Wilson's POV

It was much more difficult than it should have been, but I managed to keep a straight face about WX's predicament. I wanted to laugh. I wanted to laugh so hard he would probably backhand me, but it didn't help that he sat helplessly with his backpack over his head to help shield from the rain and he was glaring at me with the most rage he could muster in a single look.

Honestly, I felt that I was showing great self-restraint given the circumstances.

However, I was having some problems searching through the book without ruining its precious information-loaded pages with the merciless rain. The short time I was given to search through it before the rains started gave me just enough time to discover that Webber's problem was, indeed, his sanity. There is no cure for insanity, I had thought with a sigh. Back in my world, people would throw the insane into an asylum and forget they existed... using them as lab rats. The book had other ideas, though. This is impossible! Picking flowers? Being near a random monster in the birchnut forest? Eating mushrooms? What is wrong with this world? It breaks just about every law of science that exists!

Well, the rain proved me wrong on that front. Gravity still existed, so that was nice. Whether or not objects fell at the same rate or not was a different matter, but the fact that it was still there, sure and strong, comforted me a bit.

And maybe I'll get to learn more about this world. I could create and prove scientific theories never seen before!

"PENNY FOR YOUR THOUGHTS? OR WOULD YOU PREFER A MORE AMUSING WAY TO GET THEM?" WX asked with a sneer.

"Just thinking about something you wouldn't care about," I replied absently. He frowned, and I realized the rain had finally stopped, although he was still sparking a bit from the rain still gleaming on him.

"MOST LIKELY, BUT I STILL WANT TO KNOW WHAT YOU ARE THINKING ABOUT. YOU ARE MAKING SOME WEIRD FACES."

"Science. I'm thinking about science. WX, do you have any idea the fame we could get if we could get out of this world? A completely undiscovered realm, where magic exists!"

He was silent for a couple of seconds. "ARE YOU PLANNING ON USING THE KID AS PROOF OF THIS?"

It took me a moment to realize 'the kid' was referring to Webber. "I wasn't planning on it, but now that you say it..."

"THAT'S ONE THING I WON'T DENY ABOUT HIM- HE'S INDEPENDENT AND DOESN'T LIKE OTHER PEOPLE USING HIM- LIKE MYSELF. I DON'T THINK HE WOULD APPRECIATE BEING USED AS A KICK IN THE FACE TO YOUR PRECIOUS SCIENCE."

"Oh? Since when did you learn so much about him, hmm?"

"YOU LEARN MORE ABOUT SOMEONE BY FIGHTING AGAINST THEM THAN FIGHTING WITH THEM," he huffed.

"Is that your excuse?"

"BESIDES," he went on, ignoring me. "THIS IS ALL ASSUMING WE CAN EVEN SURVIVE THIS PLACE."

"Are you suggesting we could die here?"

"NOTHING HERE HAS BEEN FRIENDLY, IF YOU'VE REALIZED. THE ONLY ONES HERE WHO ARE WILLING TO WORK TOGETHER." WX crossed his arms. "AND I AM ALMOST CERTAIN THAT BOOK OF YOURS WILL BACK ME UP."

He's right, I realized, mentally going over what I had read in the book. Almost nothing in there is friendly.

"SPEAKING OF YOUR BOOK, DO YOU THINK YOU COULD LOOK UP A CREATURE FOR ME?"

I stared at him for a moment, dumbfounded. "You want me to actually look at something for you?"

"UNLESS YOU'D BE WILLING TO COUGH IT UP, WHICH I NATURALLY ASSUMED YOU'D BE TOO STUBBORN TO DO."

I sighed, knowing I wasn't going to be going anywhere with him. "Okay, just... describe it to me."

"IT'S BLUE," he started, looking slightly unhappy for some reason. "WITH JAGGED HORNS. BLANK EYES? ALMOST GOAT-LIKE?"

I flipped open the black leather book and flipped through its pages, trying to recall the creature he was talking about. "Where did you see this?"

"I FOUND A DRY BIOME- DESERT I PRESUMED."

"After this, we need to do something about Webber," I reminded him as I searched.

"I HAVE NO IDEA WHAT YOU EXPECT ME TO DO."

"Us to do," I corrected. "And I'm not sure. There's something in here about mushrooms...?"

