Serix waited until the human’s breathing evened out, telling him that she had fallen asleep. Then, he quietly opened his bag and took out the food he had been provided. He quickly found that, as it was dehydrated, it was inedible without water and the pilot hadn’t provided him with any. He sighed and put the food away. The pilot must have assumed the Scouts would find water on their own since the planet’s surface was covered with more than seventy percent of the stuff. Unfortunately, Serix had been too busy dealing with the human to go in search of water, so he couldn’t eat.

He glanced at the human’s makeshift shelves, where she said she kept her food. He [i]could[/i] take some from her stores, but he wasn’t entirely sure he could digest the same food that she could. Besides, there was always the chance she had poisoned it when she grabbed some for herself. There were too many variables. He would just have to go hungry.

Serix shifted to a more comfortable position and closed his eyes. In spite of his exhaustion, he couldn’t fall asleep. The Storm continued to rage outside and his imagination was running rampant. He couldn’t stop picturing the pilot somehow finding out what he did and reporting his treachery to the higher powers. Then his mind would come up with spectacular ways by which the higher powers would remove him. Eventually, however, Serix managed to drift off into a fitful sleep.

--

[i]It’s too quiet.[/i]

That was Serix’s first thought when he woke up the next morning. He panicked for a second, thinking that the human had escaped while he was unconscious. His worries were put to rest when he saw the human dozing in her bed, right where she was before. He exhaled. At least she hadn’t slipped away on him. Still, she could have sabotaged his weapon or gear so he double checked all of his equipment while he waited for her to wake up. Everything was untouched.

Serix heard the human stir on the other side of the vessel. She was waking up. After a few minutes, he heard her get out of the bed and walk down the aisle to where he was sitting. When she caught sight of him, her eyes widened in surprise and she let out a high-pitched yelp, jumping back from him. Her reaction caught Serix by surprise as well, so he flinched at the flurry of movement.

[b]“What a way to wake someone up. I need to work on waking up more alert,”[/b] she said irritably, walking over to one of the windows to look outside. Serix couldn’t help the amused smile that tugged at his lip when he realized she had forgotten he was there. He stood up and stretched to get his blood flowing, then began to gather his things. He hesitated when his eyes fell upon the Silencer. This was the day he would complete the human genocide. He picked up the weapon.

[b]“The storm stopped. We can head off to the robotics storage now,”[/b] the human was saying. [b]“The storage is actually in the city, in the basement of the tallest building. Not so much a hiding place, but hey, it was something.”[/b] She grabbed a container of water and tossed him one as well. He wordlessly accepted it, packing it into his bag for later use. He made a mental note to check it for signs of poison later.

[b]“Come on, we have a long walk ahead of us,”[/b] the human called back to him. She was already at the door. Serix followed her out, still saying nothing. He kept a close eye on her in case she tried to make any last ditch attempts to run away.

Serix let her lead him further into the city for a while. His finger twitched on the trigger of the Silencer. He was divided in two. Part of him wanted to kill her now and get it over with, while another part of him argued that it wasn’t the right time; that he should wait for the ideal moment. But he knew he was just postponing the inevitable. He stopped walking.

“I’m glad,” Serix said. The human stopped as well and turned to face him when he caught her attention. “I’m glad not all of the humans died in that wretched Plague. I’m glad I got to meet one of your kind face to face.” He lifted his eyes to meet her gaze. His expression was chillingly emotionless. “My only regret is that I’ll be the one to end your species.” He raised the Silencer, aiming straight at her heart. The motion was swift enough that the human wouldn’t have had time to flee.

Then he pulled the trigger.

There was a bright flash of blue and her body crumpled to the ground with a sickening thud. Serix had to look away. The weapon slipped from his fingers and clattered to his feet. He stared down at it in shock. Thinking about killing her had been hard enough, but actually going through with the act had taken all of his willpower. He felt strangely empty. He forced himself to look at the human’s collapsed figure. [i]What have I done?[/i] cold dread swept over him. [i]I just annihilated the last of an incredible race of beings.[/i]

Serix took a shaky step towards the human. He slowly walked over to her body and crouched beside it. With no physical damage, she looked like she was just sleeping. He had a sudden irrational urge to check if she was really dead. He shook his head. Of course she was dead. No human could survive a shock from a Silencer. Their hearts were too fragile to withstand the voltage. Still, he found himself reaching to feel for a pulse beneath her chin.

As he suspected, Serix felt nothing. She was gone. He was about to pull his hand away when something caught him off guard. One beat. Then two. His own heart began to pound faster. How was this possible? There was no way she could still be alive after taking a direct hit from the Silencer. It was impossible. His mind reeled. Just what [i]was[/i] this human?