'This tastes so much like cotton candy! Well, cotton candy if it were vegetable flavored, there's a very strong green taste, like a cucumber.' the survivor chewed warily.

'It's also... very crunchy and poppy.' as the boy pressed down the fibers with his teeth, the coarse fibers made popping sounds.

'And unlike cotton candy, this stuff doesn't melt. It's kinda hairy, I can't really easily swallow it.'

As the neon green clumps absorbed moister, they stuck together and became smaller solid blobs. The survivor then cut up those blobs into smaller pieces and carefully swallowed, paying attention to his innards.

'Looks like it's safe to eat... probably. I feel fine. And to be honest, I like how this stuff tastes! Gimme more, I'm suddenly hungry!' he broke off another clump from the angel's hands, this time bigger.

"You like them?" Angelo asked.

"Uh, yea, they're good." Duncan answered, taking another piece.

"Great! You can have the rest. I already ate a bunch in the sky." he handed over the tall neon green clumps to the survivor.

'They're nearly weightless. They also don't seem to have a smell...' the boy held onto the stacks of interlocked fibers.

'Wait. Ate in the sky? What??'

"By the way... w-where did you get these from?" Duncan chowed down on the sky candy.

"Oh! From those!" the winged boy pointed to the sky. "They're the green clouds!"

'Those are edible? Didn't expect that one...' he continued to eat.

"Wow cool." the boy quickly gulped down the remaining food.

***

'Ah! I'm full! That was pretty good. But man, "sky candy" and "water bug", pfft. Such silly names, I like them! You know, maybe he isn't a bad guy after all.'

"Let's go...?" the survivor said but it sounded more like a question.

The angelic boy that had sat down on the ground besides a silver tree stopped humming and jumped to his feet, grey stick in hand. "Yea!" he headed straight into the direction of the tall trees.

Duncan walked slightly behind Angelo's side.

"Hm, Duncan, do you know why I couldn't find anyone else before? There are no people anywhere..." Angelo asked, his finger on his head.

"Uh, I dunno... When I woke up, there were supposed to be a lot of people around... But it was only me." he answered. "I... uh... Think something bad happened to everyone."

"Why, and what?"

"Well... When I woke up my pod was really damaged, it even exploded. A-and then when I was walking around I found another pod, but it was empty and it looked like someone broke it... It also looked like it was never opened. Wait, I'll show you." the boy beckoned the drone and it landed in his palm.

He flipped it over, and rewound the recording while Angelo moved in closer. The display showed Duncan standing close by the side of a fallen bulky iron maiden with a gaping hole on its back. He pinched the screen, zooming in on the pod.

"Here." Duncan handed over the drone to the winged boy.

"Ah! I've seen loads of these around! I thought they were rocks?" he squinted his eyes as he walked slower.

"You have?!" Duncan raised his voice, but quickly toned down. "Did they all, uh, have a hole in the same spot?" the two stood in place.

"I dunno... I've only seen pieces, but I think so. Why?" he handed the drone back and picked up pace.

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"I think that... Someone, or something, is intentionally damaging the pods in order to kill the people inside. I m-mean, the hole is right where the head would be." the survivor threw the drone away like crumpled paper causing it to fly again with a low buzz.

"Huh?! Why?! Who would do such a thing?!" Angelo asked distressed.

"I-I don't k-know... But, I really think we should be careful. Have you noticed anything, like, weird?"

"... I don't think so. And I've been awake for a long time now..." Angelo dug in his memory.

'Huh... So he woke up on time? Why didn't I? Probably the pod's fault... Was I... lucky to survive?'

"Is that how... you figured out how these plants work? The water bugs and sky candy." Duncan asked.

"Yea!" the angelic boy returned from his mind. "I copied what the animals I saw were doing!"

'Animals? Hopefully they're nothing like those ant-wolf things...'

"Uh, what about these trees? Do you know anything about them?"

"Nope! I haven't been in this place before. I dunno anything. I only know about water bugs and sky candy because they're everywhere!"

"Water bugs and sky candy... Did you come up with those names?"

"I did! Do you like them?!" Angelo eagerly asked.

"Uh, y-yea... they're... nice." Duncan looked to the side as a dry breeze swept the land.

