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

[Proto Man]

There was no doubt in the robot’s mind that the Blight was something that needed to be destroyed. Based on Wood Man’s collection of ‘Blight data’ alone, anyone with a shred of common sense or logic would be see that this disease could easily destroy everything in its path. Through several gigabytes of data, the woodland Robot Master had cataloged all of his initial observations, including tissue analysis and images of afflicted animals and trees. On top of that, there were dozens of videos of infected elves, plants, and other animals. Whatever the Blight was, it turned anything it touched into a warped, nightmarish version of itself. Wood Man had images of monsters that had once been elves, possibly the same ones he’d been attacked by.

When he reached the last files, Proto Man was left with one lingering question: What had happened to Wood Man?

With the images of the Blight’s victims still fresh in his head, the Robot Master started toward the next data puck. He knew from the information that he wasn’t quite in the Blight-affected area of the Tangled Green. This area was simply dead, which was only a slight improvement above ‘fatally tainted.’ Based on the coordinates from the puck, Proto Man would find the next piece of the story inside the tainted part of the Green.

What else will I find?

The thought remained with Proto Man as he pushed through the dead jungle. Over his head, the skies were slowly starting to take on streaks of purple, and a glimpse at his clock indicated that he’d spent the better part of the night hours reviewing Wood Man’s documents. The notion that the sun would soon rise actually brought a smile to the android’s face. As irrational as it was for a robot to be unsettled by nighttime in a dead jungle, he knew that entering the blighted region during the day would be far more advantageous.

Feeling a little reassured that the sun would soon be with him, Proto Man marched on, oblivious to the fact that he was being trailed by two separate entities.