Chapter 71-A backup plan

Chapter 71: 71-A backup plan

Nathaniel knew how important a helper robot was in such times, that why the likes of 009 existed.

He had planned to launch the robotic AIs in the market, it was the technology he’d been working on for five years but disaster struck before he could launch them and the world never learnt of their existence.

"You are my best friend. I can’t see you struggle in this time."

The robot immediately began scanning the damaged ship. A moment later, it got to work on repairing it.

It moved with astonishing efficiency, repairing damaged systems, replacing broken components, reinforcing weak sections, and restoring parts of the vessel that Noel and Ambrose had been struggling with for hours.

Ambrose stared at it move with utter disbelief. "We could’ve spent days doing that."

Noel shook his head. "We might have sunk before then."

Nathaniel leaned back in his chair. "Let it work. You two should eat and rest."

Noel looked toward the supplies. "You sent enough food for that too?"

"Of course, consider it the first gift in this new world from this old friend."

For the first time since the apocalypse began, Noel’s expression softened. "Thank you, pal."

Nathaniel smiled. "Don’t mention it."

"I mean it," Noel hesitated before his expression became serious. "I’ll keep in touch and won’t forget your kindness."

"You do that."

"And Nathaniel..."

"Hmm?"

Noel lowered his voice. "Be careful," he warned him.

Nathaniel’s smile faded slightly. "With what?" he asked, he hadn’t detected any danger that he needed to watch out for.

"You know exactly what I’m talking about."

Nathaniel was silent. It seemed that Noel was aware that he was with Aymara. That meant his friend was cautious about Aymara’s return to his life.

Noel continued. "Aymara," he said. "And don’t pretend you aren’t with her. Last I called you, she answered your phone."

The name settled between them with more weight than it should have. Nathaniel’s eyes drifted toward the window, where Aymara’s cruise ship moved steadily through the dark ocean.

He could still remember the woman she had been before: the distance in her voice, the coldness in her eyes, and the hollow days after she left.

He remembered the last morning she had abandoned him. Her suitcase had stood beside the door, already packed, while he sat at the kitchen table pretending not to understand what was happening.

She had not shouted or cried. She had simply told him she needed a life without him, then walked away before he could finish asking why.

He remembered calling her that night after she walked away from him in the rain, he had called until his phone battery died. He remembered waking the next morning to a silent villa, two untouched cups of coffee on the table, and no message waiting for him.

For weeks afterward, every unfamiliar number made his heart jump, only for the call to be another disappointment.

He remembered the promises she had made before leaving: that she would come back when Dylan was ready to accept him, that he should not wait for her and hold it against himself because it’s not his fault.

He had waited anyway. He had checked the door whenever footsteps passed outside, kept her side of the villa empty and had slept badly because some part of him still expected to hear her key turn in the lock.

Then the weeks became months, and months became years. The silence became the answer that he wasn’t worth looking back for.

He had told himself he was over it. He had even believed that, sometimes but his body remembered differently.

His fingers tightened around the phone. His chest drew tight, not with anger exactly, but with the instinctive fear of someone standing too close to an old wound.

He could still feel the humiliation of begging her to stay, the cold weight of her silence, and the emptiness that followed when he realized she had chosen to leave without looking back.

"She left you once," Noel said from a place of care. "She can do it again."

Nathaniel wanted to dismiss him. He wanted to say that Aymara had saved him, that she had protected him, and defend her by saying that the woman beside him now was nothing like the woman who had abandoned him.

The words formed in his mind, but none of them came out because Noel wasn’t accusing Aymara of anything, he was reminding Nathaniel of what trusting her had cost him.

Noel sighed. "I’m not saying she hasn’t changed. I’m not saying she doesn’t care about you now. But don’t forget what happened before..." His voice broke. "I don’t want to see you in that dark place again, man. I can’t..."

Nathaniel looked at the monitor and switched to display Aymara’s cruise ship. Its lights glowed against the black water, beautiful and impossibly distant.

He had been grateful for everything she had done. More than grateful. Her return had made the ruined world feel less empty and that was precisely what frightened him.

"She hurt you once, Nathaniel," Noel said. "Don’t let yourself become so happy that you forget how dark those days were."

Nathaniel swallowed. The warning struck deeper than he wanted to admit. He had spent so long surviving alone that Aymara’s presence had begun to feel like safety itself. If she disappeared again, would he lose only her or would he lose the part of himself that had started believing in a future with her?

Noel paused. "Don’t let your guard down and end up back there."

Nathaniel remained silent for several seconds. He could hear the faint hum of the computer, the distant movement of Yaya’s toy across the floor, and his own uneven breathing.

He forced a faint smile. "Relax." His voice was calm, though it took effort to keep it that way. "I’ll take care of myself."

Noel exhaled. "Promise?"

Nathaniel glanced once more at Aymara’s ship. He wanted to promise that she would never hurt him again. He wanted to promise that he would never need her so much that losing her could break him but he couldn’t.

Instead, he gave Noel the only promise he could honestly make. "I promise, I’ll take care of myself."

They exchanged a few more words before ending the call.

Nathaniel lowered his phone. His gaze remained on the monitor for several seconds. Aymara had hurt him before, that was true but the woman who had returned to his life didn’t feel like the same woman.

Still, the warmth in his chest whenever he thought of her was not proof that he was safe. It was proof that he cared and caring had always been the part of him most vulnerable to pain.

Noel wasn’t completely wrong. Nathaniel needed to protect himself, not from Aymara but from the possibility of handing her every fragile part of him and pretending he could survive being abandoned twice.

He turned toward the fortress controls. "Roa."

[Awaiting command, boss.]

"Enter sleep mode."

[Sleep mode initiated.]

"Disable all external signals," he added, refusing to let anyone discover his fortress.

[All external signals disabled.]

"No transmissions unless I authorize them. Is that understood."

[Confirmed.]

Nathaniel thought for a moment and then added, "Set a secondary alarm."

[Specify activation condition.]

"Any living creature approaching the fortress, I must be notified."

Roa processed the command.

[Secondary biological proximity alarm activated.]

[Alert condition: Any unidentified living organism entering designated perimeter, boss must be notified.]

Nathaniel nodded. "Good."

The message vanished and the fortress gradually fell silent. Its lights dimmed, and its systems powered down to their lowest operational state. Hidden beneath the ocean floor, it became little more than another silent structure buried beneath the ruins of the old world.

Nathaniel finally stood. The exhaustion he had been ignoring all day suddenly caught up with him. He walked to the bed and dropped onto it.

Flop.

He stared at the ceiling and then released a long breath. For the first time since the apocalypse began, he felt genuinely relieved.

His friends were alive, his fortress was safe, the robot was repairing Noel’s ship, and Aymara’s cruise ship was stronger than anything he had ever seen.

Still, Nathaniel knew the apocalypse had only just begun. There would be worse disasters, stronger monsters, more desperate survivors, and perhaps enemies far more dangerous than the submarine Aymara had just dealt with.

His eyes slowly closed. At least now they had another option, a place to retreat to and another layer of protection incase Aymara’s cruise ship falls. A backup plan.

Nathaniel smiled faintly. "My shelter can prove useful if something ever happens to Aymara’s cruise," he turned onto his side. "It’s our backup plan."

With that thought settling peacefully in his mind, Nathaniel finally allowed himself to rest.