Interval 5 PART 4 - Thinking About the Future & Correcting the Past

Camellia walked through the streets, guided by Kokio and Florence; who introduced her to several places in the camp. The trio passed through dormitories, shops, merchants, mechanics, and more, seeing androids doing their tasks.

Soldiers patrolled the streets or left the camp to their watch shifts. Mechanics entered and left buildings, fixing equipment and making sure everything worked perfectly.

Sellers and merchants advertised their products, negotiated and haggled with other androids, from combat weapons that weighed tons to simple trinkets.

She noticed differences the more she walked through the streets, the camp decoration changed with every turned corner.

A bed of colorful flowers with colored stones making a barcode mosaic. Ropes with shapes on them hanging from buildings, but unlike the colorful flags in other areas, these shapes were wood-carved animals and plants.

"Surprised?" Florence asked.

"Y-yes, this place has changed a lot since I was last here."

"I agree, the new decoration helped to change the boring gray tone of the buildings, broke the monotony of everyday life, and helped raise morale. Although, this does not mean that we ignore our responsibilities."

She realized what she meant, as several androids trained on a firing line, using dead machines as targets at different distances, androids wearing uniforms similar to Florence repaired several damaged androids inside buildings.

Several androids discussed in front of a map on a table inside a military tent while others delivered documents and used radios and computers.

"You should have seen the day the decorations were put up, it was so much fun, Anemone even lightened our workload so we could help." Kokio said.

"Seriously? She seemed a little strict to me."

"She's just like that because she cares about everyone here. It's a huge blow to her systems every time someone dies to the machines." She said with sadness in her voice.

"Hm… I guess that is one of the burdens of being a leader. I just wish the Commander would show she cares."

"What did you say?"

"Nothing! But tell me; are the casualties for the machines frequent?"

Kokio grimaced as Florence shifted uncomfortably while looking away.

"I'm sorry…" Camellia tried to speak but Florence interrupted her.

"No problem, it is not confidential information, but everyone here has come to an unwritten agreement not to talk about it. Yes, casualties are frequent, but not as much as they seem, it could be worse."

"What do you mean?"

"The amount of machines is the biggest problem, they are always in greater numbers. We can finish them without problems when they close to the camp, we have enough fortifications, androids, and weapons for that. But the androids patrolling the city, well, that's another story."

"I understand, the patrols will be outnumbered depending on the number of machines, not to mention, of course, the various buildings, alleys, and sewers where they can come from."

"Exactly."

"Hey! I thought we would show the camp to Camellia, not talk about that sort of thing! Don't ruin the mood! Seriously, it's a blow to the morale every time someone dies. I have lost many friends like that, but I keep my hope in the thought that they are watching me, wherever they are. Watching me fight and move forward so that someday we can realize our dream of a world without war and full of humans." Kokio spoke with a gleam in her eyes while Florence laughed and Camellia smiled.

"Nice words, Kokio, I just wish you would show that kind of determination in the jobs Anemone gives you." Florence joked as Kokio's face turned red, puffing out her cheeks and stomping the ground.

"Do you know how much time I had to spend organizing the files?!"

"No." Florence held her laughter.

"Me neither, but I'm sure it was a long time!"

"You are exaggerating. Knowing you, I bet it was less than twenty minutes."

Therefore, the two androids argued friendly while Camellia followed them with an amused look. Halfway through, she passed in front of a merchant shop where something caught her attention, a silver necklace with a golden gear and a red heart in its center.

She approached the shop but stood confused when she did not see anyone on the other side of the counter.

"Hello! Is there someone here?"

"WELCOME!"

"AAAHHH!"

She recoiled in fright when a female android suddenly emerged from under the counter, staring at her with a big smile on her face. Camellia calmed down, cleared her throat, and took a deep breath before speaking.

"Hello, how much for the necklace?"

"Oh! This is an interesting item, one of my best products! Is it for someone special?" The android's smile widened as she leaned against the counter, wiggling her eyebrows at Camellia, who blushed in embarrassment.

"Yes."

