There are leaders who are respected, proud, charming, take-charge people. And then there are leaders who take-charge too much. And lastly there are leaders who let their pasts and thoughts take- charge of them.
What I'm trying to say, is that Cora didn't think twice about the past, or Damion's God damn thoughts.
She went crazy.
"WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING!"
she yelled as the two emerged from the smoke and collapsed on the gravely ground. Lennox raced up with some others to nurse them. Cora leapt forward and confronted Damion.
"HE'S STILL IN THERE!"
Her eyes went wide.
She fought back the memories.
Her head flicked back towards the burning house, the flames dying down as more buckets of water were added. Burning, she thought. Melting…
The robot boy tugged more and more on the nail franticly. A loud creak shattered his concentration and he looked up to the struggling roof. He hoped it wouldn't collapse while he was still inside.
A few of the wires finally gave way and he jolted back a little. The pain was beyond screaming.
Just one more to go…
More ash arose but had no effect on his eyes or breathing. He tugged and pulled, leaning all the way back trying to use his body wait to release the grip. He reached forward to un-latch the wire, but the smoke was like a deadly black sea. He groaned. "COORRAAAAA!"
The town stopped to listen to the desperate calls. The words were the last thing to seal the truth that this robot was in fact the teens, and wasn't here for trouble. Zane walked up to Cora and placed a hand on her shoulder.
"COOOORRAAA!"
"We can't do anything. Just be glad it's not a human." Cora bit her lip and nodded, starting to walk away.
"ZAAAANE!"
This time Zane froze in his steps. He looked to the house, then to the ground. "Sorry mate…"
The robot's chest heaved. No-one would be coming to get him. No-one probably would be caring. He banged his head against the wall and slid down to the floor, his arm still being held above his head. With a sigh, he closed his eyes. "Just a robot…"
A pain staking groan echoed through Autumn. The town shrunk down and moved away as the house's final strength gave way and the roof fell in with a wave of ash and smoke. The villagers screamed and Abigail let out a cry as her only home transformed into black rubble.
Scooter, who was dangerously near, jumped back in surprise. "Shit!"
Cora and Zane grabbed each other and shielded their faces as the dust arose and everybody held close. The rest of the flames smothered out from the mound of junk, and a certain calmness washed over, everyone knowing that the threat was gone. Lennox dusted his hands together. "Well…I guess that's that…"
"My…my house…" Abigail mourned.
"You're bloody lucky to be alive." A gruff man said.
"Is everybody all right?" a long brown haired woman yelled out. Many voices called out, though some sounding rather battered, confirming that they were okay. Cora and Zane looked at each other with wide eyes, not believing that all that strive only happened in a matter of minutes.
"My house…my only house…"
"You lot can stay with me in my house." A short black haired woman declared. Abigail coughed again and nodded slowly, still in Damion's hands and on the ground.
"Thanks, Nancy…" Cora stepped forward, watching other men carry the last buckets of water to the burnt site, tipping them on the last hungry flames. Lillyian raced up to her father.
"The robot!" she cried. "Where is the boy robot?!" Damion coughed and scowled. Anyone could see the rage that his own daughter was more concerned about his worst enemy than him. He detached Abigail, Lennox coming up and taking her, and stood up.
"I'm sorry, sweetie…" he said bitterly. Lillyian looked at him with teary eyes. "He…it…got stuck on a nail, I think…"
"And you didn't save him!" she gasped. Cora stepped to the fight.
"Wait… you let our robot to burn?!"
"We can sue you!" Zane tried to make himself threatening.
"Um, mate? You can't sue a seven house town in the middle of the Out Skirts." Scooter informed. Cora placed a hand on Zane's shoulder.
"Leave it Zane," she whispered. "There's no point, he's probably burnt to crisp or heavily broken or something…"
Lillyian punched Damion on the shoulder. "He saved you! Why couldn't you do the same?"
"Well, I-I-I couldn't! Honey, it was your mother or the robot. Now I'm a good man, so you can tell what I chose-"
"BOTH OF THEM!"
"HEY!" Nancy yelled out. They all looked to her.
"I suggest that you, Damion, Abigail and the new comers come with me and leave the rest of those strong men to clean up," she said with finality. She turned to Cora and Zane. "Do you like hot chocolate?"
