“You humans are odd,” Serix shook his head. “How can you use temperatures to describe something as impressive or attractive?” He gave Cassie an estranged look. “And to describe an attractive person as [i]hot[/i]? You have strange taste. Usually when one’s temperature rises, they start sweating. Maybe you humans are different, but the excretion of bodily toxins does absolutely nothing for me.”

Cassie went on to explain the inventions of her parents. She always seemed a bit more reserved – vague, even – when talking about her mother, Serix noticed. At first, he had assumed it was because they were never close, but with the admiring way in which Cassie spoke about her just now, he wasn’t so sure. Well, whatever the case, it didn’t matter. She could keep her secrets.

“This is a much better location,” Serix agreed when Cassie said she was planning to live in the robotics storage. “I doubt even I would have found it if you hadn’t shown me the entrance, and you had already given me an idea of where to look.” He followed her out the door of the cockpit when she got up to leave. “Besides, the others are probably too busy exploring the surface to try searching below ground.”

There was a brief pause, and then Cassie spoke again. [b]“So… what happened to you after you left the airport? You said I probably wouldn't see you again and yet I did. What exactly went down when you went to the ship? And what did you do to mess up your arm?”[/b]

“I said I [i]might[/i] not come back,” Serix corrected her as they descended the staircase. “I never said for certain that you wouldn’t see me again.” He hesitated, unsure if he wanted to tell her the truth. He didn’t want to drag her into his problems, but… in a way, he already had. He sighed in resignation. She might as well know what was going on.

“I went back to report at the ship,” Serix said. “Everything went fine. All of the Scouts were accounted for, we all received new food rations and sample containers, and then we were sent on our way. It all went according to plan… but the report itself wasn’t why I said I might not come back.” He stopped walking at the base of the stairs, holding Cassie’s blue-eyed gaze with his own violet stare. “First, I think I should fill you in on something that I’ve been avoiding to tell you. You may have already figured this out on your own, but my pilot gave us specific instructions to kill any surviving humans on site. That’s why I tried to…” he cleared his throat awkwardly and looked away. “In any case, you’re still alive, and I’ve done nothing about it. By letting you go on living, I’m blatantly disregarding my orders. That’s an act of treason in my society.

“Up until now, I’d never heard of anyone disobeying an authority like this. I never imagined it ever happening. Everyone always did what they were told because our leaders know what’s best for us. My mother was an example of what would happen if anyone went against the word of higher powers. She lost her life when she disobeyed her orders.” He looked at Cassie again. “But then you told me about the possibility of human-sympathizers among my people. If you’re right, then there used to be more Lunairans who thought our leaders were wrong. It was exciting to think there could be a whole group with different ideals than the rest of my society.

“But then I started to realize something else. Even if there were human-sympathizers, where did they all go? It’s like they vanished without a trace. The leaders in my society must have gotten rid of them. That’s the conclusion I’ve come to.” A bitter smile crossed his lips. “Now, here I am harboring what could quite possibly by the last human being. Of course I thought I was going to be caught when I went back to the ship. I just got lucky. The first intercom I was wearing malfunctioned somehow, so my pilot didn’t know my whereabouts and he couldn’t hear us talking. And now I got lucky again.” He spread his arms in a shrug. “That big magnet destroyed my second intercom. The pilot is blind to everything we’re doing yet again. You must bring good fortune or something, Cassie.

“Oh right,” Serix looked at the bandage on his arm. “I ran into some of those four-legged creatures again. You still have my Silencer, so I had to fight them off without it. It’s no big deal.” He specifically left out the part where he had climbed a tree to run away from the beasts.

At that moment, Serix’s stomach let out a loud growl, and he remembered that he hadn’t eaten anything in almost two days. He felt heat rise to his face and he looked down at the floor, reaching up with one hand to scratch the back of his neck in embarrassment. “One other thing. Do you… have any food?”