Phineas didn't know what had hit him. All he knew was that he'd been snared with thin steel cables and then pulled down into a dark space. He could hardly see, and he could hardly move. What was this about, he wondered. Why would one of Moon's old friends be after her like this? Why hadn't Moon mentioned ever having any friends? He frowned, trying to remember what it was that she had said on the topic. Very little, he knew. Every time he asked her if she wanted to be his friend, she would decline and then change the subject. He had thought that was a little bit odd, but he wouldn't press the matter as he thought it was fair that she shouldn't have to talk about it if she didn't want to.

There was a sudden click behind him and the cables that had tangled around him began to loosen, allowing him to squirm free of them. A thin crack of light in front of him drew his attention, and he could see, past it, an empty cavern that must have been at least a hundred feet high. It was dark, but since he could still see he assumed that there was an opening nearby. Suddenly it went dark, and as the ground under him split open he scrambled back. A piercing yellow light fell over him, making him flinch and hold a hand over his eyes to shield them, and a moment later an enormous steel hand grabbed him and pulled him out into the cavern. Immediately he was hit with a blast of cold air, making him shiver, and he sat square in the middle of the gigantic hand that had taken him. The impossibly bright light was still on him, and he felt exposed by it, as if it could see through him.

He didn't say a word.

The light on him dimmed, just enough to allow him to see, and he looked back to see that he was sitting in the hands of an iron giant, easily fifty feet tall. It was distinctly mechanical in appearance, with two enormous hex-nut shoulder-blades and thick steel arms that had been dented in various places from years of wear. Its head was two solid pieces of metal, a hinged dinosaur-mouth with huge sharp teeth that marked a single zig-zag line across its face. Welded onto the top were its eyes, like the headlights of some old scrapped car, and from somewhere inside of it came the deep rumble of a massive engine that provided its power.

It looked down at him, and when it spoke its voice was deep and metallic, like its entire throat had been crafted out of metal. "Phineas Flynn," it said, "It seems your friend proves still elusive. I have told your step-brother already, and now I must inform you: if she is not found and returned to me within three days, I will have to kill you."

Phineas frowned. "Is that really necessary? I mean-"

"Silence," growled the machine, its fingers closing around him, "You will stay here for three days, and if your friend Moon is not found you will face your death."

Phineas didn't answer. He could only sit, huddled, and watch as the machine took him away, down into a dark tunnel. He could see little other than the machine's two enormous headlights, and he sat back in its huge palm as it went, making the entire earth rumble with its footsteps. After a long time, it stopped in front of a dark cavern and then looked down at Phineas. "You will spend your final days here," it told him, and then paused a moment so that he could get a good look at the place before turning to another structure. It appeared to be an old automaton, almost as big as the machine that held him, leaned up against the corner. It must have been there for years, Phineas reasoned, since it had rusted pretty badly. It stood like a Burtonesque creation, like something that could be found in an old abandoned cooky factory. Its head was a solid piece of molded metal, showing two enormous dark eyes and a blank sharp-toothed grin that stared back at him. Its neck was thin and eerily organic, made of steel vertebrae, attaching it to a rusted cage that seemed to hang in the air like a ghost. It took Phineas a minute to see its arms - thin wiry structures that stretched down, down, down to the ground far below. It stood balanced on its two slender hands and its tail, which hung loosely from the bottom of its cage. Phineas assumed it hadn't been functioning for years, and when the machine holding him opened up the front of the cage, it gave a loud screech that made Phineas flinch.

The machine quickly tossed him inside, closing the door with an equally grating squeal, and then looked down at him. "You will stay here until you are either released or killed. Pray that you will survive."

Phineas could do little but watch as the monstrosity turned and rumbled away, its engines slowly fading into silence and leaving him alone in the dark. He could feel his heart beginning to race as his mind edged toward panic, but he only sat in silence. Whatever would happen to him, it was out of his control now.

