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child-of-the-cosmos · 1 year

Text

Part 1 - Part 2 - Part 3 - Part 4 <- You’re here! - Part 5

(~2,000 words.)

You've always loved the morning air. Something about it was always so.. full of life. You'd been walking through the forest for about an hour now. Following a path engraved in your head. Damp branches cracked beneath your feet. The glow of the sun just barely peaking out from the trees above you. Small droplets would fall here and there from the leaves above. It seemed the rain really did a number on the forest. In a good way, of course.

The smell of oak and damp soil hung lightly in the air, hints of a sweeter aroma- wild flowers, wafted from a few patches nearby. It was something only the rain could bring. You had made your way through the hardest part of the hike, which honestly wasn't too hard since you picked the easiest path. It was a little narrow, being covered with leaves and small brush scattered around, but it was easy to see that the path was now beginning to clear and opening up into a new zone. Your favorite area.

You've seen tons of things coming through this particular path. Small squirrels, a baby fox and their mom, a raccoon, a large centipede, and now... A large deer? No, that wasn't quite right.

There was something there, for sure. You could tell that much from here. But the real question is, what exactly was it? A human? That'd be impossible. No one really came this far out... at least, no one that you've seen. As you got closer you were able to make out a figure, then a color. Okay, definitely not human. Either that, or they were wearing a LOT of yellow right now.

Was there something in your food this morning? There'd have to been, for you to see something like this. But.. you've been completely fine up until now. You were close enough to hear a faint voice. It was so quiet... you could barely hear it- but something was... off about the sound of it. It was then that it hit you that this thing wasn't breathing at all. You were close enough to see scratchy movements, and exposed wires by it's arm. A robot. Animatronic, to be exact.

"Woah," What was an animatronic doing out here, of all places? Civilization was far away from this point, you had made sure of that when you first moved into these woods. But to see something like this...

"What.. are you?" You already knew the answer, but this was amazing! You've never really seen an animatronic like this one. The ones before were pretty much void of any colors, and only gave out automated messages last time you checked... which admittedly had been a while. You're knowledge on robots were pretty limited- if you could call the little info you had on them knowledge that is. But from what you could tell... this one was different. You had heard they were getting pretty lifelike before you moved and left the city- but this, this was something new.

The figure- no, robot was now looking at you. Maybe you scared it? Was that even possible?? You didn't know, and didn't have much time to think about it either. Because as soon as it saw you- it started moving. In the worst way possible. You watched in horror as it slowly maneuvered it's body to face you. Well, it's upper body. It's lower half stayed still, facing the same direction you first saw it in. You stepped back. Cool or not, you did not sign up for any of those horror movies you had watched on tv.

You glanced at it's arm again. It was holding it, almost as if a child would cradle their wound; Close to their chest, somewhat scared for you see it.

It just sat there and watched you. You couldn't get a read on what it wanted.

You tiled your head. Was it hurt, then? If so, does that mean people started building robots with pain receptors?? but... why? Why would someone want something like that- and could that even be possible in the first place?? You'd have to think about that later. Whoever built this thing definitely had a lot of money though.

You were beginning to feel uncomfortable with the overwhelming silence. It was still staring at you. Menacingly. It hadn't moved an inch since it first contorted it's body. Just what was this thi- Crackling. Then soft humming. It was very quiet, almost like a whisper... then, "S-ssssorry" It spoke.

Sorry? You were taken aback. Out of all the things it could've said, it said sorry? But why?? You inched closer, just a bit... If it was willing to communicate then it couldn't be that dangerous, could it? So it technically wouldn't hurt to communicate back... right?

"Sorry for what?" You asked. It seemed pleased with your response, perking up just slightly before slouching back down. It looked like it was fighting to stay awake. The grip on it's arm loosening. What was wrong with it? Well you didn't really need an answer, because it started talking again. Their words were slurred together, but you could just make out what it trying to say. "Plea---se," It began to slump to the floor, earthy forest below surrounding it, "H-h-h-helllp us."

Then... nothing.

Did it just die??? You slightly began to panic. Wait- no, right... it's a robot. Pretty sure robots don't die.. hopefully. So, it's not dead? Then... You snapped your fingers and walked closer to it. Right, things like this needed a charge! It's probably out of battery. Does it need like a.. double A or something? That's always worked for your tv remote.

You knelt down, glancing over it's features exposed by the earth beneath it. Light golden rays lined it's head, and you could see a wide smile plastered across it's face. Okay, this thing definitely wasn't a remote, but.. it'd still have to charge and all that, right? So there were still some similarities... you could work with this. Robot or not, your weren't the type to just leave someone alone, especially if that someone personally asked you for help.

