“What the hell was that?!?”
“[Analyzing sound…Based on the tone and frequency, there is a high probability the sound came from a human.]”
“A hunter maybe? Early mornings are the best time to go hunting.”
The thought turned my stomach, but if the person that had made that scream had died, it could provide me with an opportunity to study the anatomy and physiology of the people I had seen.
Recalling the drillbots that were busy harvesting metal, I set the Enforcer to follow my main body closely as I made my way towards the source of the scream. Moving as quickly as my crab-like legs could take me, I eventually stumbled across my first clue. A small puddle of blood had soaked into the muddy forest floor.
“Eve, can you scan this?”
“[Unable to analyze. The sample is too contaminated.]”
Moving on, I kept an eye on the ground to follow the blood trail.
“Whoever or whatever left this blood trail has already lost a lot of blood.”
I kept following the blood trail until I began to hear rustling in the underbrush. Taking control of the Enforcer, I pushed forward until I saw the origin of the disturbance: A pack of wolves were circling around a wounded individual. The person was sitting against a large oak tree, holding a blood-soaked strip of cloth to a wound on its leg. The realization that it was alive shocked me. I had assumed that it would have bled out by now.
“Shit, do I help it?”
For better or worse, the choice was made for me. The pack of 6 wolves turned and snarled at me, eyeing me like prey. They displayed their aggression with pinned back ears and bared teeth, and I knew that I wouldn’t be able to outrun them. Taking the initiative, I charged forward, my metal feet leaving deep impressions on the soft ground. The wolves seemed startled by my charge, but one decided to challenge me. It lunged at me, revealing its long fangs stained red with the blood of its prey. Cocking my arm back, I drove my fist into its face, feeling the bone and cartilage crumble like wet sand. It died instantly, its body falling limp to the ground. As soon as I had turned my back to attack the wolf, another one flanked me and bit my leg from behind. Its teeth scraped across the iron frame with a small screech, but it could not damage me.
It refused to let go even as I turned around, giving me a chance to grab its neck. Effortlessly hoisting it up, I clenched my fist, snapping its neck in the process. Seeing my display, the other wolves seemed much more cautious. After a few seconds, one slowly slunk away, and the remaining wolves followed suit. I waited a few minutes to make sure they were gone before re-assuming control of my main body and bringing it closer to the human. It was unconscious now, most likely from blood loss or shock, or perhaps a combination of both. Using the Enforcer, I pulled away the cloth to take a look at the wound.
“[Long gash along the inner thigh. It’s possible that there is a damaged artery based on the excessive blood loss. Smaller stature and longer hair suggest that it is a female, but it is not certain.]”
I froze in indecision, questioning myself on whether I should try to help her or not. My humanitarian side won out, and I sighed mentally.
“I can’t just leave her here to die…”
“[That is a valid choice,]” Eve said in a helpful tone.
“...Yeah, no.”
My mind made up, I searched around for medicinal plants with antibacterial properties. Fortunately, I found an even better alternative: Honey, as it had antibacterial, anti-fungal and anti inflammatory properties. Up in the treetops, I spotted a small beehive. I promptly cut the tree down with my laser, causing it to come crashing down. With the Enforcer, I scooped out a bit of the honey. The bees swarmed around it, but like the wolves, they could do no damage to my metal body. After acquiring the honey, I ran a small distance away to make sure the bees weren’t following before circling back to the human. Re-assuming control of my Chassis, I had the Enforcer nearby on standby. Lowering the intensity of my laser, I began the delicate work cauterizing the wound. The stench of burning flesh filled the air, but within a minute the procedure was complete. Once the honey was added, I re-wrapped the wound in a strip of cloth taken from the human’s sleeve. Satisfied with my treatment, I waited until the girl woke up.
Her eyelids began to flutter, and she jerked awake once she realized where she was. Seeing my Enforcer standing above her, she screamed and tried to run away. But when she tried to move, her wounded leg reminded her of its existence in a not so pleasant way.. It was only then that she realized that her leg was bandaged and cared for. Knowing I had no way to communicate verbally with her, I took control of the Enforcer and pointed at her leg then pointed at myself. Holding my hands up peacefully, I slowly backed away and pointed at the wolf corpses. She seemed to understand my message, and while still somewhat fearful, was slightly more relaxed than before.
Then she spoke. Her voice was light and soft, but it might have just been from exhaustion. From the intonation, I guessed it was a question, but I didn’t recognize the language. It seemed similar to old Latin, but the grammar and tenses were all garbled. To show I didn’t understand, I tilted my head and mimed scratching my head. She sighed, then sat in silence to think. While I waited, I took the opportunity to study her closely. Her hair was covered in mud and blood, but underneath the filth I could see it was a dark brown color. Her skin was quite tanned, probably from going out hunting so often. A bow laid next to her, along with a quiver of arrows. Although most of them were snapped, there were still a few good ones left. The human seemed to come to a decision, and tried to stand up once more, this time using the bow as a crutch. The pain was too much for her, however, and she sat back down in defeat. Walking closer, I put my hand out, offering my help. She stared at it for a few seconds, then grabbed it and hoisted herself up. Catching her balance, she let go of my hand and tried to walk. I stayed close to her just in case, and my caution proved warranted. Slipping on a wet patch of mud, she nearly fell before I managed to grab her shoulder and catch her. Looking at me, she uttered a few words which I assumed meant thank you.
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“I should record all the words she says. Maybe one day I’ll be able to translate and speak their language.”
