September 19th, 2150
It was the next day and Amara and Rock were currently at the desk. Wanting to solve the puzzle with what Rock has remembered.
"Okay, what we have so far is you waking up for the first time. And waking up for the last time before being controlled right?"
"Yeah. Everyone was acting human in my memory too."
"Why were you called that ridiculous name that you introduced me with?" Amara asked, remembering him telling her about Flora.
"Probably because I was never named at all. I am trying to remember, but I just can't," Rock replied sadly, knowing this was going to be harder than both of them were thinking. Amara looked at her friend. Seeing his disappointment, she put a hand on his shoulder again. She was starting to get used to it by now.
"Well, at least we have some information. They are currently analyzing the information we gave them. So, we might be here for a while okay?" Rock nodded. They both heard a knock, knowing it was Ella and she knew this. Who would be here at 6 in the morning? The door opened to reveal Nurse Ella.
"Hey, here is the clothes you asked for." Yeah, that request. It was weird, but Amara had a plan for them. Changing Rock out of his bodysuit to look more human. So that the General wouldn't look at Rock as a robot and more as a helpful ally.
"Why did you need the clothes? They are clearly not for you. You asked for guys clothes?"
"Yeah. Well, I just wanted Rock to get out of this bodysuit and become more like a normal human," Amara replied with happiness. She quickly gave the clothes to the robot.
"Now, put these on." Rock was confused, of course. Amara rolled her eyes as she told him how to take off the suit. Amara helped him change. She was happy that the process went by quick. Ella did turn around for this.
"You look great Rock." He was wearing a white t-shirt with a black unzipped jacket and black jeans.
"We should wash your body suit. Then you can wear it under the clothes. So you can easily take off the clothes when you are going out to battle," Ella suggested. "So that you don't look like a threat if you do need to go out in public. There is a big city close to the base." They both nodded in understanding at the new information.
"That seems like a good idea. Is this room going to be my room?"
"No actually. We are going to have you sleep in a room close to Cameron's. In the base, there is an area where some of the soldiers have to stay. There are a lot currently fighting robots in this country. These robots have probably been made in just a few years."
"Yeah," Rock replied. "Should we go down to the cafeteria?"
"Sure. It is 6:30 now. So we can go down there now." The three nodded then walked out of the room.
As they were walking down the stairs to go to the third floor, Amara got worried about the General.
"What if they see Rock without that collar?"
"We'll have to talk to him about it maybe. Cameron told me that he would talk to his father about the tactic," Ella replied to the worrying Amara. Sighing, Amara nodded, starting to tear up. Ella noticed this quickly. She remembered the time when her grandpa died while he was in the army. She was Amara's age. She understood how Amara felt.
"Amara. Don't worry. My grandpa died when he was in the army. I was your age and I was very close to him. I know how you feel. It takes a long time to get over it. Seeing someone being tortured and in so much pain is emotionally painful to you. You are going through a lot and I am proud of you for not killing yourself."
Amara was starting to realize this. In the past month, she was going through a lot. Ella's words started to hit her hard. It was sweet that she had more adults that care about her in her life. She had determination to get this far. She looked at Rok, who was a far ahead of them down the stairs. She started to smile, knowing that he was there since he woke up for the second time.
"Thank you, Ella." Amara hugged the nurse. Even though she only knew her for a short amount of time, she was happy that she had her in her life.
They finally got to the lobby and Rock opened the door for them. It kind of looked like a hotel to Amara. Rock had no idea what to think, but it looked very nice to him. They started to walk to the cafeteria. It also looked nice as well.
"This looks way better than my middle school cafeteria," Amara thought to herself. They started walking to the back of the room, seeing that those were the only tables left.
"Do you wanna stay here Rock?" He nodded, knowing that he didn't need to eat. Amara and Ella left to get breakfast at the buffet, leaving Rock to his thoughts. He noticed that he started smelling weird smells. He didn't know that he can even smell. What is smelling exactly? Was it artificial like everything else about him?
As he was thinking and smelling, he saw a boy that was coming to his table. He had a plate with him with some toast, some bacon bits, and yogurt. It was Cameron. Wearing the same outfit he wore yesterday. Sitting across from Rock, he started to speak.
