldn't make sense of the noise.

Then the pixels slowly transformed back into a real picture, and she saw Kirsi crouched in front of her, the girl's soft face drawn in terror. Beside her, the blank faceplate of the android stared down as well. Nym became aware that it was holding her upright, but Kirsi was gripping her hand's.

"Nym? Can you hear me?"

Nym nodded and forced herself to swallow, making herself take deep breaths. The oxygen burned her lungs for a moment, then she could breathe evenly again.

"Sorry...I think I forgot to breathe for a moment," she murmured and put a hand to her forehead. She wasn't warm, but she felt sick. The pit had returned to her stomach and she wanted to curl up on her own.

"My scans indicate there is nothing medically wrong with you. Your systems are functioning properly," the android said.

Nym didn't look at it, just pulled her hands away from Kirsi and hugged her knees to her chest. She saw Kirsi looked up at the hulking machine, open her mouth to speak, then sigh and shake her head.

"You wouldn't understand," the other girl sighed and just moved closer to Nym, putting a hand on her shoulder. "Do you need to come inside and lay down?"

It sounded good, but they needed answers. If this related to Cormac's death, Nym needed to know more. She needed to know the truth, or at least whatever the android knew.

"No, I'm okay." she forced strength into her tone and sat up straight, taking deep gulps of air until her head cleared a little. She looked up at O2, setting her jaw.

"Is that all you know? Is there more?"

The android slowly retracted its arm, struggling with balance for a moment, then managing to sit down. "That is all the uncorrupted information stored in my systems. I believe it may be related to why the other androids attacked me. Though, there a gap remains."

Pursing her lips, Nym nodded her head. "Well, I can't fix your memory core. I'm a journalist, not a mechanic, but is there somewhere you can go for repairs? If we got you repaired, would you come back?"

"I am unsure. There should be a foundry near here. However, it is unlikely they will repair me. I am expendable, and my salvageable parts would be better used on fully functioning androids."

"You're not expendable," Kirsi interjected, pulling a scowl. "I mean, you're a machine, but you're the most sentient machine I've ever met. Plus, you're our friend."

"Friend?"

Nym laughed at the question. They had to be confusing the poor android out of its mind. The humor helped lighten her own mood, though. Thank you, Kirsi.

"Yeah, friend. It means we like you, and we hope you like us. It also means that we care about you and we're not gonna let some government-owned machine rip you up for parts just because you're brain isn't all there. Goodness, we have better policies for dealing with the dead than the mechanical," Kirsi sighed, shaking her head.

Nym rolled her eyes a little. Kirsi got a little intense about the strangest things, but she was right in stating that they cared about the android. The whole sentiment reminded her of those socially awkward people in books. She pitied it in a sense.

It also knows something we don't. Something that might concern Cormac, and I need to know what that is.

Nym slowly got up and tapped Kirsi's hand to calm and quiet her. "Why don't we go get some breakfast. Maybe after, we can come back to this?" she suggested. Then she turned to the android. "Will you stay here?"

"I don't wish to be scrapped, so yes," it answered with a solemn nod.

"Good, we'll be back in just a few minutes."

Kirsi, having fallen silent, got up and followed Nym back into the house. They scoured the kitchen for leftover cheese biscuits and ate those before Kirsi ran upstairs to change out of her bedclothes and into clean clothes for the day. Nym decided to simply head back outside. It was a weekend so either Kirsi's parents were still asleep, or at the foundry already, in which case they wouldn't know about the android. Regardless, they needed to explain it soon.

Unless...we don't? Maybe we take it somewhere else before they see it...

At that thought, Nym decided to wait until Kirsi returned before going outside. When she finally saw her friend come down the steps she waved to her from the airlock door but said nothing until the two of them were back outside.

"Kirsi, we need to take the Android back to the Shelter," she said as the door closed behind them. "I don't know if your parents will want a mostly functional robot wandering around under their carport, but there's no one at my place."

"Okay, yeah, that's probably for the best," she said. "You sure it's a good idea, though?"

With a shrug, Nym walked over to it, interrupting its latest scan of a new object. "It's worth a shot." She looked up at the android. "Hey, 02, you might want to come with me to my home. At least until we figure out a better arrangement, alright?"

"Where do you live?" it asked.

"The Shelter, it's--"

"It's located in the center of the town," it cut in. "I am aware."

"Good," she said. "So you'll come?"

"Why am I unable to remain here?"

"Uhhhh...because we need to fix your memory core and I can't do that here."

"You said earlier you were unable to because of skill level."

Nym growled under her breath. "I know that. It's because I don't want to deal with explaining this to Kirsi's parents."

"Oh." It didn't say anything else, just put down the object it had been looking at and turned some.

Nym looked back at Kirsi who shrugged. Nym didn't know if that counted as a good response or something else.

"So you're coming?"

"Affirmative."

"Okay."

Nym looked around, then just walked over and picked up her bike. She decided she could just walk it back, that way she didn't get too far ahead. Glancing at Kirsi, she cocked her head. "Are you coming with us?"

