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

The Tour

Later in the day after lunch, we exited the bungalow to be met with sun and mostly clear skies. Some of the snow on the ground was melting away since it was considerably warmer now. Now, this felt pleasant...a stark contrast to what I was subjected to the night before. I decided to leave my PDA behind to download Roz 6262's translation file to later transfer when the day ends. I might as well leave all my tech behind for now and embrace my "wild side" for a bit, eh?

The feral fox was leading me somewhere...where...I wasn't quite sure yet. Unbeknownst to me, he was taking me on a tour of the island. Fink had taken the role of leader ever since Roz left and Brightbill was on migration: he was doing his daily checkup on all the animals...predator and prey alike.

The first creature he visited was the aging Beaver known as Paddler.

"How's it going, old timer? Works dried up since Roz left, huh?"

The older animal across the fox scoffed while resting on a bed of dry leaves. He looked at him with one eye open and said as a jab back, "as a matter of fact, yes...consider me retired!"

Soon, however, he focused his attention on me...the sole human on the island, and they gave a slightly worried look, "does he bite?"

Fink simply shrugged his front arms, "with those small cuspids, I doubt it very much."

Again, I could only hear yips and chittering between the two intelligent parties, but I somehow tried to inject myself into the conversation. I crouched forward...leaning in between the two creatures, "so...whatcha talking about, my fellow mammals?"

In retaliation from my quick move...Paddler smacked me with his tail in the face before I fell on my back. Fink cringed at the sight, wincing sharply.

Moving on, the fox took me deeper into the forest. I just tried to forget what had just happened, simply rubbing my face to soothe the dull pain. I had no idea getting hit by a beaver could be so painful!

Anyway, we run into a family of opossums. It turns out it's the same one from inside the bungalow the night before. The single parent of the family, Pinktail, stopped in her tracks. Her children were well rested on her back...almost a dozen of them.

"Hey scouts...I hope you aren't causing too much mischief around mom" Fink said with a mischievous look...almost as if he wasn't being truthful in his words...as if he WANTED to see them cause problems for his entertainment.

"You're one to talk, Uncle Fink!" one of the young opossums stated.

"Yeah! You almost burned the squirrels' food supply last week!"

Fink immediately moved in to close their mouths with his paw, "buuuutt, I didn't! So...let's not repeat that for Uncle Fink's sake, okay?" He begged, fearing that the squirrels might be listening in. He then looked toward Pinktail who was slowly losing patience with him.

Suddenly, their attention is drawn toward one of the kids who screams upon seeing me move closer to watch everything unfold, "monster!" Next thing we know, the kids panicked before playing dead in synch. The mother put her paws on her hips and sighed softly, "now kids, what did I say with behaving around guests who visit the island?"

They all got up and stepped forward, putting their paws behind them in shame, "sorry..." all had said in unison. I stared at them, giggling at the scene...entertained by the pantomime.

Suddenly, one young opossum that had slipped away ended up on my shoulder...startling me a bit, "if they're not a monster, what are they?"

"I'm...not quite sure. We've seen them in those fancy portals in Roz's den" Pinktail offered her case, "unlike Roz, they live and breathe like we do."

"So...they're some kind of mutant animal?" One kid asked innocently.

"Let's just keep shorten it to 'animal', kids" the mother retorted.

"In any case, I'm just taking them along for the ride, I guess" Fink chimed in...circling around them.

"I think that'll be good for you, Fink..." something in her words suggested to the fox that he was doing this simply because he's been lonely since both Roz and Brightbill left. Still, he shook that off and soon ushered me to follow before I silently waved the family goodbye.

...

I tried all I could to chat with the wild fox, but it was a one-sided conversation. Fink just rolled his eyes; we might as well be talking to a wall separating us. Either way, he continued showing his island and it was quite uneventful for me.

Every interaction seemed to end with me getting a negative response from the inhabitants (intentional or not.) I got scratched, bit, trampled, pecked...and among other things. It got so bad that when Fink took me to check on Thorn's bear cave...he looked at my bruised, scrawny, form and said with an anxious tone, "let's not..."

At a certain point, we were passing by a cliff where I could try and get a signal! I have to come by later with my PDA to try!

Eventually, we decided to stop by a small pond to recuperate. The sun was beginning to come down, so you could see some of its light hitting the top of the boreal trees above.

I washed my face and decided to do something I've been meaning to try all day.

Fink drank the water before lifting his head to catch me doing something in the dirt across from him. He raised an eyebrow and slowly went in to investigate. He sniffed the ground just where I had pulled my hand away from and examined the strange markings I had made on the soil.

It was a word in bold text: my name.

TERRY

I half-expected the vulpine to understand, but he simply wiped the name away with a paw out of curiosity...not realizing what he had just done. He pulled away as if regretful by his decision, but I simply laughed playfully in response, "I love that curiosity!" The fox looked at me like I was crazy or something...not sure how to react to everything happening.

I put a hand against my chin and sighed shortly afterward, "I wish I knew your name. I guess it won't be long until I know...unless animals don't carry names around like we do...in that case it makes perfect sense. I guess I'll hold off on naming you for now."

That's when a thought crossed me: the download should be done by now! I didn't even need to "ask" the fox knew it was getting late and cold, and he knew I was ready to leave. So, we both made our way back to the dome structure.

Once we're inside, we unwind. Gosh, even though I'm used to trails and simulations back in Mega City 7, my legs are SCREAMING right now!

As Fink stretched his legs and kept an eye on me, I took off my boots and smiled to him innocently, "thanks for the hospitality."

The red vulpine simply rolled his head to the side as I finally grabbed the PDA. I have everything I need on the gadget, "I have your friend, Roz, to thank for this valuable information" I brandished it to him as the fox lightly sniffed the object.

After an awkward silence, I nodded to myself...looking at them straight in their greenish-yellow eyes, "here goes nothing, Terry" I said to myself.

I began the transferring process. All of Roz's information on animal language would now be uploaded to my brain link device on the side of my head. It started blinking brightly as Fink widened his eyes...he knew something was happening but wasn't sure what!

I slapped my hands against my sides and blew air nervously, "it'll take some time...it might not even work. But...I'm excited to see what happens for the sake of science and discovery!" I blurted out.

And so, that night, I slept and allowed myself to subconsciously obtain all the words and phrases that every single animal on the island mutters to communicate with one another. It may take a few days...in fact, I'm certain it will. Yet, I had to remain optimistic. If it was done before, by no less a robot who became sentient, then it can be replicated.

I've got to remain hopeful; my survival may depend on it.