What happened so far:
Tristan joined the androids to help them in their quest to destroy the remaining government and create a better life for humanity and intelligent androids alike. Being unhappy with the violence he was forced into to protect his sick sister, he refused to fire a gun and was promptly brought to the androids’ leader, Erin. But instead of punishing him, Erin made Tristan the leader of the human part of the resistance and uncovered a well-kept secret: No android, aside from Erin, is able to kill a human.
”Slowly. Slowly! You’ll choke!”
Joy started coughing and Tristan took away the cup of water he was holding to help her drink.
”I told you not to drink that fast.”
”But I’m thirsty! And this water is much better than what we had at the community.”
Tristan looked down at the liquid. It had a slightly yellow tint. Much better than the brown stuff she had been drinking all her life, that was true, but Tristan wasn’t sure if it was that much healthier. He knew that water was supposed to be clear and wondered if his sister might be less sick if she had access to cleaner water.
Maybe she could have in the future? Erin had promised that the other continent did have more resources, cleaner water and even medicine. Maybe even a way to cure her …
But he couldn’t get his hopes up, couldn’t hope for a better tomorrow, because if it didn’t happen, he’d just be discouraged. He needed to live in the here and now. 
”Can I have some more?”
”Yes, but me more careful this time. I didn’t take care of you all these years for you to die of suffocation.”
”You’re being a bit sarcastic today, Tris”, Joy remarked with a frown. ”What’s gotten into you? Bad day at the shooting range?”
He hadn’t told her yet. She didn’t know that Erin had made him the leader of the human army. He didn’t want her to know, she might worry about him too much.
”You got me”, he said, raising his hands as if he’d surrender and forced a chuckle. ”I can’t hit a thing. Guess I should have become a Stormtrooper.”
”A what?”
”Nevermind.” His dad had told him stories about how the world had been before everything went to shit. Not like he experienced it himself, the stories had been passed down for a while. Stories about movies and books and the internet.
”But if you can’t hit anything, you should train more! You don’t need to be here with me all the time, I can take care of myself. You go, finish your training!”
”Joy. You can’t even get yourself something to drink. I can’t stay away the whole time.” All of sudden, tears began filling Joy’s eyes.
”You need to be able to hit your target! If you don’t you will die! And I … I …. I don’t want to be alone!” Her violent sobs made his heart break into pieces and he pulled her against his chest.
”Shh, it’s okay, little one”, he said with a soft, soothing voice. ”I won’t leave you. I won’t die. It’s alright, it’s all okay.”
He felt the tears soak his shirt. It only reinforced his decision not to tell her about his promotion. A leader couldn’t flee when things got bad. A leader couldn’t stay save while everyone around him was fighting. A leader had to lead.
A leader had to make the hard choices.
”If it’ll make you feel better, I’ll go back at the shooting range right now and work on my aim.” Joy pulled back from him, sniffled a bit, wiped away her tears and then nodded.
”You have to be the best”, she said. ”You need to be the best. Promise?”
”I promise.”
He helped her drink some more water and then left again. But he wasn’t walking towards the shooting range, it wasn’t necessary. After he had been made the leader, he had forced himself to fire the gun they had given him. And he had hit the target perfectly at his first attempt.
Years of hunting hadn’t gone by without leaving their mark.
His actual goal was Erin’s house, the place where he had spent most of the time he had been away from his sister. They were planning the attack.
When he entered the room, Erin looked up from a map that had been spread out on the table.
”Tristan”, they said with surprise, ”I thought you’d gone home? Did you forget something?”
”No, not really. But …”, he sighed and closed his eyes.
Erin didn’t say anything. Just waited.
”I lied to Joy”, he finally confessed. ”I didn’t tell her about my new position. She thinks I’m training every day to be a better soldier. And she thinks I suck at it, which worries her. She asked me to go and practice until I’m the best fighter, so I won’t … so I won’t die in the final fight.”
”Why didn’t you tell her the truth?” Erin asked.
”It’s not that simple. She’d freak out and be even more afraid of losing me. A leader is always a target, even for his own people. If the humans you recruited decide they don’t want to fight anymore, who are they going to attack? The android they know can kill them with ease or the human leader who is just as vulnerable as them?”
”Breathe”, Erin said.
”What?”
”Your vital signs are over the top right now and you're clenching your fists so hard that I’m worried you might break something. Breathe.”
Erin was right. Tristan could hear the blood rushing in his ears and his heart felt like it’d jump out of his chest any moment. Carefully, he unclenched his fists and took some deep breaths.
”Much better. Can’t have you suffer a heart attack.”
”This doesn’t solve the problems though.”
”No, it doesn’t”, Erin agreed. ”And honestly, I don’t know anything that might solve it. You need to decide if you want to keep lying to your sister or not. You must be sure you want to stay the human leader. I’d appreciate if you did, but I understand if you don’t. But we can’t have this uncertainty, this anxiety. It will only come in the way of everything and we will all die.”
Picture taken from pixabay.com
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