Much to my surprise, he let out a weird burst of garbled static, which I realized must have been laughter. "HOW DO YOU EXPECT THAT TO HELP? EVEN IF THERE WAS SOME MAGIC MUSHROOM THAT COULD HELP WHATEVER THE HECK IS WRONG WITH HIM, THERE IS NO WAY WE COULD MANAGE TO GET THE KID TO EAT THEM."

It was my turn to laugh, imagining the guaranteed anger he would show if we tried to force-feed him. "We'll find a way," I said.

"WHAT DOES IT LOOK LIKE?" He asked, sounding very much like he wanted to laugh again.

"Oh! Is this what you were talking about?" Before answering his question, I stopped on the volt goat page and turned it to him.

"VOLT GOAT? WHAT AN ODD SPECIES NAME. IS IT EDIBLE?"

"Yep. But we'll have to get Webber back first." I shivered slightly, remembering his silent, almost savage demonstration in gutting the rabbit. He had shown no sadness nor remorse. In fact, he had shown no emotion at all, minus a quiet determination set in his features.

It was borderline terrifying.

I was afraid that if I was forced to do that myself, I'd begin to lose my own remorse for the smaller animals. That and I felt beyond sick at seeing it happen and I could imagine how terrible it'd be if I had to partake.

I shook my head wildly. I need to stay focused. "How do you want to go about this?"

"ABOUT WHAT?"

"The mushrooms."

"OH. WELL, WHAT DO THEY LOOK LIKE?"

"They look like- well, a green mushroom. It has to be cooked though, or it might make matters worse. Got it? Got it? I'm talking poison here, WX, don't get any funny ideas."

He tipped his chin, looking slightly offended. "IF I WAS TO KILL HIM, IT WOULD NOT BE BY SUCH AN UNDERHANDED TACTIC AS POISON."

"I'm glad that you are so generous," I said sarcastically.

The slightest twitch of his face, the smallest lift of his frown, and I think for the first time since I met him I saw him smile, even just a little bit. I knew it! I knew there was a nicer robot in there somewhere, WX!

He shook his head, the smile still on his face. "COME ON. WE'RE BURNING DAYLIGHT. LET'S JUST GET THIS OVER WITH."

Webber's POV

Our head felt like someone had stuffed it full of cotton and used it as a kickball. Everything was clouded and it hurt like heck.

We could think though.

And we could move.

So that was honestly an improvement.

It was dark, as it appeared the sun had set hours before. Wilson was fast asleep, muttering something in his dreams and WX had his back towards us, facing the flames. We pushed ourself up with one hand, using the other to hold our aching head. At first, we had thought that he didn't realize we were awake, but when he spoke it was without looking at us.

"FEELING BETTER?" He asked, a sort of gentleness in his tone that was completely unexpected, especially from him. "YOU WERE OUT OF IT FOR QUITE AWHILE. IT TOOK US A DAY OR TWO TO FIGURE OUT WHAT WAS WRONG WITH YOU." He finally turned to look at us, the fire's light creating dancing patterns of flames against his face and making him appear almost ghastly as though he was not of this world. "DID YOU KNOW ABOUT HOW SANITY AFFECTS PEOPLE HERE?"

"Y-yes," I stammered, feeling our voice crack as though it hadn't been used in awhile. "Of course. We just... didn't realize..."

He looked back towards the fire. "WILSON SAID YOU'D BE ABLE TO WALK AGAIN SOON," he informed us quietly.

"That'd be nice."

"HE'S SURPRISED ON HOW WELL YOU'VE BEEN HEALING. HE WAS ATTACKED WHILE YOU WERE OUT AND HE'S STILL FEELING THE EFFECTS OF IT, EVEN THOUGH IT WASN'T NEARLY AS BAD AS YOU INJURIES. IS THERE A REASON YOU ARE ABLE TO HEAL FASTER THAN ANY FLESHLING I'VE KNOWN ABOUT?"

"Where we're from, it isn't unnatural." We tipped out head, our clearing mind now a whirlwind of confusion at seeing this side of him. It's kind of creepy actually. "Why...? With the injuries we had... how long would it take for people to heal where you're from?"

He was silent for a moment. "YOU'RE NOT FROM EARTH, ARE YOU?"

The question took us way off guard. "W-we're not sure where we're from, to be honest."

"YOU SPOKE OF IT AS THOUGH YOU DO, IN FACT, KNOW."

"It's not that," I protested. "I-it feels natural. Like it's normal for us."

"I KNOW THAT ISN'T THE TRUTH," he said, almost so quietly we could hear it. "I KNOW THAT ISN'T THE TRUTH..."