Mikey winced as the headache in the side of his head become more acute while he turned his head. He did not cup the painful area; he already knew his hair was caked with his own blood there, and touching it would just startle the woman beside him.
Or rather android. Her face was so realistic that he forgot that sometimes.
The New Regime’s enormous “mowers,” as he had heard adults call them, had come to their remote little town and destroyed everything. Machines from the Old Regime had been built to last for a long time, and Mikey’s neighbor’s nanny android had survived the onslaught. She had gone in search of her charge, but so far, Mikey was the only living thing she had found.
Cool hands grasped his shoulder, and Mikey startled with a gasp. The brunette android cocked her head to the side, giving him a small smile.
“You were falling, Andy,” she said. “Do you need me to move you somewhere more comfortable?”
Mikey’s stomach turned, and he gulped to keep vomit down.
He had been confused when the android had insisted that was his name. She had gone so far as to scold him when he had corrected her. It was not until he had gotten better look at the side of her head that he had seen the dent that must have caused her to have some kind of malfunction, despite being made to be more hardy.
It bothered Mikey to think that she might have never helped him had she been able to recognize him as someone other than the boy she was supposed to be taking care of, but those thoughts were useless. She was still looking through the rubble for any survivors
Mikey forced a smile on his face.
“No, I’m just a little sleepy,” he said.
“You can sleep, but I will have to wake you every couple of hours because you might have a concussion.”
Mikey settled against the chunk of concrete behind him, trying not to move his head too much. The android had mentioned the concussion to him many times, and he did have to admit to having some of the symptoms: acute headache, drowsiness, nausea, and poor balance when he was left to walk by himself.
Still, it was strange to have her fussing over him when she thought he was somebody else.
“Thank you,” he said as she withdrew her hand from him, “for helping me.”
The android cocked her head to the side, and she chuckled at him.
“One is glad to be of service, little master.”
Mikey watched her turned back to pushing aside large chunks of debris, and his eyes drifted closed again.
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