“You ever hear the one about finding a tortoise in the desert?” I asked. My companion slowly lifted her head to regard me but made no reply.
I sighed, sounding like a broken pipe organ in a windstorm, and sat down heavily on a piece of broken rebar. My posterior heat sensor complained about the sun-baked metal. I ignored it.
The tortoise went back to her slow process, and I watched her navigate the ruins for an hour.
I was tasked with remembering Humanity, built in the last moments of civilization. I just wished I had someone to talk to.