Sipping from a large, chunky green mug, Cora looked around the substitute house the had been given for the night. They were in a large room with three brown leather couches around a large fire place. It was strange that it was lit even though the disastrous afternoon, but it was nice to have the heat contained.
Cora was sitting on the middle couch, with Zane comfortably on the one beside her. He had already finished three mugs, surprisingly, but I guess that was reasonable considering it was all he had for the whole day. But Cora was too troubled with thoughts to even make it through her first.
What the hell was supposed to be the purpose for that robot? A super-powered-human-looking-robot-child?
She looked over to Lillyian, laying on her stomach on the shaggy brown carpet, picking at the strings of wool. Damion and Abigail had gone into the bedroom to clean up wounds and settle down, and Lillyian was still angry at Damion's selfish decision.
And what about that crazy idea to save that couple, even though they had obviously done wrong to it? Then it pondered on her. We can't be its owner… she realized. If an owed robot protects only its owner, then we can't be it, because of what he did for the Chrome family. But then again, he can't be precisely theirs because of what it did for us back with the Scavengers.
It was all just a giant mystery.
"More hot chocolate, dears?" Nancy asked from the kitchen. Cora blinked a couple of times, getting snapped from her thinking's and looked to the door way.
"No thanks," she called.
"Yes please!" Zane yelled. Cora gave him a funny look.
No way he could fit in more.
He shrugged. "What? I'm hungry, okay?"
"Well, obviously."
Nancy came in hold the mug in her pale hands. She was a very precise woman, with neat hair, neat dresses, neat nails, neat makeup…
"You're very different to the other farmers." Cora pointed out as she handed the drink to Zane. Nancy smiled and sat down next to Cora.
"I never got your names," she said simply.
"Oh, I'm Cora, and this is-"
"I'm Zane." He interrupted. Cora frowned again and looked to her.
"So, why are you not 'handy down' like the others?" Nancy took a breath and smiled at them.
"I've wanted to tell you this town's past ever since I hear you were here. They should have told you, you have no idea…" Cora and Zane edged closer. Nancy took a breath. "Damion and Lennox were best mates, and they used to live in Sunset City." Cora's eyebrows rose.
"No way! That's like, the richest city on the Surface!" she exclaimed. Nancy nodded.
"They got ratted out of their business, and ventured here, to a vacant spot in the Out Skirts."
"What was his business?" Zane asked. Nancy paused for a moment, and then chuckled a little.
"Um, he was a robot repairer." Their eyes widened. Lillyian jumped up next to Zane. He wrapped an arm around her as they listened.
"I'd probably believe in flying pigs more." Cora joked.
How could it be, that a robot hater used to help them?
"Continue!" Lillyian urged. With a quick dart around the room to make sure the parents weren't listening, Nancy continued her story.
"So they set up the town, and many others came, including Abigail. Well, they fell in love, and had a child."
"ME!" Lillyian yelled out. Nancy looked to the ground and bit her lip.
"No, sweetie…"
Lillyian looked around.
"I have a SISTER?!" she yelled excitedly.
"I'm afraid next comes the reason Damion hates robots." Cora shook her head, knowing what happened already. Nancy sniffled a bit and wiped an eye. "Um, it was dusk, and we heard some rustling in the bushes…"
"Oh my God…" Cora whispered. The whole room was silent, except for the cracks from the fire. Nancy started again.
"And, um, we just left it, we didn't know-" she took a moment to wipe her nose. "They started to emerge, and one of them climbed up to Damion's window and climbed in. He had tried to stop them…but, they're strong bastards, you know…" Cora and Zane nodded. They knew this fact first hand.
"What did they want?" Zane asked.
"They took the baby and warned everyone that this was their land and that they had to move. We all tried to tell them we didn't mean any harm, but they, they just held up the baby and…" Cora shuffled onto her knees, placing a hand on Nancy's shoulder as she started to cry. "They just softly placed their fingers on her head, and I was given the gun and I didn't do anything…" Lillyian squeezed Zane's hand.
"Zane…" she whimpered. He looked down to her.
"Yeah?"
"Did my sister die?"
"Brother." Nancy said, raising her head and wiping her nose and eyes dry. She took a breath and smiled at Cora. "Do you have family?"
Cora looked to Zane. "Ummm…n-no…" Nancy leaned over and hugged her softly.
