It takes two days to journey through the land.

It’s a journey that, according to the navi on my band, would have taken an hour at most by any means of transport.

Through the past two days the routine stays the same. Travel at daylight, try to sleep at night. But even that is becoming more difficult.

I have no idea what I look like now but I’m certain I look as messed up as I feel. It’s gotten harder to sleep.

The Fei food packs are becoming less of a bargain and more of a burden. I’m not sure the exact consequences of continuously poisoning myself with alien food but, it’s certainly keeping me up at night, even more so than the mutant beasts Four-Seven has to smite.

But I’m starting to think the journey might as well been worth it.

After two days in a reality that ought to be a horror, Four-Seven and I have finally come up on them, the ones firing the cannon.

Throughout the time we travelled I felt more than a bit reluctant to take breaks, I kept worrying that they’d move on with their cannon. But fortunately, they didn’t.

Instead, they kept firing that cannon at an interval of about every three hours. Four-Seven thinks the cannon is the type that has a long cool down or likely a large power source to operate.

I don’t much care, so far as I get to see humans and hopefully, eat normal fucking food for once.

The scene is one of collapse and destruction, much like everything else in between and far off ahead; all there is are memories of a past civilisation.

Four-Seven and I kept our distance for now, as much as I’d like to run up to them with my arms spread wide and tears rolling down my cheek, Four-Seven makes a good point; that cannon could be pointed at us.

As he described them with his telescopic vison, they’re in tatters even more than I, malnourished and high on hysterics. There’s barely any order and worse…they’re camped on an old police station.

Seeing as everyone and their grandma has some weapon or the other, it’s safe to assume there isn’t much love lost in the group.

The only thing keeping them together now is…the large black completely unscathed block of metal embedded in the earth.

It looks like the object that came flying through the atmosphere when I landed, I wonder what’s in it…and so do they.

For now, we wait an hour for the next cannon fire and observe the group. There’s a lot of shouting, screaming and crying but for the most part, it seems like they’ve got their priorities straight.

First priority being their safety. There are a lot of mutants lurking around even in this daylight, it’s become troublesome to travel because of them and even more troublesome to stay in a single place, you’ve got to be alert.

But I wonder what they’re doing about food, water and the radiation. I took a RR’s a week ago, before any of this happened so I’m safe for about two more days before my body starts absorbing it all.

I’m fine with falling over, convulsing and popping like bubble-gum but what about them?

It’s been nearly five days since I landed, since the orbital bombardment stopped. Even if they survived all that, the radiation must be killing them even as they fire at that block of black metal.

Those screams…the wailing…the crying. It must be the radiation.

“Xerai,” Four-Seven taps my shoulder, “They’re getting ready to fire the cannon.”

The cannon is…a single long tube crudely supported and aimed at the metal block by chipped off blocks. As suspected, there’s a power source.

It’s a battery taken out of the Police blimp, those type of batteries usually recharge themselves with time so the cooldown period for the cannon fire is understandable. The output of the cannon must be at the barest minimum though, that battery can only supply so much power.

“There’s a man, and another and a woman and another.”

Since my eyesight can only tell me there are moving figures in the distance, I’ve got to rely on Four-Seven to describe what’s happening down there…he isn’t the best with descriptions I’ve learned.

He isn’t a surveillance droid either so I can’t exactly ask for a holo of what’s going down.

“What are they doing?”

“The man is shouting at the other men and women. They are running back in, they’re bringing something out…” he trails off, not much happening, I guess.

They must be about to fire the cannon though, that much is obvious.

“The men and women that ran back in have come out with something. It is glowing. It is hot. They are in pain. It is radioactive.”

Radioactive material? Where did they get that!

I know the world has gone to shit but still, some things should be hard to find. “Where did they get it from, Four-Seven? Why didn’t you sense that objects radiation?”

“They got it from inside. There is too much radiation in the atmosphere to properly distinguish the presence or source of new radiation, it’s all…jumbled up, Mother.”

Again, with calling me mother. “Just…keep telling me what’s happening.” I breathe.

He nods and looks back at the scene, “They have crudely attached the radiative material into the Police blimp battery core, it seems they intend to increase the output of the cannon’s fire in attempts to damage that metal block.”

What the hell? Are these people crazy? They must really want to die, working with radiative material, planting it next to a battery with a completely different and likely volatile composition next to said radioactive material?

What are they thinking? You can’t just…you can’t!

“They think they are successful.” Four-Seven’s voice almost bares a hint of amusement at their attempts, I can’t blame him for finding it funny. It’d make me roll over laughing too if the situation weren’t so dire.

“They are getting ready to fire. The man that yelled at everyone is yelling again.”

The man yells for a few more minutes like this and I wait...wait for the highly likely explosion that’ll envelope everyone of them if that battery reacts poorly with that material.

Some things should be kept apart and yet, but these people…are they so desperate? What do they think is in there even? What do they think is in that block of metal, nearly the size of a large car will be?

I’m conflicted. The more time passes the more I feel poorly for not acting, for not screaming ‘Hey! You idiots are going to blow yourselves up!’

 Or at least something like that. A warning, a caution, a word for the wise if there are any down there.

But in the end…I stood still and I know why.

“They are firing.” Four-Seven notes.

The light from the slim tubed sliver cannon is easy to discern even for my eyes. Its’s a bright flash followed by a terrible sounding machine trill.

And then…

BOOOOOMM!

The blast from the cannon is even brighter, reminiscent of the split-second instant a star implodes but only reminiscent, it fails to carry the same danger. The blast kicks up rubble in all directions as it slams against the metal block.

The metal block however…is unmoved, completely unfazed and unscathed by the blinding attack. The blast lasts all of five seconds before petering out of existence; power completely spent.

In the end…not a single crack can be seen on the surface of the metal block. Something that’s highly suspicious.

“Okay…I think we can go down and meet them now, Four-Seven.”

He nods and steps off the broken pillar he sat on and falls beside me, “I don’t think they’re very friendly people.”

“I don’t think so either…be on your guard and don’t reveal yourself as my protector until I tell you to, alright?” Aside from the fact that I want to be seen as harmless, I also don’t want any unwanted attention.

The sort of attention I’d get from having a Saeon following me around. There’s also the fact that…Four-Seven can destroy what ever that metal block is and with their obsession…

I wouldn’t want to hurt anyone.