"I knew that you would bring him here," the man with a carrot instead of a nose addressed the dolls."
"You…" Yueret opened his mouth. "Are you talking?"
"My name is Kuttanai," the man with a carrot instead of a nose introduced himself. "I am the creator of fighting dolls. I'm wearing a mask. I doubt you'll want to see my face. Without a mask, my face is much scarier."
Yueret was very surprised that a creature with a carrot nose and a hanging tongue could imitate human behavior, so he could not answer anything.
"It was I who sent a signal to the dolls so that they would block your robot buyer in the store and thus force you to personally come to the city," Kuttanai continued. "After that, the dolls should have brought you to me."
Suturu and Aibi stood motionless and looked at their creator. Now they looked even more like dolls.
"You have a little sister," Kuttanai said. "You live in an abandoned village outside the town."
"How do you know about me and my sister, and where I live?" Yueret felt alarmed."
"I have a creature that monitors your actions," Kuttanai answered. "This is a robot buyer."
Yueret panicked for a few moments.
"Was that little robot that goes to the store watching me?" Yueret thought. "I bought it at the store. There were no cameras on it. How did he do it?"
"Do you know how a living creature becomes a doll?" Kuttanai asked. "The data in his brain is being replaced. Anything that is not useful to the doll is removed. Anything useful is added. Therefore, the doll cannot think like a person or a dinosaur, and feels almost nothing."
"Now it's clear why these dolls can't remember names," Yueret thought.
"I like your little sister," Kuttanai said. "I want to make a doll out of her."
Yueret looked at Kuttanai's mask, his protruding tongue and motionless eyes. He had no doubt that this man was capable of what he was talking about.
"Unless you want your little sister to become a doll," Kuttanai said. "Do something for me. Find one creature that ran away from me many years ago."
"You were able to find me," Yueret said. "Why can't you find some creature?"
"I can't control dolls within a large radius of my house. The greater the distance from me to the dolls, the lower the control over them becomes. But I myself cannot leave this house. Someone blocked me here."
"Now it's clear why these dolls stand motionless," Yueret thought. "He controls them well here. As the boat passed his house, the dolls suddenly wanted to go there. Then they could move, but they could not resist the urge to get into the house. And he had little control over the doll that attacked me in the city, so it could act independently. But how does he give a signal to the dolls? Is it through the nose? Is his carrot an antenna?"
"Do you agree?" Kuttanai asked. "If you don't agree, I'll make a doll out of your little sister and add it to my collection."
"Oh," Yueret thought, because only now did he realize what situation he was in. "Looks like we'll have to run away from here. I hope he doesn't leave the house and can't haunt us."
"I don't agree," Yueret replied.
"Then I will turn your little sister into a doll right here," Kuttanai said. "She will come here now. Don't leave here."
Yueret's shield was covered in a blue aura. A short blue energy spear appeared in his free hand.
A wrench the size of a short sword appeared in Kuttanai's hand. Yueret threw his spear at the enemy. Kuttanai put the wrench forward. The spear turned in the air and flew in the opposite direction. Yueret had to cover himself with a shield to avoid damage.
A blue translucent copy separated from the shield and flew towards the enemy. Kuttanai deflected it with a wrench and it flew back, but was deflected by the shield and flew back at the enemy. Kuttanai repelled the attack again. The scene repeated itself. This continued several times, and at some point Kuttanai did not have time to repel the attack and was thrown back by a copy of the shield to the wall.
Yueret released a blue beam of light from his hand, which pierced through Kuttanai and held him in place, then reached the wall, pierced it, went outside the house and rushed into the sky.
Kuttanai's carrot nose began to emit an orange glow from within. The dolls looked at Yueret. Weapons appeared in their hands – a short sword for Suturu and a small ax for Aibi.
The dolls approached Yueret, and he had to create an energy protective barrier around himself and stop shooting a beam of light from his hand. Kuttanai was no longer tied to the wall, but a large hole appeared in his stomach from which no blood was dripping.
"I forgot about the dolls," Yueret thought, but it was too late.
Kuttanai drew a symbol in the air with a wrench. A white luminous silhouette of a man curled up in a ball appeared in front of him.
The dolls collided with a barrier and stopped. Yueret looked at Kuttanai and noticed that a girl with long pink hair and closed eyes was hanging above him, surrounded by a pink energy aura. Instead of clothes, her body was wrapped in chains.
The girl's mouth opened. Her tongue became a source of bright red light, which burst out and turned into a pink energy beam.
"This is healing energy," Yueret guessed. "Each type of energy has its own color depending on its properties."
The pink beam hit the hole on Kuttanai's stomach, but did not pass through it. The hole began to quickly get smaller and soon disappeared. The tongue in the girl's mouth stopped glowing and turned gray.
Kuttanai again drew a symbol in the air with a wrench. The girl turned into a glowing silhouette and then disappeared.
"It was my little sister," Kuttanai explained. "I made a healing doll out of it."
