Diggix double-checked his audio receptor levels to ensure he had turned them down to a level that allowed him to only register sounds within his immediate vicinity. The noises he had heard earlier were quite loud if Diggix could pick them up. It would have been impossible for his audio receptors to pick register the sounds if it was outside the range he had adjusted his hearing. The sound could have been from any frequency; his audio receptiveness ranged widely.
He slowly moved through the trees towards the opening ahead; it was the same direction as to where the tree he had followed came from. He wondered for a moment whether it was another tree heading into the thick forest, that maybe his audio receptors weren’t picking up the correct sounds. Diggix increased his audio range to try and pinpoint the exact location of any movement; sure enough, a scuffle amongst the leaves drew his attention towards a different direction. Surely it must be another tree, the little robot thought to himself.
The thick fog made it increasingly difficult to see what was around him in the forest; the abilities he once held of infrared and other spectrum visions were disabled for repairs; Ilgo had not completed each and every repair he needed to make. The old engineer would tell Diggix it was because great ingenuity takes time to perfect and that he was a perfected model challenging to restore if time was not permitted.
Diggix walked carefully; he ensured that he would not step on a twig or a leaf that would disturb the relative silence in the immediate area. Hiding behind and under every fern and plant he could find, he fixed his eyes in the direction he thought he heard the scuffling. Another loud roar echoed through the forest; this time, Diggix was close enough to know exactly where it was coming from.
Beyond the plants he was standing on next to a large smooth rock under the treeline, Diggix saw the first large creature that roamed Dessix. He quickly scanned the mainframe and found only a name. A Fargesrat. No other information was available.
Diggix watched the creature with great caution; after a few moments, he noticed a few more creatures appearing from nowhere to eat strange hard fruits growing on the forest floor. The animal was tall, taller than Thanatos. They stood on their hind legs and had long tails. Their small arms seemed to help the creature grab the fruits when they dug into it with their long sharp teeth. Their pelts were green with some scales below the thin hair; they had oval-shaped ears and black eyes with a snout covered in whiskers.
They moved slowly from one bunch of fruits to the next; they hadn’t noticed Diggix staring at them. Diggix found it fascinating how they were moving and what they were doing. Their interaction with one another was also strange. Unlike any other creature he had seen, these giant rat-looking creatures were very much unsociable. The smaller Fargesrats walking with the larger one kept their distance; as soon as one got too close, the large one would growl and snap. Diggix could determine that the large one was the alpha and the smaller ones had to follow the alpha and feed on the scraps left on the ground. From under the plants came running tiny versions of the same animal; they quickly ran in a large group. Diggix could count twenty-three before they disappeared under the plants again.
Not sure what he should do with the information he has gathered, he stored it in his memory bank. Looked around whether or not he could see more, but all he could see was three adults, the alpha, and the twenty-three younglings. Diggix figured the babies wouldn't survive very long and thus the need to bread plenty.
The alpha Fargesrat gave out a deafening roar; Diggix span around to see what the Fargesrat was roaring about. Unfortunately, he couldn’t see much in the thickening mist, but the little robot was relieved that it had not yet spotted him and roared to initiate an attack. Though for a short while Diggix observed them, he could determine that the Fargesrats were not aggressive predators.
The pack of Fargesrats became uneasy; they scattered around, seeming extremely disorientated, the Alpha roared again, and all the younglings came to hide under its legs. Bellows Diggix’s feet, he could feel the ground trembling; something was moving below them. The leaves around them also scattered and moved; Diggix kept a stern eye on what was going on around them.
Without warning, four large worm-like creatures breached the forest floor and surrounded the Alpha fargesrat, trapping it and the younglings. The animal roared and hissed, it tried to bite, but the worm-like creatures seemed to evade each and every attack. Diggix could not find any information on these worm-like creatures within his mainframe; he was baffled by their ability to hunt in packs. The Alpha had great difficulty holding them back; Diggix did not want to look any further due to the younglings being in danger. Although his Audio receptors could tell that there was a big fight and some of the young were screaming, he wasn’t sure whether they were being killed or eaten.
There was silence for a moment longer; Diggix believed the fight was over. He looked towards the Fargesrat and saw that it had gone; three of the worm creatures were lying dead on the leaves, not moving an inch. Diggix stood up to look where the Fargesrats went but could not find them. Then, with curiosity, he approached the dead worms to analyze them closely.
The worms had fur on them; their mouths were split into eight sections with two rows of teeth in each area. They did not seem to have eyes. The hair on them did not seem to have the purpose of heating or protecting; they had the characteristics of limbs. Diggix concluded that these worms used their hair-like limbs to move underground and attack very quickly.
There was slight shuffling behind Diggix; he did not hesitate in turning around to see what was behind him. It was the Alpha. Diggix remained standing without moving any limb or allowing any part of his body to place him in danger. The Fargesrat approached the little robot and smelt his head; he was curious and did not know what Diggix was.
There was a scar on its neck, probably from the fighting earlier, Diggix thought to himself. Green blood came from the wounds. It was no doubt a strange sight for the little robot. He had only known humans and that they bled red blood. Although luckily for Diggix, he did not have any smell sensors, by the look of the hygiene of the creature’s mouth, it was clear there was a strong smell accompanying it.
Diggix could sense with his onboard alarm sensors that the creature’s heart rate was increasing, indicating that it was readying itself to attack. The little robot was at a crossroads; on the one side, Diggix believed he would be safe if he stayed where he was and that the creature would only pretend to attack him to scare him off. But, on the other hand, he thought the creature was readying to attack. Was running going to be an option?
Moments went by, the creature’s heart rate remained as paced as it were before; Diggix’s joints were about to freeze when finally the creature turned around and disappeared into the thick undergrowth. Diggix was relieved. He had a mission to complete, and he could not risk himself for pure enjoyment.
Diggix decided not to study the worms any further; he stood up and tried to determine his position on the map. It was challenging, but he eventually thought he had found it. Diggix turned back, sauntering through the forest; he was sure he was safe from those animals. It was a brand new world he had never known before, or at least his memory banks could not recall knowing. He kept on walking, hoping that he did not appear threatening; it was anybody’s guess whether the creature was still stalking the little robot.
A few hours later, Diggix stumbled upon a strange tree in the middle of an opening he discovered; for a long while, he thought he was heading in the right direction and would find a landmark displayed on the map. The tree seemed extremely old and rare; there was no other of its kind that he had seen before. The bark was as smooth as steel, and the leaves had all but withered away; it had fallen over but grew new roots deep into the ground. There were no visible marks on it either; it seemed like the wildlife around there kept their distance from the tree.
Diggix was still studying the tree when the Alpha Fargesrat came running out of nowhere, grabbing Diggix by the arm; having him pinned, the giant rat creature shook him around like a live mouse being shaken by a cat. Thankfully his arm held up against the vicious attack of the beast; it realized that it was not going to kill its prey. So it let go of the little robot and roared loudly.
Diggix did not waste time; he might not survive the next attack if the creature calls the rest of the pack. So he quickly pushed himself off the floor and ran for the first cover he could find. The Fargesrats were short on his heels; his mission was going to be a failure, he was sure of it.
With footsteps still chasing behind him, Diggix noticed a strange rock in the mist; there was nowhere else to go. He ran faster than his limbs could allow him to; he reached the stone in the nick of time; if it wasn’t for his quick agilities, the fargesrat would have gotten him. There was a hole below the rock he managed to jump into, and it collapsed as he jumped, allowing nothing to enter with him. It was utterly dark around him.
