at the edge

On a chilly spring morning, at the edge of town M, at the ruins of an already forgotten ancient city, covered in grasses and moss and unpleasant memories, rumored to be host to all kinds of [vile things?], a young woman finds a body and yelps.

As she comes to her senses, she examines it. Grey wolf, potentially in their 20s, half of their face covered in scar tissue, dressed in a black jacket and pants, armed with a heavy armored glove [???]. She immediately notices the lack of any rotting or smell — are they still alive? She quickly makes her way towards the hopefully just unconscious person and calls out to them, only to get nothing in response. She gently shakes them, to no avail.

She carefully places her hand on their neck only to immediately recoil — it's so cold. Her heart sinks. She still checks for their pulse (nothing), for any signs of breathing (nothing), the pupillary reflex (nothing); she takes note of their eye being unusually grey. As she fumbles with her phone, trying to call for help, she notices what seemed like scar tissue looks more like rust. Waiting for a response, she absentmindedly runs her hand over their face, taking note of the dust collecting on her fingertips. Their body has clearly been lying there for so long and yet there were no signs of rotting, as if they were in a glass coffin…

—

"Well, that's that". The woman [introduce her better??] carefully adjusts the found [??] person's position in her truck, almost like she was making sure they were comfortable. "Let's get them to the medical center and see what happened. Aurum, how'd you find them anyway?" She cocks her eyebrow at Aurum.

"I was… taking a walk. They were just laying there…"

"Damn…" She shakes her head. "How long have they been there, do you think?"

"I couldn't really tell. But I feel like it's been a while… Look." Aurum gently wipes the person's face with a tissue and shows the incredibly dusty thing [???] to her companion, to his surprise.

"Woah, seems like it's been months if not years, but they're not rotting at all, right?"

"Yeah, that's what's confusing me. I have a feeling they're an android."

He raises his eyebrows in surprise. "Well, that would make sense."

"I think we should get going."

"Right."

—

"Hmm…"

The mink in a white coat, wearing glasses and gloves [??weird description], carefully examines their patient's body, laid down on the couch. "You said you two think this might be an android, right?"

Aurum nods.

"Your hypothesis is correct. Look." The doctor pulls the jacket's lapels apart, revealing the person's torso. In the middle of their chest, surrounded by bushy light grey fur, sat a construct made of a black metal, with a dull grey, deactivated light indicator running through the length of it. The rest of the construct was hidden behind their grey top tank.

"Ah, that's-"

"A core. Aurum, your guess was spot on!" Aurum's companion interjects, giddy, her loud voice permeating the entire room.

"Could you please be quiet. You're not the only person here." The doctor looks at her with a stern expression.

"Oh- Sorry- But do you know how long it's been since we've seen an android from that era?"

"Okay, that's enough. I will need you both to leave the room now."

"Ah, excuse me…" Aurum turns towards the doctor. "Would it be okay if you… informed me on their condition?"

"I will try to arrange something. We will have to find out if they have any living family, the factory they were created on, previous places of employment and other important history. We will also have to try and restore their accumulator and power them back on. If any of that goes according to the plan, then I'll try to get you two to meet, if you so wish." The doctor takes out their notebook and a pen. "Could you please tell me your phone number or any other way of contacting you?"

"526-378-491"

"Great. Okay, now I really need you both to leave the room now. I don't have all the time in the world."

"Thank you so much." Aurum smiles weakly at the doctor. "Sorry for holding you up. Al, let's go."

The door silently slides close behind them. "Didn't even let me look around…" Aluminium shakes his head in disappointment. "What, was it too much effort to just let me look? I was only gonna look at their core anyway, all the info is just right there!"

"I guess you make a good point…"

—

It was on a warm early summer evening, the air fresh and the sky slowly turning a gold color, that Aurum got a sudden phone call from the medical center.

"Hello, this is Dr H from M medical center. Is this Aurum?"

"Hello- ah, yes! Are there any updates? What did you find?"

"I'm afraid I can't tell you that, but I can tell you that the patient is alive. I have let them know to expect a visitor. Please remember that the visiting hours are from 6 PM to 8 PM."

Aurum's smile is audible through the phone. "Thank you for updating me! I'll be sure to come here as soon as possible. Thank you! Have a nice evening!" She quickly hangs the phone and starts rushing to get dressed.

On the other side of the line, Dr H can't help but smile themselves.

—