"That's too bad, family is…well, there's nothing like it…" Cora frowned as she was held close in the caress of her smooth arms. She wasn't used to being hugged by adults. They pulled away and Lillyian stumbled forward.
"Why didn't my parents tell me this?!" she cried. Nancy leaned over and picked her up, sitting her on her lap.
"It doesn't matter, sweetie. You're here now, okay?" Lillyian stuck out her bottom lip and sighed as the woman swayed back and forth with her.
"What was his name?" Cora asked.
"Leon." She answered softly. Cora looked to the shaggy carpet.
"So that's why he hates robot's…" She said, more to herself than anyone. She finally knew, and all the rage from Damion fled from her heart. He was just doing what he thought was avenging his son.
Lillyian softly closed her eyes as Nancy started to hum. She didn't seem all that sad about her lost sibling, it probably wouldn't bother a six year old when she's the star of the family. And anyway, Abigail was having another baby.
Nancy lifted Lillyian onto the couch next to Zane again, and took the three mugs from next to him. She made her way over to the kitchen to wash up.
Zane glanced down to the sleeping Lillyian, sometimes mumbling in her sleep and drooling on his shoes.
"Wow…" he sighed.
"Tell me about it. I didn't have a clue the Scavengers were that threatening."
"Maybe it wasn't them?"
"They said themselves, the Scavengers first came when they did. Good thing that robot destroyed some of them and at least gave the others nightmares." Zane chuckled a little, then frowned.
"You didn't say our robot that time…" Cora hugged her knees and looked to the fire. She scowled at it. It was like looking at an old enemy that you failed to leave behind.
"Well, when you think about it, Zane, it couldn't be our robot." Zane jolted up, as if he was told that he just lost a million bucks.
"WHAT?"
"It took a massive risk for Lillyian's parents. And then it took another massive risk for us with the Scavengers. So it couldn't have been any-"
"-Ordinary robot? Defiantly not!" Nancy scoffed from the door way, entering the room. The teens looked to her.
"What do you mean?" Nancy smiled and dusted her skirt before sitting down on the left couch.
"You asked why I'm not as 'handy-down' as the other farmers. That is because…" The two teenaged leaned closer, not appreciating the pause. Nancy smiled. "I am from Metro City!"
Their eyes widened.
"You? METRO CITY?" Zane cried.
"Only the best of the best live up there!" Cora joined. "Why are you down here?"
Nancy shrugged.
"My mother got thrown out of her apartment and I had to follow her to the Surface."
"But! BUT!" Zane gasped. They all looked to him, but he was completely tongue tied.
"You get the best view, the freshest air, the great food, all the best robots waiting on hand and foot!" Cora said for him. "WHY?"
"Family." Nancy said, standing up and walking over to a wooden brass cupboard. She opened it and pulled out two pieces of torn cream paper and walked back over, examining all with a smile on her face. "This brings back memories," she said with a small chuckle. She reached out and delicately passed the papers, photos it turned out, to Cora and Zane. They took them carefully, the way Nancy handled them like glass go the message across that they were precious.
Cora examined the crumbly photo print.
It was a faint picture of a man, with a rather long nose on his pale face, with small eyes that were swallowed in huge black bags under them. They must have been from loss of sleep, he only looked about thirty or so. His hair was a scruffy brown mop on his scalp, and he wore a white lab coat. The photo was aimed to get the man's face, but you could see small glimpses of a lab in the back ground.
Zane jumped over to sit next to Cora, showing her his photo.
In this one, there was a much older man, with clouds of white-ish gray hair on his head, the middle of his scalp rather bald. His eyes were in great contrast to the other man's; they seemed alive and full of wisdom and generosity. He too wore a lab coat, and he seemed to be in the same lab as the other man.
Cora looked over to Zane for what he thought of his photo, but he returned a shrug. She looked up to Nancy and ask her why she had brought the pictures up. She sat down next to Cora, taking the photo and sighing at it, her eyes shining with laughter and wonder.
"Well, you know that boy robot you two brought in so delightfully?" she asked. They nodded.
"Do you know about it?"
"I've been wanting to take a better look at it, but then of course that fool of Damion and then the freak fire. I guess I'll never get a chance…" Cora dropped her head, and the room grew silent, as if in respect for the death of the bot. Zane broke it with,
"Why would you be so interested in a foreign robot?" Nancy lifted her finger and smiled.