"Well, he or she is one lucky person. Luckily, for you, I am running a little promotion. If you buy this necklace and one more item from my store, you will get a discount! What do you say?"

"Hm… Okay." She looked for something that interested her, and she found it, a guitar case, making her eyes widen behind her sunglasses.

"I'll take the guitar case and the necklace!"

"Good choice, it will be 85 Gs in total!"

Discount my ass! She paid for the items and put her sword in her case and the necklace in her pants pocket.

"You know, I can't believe we introduced ourselves. My name is Accord." The android introduced herself, offering a handshake.

"Camellia." She replied, accepting it.

"It is nice to meet you, Camellia! I hope we meet again!"

"Equally!"

Camellia walked away from the shop, but she heard Accord speak before she left.

"Before I forget, say hello to the old general for me, we haven't seen each other in over five thousand years! I would like to have a chat with him!"

However, the shop was gone as soon as she turned around. She removed her glasses and rubbed her eyes, but it was not a problem with her optics, the shop was gone.

She quickly returned to Kokio and Florence, preferring to forget what happened, but she put her hand in her pocket and felt the necklace inside, proof of the previous interaction.

"We arrived!"

She snapped from her thoughts due to Kokio's scream, the android stood with open arms in front of a building. The place looked like a simple building, but her friends led her inside, surprising her, for it looked like a beauty salon mixed with a workshop.

A chair similar to that of a dentist's stood in the center of the room with a large lamp above it, swivel chairs were in front of a wooden counter with a large mirror that covered most of the wall, while soft light illuminated the area and pleasant music played on a radio.

This was the friendly part of the establishment, since a welled tray full of strange tools stood beside the chair, while shelves full of android parts, arms, legs, eyes, ears, nose, and more, all in different colors and sizes, where in a corner of the room.

Camellia gulped at this sight, so many android parts displayed around was not pleasant for a Yorha android.

"What place is this?"

"This is Michelangelo's salon, androids come here to alter their appearances." Florence replied.

"Speaking of him, where is that android? Michelangelo!" Kokio screamed.

"I'm on my way!" A muffled voice came from the back of the building.

Pulling a curtain aside, a tall, slender android appeared, he or she had long brown hair that reached down to the back, tanned skin, green eyes, a thin nose and chin, and pink lips.

The android wore a white shirt with an apron with pockets on top, black gloves, brown pants, and black shoes. Despite this, it was hard to tell if the android was male or female, its appearance bordered on both.

"Kokio, Florence! I have not seen them for a while! Come here, hug me!"

The two androids hugged the androgynous android, exchanging greetings and praise.

"Well, what brings you both here? Are you two looking for eyes of a new color?" Michelangelo asked, breaking the embrace.

"No, our friend Camellia would like some hair dye." Kokio pointed at the startled android.

"Oh, I do not think I saw you before! Are you new to the camp?" Michelangelo offered a handshake, snapping the android snapped from her stupor.

"Not exactly, just passing by." She accepted the gesture.

"Even so, welcome! Now, how can I help you? Do you want a new face, new eyes, arms, and legs? I have everything around here to cater for all tastes."

"I just want a different hair color."

"Are you sure? Because I can make you bigger in all the right places if you want." Michelangelo circled Camellia, studying her.

"What do you mean by that?"

"Don't tell me you don't understand. Have you seen that Yorha girl with the boy, or Commander White? I don't see the strategic value in some of their body parts size, but I don't see anyone complaining." Michelangelo ran a hand over the chest and bottom, making a mound in the way.

Camellia stopped and thought for a minute, remembering The Commander and 2B's clothes, and then her face turned red as she imagined certain parts moving in a gravity-defying way.

"No! No! Thanks but no! I just want to change my hair color!" She replied with a red face, shaking it to dispel the images.

"A pity, but a customer is a customer, please have a seat and we'll get started soon." Michelangelo led her to one of the mirror-facing chairs where she put her guitar case away and sat down.

"Do you have a favorite color?" Michelangelo covered her body with an apron.

"Yes, but is pretty common."

"So let's start!" Michelangelo touched Camellia's cheeks with its own, the two watching their reflections in the mirror. She shifted her gaze to Kokio and Florence's reflexes, who gave her a comforting thumbs up.

