*
Eventually, the slope flattened out, delivering them into the valley proper. It was a beautiful place, only marred by the ever-present feeling of unease. It was as if the whole valley was tensed up, waiting for the pollution to roll down it's emerald slopes and devour it. The group of tired travellers had picked up on this feeling of foreboding, but the out-of-place smoke and the arrival of Spectre had shuffled it to the back of their thoughts. Now that everything had calmed down, the feeling crept forward, bringing an almost visible gloom to the atmosphere. Thankfully, it was not overly invasive, allowing the group to easily push it back into the recesses of their minds.
After another half-hour of slow, ponderous walking, they came upon a small, glacier-fed stream. It ran down from the northern mountains, beyond which it was said that an endless, frozen wasteland ran existed. However, with the pollution and the war having changed the environment and the lay of the land, it was impossible to be certain of its existence. For all they knew, the frozen wasteland was now a sea, or a desert, or a rainforest. Truly, anything was possible in their dying world.
“How about we rest here for a bit? I don't know about all of you, but my feet feel like they are about to fall off!” Kingston spoke with a smile on his face, but it was apparent that he still had his reservations about heading towards the smoke. Even if he was only using his fatigue as an excuse to slow their progress, the fact remained that they were tired from the long walk. Even with the energy gained from the ç'aether, they had still been moving almost non-stop since Barsch was injured, and it showed.
Barsch, who had been unconscious for a large portion of that journey, did not look quite as tired as the others, but he had had his own share of problems to deal with, leaving him emotionally and mentally tired. Alza hid it the best, but small things, like the speed at which she put her things down and sat gave hints of her true stamina. Kingston, having nothing to gain from hiding his fatigue, sat down in stages, each accompanied by a curse against his old, worn out body. And finally, Maloch, the only member of the group with no muscles to strain, or ligaments to tear, was obviously not as tired as the others. However, that is not to say that he felt no weariness whatsoever. He was a machine, meaning that he had to recharge his core fairly often, a feat he had neglected to do due to recent events. And, unlike muscles and ligaments, which could heal if damaged, his metal body had no such ability. Every scrape, every dent, every impact left a lasting wound, which over time weakened his overall structural integrity.
As they lay there, the midday sun bathing them in warmth, Kingston couldn't help but think back on their journey so far. He cast his mind back to that fateful day, when that single line of code had changed his life: “Error detected in pod containing HUM-7728, emergency ejection detected.”
He could still remember the way panic and fear had taken hold of him, causing him to rush out of his hut without thought. He had run like a man possessed, knowing that everything would end once he reached the station and saw the empty pod. But no matter what happened, he had to confirm it with his own eyes. He had to see the body, he had to be certain that it was him. He had failed. He had failed her. He had failed them all. Those thoughts looped through his head, one after the other, as he grew closer to the station.
And then, as he stopped in a small clearing to catch his breath, against all reason, he had seen Him. Barsch, HUM-7728, lying there, as still as a corpse. Without even stopping to think how he could have possibly found his way there, Kingston had scooped him up. Time had stopped as he placed his head on the boy's chest, hoping, praying that it was not too late. And then, for the first time in his life, Fate smiled upon Kingston.
The boy's heartbeat had been heard, faint and weak, but there nonetheless. At the time, the girl lying beside Barsch had elicited only a minor gasp of surprise, but Kingston should have taken the time to see her for what she really was. Perhaps if he had, perhaps if he had left her in that glade, instead of taking her with him... then things might have turned out differently. But now was not the time to question his decisions from the past, it was time to consider what decisions he would have to make in the future.
While Kingston pondered the past, Barsch thought about the future.
“We're so close now, I can almost see it. We'll just march up to the madman, put him in his place, and then we'll be heading home. Hah! I wish things were really that easy... but this is reality, which means that nothing is ever simple. I mean, even crossing a bridge or wading through a river can be life-threatening activities, especially if one is unlucky. But, let's just say that everything goes well and we save the day, then what? Where do we go from here? Where do I go from here? I mean, it's not like stopping the madman is going to magically clean up the planet. In the end, our world is still dying, and the only people who can fix it will be frozen for another five centuries! And even if we knew how to fix everything, could anyone in the group actually do it? I'm just a kid, Kingston's still very sick, Alza probably doesn't care, and it's not Maloch's problem.”
Barsch, lying on the soft grass, listened for the nearby sound of running water. It was one of the few things that seemed to calm him down, along with birdsong and the smell of datura inoxia, the moonflower. It had been his mother's favourite, according to his father. However, he had neither seen nor heard any birds since leaving Carçus, and moonflowers were almost impossible to find in this part of the world. So the sound of bubbling brooks and water-hitting-rock would just have to do.
“Okay, instead of thinking about the large-scale problems, how about I worry about things that I can actually do something about. For instance, where am I going to go if everything works out?”
Barsch, still lost in thought, allowed his lazy eyes to drift over to where his companions lay. “Assuming that they would want me, I could always stick around with one of them, although I don't think that Maloch and I would have much in common, and I doubt I would be able to keep up with him. Kingston? He's great and all, but... he won't be around forever... and I've already asked so much of him. Alza? Well, it would be an adventure, that's for sure, but then again, would she want me around?”
Barsch's thoughts were in disarray, as he tried to work out the conundrum set before him. Of course, the peaceful surroundings and calm atmosphere made it hard to think about such hard and depressing things, but he knew that it was now or never. Of course, he could always just return to Genesis Station 13 and re-enter his pod -after Kingston and Maloch fixed it- and go back to sleep. And in roughly five hundred years, he would awaken to a world reborn, where words like “pollution” and “ç'aether” had no meaning. But that would mean leaving Kingston, Maloch and Alza behind. He would never see them again, and eventually, his memories of them would fade and become distorted by age and guilt, until they would become mere blurs in his mind. But was that truly the only way? The more he thought about it, the less sense it made.
“Why am I the only one who can be frozen? What is there to stop Kingston and Alza from finding and using pods of their own? And Maloch was built to last a thousand years, so he could easily just power down and wait for a few centuries. And that way, we could all experience that glorious future together! Still... convincing them might be hard, since Kingston refused to be frozen in the past, and Alza would lose all hope of discovering who she was... unless someone she knew were also frozen? I guess it'd be possible to coerce them into doing it, but I would have to choose my moment carefully. Perhaps once we've taken care of the madman, when everyone is in a good mood? It's definitely something to take into consideration...”
“Alright, I think that is long enough! If we want to make it to the source of the smoke, which may or may not be where the madman lives, we should get ready to leave.”
Kingston's tone indicated that he was annoyed with the situation, but it was obvious that he had resigned himself to their plan of action. Barsch, still undecided on his plan, decided to wait until after they had accomplished their mission to choose. Alza and Malo
ch did not seem particularly troubled about leaving the riverbank, and were the first to leave. Barsch followed soon after, while Kingston lingered for a moment. A strange look, similar to apprehension but with a hint of guilt, changed his elderly features.
Did he regret asking Barsch for help, all that time ago? Did he hate himself for letting Barsch accompany him to Carçus? Did he pity himself, for being too weak, for failing them. The answers to these questions were unknown, even to Kingston, but nevertheless, they were asked. Finally, along with the mysterious girl, the loyal re-mech, and the luckless boy, Kingston left the flowing stream.
Awakening Page 213