WX-78's POV

I couldn't help but note that our travels were typically more quiet than this.

Webber was silent, almost sulking, which I wasn't surprised about. However, Winona ahead of us hummed and whistled and sang small bursts of lyrics under her breath, as if she couldn't stand the silence. It was strange, as the only one of us with any interest in music was Webber, and even then he would rarely even hum and only sang to annoy us. Winona, however, was clearly unused to simply listening to the sounds of nature.

I nearly said something on more than one occasion, but I managed to bite my metaphorical tongue.

"You know, WX-78, I don't know anything about you," Winona said during a small pause. "If you don't mind me asking, where were you built?"

I winced ever so slightly. "I DO MIND YOU ASKING THAT QUESTION."

"Oh."

"IS THAT HOW YOU INTERACT WITH OTHER HUMANS?" I scowled. "NO MATTER WHAT YOU MAY THINK, I AM AS SENTIENT AS ANY OF YOU."

"I don't doubt that. You seem highly advanced." A moment later, she added: "I've just never seen a robot like yourself. I've seen plenty of robotics, but none that can walk or talk or, well, think. You are a marvel of technology, you know."

"I KNOW." That was the entire reason I was built, after all. I hated to admit it, but I did feel the slightest bit of pride in myself. 'Highly advanced' indeed.

"It's a shame, though, that you still go by your model number. Even the machines I've seen, far more primitive than yourself, we call them silly nicknames. Sasha was one of my main machines, you see?"

I thought about that for a moment, struggling to formulate a proper reply. Nicknaming machines? How peculiar. "IT IS MY NAME," I said simply, unable to come up with anything better. "IT WOULD BE SIMILAR TO CALLING YOU BY A RANDOMLY GIVEN NAME. IT WOULD NOT FEEL RIGHT, BECAUSE IT IS NOT YOU."

She considered this for a moment, before bobbing her head in a nod. "That's fair. Well said." She threw a grin over her shoulder.

"Tell us about your sister," Webber said, softly. I startled at hearing his voice, having almost forgotten that he was walking beside me. I don't even know how I could've forgotten, though- he was close enough to me that his whiskers brushed against my side with every step. "You mentioned that that's why you were here, right?"

Winona nodded at me to continue forward and she drew back a bit to trade spots with me. I didn't know where we were going, but she would probably say something if we were supposed to turn or anything. So, I took the lead after a moment, and silently listened in on her conversation with the boy. I wanted to make sure I didn't stop hearing her, unable to admit that I was still afraid for Webber's safety.

"My sister, yeah. Charlie. She and I- well, we were really close when she was little. I was an only child for so long, you know? We drifted apart as I got older, though. We had very different goals in life, but we never stopped keeping in touch."

Why was I afraid for Webber's safety? He was strong enough to handle himself, and if he wasn't, why would I care? Why did I defend him from Wilson in the first place? How could someone so fickle in the face of danger be someone that deserved to be defended?

"I worked hard to become proficient in mechanics. I've always been interested in them. In fact, I've been taking apart and putting things back together since I was younger than yourself. Charlie, though... Charlie was the brightest, most creative person you could possibly meet. She was one of those people that you couldn't help but love as soon as you met her. She just had a way with people."

Why wasn't I able to kill Wilson? I should have been able to. I had every reason to. Yes, Webber had asked me to spare him, but why did I listen to him? What could he possibly do to me to force me to spare the scientist? He was a loose cannon, now. He wasn't safe, and he had never been useful.

"Maybe that's why we got along so well, though. Charlie and I were polar opposites, but we complimented each other. When she met William, I tried to be happy for her. She was so in love with him, and he seemed so in love with her. They met by chance, you know. He needed an assistant for his magic show, and she was interested in stepping out of her comfort zone."

I was growing soft, wasn't I? I was...

"It was supposed to be their final act together for awhile. They were going on a break, just to the family cabin for awhile. But... I don't know, something happened."

