The Way of the Future: Age of Machines(Completed)

To Bulhin

He placed the bag down on the ground and the girl's eyes glowed even more as she diverted her attention to the bag. A few apples fell down the sack, the girl then scrambled to get the nearest. She acted like an animal, Artemis then recognized that she had not eaten for quite some time, hence her behavior.

"I found you at a village, can you explain to me what were you doing there?"

The little girl stopped munching on the apple and lowered her hand. She looked at the ground and did not say a word.

"What happened?"

The little girl opened her mouth but she struggled to form a sentence.

"Do you know how to speak?" Artemis asked.

The girl nodded. Maybe she was too traumatized to speak yet, Artemis thought.

Artemis decided to ask her another time and let her mind rest.

"Go and eat, we'll try to find a river or any body of water, I know you haven't drunk any for a few days now"

The girl nodded. Artemis then noticed the trembling of her hands and fingers, then he noticed that the little girl was trembling all-over.

In his mind, Artemis thought, whatever caused this little girl's distress, may still be near.

Or maybe.

The figures he saw inside the village flashed in his mind.

Were they the reason? Artemis thought.

Whatever they were, if ever this little girl came from that village, she must have run far from those things. Artemis thought for a while, contemplating the possibility that these creatures may have already escaped into the wild and have begun to spread at a rate that even he could not control without sparking an unwanted confrontation.

"Why do I have the feeling that I was partially responsible.."

As Artemis got lost in his thoughts, the little girl came towards him.

"M-mister"

"Huh?" Artemis turned around.

The little girl was sitting with her legs folded. She was offering him an apple.

"No, thank you. You eat it, I don't need it,"

"Nya~ 😐," But the little girl insisted. At that moment, Artemis decided to eat for the very first time.

He took the apple and stared at it for a second. Then he turned his attention towards the little girl who was eager to see him take a bite.

If I am a human, then, I must eat like a human.

He took the apple near his mouth and he opened wide. He bit down on the apple, the crunching sound was surreal for him. The little girl smiled as Artemis began munching down on the apple.

This is useless, Artemis thought.

Whatever I eat, it would be converted to energy I won't even use. But, if this makes it more convincing to this little girl that I am a human, then so be it!