"I used to work in the robot department up in Metro City!" Cora leaned over.
"Was he a Metro City bot? A house bot?" even though the strange robot wasn't around anymore, she badly wanted the mystery to be over. Nancy frowned.
"I know that if he was even a newly released house bot, there is no way any robot could make decisions on their own, or disobey its bond to its owner. So I think that particular bot was a onetime only, maybe even just an experiment. But I can shed some light on who the creator might be." She held up the photo. "This is one man I had worked with many times. The Minister of the Ministry of Science, Dr. Tenma."
As famous as he sounded, neither Cora or Zane had ever heard of someone called 'Dr. Tenma'. Seeing the dumb-founded eyes on clueless faces, Nancy continued. "He is said to have the most advanced brain in the history of mankind!" she said, rather jokingly. "He practically created robots."
Cora's eyes budged. "REALLY?" she gaped.
"And was the head of the program to get good old Metro City up and floating."
Eyes widened more.
"How come I've never heard of this guy?! HE ROCKS!"
"Not so fast, Zane. He's the one who made the Surface what it is today." Cora pointed out.
Zane thought for a while, which was quickly followed by a scowl. "THAT GUY SUCKS…" Nancy laughed.
"No, no! Tenma didn't want his robots to be slaves, he simply wanted the dangerous jobs taken care of, and that the robots should be treated equally. The human race is what made the Surface what it is today. He was a very misunderstood man, sadly. No-one saw what he meant by the equal matters of walking technology."
"So, he was the creator then!" Zane said. Nancy and Cora looked to him. "If he wanted robots to be equal, what better way than to create an incredibly human robot…person?"
"Well, that is an excellent observation, Zane, and that would make Tenma the creator easily if it weren't for Dr. Oshay," she said, snatching the second photo and holding it up. "Dr. Oshay and Dr. Tenma didn't see eye to eye. Dr. Oshay had a vision where humans were nicer to robots, and wanted to work towards it, yet Dr. Tenma was more on the brim of scaring the respect into humans. He wanted revenge on them, it seemed, but Oshay wanted to keep peace, even if it meant a few falls. They both were incredibly intelligent, Metro City's most brilliant brains." And just to make things More complicated, the woman added- "And remember, I don't even know for sure if it is these two, it could be someone else-
I haven't been in Metro City in years…"
Cora laid her head back a bit, tossing thoughts about the two. She started to think about the robot itself.
It had incredible strength, so maybe Tenma wanted a robot that could defend for itself, there for he would be the creator.
…
But then Oshay didn't want robots to completely be free from work, so perhaps he still wanted it to be strong enough to take care of the certain tasks.
A heavy foot step on the creaking floor shattered her thoughts. The trio looked towards the door way, where Damion now stood. Nancy quickly darted forward and swiped up the two photos, stuffing them in her skirt pocket as Damion sleepily looked to each one of them.
"Damion." Nancy addressed. The man nodded twice and then glanced down to Lillyian.
"Well," he gruffed. "I see my little girl has drifted off, I suggest we all call it a night."
"I agree. Zane, Cora, I have one spare room, the other shall have to sleep on the couch." Damion walked over and picked up Lillyian, Zane jumping up and walking quickly over to the doorway.
"Dibs room!" he called, and before Cora could even think to argue or tackle him, he was gone from sight.
"Night Nancy." Damion said as he left the room with Lillyian. He acted like Cora was a ghost. She shrugged and adjusted the pillows on the couch, Nancy placing the photos back into the cupboard draw.
"He acted like I wasn't even there…" Cora mumbled.
"Well, maybe he's just in a bad mood."
"Yeah, you're right, when he's in a good mood he's yelling at me."
Nancy let out a laugh and grabbed a fluffy blanket from a shelf by the fire. She chucked it to Cora, getting comfortable on the couch. She headed over to the door.
"Night."
"Wait!" Cora spun around, halting her to a stop. Nancy looked to her.
"Yes?"
"C-can you…"" Nancy took a seldom step towards her. "Could I not have the fire going?"
Nancy frowned.
"Sweet, it's going to be awfully cold."
