Chapter 19: Feelings
Malco could, in fact, dream while he was shut down. It took on a different meaning for robots, and instead of generating surreal images his inner computer sifted through its memory banks to try and find more about his past. Unfortunately for him, he was too distracted with his thoughts about what Jenka had revealed.
"Robots like us killed Mimiga during the war…?"
In retrospect, he didn't remember who their enemies had even been. His scan of his memories hadn't turned up anything yet, but if someone as old as the witch claimed to know what had happened then anything was possible. Malco and the rest of the force sent in as Retrieval Team 9 could have been responsible for the deaths of countless Mimiga, if that was true.
Thinking about it distressed him more than he wanted to admit. From what he'd seen and heard through Quote, the small creatures were hardly of any threat except when driven to consume red flowers. Could such an innocent-looking race really have been his crew's targets? And what were they supposed to do now that the war was apparently over?
He pushed those questions out of his head. Whatever had occurred in the past, the Mimigas were counting on Quote and Curly. He would continue to help his two fellow robots as much as he could, and if the white, fluffy beings were their allies then they were his as well. It wasn't like anyone from Retrieval Team 9 had come back to tell him otherwise yet, at any rate.
Although… that realization did raise two additional questions for Malco. Where were the other robots he'd been sent to the floating island with if the war was over? And, more importantly, what had they been sent to "retrieve" in the first place? Jenka had mentioned an artifact of some kind earlier, so he would have to further search his memory banks before waking up again.
The search for the missing dog had thankfully been rather short. Curly noticed him first after ten or so minutes of walking, his white fur easily spotted against the dark rocks and sand of the cavern. Before she had a chance to beckon for him to come closer, however, he'd wandered off toward another seemingly abandoned building. With Quote right behind her, she followed the runaway inside to complete their small task. No monsters gave them trouble on the way there.
Immediately upon entering, she picked up an unbearably foul smell in the air. It was as if dozens of rotting fish were left haphazardly around… actually, that was exactly the case. Her nose wrinkled in disgust as she surveyed the decrepit old house, noticing how many skeletal fish were strewn on the floor and beat-up furniture. They'd apparently been eaten and never discarded, and occasionally a stray bone could be heard crunching under her footsteps.
"Ugh, let's get out of here as soon as we can," Quote commented behind her.
"You can say that again… huh? Did you hear that?"
Her hand strayed toward the hilt of her machine gun when a low croaking noise emanated from somewhere nearby. She was stunned to realize that words could be made out in it.
"How did you get all the way out here, little one…?"
Just around a corner in the abandoned structure sat a hunched reptilian creature wearing a green cloak. Curly couldn't make out much of it aside from the orange scales around its mouth and frighteningly sharp teeth. The thing was holding Jenka's puppy in its lap and stroking it with a four-fingered hand that looked just as scaly as the rest of it.
"Cthulhu?" Quote said aloud. She looked between the two in surprise; had they met before?
Noticing that it wasn't alone, the hooded creature glanced up at them with a toothy grin. Its eyes could be seen for the first time, almost bulbous in appearance and pure white.
"Ah… the surface soldier arrives," Cthulhu commented in a low voice. "I see you've found a friend. Well met, Miss Curly Brace."
"What the- how do you know my name?"
His unsettling smirk only widened.
"Not many people live out here in the Sand Zone. I was bound to learn who you were sooner or later from that witch. As for you, soldier, I don't believe you told me your name when we first met."
The other robot looked tense around Cthulhu (not that she blamed him) but answered after a brief hesitation.
"I'm Quote. You said you know Jenka? How?"
"So many questions… I believe you two have more important matters at hand. You came here for this canine, yes? Take him, I have no desire to keep him around."
The dog jumped out of his arms and ran over to Curly, rubbing his head against her side. While the sensation of his soft fur felt good, it didn't distract her well enough from how unnerved she was.
"Uh… thanks, mister," she said uncertainly.
"Heh heh heh. Do tell her to keep her pets under control; they try to take my meals away…"
He withdrew a dead fish from somewhere in his cloak and slid the entire thing into his mouth, crunching down on it with a voracious smile. The two robots fled the house without even saying goodbye to him.
"Well," Quote said after about some time in silence, "at least we got the dog back."
He had been stealing glances at Curly, verifying that she'd found Cthulhu just as terrifying as he had. The female soldier had obviously been shaken up by the encounter, perhaps even more than him. With Malco still offline and her not saying a word, he realized that he wasn't used to the sound of nothing. The unusual silence was brief, however, and before long her distinct smile had come back.
"I guess we did. Right, little guy? Aww, you're so cute…"
Although he stayed alert on the walk back to the witch's home, there was little need to. The two passed by another sand croc and reptilian skeleton creature, but the monsters had been more concerned with fighting one another than showing any hostile intent. Why exactly they were going at it was unclear to him; neither could rely on the other for food due to a respective lack of a digestive system and a lack of meat altogether. For all he knew, the Sand Zone's native wildlife just enjoyed fighting.
Even then, his attention was focused more on the robot accompanying him. Curly was nothing if not fascinating to watch as she played with the dog. He knew hardly anything about showing affection given that he'd done little else but fight in his time awake -which he'd lost track of already- while she was clearly an expert at it. Her fingers traced across its (he couldn't tell what gender it was) fur in light circles, eliciting pleasured growls from the dog that mingled with her own giggling. Although she still kept the machine gun in her other hand, Curly looked completely at ease. Her time with the Mimiga children had certainly taught her much about emotions, which he was still just beginning to understand.
"Hey Quote, don't you wanna pet him too? C'mere, like this."
She grabbed him by the wrist and placed his palm down on the dog's back, guiding him to stroke its fur. He suspected that he couldn't appreciate it on the same level as her, but it was admittedly enjoyable to some degree. Quote was actually surprised by just how soft it felt to the touch. For the first time since he'd awoken, he found himself in a more tranquil state of mind. There may have been a lot at stake, but suddenly he wasn't as tense. On the contrary, he felt relaxed, in control, focused, and above all (strangely) warm. Was this what Curly had meant by not allowing the urgency of the situation to overtake his senses?
"Wow, you're pretty good at that," she said after letting go of him.
He felt a smile tug at the corners of his mouth.
"…I guess I am."
Sadly, the mood was all but killed upon arriving at Jenka's house again. Balrog came bursting through the wall from the inside and flew away, clutching something in his hands. It was too small to see, but the satisfied look on his face could only mean one thing: he'd gotten the key to unlock the red flowers.
