The whale swam along the surface of the ocean, keeping our robot safely above the water, gently moving her away from the rough waves. Brightbill couldn’t believe what he was seeing. Once the shock wore off, he fluttered down to the whale’s back and leaned over his mother. There was no life in her eyes or her body. So the goose did the only thing he could think of.
Click.
Roz’s eyes began to glow.
She uttered some human noises.
And then, in the language of the animals, the robot said, “Oh, Brightbill, am I happy to see you!”
The goose squawked with joy and hugged his mother’s face, but she didn’t move. She couldn’t move. The robot had lost the use of her limbs. There were a few tense minutes and a few nervous glances. But as the sun beat down and the wind rushed over her, Roz felt her body drying out. Slowly, gradually, power returned to her arms, then her legs, and then she sat up and hugged her son.
Brightbill breathed a sigh of relief. “Mama, when you disappeared below the water, I thought you were gone forever.”
“So did I,” said Roz. “As I sank deeper and deeper, the ocean squeezed my body tighter and tighter. I lost control of my legs and my arms. The last thing I remember was a huge shape swimming toward me, and then I automatically shut down.”
“That huge shape was a whale!” squawked the goose. “We’re riding on her back right now!”