Location: Agara, Mountains

The evening glow spilled through the air. A large number of huge airships flew above them, moving one behind another, as if returning to their docking spots after a day of work.

“This is so beautiful,” she murmured, stretching her arms slightly and looking at the house. The wood creaked under the gust of wind, and she spotted a few birds alighting nearby, chirping at her near the edge of the roof.

He paused, turning to look at her, and a warm smile spread across his face when he saw Echa mesmerized by the world he lived in.

“Kid,” he said in a relaxed and gentle voice, walking toward a pair of white wooden chairs and a small table set up near his garage. He tapped the back of one chair and looked over at her. “Come on, take a seat.”

Echa took a step toward him; her clothes fluttered in the wind, as did his. “You told me not to speak or ask anything until we reached this place. Why?” she asked him calmly, turning to look at the chair and him.

“Sure. First, why don’t you just take a seat? We can talk about it, kid,” he said, waiting for Echa to sit.

Echa slowly nodded, pulled out a chair, and sat down. He took a seat across from her.

“Why did you tell me not to speak on the way?” Echa asked, leaning back; her green eyes locked onto his.

“You can call me Sid. The reason I told you not to speak was that I hadn’t taken my memory unit with me.” He trailed off, pausing his sentence. “Which happens to be standing right beside you.”

“What?” Echa murmured, whipping her head to her side. A red-plated machine stood beside her; its optical sensors were red, and it spoke in a cheerful tone when Echa looked at it.

“Hello! I am Index… Sid’s assi~!” the machine chirped happily.

Echa leaped out of her chair in panic; the chair lost its balance, and she face-palmed on the grass. “Ouch,” she murmured, letting out an annoyed groan from where she dropped.

“What was that?” Echa murmured, slowly turning her head to look at it. Index moved toward her with a concerned expression displayed on its chassis. Meanwhile, Sid chuckled softly from his seat.

“You startled her,” Sid said, trying to contain his laughter but failing when he saw Echa’s reaction.

“Oh, I am sorry; I didn’t mean to,” Index replied. Its tone was mechanical but soft, its digital voice tinged with melancholy as it saw the greeting had not gone as planned.

“A machine? Wait, it’s his memory unit?” Echa stared at it for a moment. She let out a sigh and nodded as she stood up, brushing the dust off her back. “I didn’t see anything like that with Nila, though, nor did Oshna mention anything similar.”

“Okay, okay… let’s just forget that ever happened.” Her voice was quietly poised, determined to regain her dignity.

Echa walked back to Index and gave a gentle, curious poke on its chassis, prompting Index to display some soft, cute expressions. “That’s right!” Index turned to Sid. “It’s not a bad meeting after all.”

Index rolled backward a few inches, allowing Echa to pull her wooden chair up and sit down across from Sid once more.

“Well, I didn’t know there was a memory unit; Oshna didn’t mention them.” When Echa said this, Sid and Index looked at each other, and a moment of silence passed between them. “That there are similar variables like me out there.”

“Well, we all need a memory unit to survive the reset; it’s pretty common among everyone, kid. Most keep it integrated directly into their bodies,” Sid explained with a calm expression.

Listening to him, Echa gazed down at herself and touched her shoulder above her coat. “Memory unit… on my body?” she murmured.

“Kid, you are so funny; I meant within your code. By the way, what’s your name?” Sid asked, letting out a small laugh.

“Yeah! If you say it now, I can store it safely in my core,” Index said, rolling a few inches forward. “That way, Sid will remember you for as long as I am here.”

“I am Echa,” she said, before poking its chassis, and a genuine smile touched her lips.

The sun slowly dipped below the jagged mountain peaks, casting long shadows across the valley as the twilight settled. Only their voices lingered in the quiet evening air.