The wind carried the cold of the night over to morning, and as it blew over the foliage the forest cringed. Colorful, small, and vibrant songbirds migrated through the tree tops, waking the world around them. Eyes of all kinds fluttered open to greet the light of day, and waited anxiously for their turn to greet the android that still lay sprawled in the dirt sleeping. As dawn became noon, the elegant Charlie rose from the shade to check up on WX-78.
Drifting, she hovered over the robot's still form and crossed her arms. She brought the heel of her shoe down upon WX's flank, and in response the automaton only shifted in the soil. How do you wake up a robot? She wondered, looking around her. Hitting it with something else may work, but she didn't want to put a dent in the poor thing. She looked up, staring at the roof of the forest, and smiled. Submerging herself into the dark, she traveled up the worn-and-torn birch tree. She carefully raised her hand to the mass of leaves and shook them. A shower of stale rain water hit WX-78 below, and even from up there, she could still see the burst of electricity and hear its scream. She descended upon the ground at a safe distance. "Good morni- er, afternoon!"
WX-78 shot up to face her, steam and smoke spilling in small amounts from its eyes and mouth as it shook away the water. "YOU COULD HAVE KILLED ME, WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU?!" She bit her lip and grinned. "AND THE BEAR," WX whined. "WHY ARE BEARS HERE?" Charlie shifted excitedly, giggling. "I know! Didn't it look cool? William and I are having so much fun with the dashboard lately." WX-78 slapped its hands onto its head in dismay. "WHAT DASHBOARD!? WHO IS WILLIAM?" Charlie rested her hand on her cheek and sat back into a chair of shadows that surfaced from the dark of the shade. She placed her elbow on the arm of the chair and beamed at the automaton. "It's been so long since we had such a good time together. You got him to laugh last night, you know that? You're so lucky, too! If he wasn't in such a good mood, I might not have been able to spare you." WX-78's arms dropped to its sides as it exhaled deeply.
"YOU MENTIONED ESCAPING YESTERDAY." It said, looking at her expectantly. Her hand fell to her lap as she crossed one leg over the other. "Oh, right. About that," She moved a strand of hair out of her face. "I don't think you've noticed, but we've replaced all of the animals and plants. Finding a way out might take a while. That includes the birds, the bees, the… the spiders…. Uh…." She seemed to struggle with her thoughts, as if she'd never really payed attention to the world around her. "Buffalo? Beef cows? Oh! Beefalo. Those are gone." WX-78 gave her a look of concern. "HOW DO YOU EXPECT ME TO OBTAIN SUSTENANCE?" She grinned. "I dunno~." She teased, swinging her feet over the other arm of the chair, her eyes shining. "I WILL NOT TOLERATE THESE MIND GAMES."
"What mind games? Can you just try hunting? You'll more than likely find something out there." The robot snorted, placing its hands on its knees as it leaned forwards. "I AM PHYSICALLY EXHAUSTED." Charlie tsked. A murky black hand emerged from the dark by the automaton's feet and gripped its shoulder. WX-78 glared at it, attempting to shake it off in disgust. It forced the robot to turn and face the other direction. "I'm not going to ask again." The hand released its grip and pushed WX-78 forwards. The robot stumbled and glanced at her. Looking around, it picked up the nearest rock. "I KNOW WHAT I AM DOING." It barked, pointing at it. The automaton angrily marched off.
Charlie sighed, dropping down with her seat and allowing the shadows to engulf her once more as she tagged along in secrecy. WX-78 wasn't lying when it said it was exhausted, and it occasionally stopped to lean against a tree and stretch. Recalling the night before, the robot had gained the habit of looking over its shoulder. Charlie accepted the fact she would have to be more careful sneaking around and leading WX-78 into traps; the animatronic was becoming suspicious of her anyways and was now fully aware of the power she had… to some extent. She did help run the "game", and being Maxwell's assistant, was very influential to the man himself. If she wanted a player dead, Maxwell could arrange it, most of the time. As free-spirited as that sounds, though, ultimately things are up to Them, and if They protest then William Carter must obey. They spoke to Charlie as well, and she would heed Their word too, only not as well as the man who had nothing better to do than sit in a nightmare throne all day and watch young women undress through a crystal ball. Nonetheless, Maxwell was hard-headed and felt his position on the throne was a powerful one.
