Birds and Electricity
Robin Wetherill lived in Sky world on Aether Island in
Silver City. And she was all alone.
You might think this is a grim way to introduce our
heroine, but it must be admitted, she was
alone. At least at the moment she is. Please look down from a high cloud
and take a bird’s eye view of a small crowded island below. Do you see it? It’s
the one in the middle, just floating there. To you it might resemble a bit like
New York City placed in a Science Fiction novel. It has floating cars, skyscrapers
poking out at impossible angles, and sidewalks hanging in the air.
Now, look a little closer to the right corner of your
spyglass. See that large, dirty apartment building there? Good. Now, if you
have a perceptional eye vision, you might notice that pin-prick of a girl standing
at the base of the building. She has brunette hair, and is currently staring at
the wall in front of her. She doesn’t have time for us right now, but we are
going to watch her anyways. Why is she staring at a wall? Well, why don’t we
ask her?
Robin Wetherill lived in Sky world on Aether Island in
Silver City. And she was all alone. She was an orphan, enrolled in Pammi’s
House for Girls. She has just lost her best friend, because she has moved away.
If you look close enough, you can probably see her crying. The alleyway she is
currently in is devoid of people. So you see, she really is alone, except for that incredibly annoying crow staring at her
from that cable. It’s been bugging Robbin for a while. You see, because Robbin
has always had this way of knowing when someone or something is looking at her.
It has turned her somewhat paranoid, as you or I would be if you could tell
every time someone was looking your direction. And this crow has been staring
at her for such an awfully long time.
It has been driving her mad.
But let’s look away from the stalker crow for a second,
and take a minute on the wall. Yes, the wall. It is somewhat interesting also,
for on its surface is a collection of strange graffiti. It has some very
decorative and hidden arrows pointing to the right. But, shh, Robbin just
noticed them, probably because we were talking too loud. Oh look, now she’s
become curious and has started following them.
Let’s see, she’s turned right, and left, oh, and now
right again. Hmm, left, left, left, right, left, right, right, goodness these
alleyways stretch on a while. But that is one thing about Silver City. Never
underestimate her alleyways. They are worse than a labyrinth. Robbin knows this
to, so she usually stays away from them, but she’s come to the conclusion that
if she wants to head back all she has to do is follow the arrows backwards. But
exactly what are they leading her to? It has been an hour since she started,
and wiping some sweat from her brow, she notices that the crow is still
following her. Yes, this crow is definitely a stalker, and Robbin becomes a
little concerned. But what can she do? She keeps on.
Oh my, it’s been a few hours, and it’s starting to get
dark. But for Robbin it’s too late to turn back. What are you going to do
Robbin, you forgot to bring a flashlight. Silver City is generally
well-lighted, but it would be troublesome if she wouldn’t be able to spot the
hidden arrows anymore. Moreover, that crow is still following her. She wonders what it’s up about, when it
suddenly swoops down to her and with a surprise turns on the yellow beams in its
eyes. It’s not a crow at all, it’s a robot! Well, a robot crow. Does that
count?
Robbin and the robot crow continue turning the corners
at the end of the alleyways, the crow lighting the way. Robbin is just starting
to get tired when she notices something funny going on with the urban lighting
of Silver City outside. It’s flickering on and off, like it’s about to go out. This
had been going on for a while lately, and the officials of Silver City had been
spending hours, and money trying to figure out what the problem was. But they
still hadn’t managed to discover what or who
was behind it.
Robbin and Choco (she took the liberty of naming it)
turn another corner and have suddenly found themselves in a den of androids.
Robbin can tell right off these aren’t the usual androids. First of all,
androids don’t gather together in a way that looks like a teenage gang, and
second of all, they don’t look this scary. Each of them has something off them
missing. Their hair is missing in chunks, and springs are popping out of their
necks. Overall, they look much like a broken doll toy. They’re all looking at
her with violent intent. Robbin, you better be careful.
But the arrows end here. She quickly looks for more, but
this is where they lead. There’s no way she’s backing out of this just because
she’s scared. So she takes a few heavy steps into the area and looks around for
a clue why there might be arrows leading here. And she sees it. The area is
behind one of the many power plants, and she can see that these androids have
tampered with the Generator box. But just as she’s noticed this, the abandoned
androids take action. The first one springs his remaining arm towards her, but
she ducks and starts to run. A child android starts chasing her from behind,
and the others lumber from behind. Unfortunately there’s a rock in the middle
of where Robbin is going to step, and she falls hard and painfully. The child
android catches up with her and jumps onto her back to prevent her escape.
Robbin is panicking when Choco starts clawing and shining his beaming eyes into
the child androids eyes. This makes an effect on it (you never want to look
straight into a robots eyes), and it falls back in pain. Robbin gets up and
runs as straight as she can towards the Generator box, while Choco is
distracting the others. I can see they both feel quite bold today.
Robbin reaches the Generator box and rings the emergency
bell placed next to it. This signals the officials to come in five minutes. She
then takes a look at the box itself, and growing up in Silver City, she knows
exactly what to do. It’s quite easy really, since they only broke wires. She
pulls out some gloves from her pockets and begins twisting them back together.
Red to red, blue to green, green to blue, oh when will they ever end? She’s on
the last one, when an android shoves her to the ground from behind. Well, Choco
couldn’t keep them off forever, could he? And she’s fighting for her life, when
the light of the officials Flies (flying machines) reaches her from above.
Quite simply, it’s wrapped up in two minutes. The officials
are scarily efficient at their job. The androids are bonded and thrown in the
back for proper disposal, and the Generator box is overlooked by a professional
Mr. Bill who says that Robbin did a good temporary fix, but that they’ll need
to replace them anyways. Robbin wonders what all her trouble was for. She’s
given a ride home on one of their Flies, and when poor Miss Pammi sees her
walked in by officials she nearly has a heart attack.
Robin has a sheepish look on her face. Can you see it
from your bird’s eye view? She should’ve remembered about Miss Pammi, who has
told her time and time again to be back by dark. She expects to get scolded,
but after the officials leave on a tip of their hats, all she does is set down
some hot Cocoa before her on the counter. All the other kids have gone to bed.
“Here that should warm you up.”
Choco is settled
neatly in Robbins lap as she sips the golden liquid slowly down her throat.
“Miss Pammi?”
“Yes?”
“Will Silver City not Flicker anymore?”
Miss Pammi looks at her and leans against the opposite
counter.
“Yes, it will. The short-circuit you found was only one
of who knows how many are out there.”
Robbin looks sad for a moment.
Then Miss Pammi adds “but I bet if the officials had you
on their force, they would get them all before daybreak!”
They both smile, and Robbin tells her everything that
happened again for the third time. She falls asleep on her chair a few minutes
later, and Miss Pammi carries her into bed.
Well? Not so tragic
after all. Not as alone as she thinks. She’ll survive.
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