Previously, on The Tale of Roy and Samantha:
Our two heroes have made their way through the ruins of Knothole in their successful search of food and other supplies for their journey north.
However, after finding out that Roy believes that all that just occurred in the past two days is nothing more than a dream, Samantha decided to take on the leadership role.
Afterwards, the two of them found the remaining supplies that they needed in the Freedom Fighter`s barracks, and with the supplies from the barracks in hand, they began their journey north.
However, unbeknownst to them, someone, or something, was watching…
Episode Three.
"Hey, Samantha, we still headed north?" Roy asked breathlessly
"Let me check that real quick." Samantha replied; her voice airy and delightful in spite of the one-ton wooden equipment chest slung over her shoulder.
Samantha retrieved a compass from her backpack with her free hand, "Yup, we`re still heading north. Why did you ask?" she queried upon returning the compass to her backpack.
"Well, it`s because we`ve been out here walking a while and for some reason, I keep feeling like we've been walking in a curve," Roy replied, examining the strangely familiar snowcapped forest they travelled through.
"I don`t know what to tell you, we`ve been walking a perfectly straight line the whole time-" Samantha commented motioning about her, "-besides, we`ve only been walking for about two hours now."
"Really? I could have sworn we were walking for four … no six hours or even longer." Seconds later, Roy realized "None of us have any watches, and my goggles are still in my backpack, so how would you know what time it is?"
"While we're at the barracks I picked up a watch as we were leaving the armory," Samantha replied reveal a dark green watch on her wrist, "I figured that we'd be better off knowing what time it is so we know when to stop travelling and pitch a tent when it gets dark."
"Why didn`t you tell me you got one? If I had known, I would have gotten one for myself; military issue watches are supposed to be first-rate." Roy commented.
"Sorry, I forgot while we're eating," Samantha said.
"Now, I would like to say that I don`t do that myself, but then I would be lying like a cheap rug." Roy remarked.
"Yeah, I know, like that time where-" Samantha began to say.
"Please, don`t say that out loud, I just don`t want you bringing that up, alright?" Roy pleaded.
"Alright, alright, I get it, it's just that if this were really all a dream, then it`s not like there`s anyone real to hear about it; is there." Samantha replied with a biting note of sarcasm.
"It`s just that it's embarrassing and I don`t want anyone fictional or not, real or not listening in," Roy commented, "besides you should know that from my memories."
"Ok then, let`s change the subject… so, um, how`s your head; have you healed it lately?" Samantha asked.
"Yeah, I was just healing it a moment ago," Roy replied, "in fact, I think I might be able to use my goggles again." He commented as he began to fish through his backpack for them. After a few seconds, Roy produced his silver-rimmed goggles from his backpack, and after giving them a quick once-over to check for damage, promptly put them on. At this point, the both of them had stopped.
"So, there isn`t any chance your head will explode or something, is there?" Samantha asked sarcastically.
"Nope, aside from the fact that this bandage is making my goggles sit funnily on my head, everything seems okay," Roy replied.
"Ok, awesome," Samantha commented, "so, feel like using those goggles to get a lay of the land real quick?" She asked.
"I was just about to do that, hold on a moment," Roy replied as he pressed a button on the underside of his goggles.
In a matter of moments, the goggles let loose multiple pulses of ultrasound: too high pitched for human or even Mobian ears to detect and upon collating the gathered feedback with its shockingly powerful microprocessor compiled a crude topographical representation of the immediate area.
"It looks like there`s some kind of cliff or something directly in our way about thirty yards out," Roy said reviewing the data, "but there is a gap in that cliff about fourteen yards to the west."
"Well, good to know," Samantha commented, "but what I would like to know is whether or not there are any heat signatures nearby that we should know about."
"Not really, apart from us, there're none within scanner range, mobile or otherwise," Roy replied.
"Huh, that`s a bit odd, you would figure that there would at least be some wildlife around here," Samantha commented.
"Well, there was a catastrophic event nearby," Roy commented, "the noise and explosions must have driven them away and they've yet to return." He mused.
"That is quite possible," Samantha replied, "unless of course, your dreams don`t include wildlife." She commented.
"Hey, now that was uncalled for," Roy snapped, "when are you ever going to let that go?"
"Whenever you decide that this isn`t a dream." she matter-of-factly.
The two of them said nothing till at last, they reached the gap in the cliff that Roy`s goggles predicted.
"Yep, that`s a gap in a cliff alright," Samantha stated, "it a good thing to know your goggles are working properly." She commented looking at the narrow scraggy gap in the tall, snow-covered cliff-side.
"Umm, the gap is kinda` narrow, I`m not sure that the equipment chest can fit through that," Roy commented with dismay when he noticed the gap was upon closer inspection barely a foot and a half across.
"How far does the narrow portion go till it widens up?" Samantha asked setting the equipment chest down on a space on the flattest bit of the ground that was not snow covered.
"Well, the cliff is about ten yards thick, but the narrow bit that is only one or two feet thick, the rest of the gap could fit like three equipment chests side-by-side with some wiggle room to spare," Roy explained in reply.
