Apart from the door, the room on the first floor didn't react anymore to Auscella's voice or behavior. And the children didn't find anything different inside.
"Why was Auscella alone here?" Laurel's question echoed through the room. Yet no one answered.
"Alone!" Auscella chirped. She then hopped up the stairs to the uppermost room where the single control panel lay.
"Auu!" Auscella chirped.
"Be careful! There is a poisonous machine there!" Lexus said.
"It's not poisonous. The AMS already proved it," Lazarus said while pouting. She was still wary. after all, although not venomous, the thing had harmed her.
Before Auscella approached the control panel, it whirred and a tentacle with a needle-like tip extended from it. The tentacle didn't have any eyes, but it seemed to look at Auscella before returning to the control panel.
"It didn't attack Auscella," Lazarus whispered.
"Who cares about that? Where are her people? I want to go home!" Lexus said.
The children looked around the room, then at Auscella. They were still alone. Auscella looked human with wings and was obviously sapient. But where are her people?
"So many things left unanswered…" Laurel sighed. There was a lot they wanted to ask Auscella, but Auscella couldn't speak yet. In the short time she had spent with them, Auscella had learned a lot of commands and words, but she couldn't speak proper sentences yet. Asking where her parents were or what this machine was remained beyond her language capabilities.
"Do we have to wait until Auscella can speak to us properly before she can explain this machine?" Laurel whispered. Auscella was smart, so she would likely learn faster than expected. But Laurel still expected it would take weeks.
"Au!" Auscella kept fiddling with the control panel. With every chirp, the control panel extended its tentacle. The tentacle looked as if it were dancing in the air, following Auscella's movements.
"Say… Do you think Auscella is talking to the machine?" Shingo said. As someone who often talked with Mistral, the thought crossed his mind as he wondered what Auscella was doing.
"Hmm? She doesn't have a NeuroGear. How could she talk to a machine?" Lexus scoffed. They had all seen Auscella naked, and she didn't have such a device attached to her.
"No. Shingo might be right. The NeuroGear is probably implanted inside her body. I heard a company was developing a new NeuroGear that would require no maintenance and could be installed internally," Xiaolang pondered. But he had assumed that this girl had just been born yesterday. Did she get the implant at birth? Who implanted it? Did this facility automatically install such an implant?
"Ah! That's why Mistral was repeating his words yesterday! Auscella can hear the signals transmitted by our NeuroGear and repeat them back to him. That's why Mistral thought we asked the same question twice." Shingo suddenly had an epiphany.
"I see. Shingo had been messing with Mistral the entire night, and Auscella could hear it. That's why she was crying last night. She heard the signal and thought Shingo and Mistral was too noisy." Lazarus nodded.
"So? We can't talk to her now, can we? Mistral can't even speak to her," Lexus said.
"We simply have different languages. Computer languages aren't universal either," Shingo said.
"Huh? Aren't computer languages just ones and zeros? I can use Mistral to access any computer I want!" Lexus said.
"She must have a different API. Just because you use the alphabet doesn't mean you can speak Spanish, English, or French," Shingo said.
In the USF, all systems were incorporated into Mistral. That included their APIs. That was why most people didn't know that every software system needed an API if it wanted to connect or communicate with other software. NeuroGear included.
"Tch! So does that mean every machine here must use Auscella's API or something? How can we install their software?"
"You can't," Shingo said. "We can't speak their language. This is the first time we have ever met. There is no need for them to have an API dedicated to our system."
"Then all we did here was for nothing!" Lexus yelled. "Why did we spend our time here pampering this brat while we suffered?"
"Lexus, we didn't pamper Auscella. She worked here as well. Just like the rest of us," Laurel said. She couldn't stand him saying that Auscella didn't work. She certainly carried less because of how small she was, but she definitely worked.
"We share our lifepod, food, and water with her! She carries half a normal load while eating the same amount of food!" Lexus yelled, refusing to let this alien come close to him. How could he suffer while this girl always seemed so cheerful and happy? She was supposed to grant him passage home. Yet she did nothing but play.
"She is still growing. We can't just leave her to starve!" Lazarus yelled back.
"Noisy! Shut up!" Auscella chirped, pointing toward Lexus.
"This brat!" Lexus raised his fist and punched her.
"Au!" Auscella cried, hugging Lazarus in fear.
"Lexus!" Lazarus shielded her. "You can't hit others! We must work together! We can't fight among ourselves."
"Shut it! You orphan girl! You have nobody! But I still have family and a company back at home!" Lexus raised his fist before Xiaolang caught it and punched him in the face.
"What a spoiled brat." Xiaolang spat on the floor. His brows furrowed, his eyes looking down on Lexus as if he were an insect.
"Fuck you! You think you are tough, huh?" Lexus roared. His hand clenched as he threw a punch at Xiaolang. Xiaolang caught it and threw him to the ground. He then mounted him and threw another punch.
"Xiaolang!" Laurel tried to make him stop, but he clearly wasn't listening. He had had enough of this brat's nonsense. Lexus was always too spoiled, rude, and arrogant. Everyone here suffered the same way. Why should Lexus be prioritized?
