The Wild

The journey went smoothly for most of the day. I stared out of the cockpit, while Emelyse continued to write down something (her thoughts, probably - or a review of Terran culture?) on a tiny device, in a language I couldn't decipher. But in my thoughts, I was far away from this pod and place.

Why was I even feeling so angry? The morning could have been good - beautiful, even. But now that a few hours had passed by, I felt disconnected to the memory in my head, as if I had watched the sunrise through a holo instead of actually experiencing it. Instead, I could only recall my angry steps and how my fingers shook as I steered Lottie back onto the power line. That's what made me the most annoyed, probably.

"Hey, Toma! Are you still there?" Lottie's hologram appeared before me, and waved a fin at me.

"Yup." I let out a sigh, and blinked. "Still here."

"You seem not satisfied with our journey," Lottie continued. "Is there anything I can do to help?"

"Can you teleport?"

"That is not one of my functions."

"Then, no."

I sighed. The AI was probably meaning well. Maybe I was just an angry child, unsatisfied with her current situation. But it was difficult to break out of this habit. My head rolled to the side, and I watched the trees drift by. There were so many of them. The forest around us stretched almost endlessly, and I couldn't see where it started or ended. We were surrounded by a deep, dark ocean of green. It was different from the small little patches of green around the towns I had visited, or the parks inside said towns. This was different, and here, nature didn't seem to care about this little pod and its inhabitants, as alien as we might be.

It was the first time today that I cracked a smile. So weird. Why was I worried about everything? Suddenly, I felt small, smaller than even the little repair bots recharging under the makeshift bed. My vision blurred in waves of green. It was all so strange. This was a new experience, sure. But was it really worth it?

I didn't like feeling this small. And I didn't like being in this cramped pod, either.

"Caution: road is blocked."

With Lottie's cheery voice in my ears, I got pushed forward as the pod came to a sudden halt.

"A-are you alright?" I turned around to see Emelyse.

She was still perfectly composed on her seat, as if she had either expected the turbulence, or was adjusted to such things.

"I'm fine. What is going on?"

She closed her device, and came over to me. I was wondering the same thing.

"Lottie, Status report, please."

"A group of wild boars are in front of us," Lottie answered.

"Can we do something about them?"

"I'm sorry, but I don't have any functions to communicate with animals."

"How about scaring them away?"

Not that I wanted to scare a herd of wild animals. But having an unexpected stop was, well, unexpected. And pretty annoying, as well.

"We can't do that," Emelyse answered instead. "I want to study them more!"

I rolled my eyes. And since Lottie hadn't talked about a function like that, it probably didn't work, either.

"So, how long will we have to wait here?"

"Until the power line is free. Approximate departure in... 30 minutes to two hours."

"That long?!"

I groaned. Great. Here I was, almost ready to enjoy this trip, and now these animals decided to come up to the power line and mess it all up.

"Well, then, show us them at least," I grumbled.

"Sure thing! Here they are."

With that, the cockpit screen flickered, and we could watch the wild pigs in all their glory. They were bigger than I would have expected, with a few smaller ones frolicking around. I watched the biggest one with its snout deep in the mud, the end of it twitching and twisting around. I was in awe. I had never before seen something like this - no, that was not quite right.

"So that's where the Snoover comes from!"

Just to confirm, I hastily went over to the kitchen, where my pocket Snoover resided, comfortably tucked away in the corner.

"Wake up, buddy," I mumbled, and waved my hand in front of it.

The robot woke up, it's LED eyes blinking, before it was fully booted up.

"Cleaning time?"

"Yup," I smiled, and took a step back.

Now I could compare. I watched as my little buddy went over the dusty floor, sucking up the gathered dust, dirt and everything in between with its nozzle. I glanced back outside. Just like Snoover, the boar used its snout to get in every nook and cranny. I watched as it devoured roots, leaves and the occasional mushroom, just like Snoover devoured the dust. Unlike Snoover, it had a cute little tail that it wagged around to ward off flies. I couldn't help but let out a little laugh.

"You're amused," Emelyse noticed.

"It's just... I never really thought about the design process behind these bots," I said. "I wonder... what else is out there?"

I turned around. While I could still hear the soft whirr of Snoover cleaning the pod, I was bewitched by the boars right outside. It was strange. Sure, there was still a panel between us, but it felt different from watching animal documentaries or experiencing them in holo. This was... precious in a way that was hard to describe. Like watching the sunrise, it caught my breath in my chest in a way that wasn't painful, not uncomfortable, but definitely different from what I usually experienced.

I couldn't tell where exactly on Lottie's prognosis the boars landed, but after what felt like both an eternity and mere minutes, the largest boar lifted its head and stomped its feet. Soon enough, the other pigs followed, with the small ones herded in the middle. A few of them bumped against Lottie, with enough weight that it actually shook us.

"Minor damage detected. Repair bots will be sent out."

"So, we will stay for another few minutes?"

But this time, there was no annoyance in me. Instead of that prickling, pulsating anger, I felt a little more at ease. I rolled my shoulders, and went back to the cockpit seat that was slowly, but surely growing on me. I cuddled into it, and watched as the little bots scurried all over Lottie, repairing the dents and scratches on the outside.

"Are you at ease now?" Emelyse asked.

I turned around. "I think so?"

She nodded, and put something down on her device. In turn, I watched her do so. Sometimes it felt like she watched me, just like I had watched the boars before. Just with that added note-taking.

"What are you even doing there?" I asked.

She looked up. "Studying terran behavior, of course."

I grimaced. "I don't think I really like how you're saying that."

"I apologize." She tilted her head. "How would you like me to phrase it?"

"Uh, I don't know. Maybe just don't do it?"

"..."

I leaned back. "Or at least, try to be a little more secretive about it. It's weird."

"I understand."

I wasn't sure if she really understood, but at this point, it didn't bother me too much. I simply returned to watching the bots do their work, and once they were done, they walked back in a neat line and into the warm interior of the pod. Snoover continued to clean around my seat.

"All damage fixed. We're ready to resume our fun travels," Lottie exclaimed.

"Great."

I pressed 'confirm', and watched as the trees blurred once more. This time, it felt more familiar.