The Wild Robot | The Boy, the Fox, and the Wild

Roz 6262

The next thing I knew, I felt the sun shining down on me. Sunlight had managed to break through the interior of the dome. I lifted my head and rubbed my eyes, looking around. The hut was now unoccupied. Light smoke was rising from the blazing fire pit the night before. Where did everybody go?

Suddenly, a certain fox came into my field of vision...right in front of me as I yelped in surprise!

"Rise and shine, two legs! I got a BIG surprise for you!" The creature soon brandished several live clams that squirmed around in their paws.

I reeled in disgust, sticking my tongue out, "eww!"

"No? More for me then!" He laid on his back and soon devoured the helpless sea critters before licking his paws clean, "so, what are you exactly? You don't look the carnivore type." The fox asked in their native tongue. Of course, I couldn't understand a single word muttered and I just sat there in silence...unsure what to say or do.

He soon gave an annoyed face in response and growled softly to himself, "we gotta fix this language barrier somehow, two legs."

I soon stood up and took a good look around. Without it being so crowded, I can now see all the articles on the walls: decorations and whatnot. One that caught my eye almost immediately was a piece of wood that had a carving of several animals on it. But the interesting part was that they were being embraced by what appeared to be a Rozzum model!

This is all so strange...it's all rather puzzling.

Sure enough, I muttered a simple word that got the other inhabitant's attention, "Rozzum..." their ears rose and they smiled, "wait...so you DO know Roz?" The vulpine understood that one word. He soon rested his front paws on my pants before I turned around to face him...realizing his sudden interest in me again. In response, I moved away to get him off, "what's the deal?"

He soon climbed to be at the same level as the decommissioned Roz unit and pointed his nose at it and then towards me.

Body language...fascinating...he's trying to tell me something...something about the Rozzum, I thought.

"This robot took care of all of you, is that it?" I had asked...as if they would actually answer me like people would. Unbeknownst to me, this wasn't the Rozzum that ingratiated itself with the forest, but rather another short-lived look-alike.

I soon pulled out my PDA and scanned them, Universal Dynamics reported these robots as missing...

I investigated further just as "Fink" walked toward me...standing at eye level with the robot...sniffing me as I worked to solve this case. I found something on the side of the mechanical head as the fox moved closer, "what are you..."

Then, the port behind containing its circuitry opened and gave me full access. I took out a wire from my PDA and inserted it into the machine. On my screen, I managed to find a video file. Once I accessed it, the robot's only working eye displayed a projection against the wall for both of us to see. The fox was certainly startled but realized what was being shown on screen. He sat on his haunches and smiled softly, "ohh! You've got to teach me how to do that!"

"A recording" I muttered softly. The video was taken inside a cave...and from the point of view of this robot we could see it was looking at another Rozzum unit (Rozzum 6262...Rummage.)

Fink realized who it was...Roz!

The two machines were discussing Brightbill and how to accomplish the task of helping him fly; however, for me, I had no idea what was happening. Yet, I soon realized an important piece of information: the automaton walking back and forth in the cave did not behave like the others.

My eyes widened upon realizing...they're sentient!

How is this possible? All machines behave the same, NONE OF THEM are programmed with emotion or the ability to conceptualize...unless it suits human needs...how is this one able to?

The video ended when "Rummage" ran a diagnostic to see what was "wrong" with Roz, unintentionally sharing their databases.

The fox next to me had never seen such a video from Roz 6262, and he could only understand his dear friend and not the other robot. Yet, he knew she was talking about Brightbill and how she was quickly developing her personality.

"There's an entire library" I decided to quickly glance over most of them...using my PDA as a controller for the projections. Both the fox and I saw life through the eyes of Rozzum 7134 interacting with the inhabitants of this island...talking...TALKING WITH THEM!

Fink watched on...reliving the events that transpired months prior: helping Brightbill learn to fly, living side by side with his strange, adopted family...fighting off the monsters, and saying goodbye to both his family members...

"She saved everything for us..." he muttered to himself. Roz had made a back up memory file in case she ever DID lose her memory of the island forever...a smart move.

I just stood there, amazed by what was transpiring as I swiped through the files, "a wild robot..." I laughed a bit.

Again, Fink heard a similar phrase being said by the stepmother not too long ago. I did notice her ability to communicate with the animals. Is this why Universal Dynamics wanted her back so badly? Is this why they're no longer here? Imagine the data they could use to improve the neural pathways for future models...the possibilities are endless!

The next part blew my mind: the data was available to me. Yes, that's right...I could, in theory, download the language AI prompt that Roz 7134 had learned...for myself. Could this mean if I downloaded it to my BCI, my brain implant, that I could actually learn to communicate with this fox and the other animals of this forest? M-maybe they can help me get home...they seem to be more than willing to with all the hospitality they have provided to me. It's worth a shot...

It would have to wait, unfortunately, for I started getting hungry. I'd have to be cautious...there isn't much to eat or drink...it'll all probably last a week at best.

And so, I shut off the decommissioned Rozzum unit for now and sat down before the vulpine joined me.

Fink saw that I pulled out from my brown bag a square-shaped object to eat. It was coated in a metallic shine that I soon ripped open to reveal a brownish substance underneath. The fox felt disgusted, it certainly didn't look appealing to him.

Sure enough, I offered him some, but he growled lightly at me before I moved away, "fine! Keep eating those raw mollusks and I'll eat my refined protein ration!"

Soon, I opened my can of water to drink from it. Fink smelled what was inside and knew the scent more than anything: water! He licked his mouth...getting pretty thirsty just by seeing me drink.

I took notice and shrugged, pouring some water into a smaller cup I've taken out to offer them. Fink, instead, cunningly grabbed the bigger can of water from my hands...surprising me, "h-hey! No, that one's not for you, bad fox!"

Fink had already strutted away with the can in his mouth...victorious. He was smirking back at me...quite a mischievous little devil if I may say so...

I sighed shortly afterward, "fine...take it!"

This just gives me more resolve to learn their language now...

Kind of makes me think that I might be the first human to learn how to speak like these animals. This is not how I expected my weekend to go. This will be quite the story to tell to mom and dad if I manage to get off this island.