I was hoping that houses might have their own individual wells, but no such luck. This place was too small for that. I crept between the buildings following a main path that led to the center. A couple of times, I froze as I heard something stir inside one of the houses, but nothing came out or sounded an alarm. I got to the center of the village and found a single small well. I pulled IronHide out and considered using the bucket to fill the boiler but it would have taken ages.

IronHide’s hatch split open and I climbed inside. I mentally held my breath as I transformed into bot mode. Like before, my sense of scale shifted dramatically. I was now surrounded by a smurf village and the well looked like little more than a large pipe sticking out of the ground with a little roof on it.

Again, I started thinking about what people from this village did to Shiro. Which ones did it? Which house was theirs? Elita mentioned one of them having a thick tail, maybe I could lift the edges of their roofs and peek inside until I found them.

I started looking carefully from house to house until I spotted a tiny flame flickering at the edge of the village, just outside the barrier. This tiny little insignificant flame burning away in the night. I shook my head, that little flame would be Sparky telling me to be careful. I pulled the steam cannon from my back, crouched down, and dipped the end into the well. With the [Pump] function, I was able to use the cannon as a syphon to pull water into the boiler.

It was a little difficult to get my cannon into the well and reach the water. I forced it a little too much, and the roof cracked. I tried catching it but ended up crunching it in my fist and it fell to the ground in splinters. At first I felt anxious that I’d be caught, but then I thought “Why should I care if any of these little jerks catch me?” They beat up my friend and left him for dead, so what if I was taking some of their water.

My tank wasn’t full yet but it would be plenty to get me where I needed to go so I cut the function off and put my cannon back into its mounting point on my back. I stood up and turned to head back out of the village and saw a man standing slack jawed, wearing a bathrobe and carrying a big stick. I couldn’t quite figure out what species he was. A little furry, vaguely rodent looking, and a thick tail that dragged on the ground.

I knelt down to look the little rodent man in the face, but was still several heads higher than him. He had gone from slack jawed to terrified.

“Are you one of the meatbags that tried to kill my friend out on the main road?” I rumbled.

“Wha- wha- what friend?!” he stuttered.

“Daddy!” I heard a shrill voice call out.

I looked and saw a terrified child at the doorway of one of the buildings.

“Pa- Please! Just me! Just take me!” the man pleaded.

“All I’m taking is a bit of water. I’d love to give this village back what was given to my friend, but he asked me not to. This village is lucky that an Automata can survive having their head ripped off.”

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The man paled but looked confused, I guessed he wasn’t one of the ones to attack Shiro after all.

“Some people from this village found my friend, a kind hearted Automata, out on the main road. They beat him, ripped off his arm and head, and stripped him before dumping him in the bushes. There will be a reckoning. We Automata are done being treated like toys for you to break.”

The man weakly nodded in response. I looked back over at the child.

“You have a beautiful child that loves you. Take good care of them, and teach them to be brave like their papa.”

“I.. I will!”

I stood up to my full height, towering over the village. More people were at their windows now but no one made a move to try to help the man or to try and attack me. I did spot more of his species though and couldn’t help but wonder “which of you did it?” I looked back at their well and felt bad for damaging it.

“Do you know the village Shady Grove?” I asked.

“I do, but I heard that they were all wiped out.”

“They were”, I nodded, “we found it abandoned and started our own Automata village. If you send someone there, ask for Prime. He will see to it that your well is properly repaired and improved. I’m sorry I damaged it.”

The man looked shocked and took a step back. “Um, yes! Yes, I’ll do that. Um, I’m sorry for what happened to your friend. We’ll find the ones responsible for it.”

“Do as you will. My friend did not seek vengeance, so neither will I.”

I looked at the faces of the little people in this village, most looked terror stricken while others looked confused. I began to walk back the way I’d come when I felt a bottle smash against my back. It didn’t do any damage at all but it must have had a lit rag stuffed into it. I could feel flames spreading across my boiler but the heat was significantly less than the temperatures required to boil the water inside. I turned around to see a human standing defiantly waving a thick staff in my direction. Several of the villagers had ducked back into their homes and shut the doors and windows. The man that I’d spoken to had gone into a panic and grabbed the human, trying to pull them back.

“We’re not afraid of you and your kind!” the human yelled at me.

“My friend doesn’t like to fight, so he probably didn’t put up much resistance and was torn apart for it. Do not mistake me for being as much of a pacifist as he is, but if you insist on digging your own grave...”

To drive home my point I knelt and punched my hand into the ground at the human’s feet and dragged it back digging a six foot trench, two feet across and two feet deep in a single movement. The human kept a determined face but their hands were shaking badly and I could see urine spreading across their pants. I stood up and turned walking away. The visage of a mechanical giant, on fire, and digging him a grave would probably give him nightmares. I felt satisfied, but I’d have to figure out how to deal with the fire before I lit up the forest.

I got to the edge of the village and passed through the barrier without stopping. Sparky was there waiting for me, but had enlarged himself to the size of a large dog, maybe a St. Bernard. He blew fire in the direction of the village then scampered up my body to ride on my shoulder. He got it.

“Thanks, Sparky.”

He nuzzled my cheek.

“No, I mean it. I started to lose myself again and seeing you burning brightly, brought me back. I really appreciate it. Any chance you can do something about my back being on fire?”

Sparky looked over my shoulder and assessed the situation. He then took a deep breath and blew his own flames across my back. Sparky’s flames were considerably hotter than the flaming oil and burned off all the remaining fuel. The armor plates on my back and boiler were glowing red hot and the pressure inside was hitting dangerous levels. I tapped the pressure release valve and a blast of boiling hot steam shot out, scorching the nearby trees and hiding us in a sudden fog bank.

The rapid release of pressure helped cool my boiler and back plates off enough that I could transform back into truck mode. Sparky had also reverted back to his normal size and was already at his position on the dashboard ready and waiting to get going. IronHide's steps being considerably larger than my own, I was already back to the main road intersection and found Carnivac waiting for me with Elita and Shiro.

“You’re lucky that nothing serious happened, Prime”, Elita chastised me. I had been keeping both of them up to date on what had been happening via Carnivac, once they both came back fully online.

“Yeah, I know. I’ll make them a better well with a pump to make up for bustin’ up their current one.”

“Well, I’m just glad that you didn’t hurt anyone or destroy the village. That really wouldn’t have done well for our cause.”

“Don’t I know it. Alright, hop in. Let’s get to AutomaTown, I got a new body to build for Shiro.”