It was a few hours before someone at last returned, it appeared to be the same Nekghoul from before. Ultimatum watched it silently as it walked to the cage and stared for a few minutes. The droid could not read the organic's expression, so strange the face was. It seemed to be an eternity where the two simply gazed upon one another before something broke the silence. Th Nekghoul sat down, and after a moment spoke, "You say not all hate us. You are one?"
Ultimatum nodded thoughtfully, he wondered where this was going. It was most interesting and unexpected. He wondered why they were opening up so quickly, it was not very logical, but then again these were very unique beings. It was as if some greater being were making them more willing to speak to the droid than would normally be the case.
Whatever the reason, the Nekghoul continued, "Then metal thing care for us?"
Ultimatum stopped to think about that. Did he care for any organic? Well. That was an interesting question. What he was doing, was he doing that for the organics that he cared for or for the programming that he had put within himself? What was his motive? He could not claim to care for organics if he was not working to save them for their own being. "This brings up a question of myself. Please give me a moment." The Nekghoul waved somewhat dismissively before standing and walking away.
Ultimatum turned his thoughts inward. Why was he doing what he planned? Was he a righteous guardian of life? Or was he simply a follower of a supposedly predestined life? Well he could not be the latter, he had changed that often enough that it meant that he was not a being driven by a fate predetermined. He was in control of his life, no one else could command him into a life that he did not agree with. He was free. Which meant that he truly cared for organics. Yet, he did not particularly like the beings that ruined their environments and destroyed their own lives. But he had just proven that he cared for them. What a quandary. He would have to ask someone about it.
Maybe someone who was a friend could help him understand it. These conflicts were not normal to a droid, perhaps an organic understood it better. He would need to speak to someone, maybe Kay or Ryn. Maybe, once he was out of here.
The Nekghoul returned, frowning somewhat. Ultimatum responded thankfully, "Apologies. Yes I care for your kind."
The organic's face seemed to brighter. "Can metal thing give shelter? We hunted by human, need safe place. You offer?"
For a moment Ultimatum was stunned, why were they asking for shelter? They were plenty strong. Their abilities were more than could be said for his own. But then again, humans and most organics were very good at overcoming strengths and finding weaknesses to exploit. He wondered if this was perhaps the last group of Nekghouls in existence. That was probably an exaggeration, but certainly if there had been many more there would be more information about them on the HoloNet.
"Yes, I can give you a safehaven. Do we need to leave now? Or is this a future theoretical situation?"
The Nekghoul shook his head emphatically, "We prepare to leave. Stay no longer. Gather supply and belongings. Then we leave. You have ship? Like one before?"
Ultimatum would have grinned, it would be a tight fit but completely possible. The droid was once more glad he had built a refresher into the designs, just to make certain. The droid nodded politely before standing as the Nekghoul held out its hand. The lock burst off the cage as if it had been ripped off. The organic then turned and walked out into the clearing of the small camp. He spoke several growls that Ultimatum could not understand before turning back to the droid. "Metal thing call ship now?"
"Of course." The droid decided to allow a certain amount of theatrics for the organic's benefit. He spoke aloud over the comm, "Fate, this is Ultimatum. Come to my beacon now. Give us a fly-by for threat detection, then land for pickup. All organic within a ten meter radius are friendly, understood." He got an affirmative click followed by the distant sound of thunder that was the ship's engines. A few minutes later the ship screamed overhead moving as fast as possible within the atmosphere, to avoid most shoulder-mounted anti-aircraft weapons. Then it turned and circled for a few moments, PU-01 was probably deciding on a landing spot before putting the ship down.
The doors opened and AU-01 had the minigun already aimed out, the droid almost pulled the trigger, but Ultimatum had sent the all clear signal. The droid then turned back to the group of Nekghouls, most of whom had been watching the ship's arrival. A few clapped while others turned back to their work. Ultimatum allowed them to work at their pace, he did not want to rush them. Though they worked very quickly without any influence on his part.
