Jessica13 stared at the sky again for a moment. "That’s so sad. Imagine that we see the lives of these stars and the light they give off, and for all we know, they could already be sucking some of their own light into themselves so no one else will see them."
"It is a little more complicated than that," Mini said.
"I know." She allowed herself a small smile. "But at least we get to see the light of the stars as they were shining brightly and illuminating the sky. It makes such a beautiful tapestry that we can simply stare at. I could stare at it for hours."
"We have no other engagements."
"Great!" She clambered down from the mech and moved inside to retrieve food and draw water into a bottle before she returned to her perch on the mech’s shoulder. "Can I ask you more questions?"
"You are physically capable of asking them," Mini asserted. "Whether I am capable of replying remains to be seen."
"So, stars die, right?" Jessica13 stated as she prepared a quick meal for herself using the patties and the soup and mixed them for flavor. "And the sun is a star, so…will the sun ever die? And if it does, what happens to us?"
"The sun will die, yes. But it is not something you need to worry about since it will likely only happen in about two billion years. I don't think even I will survive that long."
"Huh. Still, it’s sad to think about it. What happens when the sun dies? Will we simply…grow cold?"
"The standing theory is that the sun will expand into a giant and then collapse to a white dwarf and cool off," Mini explained. "Cool is relative, of course. In expanding, it will grow until it takes the Earth in as well, vaporizing the planet and turning it into dust that will float around in space."
Jessica13 tilted her head and stared at the sky. "That's sad too. But I guess all things must come to an end. It'll take longer when you're as big as a star but it has to come to an end anyway."
"I suppose that is true," Mini said. "But when you focus on what happens before the end itself, it's less sad. Like you focusing on the star's light instead of where it might come from. Celebrating life instead of mourning the inevitable death."
She smiled. "Yes, I think I like that. I like that a lot."
The food finally drew her attention and she decided she should eat while she could. It was still the same bland fare she was used to but somehow, it tasted a little better out there.
"We should push on," Mini said once she was finished. "I can keep the mech moving while you sleep inside."
"It sounds good to me." She yawned and clambered back inside.
It had been one hell of a long day.
Chapter Eleven
Once inside the mech, Jessica13 settled herself as comfortably as possible. The fresh air was liberating, but as Mini had warned her, there were still threats to be dealt with Outside, and they probably needed to keep moving. The folks in Sanctuary likely wouldn’t come after her, but there was no guarantee. Besides, she had proven herself to not be the best judge of what the leaders of the bunker would or wouldn’t do.
The AI returned to the Bulletfoot mode and moved rapidly across the landscape. The farther they moved from Sanctuary, the less open ground she could see in front of her. The darkness and the rhythmic movement of the mech around her were almost hypnotic, and it wasn't long before she drifted off to sleep.
It wasn't a peaceful sleep, unfortunately. She was restless, and the constant motion didn't help. But it was rest she wouldn’t take for granted. It had been a long day and it was very likely that she would have many more of those in the near future.
Any sleep was welcome.
She wasn't sure when she realized the mech had come to a halt, but she could feel it starting to warm up around her. No, it wasn't the mech. Well, it was too, she supposed, but the heat came from outside.
Her eyes opened and she stretched carefully in what space was available to her inside. It was only a little less than she had learned to manage with in her tiny little room. Small spaces were not foreign to her.
As she looked up into the light that beamed down on her, she gasped, covered her mouth with her hand, and gazed at the sun that had begun to rise over the landscape below her. Mini had stopped on a small cliff, which gave her a good view of the land, most of which was covered by thick, lush green foliage.
There was life all around them. She could hear it through the speakers and see it moving and not only with her eyes. The motion sensors on the mech told her there were living creatures everywhere. They woke and went about their lives and none of them even considered the idea that they were supposed to be dead out in the open like this.
"Oh, wow," Jessica13 whispered as her gaze returned to the gorgeous sunrise. It was like the sunsets she'd seen before but much more powerful somehow. It was wondrous to realize that it was coming up, not going down.
"Good morning, Jessica13," Mini said and added a smiley face to the HUD. "I hope you rested well."
"It wasn't too bad," she said and made another attempt to stretch. "I guess I'll have to get used to resting in here for a while."
"Provided we don't find any shelter for you to use, that would likely be wise. If you would prefer, we could develop software that would allow us to continue moving in a manner that would facilitate resting for humans."
She laughed. "I'm sure we could. So, did you stop us here
