"I'm the last human? Here?!" I was surprised when Gabriel said this, while he continued to look at me with his cold blue eyes.

  "Yes. At least according to what the profile of... a human was tested and observed, you are the only one who... matches" he replied

  "I can say, even all these strange creatures, all I've been told is that they have many genes that belong to humans"

  Why did I say that? I don't think he can understand what I said right now

  "You are not wrong"

  Did he understand that?!

  "For many solar cycles... I scanned and searched for humans... They told me they were extinct many ages ago..."

  "Eons ago?! I've only been here a little over a month!" I am surprised by his answer, speaking as if this is a fact, and only I recently woke up, a month ago I think. And he says ages...

  "I'm not wrong according to the information... that I hold. I've been around longer than... I can remember"

  What is he talking about? Is he an alien?

  "Are you an alien?" I blurted out before I noticed

  "I wouldn't happen to myself an alien ... humans built me ... they not here anymore"

  I try to understand what he is saying but he jumps from place to place. I try to remember what he says - he followed me to keep me safe. I think in the case of the cat-like creature, it was him who pounced on him? After that, the strange noises that appeared in the ruins were heard from his footsteps? Maybe he flies with his big wings. It doesn't look comfortable walking like he did when she came out of the pile and also the way he's trying to hold himself up with all the holes he has all over his stomach. He says humans built it, but they became extinct eons ago. I don't remember what happened and how, but if everything is true, it probably means only one thing:

  "So I'm in the future?"

  No no, that doesn't make sense. As I moved through the metropolis and the trees grew and looked different, but the buildings still hold up relatively well. Even here, some of the buildings still hold firm against the wind. If he had repeated this several times, the whole place would have collapsed and probably become ruins. Let's not talk about the fact that I found an old car that didn't rust at all.

  "I don't know" Gabriel answered:

  "The sky is strange. It's too blue... There was no living thing, or... sun. Just me and my... kind"

  "So you came from the future? I don't understand. You say you were built by humans but everything you describe to me is something like science fiction"

  "I think so, but I don't know. Travel... in time is not possible... with the tools I know," he noted, which brings me to a dead end - who he is and what happened.

  Suddenly one of his wings slipped to the side, unable to hold him and he crashes to the ground hard. A great boom echoed through the sky and the rotting buildings and the pink falling trees. He tried to move his elongated head in my direction and tried to rise, but I noticed that there was a hole that had been eroded in the area where he had placed his wings. He reached his limit:

  "I guess I ran out of time... to exist," Gabriel said:

  "You would like to hear... my words before I finish my... duty" He started to move his wings and spread them to the sides, preparing himself for his end and accepting it, calmly and without emotion. Something that is a world leap away from me, who just looks at him looking at his whole body spread out and shiny black-gray with stripes of blue and green all over his body, but it seems that the stripes have started to fade. I understand that maybe this is an opportunity to understand what is happening and what he wants to tell. I realized I had to know.

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  "It will be my honor" I replied and went to sit down in front of him, and only now that I was standing from a 'safe' distance before, I understand how big he is. He moved his head as far as he could, making loud scratching sounds on the ground where he was lying,g and began to tell:

  "I have lived many ages... and I have always sought the essence of my purpose... without success until I found you. Wondering how I got to this place and for 17 solar cycles.... Colin, I must say one thing that I have been asked to deliver... if I Find someone like you... I know from the information I have left that humans like to be together... I guess you are looking for your kind" His speech began to become more and more smooth:

  "Or a way to understand how this world came to be. I don't understand the answer either. I have a friend who also came to this place with me, looking for an answer just like you. He called himself 'Gribo', someone who resembles me you could say. We parted ways to find an answer - Where we are and how we got here... He told me after several solar cycles he found someone who resembled a human, but he radiated from him something different and different from what I know about humans. He received the necessary information and began to communicate with me from a distance. He said that here he was Once upon a time the Earth you know, but something went wrong in the middle and it became a place called T.H.E. It's a meaningful name, but before he could say or...hear anything else, he disappeared from me. I was able to pick up where he disappeared."

  He raised one of his small wings as his blue-green stripes and eyes began to fade more and more and points them in a direction I know - to the space elevator:

  "That's where he disappeared," answered Gabriel: "I started flying towards him, and on the way, I ran into you. That's all I can tell. I guess this humanoid is waiting there in the same... place he disappeared. If... you... Succeed..."

  All the light faded and his head also collapsed to the ground and then a horrifying silence was heard all over the place.

  "The source of energy emitted from him has faded" Rosalina informed me as I approached him in front of his face which had turned black like the rest of his body.

  I understood from her that he had already passed away, probably waiting for his friend on the other side, if that at all. I went down to his face and touched him. His whole body felt metallic to the touch but flexible like leather and when I moved my hand to a hole under his head, I saw that it was shaped like a bite. I understand that it is from the attack of the cat figure, he protected me from him without thanking him. I don't know with what words he would finish - 'If you succeed'

  I argued with myself and stood in front of him for a while, not noticing how much time had passed in detail to the petals falling from the trees and covering him slowly and gently, telling me how much time had passed. After a while, I get up from the place and leave the place while his body is laid there covered as a precaution.

  I started trying to collect the scattered storage cells I had thrown earlier out of panic and inspected the damage done. Luckily, one of the 3 cells suffered real damage, but when I moved towards the pile behind Gabriel's body and tried to see if there was anything there, I was unable to move the heavy fragments, and the ones I was able to find, were broken and their contents burst everywhere and destroyed. I tried to salvage everything I could - a wok, bits of broken cables, and the remains of an unlucky storage compartment. I moved back and started sorting out what I had left - a small amount of ammunition that I had left, a water tank that luckily didn't crack, and an empty cell. I started trying to tie them like I did before. Rosalina helped me and in the end, I was able to create a pile of wearables for the back that is much smaller.

  After a short time, I started to move away from the place, aiming at my destination - the space elevator and maybe find out who is waiting for me. Maybe this is the right choice?

  "Colin, I found a place to wash the suit of the toxic petals before external consumption"

  I completely forgot about it! I followed where Rosalina had directed and I found a large puddle of water where several small bird-like creatures were standing also drinking from it. I took off all the gear and started to move deeper into the puddle, it felt much deeper than it looked while the water had already reached the height of my pelvis and I started to wash myself. The birds didn't give me credit as I try to run my hand through the whole suit.

  At the end of the day, while the sun began to set and hunger and thirst began to pass through my body, I waited for Rosalina for confirmation:

  "Can I now?"

  "Negative. There is a hostile element in the area. I suggest you leave the place and keep moving forward and find cover"