"Are you alone here?" Rock shook his head not looking at the boy.
"Are you okay?" Rock nodded.
"You're not okay," The boy stated plainly. Rock sighed, knowing he was right.
"I guess not," Rock finally said.
"What is troubling you?" Cameron asked him. Rock didn't want to answer but knew that Cameron wasn't going to leave until he spoke.
"Well. A lot of things have been bothering me. Since I came here, I kind of got tortured into telling them information. I can't remember anything about my past besides a few things," Rock told Cameron. Cameron motioned him to continue.
"I am the robot," Rock plainly stated. Cameron decided to respond.
"So, you don't remember everything?"
"No, because I don't know the Master's name, age, or anything. All I remember is that I got tortured into killing people." Cameron honestly felt bad for the robot. But noticed that the shock collar was off.
"What happened to the collar?"
"Someone removed it," Rock replied to Cameron. He nodded at the robot. He was glad that he got the collar off. He didn't know who did it at all but, didn't honestly care.
"I'll talk to my dad about it later," Cameron replied as he ate his toast. Rock said nothing in response. Cameron knew that the robot was going through a lot of hard times right now. He will talk later. Especially since he did take a little bit of a rude approach.
"By the way, my name is Cameron. I think you'll be a great help to ending this war." Rock smiled as Cameron said that.
"Rock is my name."
"I like that name. You're as hard as a rock. Can't be taken down that easily." Rock nodded now grinning. Cameron knew that Rock needed to start smiling more. He finished his toast then went on to his yogurt.
"Thanks, Cameron," Rock said quietly as Cameron was eating. Cameron was happy that he made someone smile. He was usually very serious and could be a future commander. He smiled was he saw Ella and Amara coming after five minutes.
"Hey there Cameron," Ella greeted as Amara sat down beside Rock.
"Hello, Nurse Ella. I never see you down here."
"Well, Amara needed me. You're never down here either." Cameron shrugged, knowing this fact.
"I see you got to know Rock."
"Yeah," Cameron replied to Amara. She started eating her sandwich as Rock started smelling the breakfast. Amara noticed this and decided to ask about it.
"What are you doing Rock?"
"Smelling," Rock replied.
"Why?"
"Because it is the closest to eating that I will ever get to." Amara nodded to him. She was happy that he like the smell of food. She is happy for him that he can smell, but why hasn't he done it before. Did she not notice? Then they all ate in silence.
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Cameron was currently walking to his father's office. Wanting to talk to him. About the torture method specifically. Thinking about what the robot boy told him. Torture, pain, and sadness. That was what Rock felt. It was sad.
After a few minutes, Cameron went to his dad's office. It was pretty big, but he didn't care. He was used to this. Ever since his parents got divorced, his father changed. He wasn't abusive, but he can snap pretty easily and take it out on others.
"Well, here goes nothing." Cameron knocked on the door and opened the door.
"What is it son?" Cameron looked at his dad for a minute. Can't he just be normal for once?
"Dad. I have to tell you something about the robot."
"What is it son?" The General repeated. Cameron sighed at this.
"I was um questioning the robot this morning. I asked him how he felt about this and he was miserable. What you need to change is your attitude towards people. Remember when Amara told us that he had a chip that made him murderous? Do you not?"
"Son, you are NOT allowed to question my methods."
"How about you wear the collar!" Cameron snapped. Taken aback, the General angerly sighed as Cameron was starting to get irritated. Both sides were getting pretty angry at this.
"It is for questioning methods only son."
"You are a disgraced father. What you need to do is change. No one likes the method. Remember when we needed to question a bad guy we caught? Sure he was a bad guy, but he committed suicide before we can get information because of the way he was treated," Cameron retorted as he started to walk out the door.
"Think about it, father. When I saw that robot this morning, he wanted to basically kill himself you know? Did you know that robots are advanced now?" Cameron left the room in anger, ashamed that his father was heartless.
"This is a painful time. My relationship with my dad is getting worse by the day," Cameron thought as he went to help get Amara and Rock's room ready...
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There wasn't a lot of action in this chapter, but I still hope you enjoyed it.