Atlas Abandoned

Ghost Stories (2 years since the crash)

"Did you think he was talking about the other ship that came that night?" Both of the adults shot him quizzical looks.

"What do you mean?"

"What ship? Our ship?"

"Jacob. It sounds like he might have seen the ship that crashed through the clouds before the fireworks started. It looked like one of ours, but it caught fire and crashed down really hard and really far away. It wasn't worth looking for survivors." Gressam and Atlas' mom looked at each other for a moment, realizing that Jacob might not have been so crazy after all. Gressam changed the subject.

"Speaking of surviving, how did you get food? Did you hunt all by yourself? Did that hunk o' junk AGS-9 droid even survive the fall?" Atlas suddenly found himself fighting back tears. His mother gently put her hands on his cheeks.

"My baby boy, you're alive after 2 years out here by yourself. You're incredible," she must have figured AGS-9 was destroyed in the fall.

"Aegeus helped me," he said with a shaky voice. The soldier raised his eyebrows.

"Ah, so it did survive the fall. Well, that's good. Where is it? I'd have left it behind by now, too. Hated that thing. Annoying voice."

"He," mumbled Atlas.

"What's that, son?" Atlas didn't know what set him off more: Gressam calling him 'son' moments after he learned of his father's death, Gressam's disrespect towards AGS-9, or the thought of Gressam killing someone without checking with the others first.

"He! He was my friend! He was nice! He kept me alive! He was a better human than you!" Atlas yelled at Gressam before breaking down into tears. Gressam exchanged glances with Atlas' mother and then walked away for a while.

Atlas was inconsolable. He was sobbing violently, something he hadn't done since AGS-9 first died. It was like he was finally processing the death of his best friend now that he had someone to be vulnerable with. His mother held him through it and did her best to calm him down. She asked him about AGS-9's personality, what they talked about, how they survived together, and what lessons he taught Atlas in the year they shared.

"Damn, maybe that android wasn't so useless after all, huh?" Gressam had returned while Atlas was describing how AGS-9 taught him to break down logs into pure metal and forge weapons and tools. Gressam had only used tools that were already aboard The Persephone, so he had no idea that what Atlas explained was possible.

"How did you get drinking water?" His mother explained that there were water treatment diodes among the research supplies on the ship that they could use to chemically alter the acidic rainfall so that it was drinkable. Without it, they'd have died of thirst before anything else.

"Oh, I use the sand," Atlas explained how it had helped him with the burns he sustained and how he and AGS-9 created filters for the rain and even a water collection system. The adults were impressed. "And did you know that the fireworks are actually Risen?"

"The hell's a 'Risen?'" the soldier crudely reminded Atlas that he hadn't explained his encounters with the wildlife yet. They all started talking about the rats- which is what both parties called the creatures Atlas originally encountered on the planet. Only Atlas had found a lake and observed the evolution process. He explained that every raptor started out as a rat, and became a rhino along the way. He assumed the Risen were just the next step in the process.

"That's not good, Gressam," Atlas' mother went on to confirm AGS-9's theory. She had originally theorized that the fireworks were weaponized energy the planet sent like an antibody to counter the infection that the humans represented. When Atlas confirmed that the Risen which his mother and Gressam had only seen from a distance so far were transforming directly into the fireworks and amassing up in the sky it seemed to convince her that they were indeed directing themselves back at Earth.

"She calls everything alive here an 'Empath,'" Gressam pointed with big goofy air quotes before spitting out a fragment of rhino bone as he ate some more meat. She explained.

"I've noticed the creatures here seem to pick up on our intentions. I think it's why our ship was attacked," she looked at Gressam until he noticed.

"Oh, hey c'mon, how the f-" he started to object.

"-They sense what you're feeling, not what you're saying or thinking. They communicate nonverbally, with some sort of basic telepathy or high-frequency telegraphing." Atlas nodded. He understood completely and took that opportunity to tell them about PJ; his other guardian out in the wild. His mother laughed until she was almost crying when he told her that PJ stood for Pallas Junior, and then hugged him tightly when he told her he had named the planet Demeter.

"So it's been evolving and traveling with you? That means it could be nearby right now," Gressam theorized. He stood up and looked around, "I don't care if you think it saved your skin. I'll never trust a single one of those damn slashers after what they did to our people. If I see one, I'm killin' it. Got that?" Atlas jumped up and tried to shove Gressam, who didn't budge.

"No, look! PJ is different than the rest of them! He's got 6 orange dots on his markings like this," Atlas pointed at his chest in roughly the same pattern he recalled PJ's to be.

"Yeah, we'll see. You want to be responsible if we let down our guard and your mom gets slashed up by one of those things?"

"Gressam!"

They put a hold on the conversation for a while and Gressam quietly helped Atlas get his supplies from the bottom of the mountainside. He commented on how AGS-9's leg would make a good wall decoration in the ship, but Atlas made him promise to leave it alone. Atlas had plans for it. Once Gressam saw Atlas put his raptor armor back on he was blown away. He promised, and even asked if Atlas could help him make some for himself.

Over the following weeks Gressam taught Atlas a lot and, to Gressam's surprise, Atlas taught him a lot too. They shared various methods and strategies for hunting, crafting, and surviving. Atlas shared everything he'd learned about how things worked out in the wild. Gressam told him the best ways to utilize his resources. They never got along very well, but tolerated each other enough to teach, learn and make their camp as safe and efficient as they could.

Atlas was content. He told himself the hard part of his journey was over. He had found his people and could take it a little easier from here on out. It felt like a planet-sized weight had been lifted off Atlas' shoulders. It was time for a new chapter.