WX-78's POV

Night drew to a close far too quickly. In what felt like a matter of minutes, the world had shed its dark skin and, instead, taken on a new blistering heat. It had been warm before, yes, but this was an entirely new meaning of hot.

Summer and its fiery champion had come at last.

The fire had been kept low in the night in anticipation of the day. Chester and Popsicle lay just in the range of the firelight, their bodies pressed together. It appeared as if Chester had finally accepted that its choice was either to befriend the hound or burn to death, and it had made the logical choice. We had tried to rouse the two pets to take them hunting before the summer got any worse, but Popsicle had barely budged, instead only whimpering at the attempt, and Chester had refused to leave the cold shield of Popsicle's fur.

I kept to the front of the group this time. Wilson was just a few steps behind me, fanning himself with his hands, while Webber took up the rear, his fur damp with sweat. Small droplets of water formed on my forehead and down my body, throwing up tiny sparks in their wake. It wasn't sweat, exactly, but rather condensation. Automatons malfunction a lot quicker than organics in extreme weather, and because of that, it was a necessity to have a built-in cooling system that ran more efficiently than that of an organic's. I wiped the condensation from my forehead with one hand while adjusting my grip on my spear with the other.

"ALL OF THE INTELLIGENT LIFE WILL BE HIDDEN AWAY IN THE SHADE," I said to neither in particular. Wilson only grunted in response, and Webber grumbled something under his breath. I sighed. "WHICH SPEAKS VOLUMES FOR US, I SUPPOSE."

"This is fruitless," Wilson panted, grabbing my arm to stop me. The second his hand made contact with my arm, he let out a small gasp. "Ahh! You're so cold!" He leaned forward slightly as if to try to press his cheek against my hand, and I snatched it away before he could, giving him a very well-deserved glare.

"Blah blah blah, something about us being inferior, all hail the robot, can we go home now?" Webber complained. "We can't just wipe our sweat off like you two can."

Nerves were already tightly strung with the heat. Being out in said heat while all the food was relaxing and snoozing away in their comfortable burrows was doing nothing to help anyone's mood. Always so fragile, I thought with an inward sigh.

"IT IS NOT MY FAULT THAT YOU ARE NOT BUILT TO DEAL WITH A LITTLE BIT OF HEAT. IF YOU ARE SO DETERMINED TO GO BACK, NOBODY IS STOPPING YOU. I AM USED TO PULLING THIS TEAM'S WEIGHT."

"Pulling this t- oh we're too tired to argue. Going back to base sounds fantastic." Webber's whiskers were drooping. "All in favor of going back to base, say I. I. Perfect. We're going back."

Wilson gave me a peculiar look, but before I could confront him, he turned to follow the boy, leaving me alone. Now that there weren't two sweaty and whiny bags of meat holding me back, I was actually able to continue on by myself. I paused, watching them go, before glancing back up at the sky.

This is going to be a long summer.

…

It had been many, many hours. At any other time of the year, the sun would be setting, but it still hung high in the sky. The heat was so powerful that I could see it wavering off the ground. Dazedly, I collapsed under the shade of a tree, trying to get out of the heat. I was entirely coated in water now, leaving a slightly damp trail wherever I went.

I needed to find food. Badly. We had neglected our food stores for so long in favor of training. There was no way that we could survive the summer on what we currently had.

Hadn't the sun just been in the sky?

I turned my gaze back towards the now-darkening sky, then brought my knees to my chest. I just needed to rest for a bit. I could start going home once daytime came back. Daytime... my mind echoed forlornly, thinking about the broad stretch of savanna to go through. I can do it. It is just a simple walk through a grassland.

I prepared myself to sit out for the night, allowing my mind to drift like it did every time everyone was asleep.

I didn't set up a fire. I don't even know why it never occurred to me that it was something that I still had to do. I was well aware of the dangers of the dark. The second that sun disappeared and the moon began rising, I knew I was in trouble. I snapped back to awareness at the sound of crunching feet.

I said nothing, merely preferring to listen. The footsteps paused for a second as if considering something.

They started again, slowly at first, but then faster and faster until I instinctively found myself ducking and rolling away. Hot, dry air blasted my face as something made contact with the tree that I had been sheltering beneath. My dazed panic and inability to see left me at a great disadvantage to whatever this dark-stalking beast was. I heard a faint scoff that sounded almost... feminine? I didn't have enough time to ponder, because it was rushing at me again. I forced myself to my feet, trying to determine where it was so I could dodge again, but I was far slower than my assailant.

Pain blossomed through my body as it made contact. I could hear the tell-tale shink! Of splitting metal and a faint clinging as something rolled away. I grasped the side of my head, and another hit landed on my arm, finally sending me down to the ground.

No, no, no, this is not where my life ends.

I was vulnerable, but if I could just survive until dawn. The nights were so, so short, I could make it...

I rolled onto my stomach just as dust blasted against my side. I couldn't stand up on time, and I knew it, which led to me merely crawling away from it as fast as I could. A ghastly wail of frustration pierced the air. I couldn't outpace it, no matter how hard I tried.