"I don't feel the cold," Cora lied. "It's getting a bit warm for me, anyway." Nancy passed by her with a frown, but Cora smiled, trying to look comforting but looking obviously fake. Grabbing the steel handle of a jug filled with water, Nancy spilled it over the flames. With a hiss steam arose and in a matter of seconds, just like the house, all that was left was burnt ash.
"There," she said, walking past the couch and over to the door way. "Hope you sleep well, Honey."
Honey, sweet?
Cora laughed a little to herself. Nancy stopped once again.
"Is there a problem?" she asked.
"What? Oh! Ha, you just remind me of a friend called Cathy…" she said with a smile. But soon it faded as it reminded her just how far from home she was. Heck, she barely knew which way was close to the circus.
"Is she a friend from home?" Nancy asked. Cora nodded. Seeing her sad face, she comforted with, "in the morning I can give you some directions, and maybe Scooter could give you a lift."
Cora grinned.
"Thank you." She said truly.
Nancy nodded and left the now freezing room, as Cora huddled herself into a sleeping position.
She soon drifted into a light sleep, listening to the soft snores of Zane, all the way in the other part of the house.
"CORA!"
The tiny girl flicks her head towards the burning house. It used to be quite grand, with its' cream wood walls matching the picket fence, and the three stories of time and brilliance. Now all used to feed the monster, eating away at the wood with its flames.
Then she saw it.
Someone in the window.
"Mummy? Daddy?"
No.
Not father, not mother. But a boy's face. A boy with two spikes on his head. A boy with scared eyes filled to the brim with rejection. A boy, who is not who he seems to be.
"COOORRRAAA!"
The echoing screams she knew came from him, but his mouth remained sealed shut tight. She felt a hand on her shoulder. She looked up to the trusty fireman, shaking his head with sorrow.
She wasn't worried.
She knew that a robot was just a robot.
She felt a hand lightly plant on her other shoulder. She turned her head to Zane, staring at the house.
"COOORRRAAA!"
She quickly darted her sight to the house again, hearing the change of voice. In the second story window, next to the boy robot, is her parents. They are scraping at the glass, their faces smeared with black. The girl steps forward a little, for the boy robot to shake his head. She remained idle as she watched him slowly sink to the ground, and her parents send her their last silent message as the building came crashing down…
Cora's eyes slowly opened.
The world of the night was humming softly: The crickets outside, the buzzing of appliances and the cool breezes whipping beneath the pearl white moon. If it were a few years back, Cora would have woken with a scream, in a fury of kicks and slams.
But the dreams were a common occurrence now. And she had gotten used to the shock a terror of those few minutes that ended her childhood. Though, this time, a new character comes to play. The robot boy was etched into her mind during the day, so there was no surprise he entered her dreams.
With a stretch she lifted herself from the couch, her blanket a scrunched up mess. Arching her back she looked around, her eye sight still blurry. Her head felt light and dizzy, as all she saw were shapes, until her thoughts cleared and they shifted into the lounge room. The fire was still out, and the air was still and cold. Cora stood up with a yawn, and held onto the edge of the sheet and made her way over to the kitchen door. Zane's snoring still sounded from down the hall, and Cora smiled to herself as the blanket dragged behind her. When she entered the quite room she immediately traveled to the fridge, swinging the squeaky door open with a sleepy blink. She hadn't had barely anything for the previous day, and the hunger was catching up on her. Sleep seemed out of range now, anyway.
Not like there was much to choose from. A few picked berries, potatoes, carrots, chicken meat, old candy, peaches and one cold pizza. The candy at least looked half decent, but when she grabbed for it, it was stuck fast to the iced panel.
"Just my luck…" she moaned.
"Don't bother."
Cora spun around in alert, almost tripping and falling into the fridge door. Her sight laid onto little Lillyian, rubbing sleep from her eyes.
"You gave me a heart attack!" Cora gaped. Lillyian tightened her grasp on a little toy giraffe she was carrying. She wore a flowing cream night gown that almost touched the ground.
"I'm sorry…"
Cora smiled and closed the fridge, walking over to her while wrapping the blanket around her shoulders.
"You can't sleep either?" she asked. Lillyian nodded sadly.
"No. why can't you?"
"Nightmare," Cora answered. Lillyian looked up to her with interest.
"Big kids still have nightmares?" Cora laughed.
"Only the strangest…"
"Hmmm…" the little girl thought for a moment. Then her eyes lit up. "Then I'm strange too!" she cheered.
