I woke up the next morning feeling refreshed, but in a different way. I couldn't quite put my finger on it though, so I ignored it.
I climbed down from my tree, And continued on my quest for the supposed edge. I wasn't in a hurry like yesterday, because the panic and frenzy of the moment had passed.
As I walked, I wondered what I would do if I even found the edge. What was the point? Then I remembered. Logically speaking, they would probably have put the compound in the middle. So if I found an edge, I knew to turn directly around and go straight. A simple plan, put it would work.
However, A surprise happened that stopped that plan entirely. As I was walking, I felt something around my foot. I looked down and saw a rope, it had been hidden underneath the leaves. I yanked my foot to get it undone from the rope, but instead it pulled the rope across the ground and Rang some bells.
It was a trap.
As fast as I could, I dodged out of the way of the falling net I knew was coming, which it was. I sprinted away since the bells had gone off. Someone heard and someone was coming.
I didn't get far before I felt sudden weight on my back which took me off guard and knocked me to the ground. I attempted to roll over and face my attacker, and was shocked at what I found.
A small human girl was straddling me. She had short, somewhat tangled curly hair that was caramel in color. She had a little bit of freckles, and olive green eyes. Her hands were clenched in a way that resembled paws, and they were pressed against my chest. I assumed by the way her stance was that it had not been a battle attack, merely her admittedly odd way of greeting me.
I couldn't process what I was seeing. A human. Outside. There was nothing out here. The only humans were the doctors. They told us so! But this girl was very young and clearly not a doctor! Why was she out here? Who was she? How? How? How?
My confused mind raced through thousands of possibilities. None of them fit the bill, or matched with anything the doctors told me. I was so shocked, I couldn't say anything. So she did.
"Who are you?!" She asked, "I haven't seen you around here before! You must be new to this area! Where'd you come from?" The new questions came out of her mouth before I could answer older ones. Her higher voice was tainted with curiosity, and the way she rolled her r's reminded me of a cat.
"You're... You're human." I said. I was still processing this fact, and could not believe it. Was it a trick? Was this the so called monster 88 was going about? Maybe they were shapeshifters. What would I know?
"Of course I am, you silly! And so are you!" on you, she slightly pawed at my nose once.
"No," I said, denying her false accusations, "I'm not."
She frowned slightly, "Yes, you are! I'm positive!" The way she said positive made it sound like 'pawsitive'.
"No, I'm a robot." I instantly regretted the words, why would I announce something so stupid? Her ignorance could be my advantage if this were to come to a fight.
Luckily though, she just giggled at me, "No you're not, silly! Can robots bleed?" She laughed.
I frowned, that wasn't exactly a connected question to the situation, "No."
"So you're not a robot!" She said, proud to have shown me how to put two and two together. She didn't realize her answer was 5.
I didn't say anything for a long time, her logic confused me greatly. Maybe that's why she wasn't a doctor, were most humans idiots?
"What," I finally managed to say.
"Robots don't bleed! So you can't be a robot! See?" She said, as she gestured to my leg.
When I looked down, the first thing I saw was my long skirt. I had never been too focused on clothes before, though most of the people in my block wore different things. My skirt had been ripped, probably in the fall, and at first that was all I noticed. Then I saw it.
I had shifted just enough for the hole to reveal my leg. There was a scrape, not big and painful, just enough to bleed a little. I was shocked, because she was right, robot's don't bleed.
That's what they had always told us.
But they also always told us there was nothing out here.
Why would they lie? Furthermore, should I even believe this human? I was told all human's rule was greater than mine, but did she count as a human? She obviously wasn't from the lab. Do I listen to her?
The confusion that was started from this simple sight was sending my mind reeling. So much was changing and was now questionable that had been rock solid before. It felt like this small human had unintentionally turned my robotic world upside down, and may have shown me how un-robotic it actually was.
I couldn't handle it anymore, I finally pushed the little girl off my chest and ran. Maybe I could have another chance, forget this happen, get back to the lab, and live life how it had been. Well, except for 88 being with me 24/7, but giving her up was a sacrifice I was very willing to make.
I was so focused on sprinting through the forest, watching my feet, I ran into something. I tripped and fell on my stomach, and I rolled over to see what I had tripped over and knocked to the ground.
A girl lying on her back, probably pushed over in the fall, had tilted her head back to look at me. Her hair was very blonde, almost white, and her eyes were a pink, almost purple, color. They were made more brilliant by her pale skin. She crossed her arms sarcastically and smirked at me.
"Well, well, well, someone was certainly in a hurry," she said, "Mind if I ask why?"
I couldn't speak. Another one? This time I felt frozen, I simply couldn't respond.
"Oh, going nowhere, are we? Or has a cat gotten your tongue?" She asked.
Again, I still didn't say anything. I was just too shocked to process much.
"Rose, I have that-" Another girl walked into the scene. She stared at the odd positioning of me and the girl, who was evidently Rose, and she too was shocked.
This girl had short hair, it was styled close to her head. It was a deep brown, and her skin was the color of mocha. Her lips were naturally a dark red, and she was rather pretty.
"Rose... What are you doing..." Her words were were smooth, and she focused a lot on pronunciation.
"Oh, Kanaya, I'm having simply the loveliest conversation with this fine young woman. I'm sorry, through all your words I didn't quite catch your name. What did you say it was?" She sarcastically put her hand up to her ear, to hear the reply.
As you may guess by my previous patterns, I didn't reply. I simply sat there. I probably looked like an idiot, but I was too terrified to care.
Kanaya raised her eyebrow at me, questioning what it was I was doing there, when the final straw walked in.
"You guy's have to be fucking KIDDING ME! We have jobs to do to stay alive, in case you haven't noticed! I don't know about you, but I'd prefer not starving to death and dying before 25?! Sound good?! Do we have a fucking deal instead of standing around like fucking ignorant shit buckets?!"
A small, angry looking fellow walked in. He had black messy hair that was facing every possible direction, and by the looks of it I would assume he didn't sleep much. His eyes were a bit odd, a bright red color, but it didn't freak me out like it should. If anything, I felt something comforting and familiar about the color. I assumed it was because it was a similar color to the red in robots circuit board eyes. He glanced at Kanaya, then the odd position Rose was in, then finally at me.
"Who the fuck is this," He said, "And what are you all even fucking doing."
"Karkat, you're making a bad impresion on our guest!" She said, I was starting to think she might use sarcasm all the time, "We wouldn't want to give name The idea that we're foul mothed burgalers, would we?" With this she sat up and gestured towards me.
"I don't give a flying fucking shit what " name" Thinks! Who the fuck is she anyway!?"
"What is your name?" Rose asked, with genuine curiosity, only I wasn't 100% sure she could say anything genuine.
After a few more stunned moments, I took off into the woods in a final feeble attempt to turn around and forget this ever happened. But my luck was against me, and I ran right to a cliff. I was trapped. I turned around, and the 3 people walked towards me, through the forest.
I was breathing hard now, I had never been so absolutely terrified in my whole life. I couldn't focus anymore, Everything was just a crazed rush. For the millionth time, I have the thought that maybe its a dream, that it isn't real. But in my heart I knew it was as real as I was.
"Are you ok?" Kanaya says, and before she can walk up to me, Rose gestures for her to stop.
"Kanaya, she's obviously horrified about something. What's wrong?" She asked me, and before I could answer the small girl from earlier burst through the forest.
"Oh Rose! Are you doing that therapist thing again!?"
I was startled, even more than before. My eyesight got blurry, for the first time in my life, and gravity pulled me to the ground. Right before it went completely black, I heard a cry from someone watching me.