Tue, January 21, 2003

Gary showed me the room and the change of clothes and left me. He had said that he'd return in a few hours and a lot more would be made clear, which was good because at this point the only reason I wasn't bouncing off the walls and tearing out my hair was because everything was happening so fast.

Once Gary had gone, I capitalized on my continued shock and quickly showered and dressed in the clothes that had been left for me before I had a moment to question any of it. The freedom from the briny film that had coated me since the night before was absolutely liberating! I walked around the suite, and was surprised at how seemingly fitted to my size it was. So far, every creature that I had seen on this island had barely measured above my waist, so it was odd that the furniture and the room were both strikingly similar in scale to what I would have found at home. I looked out the windows in the living room and saw a pleasant meadow, lightly dusted with snow. Birds flitted across the sky high above the distant treetops. It had a bit of a calming influence, which was good because my mind was just beginning to realize that my tour guide was a smallish robot that seemed to operate with free will and that some clothes of mine that were at home with me in San Diego a few weeks ago had made their way to this unknown island ahead of me. Not to mention that trick with the waterfall. I turned from the window and dropped myself into the sofa in the living room.

For a few minutes, I tried to set my mind on one of these conundrums at a time, but it was impossible to focus at all. I noticed a television across the sitting area from me and found a remote to turn it on. I began flipping channels hoping to find something familiar or, failing that, informative. The first channel that I stopped on seemed to be some sort of newscast. There were images of smoldering forests and many robots lying in swampy marsh grasses. The voice narrating the scene was talking about attacks of some kind. The picture changed and now it seemed to be the familiar anchor-and-expert in the studio. The anchor, with the voice that had been narrating earlier, was asking the expert about the attacks.

"Can we be sure about what brought this on?"

"No," the expert answered. "At this point, details are sketchy. You'll recall that we had reports of similar activity from other villages on the island in recent weeks. We did our best to prepare, but we really had no indication what form the attacks would take, or when."

"But you have a theory? About where this all came from?" the anchor questioned.

"Well, yes. Accounts indicate that the attacks in the first village began on the same day as that power surge that we experienced a little over a week ago."

"The one that was associated with that gliding Rahi from high above?"

"We think there's a link, yes."

"And the attackers? Where are they, now?"

"Well," responded the expert. "It's hard to say. Some of them were defeated in battle. Those have been taken to the nearest command post for study, in the hopes that we can learn more about their vulnerabilities or motivation. But others survived today's battle, and no one is sure where they've gone."

I changed the channel. None of it made any sense, and I needed answers not more questions. The next channel appeared to be a game show. Two blindfolded pairs of robots were racing against each other to make a sandwich. I flipped on. The picture on the next channel made me jump back in my chair.

It was an image of me, sitting in the room watching television. The camera appeared to be positioned to my left, about half the distance from me that I was from the TV. I looked left, but there was nothing there. I rose and walked toward where the camera should have been, but I could find nothing. I looked at the television again, to see if I was close, but now the angle was from behind me. The angle was what I would have seen if I were still sitting on the couch. Keeping my eye on the TV, I slowly crept back toward the sofa. On the monitor, my image got closer and closer and then – ever so subtly – switched to the snow scene outside. I flopped back on the sofa. But suddenly I realized. Snow scene? It was a balmy day in the jungle when I'd arrived. Besides, weren't we underground? I moved to the window. Now a deer was plodding through the snowy meadow, but nothing else had changed. I walked into the bedroom and looked out a window. Waves lapped the shore of a bright, sunny beach. Having had enough of that, I returned to the TV. The beach scene was on and I changed the channel.

The next channel had a show that looked like it might be a soap opera or something. One of the characters was fiddling with a smaller version of the gear that Gary had turned in the hallway earlier. Interesting, but I flipped on by. The next program was more what I was looking for. A historical documentary. A narrator was explaining a legend called "Bionicle," which told of the great spirit Mata Nui, after whom the island was named. Slow, panoramic shots revealed varied landscapes that seemed to be locations all over the island. The narrator returned, and began to describe the early inhabitants of Mata Nui, when a knock came at the door. It was Gary, and he led me out of the room and back down the hallway. I asked him if I was in any danger.

"No, you have nothing to fear. We have been able to determine that your interests are not hostile and therefore we do not wish you any harm."

"You have? How did you determine–"

"All will be explained. Any questions will be answered. We believe you may be able to help us, and we want to make you comfortable as our guest."

"Help you? How?"

"All will be explained. I must lead you to the village so you may meet with the other residents of Le-Koro. Please hold your questions until then."

I walked in silence. My mind was racing, but Gary seemed determined to make me wait, so I saw no reason to pester him. Le-Koro. I assumed that must be where we were. I guessed those other huts that I had seen would be the village we were going to. Gary led me back into the elevator and we ascended to the surface.

Once outside the small hut, I turned toward the other structures I had seen earlier, but I noticed that many of them were now charred ruins. The tree line beyond them had been decimated and a foul vapor was rising into the air from the squishy muck that remained in their place. I turned to Gary in horror.

"This way," he gestured in the opposite direction, and we crossed a narrow stream on a small land bridge and then walked over a boardwalk that had been painted with camouflage. I looked back at the village behind us, my mouth agape.

"Fear not," Gary assured me. "Those were not inhabited. Merely a decoy to protect our citizens. I wish I could say that they had been entirely successful, but at least they bought us some time."

"Wow." I followed along. I was amazed at how many conclusions I had jumped to based on the jungle location and the little huts. I never would have imagined such shrewd tactics. But then I never would have imagined that capability with the gear that produced a waterfall out of thin air.