You gently looped your arms around theirs, careful not to touch the one with the open wires. You huffed and lifted. This thing was quite heavy. Even though you were pretty confident in your strength right now, you doubted you'd be able to carry it all the way down.

So, you did the next best thing. You lifted and decided you'd carry it at least half way, run and get your wheel barrow- somehow put it in, and push it the rest of the way back to your house.

This, was much easier said than done. And you quickly found that out. Firstly, you didn't take in account how tiring it was to carry this thing- plus run back and get the wheel barrow, just to jog it back up to where you left it (luckily it was fine), Then somehow get it in the wheel barrow- (which was very hard but you managed), Just to finally wheel it back down the rest of the way.

Once you actually got back home, all you wanted to do was sleep. But sleep wasn't an option right now. You still had to get it inside. You sighed, lifting one last time to carry it up your porch stairs and inside your house. You sat it down near a wall and flopped on the floor. You stared at ceiling. Home... finally.

You could hear Slinky chitter curiously as she peered at you from her cage. She had witnessed you struggle to carry it inside and lay down on the floor. You lifted a hand and waved at her. "I'm fine Slinky, just tired." You said.

You could see her staring at the hump of metal leaning on your wall from your peripheral. "Had to help a friend." You clarified. Slinky had always been anxious around guests, especially humans. She had her reasons... you knew that. That's why it helped to introduce them as a friend when they first meet Slinky. And family if you're really close to you- like a relative. You could tell Slinky was still tense as she looked between you and the robot, sniffing and moving to and fro in her cage. She was still anxious about it. You sat up to fully face slinky. "Hey... it's okay." You started. "They're a friend, they won't hurt either of us... okay?" You leaned over and rubbed her fur through the cage. She relaxed a bit. You watched as she cast once last glance at the robot before fully settling down. You hummed. This was good. You didn't want to stress her out. Actually, it was the last thing you wanted.

Once Slinky was satisfied with your rubbing, you quietly sat up and walked over to the robot. Okay... now what? You knelt down in front of it, hoping to at least get an idea of what it needed. You hadn't noticed before, but something really messed it up. Did it get into a fight? Something big laid A deep gash across it's chest, and there were multiple other cuts lined on it's body. There were some on it's arms, a few by it's face (though those definitely weren't that deep, more like light scraps if anything), and one more lining it stomach. One you definitely recognized as teeth marks. Yeah, it definitely got into a fight... most likely with a predator.

From what you knew it was still functioning with all this going on... so maybe it was still okay. Something you could handle later after turning it on. It was then that you noticed a tiny little compartment on it's side. It was closer to it's back, so you had to gently bend it over to get a better view.

The hatch was barely visible- actually it was almost seamless, but you could tell there was a tiny screw holding something in place. You got up and ran to your backyard, ignoring how slinky glanced your way before falling back to sleep. You had a screwdriver that was the perfect fit for that. Well, more like a set you could attach to a screwdriver.

It was a gift you were given long ago by a relative who thought you'd like it. You didn't really have a place to put it back then, so you just moved it to the shed in the backyard. the shed was a small thing.. or maybe it just looked that way. There was so much clutter you couldn't really tell.

You didn't really have a lot space to move, but there it was! The screwdriver set! Right where you left it. Satisfied, you triumphantly walked back in the house and sat back down near the robot. You hooked up your screwdriver and started twisting. You really hoped this was what you thought it was... and not something that would just confuse you more.

With one last twist the screw was out. You sat it on a table nearby. You pulled the latch open with anticipation. In the compartment revealed a small cord and a usb plug thing. You knew what this was! Well, kinda. Your tv had something similar. Which meant one thing. You could plug it in! You squealed in what could only be described as joy as you quickly plugged it into a socket nearby.

...

Nothing. Well that's to be expected, you thought. You had only just plugged it in. You knew it'd take way more time for it to turn on than just a few seconds.

You sat up and stretched, a soft yawn bubbled up as you walked over to Slinky. There was still a lot of the day ahead of you two... plus the robot. So you three. But honestly, right now you could use a nice nap. It seemed like Slinky agreed with you, already fast asleep in her little ball she curled herself into. You tiptoed into your room and picked up a spare blanket you kept near your bed. You had others.. but this one was your favorite. It was your favorite color... plus you didn't feel like looking for the other's right now. You walked back into the living room and laid on the couch. Might as well make yourself comfortable. You wanted to keep an eye on the robot. Plus, you wanted to stay with Slinky... you didn't want to leave her there alone. You glanced at the robot one last time, eyelids heavy. As you fell asleep you missed the small blinking light flash across the robots eyes.

1%... 16 hours until fully charged.

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