Terra Firma

Wiped

    "Where am I?"

    Luna's head jerked up, almost falling off her chair to the ground. She grasped the sides of her seat and swung her head wildly around, still half in a dream. Her hair was messy from sleep; when she pushed it out of her face with both hands she saw the droid, staring at her with furrowed brows.

    "W-What?" She ground her palms against her eyes, fighting to wake up.

    She had to be sleeping. There could not be a droid, laying in her bunker, wrapped up in her blanket, staring at her face, and not trying to kill her.

    "What did you do to me? And where am I?" The droid pushed himself up onto his elbows, peering around the bunker with his electric blue eyes. Lucky rushed over, her raggedy tail thumping against the table as she shoved her snout into the droid's hand.

    His eyes widened, then a little smile grew on his face as he stared at the dog. "Who are you, little lady?"

    Luna pushed herself to her feet, crossing her arms and biting into her thumbnail. I've gotta be dreaming. She pinched her arm, hard, and swore under her breath when the droid was still there. Not dreaming. Perfecto. What was she going to do with this droid now?

    The last night came back to her in a rush, those ominous words of his mission flashing across her mind like an old billboard. They wanted to capture the last humans on Earth. While it made her heart flutter for a moment, just knowing there were still others out there, it made it plummet when the next thought crept into her mind.

    There were definitely more droids than humans, and we were no match against those machines.

    Luna bit her thumbnail again, turning around so the droid couldn't see her panicked face. She'd been so safe and careful for so long — and now this. Buen trabajo, Luna.

    "Hey, do you speak English?"

    The droid's strange question caught her off guard. Luna half turned her head, eyeing him as she chewed over her answer.

    "I guess so." She turned away again, a shiver running down her spine. Was he trying to be funny?

    He swung his legs off the table, reaching down to scratch Lucky behind the ear. "Then you can tell me why I'm here? And where, exactly, here is?"

    Luna frowned. Then she remembered what else she had done last night. Her fingers crept to her pocket, toying with the edge of the circuit she had clipped out of his head. He'd been wiped.

    I guess it worked.

    "You're—," she paused, biting her lip. Should she tell him the truth? What if it was all a show, and he was just waiting to find out where to call his droid buddies to? She shook her head, staring at her messy bed.

    A creak made her spin around. The droid had slid off the bed, running a hand over the skin on his chest where Luna had closed the wound, and playing with the line that led to his saline pouch. "What did you do to me?" His voice was almost a whisper.

    "I fixed you," Luna said as evenly as she could. She folded her arms over her chest again, watching as he carefully reached up to touch behind his ear.

    "What happened to me?" His voice, shaking now, was so completely human that Luna's stomach did a somersault. For a second, she almost wanted to hug him.

    Luna whistled once, calling over Lucky, who was bouncing on her hind legs and begging for the droid's attention again. With a reluctant whine, the little dog trotted over to sit at Luna's feet, instead.

    "I have no clue. You just kind of showed up, bleeding all over the place." She thought about his sticky blue blood and felt her stomach heave again.

    For once, he was silent. Still playing with the spot where his circuit had been, the droid looked lost in thought.

    When he spoke again, it was so abrupt that Luna jumped a bit. "Do you have a name?"

    It couldn't hurt to tell him that, right? "Luna." After a small whine from her feet, Luna smiled down at her friend. "And this is Lucky."

    Half of the droid's lips curled up in a smile. "Lucky and Luna."

    "That's us." A shiver ran down her spine. Luna crouched to bury her face into Lucky's tangled fur, wrapping her arms around the dog and silently promising that she'd find a nice brush to clean her up with — as soon as she figured out this mess.

    "I — I'm afraid I can't tell you my name." The droid looked up at her, scratching the back of his neck.

    Luna frowned. "Why not?"

    "I don't know what it is."

    The bunker was completely silent for a minute. She didn't think that pulling his chip would wipe everything from his brain, or was it a hard drive? Whatever he had up there.

    "How can you not know your name?" Luna leaned her chin on Lucky's head, watching the droid sink back down to sit on the edge of the table. He played with the saline line, his eyes focused on the floor.

    "Okay, well..." Her breath came out in a rush, and she shook her head. "I can't call you droid forever. We need to give you a name."

    "Droid?" His eyes jumped to hers, wide and terrified. "What? Where?"

    Her head gave the tiniest of shakes as she stared at him, dumbfounded. Was he joking?

    "Y... you — You're a..." She couldn't finish. The look of horror that washed over his face forced her mouth shut. Biting her lip, Luna looked away. "You're a Todd, I think. Yep, you definitely look like a Todd."

    Todd blinked for a few seconds, frowning at her. Then he nodded. Slowly at first, then faster, and his tiny smile appeared again. "Todd." He held out his needle-free hand, half standing to reach over to where Luna sat. "Hi, I'm Todd."

    Despite the ice that crept into her chest, Luna found herself smiling back. She grasped his hand in hers, still unnerved by the softness of his skin. "Hey, Todd. Welcome to my humble home."