Doradilla Garden

The Angler's bait

The dusk settled in.

WX-78 prowled angrily forward, with a backpack full of resources and freshly hunted meat. Of course, they were made to do the dirty work for everyone, and because they were a bunch of disrespectful, ungrateful jerks, who only all but insulted their pride, they didn't even consider actually assisting the automaton with these tedious tasks! Instead excusing themselves to do other daft activities...which would hopefully result in their demise.

Moreover, because of their foul manipulation, they were forced to prove their own worth! As if it wasn't already obvious how amazing they were! They weren't even the one to mess up the previous assignment!

But alas...Here they were, bothering to gather various goods for them, which the bot would likely never see again, thanks to the voracity of those biped beasts.

They really wished they could just ditch them and never return again, surely, seeing how much their survival skills improved since the last time they departed from the group, they were certain this time they would manage just fine! Who needed those fools anyway!

Whatever happened beforehand is irrelevant!

–"HOW DARE THESE DAFT NINCOMPOOPS THINK THEY CAN EXPLOIT ME LIKE THAT?! I'M NO ONE'S MINION! THEY SHOULD LABOR FOR ME! NOT THE OTHER WAY AROUND! MAYBE IF I LEAVE NOW, WITH THEIR PRECIOUS RESOURCES THAT'LL TEACH THEM TO FINALLY RESPECT ME AND SEE ME AS THEIR TRUE LEADER!" They muttered under their so-called breath.

In aimless fury, the robot hadn't noticed how they strayed from the path back home, rather taking a turn toward an eerie and dangerous location.

The sky above darkened fast however, as ominous clouds started appearing on the horizon, making the surrounding area seem even more brooding.

They quickened their pace. With neither their optoelectronic nor illumination circuits installed, they were left with a limited area of sight, even with their superior vision very little could be seen in such forbidding gloom.

They passed by petrified vegetation and barren terrain, which they'd avoid by at least a mile If they were able to actually distinguish any of them properly. Now every copse of trees looked the same to them. Not like it hadn't before, but now especially...

Despite their past experiences, they felt somewhat indifferent about the possibility of rain, thanks to the rain hat and the umbrella they've got stashed inside their backpack, alongside the rainproofing provisions from the Culinarian. Just in case, such emergency items were a necessity for their hydrophobic frame. They gave them a sense of security, in a way. if not, they could always just light their torch and set some unfortunate tree on fire to dry themself off, hoping for little rust problems afterward.

Other than that though, they weren't stupid enough to use a torch during dusk, considering they had only one on their person. Because of course, the area they surveyed, happened to be lacking in many useful resources. Just their luck.

Besides, they weren't the usual " errand boy " chosen to gather twigs and grass anyway. That role fell to the smaller fleshlings if they recalled.

Those little pests always had it easy. WX-78 hated it. Why should these vermin do so little work yet get rewarded with far greater benefits than them? Just because they're smaller and weaker than everyone else? Even their screwups were basically awarded compared to the rest of them!

Yet another reason to hate that species.

Nevertheless, they wouldn't waste their light source until they were sure the night was vastly approaching.