The button was near the back side of it's neck. It was oval in shape and easy to miss. As soon as Max saw it, he thought that it was meant to be the button that switches it on.
When he pressed the button, every single light, on the robot's body, began glowing. It shined in a very faint green way, sometimes flickering as if it was on it's last amount of energy.
Melissa looked amazed seeing this spectacular light show. As far as Max knew, she wasn't familiar with stuff like technology.
Melissa: How are you doing that..???
Max: Well it's not exactly me...you have never seen robots before??
Melissa: Robots...??
Melissa looked genuinely confused about the term "robots". Max wondered what kind of future lay outside this place.
As evidence suggested, this wasn't some alternate reality. And in Mr. Time's words, this was the future of the very Earth he grew up in. He didn't know if he time traveled, but he knew that he has to move forward. And maybe this mysterious robot, which clearly doesn't belong to this time, might have the answers.
The eyes of the robot began glowing in a green hue. It flickered again, three times, and then it fully shut down. No light was released anymore and the robot fell silent.
Max: Well....that was uneventful.
Melissa: What happened...?
Max: Nothing happened....
As Max said that, a certain green haired man in a show he used to watch, popped up in his head. Max also realised that he can't finish any of the films and tv shows he had started to watch, and it hit him, cause he was a major movie buff. Almost every ounce of knowledge in his brain came from the cinema industry.
Max slowly got up again, and dusted his pants. As he stood up straight he realised, that the pain was gone now. He barely felt it, but it wasnt completely gone. Melissa looked like she was doing okay too.
Melissa: Now what..?
Max: Now we just go out...
Max started leading the way this time. The young boy had pointed to this direction, and light was indeed coming from that direction. Max hated that he literally was "walking to the light", but he had no choice. Max was walking slowly, while Melissa was limping slowly behind him. He had offered to support her again, but she had denied it, saying she can handle it.
As Max passed a wall he noticed a curios thing. On the left side of where he was standing was a huge metal wall. On that silver-ish wall were four letters in thick black. Even in the dim lighting Max could read it.
Max: D.O.M.E. ...?
ON the wall was the abbreviation D.O.M.E. Max had no idea what it meant. But he knew that it stood for something. Was this the name of the place? It would be fitting to call this a Dome, Max thought.
Melissa: What is a Dome..?
Max immediately turned to her. It was pretty obvious to anyone who would see him that he was reading the letters on the wall. But she still looked confused.
Max: Wait a minute, you actually can't read the letters on the wall...??
Melissa: No, that's not what we speak.
Max: You do speak English right...? I mean, you literally are speaking English..!
Melissa: Yes, I am speaking English. Most of the population speak in English.
Max: Then how come you can't read this..? I mean..are you illiterate or something...does education not exist here??
Melissa: Of course, I can read and write. But whatever is on the wall, isn't English.
Max was shocked for a second. Melissa looked visibly hurt by him calling her an illiterate. Maybe there was something more to her being offended. But it was kinda weird.
Was he seeing things? Was the letters on the wall not English..? Maybe he couldn't read it. Maybe it was a trick where he can read all languages but it gets translated to English.
But that also didn't make sense cause he knew that he had a letter from his sister. That was, a hundred percent written in English.
Max: I'm sorry for earlier. But you did read the letter on the desk right..? I did notice you saying "2025"
Melissa: It's okay I dont mind. Sorry for lashing out. And.....to answer your question. Yes, I did try to read it..but I don't know the language. But the numbers were the same ones that we use.
Max was deep in thought. If the letters on the wall, and the letter were the same, then it HAS to be English. His sister didn't know any other language. This wasn't some power that Max had gotten with the blue ringed eye. This was something else.
It was just a hypothesis, but Max wondered if that meant that somehow, in this future, the English language was still spoken almost the same way, but the letters were changed in some way. And even numbers stayed intact? It was an absurd take from Max, but to be fair, he was in an absurd situation himself.
Max continued walking without conversing with his companion. He was tired of thinking too much.
Melissa: Hey!! Answer me....tell me what you know...I can't understand what's going on in here...
Max: Trust me Melissa, even I have no idea on what is happening here. This all is too much for me to process...
As Max uttered those words he started losing his consciousness. He almost fell down, but Melissa caught him with her strings and made him get up. She touched his left arm by accident and her expression changed to that of worry.
Melissa: So cold...
She knew that his hand was cold. But as soon as she said that, Max realised something. It was indeed very chilly in here. Ignoring the left hand, that he doesn't feel, everything else was cold. He was almost shivering. It might be the reason why he almost fainted.
But luckily enough for Max, when he almost fell down, he caught notice of something.
Max: You know, I'd like to know more about your string powers....but I just saw something.....we need to go left...
Melissa: But isn't the light on the right...?
Max: Yeah...but I saw something cool.
Max walked to his left, where he found an entire collection of clothes. There was a huge room, full of clothes of all sizes and styles, both for men and women. And there was even a section for babies and kids. It almost looked like this was a doomsday bunker of sorts.
Max: Whover made this place, was trying to save humanity in way, I presume.
Melissa: What is this place..?? It looks so huge!! And sooo many different clothes.
Max was happy that she was energetic...but then something caught his eye. It was something he always wanted, and it was also perfect for this chilly climate.
He liked the blue shirt and grey pants that he was wearing, but it was still a bit soggy, as he was in water this entire time. He needed an outfit change, and it was right here.
Max laughed for a second. A slow chuckle and took the cloth he wanted the most.
Max: This will do...!!
***
Outside, on the grassy plain, as wind blew from east to west, the sun setting in the distance two men were on opposite sides, facing each other.
Lin and the Samurai were not done. The battle had commenced once again!