"If I were to 'widen up' the narrow part, how likely would it be that the cliff would collapse on top of me?" Samantha asked as she assessed the cliff's structural integrity.
"Well, the cliff is made out of solid granite and the sides are relatively free of fissures, so the chances are a bit slim that it would collapse." Roy replied.
"Ok then, stand back a bit…" Samantha ordered as she brought her fist back.
"But," Roy said, interrupting Samantha in the process, "there's a definite chance that the snow on top of the cliff will come down and bury the both of us."
Samantha stopped, loosening her fist, "Is there any way to prevent that?" She asked.
"Not at the moment, not unless you have about fourteen feet of raw iron wire, two steel bars and a fifty-volt battery." He replied.
"This is annoying…" Samantha commented stepping back to survey the rest of the cliff side. "What were you planning on building anyway with all that stuff, anyway?"
"A space heater to melt the snow with," Roy replied, "it`s simple enough to build assuming we can scrounge those up from dirt and twigs."
"Well, we don't exactly have all those things lying around in abundance. So, you`re saying we've to go around this cliff?" Samantha asked with a sigh of annoyance.
"Unless you`re willing to get buried under a ton of snow, I would say yes, we're stuck having to go the long way around." Roy replied.
Samantha was just about to argue that her brute strength would resolve any issue, but before she had a chance to speak, a high-pitched and grating voice permeated the forest. "Aww, looks like someone is stuck!" its tone a combination of a low-powered food processor and nails on a chalkboard, with a hint of a metallic echo.
"Who`s there?!" Samantha shouted back; reflexively putting herself between Roy and the source of the sound, wherever that may be.
"Why would I tell you? You haven`t even told me your names yet; it`s bad manners to ask for someone`s name before giving yours." Replied the irritating voice.
The intrepid pair scanned their eerily still surroundings, but could find no trace of the voice which seemed to come from multiple directions at once, much like a ventriloquist.
"Alright then, I`ll play your game," Samantha replied, "my name is Samantha and this here is Roy!"
"What the heck are you doing?!" Roy snapped and in a softer tone continued, "Don`t tell it our names, for all we know, he could need them to impersonate us after he kills us!"
Before Samantha could reply to Roy, the voice continued, "Since you`ve told me your names, I guess it would be bad manners to withhold my introduction." It said.
"Without further delay, introducing…" The voice said in a sing-song tone; then there came the sound of cracking and rustling branches from the top of the snow-covered forest, followed by a whistling boom as the owner of the voice bolted from the top of the forest to the bottom in less than a second.
The snow finally settled to reveal the voice`s owner: a tall, humanoid and wiry-looking thing with a head similar to that of a soup can; the ugly looking thing was striking a ridiculous pose, most likely in an attempt to show off its iridescent green visage.
The bot, still in its ridiculous pose, turned its head to face the two of them and said, "Custom Mod, # 351: Stretch, at your service!"
However, when Stretch was finished with his introduction, he saw that Roy and Samantha were just standing there, completely unimpressed and slightly amused at this ridiculous fellow, Roy even laughed a little.
"What are you supposed to be, a marionette or something?" Roy asked trying to suppress a snicker.
"For your information, I am the one responsible for catching any survivors of Conflict #32 and transporting them to the Empire for processing." The green bot replied with an incensed tone.
"What's Conflict #32… what are you going on about?" Samantha asked curiously.
"Oh, my apologies, you see, big boss Robotnick likes to keep everything nice and tidy. So, he numbers the various battles that he has with you Freedom Chumps to make it easier to sort them," Stretch explained, "Conflict #32 refers to the destruction of that dank little settlement called Knothole, of course." He elaborated as though speaking to a dim-witted child.
"So, in other words, you`re so weak that you're relegated to mop-up duty instead of fighting with the competent models at the frontlines." Roy commented, making sure to emphasize the words 'weak' and 'competent'; much to the bot's chagrin.
"So, you`re going to make fun of me, eh," Stretch said maliciously, "then let me show you strong a really am!"
Before either Roy or Samantha could react, the robot loosed a scream like a banshee before rushing toward Roy. Stunned by the recent turn of events, Roy stood mouth agape till a vicious kick to his chest sent the fox reeling back onto the snow.
"Roy!" Samantha exclaimed.
"Don`t let your guard down, girly, or else you could get caught unawares!" Exclaimed the wiry bot as he brought his foot around to heel-kick his other opponent.
With a manic scream, the green bot brought his heel back and planted it right in Samantha`s face, but when he hit her, Samantha just stood there, completely unfazed by the powerful blow.
"Huh, I didn`t even feel that one," Samantha remarked with Stretch`s foot in her face.
Stretch pulled his foot back and stepped back "What the, you`re a High-Threat?!" Stretch exclaimed fearfully, "I thought all you freaks ran off to go protect that silly little princess."
"I don`t know what you going on about with 'High-Threat' and all that, and I don`t care," Samantha said calmly, "but you just hurt Roy, and for that, I`m going to put you down." She stated as she put her fists up and took a fighting stance.
