Chapter Text
TW; Depictions of Violence!
Recording internal note/s;
Crawling is an inefficient way of travel.
Unfinishedprotoypemodel_5 had been steadily on the move for hours now, specifically 5.6 hours to be exact.
5.6 hours far too many, its processors informed.
It had been long enough for night to lighten into dawn, and then for dawn to begin brighting into day. And yet, the machine had still not managed to make it through the woods, which were much vaster than its original calculations determined.
Every turn it took, every little dip and valley it crossed, only led to more and more forest, something that seemed never ending the longer it was trapped in them.
Rerouting map…
Rerouting map..
Error; process unattainable at current location.
All of this combined with no way of being able to figure out where it was going, for you could not map a forest-(it didn't have streets or building addresses)-and left the animatronic to wander aimlessly around.
Glancing behind its shoulder, it observed its unresponsive legs from behind, trailing limply across the ground like a soggy burlap sack.
According to its internal data, the model had concluded that its problems mostly stemmed from its useless lower limbs, and that its traveling speed would be much faster if even they had just one working leg.
Because just the one would be saving an approximate 3.2 hours of travel and would prevent the further denting to their lower torso, something that could have been extremely useful in the long run.
But, that wasn't the case. Neither of them were currently available, not a shred of was power left, wires sticking out haphazardly from cracks in its casing.
So, the machine just kept on crawling along, simply making note of the damage they sustained.
Continuing for who knows how long, without falter, despite the disrepair.
In fact, it wouldn’t stop moving for a second, dragging itself at an impressive pace that a human would consider “desperate”, or “frantic” in any other creature.
However, Unfinishedprotoypemodel_5 was not a creature. It wasn't even alive. It couldn't expel oxygen, much less feel an emotion. Therefore the animatronic was unable to be “desperate.” It was just simply going at the most optimal pace.
To the best of its ability anyways.
Time began to trickle past as seconds turned into minutes, and soon it was midday, and the bright, burning ball of gas that was the sun was high in the sky.
Harsh sunlight pelted down on top of the machine's exposed exterior, reflecting off of the bare metal like a clear pool of water. Excessive heat started to collect in its joints, straining the already fragile fibers, but it still kept going.
Animals moved sleepily in the warmth of the afternoon, some running away from the machine, others indifferent. A few curious ones paused in their activities to watch the foreigner that was trespassing amongst their forest.
Millions of tiny eyes on the model at all times, watching as it kept chugging and chugging.
Fearful at what it could do.
Unfinishedprotoypemodel_5 didn't pay attention to them though, as stopping, confronting, or investigating went entirely against its current mission.
Instead, it just took in the area around it, documenting what it could for possible use later. Perhaps an exit could be found this way.
Processing environmental stimuli……
Processing…..
Processing…
Processing.
Process complete.
“Unknown Bird Song”, “Fighting Squirrels”, “Pregnant Skunk”, and “Woodrat” have been recorded into visual storage.
Several new sounds, such as: “Angry Squirrel”, “Angry Skunk”, and “Angry Woodrat” have been added to dictionary/audio database.
Various local tree species have been identified; “Silver Birch”, “Sugar Maple”, “Oak”, “Cottonwood”, and “Spindle Ash.”
Snapshot taken at 3:12 pm; “Unknown Plant.”
Snapshot taken at 3:15 pm; “Unknown Weed”
Snapshot taken at 3:18 pm; “Unknown Dead Animal.”
Warning; Excessive consumption of stimuli can lead to overheating, damage to the CPU, and lack of memory and/or storage space.
Current memory space; 91.237%
Do you wish to proceed?
Y/N?
/N.
There was so much rich complexity to this place, it teemed with life and death, overflowing with sights, smells, and textures, yet there was still no exit in sight.
Just a neverending labyrinth of trees.
The insistent tugging to fulfill its task poured throughout its wiring, guiding Unfinishedprotoypemodel_5 as if it were a lifeline.
The feeling pulled and pulled and pulled, electric energy sparking throughout its system.
“FIND AND FOLLOW”
“FIND AND FOLLOW”
It needed to find a way out of here, it needed to keep taking in information. It needed to search everything and everywhere and everyone. That was what it was programmed to do; to be given tasks and to complete them.
But the animatronic couldn't do any of that. If it kept trying to constantly take in stimuli, it would overheat, or its memory would corrupt.
There was a high chance that its body would collapse and shut down if it went on doing that.
And that couldn't happen. The tech crew wasn't anywhere near where it was, and even if it managed to send out a “flare signal”, there was a very low chance that a technician would be able to find it in time.
