Nanny Bot in the Apocalypse

Prologue

The sky was clear and warm rays of light shone down at what was once a bustling city. Now it was silent, the streets empty, the buildings overgrown and torn apart by greenery. The only sound was the songs of the many birds who had made it their home.

This serenity shattered when one of the buildings collapsed, not able to withstand the wear and tear of time and weather. And hundreds of wings took to the sky. As it crumpled to pieces, the sun reflected off something in the rubble. A beep sounded after some time.

And blue eyes opened to this new world.

Nanny bot 2000 gazed up at a sky as bright as its own eyes and sat up. It looked around and scanned the surrounding rubble for life.

「 Non-detected.」

It tried to stand, but found its legs pinned by a slab of concrete. When it failed to pull them out, it grabbed hold of the metal pipe protruding from the slab, one who had nearly pierced its front panel, and easily lifted the rubble off itself, then let it fall back into place with a thud, and a cloud of dust.

It navigated its way out of the collapsed building; over concrete, under wood, past insulation, glass, chairs, and broken tables, and down onto the street. And all throughout, it continued to scan for life signs.

There were none. There were none. Not there, or over there. None, none, none, none... There were no bodies in the rubble either.

The overwhelming relief at this realization was unexpected. But, it felt like, no, it was certain. It had to find them. There was someone it had to protect. Someone who needed it. It just did not know who.

Its memory unit heated up as it encouraged it, despite the block it sensed, into overdrive in an attempt to recall, and its head twitched as it brokenly repeated, 「Non-detect non-detected, nn-detected non-」

This cycle was interrupted by a sound in the distance. It was too far away to be certain what it was. It was too big to have been made by an animal. It was— There again. It turned its head in that direction.

There was no movement, the only sign of life was the faint smoke that rose from behind some five-story apartments a few blocks away.

Nanny Bot 2000 took a step forward then stopped. It sensed a strange reluctance in its heart. It looked back at the rubble it woke in. That sound, that smoke, was the first sign of life, of anyone, since it woke, yet it didn't want to leave. It couldn't leave. After all, what if she came back and it wasn't there?

...She?

It blinked. Its mind blank, all but that word.

Unconsciously, the memory unit began to heat up again as it started spiraling down down down... It wasn't until its sensor detected abnormal vibrations that it snapped out of it. The activation of its earthquake emergency protocol made it immediately assess its surroundings for fall risks and cover. All previous thoughts forgotten.

However, it soon found the world around it calm. No buildings shook, no windows rattled, nor did things fall. Everything seemed the same.

It looked back at its short-term memory logs and soon discovered the cause it previously missed. The vibrations weren't due to an earthquake, it was the aftermath of an explosion. A strong one. One from where the other sounds came from. The thick dark smoke already spoke of its scale.

Its red eyes which had begun to turn back flashed vibrant red at this realization. The only warning was a flex of its silver knee joints, then it took off at exceeding speed towards the direction of the explosion.

As it ran the cracked pavement it jumped overturned cars, and past broken buildings with more damage than could be attributed to time alone. But none of it registered as of any importance, and in just a few minutes it had reached its destination. The center of the explosion.