As it approached one last time, I rolled onto my back and kicked out. Surprisingly enough, my blow connected with something cold and slimy. A rush of air hit my face, followed by the soft thump of something hitting the ground.

I had the upper hand for just a second. I scrambled to my feet and ran faster than I had ever run before. I ran as far as I could in the pitch darkness until I finally tripped over something. I hit the ground hard.

I refused to die. This was no place or reason to die. If I was going to die, it was not going to be in this way.

Then, I noticed I was able to see the ground beneath me. My gaze shot up to the sky above.

I felt like I could've cried, seeing the darkness of nighttime begin to lift. I had survived the night.

I managed to drag myself into a walk once more. There was a dead tree trunk, the closest thing to me that wasn't just open plain. I pressed my back against the rotten bark and allowed my legs to slide out from under me. My right arm, the one that had been hit, showed visible signs of damage. My hand had a deep, long slice through it that nearly cut it in half. A few more moments of assessing myself both internally and externally showed that the bolt on the left side of my head had been completely severed, and with that damage came a weakened ability to hear.

But I was alive.

I just really needed to get home before anything else happened. I was not looking forward to the trip, but if I stayed out here just one more night, the creature in the dark was not going to spare me again.

I left the tree trunk behind, beginning the long, arduous trek back to the base.

…

Wilson's POV

"How did you even manage to do this to yourself?" I asked, shocked, as I looked over the extensive damage WX-78 had sustained while away. I furrowed my brow in concern as I tried to reach forward and he winced away.

"THAT DOES NOT MATTER. AS LONG AS YOU DO NOT TOUCH ME, IT WILL HEAL."

"You may be able to heal just as much as one of us 'lousy organics', WX, but that won't stop you from possibly losing all feeling in your arm if you let it go unchecked."

"KEEP YOUR FLESHY HANDS TO YOURSELF, SCIENTIST," he hissed. I let out a small sigh, dropping my hands back to my side.

"At least just let me look at your ear bolt." I tried to give him a reassuring smile, knowing very well that he was only acting tough. I could only imagine the pain he must've been in if the injuries and his expression had anything to say about it. If he can even feel pain- I cut off the thought before it could get very far. "I promise, I won't do anything else without your permission first."

I saw his gaze flicker to where Webber was sitting. The young boy was too focused on gutting a single, scrawny rabbit that had been plucked from the plains to care about the state his rival was in. His expression was unreadable.

"He's not even paying attention, WX. Besides, look how many times he's gotten injured himself."

WX hesitated for a long moment, then nodded slightly. I smiled again, then leaned forward to get a closer look at his injuries. The bolt had been cut clean off, and without a single jagged edge, I realized as I ran my finger over the slice. He flinched as I did so, and I drew back. "Does it hurt? Is there anything else affected?"

"...MY HEARING ABILITIES HAVE BEEN SEVERELY IMPAIRED."

"I see..." I reached towards his injured arm, which he had been partially cradling up until then. I gave a quick look up to make sure he didn't protest. When he said nothing, I began to examine the damage as gently and efficiently as I could. "I might be able to repair the damage on the outside, but I'd... I'd have to open you up if I'm to give you back full control over your arm and hearing."

He was silent for a long moment. I could tell that he was tense, but whether it was still from the attack or not was beyond me. Finally, he gave a small, short nod. "I WILL NEED TO BE AT MY FULL ABILITY IF WE ARE TO SUCCEED IN THE UPCOMING BATTLES." He looked away. "DO WHAT YOU NEED."

"I'll be careful, I promise. I won't do anything that could possibly be of any harm to you." I pulled up my bag and rummaged through it until I found a piece of flint with a small enough tip to fit into the screws of WX's body. "...I promise I won't hurt you."

"JUST GET IT OVER WITH, SCIENTIST."

I took a deep breath, fiddling with the flint for a moment. "Alright, in we go." I fitted the tip of the stone into the first screw and began to work methodically.

…

Many hours passed before I was able to relax again. Sweat dripped from my forehead from the sun coupled with the nonstop work. My work was not useless, though. WX rolled his shoulders and moved his arm to make sure it was working correctly again. "I AM IMPRESSED."

"Everything's working fine?"

"EVERYTHING APPEARS TO BE AT OPTIMAL PERFORMANCE AGAIN." He hesitated, then added. "...THANK YOU."

"All in a day's work," I responded with a smile. "Although I'd better not see you getting injured like that again."

"I DO NOT INTEND TO."

"Now... it's been a long day. I need to sleep, especially after working my brain like that." I wiped my forehead. "I can't wait until summer's over and we can sleep properly again."

WX nodded again. "IT WILL TRULY BE A GREAT SIGHT." He looked towards the sky. "YOUR FLESHLING MIND NEEDS REST. WE CAN CONTINUE WORKING ONCE YOU WAKE UP."

"That sounds like a good plan... goodnight, WX."

"...GOODNIGHT, WILSON."