"Xiaolang. That's enough." Bob hugged him from behind and pulled him off Lexus. Lazarus rushed to Lexus after handing the crying Auscella to Shingo and Anna.
"This guy had it coming." Xiaolang defended himself after assuring Bob that he was calm. "You know your money doesn't mean anything here. Yet you can't contribute anything. If you can't contribute anything, at least stop complaining! You are a nuisance!"
"Tch! So high and mighty! Just wait until I tell Papa about this! That's enough! I won't come near you again! I have no friends here!" Lexus yelled.
"Lexus…" Lazarus looked at him. She then turned to Auscella and Xiaolang. Her emotions were conflicted. Should he go to Lexus, or should she stay with the group?
She then remembered how the reverend always preached forgiveness and how one lost sheep would bring joy to the rest of Heaven. After a few deep breaths, she turned to Laurel, asking for permission. "Um… I will bring him back."
"...Please follow him. Make sure he comes back to the lifepod." Laurel nodded. Laurel hated how Lexus behaved. But she couldn't leave him alone. If she did, Lexus would surely die. That would mean she had failed as a class rep. She wanted everyoen back in one piece.
for a monet, she thought about abandoning him. But that was just emotions. Did she have to sacrifice him? Laurel turned to the other kids. Lexus had hit Auscella, and she was crying now. Would she forgive him? There was no teacher here. No class, and thus, no suspension or parent-teacher meeting. There was no real way to punish Lexus.
"Is he really going? He will die out there, you know." Shingo turned to Laurel.
"Lazarus will bring him back," Laurel said. "Let's return to the lifepod. There is only us on this island. We should stay together."
Laurel glanced at Xiaolang. "Will you accept it, Xiaolang?"
"As long as he doesn't threaten us or me," Xiaolang said. He had done something worse than punching people; this was just a molehill, not a mountain. "Remember, we are alone, and there are dangerous monsters here. We need to work together to survive. Personal emotions comes second."
"Understood." Laurel nodded. "Thank you."
"Auscella, are you okay?"
"Au… Hurts…" Auscella still wept.
"Um… I am sorry," Anna said. "Um… let's go to the lifepod. We can have an AMS checkup on that wound."
"Au…" Auscella pinched the hem of Anna's uniform.
When they came out of the spire, they didn't see Lexus or Lazarus there. Laurel could only hope they would stay safe.
Meanwhile, Lazarus crouched several dozen steps away from Lexus, hiding from his view. She wondered whether she should give him some time to cool down. In the orphanage, whenever some children got into fights, the reverend and the nuns often separated them and gave them time alone in a repentance room. But they had none here, and leaving Lexus alone was dangerous. There might be monsters here.
"Damn it." Lexus sat on a palm tree, facing the ocean. "If I could hunt like Xiaolang or craft tools like Bob, those kids would value me more."
Lexus scowled. He knew he was weak. All he had was his father's money and status. He thought it was okay. His butler said it was okay. Everyone said it was okay.
Everyone was lying.
He didn't get what he wanted. He knew he couldn't survive in this world alone. Yet, he still burst out in anger and lashed out to girls three years younger. He knew he would die here before any of them if he couldn't keep his ego in check. But what could he do? He knew everyone only followed him because of his father's money. This was how he behaved. This behavior was how he got accepted in his community in Mars colony.
It was at this time that Lazarus came.
Lazarus came and sat beside him in silence. She sat there for a few minutes. Not enough to disturb him, but enough to tell him that he wasn't alone. A gesture that was alien even to someone as rich as Lexus. His shoulders relaxed.
"What? I said I will live here alone, didn't I?" Lexus scowled.
Lazarus remained silent, smiling.
"Well… we still need to go back to the lifepod. It's your dad's lifepod, right?" Lazarus said.
"Yeah! It's my dad's lifepod! You should all be grateful I lent it to you!" Lexus knew he was pathetic. He had no skill of his own and simply swung his father's name at whatever trouble came his way.
"I am thankful, Lexus. We have the emergency ration, the Automated Medical Scanner, the EVA suit, and even the solar panels. It's all thanks to your company. Without them, we would die here in a day or two. But you know it is not enough. That's why we have to work together," Lazarus said. "The food is running out, we need water, and we need to find a way home.
"Why work? We are just going to die here! There is no hope! The only lead we have is just a toddler who can't even talk!" Lexus said.
"I might be an orphan. But I still have my brothers and sisters in the orphanage. You have your parents. Laurel's father still needs her. Everyone still had parents waiting at home. it's not you alone."
Lexus remained sullen. Embers of anger still lingered. Lazarus went silent once more as the two of them sat, relishing the beautiful purple sunset.
For several minutes, they sat there. No words. Just silently enjoy the song of the forest.
A leader has to mediate. He was often scorned, as he took no side. But to be a wise leader, you must be just. Even if they were your friends, wrongdoers must be punished. Even if they were your enemies, justice must be upheld. ~Laurel