Last Man On Earth When There Is No Earth ?

Planet Rooster, Gram city, Seven

Although I could still feel the burns from earlier the rest of the day went smoothly. It took about half an hour for us to arrive to the tech street -temporary name- which felt a lot shorter, probably has something to do with Lilia and I holding hands.

My heart was pounding the whole time, and not in a cute 'doki doki' way. Even with all my efforts to hide the embarrassment I felt stupid blushing while keeping a straight pokerface, and not to mention the sweat! she probably thinks I'm gross right now, she probably wants to get the hell out of here, too much for taking a long bath.

but it appears I had nothing to worry about as Lilia didn't complain, not even once, and surprisingly she seemed to enjoy her time.

The shop we decided on was on the second floor of a four story building. I almost went into the one beneath it, there were no stairs outside so I concluded that there is a way somewhere inside. Lilia pulled me back asking were I'm going, then pointed to a small circle on the ground beside a sign board. upon stepping into it three rings of light surrounded us and three seconds later we began raising up. anti-gravity elevators apparently are common since they take less space and are easier to use, but they can't handle too much weight and are only able to go short distances. compared to my expectations it gave the feeling of a solid surface underneath my feet rather than floating through the air, likstanding on a glass floor.

the door was automated, sliding to the side letting us step in then closing after. the manager, a browny Zesionien male, moved only his eyes from the rectangular tablet like device to us, my brain reflexively surrounded him with menacing sound effects. The first impression he gave wasn't very business appropriate but he turned out to be a friendly fellow. he showed us a number of the newest models, explained each of their functions then brought out some of the murch made by none Zesioniens.

It shouldn't be surprising that the first thing I thought of was mobile games, but at that instant Iris apeared from thin air before me saying there is no such thing as video games on those, and probably the same for the others, so I better not embarrass Lilia by asking.

on the reflecting surface of the device in my hand I watched my expression change from calm to horrified as this ghost explained that it's not just mobiles, games like the ones she saw in my memories were something never heard of in Zesion, and that probably goes for the other four planets and any other planet dealing in Rooster. the closest thing she could think of was combat simulators, a room sized machine used for training, like a virtual reality set.

There are some tabletop and board games like chess, Then there are sports, but most Zesioniens prefer unchained fights in the arena. she said that the reason is probably the struggle people have to go through to gain their place in society, and humans had it way too easy to be able to spend precious time on useless things.

though that isn't exactly true, what she said wasn't wrong. while some people had easy lives and nothing to worry about others had to struggle to keep bread on the table. while some slept peacefully at night others kept watch for aerial raids. while some went to school chasing their dreams some had to fight for their freedom against oppressors who thought they owned everything. life on earth wasn't fair, human greed made it that way, and although I had it easy myself I'm glad they are all dead.

Back on track, I took on Iris's advice and bought a model similar to that of Lilia's, the brand has a record of the best security programs and long lasting power cells.

I learned about a certain planet after pointing out how those devices look outdated compared to what I expected from this time, when talking about futuristic gadgets a hand held device seemed like something from two thousand years ago. The shop owner explained me a certain law established by the intergalactic alliance prohibited any and all direct implantation of machinery and electronics without a medical certificat. there are exceptions like the translation ch.i.p.s required for interstellar travelers, but everything else is heavily monitored.

the reason for that is the technological revolution that happened fifteen hundred years ago when some planets saw a rapid growth in the application of electronics in the military and medical sections. three civilizations were whipped out due to artificial intelligence taking control, two of them were destroyed along with their homeworld, the third developed too quickly and had to be left alone. that's how the source of most artificial life forms named 'Nova' gained influence around it's space sector.

apparently this is something I should already know since I'm an artificial life form -on paper- but the owner was kind enough to not prey into personal matters.

being a hand held device didn't mean this smartphone like thing doesn't have some advanced capabilities. first if all the screen is only used as a scanner for fingerprints and other things, to complete the purchase I had to slide the identity card oldman Blitz made for me on the screen, two beeps later two lines of text saying the transaction is complete and showing the sum that got transferred on a small half transparent window. the text was obviously in Zesionien, so I turned to Lilia asking her what they meant although ghost girl already did the only useful thing she capable of, and I don't mean roosting me. having my own personal offline translator is good and all but I have to learn at least one written language soon so I would be able to deal with the business related to my own planet.

