Chapter 18: Old Woman Jenka
Author's Note: This story's passed one thousand views! Thanks so much, readers, I hope I can continue to entertain.
Just as Curly had said, Jenka's small abode looked like it had been standing for at least a century. Several, possibly, but there was no way anyone could live for that long… right?
As Quote approached the dark-colored metal building, he noticed just how much rust was covering the outer walls. It made him feel a bit uncomfortable, and he began wondering if it was possible for him to wind up like that. Whatever his false skin was made of, he hoped it wasn't metal. There were no windows visible, and the door was wide open, giving the house the rather unsettling appearance of a dark void beyond all the rust.
His companion seemed to notice his apprehension and giggled softly.
"What's wrong, not sure about meeting her all of a sudden? Relax, I'll go first."
She casually strolled up to the entrance and gave a hard knock on the wall.
"Jenka! You home? I need to ask you something."
From somewhere inside the darkness, a deep and wizened female voice croaked back.
"Is that you, Curly Brace? Come in, by all means. Tell your friend he doesn't have to just stand there either."
The two robots shared a confused look, unsure of how she knew Quote was also there. Regardless, he followed Curly inside after a moment.
"Welcome, welcome. What brings you two so far into the Sand Zone?"
His first impression of the house was that it smelled unusual. A very strong scent permeated the air, even overpowering his companion's "essence of Mimiga." To Quote's surprise, he found dog fur (there were no less than four of them curled up by a crackling fireplace, fast asleep) to actually be a more tolerable smell despite its more "organic" qualities. He was still confused as to why he kept getting hung up on such a minor detail.
Jenka sat in a wooden rocking chair on the other side of the one-room home, not far from her simple bed. The place as a whole felt very underwhelming as far as details went, somewhat including the witch herself. She was very short (about Professor Booster's height) with brown, wrinkled skin and white hair tied up in a bun. Dark tan robes covered her body, and from behind her thick glasses she looked firmly at the two.
"Of course, I don't think I need to ask why you're here anyway. What would two soldiers from the surface world be here for if not for the flowers? That IS what you're interested in, yes?"
Just as Quote was about to reply, Malco blared an alarm at the pair.
"I'm detecting something powerful approaching! Beware!"
Less than a second after he'd finished speaking, the entrance was smashed inwards as a gigantic object collided with it. By then, it didn't take the male robot long to deduce what that was.
"Huzzah!"
Curly found her vision suddenly obscured by a dust cloud, and she bewilderedly tried to wave it away. What was going on? Were they under attack? And who was that voice shouting jovially? Once her sight was clear, she got a look at the intruder.
"Balrog," Jenka said quietly in greeting. She seemed familiar with the hulking suitcase-looking entity, and to her shock so did Quote. He'd drawn his Polar Star and was threateningly pointing it at the uninvited guest, who appeared not to notice him or Curly in the slightest. He gave the witch a giant grin and a laugh.
"How you doin', Auntie?"
"Quite well before you burst through my door, as a matter of fact. You really should learn a better method of entering rooms."
"Aw, but you can just magically fix it! Why do you think I like smashing it so much?"
Jenka was clearly less amused than Balrog.
"You haven't changed, I see. And how is my half-wit of a daughter doing?"
"Misery? She's fine too. We're working for a new master, and this time I'm sure the surface will be ours!"
"I'm so sure. What are you doing here, then? Just felt like causing trouble?"
The unexplainable entity smiled even wider and held out one of his triangular arms.
"Not at all! I just need the key to the warehouse where those red flower seeds are kept. You haven't given it to soldier boy and his new blonde pal, have you?"
"I recognize him… he appeared in the Bushlands, mentioning someone called the Doctor."
Curly's fists clenched angrily, but she didn't say anything in response. If Balrog was an ally of the witch who'd kidnapped the Colons, then he was just as much of an enemy to her. Jenka, surprisingly, gave a confused grunt.
"A key, you say? What in the world are you talking about? There is no key."
Judging from the walking suitcase's deadly serious expression, he knew she was lying. Curly watched him let out a "hmph" before commenting.
"Trying to fool me, are ya? I see how it is, you want to betray us. You'll regret it."
With that, he marched out the enormous hole that used to be a door and jumped away. The robotic duo looked back at Jenka with uncertain looks on their faces.