"He's crazy," Yueret thought. "To do this to your sister..."
The sound of a door opening was heard. Unana entered the house with a bow loaded with a purple energy arrow.
"You're in trouble again," Unana said angrily.
"Such a cute girl came to me," Kuttanai noted. "Do you want to become my doll?"
Unana looked at the carrot-nosed man and felt fear and disgust. The girl shot at him with a bow, but the arrow hit Suturu, turned into an energy rope and tied her up.
Yueret removed the barrier and threw Aibi against the wall with his shield. Kuttanai aimed a wrench at Unana, but was thwarted by an energy spear thrown by Yueret. Kuttanai had to knock the spear aside, as a result of which another hole was formed in the wall.
Yueret ran to his sister and grabbed her hand, after which they ran out of the house and headed to the river.
The boat was still standing on the river bank, and next to it was a robot buyer with an open shell. Yueret looked at him and stopped.
"Why did you stop?" Unana asked.
"This robot was watching us," Yueret answered. "And he passed on information about us to that person with a carrot nose. But this robot also went to the store and bought groceries and everything else for us. I don't know what to do with him."
"Leave him here," Unana suggested. "There's no time to think now. We need to get away from here."
Yueret and Unana got into the boat, after which it floated down the river.
***
Halankuo opened the door and froze in surprise. Tuot sat astride Kyotyoryon and tried to push the spring back into her back.
"You made friends so quickly," Halankuo noted.
"I asked the stupid dinosaur to lubricate that thing in my back," Kyotyoryon explained.
"I'm not stupid," Tuot answered. "I was able to lubricate the spring, but I can't put it back in."
Halankuo smiled. She found this situation funny.
"It's not funny," Tuot said. "This thing doesn't go back in."
"The spine can be inserted through the 'Mausoleum of Nature," Halankuo said.
The girl summoned a virtual screen, entered the 'Mausoleum of Nature' and pressed several buttons next to the character's image.
The spring began to move. Tuot let go of her and jumped back. Kyotyoryon torso began to wriggle up and down. The character's face was distorted by a terrible grimace, but at the same time Kyotyoryon did not make a single sound.
Soon the spring stopped. The skin on the character's back grew together within a few moments.
"Now we can go to the park," Halankuo said.
Kyotyoryon sat down on the bed and then stood on the floor.
"Now I can stand upright and not fall," the spirit of metal said. "Stupid dinosaur helped me. He's not evil. He is good."
"He's actually not stupid," Halankuo smiled. "He just doesn't understand something."
"Being stupid is good," Kyotyoryon looked at Tuot. "If a creature is stupid, it means it's new."
"This is the logic of artificial intelligence," Halankuo noted.
In the middle of the day, Halankuo, Tuot and Kyotyoryon left the entrance of the house. Halankuo looked at her feet and saw black boots on them, which were replaced by gray stockings above.
"Strange," the girl thought. "I didn't forget anything from my clothes. This is very unusual for me."
Halankuo lifted the bottom edge of her T-shirt, but saw only bare thighs there.
"I knew it," the girl thought. "I still forgot to put on shorts."
Halankuo entered her inventory and summoned black shorts, which instantly appeared on her.
"Halankuo doesn't look appetizing in clothes," Tuot thought. "But her character looks quite edible. But actually it is not. There is nothing edible inside it. There's not even blood there. And instead of meat, there is a mixture of metal with some kind of filler."
The park was on the outskirts of the city, two blocks from Tuot and Halankuo's house.
"Creator, there's some kind of blue liquid there," Kyotyoryon pointed to the side.
"This is a river," Halankuo smiled. "It consists of water."
The park was divided by a medium-width river with rapids and embankments on both banks, which consisted of gray paving stones and boulders near the water.
Kyotyoryon ran to the river and stopped near the boulders. She looked at the fast water and tilted her head in different directions. Soon Halankuo and Tuot approached the character.
"Where does this water come from?" Kyotyoryon asked.
"From a hole in the stones, which is far away from here," Halankuo explained.
"Why doesn't it end?" the metal spirit asked.
"Eh..." Halankuo looked up. "There is a lot of water in the place from which this river flows. Also other rivers flow into this river, which flow out of other holes in the stones."
"I'll make sure the water doesn't flow," Kyotyoryon frowned.
It was the first time Halankuo noticed any emotion on her character's face. Previously, Kyotyoryon's face was almost motionless. Only the lips sometimes moved when speaking.
"Where is the place where this river flows from?" Kyotyoryon asked.
"Do you really want to destroy the river?" Halankuo was surprised.
"Yup," the spirit of metal answered. "The water flows by itself. I need to block it."
"It's impossible," Halankuo said. "You can't do anything to the river."
Kyotyoryon looked at Halankuo and frowned even more.
"Where is the place where this river flows from?" Kyotyoryon asked. "Tell me."
"I won't tell," Halankuo answered.
