Part 1: The Reign of Giants

There was something near us. Something was dark. Something was wrong. What had happened last? We could not recall.

"How is he doing?" a voice echoed. We strained our eyes to see who was talking. "Do you think he'll be okay?"

"I... no. I can't say that... that I think he'll pull through. That wound..."

"He can't die... I won't let him. Please, we can save him, right? Right!?" A third voice croaked, horror and fear edging its voice.

Are they talking to us?

Who are they?

Who are they?

We heard the sound of footsteps and sighing, then something cold pressed against our back. "I just got back, kid. You can't leave us now... do you hear me? You will pull through, I swear. I'll do anything to make sure of it."

Awareness began to spread to our limbs, and the dark curtain began to fade, and with that, the memories. We blinked our eyes open, the sunlight dazzling us for a few minutes. There are others, I thought. Are they the same people? No... no, there were more.

Our instincts came rushing back to us in a flood, and we jumped back from the others, who were also just stirring. The first one blinked in shock at the sight of us. He was taller than us, obviously an adult, with spiked black hair and confused gray eyes. We bared our teeth threateningly.

"Whoa," he breathed, struggling to stand. "C.. can you speak?"

Does he think we're stupid? Is he trying to find weaknesses?

At least he speaks English.

"Yes," I said slowly without moving. He visibly relaxed. We turned our gaze to the third one. They were also sitting up, looking at both of us with disdain.

This one was a tan robot, closer to our height. Their 'face' was two identical holes for eyes, and a longer, thinner one underneath for a mouth. They did not look happy in the slightest bit, but perhaps that was just their appearance. They met our look with a fierce glare. "WHAT ARE YOU?" They spat.

We will fight if we have to.

But not yet.

"What are you?" I countered, looking them up and down. If they want a fight, they'll get one. We've fought for years now, one more opponent is no different... even if they are slightly bigger than me.

"WHAT AM I?" They asked, tipping their chin arrogantly. "MODEL WX-78, FLESHLING." They're aggressive.

"Webber," I hissed back. We jerked our gaze to the other one.

"Wilson," he replied quietly.

We let our shoulders relax, and fur lie flat again, straightened slightly, and put away our claws and snarl. If they aren't going to hurt us, then we need to seem harmless to them. "What are you doing here?"

"Do you know where we are?" The first one- Wilson- asked hopefully, examining our spiderlike appearance.

"No. Do you?"

He shook his head, and we sighed. Trust no one, isn't that what our life has taught us?

Maybe we need to trust someone?

No. I thought stubbornly. We can rely on ourself. But looking at these other two... these other two in the same predicament as us. We looked at Wilson. He looks trustworthy, but... our gaze met WX-78's. Not so sure about them...

Were they the ones talking to us? We instinctively ran our hand over our neck and stomach, the most likely places for a fatal wound, but there was nothing but smooth skin and old scars beneath our fur.

WX let out a huff of scorn, before walking away.

"Hey!" I exclaimed, moving to catch them. "Where are you going?"

Wilson caught our shoulder. "Don't bother. I know their type. They'll come back if they want to, but there's no use forcing them to stay with us." He cocked his head and smiled.

We weren't sure exactly what to say. Not only were we not used to being spoken to directly in such tones, but we hadn't been smiled at in ages. "Us?" I repeated. "You mean you're staying?"

He looked confused. "Why wouldn't I? It'd be better if we stick together, right?"

"Y-you mean you aren't afraid of us?" I couldn't help blurting out.

"Afraid," he echoed. "Just out of curiosity's sake... how old are you? Surely you couldn't survive on your own for long."

"Seven," I answered quietly. "And we can... we have before."

He laughed. "Okay, how about I probably can't survive on my own for long."

"You never have?"

"I lived alone," he replied. "Not... alone alone though."

"Are you suggesting it's only us?" I asked in horror.

"Us and... WX-78? Was that their name?"

"Yeah... we think so." We cocked our head. "You think we're alone, though? No one else?" We realized too late how small our voice sounded. We were scared.

We were scared.

We're not, a tiny voice in our mind whispered. We're not scared. Being scared is for cowards, and so is relying on others. We pushed it back as Wilson seemed to struggle finding words.

"We can only assume we are alone until we find other people here," he pointed out gently, then nodded to the area around us. We realized for the first time that we were in a small forest clearing. We listened hard for distant birdsong to greet us, but it was silent. "Besides, it's getting dark." Our gaze snapped up to the darkening sky. Already!? "We should just... set up camp for the night, and figure out what we're going to do in the morning. A chill wind brushed the leaves above us, making us shiver. A tang of frost was carried on the breeze, but we couldn't tell if it was turning cold or it had been colder and was warming up.

"Yeah."

…

"Wow... I suppose I lied."

Darkness pressed down hard on our chest. We felt tears rolling down our cheeks, lungs spasming in approaching sobs. Something cold touched our hand, and the panic rose even higher. "You're badly injured! I don't know what to do." We felt impossibly helpless. Uncontrollable tremors overcame our body as inaudible rambles poured from out mouth. A name that passed our lips and didn't stick in our brain.

Just when we thought we were going to cry out in pain and fear, the dream shifted. The grief was replaced with power. The tears were replaced with something cold and wet, pouring from our eyes and staining our fur with oily black streak as fire crackled in our ears.

We jerked awake, heart pounding, early sunlight momentarily blinding us. The robot had apparently returned, and sat nearby, leaning against a tree at the edge of the clearing with an odd black book leaning up against a sapling beside them. They did not acknowledge our presence. Our dream weighed heavily on our mind, but the details had already faded. Wilson was looking at us, confusion in his gray eyes. "Are... you okay?"

"We're fine," I told him.

Suddenly, the fur on the back of our neck stood on end, and we saw that WX had looked up at us, their gaze dark with pure spite. We bared our fangs at them. We had to keep an eye on them. Distrust bubbled in our stomach as we met their gaze as boldly as possible. If you plan on hating us, then we will hate you, too.