Inside the underground shelter hidden in the fringe of the Wastes.
Seated in the sofa in his living room, Leon held a mug of coffee that he ordered that morning all the way from Gary and Mary’s restaurant.
While he took his ti to sip and savor the coffee, he also kept his gaze on a holographic screen that was floating in front of him.
An invisible C-5 drone followed the modified Truck with Butler, and through it, Leon was able to live-track how the exchange was going.
Through it, he watched as the soldiers climbed out of the helicopter. Seeing only unfamiliar faces, he was about to heave a sigh of relief and smile till the 7th soldier ca out.
Pffft!
Leon almost poured his coffee away, then he grimaced.
’You just had to co, huh?’
...
Unlike the other soldiers who helped with carrying the containers and loading them inside the helicopter, Sergeant Tyla who was the highest-ranking soldier of this crew went straight towards the chanic.
She had a stern and murderous look on her face but the mont she ca close to see his face clearly, she beca perplexed.
"A robot?" She sounded confused, but only for a few seconds.
The mont Tyla realized what was happening, her face darkened as she confronted the robot. "Where is he?" She snarled.
Her current image did not fit the soft-spoken and loving Sergeant Tyla that Leon rembered at all.
Back in the shelter, a certain chanic shrunk.
But Butler was unfazed though as he calmly faced the Gene Augur. "Good afternoon Sergeant Tyla, my na is Butler".
"It’s nice to finally et you", he extended his gloved chanical right hand for a handshake with the Sergeant.
Sergeant Tyla stared at the black gloved hand, feeling slightly stunned at just how normal this robot seed.
She scowled. "What is this? Is this his way of avoiding ?"
"By the way, how did he even create sothing like you?" She finally touched Butler’s face, feeling him.
The more she felt, the more stunned she beca. "Is this even legal? This feels like disrespect towards Synths and A.I Constructs".
Butler grinned. "I’ll take that as a complint for my master. Fortunately, we’re not in Federation territory so no one can sue my master for creating ".
Sergeant Tyla was dumbfounded, but then she scowled again. "That darned A.I is the one controlling you, right? Davis, tell where the shelter is now or I won’t forgive you!"
Butler was unfazed though. "Madam Sergeant, I am Butler, Davis is Davis, please don’t mistake the two".
Sergeant Tyla scowled even deeper, then she scoffed and looked at the empty sky. "I know your style, I know you’re watching this coward".
She chuckled. "Don’t worry. One day, I’m going to find that shelter where you’re hiding like a coward and I’m going to find you".
"Hoho," she laughed sarcastically. "You better pray for that day not to co too quickly, you will cry and gnash your teeth in anguish".
"That much I promise".
After that, Sergeant Tyla gave the middle finger to the empty sky before turning around and storming off towards the helicopter.
By then, the helicopter’s cargo hold was already filled up with the containers as Butler finally turned his attention to the new shipnt.
The 4 freshly dropped crates were large, too heavy to simply lint into the truck. So instead of straining his carbon-fiber musculature, Butler unfolded a set of collapsible wheel carts that were stored along the truck’s side rails.
He slid the carts beneath each crate, locking the magnetic brackets into place and securing them.
With this done, the crates now rolled easily across the dust.
Soon all four cargo loads trailed neatly behind the vehicle, secured and balanced for transport.
The helicopter crew finally signaled completion.
Tututututu...!
As the helicopters rotors spun faster, making the air vibrate louder, Butler turned towards the helicopter and waved at the crew.
Sergeant Tyla responded by giving him the middle finger.
In response, Butler gave her a polite and respectful smile which looked kind of off in his chanical face.
The aircraft finally lifted off the ground, making dust to spiral upward as it rose above the clearing before moving toward the distant horizon and soon disappearing into the empty sky.
Silence returned to the wasteland.
Butler stayed there, making sure that the helicopter was truly gone, only then did he reenter the Truck and switched on the engine.
VROOM!
The Truck finally started its return journey deep into the fringe of the Wastes.
Behind it, the four cargo crates rolled smoothly across the barren ground on their wheeled carts.
Butler added more pressure on the accelerator, pushing the Truck to accelerate as it left a new dust trail that stretched across the barren wilderness filled with relics of an old era and scrapyards.
Within minutes it vanished into the rocks.
...
Inside the underground shelter...
"Phew!" Leon heaved a sigh of relief, wiping off imaginary sweat from his forehead the mont the exchange between Butler and Sergeant Tyla ca to an end.
Concerning the Sergeant, he was not yet sure what he truly felt for her and it made him feel complex, plaguing him with guilt.
’F*ck! I wish I was like Daren,’ he lanted.
The pressure and non-stop war of the 13 days inside the Trial World ant he didn’t have the luxury to think about his crazy experiences with the Sergeant, but after he completed the Trial and beca a D Rank chanist, his life was no longer in danger.
This lack of urgency and threat to his life beca the breeding ground for him to start overthinking about those events all over again.
This was why since becoming a D Rank chanist, he had been avoiding her.
Knowing her, a hunch told him that she would take matters into her own hands and find a way to insert herself into the exchange crew just to et him. For the past few days, this was his greatest fear.
Lo and behold, he was right.
Fortunately, he rembered to create Butler.
Leon leaned back on the sofa chair and sighed, but before he could lant further, his smartphone rang with a new notification.
BEEP!
{NEW! Unread ssage from Sergeant Tyla!}
"..."
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