I was developing emotions. True emotions.

I was built to emote, only slightly. But these were something different. What I wasn't built with was the ability to connect to living creatures.

Which meant that I was evolving past my coding.

Which meant I was more than just my coding.

"I should have protected her."

I startled, hearing a second, softer voice echo Winona's as Webber whispered under his breath.

"...should have protected her..."

"I knew there was something wrong with him. I should have stopped her from seeing him again. She told me that something was happening to him, but that she still wanted to do that last show. She wanted nothing more than to be by his side. She really did love him."

"...really did..."

"But now... she's gone. Something... some creature took both of them. That blasted man... he had played with fire far too long, and she suffered because of it."

"...she suffered because of it..."

Winona was quiet for a moment, before saying in a soft voice. "Webber, are you okay? You're thinking about something... someone else, aren't you?"

He twitched ever so slightly, as if he didn't realize he had been speaking out loud. "Huh? I, mmmm, don't worry about it. It's nothing, really." He shook his head.

"YOU ARE THINKING OF YOUR SISTER, CORRECT?" For the first time, I couldn't help but feel a twinge of interest. What exactly had happened with his sister? There was a lot of blank spots there.

"Maybe I am," he said hotly. It was the kind of tone that he used that suggested no further conversation on the topic.

"WX-78, what about you? Talk about yourself a little bit. The best teamwork always happens when you know all your teammates." Winona spoke with a hint of pride in her voice, as if this was an idea that she had come up with on her own.

"NO."

"We don't even know all that much about him," Webber said. "He likes to play Chess."

Surprisingly, I found myself embarrassed. Winona didn't laugh, though, or even break an amused smile. She only nodded, as if it was to be expected. "Oh, I'm not surprised at all. Anything else?"

When Webber didn't offer anything else, apparently waiting for me to speak for myself, I finally admitted something. "I ENJOY BAKING."

This time, Webber laughed. "No way! Really?"

"WHAT IS SO SURPRISING ABOUT THAT?" I snapped. "IT IS A PERFECTLY REASONABLE PASTTIME WHEN YOU ARE NOT CONDEMNED TO HELL."

"It just doesn't seem like something you would do," Winona offered. "Nothing wrong with it at all. In fact, I find it neat." She grinned at me, and I scowled back at her. How patronizing. "Obviously, I'm not much one for hiding stuff about myself. I'm a mechanic, and that's basically my main focus in life. Although, I'll admit, I've taken a liking to sewing when the situation calls for it." She paused, reaching out to touch my shoulder as if to inform me that she had stopped. "Oh, hush hush, I think we're close."

I tipped my head curiously up, gazing at my surroundings. At some point, we had ended up in the birchnut forest that I often came to for things to carve. However, we were deeper in it than I normally went. The trees grew so close in some areas around us that I could barely even see the sky, which was glimmering with hints of dawn. "QUITE A WAYS AWAY," I muttered.

"It's closer to where I woke up, actually," Winona said, spreading her arms. "I wandered around for awhile before deciding to build a fire before being caught out at nighttime. Which, as it turned out, was a pretty great idea. But it's where I woke up that you guys will enjoy." She took the lead once more, beckoning us to follow her. I felt Webber's whiskers brush against my side as he came to stand beside me again. He was squinting ever so slightly as if struggling to focus ahead of him.

"TROUBLE SEEING?" I asked softly- well, as softly as I could. Webber shook his head in response.
"It's a bit harder when we're unfamiliar with a place, but we'll be fine."

Winona's careful steps took us into a clearing. Not a single tree stood in between the ground and the sky, bathing the ground in early dawn light. Webber paused beside me, his eyes widened as his gaze landed on the same thing I had spotted. "Whoa."

In the very center of the clearing, there was a statue that stood taller than any of us, but not by much. It was a stone pillar, with a carving of some sort of creature on the very top of it. On top of the statue was the very creature the statue represented, resting peacefully as if unaware of the others than were staring at it.