That freak took my kick and didn`t even feel it, I`ve got to find a way to take her out with her own strength, cuz` mine just won`t cut it. Stretch thought.
"So, you`re kinda` tough, but I`ll take you down just as I took down your friend there." He said goadingly.
Samantha's expression remained unchanged as she took her backpack off and carefully set it on the ground while Strech watched on. Once she was certain her personal effects were safely preserved, she bounded forward; intent on smashing her foe to pieces.
But Stretch had anticipated this and deftly dodged every one of Samantha`s attacks using a series of maneuvers that would be all but impossible if he hadn't been purpose-built for this "What`s the matter? I thought you were an all-powerful High-Threat, and yet I`m dodging all of your attacks; could it be that you`re too slow in the head to catch me?" He said in the most annoying voice he could muster as he continued to dodge Samantha`s powerful attacks.
All of Stretch`s goading was now working without a hitch, as Samantha gradually became more and more enraged at this irritating machine; in her immense rage, her fists seemed to gather steam-like cones of fog at the knuckles as they traveled through the air at an ever-increasing speed in the hopes of colliding with the mechanical annoyance.
But Stretch just kept dodging Samantha`s punches, seemingly without effort.
After a minute or so of this battle, one of Samantha`s attacks collided with a tree and split it completely in half. It was a stroke of pure luck that neither of the halves landed on Roy`s unconscious body- but Samantha did not notice, she was too focused on destroying that irritating green robot.
She`s angry enough to ignore her surroundings? Perfect timing, I was just about to run out of dodging capacity, now to trick her into getting herself killed! Stretch thought.
With that, Stretch began to dodge with purpose, gradually luring Samantha over to the cliff wall.
A cohesive plan was the last thing on Samantha`s mind as she continued trying to smash the green bot, "Stop moving around and let me hit you!" She roared as she continued her fruitless assault.
Stretch got in position before the cliff wall and Samantha took one more swing at him, but the green robot jumped some thirty feet into the air and away from the wall, leaving Samantha`s fist to strike it with so much force that several new cracks appeared where there were none before and caused the snow to fall off the top of the cliff wall and on top of her all at once.
"Success!" Stretch exclaimed at the sight of Samantha being buried under several tons of snow, "With these two offerings to the boss man, I`ll be given the respect I deserve, especially since I took down a High-Threat all on my lonesome; oh yeah, I`m awesome!" Stretch felt an onrush of joy flood through his personality module as he danced a victory jig.
As Stretch continued his victory dance, Roy regained consciousness.
"Ooh, my head…" Roy said woozily sitting up, "where am I?" Roy blinked rapidly and upon seeing the gap in the cliff wall, cognizance flooded his system "Wait a minute, that green robot attacked me and Sama- hey, Samantha, is that you?!" he shouted at the dancing figure, partially obscured by the dust and snow in the air.
Upon hearing Roy, the figure seemed froze and turned to face him, at that moment, Roy knew that this was not Samantha; the figure had a cylindrical head with no ears and its body was recognizably thin and wiry.
The obscured figure quickly closed the gap, stopping with its metallic face only inches away from him.
"Ah, you`ve finally regained consciousness, good," Stretch said in a sinister voice, a line that ran across the lower part of his 'face' could have been easily mistaken for a sadistic smile as the bot drew even closer to Roy, "now I wonder, what are you? You`re not a High-Threat, not by a long shot." He commented; his 'face' now less than an inch from Roy`s as he began searching his internal database for the fox`s file, all the while holding as still as the machine he was.
Ok, this dream has officially become a nightmare, time to wake up. Roy thought to himself as the robot remained motionless in front of him, except for its visual receptors, which tracked him with deadly accuracy.
Roy closed his eyes and concentrated on trying to wake up from the nightmare that he was sure he was having, but when he opened them back up, the iridescent green robot was still face to face with him, completely motionless.
"Why`d you squint your eyes, did you get a dust in them?" Stretch asked sarcastically.
Oh great, it`s one of those nightmares that don`t let you wake up, this is going to be unpleasant. Roy thought. But then he saw Stretch`s metal hand raise up a little and line up with Roy`s throat, that`s it, time to use Instant Design before I get to the gory part! he thought as he began running the variables through his head, looking for the correct method to use to wake up.
Okay, let`s see, in order to be able to wake up and not deal with getting eviscerated in a nightmare, I need to relax, lie down and close my ey- wait a minute, that`s the motions for going to sleep… so if I have to go to sleep before I can wake up, that means-
"-this isn`t a dream!" Roy said aloud.
At this, Stretch stepped back, his combat algorithms leaving him utterly dumbfounded on how best to proceed "You mean you actually thought that I was a nightmare? Boy, you`re a weird one!" He commented with a tilt of his head, I knew it, I`m scary enough to make people lose their minds, that`s even better than I had hoped! The green bot thought.
Roy`s mind was abuzz with a multitude of things that he now had to come to grips with, but the machine in front of him and the threat it posed was at the forefront of his to-do list.
