Code Lightfall and the Robot King by Daniel H. Wilson Page B

silly!”
    â€œIt’s true, though.”
    Climbing out from Code’s pocket, Peep chirped fearfully.
    Gary continued breathlessly: “You can make up lies about humans later. This is an emergency. Look around. Can’t you see we are in serious trouble? We’re all about to be killed instantly! Any minute!”
    Code sighed and lay back down, looking up at the leafy green foliage. Of course trouble was coming. How long could he expect to actually calm down and enjoy visiting an experimental world designed by a lost civilization?
    â€œWhat’s the danger, Gary?”
    Gary craned his head around nervously. “Last night while we were walking in the dark, we accidentally set up camp in the Toparian Wyldes.”
    â€œSo?” Code yawned.
    â€œSo?! The Toparians are a race of robots designed to trim, sculpt, and cultivate greenery. They’ve been spreading farther into the Odd Woods every year. Nobody can stop them!”
    â€œThat’s why this place is so beautiful,” mused Code. He imagined thousands of friendly gardeners, relentlessly pruning every branch, sweeping up every twig, and watering every last delicate flower. It was a job too big for any human being. Funny that robots had created a place that looked more natural and beautiful than anything Code had ever seen on Earth.
    â€œThey’re killers!” shouted Gary, making Code wince. “They don’t just trim the woods. Anything that enters the Wyldes goes into the equation, if you know what I mean. I don’t want to be mowed to death, Code. I’m just a newborn. How are we ever going to escape from the trimmers, hedgers, cutters, snippers, shearers, twiners, shapers, fringers, choppers, loppers, pruners, nippers, thinners, thickerers, cubers, hackers, sawers, gnawers, slicers, and dicers?” (To protect Code’s emotions, Gary considerately chose not to mention the mulchers, gulchers, composters, sod slingers, bark blasters, and ditch rippers.)
    Looking closely, Code noticed bits of glinting metal wrapped into the shrubbery, providing architectural support. To his dismay, he realized that the mangled skeletons of long-deactivated robots were mingled in with nearly every plant, lending them all a strange metallic shimmer. A nearby statue was really the rusted corpse of some kind of robot knight. Even the flagstones underfoot seemed to be made out of the shattered remains of robot body parts.
    The garden was completely still and quiet, except for Gary’s panicked muttering. Peep hopped into the air and hovered low over the ground. She probed the garden with inquisitive green light beams. Then, with a purposeful burst of speed, she took off along a path.
    Code stood up and dusted shards of metallic dirt from his pants. The great shining mass of greenery suddenly made him feel claustrophobic. Green filled his vision, towering above and creeping below. The distant call of a bird took on a sinister note. The creaking of branches sounded ominous. What horrible monsters could be lurking in the depths of this lush paradise?
    â€œIt’s okay, Gary. Peep will lead us out of here,” said Code, pretending to be brave. “Let’s get moving.”
    Following Peep, Code led his lumbering friend steadily through the magnificent gardens. Certain death failed to appear.
    A few minutes later, Code felt a tap on his shoulder.
    â€œCode?” whispered the hulking slaughterbot.
    â€œYes?”
    â€œI’m scared.”
    To distract Gary, Code pointed to a particularly impressive shrub; it had been pruned into something resembling an elephant with long, thin legs and twin towering topiary tusks. It was at least a hundred feet tall.
    â€œWhat’s that supposed to be?” he asked.
    Gary examined the sculpture. “It’s a stilt-walker, the royal war steed of Lightfall’s Shatter-Gun Brigades. You don’t wanna be around when one of them shows up. Unless you’ve got me to