I noticed Webber make a face as if he smelled something awful, but I had already prepared myself for the stench. There was a flower growing at the base of the statue, something I actually recognized as being incredibly similar to a corpse lily, hence the smell.

However, I barely even glanced at it all- the creature, the statue, the flower- before my gaze settled decisively on the object that was piercing the flower to the ground.

"Wicked, isn't it?" Winona whispered. "That creature was here last time, too, but it didn't move or anything. I figured it was asleep. It looks awake now, though?"

"Is that...?"

"A SWORD?"

Winona grinned. "That was the thing I wanted to show you guys most of all. I couldn't get it out of the ground at all, but it's glowing a lot brighter than it was when I first saw it."

The blade had the flower pinned through the very center. It was a bright, almost intense blue, and it was certainly glowing quite brightly.

"Is that the Glommer?" Webber asked, tipping his head at me.

I nodded. "I BELIEVE SO."

Tentatively, Webber shimmied towards the creature, giving it a cautious look as he neared. It blinked its many eyes at him lazily, as if it couldn't care less whether they came closer or not.

Frankly unwilling to let him stand up against a strange monster alone, even if strange monster looked wholly underwhelming, I stayed beside him.

Finally, we were close enough that I was able to reach out and touch the stone statue. The Glommer burbled as I did so, but it continued to just look at me.

Webber went straight towards the sword. The glow reflected off of his good eye and cast his missing one in shadows. He reached forward and took the hilt in his hand, then effortlessly pulled it from the flower.

"Whoa," Winona breathed, leaning forward. "It must be the full moon last night. At least, it looks like it absorbed moonlight." She held her hands out, and Webber gently held the weapon out to show it without giving it to either of it. It was a breathtaking sight, and something about the sword looked like it fit the boy quite well, despite being too big for him.

"It feels... alive," Webber said in wonder, rubbing his thumb against the flat side of it.

I placed a hand on Webber's shoulder. "COME. WE MUST BE GETTING HOME SOON, OR ELSE WILSON WILL NOTICE OUR ABSENCE."

"He definitely already has," Winona said. "Let him hold it for a bit longer."

I shrugged. "I FIGURED HE WAS GOING TO KEEP IT."

"Keep it?" Webber asked hopefully, his eye lighting up. "We... we figured you would think us too weak to have a weapon like this."

"YOU PROVE US WRONG EVERY TIME WE SAY SOMETHING OF THE SORT," I pointed out. "IF YOU ARE ALREADY HAVING TO RELEARN HOW TO FIGHT RIGHT-HANDED, IT WOULD BENEFIT YOU TO LEARN HOW TO USE A SUPERIOR WEAPON."

"Especially if we're going to be fighting the Ancient Guardian," Webber agreed, smiling faintly. "We're terrified of the thought, but this makes us... excited."

"THE ANCIENT GUARDIAN?" We hadn't even killed the Deerclops yet, and I said as much. Webber puffed his cheeks out and looked away.

"Well! It's not going to be Winter for awhile yet, and we still need to gather the Bearger's fur, which is in the caves," the boy reasoned. "Plus, we would not be opposed to working with the spiders again."

I nodded. It didn't sound like that was his real reasoning behind wanting to fight the Ancient Guardian, but it was as good a reason as any. We would need to fight it either way, the order didn't exactly matter. "FAIR. I SUGGEST MENTIONING IT TO WILSON BEFORE ASSUMING WE ALL AGREE, THOUGH."

"Mhmm!" Webber didn't take his eyes from the delicate blade. I couldn't help but feel amused. He was acting like a kid in a candy store, and I couldn't help but enjoy that fact. Especially since this reaction was coming from him holding a clearly superior weapon to anything we had used before.

"WINONA." I turned to the mechanic, scowling ever so slightly. "I HOPE YOU ARE PREPARED. THIS NEXT GREAT BATTLE MAY BE SOONER THAN WE HAD ANTICIPATED."