They still managed to have fun, and WX-78's case was a breakthrough for both of them. She clung to the shadows of a tree, watching the robot walk past it from above. WX-78 trudged past the trees bearing grass pods, and came to a small clearing. The light filtered through the forest and rested as a spotlight upon a large bird's nest. Charlie tensed with anticipation. Upon the nest rested an egg that could easily be estimated the same size as WX-78's head. Resting on that egg was a clawed foot. WX-78's eyes trailed up the foot, which was connected to a long bent leg. The leg jutted out from a feathery black bird's torso. WX-78 had stolen from tallbirds before, but this certainly was not a tallbird. It was much shorter and actually had a bird's body shape. It balanced on the egg like a flamingo. It had wings far too large for its body, and its feathery neck held no head, only a beak protruded from it. Not a single eyeball could be seen anywhere on the bird's body. It had a tail, too, which was long and reached the ground, curling at the tips of each feather. The tips of its tail and beak were a bright pink, as were its primary and secondary wing feathers. Maxwell, who watching from the nightmare throne, proudly echoed the name they had given it. "Charlie's Bird of Paradise." His deep voice rang through the dark.
Unsure if the bird could see it, WX slowly approached the nest with caution. Its presence wasn't exactly intimidating, and WX-78 could easily face it with only the fear of being scratched or pecked. Positioning itself to snatch the egg from under the bird's foot, WX-78 stepped on a twig. The bird flinched and snapped its neck in the robot's direction, opening its beak and letting out an odd and terrifying bird call. WX-78 yelled out in surprise, dropping the rock and hunkering down to pull the egg out from underneath the bird with all of its might. The bird cried out in distress, losing its balance as the automaton ran off with the heavy spoils.
Tallbirds have long legs that allow them to easily gain on their attackers and prey. They cannot fly due to their pathetic wing size. Birds of Paradise, however, have wings so large and heavy they can't carry their own weight on their legs. It shrieked at WX from the ground, flapping its massive wingspan and picking itself up with ease.
They are excellent flyers.
Running, WX-78 grinned wildly and looked behind it. The joy was immediately replaced with sheer horror as it saw the bird gaining fast. Its wingspan blocked out the sun from the tree tops, its claws at the ready, seeming far larger than before and twice as menacing. If those talons could wrap around the top of the egg, they could easily crush WX's head. Charlie followed, but her laughter couldn't be heard over the volume of the bird's cries. WX-78 looked forwards. I ONLY HAVE TO MAKE IT INTO THE THICKER PART OF THE FOREST. It thought. THEN IT CAN NOT CHASE ME.
Jumping over rocks and narrowly avoiding some roots, WX-78 stole another glace at the Bird of Paradise. It was almost right above the robot, it could feel the air under the bird's wings and see the plant life around them violently bend and sway with the wind. WX-78 began screaming over the bird's frantic cries. A clawed foot shot through the sky over the automaton's head, but WX-78 swerved out of the way. Charlie's Bird of Paradise slowed for an instant before regaining its momentum. Watching from Charlie's eyes, Maxwell grinned, leaning forwards in his seat. "Come on!" He yelled, his voice echoing through the hallway of darkness. "Prove to me that you're dangerous enough for the rest of them!"
Charlie howled with delight as the monstrous avian beast landed a blow over the robot's head, sparks flying into the air as WX-78 fell forwards. The egg broke its fall, yet remained unbroken. Thankful it had such a hard shell, WX-78 staggered to its feet. The bird swung itself around, its talons grasping the trees above. It flapped its wings and shrieked again, pushing off of the tree trunk and diving down towards WX. "Kill!" Charlie shouted, echoing Maxwell as her eyes became wide with excitement. She tore through the dark towards them, not wanting to miss a second of the bird's furious endeavor. "Kill the robot!"