....

This reminds me of the first smartphone I ever got. It was a time when my parents still remembered my existence, enough to send me a birthday present at least. those days the market was still young and not many companies had their products out, but a touchscreen was a revolution back then.

One thing to be thankful about is the existence of music players, it appears Zesioniens aren't totally hopeless. moments after we left the shop we ended up returning to get a pair of headphones, as for the music itself I would have to visit certain shops and get the playlists I want from their library.

the 'book ' is able to record high definition images and videos, and it's internal storage space allows for years of data to fit in. I'm still not too familiar with the measurements Zesioniens use but let's say this small rectangle can handle hundreds of zeta-bits at least.

Now that we are done with everything we had on the list we have enough time to sightsee until Lilia's new spear arrives. But it was here were we noticed there isn't really much to see on this planet. well, everything should seem new to a human like me, but I can't think of anywhere to go to in this situation. using my newly acquired 'book' I searched the map -shared from Lilia's- to see if there is anything interesting, but nope, not at all. Iris wasn't joking when she said there is no attractions in Zesionien colonies, now that I think about it the only thing Lilia did when trapped alone on Gorgola was reading books when not looking for ship wrecks. it would take some time but after I finally learn the Zesionien language I can turn to programming and make my own games for this 'book'. I'm well aware that by doing that I would probably lead their whole species to ruins, just like humanity, but I can't believe they made such hardware and the only thing they added to it was a music player. I have to enlighten them.

while surfing the map I got an aerial view of the city and it's center immediately caught my attention. wherever you look from you would get this illusion that the buildings got bigger up to the center where a number of skyscr.a.p.ers stood, but on the map it seems there is a huge open space between them forming a big circle. the place is named 'central park' and as the name suggests it's a park in the center of the city, couldn't they come up with a more innovative name?

of course a small park in such a place poked my curiosity so hard that I forgot the disappointment of games not existing on my new smartphone, and after checking out with Lilia we decided to take a look.

The air traffic became visible the further in we went, and I finally got to see one of the usual science fiction scenes with all the cars suspended in midair forming lines in every direction between the huge buildings. funny thing though is the cleanliness of the air and ground even with all those vehicles in one place, guess Zesioniens aren't so stupid as to suffocate themselves with burned fossil fuel. On that note it appears that there isn't much of a crowd around this area, at least not on the ground, the buildings also had one entrance and no windows until fourty feet high. I wasn't interested enough to ask but it kinda felt weird for such a street to be so empty.

we walked through one of the back alleys and my expectations were let down once more when no thiefs or thugs showed up, then at the end we found a tall fence across a thin road. The fence was Eight feet tall made of half transparent green plates of solid light, it looked like normal glass but normal glass shouldn't be able to float like that. Visible from beyond the mysterious fence are lines of what could be called trees covered in green from the trunk to the tip of every brunch.

the entrance was right behind the corner, a good fifteen minutes from where we were, but the atmosphere made me feel like those times as a kid going to explore alone.

the entrance faced a spacious street were people from different races walked, though few in number most of them had children with them and here and there you could see someone pushing a hovering baby cart.

the park itself, now that we are standing inside, gave off such a refreshing feeling as though I was standing inside the forests of that godforsaken planet. after a few steps in I noticed Lilia looking up in a daze, the reason for that is the night sky that followed us through the way to this place no longer being there, instead a clear blue sky enveloped us and the skyscr.a.p.ers we left behind seemed to have disappeared. As she looked through her book for an explanation she began to giggle, saying I must have had a lot on my mind for not noticing it quicker. The city guide provided us with some vague information; to keep those trees named 'Ghodr' which typically grow in Zesion a synthetic sun was installed in the aria to provide the necessary illumination, the barrier that makes up the sky and covers the whole park prevents light from reaching outside creating the illusion of the city disappearing.

the greenery here helps cleaning the air in the city, and in contrast the day time here never ends.

I admit that I never liked parks, it's no secret that I hated going outside. currently I have no memories of any time I spent in a place like this, not when I was little, nor when I grew up, I'm sure my parents never bothered taking me, and I don't think I ever had friends to play with, not to mention the chance of a girl I could go on a date with. what I thought are images I saw with my own eyes turned out to be a few scenes from beyond a screen, or at best one of the times I got beaten by some bullies.