Yet, it couldn't find an end to the forest anywhere, in fact, it seemed to get longer the more time the robot spent in its clutches.
Error; Logical Fallacy.
Task Confliction.
Error; Rumination Loop
Error; Rumination Loop
A soft, subtle humming sound from its CPU began to fill the quiet air as the animatronic struggled not to overheat.
Its processors once again stalled as it tried to sort the tangled mess of error messages filling its vision. It can't overheat, not here, not now.
It couldn't stop moving forward either. It's coding demanded it so. Halting progress wasn't an option, the machine had to fulfill its task, doing anything else would break all sense of its internal rules and logic.
Current Task; FIND AND FOLLOW.
Current Task; FIND AND FOLLOW.
Current Task; FIND AND FOLLOW.
Current Task; FIND AND FOLLOW.
Despite everything, the day still went on, sun lazily stretching across the sky, even as Unfinishedprotoypemodel_5 suffered below.
Animals came and went, eventually growing bored of the strange new critter, and refocused all their energy into preparing for the upcoming night.
Soon, the sun began to dip below the earth, bathing the forest into a gentle, reddish gold, a telltale sign that the dark was soon to arrive.
The eerie howls of predators was a pretty big hint too.
By the time the moon had begun to rise from slumber, and thousands of glittery stars twinkled in the night sky, the model still had not managed to find a way out.
Instead, in the time between when its CPU started breaking and when the light had faded away, it had gotten stuck in three thorn bushes, been sprayed on by a skunk, and got completely turned around at least twice.
It seemed to be more lost than ever now, with the new shadow of the once colorful, warm woods messing up its sight, not even its shaky night vision was able to cut through.
Poor sight meant poor performance, and poor performance meant task delay.
And it had already been delayed enough.
Its CPU fizzled every so often, causing its “thoughts” to lag for a moment, or freeze their body entirely, further preventing the animatronic from getting any farther.
Warning; Prolonged Travel may cause shutdown or poor execution of task direction. Continuing on will bring on irreversible damage.
Finally, after avoiding it for as long as physically possible, the animatronic gave in, coming to a standstill. It couldn't keep going like this, something had to change.
Otherwise, that message would only be the beginning to a whole slew of problems.
Task Error; Actively harming model. Needs revision.
Searching through user guide for solution.
Guide found!
Searching through section; “_task error fixes”_;
Searching……
Searching…..
Searching…
Solution discovered!
Current model is undergoing “Persistent/stubborn AI” glitch, a bug which causes an animatronic, (especially ones with unfinished programming), to continually try to complete a command or prompt despite it causing damage to them in some way.
Tech and/or model if applicable need to execute the following in order for best results:
Input /“task pause”, find a safe area or container, and initiate temporary full body paralysis. Use this time to sweep through systems for potential other issues, and edit current task into something safer.
Satisfied, the machine reared its head up with a loud popping sound, eyes bouncing in their metal sockets from the impact, and surveyed its surroundings, attempting to spot anywhere it could shelter.
There was a big, mossy rock (wouldn't cover them fully), a prickle bush (too small and would cause even more damage), and just barely out of their line of sight, tucked away into the distance-
-a cave.
At least, that's what it looked like in the darkness. It could have been a hole or some kind of animal den for all the robot knew. The screwy night vision made it hard to tell.
Nonetheless, it was at least better than any of the other options around.
Slowly, arms joints squealing as the worn out hydraulics threatened to give, Unfinishedprotoypemodel_5 began to head towards the shadowy grotto.
Which was easier said than done, as the intense travel of before seemed to have put its whole upper half under immense strain and pressure, fatiguing it.
A labored, agonizing part crawl-part drag was the only speed its body would allow, and it took much, much longer than it should have to cross the small distance.
Soft “pain” itched throughout their system, crackling and snapping like a thousand tiny legs were kicking it's insides, or how a wildfire ravaged a field, engulfing everything in its path.
If this didn't work, if it didn't soothe the stinging and aches, then nothing else would.
Soon, even though it had felt like eternity, the machine had reached the cave and now stood in front of the deep, yawning mouth of the cavern.
With no hesitation, Unfinishedprotoypemodel_5 slithered into gloom, shadow submerging it wholly, a pit swallowing the robot into its depths.
Inside, it was dark, far too dark. Darker than anywhere it had been before, including the underground. The blackness was so suffocating and so consuming, that the animatronic’s eyes couldn't even see a bare outline of what was around it.
The only light coming from the faintest glow of their pupils, much like it was in the box, and the grandiose entrance of this hole. Which, even with those two factors, wasn't all that much.