"Why not? I'll just message my parents when we get to your place. My mom won't care but my dad will."

"Oh yeah." Nym commonly forgot the Brooks was more strict on travel. "Is your communicator charged?"

Kirsi shrugged. "I'll charge it when we get to your place."

Nym nodded and the three of them headed out.

It wasn't a long walk to the Shelter, and when they arrived they managed not to alert the other Shelter occupants to the fact that they were bringing an android into the place. Although they remained a common sight, they never entered the Shelter. Who knew how people would react? Nym parked her bike where she normally left it, and they headed inside. As the door opened, a familiar beeping caught Nym's attention and she glanced at the gauge on her oxygen line.

"Ugh, one sec, I gotta go refill," she said, turning. "Kirsi, do you need a refill?"

Kirsi shook her head, "Nah, I'm good. I grabbed a fresh tank when you got me up this morning."

Nym nodded and left Krisi in the living room with the Android as she hurried out into the middle of the Shelter where the large refill station sat, like a charging port, but with oxygen refill nozzles instead of power outlets.

Nym sucked in a deep breath as she undid her line and plugged the refill line into her tank, turning the knob. The line went taught with air and the gauge on the tank showed it slowly filling. Nym glanced at it, then hooked her own line into the nozzle right beside that so she could breathe as her tank filled. She turned the knob and that line went taught as well. She took in a small breath, then coughed and scowled. Her tongue felt like it was burning mildly, and the air tasted acrid.

The citizen died from not polluted air. The analysis showed poison...

The android's words surfaced in her mind as she took another hesitant breath. It tasted worse than the first and she quickly reached for the knob, turning it off. The line went slack and she purged her mask. She looked to the air tank but hesitated to grab it. What if it contained contaminated air as well?

Her lungs started to grow tight, and she fought the urge to take a breath, knowing there was nothing to breathe. The air outside her mask would kill her. Hastily she made the decision to turn, gripping the disconnected line in one hand as she bolted back towards where Kirsi and the android were.

She burst into the little apartment, ignoring the two of them as she brushed by. Her lungs burned, screaming for her just to take a breath. She felt woozy but forced herself to scan the room.

There.

Cormac and her oxygen tanks from two days ago, still full. She grabbed one and hooked her line to it, then turned the knob on the top and gasped as fresh clean air rushed into the line and her mask. Shakily she sank down against the wall, trembling a little.

"Nym? What's wrong?"

Kirsi's voice cut through the haze and Nym sluggishly lifted her eyes, still recovering from the lightheadedness.

"The air...it tasted all wrong..." she gasped, putting a hand to her chest.

"Tasted wrong? Are you okay?"

Kirsi put her hand to Nym's forehead again and Nym swatted her hand away this time. "I'm fine,...just out of breath. I'm not...joking with you, though. There was something off, I could tell," she insisted. Slowly she raised her eyes to the android standing there watching them.

"Can you run an analysis of the air out there?" she breathed, slowly working her way to her feet and picking up the new oxygen tank. She glanced down at the other one, realizing that if the air out there was poisoned, these two tanks could be her last supply of clean air.

Stop. Don't think that. Focus.

"Yes, I can analyze the air," it responded.

"Good, come with me."

Nym headed back outside, with her friends in tow this time. As she stepped out she scanned the courtyard, uncannily aware of how dead it felt. Nothing made a sound. She'd never heard birds except in music and TV, but there seemed a greater lack of them now. The air was still, exactly like the night Cormac died.

It was the silence before a storm. She simply didn't know what kind.

The android went ahead of them to the station and Nym came behind it, turning off the knob to the air tank before it filled too far and burst. She stood back while the Android ran a scan of the nozzle, then the air tank. It stood there for a long moment, saying nothing.

Kirsi moved beside Nym and took her friend's hand. Nym squeezed her hand gently.

Finally, the android looked at them, cocking its head. "I have analyzed the station's air composition and the composition of the air inside the tank. The air quality is not breathable. There exist trace amounts of pollutants and extremely low amounts of Hydrogen Cyanide."

Kirsi's grip tightened around Nym's, and Nym gripped her friend's hand back tighter, swallowing hard.

"...Is that lethal?" she asked, feeling her chest tighten. She shifted back towards Kirsi, lightheadedness settling in. Was it the poison? Was it the lack of air?

"Yes. The dosage you breathed appears to be treatable, though, assuming you discontinued intake immediately. You will require immediate medical treatment."

"Then we need to get her to the hospital," Kirsi said, gripping Nym back.

Nym let herself fall back against Kirsi, the world around her swimming as her mind filled with images of Cormac's face, his cold hands, the ambulance outside the house, even the doctor explaining Mrs. Pryors mysterious death. Was this how they'd all died? The air?

The voices around her began to fade again. She couldn't hear anything, and her eyes darted around wildly. Where was everyone? Why did the air smell like death?

And why could she hear birds?