"I guess it doesn`t matter whether or not you`re crazy when you`ve been Roboticized," Stretch mused, "from what I heard when those guys are done with you, there`s really nothing left to be crazy."
However, all of Stretch`s comments seemed to fall on deaf ears, as Roy just sat there staring at the green robot without saying a word.
"Hello, can you hear me, or are you so terrified at the mere sight of me that you`ve lost your ability to speak?" Stretch asked after a few seconds of unresponsiveness.
Stretch then noticed that Roy`s goggles were faintly flickering with lines of data, and the machine instantly recognized some of the data as his own; this made the green robot quite angry, "What the- are you scanning me?" The robot exclaimed when he saw his own data, "Why you little-"
Stretch lunged at Roy, intent on ripping the fox`s goggles off of his head, but before the bot reached its target, Roy picked up a nearby rock out of the snow and jammed it into Stretch`s left 'eye', causing the bot to reel backwards with a simulated screech and cradle its sparking photoreceptors in his hand.
"That was a dirty trick, don`t you know it`s bad form to hit someone with a rock when they`re trying to kill you?" Stretched commented as he held his now non-functioning left 'eye' in his hand, but when he looked back at where was, he found the fox absent, "oh, come, on… really!? You ruined a perfectly good eye so you could run away? You're even dumber than I thought you were!" He commented looking around for the red fox.
"Yoo-hoo, where are you?!" Stretch shouted in that sing-song voice, "You know, if you come out now, I might just kill you before you get Roboticized!"
Stretch's ultra-sharp sensors detected a small log being tossed at him from behind a nearby tree. Instantaneously, his combat algorithms took hold and the nimble bot stepped out of the way of the log, allowing it to land harmlessly on the snow nearby, "Well, that was pitiful" Stretched laughed mockingly "and you gave away your position to boot besides; you know, your reall- hold on, why can`t I move?" The bot exclaimed as he realized he was now paralysed from the neck down and about as useless as a paperweight in that state.
After he was sure Strech was incapacitated, Roy stepped out from behind the tree and walked up to him with a confident smirk.
"What did you do to me, you freak?!" The bot demanded.
Roy laughed at his now impotent foe, "That log that I threw at you had- er, pardon me, has a high-frequency signal emitter that I fashioned a few minutes ago; right now it`s broadcasting the binary code equivalent for a heuristic analysis request to every piece of technology in the area that can receive it, as you can see, it`s also messing with my goggles," He motioned to his googles whose edges were now constantly flickering with blank windows, "I may have just realized that I lost everything I have ever known and loved, but that isn`t going to stop me from coming up with a way to survive." He stated.
"Oh, quit that 'I will survive' nonsense; I starting to get sick from all that biological self-actualization crap!" the robot complained.
"Well, how about this for 'actualization'; I am going to give you one chance to survive." Roy said confidently as he walked behind the frozen robot.
Roy flipped a tiny, inconspicuous lever on the back of Stretch`s head and removed the outer covering to reveal a wire-covered mainframe that composed the robot`s entire operating system, "Now, I`m going to give you one chance to get out of this alive," Roy explained to the green bot, "either you tell me where Samantha is, or I take your brain apart and turn it into an alarm clock." He said as he wrapped his fingers around a clump of wires in Stretch`s head.
"'Samantha'… nope, sorry, doesn`t ring a bell." Stretch replied.
"I would advise you to stop toying with me," Roy stated emotionlessly, his fingers gripping the wires tighter as he began to wiggle them about to loosen them.
"Oh… right, Samantha;" Stretch exclaimed with a bout of nervous laughter, "yeah, I hate to break it to ya`, but last time I saw your friend, she was getting crushed under whole buncha` ice, so the chances are pretty good that she's dead; and with a pretty looking gravestone too, what with all those cracks in the cliff," he laughed.
After a few seconds of unsettling silence, the bot felt a tiny hint of fear in its pre-programmed self-preservation instincts "Now that I`ve told you where your friend is, you`ll let me go, right?" The robot pleaded with Roy.
"Since you decided to play games with me, no." Roy said as he calmly pulled the clump of wires from the robot`s head, causing it to go slack and drop to the floor like a sack of potatoes. Moments later, the green robot`s remaining eye flickered for a moment, before going dark for good.
With a sigh of relief, Roy reached into the small log he was holding and removed the hastily made device from it; flicking a switch on the side and placing it into his backpack, instantly ending the endless heuristic analysis prompt on his goggle`s display.
"Now to find Samantha," Roy thought as he theorized where she would be buried "I know that this cliff face is relatively free of cracks, so that bot`s comment about a pretty gravestone is actually going to prove useful."
Roy switched his goggles to infrared and searched the cliff wall for signs of the cracks that the bot referred to; it did not take very long at all for him to find a series of fresh ones in the cliff face that webbed out from a central point near a massive pile of snow and ice at the base of it.
Roy quickly made his way over to the snow pile and began to scan it for a heat signature that would reveal where Samantha was in all this; he found her signature near the center of the snow pile and surprisingly enough, it was still strong enough to suggest that she was still alive.
The moment he saw that Samantha might still be alive; Roy began to frantically dig through the snow with his gloved hands to get her out.