Undeterred, the robot tried to scan the area.
Scanning area…
Compiling environmental map…
Compiling….
Compiling…
Process error.
/Input question -“Why”
Answer - “Low light area. Processors unable to obtain visual data.”
A brief twitch ran through its artificial veins.
It didn't actually need to know what was around in order to get this done anyways, not really.
It didn't.
Hauling itself to tuck into a corner, the machine reached its arm forward, attempting to latch on to the rocky floor-
-and grabbed a hold of something hairy instead.
Something alive.
The thing twisted and writhed under its grip, a vicious, low growling echoing off the stoney walls. Suddenly, it wrenched out of the animatronic's hand, causing them to jolt forward, and two bright, feral yellowed eyes gleamed in the shadows, violent anger spinning in its gaze.
And then another pair joined it.
And another.
And another.
And another.
Row upon rows of glares taunted Unfinishedprotoypemodel_5, trapping it within a tight circle of unseen predators.
Tension clouded the air, thick and sharp, like a storm cloud about to stroke.
The first set of eyes stepped closer and closer, stained teeth bared as lips pulled back in a deadly snarl, and then the beast was close enough to be properly identified
Now, it was abundantly obvious just how much danger the bot was in.
Wolves.
The eyes were wolves.
WARNING; Model is in extreme danger and could risk damage to itself or those around it.
“Defense-Mode” is advised as the next course of action.
Chances of escape; 72.566%
The machine blinked, attempting to digest all given information. These were low odds for escape, and though fighting might have been an option, it was against its programming to harm an animal, feral or not.
It should run.
But, in some strange way, there was something familiar about wolves that stirred its memory banks, a recollection of a name that was buried deep down.
It tipped its head, the name slipping out automatically.
“Ro-x-X-x-AnNe-e?”
This simple word pushed the wolf pack into a full on aggression, taking it as a challenge or threat, and they surrounded their new enemy even closer, gnashing their teeth and lunging at it, only a flash of white as a warning.
Instantly, they were on top of the animatronic, clawing and trying to lock their jaws on whatever they could clamp down on.
However, it avoided their attacks, wriggling away and weaving its way through the pile until it slid out the other side, and took off as fast as its limbs would allow, task temporarily forgotten.
It hared through the trees as hard as it could, ducking around trees and zipping around dips just to avoid being seen. Grass was torn out from underneath it as it forced itself to move quicker, like a wolf were to burst out and catch it at any second.
And for a moment, it seemed as if it had evaded the wild creatures.
But it was too good to be true, and soon the loud pounding of dozens of paws galloping across the forest floor could be heard.
The pack was hunting it.
They howled and bayed as they scored in on their prey, tounges lolling in anticipation. Spread out in a jagged line, the wolves moved as a unit, as if they were a singular entity.
The machine pumped its arms even more, it had to get farther, only basic protocols taking reign. It needed to get to safety, it needed to get to tech, it needed to complete its command.
Yet, somehow, one of the canines managed to get a hold on its leg.
Teeth crunches through the shallow, thin part of its shell.
And then it was all over.
The pack descended down on it, enveloping their fresh-caught kill in a flurry of fangs and fur. Tails lashed in self-justified rage at the home invader, now at their mercy, murder clear in their intent.
Scraps of wafey strips of metal fell to the floor below, a thick, oily scent filled the sky as the hydraulic tanks were punctured by the attackers maws, vital liquid leaking down its sides.
The animatronic thrashed and jerked as the onslaught continued, the horrible beasts scratching and mauling anything they deemed necessary.
Finger stubs ripped off, the pieces thrown into the grass to never be seen again. Hair yanked out, the brown locks floating like feathers, ethereal. Joints chewed, endo pieces grinding against teeth in a horrific sympathy of sound, unpleasant and overbearing.
Squealing and chomping and gnawing and clanging.
A gaping hole carved into half of its face as they continued to yank yank yank yank-
Until it was spat out, the threads of casing still stubbornly clingy to bits of a wolf’s fur even as it was cast away.
WARNING
WARNING
SYSTEM ERROR
EXTREME DAMAGE SUSTAINED
SURVIVABILITY RATE; 19.501%
ERROR
ER ROR
ErR
Eventually, when the robot stopped struggling, and its last defiant twitches ceased, the wolves backed off, believing that they had slayed the intruder.
After all, it didn't smell living to them anymore.
(Even if it had never smelled that way in the first place.)
Proud that they successfully defended their territory, their leader let out a commanding howl, and ushered his family onwards back to the cave, abandoning the corpse of their enemy.
