The story you will read inspired us to produce a new XUMU garment.

“You can call me Ari.”

That's what she said 8 years ago when we first met in this desolate Koron. She renounced her real name for a vulgar Savan could pronounce easier.

Names, words, or prayers had no meaning, though. In this brutal war of the machines, people died mostly. And as far as I know, the dead would not come back.

I tried to picture her before the great disaster. Her long, black, curly hair, her smooth swarthy skin and long legs didn't match up with a Koronian.

You couldn’t find any traces of human characteristics at first sight, either. But Ari was more merciful than any human I know.

She valued this foreign family, where she worked as a caregiver, more than anyone else. A couple who look older than each other but never lost their energy, and a crippled lad who hadn’t even reached puberty yet. To be fair, she served them as a private guard mostly.

Once, in the first major raid, she had single-handedly defeated all the Starsa dogs, showing the composure to repair the households from their remnants afterwards. She had no pity for anyone but the family. Even for herself…

Without them, she would try to kill herself on that great doomsday. As did thousands of people from every continent…

“You can call me Ari.”

As if she only remembered her name. When she tried to talk about the past, she made strange gestures. I did not push her any further as she had already had a hard enough lifespan in such a short time. A life in swamp actually...

Bomb, iron rains, Starsa attacks, and Atroks - getting tired of humans and attacking each other when nothing left… The planet was in great chaos.

For the Ari, in this dark doom nothing mattered other than the family. Her doom came the day she had to leave them alone for only 2 hours. But she had to do these water searching trips once a week to keep them alive.

On the way back, she realized something was wrong, as the flames were bigger than usual. They were not rising for Petroleum this time. A big smoke engulfing all the tents and barracks...

When she threw the water cans on his back and started running, she fainted and collapsed right in front of the cans.

Apparently, Tristan had disregarded the ceasefire rules.

“You can call me Ari.”

That’s what she said 8 years after our first interaction, just before I woke her up and timidly announced the fate of the family and Koron. Eyes swimmed with tears, legs trembled, the delicate posture suddenly looked racked.

This was very strange actually. As I don't remember any Ari made to cry, or laugh, or love.

I wanted her to relive this moment a little longer before I took her back. God knows, I needed this too. For this was the first time in a while I saw a glimpse of humanity in someone’s eyes.

Ari-2135SAN had the most beautiful eyes than any human I have ever known.