After a minute or so of digging, Roy finally found Samantha lying face up and completely unconscious, but alive nonetheless.
"Now to get her out of this…" Roy thought as he looked around for a way to lift her out of this pile of snow, "let`s see, she is too heavy for me to lift, so the only way to get her out of this snow would be to wake her up, but how might I do that?" He wondered.
Roy stood up in the hole in the snow and thought for a moment about how he might wake Samantha up before her body temperature dropped to a dangerous level, then it hit him.
"Oh, that`ll work!" Roy exclaimed as he began to climb out of the hole and towards the equipment chest. (Which somehow managed to avoid getting damaged and remain stationary all at the same time.)
Roy quickly scrambled through the chest and found what he was looking for in no time at all: a pair of black headphones attached to what looked like an egg timer.
Roy made hastily made his way back to Samantha and gently placed the earphones on her head, "Ok, now this is going to be yet another thing I`ll have to apologize for…" He commented aloud as he reached for the dial on the timer.
Roy set the timer for about twenty seconds and quickly scrambled out of the hole with the same panic that a miner would have while running from a dynamite charge.
The moment the timer counted down to zero, a cacophonic ringing sound was sent through the headphones and into Samantha`s ears; waking her up instantly.
However, in the process of waking up, Samantha jumped some thirty feet into the air and floated there with a panicked look on her face; her hands were glowing with a deep blue color.
Samantha did not take long to notice where the noise was coming from, and promptly removed the headphones from her ears, "These are the personal wake-up call headphones that Roy developed when he was younger, but where`s Roy?" She wondered as she looked around for him.
"Hey, Roy, where are you; are you alright?!" Samantha shouted in the hopes of getting a response.
"I`m down here!" Roy shouted in reply, "Although, the more important question is: how the heck are you still up there?!" He asked.
Upon hearing Roy`s question, Samantha realized that she was not standing on the ground, "Oh, that`s right, I forgot to tell you," She said descending to ground level, "yeah, I found out I could fly a couple of days ago." She explained when her feet touched the ground.
"Um, how the heck did you end up flying and then not have the urge to tell someone that you can fly? That makes no sense, at all." Roy asked with a look of incredulousness on his face.
"Well, I was going to tell you, but then I found out that you think that everything is a dream, so I opted not to." She explained.
"Uhh, yeah, about that… I now have a whole bunch of things that I need to apologize for." Roy said while looking down at the ground in shame.
"What, did you finally realize that this isn`t a dream?" asked Samantha, though she was not expecting any kind an answer.
"Well, yeah, I did," Roy replied.
"Oh really? Is that honestly the case, or are you just trying to make me feel better?" Samantha asked suspiciously.
"If that was the case, then why would I bring it up again instead of just keeping quiet?" Roy asked in reply.
Samantha realized that Roy was telling the truth, and also realized something else, "Umm, Roy, you ok?" She asked with a concerned voice, "you do realize what all of this being real means for you, don`t you?"
"Yeah, I do," Roy replied, "I don`t know about you, but I think I`m going to have a breakdown sometime tonight.".
"Umm, was that a joke?" Samantha asked.
"No, not really." Roy replied with a momentarily haunted look on his face.
"Well, alright then, I guess it`s kind of good to know that beforehand," Samantha said as she handed the headphones back to Roy, "but it`s still a bit weird."
"Well, in any case," Roy said changing the subject, "it looks like we can get through that cliff wall now; you've already knocked all the snow off of the top." He mentioned.
"Yeah, I kind of did," Samantha commented in agreement, "speaking of which: what happened to that robot that attacked you, you know, the green one?" She asked while looking around for it.
"Oh, right, I took it out before I came and saved you," Roy replied, "its body is over there." He said while gesturing over to where the green bot`s remains lay.
The two of them made their way over to Stretch`s remains as they lay sprawled in the snow, "What are going to do with this, anyway?" Samantha asked as she surveyed the dead machine.
"Well, it is composed of a whole lot of advanced technology," Roy mentioned as he kneeled down and picked up one of the robot`s arms, "perhaps we could take it with us so I can study it and find out how it works." He mused.
"I don`t have any real problems with carrying it, –it`s not all that heavy, I don`t think- but I don`t think it`ll fit in the chest," Samantha said, "ok, I`m a bit confused; you mean that in the time that I was unconscious, you figured out that this isn`t a dream and you took out a robot that I couldn`t even touch, how the heck does that work?" Samantha asked Roy with a heavy tone of disbelief in her voice.
"You know, I really don`t know, it just sorta… happened." Roy replied frankly with a quick shrug.
"Huh, you know, you`ve accomplished a lot of things, but nothing like this," Samantha commented, "are you sure you`re alright?" She asked.
"I`m actually not sure," Roy replied as he set the green bot`s arm back down, "losing my home and family and then writing it all off as a dream is kind of a new experience for me, and I really don`t know what comes next for me." He explained as he stood up.
"I don`t know either," Samantha said, "but let`s put that on the back burner for now and focus on what we do know."
