the garden within the wasteland

Act 1, part 3

A great engineer who lived in endless imprisonment didn't beg for his freedom, nor did he fight for it. He created it—created it out of steel and hatred. Now it reigns, severing old Lord Death.

As the sun became the overseer of this land, outshining the Enkidu in its endless glare, beating down on the village as it ruled over the sky, the Brush and Ereo wandered the streets of the settlement in search of something to do. They burned through the time the deer god had told them to simply rest, but they couldn't remain still.

"You ever had the fish here? It's to die for," Ereo spoke, filling in the ambiance—the ambiance of countless steps, the chattering of the local shopkeepers and customers. The path they walked was a long, narrow street, lined from left to right with endless stores, houses, and all forms of amenities. This was the largest settlement other than the Kingdom of Azrthyua, yet both remained smaller in population than...

"Not really the fish type."

"Then what do you prefer?"

The brush stopped in its path, staring down at Ereo with its featureless face, waiting for him to reach the answer to that question naturally.

After a moment, Ereo stopped in his path and stared back at the brush, puzzled, before an audible "Oh," filled with disappointment, escaped his mouth as they continued to walk.

"How did you even reach this point? Pretty sure you're the only machine with free will."

"I can say the same, Metal Boy."

"You're just going to ignore every question I give you?"

"I just—I just don't know shit. I was literally born yesterday." The brush's voice was shaken, uncomfortable, and worried.

"You seem to have something going on in your mind? Or CPU?" Ereo responded, his tone remaining constant and calm throughout the entire conversation.

"What did we free back there?"

"We did what we had to do to survive."

"And what if it comes back? More malicious? IT CONTROLLED THE SNAKE LIKE A DOG!"

The sudden outburst caused all ambiance to come to a sudden stop. All eyes glared at them, like a thousand piercing gazes staring down at the brush, pondering what that sentence could even mean, attempting to fill in the context from their own common sense.

Ereo began to walk again, the Brush unbothered by the never-dying attention surrounding them, awaiting any further context. They finally reached a tiny park, no bigger than a house, mostly filled with children and their overseeing parents. There was a grand stone floor that covered the entire area where grass was meant to be. Despite the children, the area was quite comforting to an extent, bringing feelings of old nostalgia—the brush wasn't supposed to have—a feeling quickly burned as the parents rushed their kids to stay back and leave upon seeing the brush.

Ereo paused as he watched over it, in a slight haze, his mask failing to hide his piercing gaze into the distance, yet it concealed what the gaze was directed toward. He quickly committed to his path once again.

"If the trapped one comes back, we can handle it," Ereo replied, ever so late to the Brush's concerns.

"We can't," the brush replied, its voice soft and controlled.

"YET, isn't that why we're heading to the Enkidu?" The brush continued, its voice booming yet again.

"I doubt the Enkidu can offer much in strength; maybe experience?"

"You don't seem that excited or terrified about this fight—the fight against that overgrown machine."

"I do what the deer God commands of me. It's simple, really."

"Doesn't seem like much of a motivation to me," the brush responded, snarky.

"You are heading to the Enkidu based on the impulse of wanting to get strong."

For the next few moments, both of them committed to silence.