There was a sudden creak overhead and he looked up to see that the old machine that had trapped him was looking down at him. Its eyes had begun to glow the smallest bit, and it slowly turned its head down at him. The steel gave a harsh protest as it craned its neck to get a better look at him.

Phineas scrambled back, as he had thought that this machine wasn't functional, and pressed up against the back corner of his cage. He kept his eyes locked on the Burtonesque demon's head, and it stared back at him, unblinking. Although its face had been forced into an eternal smile, it seemed more curious than anything. It creaked with every move, chips of corroded metal and rust falling free of the joints in its neck as it brought its head down lower, until it had reached as far as it could. Its eyes seemed to glow with Phineas' own energy, and he realized he was becoming the slightest bit dizzy. He blinked a few times to clear it from his head, glancing back at the automaton that watched him.

Slowly he approached the front of his cage, becoming a little curious himself, and stared back at the machine. He could see a small nameplate that had been mounted on the corner of the cage, but it was too rusted to be able to read. Regardless, he reached out to it and ran one finger along its edge. The rust came off relatively easily, and after a moment he could make out: ZHALGO, stamped in rigid letters on the nameplate.

Phineas turned back to it. "Zhalgo?" he asked, "Is that your name?"

The machine screeched. The sound was horrible, like two stone crows screaming, and and pierced Phineas' mind and made him dizzy. Out of instinct he put his hands over his ears to try and drive it out of his head, but it didn't make a difference. After it had finished, he backed away, retreating to the corner where he had been a minute ago.

The automaton suddenly shifted, throwing Phineas off-balance and making him scrabble back to the corner as the entire structure sank lower, lower, until it came to an uneven stop on its coiled tail. After a moment he could see that both of its hands had been dislodged from their corrosion-encrusted places on the hard ground. They cracked every time they moved, just two wiry fingers that split evenly from the arms, without any distinguishable wrist or thumb. With one side it curled its fingers around the bars of its cage, and with the other it reached inside and settled coldly over Phineas, pulling him gently closer to the front where it could get a better look at him.

Phineas only sat, unsure of what exactly this thing wanted. He wondered how old it was, and why it wasn't maintained, and where it came from, and a hundred other things that clouded his mind.

Finally he asked, "Is Zhalgo your name?"

The machine only stared back, watching him, but then after a moment it gave a tiny nod. Its master had given it that name a long time ago, it remembered, and it wondered what this little machine inside of it came from. It was curious about him, and after having been inactive for so long - how long, it did not know - it wondered what was to become of it after this. It had seen its new master, the one that held the key to its cage, but it didn't like him. It thought that he was too rough, too violent. It had been left here to rust, and now that it was active again it thought that perhaps its master would want to see it after it had been lost. It thought that the little machine that sat inside of it might be able to help. It gave Phineas a mechanized whine, hoping to communicate, but Phineas didn't seem to understand.

He frowned. "What is it? What do you want?"

Zhalgo tried again, but it couldn't speak. Instead it could only offer grinding creaks as its words, and it knew that Phineas couldn't understand.

Phineas didn't. He only sat, near the bars of his confinement, staring back at Zhalgo. After a moment he asked it: "What happened to you? You look like you've been here for years."

Zhalgo gave a small nod. It wasn't sure how long it had been here, but it must have been a long time since it had rusted so badly.

Phineas leaned back against the bars on the side of his cage, resting his arms around his knees, and sighed. "I wish you could talk to me," he said, "I'm curious about you."

Zhalgo agreed. It was curious too about Phineas, where he had come from, or who had built him. It reached with both hands into its cage and poked at him, determined to find something out about him. It wondered if perhaps he was alive? It had seen things that had been alive, as its master had been, but it hadn't seen them in so long, it couldn't be sure.

Maybe this little thing was alive. Zhalgo was beginning to think so. It didn't feel like a machine, and it was to advanced to be an android. Yes, Zhalgo decided, this was a living creature. It would be very careful with it, as it knew that living things were far easier to break than machines. It wanted this little creature to be its friend, if it would allow that.

Having a friend would be nice.