"And what would that be?" Roy asked.
"For one thing, we know that we still need to head north, and secondly, we need to find a way to get this dead robot into the equipment chest without taking up too much space," Samantha explained.
"Well, we could disassemble the robot and move its pieces that way." Roy suggested.
"That sounds like both a good idea and a very creepy one at that," Samantha commented, "Well, it`s just a robot, so I guess it doesn`t sound all that axe-murderery if you think about it."
"What a lovely note of confidence, thank you," Roy commented sarcastically as he brought a screwdriver out of his backpack and looked for a way to disassemble the robot; and upon scanning a bot he found a suitable screw near the heel of one of the robot`s feet.
"Yeah, this is going to take a moment," Roy said as he pulled the foot off the green bot and placed it on the ground next to him, "so I guess it would be a better use of time for you to break through that gap in the cliff while I`m busy." He mentioned.
"Ok, for one thing, that sounds like a good idea, but for another thing, you`re still not making decisions. So, for the time being, don`t get used to giving orders." Samantha replied making her way over to the cliff wall.
When she got to the gap in the wall, Samantha turned back to Roy and asked, "Hey, you think that these gloves will withstand being used to break stone?"
"Well, you did just put a big dent in that very cliff and you`re gloves are fine, so I would take a guess that they`ll be fine this time," Roy replied as he pulled a leg off of the bot.
"Well, ok then," Samantha commented as she pulled her fist back and readied to strike the wall.
With only three hits, Samantha widened the gap in the wall so that it was more than large enough to allow the equipment chest through with room to spare.
"Hey, you about done there?" Samantha asked Roy as she made her back to him.
"Almost, I need to finish removing the head and then I need to split the torso into top and bottom halves," Roy explained as he removed a screw from the bot`s neck, "you finish breaking that hole in the cliff?" he asked as he removed the bot`s head from its shoulders.
"Yep, we should have no problem getting through it," Samantha replied, "and these things didn`t even get threadbare." She commented at her virtually pristine gloves.
"Yeah, that`s why I picked those up," Roy commented as he finally pulled the top half of the bot`s torso off of the bottom half.
"Alright, that`s finished; I think we can continue on our way north," Roy said as he placed the last piece of the green bot into the equipment chest.
"Oi, that took long enough," Samantha commented as she closed the chest`s lid and put it back on her shoulder, "ready to go?".
"Yeah," Roy replied while retrieving his backpack and brushing the snow off of it.
"Then let's go," Samantha said as she started for the widened gap in the cliff wall; nearly hitting Roy with the equipment chest as she turned around and continued their way north.
After a few hours of walking, they came upon a massive valley that was filled with piles upon piles of broken robots; the whole scene was lit by a sun occluded by depressingly dull-grey clouds. Roy and Samantha stood there in the wake of the awesome and terrible sight, both astounded by the sheer immensity of it all.
"Ok, I knew that the battles between the Eggman Empire and the Freedom Fighters were intense, but this is on another level entirely." Roy commented as the two of them started to enter the macabre metal-filled valley.
"You`ve no disagreement from me." Samantha replied.
As they went into the metal filled valley, the towers of mechanical refuse seemed to grow taller and taller the further in they went. One could easily mistake the towers of rusty metal for giant bookshelves, each with its own tale of what once was, and what might be again.
"Huh, it makes our scrapping of that green bot kinda moot point, doesn`t it?" Samantha mused as they walked through the seemingly endless hallways of scrap.
"What do you mean?" Roy asked.
"You know, we went through all that trouble to take apart the bot and keep its pieces for later use, and then we find a gigantic pile of bots just like that one, all just sitting here with no one around that would give a second thought about us taking any of this," Samantha explained.
"Huh, now that you say it, I guess it does make sense," Roy remarked, "well, in my defense, the bot in the chest is definitely not as rusty as the ones around here."
"Yeah, that sounds about right," Samantha said laughingly as she wiggled a protruding robot finger of one of the walls, causing it to break off and land on the floor.
Roy was about to say something else, but the both of them were interrupted by a loud crashing noise some ways away. Both of them hurried over, worried that whoever caused it might be injured, or worse. When they neared the source of the noise, they stopped and squatted behind a short pile to avoid being seen, but not before Samantha gently set the equipment chest down nearby.
The pair surveyed the area, but there appeared to be no possible source for the noise, "Do you see anything, Roy?" Samantha whispered.
"No, not really," Roy whispered in reply, "hold on, let me switch to infrared and get a better look." He said as he pressed a button on the side of his goggles.
Instantly, the area he was looking at changed in color from a dull grey with accents of white snow to the green-and-black monochrome of infrared signatures, "Ok, I think I see a heat signature over there, so there`s someone out there for sure." Roy whispered again.
"What are they doing, are they alright?" Samantha asked.
"If all ya`ll are gonna` to keep staring at me, it would be the polite thang` to tell me who ya`ll are first." A voice spoke aloud; interrupting the both of them.
"Uhh, did that just happen?" Samantha asked Roy when she heard the voice.