-XXXXXX-

"Thank you and come back often!" Michelangelo waved from the shop's entrance while the three androids waved back and walked through the camp.

"So, what do you think of Michelangelo?" Kokio asked.

"He's a little strange, but I don't see anything wrong with him." Camellia replied, running a hand through her now-black hair.

"I'm glad for that; I'd like to see your face when you meet Michelangelo in the other bodies."

"Sorry, I don't think I heard right, other bodies?"

"Yes, Michelangelo changes his appearance constantly, he or she cannot decide. Sometimes he's more masculine, sometimes she is more feminine, and sometimes you cannot tell, like today. Androids more attached to their bodies are disturbed by this, especially the merchant who refuses to fix his leg."

"I can't judge, I admit I was a little uncomfortable with the thought of changing my hair color, I can't imagine how others feel. We leave the factory with a predefined face by our model and a database-registered personality. Changing something about us takes a lot of effort."

"You're right, I remember when I changed my face, it took me months to make the decision and even longer to get used to it." Florence murmured.

"Did you change your face?"

"Yes, let us just say I was not satisfied with my previous one, so I changed it. I don't regret it and let's end this conversation like this." She said with sadness in her voice while looking at the ground.

"Hm... I see, I won't insist."

"Thanks!"

The trio stopped in a square with an iron statue in its center, A Venus de Milo with a sphere representing a skeletal face with a large ear-to-ear smile, huge teeth, and two big eyes in the place of its original head.

Camellia frowned at the head that did not match the rest of the statue but shrugged and sat down on a wooden bench beside it.

"So, what do you think of our little camp?" Florence asked.

"It's nice; 16D would love this place."

"Who?" Kokio asked.

"Nobody, I'm just digressing, Anemone must care a lot about this place."

"You're right, I don't know what happened, but she has been in a good mood lately." Florence replied.

"Oh! And she started to do origami!" Kokio continued.

Camellia leaned forward and watched androids smiling, talking, and living their lives in general. This place seemed so different, a war was happening, but they found happiness amidst it.

Suddenly, music played through the square, making people gather in front of a band of androids playing improvised instruments, a guitar, a harmonica, and a fiddle.

She watched them play for some time, squeezing the necklace in her pocket before standing up.

"Kokio, Florence, thank you for showing me the camp, but now I have to go."

"Wait..." Kokio tried to speak, but she already disappearing into the streets.

-XXXXXX-

A patrol of resistance androids fought a group of machines outside the camp, firing from inside a shop while using tables and shelves for cover. Their guns sent a bullet hail at the oncoming enemies; littering the street with Stubbys, Medium Stubbys, and Medium Bipeds.

Suddenly, they heard cutting metal, and then silence. Stepping from their cover, they saw the machines cut to pieces with an android wearing sunglasses beside them waving before running off.

Camellia ran across the city, helping patrols and eliminating machines, lowering the casualty report that day.

She wiped the sweat from her forehead after eliminating the sixth group, looking around and seeing an abandoned grocery store, focusing on the shopping cart in front of it and the machines beside her.

Time to fill her pockets a little fuller.

-XXXXXX-

Perla and Damiana searched for the red-haired twins.

"Hey, sis, what will we say when we find them?" Perla asked with worry and doubt.

"What do you mean?"

"Salieri said that the Devola and Popola of this camp don't like strangers looking for them. What shall we use as an excuse?"

She stopped in her tracks and thought deeply. Her sister was right, two strangers appearing from nowhere for no reason would arouse suspicion.

She searched for something they could use as an excuse, focusing on a merchant android; specifically on an everyday radio that a person would use to listen to music and broadcasts.

She approached the merchant as her sister watched, Perla could not hear what the two discussed, but she saw her sister paying the merchant and picking up the radio shortly thereafter.

Her sister then pressed the radio, crumpling the metal a little as the glass screen cracked and sparked. The merchant fixed Damiana, disgusted with what she did, but she ignored it and returned to her sister's side.

"Here is our excuse." She showed the radio while Perla nodded slowly.

