{ breathe }
unedited
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They continued riding their horses for an hour or so before they stopped.
"Why are we stopping?" Will asks his mother.
"Just like a desert on Earth," Maureen answers, getting off her horse. "When the sun goes down, you pitch camp. Start up again in the morning."
"But, we know where the robot is now. If he leaves, we'll have no idea where to look." Will argued, wanting to find robot as soon as possible.
"I want to find him too, Will. But your mom's right on this one. Safety first." Ben intervened.
"He's got a fair point," (y/n) got off her horse and started to get her stuff out. This action caused Will to huff but he made no complaint as he got off his horse as well.
"Will, (y/n), why don't you guys take the horses?" Maureen asked, trying to make the boy feel better.
But this only resulted in Will grumbling. "Fine." Maureen hands him two of the horses' leashes and the other two to (y/n). Than she began to help Ben with setting up the perimeter fence.
"You know two years ago, he would have been the first one wanting to stop. And now he's..." Maureen laughed.
"They do that. Since the Resolute launched, I've seen my sons, what, one week out of every three months. It's like they're completely different people every time I visit."
"I had a hard time changing school when I was a kid. We're asking them to change worlds."
"With what we know now and all that's happened, would you do it again."
"Leave Earth?"
"Yeah."
"I would." Maureen and Ben looked to the side to see Will and (y/n) coming to their direction.
"Really? Why is that?" Ben asked the boy.
Will lightly shrugged. "Because we're better now than before we got lost." Will took one of the fences from his mother and stabbed it into the ground, leaving his mother speechless. Ben and (y/n) gave each other a look before they followed Will's actions.
"Will, are you talking about your dad and I?"
"Everyone. Judy, Penny, (y/n), even Don." Will turned the pole, making it turn green. Maureen pressed a button to activate the fences.
Ready for activation.
"If we hadn't left Earth, I would never have met the robot. Then I'd still be scared, the way I used to be." Will sadly smiled, before moving to the next pole.
"Will, the robot didn't make you brave. You did that all by yourself."
"How?"
"By growing up."
"But it wasn't just us. The robot changed too. If we hadn't crashed on that planet, if we hadn't met him first. Who know what would have happened to everyone. So maybe it's good that we're here."
Maureen smiled at her son and wrapped her arms around him, smothering him in a hug. (y/n) laughed from the side, causing Will to give her a soft glare.
"If it isn't Will the wise to give us such a heartfelt speech."
The boy—whose mother finally released him from the hug, blushed in embarrassment, which made the girl only find him more adorable.
In time, the sun had set, leaving the four in complete darkness if it weren't for the fire place they created. Bored, Will began to throw rocks are the fence, only for it to be zapped in response.
"So all the time you were down here, did you ever think maybe this is it?" Maureen spoke to Ben , breaking the silence, "Alpha Centauri's out of reach and maybe this place would have the be home."
"It was something we discussed. People are really quite resilient. First month or two, they're on edge, understandably. Around every corner was a new form of life, a new challenge. But here we are, a year later and everyone was just living. We put up fences to keep us safe, to protect us from the unfamiliar, so I guess in a way it's just like home." Maureen scoffs but smiles at his response.
The atmosphere was quite comfortable if it weren't for the fact that the horses kept neighing. "Hey mom."
"What is it honey?"
"The horses." Will answered, looking around to see if he could spot anything in the distance.
"Something's got them on edge." Maureen stood up and looked around as well.
"I think there's something out there." (y/n) said, turning on her flashlight and pointing it to the outside. Will did the same thing, but all he saw were a pair of piercing green eyes.
"I think it's some kind of animal." Will squinted, trying to get a closer look.
"Oh, Adler, do you know what those are?" Maureen asked the man, as he got up from his spot as well. Those 'animals' screeched.
"Scientists say they're scavengers, mostly. Posts keep them away."
Security permitter deactivated.
Everyone's faced dropped as Maureen looked at her device. "Did you touch something?"
"No, Will, (y/n)?"
"No." "Nothing."
Security perimeter active.
The scavengers kept on screeching from afar, but more started to appear.
"Okay, we're okay." Maureen said, but it, did reassure anyone.
Security perimeter deactivated.
"Keeps going." Ben stated.
"Something must be interfering with the signal."
Security perimeter activate.
More started to appear as they started to walk closer to the four.
"Mom." Will called to Maureen.
"Just stay calm, honey."
The perimeter fences turned off once more and the scavengers took this as an opportunity as they started running towards them. But before they could reach them, the fences turned on again, stopping them in their tracks.
Since they were closer, Maureen covered Will with her body as Ben did the same to (y/n). But the girl got a better look at them, making her eyes widen. "They're like raptors, they're going to take the chance if the perimeter turns off again."
"She's right." Ben said. "They're learning. They know when the posts are off."
"Mom. What do we do now?" One of the scavengers got to close and got shocked by the fences.
"Okay, if it happens again, you two run." The fences turned off as Maureen yelled to the children. "Go, run!"
Will and (y/n) sprinted off but they ran into something that shone a bright red light. The scavengers seemed to be sacred of the light as they were backing off and running away.
As the thing turned off the it's red light, it revealed robot.
"Robot." (y/n) almost whispered out, shocked to see him standing there.
"It's him." Will ran and hugged the robot with (y/n) following him. "I knew we'd find you."
After a moment, Will began questioning his friend. "What happened to you? How'd you end up here? I mean, we aren't even sure how we did. Oh there's just-You're not gonna believe everything that happened. There's so much I want to tell you." Robot stood up, walking off before looking back, as if to signal to the two to follow him.
"I think he wants us to follow him." (y/n) said, excitement gleaming in her eyes.
"Can we go?" Will asked his mother with the same emotion.
"Sure."
The two kids ran off with the robot, leaving the adults to stare off in awe.
Ben walked to Maureen and stared in shock. "I think a apart of me didn't believe the stories were true."
"That's the difference between Will, (y/n) and the rest of us. They never stop believing."
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