"Another master… more likely another idiot who didn't know what he was dealing with."
"Is there really a key to get the flowers?" Curly asked hopefully. The witch gave her a sharp look, promptly quieting her down.
"You don't have any clear memories of ten years ago, do you? Your silent friend here has a similar look in his eyes. Let me tell you, I'm not keen on the idea of allowing soldiers access to the flower seeds, amnesia or not. I remember it so vividly… robots arrived here by the hundreds in search of a powerful artifact, slaughtering helpless Mimiga in their wake. All the brave men and women who tried to defend them were shown no mercy, and the poor creatures ultimately resorted to eating those infernal flowers. Do you know what happens when they do that?"
For the first time since they'd arrived, Quote spoke up. He had an uncomfortable look on his face.
"…I think I do. They get almost four times bigger and lose all sense of reason, right? I was forced to kill one not long after waking up."
Curly stared at him in disbelief. He'd killed a Mimiga? And if the flowers had such a horrible effect on the species, then her children… no. She refused to let herself imagine that. The mere thought was unbearable.
"That's correct. Opening the warehouse for any reason would only allow an encore of the tragedy so many years ago. The enraged Mimiga tore through their robotic oppressors with ease, then vanished without a trace. If they somehow managed to get to the surface, where humans live… do you understand how dangerous those flowers are?"
Both robots were silent, and even Malco was conspicuous with his lack of comments. After a moment, Jenka's expression softened.
"You two aren't after them for malicious reasons; I can see in your eyes you want to avoid such a disaster. But I can't let you have the key anyway, the risk is simply too great."
The witch sighed, looking over at her four dogs. Somehow they hadn't woken up even when Balrog crashed through the door.
"…before you arrived, one of my puppies ran away. My hips are so fragile at my age… do you think you could find him for me? It would mean a lot."
Quote didn't let it show on the outside- he didn't let much of anything show on the outside- but her request actually irked him quite a bit. She'd stubbornly refused to let them find and destroy the flowers, and now she wanted them to fetch her pet? What kind of backwards logic compelled her to think they would agree?
"No problem," Curly said to his left. "We'll get him back."
As she dragged him out the door by his arm, he wasn't entirely surprised at her response for some reason.
"This is a problem… what are we going to do now?"
"Let's start by finding Jenka's dog," the female robot replied to Malco calmly. "I understand why she's reluctant to let us in, but maybe if we help her out she'll change her mind."
"I'm afraid dogs aren't among the creatures I can track, as they exhibit no particular energy source to lock onto. Keeping watch over you is also taking a lot out of me, and I need to recharge a bit. You two are on your own for the time being."
"Go ahead, take a short rest. Sweet dreams!" she said encouragingly. A short click in their heads indicated that Malco had disconnected.
Quote wasn't sure if robots could even dream, but he was far less sure of how to read Curly. No matter how dire the situation, she'd maintained a relatively upbeat attitude ever since their skirmish with Misery. How did she manage to stay so cheerful?
She cleared her throat awkwardly, breaking the silence as they walked.
"Uh, you feeling okay? You're kinda starting at me."
"Hm? Oh, sorry about that. I'm thinking…"
To his surprise, she gave him an odd sort of smile.
"Really? And that involved looking at me for ten seconds? What're you thinking about, hmm?"
He rolled his eyes. Somehow, he must have been programmed to understand what she was getting at. An odd addition to a robot, in his opinion.
"I didn't mean that. Just… how can you be so positive in a time like this? Your children were just stolen from you, and if Balrog comes back there's no telling if Jenka can keep the key safe."
"Well yeah, things are tough at the moment. I know there's a lot at stake here, but I don't want to lose my sense of reason over it. Of course I'm worried about the Colons. Keeping a cool head will serve me better in a fight, you feel me?"
As he listened, Quote reflected that he didn't have a personal reason of his own to be on this mission. He wanted to help Sue, Kazuma, Booster, King, and the other Mimigas out of a sense that it was the right thing to do, but he could see so much more than that in Curly. She didn't just want to act in the right, she had a goal in mind after destroying the red flowers. What would be in store for him once they were finished? Sue had mentioned bringing him along during their escape from the island… at any rate, there wasn't time to think about this. They had a job to do.
"Yeah, I think I understand," he said after a while.
"Good man. Now, let's find that dog."