More laughter ringed through the night.
"But you're not a big kid now, are you?" Lillyian puffed up her chest.
"I am so a big kid!"
"So, you had a nightmare then?" Cora asked, adjusting the quilt around her shoulders. Lillyian looked to the ground and shuffled her feet.
"Zane snores really loud…"
"Haha! Yeah, I can hear him from all the way over here." Lillyian looked around the room.
"It's awfully cold…" Cora rubbed her arm.
"A bit," she lied.
"You can have some of my blankets if you want, you know."
"No, no. You can have all of them."
"But I won't need any."
"Why not?"
"I can't sleep." Cora glanced over to the microwave, which read 1:25 am. She smiled and reached out, grabbing her hand.
"Well, we can go for a small walk, if that will help." Lillyian grinned and nodded wildly.
"Yes please!"
The two restless girls made their way out of the house and onto the scratchy grasses of the outdoors. The moon gave out plenty of light, and the sky was a tinge of orange which help their sight as well.
If only it were this light when we were on the Ridge, Cora thought angrily.
Lillyian glanced around with a smile.
"Over there is Scooter and Uncle Lennox's house!" she said excitedly, pointing to the building with the veggie patch nearby. "OO! And that's Sandy, Child, Daisy and Rassabith's house, over there!"
Cora was sure she was preferring to the three blonde children and their mother, as she looked to the surprisingly smaller house with beautiful flower beds out the front. They approached the burn site at the edge of the town. Lillyian sighed. "And that used to be my house…"
Cora looked to her sadly as the girl scanned the area. She leaned over and passed the blanket to her, wrapping around her shoulders. Lillyian looked up to her with a smile. She leaned over to her ear. "Shall we go and see if some of your toys survived?" she whispered. Lillyian didn't look to Cora, but she could tell she was smiling.
"Yeah!"
The pair walked until they heard the ash and ruin crunching beneath their bare feet.
"Watch your step," Cora warned as they started to travel into more horrific debris. Lillyian stumbled onto the scorched pillar, scanning the ground for maybe her blue teddy bear, toy kitchen or some remains of her Lego. As Cora edged closer into the black mounds, she could still feel the warmth on her toes. The whole town still smelt like fire.
"Blueberry!" called Lillyian. Cora lifted a piece of what felt like tin roof.
"Who's that?" she asked.
"My teddy bear!"
"I'm afraid that one may be lost, Lilly," Cora said, trying to sound sad. A slight pout came from the other end of the site as Lillyian lifted half her couch. It was only a light frame now, so ruined it could almost turn to dust just by touching it.
"Will Strawberry be lost?" Cora stumbled over an unidentified object, falling onto a pile of gray ash, arising and invading her throat and eyes. She coughed heavily.
"Who's Strawberry?" Lillyian stepped down from the pillar and looked around.
"I think I'm in the living area!" she called, not answering Cora's question.
"Really?" Cora glanced around to Lillyian, standing to the right of her. She looked around to her feet and to the different monuments around her.
"I think I'm in the kitchen…" she mumbled. Lillyian looked over with squinted eyes- not like it would help.
"Oh yeah! You are!" she said with a laugh. It made Cora smile, how this little girl would fail to be miserable. You can burn her house down, make her farther a jerk and tell her she used to have a sibling but it got killed by ravage robots, and she will still see the best in things and shine out the fun.
Cora wished she had that talent. It would help a lot, at times.
Diverting her thoughts to the toy hunting, Cora saw in the glint of her eye something bright pink, hidden under the front door that managed to stay in one piece. She bended down low to see clearer.
It could be…no, it must be one of Lillyian's plastic toys! Half of it that she could see was melted, but it was a toy another the less. "I think I found something!" she called. Lillyian gasped and jolted her way.
"Really?" she asked in excitement. "Strawberry?" Cora reached out and tugged on the end of it, but the door was heavy and fought against her, keeping the pink treasure locked in its place.
"Nope! Its pink and plastic!"
"Ooo! I think that's my Barbie doll pool!" she said excitedly.
Oh, great, the teen thought, tugging more on it. I'm committing child labor to dig out Barbie crap…
The door wouldn't budge. Cora dusted more ash from her palms as she stood, positioning herself to lift the door from it.
