[Exemplary] Family of Steel - Carved from the Blighted Oak

[Proto Man]

It took him a little longer than he appreciated, but Proto Man managed to make it to the next data puck as the sun was beginning to dip beneath the canopy. Like the others, Wood Man had tucked it away inside a hollowed section of a tree trunk. Unlike the last puck, this one didn’t come with an ambush and a slew of company. Once he’d accessed the data, the preteen android dropped down to his haunches, set down the puck, and watched as the holographic video diary started to play.

“I saw Yggdrasil today...it was amazing! These night elves live inside a tree some impossibly massive that I couldn’t see any of the branches even from the top of the forest canopy. The part I saw was so unbelievably large that I think you could fit Brooklyn inside and still have plenty of wiggle room. Did the night elves create this place or did they just happen to be the first ones to stake a claim to it? I need to know more about this place… I’m going to try and plant some bugs to see if I can’t record some videos or audio. The researcher and environmentalist in me won’t have it any other way.”

The feed vanished for a moment, and an indicator on Proto Man’s screen told him that the second recording, made four days after the first, would play after a short delay.

“It’s been a few days, and I can safely say that these night elves have mastered the art of living harmoniously with nature. They seem to live in perfect balance with the environment, because I’ve yet to see any sort of waste or by-products from their city. Furthermore, they have a very different gender binary than humans. From what I’ve either observed personally or through my bugs, the females and males seem to live apart from one another, at least at the upper parts of the hierarchy.

“The woman are either priestesses or warriors. I overheard the term ‘sentinel’ thrown around a lot, so I imagine that’s either a rank or what they are referred to collectively. The majority of men, on the other hand, are referred to as ‘druids’ and seem to have some sort of magical connection to nature. I witnessed a group of druids travel several hours outside of Yggdrasil before they stopped in a small clearing bordered by ancient trees. I got to watch them perform a ritual that actually brought the trees to life… well, I guess they were always alive, but these trees were sentient. They conversed with the night elves as if they had known each other for lifetimes.

“Unfortunately, what I overheard did not have happy connotations. The trees were expressing a concern for something called a ‘Blight.’ From their tone and somber expressions, I imagine that they are not just talking about some sort of disease, but I can’t be certain. Despite the ancient trees’ visible apprehension, the druids were not sullen. In fact, they seemed somewhat excited. They spoke about a new operation they were launching to investigate means to curtail the spread of the blight. From what it sounds like, they are going to send scouting parties to probe into regions of the forest affected by this disease.

“I’m sure it’s not my place, but I’m going to make my best effort to trail one of those scouting parties. I may not be strong or capable of slaying monsters, but I have several decades’ worth of botanical research crammed inside my head. I should at least investigate this and see if I can’t help out.

That seems like the moral course of action... “ Wood Man paused to let out a soft chuckle. “Morality...how very human of me.”

With that, the video diary concluded and the projection of the Robot Master fizzled out. Proto Man opened up a window with a list of the puck’s contents and saw that it was crammed full of information on the night elves’ unique society here in the Tangled Green. From the look of the file names, Wood Man had managed to learn a lot, and there was half a dozen documents filled with his personal observations. Proto Man filled those away in a spot where he could easily access them. Once he had the whole story, he’d go through Wood Man’s data, but right now, he just wanted to track down the next puck. From the sound of things, the next diary entry would involve the woodland Robot Master’s first meeting with the Blight, and if that first note was any indication, things had gone downhill from there.