"Yes, it did happen," The voice answered instead of Roy, "now like ah` said, it would be polite to let me know who ya`ll are instead of just standin` there gawking at me." The voice mentioned.
"Well, I guess if they`re asking…" Samantha commented as she began to step out from behind the pile.
"No, wait, what if it`s some kind of trick from another of Eggman`s bots," Roy said nervously.
"Ah`m not a robot if that makes ya`ll feel better," the voice chimed.
"Don`t worry, Roy, it`ll be fine; if it is a robot, I`ll just smash it," Samantha said reassuringly as she continued to step out from behind the pile.
When Samantha made it into plain view, she looked around and said, "Alright, I`ve shown myself, now show yourself in turn!"
"First off, don`t talk so loud, it hurts my ears, and secondly, ah`m not stepping out until the other one shows." The voice replied.
"Oi, Roy, come on," Samantha said while gesturing for him to come out, "the voice said that it`s not a robot and I`m inclined to agree with them" She added reassuringly.
"Are you seriously trusting some voice that we`re hearing in a giant garbage heap," Roy protested stamping his foot "are you nuts?!" Roy snapped in a hushed tone.
"I`m not just going by that; you saw a heat signature, right?" Samantha asked in reply, "Then that means it`s not a robot because robots don`t give off heat." She said in answer to her own question.
"Huh, I didn`t think about that," Roy remarked, "well, in that case…" He said as he stepped out from behind the pile.
"Well, that all took long enough…" The voice commented.
Then the voice`s owner stepped out from their own hiding place and revealed themselves.
"So, what are you two doing here?" Spoke the voice`s owner: a long-haired, blond Mobian Chupacabra with grey fur that looked a bit more seemly than her species would lead you to imagine.
"Uh, shouldn`t you start with your name?" Roy asked.
"Why?" The Chupacabra asked confusedly.
"Because it`s what people do when they meet someone new," Roy replied in a matter-of-fact tone of voice.
"Oh, shoot, I forgot again." The Chupacabra thought to herself. "Mah name is Anita," She said aloud, "so um, what`s all ya`ll names, anyway?" She asked the both of them.
"My name is Samantha." Said Samantha.
"And I`m Roy," Roy added.
"Okay, now I know your names, so could ya`ll tell me what you`re doing here?" Anita asked the two of them.
"We were passing through on our way north, and then we heard a crashing noise and came over here to check it out," Samantha explained, "do you know what caused it?" She asked Anita.
"Oh, right, that was me," Anita replied, "I was fetchin` a good chunk a` platinum from one these here Swatbots and the pile got all wobbly and almost landed on me." The grey Mobian explained.
"Uhh, what are you going on about platinum, anyway?" Roy asked.
"I`m picking through these here bots for tech so I can sell `em to folks," Anita replied, "but I also sell precious metals whenever I find them, and I smelled some platinum; that`s why I`m here."
"Umm, did you just say that you smelled platinum?" Roy asked disbelievingly.
"Yes, I did say that," Anita replied, "my senses are a bit more fine-tuned than other people`s senses, and platinum is just plain smelly." She explained.
"So, by 'fine-tuned', you mean stronger," Samantha said, "that makes sense, but whom are you selling the tech you find to anyway? There`s no one here."
"Oh, I sell to whoever moseys on by, but I mostly trade the tech I find with the Freedom Fighters for food and other supplies I can't salvage otherwise," Anita replied.
"Yeah, then we`ve got some bad news for you, Anita, the Freedom Fighters were attacked a few days ago, and it`s quite possible that they`re all dead," Samantha said.
Yeesh, that was blunt! Roy thought, "Yeah, I saw it, I was there." He said aloud.
"Oh, I already know all about that," Anita said, "that`s why ah`m out here getting the tech to trade with them." She explained.
"Hold on, if you already know that they`ve been attacked and you`re still in the process of scrapping bots to trade with them, then that would mean that they`re all still alright," Roy said, but mostly for his own benefit.
"For the most part," Anita commented, "they did lose a few folks, but not so many as to worry about too much." She mentioned.
Then the blond-haired Chupacabra began looking around for something, "By the way, did ya`ll see where that platinum moseyed off to? I lost track of it while dodging this here falling pile." Anita asked as she continued to look around.
"No, neither of us has seen it," Roy replied as he started to look around as well, "could you tell us what it looks like?"
"Now, I can`t tell you it looks like, but I sure can tell you what it smells like," Anita replied as she lifted a robot arm to check and see what was under it.
"Yeah, not sure if that`s helpful," Samantha commented as she joined in the search.
Then Anita brushed some snow aside and said, "I think I found the little thang," She said as she took a deep breath to draw in more of the scent, "but it looks like it`s stuck in this here leg." She said; the leg she was referring to was a robot limb about the size of sofa and it probably weighed a ton at the very least.
"You need some help with that?" Samantha asked as she made her way over to where Anita found what she was looking for.
"Naw, I just need to pry this dang thing open enough for me to reach the platinum, that`s all," Anita replied as she began surveying the metal leg for any weaknesses.
"I`m pretty strong; I could easily pry that thing open if you need," Samantha mentioned.