WX-78's mind was stirring with thoughts as it leapt to the side, avoiding another attack. The automaton desperately wanted to raise a hand to its head and inspect the injury, but refused to let go of the egg. The bird's talons took a concerning size of dirt out of the ground as it missed its target. It rolled forwards, feathers flying and wings tangling with foliage. Wx-78 scrambled through the trees. Brain clouded with Maxwell's fury and bloodlust, the bird unleashed a scream that sent a tremor through the earth and violently shook away the dust and debris. With a clattering beak and aching talons, Charlie's Bird of Paradise soared into the air and followed the robot's scent.
It reeked of fear.
WX-78 panted and wheezed as it sprinted through the undergrowth; the egg's weight began to falter the robot's speed. The robot felt the forest become thicker as it ran, and WX-78 began to laugh in relief. When the trees felt close enough, WX-78 slowed and looked over its shoulder. Huffing, the bird flapped its wings quickly and forcefully, pulling leaves from the trees as they swirled around it in a hurricane. It pulled dirt from the ground as it flew over the earth, catching up faster than ever. The robot narrowed its eyes at the bird. Surely it wouldn't fit through the trees where WX-78 stood. It took a few steps back and waited, a smug grin on its face. Charlie leapt and swam through the dark. She saw the robot beam with confidence and so did Max. They both roared, at the top of their lungs,
"Dive!"
Folding its wings, the bird yowled, stretching its neck out to bite. WX-78's grin faded. The robot screamed, whirling around to run away. The bird would have landed right on top of WX if it hadn't have moved, and it plummeted to the soil, sending a wave of dirt into the air. WX-78 stumbled as the ground shook, but still managed to avoid the snapping beak as the bird slid through the undergrowth towards it. It slowed to a halt, choking out one last cry of dismay as it extended its claws in an attempt to crawl. Maxwell's muscles relaxed and the man huffed in disappointment. Leaning back into the nightmare throne, his glare burned into the bird's mind. "Don't even try anymore, bird-brain. You've failed me."
Charlie slowed by the bird's struggling form, glaring as well. Then she shook. What was I thinking? She felt Maxwell's anger leave her body. As wonderful as their creations are, she should be helping WX-78. Even if Maxwell wanted so badly for the robot to die, having WX-78 "escape" was for his own good. She watched as her "Bird of Paradise" flopped onto its side pathetically, crawling towards the denser tree line. WX-78 laughed again over its shoulder. "STUPID FLESH BEAST!" It shouted, nuzzling the egg with glee. The robot slowed to a walk.
After WX-78 felt that it had distanced itself enough from the creature it had stolen from, it sat with the egg under the shelter of a birchnut tree that stretched to the heavens. Occasionally, a little laugher escaped the robot's mouth as it remembered the bird struggle on the ground. "That's cute, I didn't know you could laugh." Charlie cooed, emerging from behind another tree. WX-78 looked up at her, attempting to wipe the smile from its face. "IF I AM CORRECT, I HEARD YOU SHOUTING AT THAT WORM TO KILL ME." Charlie shifted uncomfortably. "I-I don't recall saying anything." She blinked. Her eyes went wide as they stared at WX-78, who now glared at her. "I KNEW YOU WERE FOLLOWING ME." She grinned sheepishly, stepping back behind the tree with only her head poking out and her hand resting on the bark. "I…"
"I CAN TAKE CARE OF MYSELF, FEMALE HOMINID. I DO NOT NEED YOUR HELP, OR FOR YOU TO HELP THE MONSTERS." Charlie exhaled sharply, her hand sliding down the tree trunk. "I'm sorry." WX-78's glare faltered into a look of surprise. "WHAT?" Charlie glowered at the robot, pouting. "I said I'm sorry." WX-78 sunk into the ground, tired. "I MUST BE HEARING THINGS." She snorted, avoiding its gaze. "That's too bad. I'm not saying it again." The robot smiled to itself, holding the egg close. "I WOULD GATHER MATERIALS, BUT I AM WORN OUT." Charlie frowned. "Fine." She slithered into the dark to go find some.