"Here we go…" with a groan Cora lifted with all her strength, and the slab of wood gave way easy, getting tossed aside. Lillyian coughed and spluttered as a wave of dust came attacking.
"Sorry!" Cora called, though finding it rather amusing to hear the sweet, high-pitched little coughs from the girl. She laughed and knelt down, finally claiming her prize. Sure enough, it did feel something like a pool…or else it was a trainers toilet.
Standing back up Cora was wondering how old Lillyian might actually be. She held up the 'pool'.
"Got it!" she called.
"Yes!" Lillyian didn't seem to be coming over to get it herself, so Cora aimed it over to where the maple tree was and chucked it, hoping it would land away from the burn site.
"Here, Strawberry, Strawberry…"
Considering Blueberry was a teddy bear, Cora figured that Strawberry would be the matching pair. There was no way any plush could have survived the flames. But, she didn't want to let the girl's hopes down.
Shaking her head, Cora looked back down to the ground, for her eyes to lay on yet another pink object. This one was paler, and more of a roundish shape. It looked like another part of the pool, as it was rater small, about as big as her hand. With a sigh she knelt down yet again, reaching out for the piece.
Her hand wrapped around it, and she started to tug to pull it free. But as she felt the object, she noticed it was rather strange. There were other things connecting onto it, and it didn't feel like plastic…it felt, rubbery…
TWITCH.
Cora screamed and jolted back in horror. Whatever she just touched had moved. Lillyian hopped over immediately after hearing the cries, and knelt down beside her.
"What's wrong?"
Cora breathed heavily, feeling her heart crawl up her throat. She placed a hand on her chest and pointed to the pink object.
"T-that t-thing just m-moved!" she gasped. Lillyian frowned and reached forward, grabbing onto it.
TWITCH.
Small buzzing sounds set confusion on Cora's face as Lillyian smiled wondrously. The teen glanced over to see that the object had wrapped it's self around Lillyian's wrist.
"Cora," she whispered. "It isn't a toy…it's a hand." Cora gasped. The shock immediately sent her onto her feet again.
"The robot! Oh my God, the robot!" Lillyian joined her excitement.
"Really? It's alive?"
"Let's find out!"
Cora raced over to the pile of junk that was covering it. Lillyian leapt up, the machine releasing its grip on her wrist and falling to the side. They worked together, both of them lifting the heaviest objects, but mostly Cora hauling them up and tossing them across the site.
Microwave, oven, half a wall, picture frame, arm chair leg…
Soon, the robot's face appeared, still in that calm expression it always has when it was asleep. Cora grinned and kneeled down to it.
"Awesome! It thought it would have been hell burnt! Melted and stuff!" she scraped a little grit from its horn. "You really are a tough bugger, aren't you?" she whispered. She looked up to Lillyian.
"Lilly?"
"Yeah?"
"Come help me haul it up, will ya?" with a nod the youngster leapt up over to Cora. "Here, you take a shoulder then we'll both pull, okay?" Cora did as planned but Lillyian just stared at the robot's neck with a dumbfounded face.
"What's wrong?" Cora asked.
"Uhhh," the small girl glanced around as if trying to find something. "I can't find his shoulder…" Cora jumped over with a laugh, examining the left side of him.
"You sill-dill, its right…" but her voice drifted off as well as her smile. The boy's whole left arm was gone. Cora growled and face-palmed herself.
"Damion!" she shouted to the moon, almost wanting the jerk to hear. After some complaints, Lillyian came up with the very logical plan for her to remove any troublesome debris while Cora tried to tug him free. Agreeing, they both got into their places. They grinned at each other.
"Ready in one,"
"Two,"
"THREE!"
Cora pulled, the robot sliding from under the pile, Lillyian not even having to break a sweat. Cora swiped her forehead.
"Well, that was easy!" Lillyian cheered.
"Yeah, easy for you to say." A slight groan from the robot trapped their attention. They looked down to it, leaning low and waiting for something to happen. Slowly its arm started to move. Very slowly, but moving. The robot boy's eyes then snapped open. They shined not brown, but blue. Cora thought it must be a sign that it's heavily damaged, or that something's wrong with it. The robot didn't at first interact with the two humans, just staring at the sky, sometimes tilting its head from side to side. After about five minutes it blinked and looked to Cora, then to Lillyian. Lillyian screamed out in joy and leapt down to it.
