The Wild Robot

With the target deactivated, RECO 1 calmly moved on to the next phase of his mission. He limped through the gravesite and began collecting every single robot part. He splashed into the shallows and returned with a foot. He shook the sand from a cracked torso. He pulled a head out from a tide pool. Each part was then piled around Roz’s lifeless body.

Brightbill watched in horror as his mother slowly disappeared under a pile of parts. Roz looked just like the dead robots. But she wasn’t dead—she had simply been shut down.

“Don’t do it, Brightbill!” The flock tried to stop their leader. “It’s too dangerous!”

But the goose was determined to bring his poor mother back to life. Brightbill crouched low to the ground and slowly moved toward the pile of robots. And when RECO 1 limped away to collect another part, Brightbill sprinted over the rocks, pushed past arms and legs, and squeezed into the pile.

Click.

A muffled voice echoed across the shore. “Hello, I am ROZZUM unit 7134, but you may call me Roz.”

Brightbill hugged his mother’s face as her computer brain rebooted. “Mama, wake up!”

“What happened?” she said finally. “Where is the RECO?”

“He’s coming this way!”

“What were you thinking, Brightbill? You must leave now before he kills us both!”

“I was scared, Mama!” cried the goose. “I didn’t know what to do!”

Heavy footsteps stomped toward them. Robot parts were knocked aside. And then RECO 1 looked down with his glowing eyes. Brightbill tried to squirm away, but thick fingers locked around him like a cage.

“Mama, help!” cried Brightbill as he was pulled up from the pile.

“Please do not hurt my son!” begged Roz. “He is harmless!”

RECO 1 paid no attention to Roz. He just held up the goose in his giant hand, ready to crush the life out of him.

Mist swirled in the breeze.

Waves sloshed against the rocks.

Seagulls circled above.

No, not seagulls. Vultures. And one of them clutched something silver in his talons. The vultures spiraled down, and RECO 3’s rifle clattered onto the shore. Geese and otters quickly surrounded the rifle. They squawked and squeaked and fumbled with the weapon, trying to aim the clunky thing.

The hunter was confused. How had those animals gotten a rifle? And could they possibly know how to fire it?

They did know.

The geese had seen a trigger pressed before.

A beam of light briefly flashed through the gloom. At first it seemed as if nothing had happened. But a moment later, RECO 1’s chest began glowing a brilliant orange, and then it was melting and oozing down his front, and soon there was a wide, gaping hole in the middle of his torso. His hand suddenly unclenched, and Brightbill fluttered away. Seawater sprayed over the gravesite, and steam hissed up from the RECO’s scorching-hot guts. He shook and twitched and

collapsed

beside

Roz.

RECO 1 turned his face to Roz and spoke in a quiet, garbled voice. “Mmmore RRRECOs will c-c-come for you. And if you d-d-destroy them, still mmmore will c-c-come. The Mmmakers will not rrrest until all missing robots have b-b-been rrretrieved.”

“When? When will they come?” said Roz. “How long do we have?”

“You c-c-can ssstill be fixed, Rrroz. Go tooo the airship. B-b-bring all of the robot parts wwwith you. The ship knows wwwhat tooooo dooooooooooooooooooo—”

His voice went silent.

His eyes went dark.

RECO 1 was dead.

CHAPTER 76 THE BROKEN ROBOT

Geese and otters were bustling all around Roz. They were pulling arms and legs out from the robot pile and pressing them against her body. They were hoping to hear thwip sounds and that the robot limbs would snap right into place and Roz would return to her old self and life on the island would go back to normal. But nothing happened. No matter what they did, the limbs wouldn’t attach. Our robot’s body was too badly damaged.

“I’m sorry, Ma,” said Brightbill, his voice trembling. “I thought this would work.”

“It is okay, son,” said Roz calmly. “I am lucky I can still think and speak.”

The animals tried to smile at their poor friend. But they couldn’t hide their sadness. Roz was a mangled wreck, and there was nothing they could do to fix her.

The robot wanted to be strong for her son and her friends; she wanted to ease their worried minds and tell them everything would be fine. But Roz knew that everything would not be fine. She looked down at her broken body. Then she looked up at the geese and the otters and said, “I will need some help getting home.”

CHAPTER 77 THE MEETING

Strong, nimble creatures carried Roz up the sea cliffs and across the island. They carefully propped her up inside the Nest. They built a fire. And then they left the robot with her son.

Roz and Brightbill sat there, staring at the flames, until the goose finally said, “Do you need anything, Ma?”

“I could really use some new arms and legs!” The robot chuckled at her own bad joke.

“That isn’t funny!” cried the goose. “My mother is broken and I don’t know what to do about it!”