Therefore, the search continued, and Perla caught her sister's attention by glimpsing a mass of red hair entering an old building with a cloth curtain as a door.

Nodding, they headed toward it but hesitated upon reaching the entrance. Were they ready to face those who suffered due to their failure?

With determination flowing through their bodies, the sisters pulled the curtain aside and entered, facing a pair of red-haired twins staring at them from across a balcony.

"What do you want?" Devola crossed her arms.

"Devola! Sorry for my sister's attitude! We are Devola and Popola and welcome to our store. How can we help?" Popola bowed politely.

"H-hello!" Perla waved nervously.

"We... We'd like to know if it's possible to fix this." Damiana hesitantly showed the broken radio.

"Oh, of course! Let us have a look!"

"Only if you can afford it, of course."

"Dev!"

"What? I am being serious! They wouldn't be the first ones who tried to leave without paying."

"I would like to apologize again for my sister's attitude."

"No, no problem. We are not offended, are we, Damiana?"

"No, like my sister said, no problem." Damiana placed the radio on the counter.

"Sisters, are you two sisters?" Devola asked surprised.

"Yes." They answered simultaneously.

"This is wonderful! Are you two new to camp? I think we ran into you a few times." Popola narrowed her eyes.

"They helped us with that group of troublesome android, they beat the crap out of them." Devola held the radio in front of her face.

"We're grateful for that, but it wasn't necessary, we're used to trouble." Popola analyzing the radio made a confused face upon noticing the finger marks on the object.

"But you shouldn't, Anemone is the leader of the camp, why does she allow this?" Pearl asked.

"Anemone has several worries on her head; we don't want to bother her with more." Popola opened the radio with a screwdriver.

"But that doesn't stop her from sending us on dangerous missions." Devola checked the wires.

"Dev! You know she has no option, this calms the other androids!"

"Sorry, but does your being in danger calm the other androids in the camp?" Damiana asked.

Devola and Popola were silent and that was all they needed to hear.

"Listen, you girls can talk to us if you need help." Damiana suggested, silencing the twins again.

"Thank you, but no." Popola spoke.

"I agree with my sister, we appreciate your help, but we prefer to stay alone, we don't want more problems. Honestly, it's really weird how nice you two are being to us." Devola continued.

"Listen, we know how badly you are treated and understand the bond you share as sisters, I couldn't imagine how I would live without mine, and as sisters, we can't stand it, that's not fair." Pearl spoke.

"All we're asking for is a chance, a chance to show that we're being serious, to show that you're not alone here." Damiana begged as the twins talked to each other.

"They look genuine." Popola spoke.

"Yes, but I don't doubt it's a new trick to annoy us." Devola replied.

"Are you sure? They are quite expressive with their displeasure, usually."

"Honestly, I would send them away, but you seem willing to give them a chance, it's your choice, Pop."

The twins then turned to Perla and Damiana.

"You know, this is too sudden and too convenient."

"What my sister means is that we don't trust you."

"But we are willing to give you guys a chance."

Perla and Damiana smiled at this information.

"However, we will never see you again if we discover that this was all a lie and you tried to harm us, we will act like you don't exist."

"We promise we mean business." Pearl smiled.

"Just call us if anyone is causing you trouble, we'll turn them into scrap!" Damiana slammed her fist into her palm.

"Hump! I'm starting to like you." Devola smiled.

"You will regret it. How about we go for a drink after you are done here?"

"Only if you two pay for it."

Meanwhile, Perla and Popola gave each other an understanding look.

"I heard that some androids will perform in the camp's square, we could watch them instead." Perla suggested.

"Hm… Do you guys like music?" Popola asked.

"You can bet! We used to sing together!"

"That's great! Maybe we can all sing together someday?"

"I would love it!"

Time passed and the four androids became lost in conversation while the radio stood forgotten. They all left the building and headed towards the camp square in a mixture of smiles and laughter.

Perhaps the older twins found a way to repent of their sins.

Perhaps the younger twins found someone to call friends.

Inside the building, the partially repaired old radio played music.

END OF CHAPTER