Eve quickly noted down all the words that the girl had spoken, but both of us still couldn’t make heads or tails of what she was saying. Translating a completely new language wasn’t a process that could be rushed.
Watching the girl try to walk was concerning. She limped slowly, and her injured leg slowed her down to a snail’s pace. I picked her up and hoisted her up onto my shoulder, letting her sit on me. She was light, and it put no strain on my frame to carry. Looking up at her, I waited until she finally pointed where she wanted to go. Surprisingly, it wasn’t back towards the village, but towards a small hill deeper into the forest. Confused, I followed her directions and headed towards the hill. Eve took control of the Chassis and dutifully followed behind me. Luckily, it was close, and it only took me half an hour to reach it. Guiding me, the girl led me to the entrance of a small tunnel, completely overgrown with vines. Carefully getting off, she pushed the vines aside to reveal an abandoned mineshaft, leading deeper and deeper into the hill.
“Huh. She must have decided it would be easier to rest here than to walk the entire way back to the village.”
Noticing the lack of light deeper into the tunnel, I turned on the lights on my main body. The unexpected action startled the girl, who immediately drew her bow and notched an arrow. The ease and speed in which she did so surprised me, and I had to quickly stand in front of my main body and de-escalate the situation. Holding my hands up, I pointed at my Chassis and myself repeatedly. She seemed to get the message and put her bow down, but still stared at my main body. Eve took the lead as we walked further in, until the girl sat down and leaned against the rough stone wall. She began gnawing on a piece of dried meat she pulled from a pouch on her waist. Meanwhile, I studied the mineshaft. Going back to my Chassis , I discreetly sliced off a piece of the wall and examined it. As I had suspected, there was a high concentration of iron in the stone, meaning this had been an iron mine.
“I wonder why it was abandoned.”
“[Common reasons for abandonment of mines include unstable tunnels, depletion of the available resources, or water and toxic gas hazards.]”
"Well, the girl is looks fine, so I don't think it's toxic gas at least."
Turning around, I saw that the girl had a piece of dried meat in her outstretched hand, as if she were offering some. I had no use for it, so I shook my head in a polite rejection. Shrugging, the hunter took a bite out of it. The small action was surprisingly funny, and I chuckled to myself in my head.
Recollecting my thoughts I realized this abandoned iron mine was an amazing stroke of luck. Not only would I be able to collect iron at a fast rate, depending on how deep the iron mine was, I might be able to collect some other valuable metals too! Behind me, the girl folded her fur vest to use as a pillow and quickly fell asleep. I was slightly surprised that she could fall asleep so quickly, but the day must have taken quite a toll on her. Seeing as I had nothing better to do, I decided to help her a bit. Leaving Eve in my Chassis to watch over her, I walked outside and collected several armfuls of dry grass. Taking some of the vines hanging over the entrance to the mine, I carefully tied sections of grass together, creating a thin yet surprisingly soft mattress. After thinking it over, I made a thicker, smaller piece as a makeshift pillow. Delicately lifting her up, I slid the improvised mattress and pillow underneath her, and used her fur vest to cover her up.
With that out of the way, I set about working on my next plan: Making a real fabricator and making more Enforcers. While the fabricator inside me was incredible, it was limited by size and materials. If I could make a full fabricator, I would be able to make parts and components quickly and efficiently.
“The only problem is the fabricator is expensive. I’ll need a ton of electrical and synthesized materials, not to mention all the metal. Iron won’t do it this time.”
I spent a few hours thinking of ways to acquire the materials I would need for the fabricator. But no matter what ideas I came up with, they were always impractical. It always came back to the same problem: The synthesized materials would be too hard to get.
“Unless…”
I looked at my Chassis. Although my Chassis was only 2 meters wide, the metal was compressed several times, so there was more than it appeared to have. The inside circuitry and nuclear battery could make and power the fabricator, and maybe I would have some left over to make more robots. Fully cannibalizing my Chassis came with risks though. Firstly, I would be limited to the Enforcer and scouting drone to live on. If I was destroyed and out of range of my other robots to transfer into, I would ‘die’. Second of all, if I made even a slight error, my mini fabricator would lose power or essential components and be rendered useless. If that happened, I would be stuck, unable to make any other robots or devices.
“I’ll have to take that risk.”
“[I highly advise against this course of action,]” Eve cautioned me.
“Every simulation I went through, it took years to get everything I needed to make a fabricator. With everything that has happened, I don’t have the luxury of time. The more Enforcers I can make, the more backups I have in case this one is destroyed. Plus, I can make other types of robots, which would be helpful.”
My decision made, I started setting up for the delicate self surgery. I went to a nice quiet place deeper in the mine, and positioned my Chassis on a large rock.
“Good I can’t feel pain, otherwise this would be pretty uncomfortable.”
Using the laser, I cut a small hole around the fabricator. The fabricator was directly in the middle of my body, making the already difficult procedure even harder. I had to be very careful to not accidentally slice any of the wires surrounding the fabricator, as well as the nuclear battery directly next to it. If I was in my original body, sweat would have been pouring out of me like a fountain. It took several hours to complete the procedure. When my laser finally disconnected the fabricator and nuclear battery from my Chassis, it shut off. Once again in the body of the Enforcer, I took a moment to check up on the girl. Her stomach slowly rose and fell, and she was still in a deep sleep. I took out the data storage chips within my body, holding them as carefully as an egg. Each one of them contained millions of books worth of data, and all the information would be lost if I broke one.