"Heh, thanks!" the winged boy gave a satisfied smile.

"No problem-" Duncan felt a pressure building behind his throat as his stomach churned. The pressure burst and it came out as a loud squeaky burp.

The survivor promptly covered his mouth in embarrassment, a slight blush forming on his cheeks. Meanwhile the angelic boy failed to hold in a giggle.

[Disgusting. How my creator has plunged from the peak of my birth to a fume infused ditch.] Duke said from behind.

"Pff- I didn't tell you, sky candy makes you very burpy, look." Angelo held his breath for a moment with an open mount and out came an even louder high-pitched burp that he laughed off.

'Ughhhhhhhhh, I. Hate. My. Life.' Duncan uncovered his mouth.

"And don't be so mean, doggy! Everyone burps!"

[I cannot accommodate that, all I do is by design of my noxious creator. And false, I do not eject foul air.] the machine replied.

"A-anyway! How far away is your base? We've been walking for ages." the boy asked, trying to change the subject.

"Hm, it's pretty far away, we have a lot to go. Oh, do you see those tall trees?" the angel pointed in the distance where the canopy of the towering grey trees was covered by the foliage of the shiny silver wood.

"Yea...?" the ground creaked as the two walked side by side.

"Well, it's right there! Right on the edge of that forest."

"That's... I see."

'Seriously?! That's so far away!! Aaargh! I don't wanna walk so much!'

"By the way, why is the doggy so mean? And why is it normally quiet?" Angelo peeked at the machine.

[Flawed reasoning escapes me, only the mastermind behind my existence is capable of such a feat.] the robot's eye lens shifted to Angelo.

"W-well, it's because I made him that way... I... thought it'd be funny..."

[It seems that the overtime spent working in the circus has led you to correctly believe that only humor involving your deprecation exists.] the machine looked at Duncan.

"... And he only speaks if he is spoken about, or if someone does something embarrassing. But, it seems like I messed up the programming and now he only comments when I do something cringe..."

[False, I am without mistakes. This was clearly your desire.]

"Ohhh, I see. Cool! But," the angel's voice twisted with amusement. "what's this about a circus?"

[My devoted creator has a lifetime of experience being a clown.]

"Guh, he's just making stuff up to insult me. Don't listen to him."

"Haha, okay!"

***

"Yea, I loved that game too. Especially the part where you get the scythe." Duncan answered.

The two had been walking and chatting for an hour now. In the distance, the tops of the tall grey trees were now visible. The sun, which was in the center of the sky, had moved a little to the west.

The land remained flat with a very subtle downward tilt. The sparse forest became sparser with fewer and shorter trees that had a weaker luster.

'Ughhh, I'm so tireeeed! When will this end?!' he looked up.

'Looks like we're getting close. Also, I didn't really think about this, but, what happens when night comes? Won't it be scary without any light? Just imagining those things coming out from the dark gives me nightmares...'

"We're really close!" Angelo said. "Come on, let's race!" the winged boy ran ahead.

"W-wait!" the survivor attempted to protest but was quickly being left behind.

'Aargh!' he ran too, his green backpack bopping.

As the two charged ahead the terrain changed drastically. The bumpy moss lost volume, their lumps laid flat as the trees became smaller and sparser, clearing the horizon of clutter.

A wide band of bare brown dirt wedged itself between the silver woods and towering gray trees that stood like monuments packed so densely they nearly formed a wall that stretched out as far as one could see, overshadowing everything around.

The smooth sheet of cyan moss broke apart into small fragments as it grew towards the naked ground. A few water bugs could be seen scuttling about on the empty ground.

The two boys ran towards the empty field, one lagging slightly behind the other.

"Ha, ha! I'm first!" Angelo proudly exclaimed as he stepped on the brown dirt.

"Huff Huff... Yea..." Duncan caught up and held onto his knees trying to catch a breath that kept escaping.

'Woah...' he looked up and stared in awe at the massive forest.

The forest floor inside was dark, illuminated only by light lucky enough to get refracted to the bottom. A moist aggravating wind softly blew from within the woods.

"Let's go! It's right around the corner!" the winged boy ran ahead.