If I had the choice I would probably lock myself somewhere and work on games for the 'book', but now I have Lilia with me, and a certain parasite that won't let me hear the end of it.

it's good and all having some quiet time with Lilia, but as we walked holding hands the number of people passing us decreased and at some point we were left completely alone. My heart switched gears and began pumping blood at a speed similar to last night, I turn to look at Lilia and find her blushing, but unlike me she seemed to be handling the situation well.

that was when it hit me, when Iris explained the strange sickening feeling I suffered from for the past few days she told me I needed to hit a few things in order to get rid of it.

hitting things... working out... increasing blood circulation...

does that mean the other method she talked about, the method that makes the process easier is just making my heart beat so fast by spending time so close to Lilia? she knew by reading my memories that I never held hands before and used that against me... well I can't really say it's against me but to trick me like this....

now that I know this I felt the tension leaving my head, but I still could feel my hand sweating. The silence we had for sometime now returned us to the start, and the awkward atmosphere returned.

Lilia was the first to broke the ice by mention that whoever was following us has withdrawn, I was skeptical about it at first thinking that it's just the eyes of jealousy, but Lilia seems to have noticed the presence of someone tailing us ever since we left the hotel. A stalker, the thing we needed the least right now. I'm not too worried about this, whoever he/she is they are most likely after Lilia, and Lilia is more than capable of handling herself, if they plan anything funny a few punches and voila!

when I told her that she was reminded of the bracelets I had her use instead of a spear, which led her to asking me if I'm feeling well.

I said that I'm all better new, thanks to her, and got a giggle is response. She said I'm strange and that she didn't do anything, I had the courage to tell her how just being here with me is more than enough but my line of thoughts was cut.

we arrived at the center of the park , a circular space covered in stone and surrounded by bushes and trees. a few wooden benches -or whatever that material is- were placed here and there, but the thing standing out the most was something else.

A low metallic fence surrounding a statue of a man, a Zesionien man. he wasn't as buff as the usual Zesioniens, but still had more muscles than your average muscly human.

in his right hand a round shield was strapped, and in the other he held banner, behind him a flapping flag was suspended with no motion.

For a statue made from rock the scene captured looked strangely alive, and although the praise should go for the craftsman who made it I find myself admiring the man this statue represents.

Iris was the first to recognize him, and soon after Lilia told me who he was after reading the description in the guide

The man is 'Gram the traitor', a great warrior who served the the second empress of Zesion. being from a rare line of Zesioniens famous for their dark skin and makes having superior physical strength he managed to steal the empress's heart making her wanting him for herself, but Gram didn't want any part of that. he was in love with one of the maids and had the intention of asking the empress to give them her blessing so they could get married. the empress was enraged but chose to hide it, promising him her blessing, but only if he fulfilled a task she gave him.

a rebellion raised against the empress, and their forces became a threat to be wary of. A lot of people weren't happy under her rule, they saw her as evil to get rid of, and their numbers didn't stop at a few. If he brought her the heads of their leaders she would then grant him wherever he wanted.

a few months passed and Gram returned victorious, only to find that his beloved died. it didn't take him long to learn that the empress asked for her murder, and overcome with rage Gram went through the castle killing everyone in his way.

he averaged the maid, killing the empress in her throne, and by doing that he unintentionally freed the people from the evil ruler.

even though he was hailed as a hero Gram was banished for treason, and years later his brethren followed him to the dead planet Rooster.

not the most amazing of stories, an evil ruler and a hero avenging the woman he loved. it's the story of how Gram city came to be, but after hearing it I had one question; why was Gram banished?

Iris being the bookworm she is explained that the empress dying didn't mean the rebellion won. the next in line ruled wisely but had to banish not only Gram but all of his brethren.

like I said, not the most amazing of stories, if anything it's something you would have heard back on earth from a cringe filled historical drama. but I had to agree with Gram on one thing, if I had to choose between a maid and a queen, I would choose the maid.

I wonder how Lilia would look in a maid outfit, some may say it won't fit her cause she too gorgeous, but that won't stop me from wanting to see it.

okay, one more goal on the list, get a maid outfit!