The boardwalk led gently up a slight incline until we were roughly twenty feet off the ground. Here, Gary waved his staff and made a low whistling noise. A pair of large birds, resembling hawks in build and coloring but larger by at least half, swooped into view from the jungle to our left and perched on the boardwalk in front of us. Gary climbed onto the back of one of them, and gestured to me to do the same. I told him the bird wouldn't be able to support me.

"Fear not. The Kewa are bred for strength and trained for endurance. Besides, we are only going a short distance."

I climbed on, awkwardly. The bird's wingspan was only slightly more than my height. Another whistle from Gary and both mighty birds took to the air. I clung to some feathers behind the head for my life, but Gary rode peacefully, making low whistles and gentle clucks all the while. We rose and rose high into the jungle, and for the first time I realized how tall the trees were. The birds expertly navigated between the giant trunks and hanging vines, circling higher toward the treetops. When I mustered the courage to look down I noticed the understory changing to swampy, like I'd seen on the news program. Looking ahead and to our left, I could see more smoldering muck like that near the false village. The birds looped suddenly upward above the canopy and into the open sky. I yelped with surprise as we arced upside-down and looped around. Gary shot me a look.

"Fear not." I was beginning to tire of that phrase.

Toward the base of our giant loop, the birds – or Kewa as Gary had called them – began flapping their wings and brought us to a stop on a high branch about twelve feet below the top of the canopy. Gary gave his bird a little stroke on the back of the head and slid to his feet on the branch. The branch was about four feet in diameter, which meant a narrow standing surface, but not impossible. I did my best to clamber to my feet beside him, and followed him along the branch toward the trunk. He gestured for me to bend down to him, and when I did he whispered in my ear. "Very shortly you will meet some other villagers of Le-Koro. Please don't tell them anything about the facility where I took you earlier, the underground place. They don't know about it yet, and it will only confuse them."

I nodded agreement, and straightened as we reached the end of the branch. The trunk sported a tiny gear that looked like the one in the soap opera show, and Gary tweaked this with his staff. A new boardwalk appeared in front of us and we walked from our branch across other branches toward a structure that I could see suspended across a few large branches, two trees over. As we moved closer, I detected about a dozen other robots standing around outside the structure, and I began to discern its shape more clearly. It was almost like an outdoor amphitheater – a half circle of seating facing toward a covered stage area that was raised from the ground a little. Once we arrived, the robots clicked a little to each other and to Gary, and we all moved in and took our seats. Gary stood in front of the stage, and held his staff aloft to quiet the other robots. I sat in rapt attention, anxious to hear what was going on.

He introduced me to the other robots in a group. He told them that I was safe and that I could be trusted. I still had no idea how he had come to this conclusion, but it was a relief. He told me that they were other residents of Le-Koro, which was the village where he lived, in the trees. I smiled and waved as casually as I could. They did the same.

Gary went on to describe a little about the situation in Le-Koro. He began with an overview about Mata Nui, the island where I had washed ashore. He mentioned the legend of Bionicle, which seemed to be like their religion. It was a story of Mata Nui, a great spirit which had protected the early inhabitants of the island and so they'd named the island after him. The whole story seemed kind of like a myth, about battling spirits and great heroes protecting the island's inhabitants, who called themselves Matoran. Gary talked about the six regions of the island and the six main villages. And then he talked about the events of the past few weeks. Something large and metallic (I took this to be a plane) flew over the island, high in the air, much higher than any of the Matoran had ever been. While it was over the island, there was a pulse which caused a power surge all over Mata Nui. Fortunately, few robots had been injured, but it caused significant damage to some of the electrical systems on the island. And, not long after, reports began to come in from some of the other villages of violent attacks by roving hordes of robots that nobody had ever seen before. They crumbled mountains or flooded villages. The Le-Koronans had constructed the village at ground level to try to distract from their rooftop homestead, and today the robot horde had finally arrived.

Gary told of the vile acid that these robots sprayed and how it melted and felled the tall trees of the jungle around Le-Koro. Some of the other robots talked about the battle to try to push the attackers back, and how many had died on both sides. But then, they said, the survivors of the attacking horde had suddenly vanished. And the villagers were unsure whether to feel relief or more fear. Gary said that it was just before this that he had discovered me and that he was initially unsure whether or not I was related to the attack. He told the other villagers that he had confirmed that my arrival was not connected to the attack, and told them that I may be able to help, because of my size.

I said I would be happy to do anything I could, but that I had some questions first. I wanted to know how he had been able to convince himself who I was and what my connection was with the attacks. He smiled at this time, and reached into a small box that was resting behind him on the stage. He produced a cube from the box, with a small gear or two on each side, and held it out to show me.

"This," he said. The other Le-Koronans looked on.

"What is it?" I asked.

"It is a device, which allows me–" he broke off, looking sharply to his left, over the railing surrounding he edge of the amphitheater platform.

A few of the other robots began chattering loudly. A large tree nearby was falling over, heading right for the platform on which we were all standing! I dove on Gary and pushed him and his device out of harm's way as the other robots dove for the other side of the platform. The tree smashed between us, opening a large gash down the center of the amphitheater. Gary righted himself and threw his device back into its box, and we both ran down the nearest branch and jumped to another tree. I looked over my shoulder to see more trees falling, and plumes of the noxious vapor rising into the air. As I jumped forward, following Gary onto another tree, I could see the other robots scrambling for safety in other trees, and I noticed one falling down into the dark understory, crying out as he fell.

Gary was running fast, his head darting from side to side, looking for another tree to jump to, and I realized that ours was swaying. I looked down to see a column of the dark smoke rising toward us as our tree began to cascade over to one side.

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