Kyotyoryon looked at Tuot.
"I won't tell either," the dinosaur answered. "If the river stops flowing, the town will be left without water."
"Why water?" the spirit of metal asked.
"Living creatures need water to drink and rinse their skin," Tuot answered. "But you don't need water."
Kyotyoryon looked at the river.
"So I'm not alive?" the metal spirit asked. "I don't need water. And living creatures need water."
"Why?" Halankuo asked. "You are alive, but not like us."
"I look at the water and see from which direction it flows," Kyotyoryon said. "I'll go in this direction and find the place where it flows from. I will destroy the river and its water will stop flowing."
Kyotyoryon jumped onto a stone that was in the water near the shore, and then jumped onto a neighboring stone.
"Summon the wrench," Tuot said.
"The wrench won't reach her," Halankuo said. "She's too far away."
"What to do? If I jump on stones, I will lose my footing and fall into the water. I can become covered in an energy aura, and then I can move normally. But I can't stay in it for long. We'll have to go to the bridge."
"This way we will lose a lot of time. But now we have no choice."
Kyotyoryon was already standing on the opposite bank of the river. Tuot and Halankuo ran to the bridge, which was located on the outskirts of the park...
... They caught up with the character outside the city, in the forest, at an intersection with several signs. The spirit of metal looked at the inscriptions and could not understand what the red glowing symbols meant.
"Why are you following me?" Kyotyoryon asked.
"I don't want anything bad to happen to you," Halankuo said. "It's dangerous in the mountains. There are creatures there that can attack you."
"I can defeat them," the metal spirit answered. "I'm not in any danger. I will find the place where the water is flowing from and make it flow to another place. If you bother me, I will have to cut you."
The spirit of metal looked at Halankuo and Tuot with wide open eyes. Her eyebrows trembled and her mouth was wide open. Kyotyoryon was breathing heavily. It was clear that emotions were not easy for her.
Halankuo, unlike her character, although she experienced some feelings, did not show them. She did not expect that her character would develop so quickly that she would begin to show feelings and make decisions on her own.
A short blade emerged from the bracelet on Kyotyoryon's hand. The spirit of metal ran to attack its creator. Halankuo wanted to summon the wrench, but did not have time. The spirit of metal appeared near her and tried to strike with a blade, but Tuot blocked her path and parried the blow with a short curved sword.
Halankuo summoned a wrench and aimed it at Kyotyoryon's blade. The spirit of metal slowly withdrew its own hand with the blade, and then independently retreated a few steps back.
Kyotyoryon took on her battle form and then rose to the height of a medium tree. A metal spear appeared next to her.
The spear flew towards Halankuo, but the girl deflected it to the side with a wrench. Kyotyoryon noticed this and flew to attack the creator. Halankuo turned a wrench on her character. Kyotyoryon hung in the air, and then was forced to fall to the ground.
A metal spear appeared behind Halankuo, at a distance of several human steps, and immediately flew at the girl. Tuot noticed this and fought it off with his long tail, on which a metal tip appeared during the attack.
Halankuo summoned a virtual screen. Kyotyoryon noticed this, created a blade in the air and threw it at Halankuo. The girl stopped him with a wrench, but lost control of the character's body. The blade hung in the air.
Kyotyoryon flew further into the forest and disappeared behind a tree. Halankuo threw the blade aside with the key and then walked forward. Tuot followed her.
A tall, thick coniferous tree slowly began to fall to the ground with a creaking sound. Halankuo noticed this and stopped him with a wrench. Tuot became covered in a green energy aura.
Halankuo straightened her hand with the key. The tree rose into place and then collapsed in the opposite direction. Kyotyoryon flew out of the forest in combat form and tried to strike her creator with a blade, but Tuot covered Halankuo in time and deflected the blow with a shield.
"It's good that the aura increases my speed and stability," the dinosaur thought. "Without her, I would not have been able to react so quickly."
Tuot threw the spirit of metal back to the trunk of the nearest tree with his shield. Halankuo released lightning from her hand, which approached Kyotyoryon and surrounded her, and then turned into a large oval-shaped electric cage. The character tried to get out of there, but touched the electric bars and received an electric shock.
"Forgive me," Halankuo said. "I didn't want to use it, but I had to."
Kyotyoryon returned to human form, but she was still shaking from the electric shock.
Halankuo entered the 'Mausoleum of Nature' and then touched the image of the character with her finger. The electric cage has disappeared. An open metal coffin appeared between Halankuo and the metal spirit. The character's body rose slightly above the ground, and then moved into it. Lightning no longer struck Kyotyoryon, but she screamed loudly. The character understood that he would soon find himself in a world, in which there was nothing, – where one could neither hear, nor see, nor feel.
A metal lid with an image of the skull of a three-horned dinosaur appeared above the coffin. Kyotyoryon's screams stopped. The spirit of metal in human form appeared in the 'Mausoleum of Nature'.