It was impossible to tell the day from the night. In here it was just dark. It was silent, too, and even as Phineas woke, the quiet pervaded the place. He knew that his three days were almost over - what would happen soon, he wasn't sure, but he hoped that Moon would come to save him. He could see the piercing headlights of the enormous robot as he approached, and as he stopped in front of him he could feel the heat radiating from his monstrous engine.

When he spoke, his voice was demonic, a low rumble that seemed to make the entire place shake. "Ah, Zhalgo, I see you have made a new friend. But, you see, this new friend of yours is destined to die," he chuckled to himself, a metallic and grating sound, and produced a rusted key that fit easily into the lock in the corner of Zhalgo's cage.

Zhalgo backed away, reluctant to give up its treasure, but since this bigger machine held its key, it knew it had to obey him. It gave little more than a whine as the key was turned in its lock and Phineas was pulled out of its cage to meet some unhappy death. It knew that it would never see him again - but, it noticed that its key had been left in its lock. Did that mean it was now freed? Slowly it stood, rising the long way up onto its spindly hands, and pursued the hulking robot, grinding angrily as it confronted him.

The machine growled in irritation. "Get out of my way, you rusted piece of scrap. I have no time for this."

Zhalgo ground again, determined, and pushed the machine back, grabbing Phineas out of his hand and setting him carefully back in its cage. It gave the iron giant little more than a glare before turning to run. It was sure it could escape now - the cave was not too long and there was a cliff nearby. It knew that its wings had not rusted too badly so it decided that was where it would go.

Phineas could hear the enormous machine coming after them, but he hoped that Zhalgo would be able to outrun him. He could see the opening of the cave up ahead - after his eyes took a few seconds to adjust, he could see the edge of an enormous cliff. He kept his hands wrapped around the bars of its cage as Zhalgo leaped; the metal frame of its wings spread almost without protest, but the leather was old and stiff, and broke apart on the slightest movement. Zhalgo realized its mistake too late and flapped its wings uselessly, curling up as tight as it could around its cage to protect little Phineas inside, and shut its glowing eyes against the oncoming ground.

Suddenly it hit, its rusted framework busting apart as it turned from dysfunctional old relic to pure scrap metal. Its cage was now in pieces, its arms and wings broken as well. Its head had been ripped off, coming to a stop half-buried in the dirt. Its key had snapped clean in two and now sat in the hand of little Phineas, unconscious among Zhalgo's shattered remains. With its corroded voice still intact, it began another tune that seemed to raise Phineas up from unconsciousness. He looked down at the pieces of the key in his hand and then stuffed them into his pocket, turning back to the remains of the automaton. "Zhalgo, I-" he began, but then fell silent. Its melody was haunting, and he was certain it was familiar, but for the life of him he couldn't place it. "Zhalgo, what is that? I've heard it. Tell me what it is."

Zhalgo only let it finish and then settled into silence, the glow in its eyes fading as its meager energy supply slowly ran out.

"Zhalgo-!" Phineas exclaimed, putting both hands on the side of its exposed head. He tried to keep the tears from welling up in his eyes, but after a moment they fell freely. "I - I'll take you back home, Zhalgo," he whispered, his voice all but gone, "I'll fix you up, okay?"

Zhalgo could only manage the smallest grind, but Phineas could see in its eyes that the cast-metal smile it wore was now true, and that it had given itself up to make sure he was free. It tried again with its final call, but without the energy to do so it just faded away into darkness.

Phineas sat with it for a long time, his hands pressed up against the cold metal, silent. Finally he stood, his tears having stopped, and then turned to run. He knew that huge machine was still after him, and he knew that if he didn't get back home he'd be killed.

With Zhalgo's key in his pocket, he ran.