Read Part 1
What happened so far:
Tristan, who lives in a small community in the desert, hiding from the government, came home one night after an unsuccessful hunt. He was suddenly confronted with the fact that androids, the government’s favorite soldiers, had found his community. But instead of immediately killing everyone, the androids requested that the humans joined them to overthrow both the currently ruling governments to make the world a better place. The only other option they offered was immediate termination of everyone’s life. Being the one responsible for the survival of his sick sister, Tristan had to make a choice.
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Carrying someone for hours and hours is never easy, even if it was someone as light as Joy. Her arms were wrapped around Tristan’s neck, her hands clasped in front of his chest. But her grip wasn’t even slightly strong enough to keep her safely on his back. He needed to walk slightly leaning forward so she didn’t fall down. He knew he’d have back pains for several days after this.
”I can take her if you want”, the android offered for the fifth time already.
”No, thanks”, Tristan declined. Even though the weight of his sister slowly crushed him, he refused to give her away. Especially to this android.
The android hadn’t come alone, the scouts had been correct. About fifty more androids had entered the settlement and made everyone assemble in one spot. There, they had been given a choice: Join the androids in their fight against the ruling governments or be obliterated.
Nobody had dared to choose the second option.
That’s how Tristan had ended up here, walking towards the city he had feared his whole life.
”Why are we going to the city?” He asked the android. ”Why do you even need us? Shouldn’t you be able to overthrow the governments by yourself?” The android shook their head.
”That would be against the wishes of my creator. She hoped for a better future. That’s why she gave me a free will.”
”Seems a bit counterintuitive”, Tristan mumbled. To his surprise, the android reacted with a loud laugh.
”Oh, you humans. You always think that any greater intelligence with a free will would choose to kill you. Aliens, artificial intelligence, even apes. You fear other intelligent creatures so much and never stop to consider they might have good intentions. That they might be better than you.”
Tristan didn’t answer and instead slowed his step, hoping the android would just keep walking at the same pace. He didn’t want to talk to this thing anymore. It creeped him out.
”Tris?” Joy’s voice sounded even weaker than usual. The journey seriously hurt her health. ”You seem upset, what is wrong? Aren’t you glad we finally have a chance to lead a better life?”
It took him a bit to be able to answer his sister.
”I’m not sure if we’re really walking towards a better life”, he said, slowly. ”The androids want us to fight with them. But no fight is ever without risk. Every war has casualties. I don’t want to be one of those who die for the good cause. And despise the thought that you might get hurt.” Joy placed her chin on his shoulder. 
”But how can we hope for change if we don’t risk something?”
”There is risk and then there is unnecessary risk. True wisdom lies in knowing which applies in a given situation.”
”Sounds dumb.”
Deep inside, Tristan knew she was right. After all, some might deem the fact that he had gone to the city to find medicine for Joy an unnecessary risk. But for him, it had been the only reasonable thing to do. Joy would have died otherwise.
The weight on his back shifted a bit.
”Joy?”
”She fell asleep.” The android was suddenly walking next to him again. ”Are you sure you don’t want me to take her? You seem tired.”
”I can handle this.”
Two hours later, they finally arrived in the city. It didn’t look much different compared to when Tristan had been here the last time. Just less … people.
”Where is everyone?” He asked the android.
”Many refused to join us. They said androids are meant to serve humankind, not coexist. They took up weapons to destroy us, so we needed to act.”
Scared people, trying to defend themselves against the machines that had been trying to take over. Tristan felt a certain connection to the citizens that had fallen victim to this revolution.
”How many survived?” He asked.
”A few hundred thousand. They’re split between camps all over the city to be trained for the attack on the other government. We basically got rid of the one ruling this part of the world. Took us some years and a lot of bloodshed but in the end, we succeeded. We hope for a less bloody solution the second time.”
The other government. There had always been just stories about it, as the countries ruled by it were an ocean away. In Tristan’s home country, everything had been ruled by a government that used androids as spies, soldiers, and peacekeepers. They looked like humans, acted like humans but were still lifeless machines. Androids were the tool to keep the citizens calm and obedient. It had worked for about 200 years. Only small communities had survived, completely isolated in the deserts. There were enough deserts to choose from, since the earth’s climate had changed drastically during the past few centuries.
But it was said that the other government was different. They had no androids wandering the streets. Instead, they had split their people into different groups: The wealthy, the poor workers and the test subjects. And the test subjects were apparently used to test drugs before they were used on the workers.
Tristan wasn’t sure if all that was actually the truth or just propaganda, to make life in his part of the world seem better. Maybe it was both.
”These are your living quarters”, the android said and pointed at a house that, despite being small, was still significantly bigger than the one Tristan and Joy had lived in all their lives. ”Food has already been provided. For now, you can rest but you will be picked up for training tomorrow morning.”
”But Joy can stay here?” A sudden fear that his sister would be recruited for fighting too rose up in Tristan’s chest. But the android immediately calmed him down.
”Of course. Forcing her to fight wouldn’t help anyone. As long as you keep your promise to support our cause, she will be safe and cared for.”
The low-key threat didn’t go unnoticed, but Tristan chose to not think about it too much. If it would keep Joy safe, he would follow these androids to hell.
”Hey, Joy”, he called out and woke up his sister. ”Do you want to check out what kind of food those machines got us?”
Joy laughed with excitement.
Picture taken from pixabay.com
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