For the next few hours, Code trudged through deep hollows and dark woods. The sun dipped toward the horizon, casting long, still shadows onto the forest floor. Peep buzzed confidently onward without wavering. The peppy little robot never slowed down, although Code’s feet were beginning to feel a bit tender.
All at once, a speeding blur rocketed past him and knocked Peep out of the air. She hit the ground hard and peeped in alarm. Before Code could scoop her up, something the size of a kitchen pot zoomed past his face and crashed into a tree, spraying flecks of metal bark. It looked like a big armored mechanical beetle. Then a swarm of twinkling, acorn-sized metallic bugs zoomed after it; they landed on the big beetle and began to scrape off bits of bark and dirt that were stuck to it.
“What the—?” said Code.
A cacophony of buzzing, flapping, and humming ensued as a swarming cloud of mechanical insects of all shapes and sizes came bursting through the forest. Code ducked as a ruby red dragonfly with gear-spun wings droned past his head. Small round bugs sputtered in all directions, pummeling Code in the arms and back like colorful ball bearings. The cloud of insects was in a panic, careening off each other and bouncing off the trees. In the confusion of swirling insects and dust and falling metallic leaves, Code lost sight of Peep.
“Peep! Where are you?”
Code stumbled through the whirlwind, protecting his eyes with one arm and batting away tinfoil flies with the other. At one point, he had to reach into his shirt to pull out a large, purple roly-poly with folded wings that had scampered up his sleeve to hide. Through the noise and confusion Code heard a familiar peeping sound and saw flashes of green light.
“Peep!”
Code bolted toward the bursts of light and into an open glade. Peep was clinging to a tree limb, shooting beams of green light at the other flying insects to keep them away. Code reached out and cradled Peep protectively against his chest. He struggled into the middle of a small clearing.
This world is crazy, thought Code. How am I ever going to get anywhere? “What’s happening?” he shouted over the vibrating din of beating wings.
Suddenly, the clearing fell silent. The swarm of flying armored insects slowed and each one dropped to the ground. Their antennae quivered and some of them emitted frightened chirps and squeaks.
The sky was lit by a strange glow.
Code dropped Peep into his shirt pocket, found the tallest tree around, and began climbing. The tree limbs were hard as rock and just as sturdy. From his pocket, Peep made a sad, scared warble. But Code was intent on reaching the top. All around, the sky was darkening quickly, as if someone were dimming the lights.
Finally, Code reached the top branches. In the distance, he saw the narrow thread of the Beamstalk climbing straight up into the heavens. Somewhere high up at the top, where the deep blue sky began to fade into the blackness of space, was a speck that he knew was the Celestial City—floating in orbit above the planet and tethered to the surface by a cord of light. The city glinted weakly in the fading sunlight.
Then a ribbon of shimmering color burst from the Celestial City and projected a large square onto the sky. It was like a movie—big enough for all of Mekhos to see. Numbers appeared, counting down: five, four, three, two, one …
The hologram of a giant face appeared: an old man, kindly and round.
“It’s my grandpa,” whispered Code, elated.
But Code’s happiness quickly turned to horror as the man’s mouth twisted into a fierce snarl. Black cords wrapped and coiled themselves around the man’s neck and head. The coils of wire moved constantly, like snakes. In a voice that was not his grandfather’s, the old man croaked: “My good robots, I am John Lightfall, King of the Greater Mekhos Co-Prosperity Sphere and Liege Lord of all its Mechanical Peoples. To the fair bots of Mekhos, I come bearing vile tidings. After a thorough and careful review of the Robonomicon, I have determined that the vast majority of your current programs are outdated, incompatible, and—most of all—dangerous. My faithful personal adviser, Immortalis, has instructed me that, in order to fulfill the wishes of the ancient builders, all the robots of Mekhos must disassemble.”
The view widened, revealing more of the king’s body. Code gaped at the grotesque image projected onto the sky like a movie.
The machine called Immortalis looked like a giant black squid. It supported the king’s body with thousands of black cords attached to a black oval frame. The tentacles stretched from the machine and wrapped around his body—his arms, legs, torso, and even his head and face. Tiny cords wrapped around his fingers and a large solid one encircled his chest. Hundreds more hung limply, swaying in the air. Some cords had cruel-looking suckers and others carried obscure tools. And directly above John Lightfall’s head, a milky blue porthole was embedded into the frame of the powerful machine. It looked like a single, unblinking sapphire eye.
The eye of Immortalis blazed as the king continued to croak: “And so it has been decreed. The great experiment is over. In five days, Mekhos will be returned to its original state. And once you robots are disassembled, the old rifts to the human world will be reopened!”
The king gestured violently at the Beamstalk.
“All robots, automatons, and mechanicals are hereby ordered to progress to the heart of Mekhos. To where light meets darkness. To the root of the Beamstalk and the foot of the Celestial City. Make haste! Fly, crawl, or run! By any means necessary—get yourselves to Disassembly Point!”
As Code watched, the swarm of robotic insects began to stir, climbing nearby trees and stretching their wings. One by one, the horde lifted off and began buzzing eastward—toward the Beamstalk. The haze of insects engulfed the treetops and then continued on, away from the amber sunset.
Then a blazing ray of white light shot from Code’s shirt pocket and slashed upward through the sky. Nearly blinded, Code scrambled to grab a branch. For a split second, the beam pierced the golden sky, flashing and pulsing in a complex pattern. It disappeared before Code could see it clearly. Peep glowed hot against Code’s chest.
“Peep?” Code asked. “What did you do?”
In the sky, the wasted form of King John Lightfall began to look around. He whispered a single, barely recognizable word: “Code?” Somehow, Peep had alerted the king that he was in Mekhos.
“Grandpa,” whispered Code. For an instant, he could see the kindness return to the eyes of his grandfather. This was the man Code remembered. The quiet man who had led him on long rambling walks through damp woods.
Then the cruel snarl returned to the old man’s face. He roared in anger: “A human?! What is a filthy human doing in Mekhos?”
Frightened, Code scrambled down the tree as the voice of the king boomed through the air like distant thunder. His grandfather had seemed intent on destroying every robot in the world. And yet, for one second, Code had seen the kind face that he remembered from before.
It must have something to do with that machine, thought Code. My grandfather would never act that way. But that black tentacled creature … Maybe it’s forcing him to say those terrible things. Either way, my real grandfather is here, Code realized. And I’ve got to find him.
“What have you gotten us into?” Code whispered to his shirt pocket as he made his way farther down the towering tree.
A sleepy, happy chirp came from Peep. Code’s pocket glowed a dull gold and vibrated with a contented hum. The exhausted little bot seemed to have fallen asleep and begun to snore. It was a comforting sound. My only friend is the size of a hummingbird, thought Code. And it seemed as though she had been just as happy as Code to see John Lightfall.
Finally, Code hopped from a low branch onto solid ground. He patted his pocket and gazed up at the twinkling dot of light that was the Celestial City. His grandfather was alive and maybe in trouble. The Beamstalk was very far away, and this place was unpredictable and frightening. But Code could feel a soothing purr from his shirt pocket. Peep was unafraid. And if such a little creature could be so dedicated and fearless, Code knew that he could, too.