"You're awake! You're AWAKE!" she cheered.
"SHH!" Cora scolded, kneeling down to it. The robot glanced to her again, it's face not showing any emotion in particular. Cora leaned down close to its ear.
"How-do-you-feel?" she asked very clearly. The robots mouth opened and closed for a bit, but finally a few words escaped.
"C-an't…f-ee-l…a-rm…"
With a laugh Cora stood, helping Lillyian up as well.
"How are we gonna get him back to the house?"
"I guess we have to carry him…" Cora thought.
"I will!"
"I don't think so, Lillyian. Robots aren't only tough buggers, they're bloody heavy ones, too."
"Is this because I'm small?"
"No, you said it yourself- you're a big kid. I just don't want you to get hurt."
"I don't what YOU to get hurt!"
"Lillyian, I'm carrying him and that's that."
The robot glanced to each one of them as they spoke. It scraped a little on the ground to get their attention. They both looked down to it. Cora examined the state it was in. Unbelievably, he didn't look to bad.
A few more scars added to the list, and the lost arm, but overall, the fire its self didn't do anything.
Cora tried to figure out how she would carry him. Having only one arm, any way she could would be more difficult. Her first attempt failed, the robot falling to the ground with a small grunt. Each time only a fraction of its arm seemed to move. She figured the rest of the body was paralyzed. She tried again, in a attempt to carry him bridal style. This worked for a few steps, before her hands slipping and the robot falling once again.
"Do you need any help?"
The two girls flicked their heads over to Nancy, standing in satin ebony PJs. She walked over, picking up the blanket that Cora had brought.
"Nancy?"
"Nancy!"
"Hello girls," she said in a rather disapproving tone. "What are you doing out so late?"
Cora and Lillyian shuffled in the ash.
"Ummm…" Cora was thinking of an excuse, but Lillyian probably did the right thing to get them off Nancy's mind.
"We found the robot!"
Nancy's eyes widened. She stepped forward a little, looking over to the fallen object. The glowing spheres for eyes met hers. She quickly knelt down and examined it.
"Oh my God! It's still in one piece!" but then she saw the vacant space where the arm should be. "Well, most of him."
"His arm was broken when we found him, so there's no surprise after being beaten and then getting trapped on a nail that it broke." Cora said.
"Wait…you found this thing?" she nodded. With a scratch of her head, Nancy stood and started to walk out of the site.
"Where are you going?"
"Just wait here…"
She disappeared into the night. Cora bended down to the robot again, looking at it. After a few seconds he stared back, opening his mouth once again.
"C-or-a…s-afe?"
She smiled.
"You're a real softy, you know that?"
Soon Nancy's footsteps sounded off by the maple tree and she appeared once again, except this time with something large under her arm. The two watched as she kneeled, placing the item she had retrieved beside the robot. It was a stretcher, used by nurses in hospitals.
"Where was that?" Cora asked.
"Daddy keeps one in his shed in case something happens."
"Come on girls! Let's get it into the house."
Cora hadn't thought about where to put the robot. The house seemed impractical.
"Won't Damion be-"
"Oh, don't worry about that grumpy old man!" Nancy said, pulling a little on Lillyian's nose playfully. She laughed. Lillyian managed to get the robot onto the stretcher, in a rolling tactic.
"Has he spoken?" Nancy asked, walking around to the handles near its head. Cora took place down the other end, wrapping her hands around it.
"Yeah, he said he can't feel his arm." Nancy smiled.
"Really? He said that?" she asked with a laugh. Lillyian nodded. Cora wasn't sure she didn't add the part when he asked if she was okay. She guessed it was a natural thing, wanting to be the boss and not show any sort of connection to the robots.
They lifted the stretcher and started to walk towards the house steadily. The robot was heavy, and Cora thought she would have never managed to carry it on her own, even if Lillyian helped. She looked around the silent town, and to the sinking moon. Night time was her favorite. She had adapted to the dark as her nightmares were like an alarm clock, waking her at midnight or later.
Though she was usually alone when she was awake, she liked having Nancy and Lillyian there for company.
"Hey, why are you up, Nancy?" Cora asked as they made their way to her house, Lillyian walking along side with one hand in the robot's. Nancy smiled.
"Nightmare."