The clearing emptied.
But Unfinishedprotoypemodel_5 wasn't dead.
It couldn't die.
Though its CPU could burn out.
And that was what it was trying to prevent itself from doing, pupils flickering on and off as their bulbs threatened to dim. Not even bothering to register all the damage, for it was essential to try and conserve that power for movement.
It couldn't lie still either, not for one second.
Shakily, it attempted to push itself back up onto its hands and torso. It had a mission to fulfill.
And found that it just couldn't.
No matter how hard it tried to force its limbs to move, they just wouldn't, lying limb in the beaten soil.
Not a single quiver, nothing.
It was going to shut down.
But it couldn't shut down, it still has to carry out its task, it still had to be summoned home.
Current Task; FIND AND FOLLOW
There tech could repair it, and it would return back to true working order, no more dents or missing pieces, and somehow, it will finally be complete, whole, it will have attained its purpose.
SYSTEM ERROR
CURRENT TASK; ERROR
ERROR
CPU RUNNING AT MAXIMUM
RAM OVERHEATING
eRrOR
ER R
eRR O r
R
GET UP.
The machine’s coding stuttered for a second, the strong words cutting through the rest of the clutter.
A prompt?
A command?
GET UP
GET UP
A statement that would normally be so easy, yet was impossible for it to achieve now.
Though, there was a trickle of energy at the idea.
GET UP
GET UP
GET UP
The strange line of code kept demanding, repeating itself over and over, like an endless feedback loop.
But, something seemed to be changing inside of the robot with each rehash.
It felt... strange.
GET UP
GET UP
GET UP
GET UP
Energy, unexplainable, sturdy energy flowed again throughout its endoskeleton, helping the animatronic to lift its body up, and balance with its hands, and inexplicably, allowed it to stand.
Somehow, despite everything it had previously knew, it's legs didn't buckle out from beneath it as the robot righted itself. They even felt strong, like their bolts had been freshly tightened.
For the first time since it had reactivated, the animatronic stood on its own two feet, despite the previous damage, and the lack of control it had over them earlier.
It hovered there, vibrating intensely, and didn't collapse.
By some miracle, it was still standing, still active.
There was no logic to any of this, nothing was making sense.
Error; Logical Fallacy.
Error.
Error.
Err-....
It stopped itself.
Having another error, so close after just narrowly avoiding total system shut down, would cause something even worse to happen, a soft lock.
And the only way to ward that off was to…not process it. Don't absorb the information, don't “think” about it. Because if it kept trying to understand what had just happened, then it would go on and on until its CPU gave out.
A rumination loop.
It wouldn't let that happen, not again.
So, there was only one option to make sure that this would work.
Execute -/adapt_modding.
Prompt received, what would you like to add?
When _logicalfallacycoding.error = true, informationblock_firewall = true. /Cancel Logical override.
Warning; This addon could possibly permanently change the way Unfinishedprototypemodel_5 behaves, which may cause unforeseen glitches or bugs to occur.
Do you wish to continue?
Y/N?
/Y.
Process confirmed.
Modifying….
Modifying….
Modifying.
Modification complete!
While the machine wrapped up, the gentle longing feeling, the tugging, began to drum anew.
The homing beacon.
A small conclusion fostered in the data banks. Deciding that with this increase of the call, and the sudden surge of power that had come right before, that whoever was taking it to them, had remotely sent some reserve energy through the Divil-Network.
It's memory recalled that happening once before.
The sensation tried to steer it in a specific direction, one it's torso faced away from, twisting and wreathing inside like it was trying to rush out there itself.
The bot blinked at itself, taken aback at the almost human anthropomorphizing that it has just used.
Odd.
Ignoring it, and turning towards where it was trying to lead to, the animatronic saw it.
The edge of the treeline.
------------------------------------------------
Roxanne woke up screaming.
The wolf screamed so loud that she woke up the whole Pizzaplex, and every available animatronic in the area came rushing in, fearful of what they might find.
A burglar?
A fire?
Yet, there was nothing of danger anywhere, just their shivering friend on stage.
They crowded around her, concerned, asking her what was wrong.
But she was barely able to answer, blubbering on about monsters and woods and oh the pain and agony!
She whispers that she could feel every dent, every bite, and piece they stole from her body. Terrifying creatures twice her size with even bigger fangs and claws.
The others shared a glance, something unreadable passing between their gazes, before looking back to reassure Roxanne that it was just a dream, a nightmare.
Huddling closer, they wrapped her in the tightest hug they could, some petting her hair, others cooing sweet nothings.
Just a nightmare.