"I don`t know about that; this here leg is shut tighter than a clam`s mouth, so unless you`re really strong, this isn`t coming open any time soon," Anita remarked as she continued to search the robot limb for a way to open it.
"Yeah, Samantha is a whole lot stronger than she looks; she doesn`t even need a seam to break that thing open," Roy commented.
"Oh, really…" Anita replied disbelievingly, "well it would save me a bunch of time to have this opened up, so if ya`ll think ya` can go right on ahead."
"Ok then, could you take a step back for a moment and let me get a hold of this thing?" Samantha said as she walked up to the giant robot limb and readied to break it open.
Samantha took her left hand and grabbed ahold of a protruding piece of metal, and with her right hand, she pulled back and drove it into the side of the metal leg with enough force to embed her hand in it up to her knuckles; after she was sure she had a firm grip, Samantha slowly ripped a strip of metal from the metal limb, tearing it open like a can of sardines.
Anita stood there in shock as Samantha ripped the metal leg open with only a minimal amount of strain, "Okay, I stand wholly corrected." She stammered after her amazement wore down a little.
"Hold on just a moment; if you`re this strong, then that would mean that you`re capable of making that loud noise I heard just a bit ago and that in turn would most likely mean that you are the ones that made that noise," Anita exclaimed.
"What noise are you talking about?" Roy asked while scratching his head.
"Oh yeah, you were unconscious at that point," Samantha said to Roy, "I hit the cliff wall pretty hard while you were out cold, so I guess that made the 'loud noise' that Anita is talking about." She explained in answer to Roy`s question.
"Oh, that explains the pattern of cracks in the wall, they were from you," Roy remarked, "hold on, Anita, how did you realize that Samantha and I are the ones that made that noise? You weren`t even there."
"I didn`t have to be there; I just used deductive reasonin` to figure it out," Anita explained.
"So, what, are you like a detective or something?" Roy asked.
"No, I`m not a detective by any means, I just have a bit of a knack for figurin` thangs out, that`s all." She explained.
"So, you`re like a detective, but not a detective," Samantha commented, "huh… I guess that makes sense."
"It`s always made sense to me," Anita said as she started to reach her hand into the new hole in the robot leg and rooting around for the sliver of platinum, "I`ve always liked answerin` questions and solvin` puzzles; leastways as far back as I can reckon."
"Ok, that`s kinda cool, but you mentioned that the Freedom Fighters are still alive earlier and I would like to know if you heard anything about the Vanderlind family from your contacts," Roy asked anxiously, "you see, I was separated from them when Knothole was attacked, and I would like to know if they`re alright."
"Can`t say as I have heard anything on them specifically, but they`re probably ok," Anita replied as she pulled her arm out of the robot leg with a silver colored cylinder in her hand, " I can guide y'all to where the Knothole refugees set up camp." She added as she stood up and brushed the snow and rust off of her black pants and faded-grey winter coat.
"Really, you`d do that?" Roy asked.
"Why not? I`m already headed that way with a load of tech and it would be safer to travel with a group anyways," Anita replied, "it`s just good sense."
"Ok, sounds good," Samantha commented, "but I need to go retrieve the equipment chest real quick." She added; making her way over to the pile of metal that Roy and she were hiding behind just a few minutes ago.
Samantha returned with the equipment chest over her shoulder like usual, "Ok, got it," She said as she made her way over to the other two, "so, are we heading onward, or what?" She asked.
"Yeah, we are, but I have just a little question: how are you carrying that?" Anita asked.
"What do you mean? I`m just carrying it, there`s nothing special about that." Samantha replied with a shrug of her shoulders.
"'Nothing special'… do you hear yourself, it shouldn`t be possible to be carryin` a big ol` thing like that!" Anita exclaimed.
"I really don`t see how this is impossible; I mean, you just saw me rip metal with my bare hands, so you know I`m strong enough to carry it, what else is there?" she asked.
"Well one thang, your feet should be embedded in the ground from carrying that much weight on your shoulder, yet ya`ll just walking around like you weigh about a hundred pounds at the most," Anita replied.
Then Samantha looked down at her feet, and sure enough, she was making normal footprints in the ground regardless of the heavy mahogany box she was carrying, "Huh, that`s interesting." She commented.
"'Interesting' is pretty much a euphemism in my book, the word ya`ll are looking for is 'impossible'" Anita stated.
"Ok, if you say so," Samantha commented, "but shouldn`t we be making our way to the refugee camp you were talking about?"
"I agree, I`m quite eager to see if my family is ok." Roy chimed in.
"Uh, I guess, but I`m still going to find out how y'all are doin that after we get there." Anita proceeded to place the cylinder in a pack on her side before motioning to a gap in the piles of metallic debris just to the right of her mechanical limb, "Ya'll follow me; the exit is just though this here pathway."
And so the three of them, led by Anita, made their way out of the massive mechanical graveyard and towards the refugee camp.
However, unbeknownst to our heroes, another metal dragonfly was watching them, and after it seen enough, it flitted away to notify its creator.
To be continued…