Tall and Metallic

Tom snapped awake a half-hour after midnight. His table alarm glowed with evil red numbers, as if they knew his mistake was unforgivable.

He jumped out of bed with a groan, ran to his window, and looked outside for any sign of the supposed visitor. He couldn't see the entire porch from his angle, but the steps were visible in the bright moonlight that poked through a break in the clouds. No one was there, and Tom felt his heart sink.

"I'm such an idiot!"

Maybe he'd messed the whole thing up and lost the trust of M.S. He didn't know who lit the sign, but he had no doubt that it was related to M.S.'s mystery, and he even suspected that it was Silver Head or maybe his tall friend. He'd said his friend might come visit him. Hana mentioned in her email that she'd received her fourth clue, but Tom hadn't seen his yet. What if the midnight meeting was supposed to provide it?

Hardly able to stand the frustration and worry, Tom put on some warm clothes, determined to go outside and search for his visitor.

He crept down the stairs and to the front door, stepping only in quiet areas of the house and avoiding the most obvious creaks and groans he knew from years of experience. After quietly slipping into his coat and slippers, he carefully unlocked the dead bolt, then turned the handle.

He knew if he opened the door slowly, it would let out a creak that would wake the dead. He jerked it open in one quick motion, preventing almost any sound at all.

His heart pounding, he stepped out into the bitterly cold night, quietly shutting the door behind him.

                           ~

After searching the whole yard and finding nothing, he sat in front of the porch and put his head into his cupped hands, squeezing his eyes shut in anger at himself. How could he have been so stupid? He should never have laid down to read—everyone knew that was the number one way in the world to make yourself fall asleep. He blew out an exasperated sigh as he leaned back and folded his arms, looking up at the sky. Dark, churning clouds, their edges softly illuminated by the moon hiding behind them, seemed to move across the sky at an unnatural pace, like something from a horror movie in fast forward.

Tom shivered, and he knew that it wasn't the cold alone that caused it.

He leaned forward to stand up when something hit him on his right temple, followed by the soft clatter of a rock tumbling down the steps. He looked just in time to see a pebble the size of a walnut come to rest a few feet away.

    Belatedly, he said "Ow" as he looked around to discover where the rock had come from. Nothing stirred in the darkness, the only sound a slight breeze whispering through the leaves in the front yard and sighing over the bushes lining the front of the house. He thought one bush may have moved more than the others, and was just about to investigate when another rock hit him, this time in the right shoulder. Sure enough, the stone came from the suspected bush.

"Who's over there?" he asked, surprised he didn't feel more scared. "Ouit throwing rocks like a baby and come out."

The bush rustled again, then a tall figure, not that large, uncloaked from the invisible camouflage, stepped from behind the branches. It was impossible to make out details in the scant light, but whatever it was, it looked like a robot, a tall one for that matter. He or she resembled nothing so much as the machines in the movie "Transformers."

    "Who. . .a. . .are you?" Tom asked as a shiver began to take control of his earlier courage, standing up and stepping closer with curiosity taking all his thoughts. "You can't be the one who left me the note on the sign?"

The tall robot walked toward him, trying its best not to make a noise as its large metallic feet crunched the ground beneath it.

A shaft of moonlight broke through the clouds just as the visitor reached a spot a few feet in front of Tom, revealing in vivid detail what he'd thought was a robot. Actually, it was truly a robot, a very tall one.

Its body is similar to a bumblebee's. Tom sharply recognized it when he saw it. Its metallic chest puffed out like a box, and its head was covered with a galatic helmet with its blue eyes glittering in the dark. The elbow and knee have a circular joint at the end.

Tom knew fully well what it felt like to be afraid, but he never tried to show it. As the strange tall robot walked up to him, Tom promised himself he would do his best to refrain from any scary reactions, like shouting on top of his voice.

"I'm tall, okay?" The robot said. Its voice is similar to Silver Head's but more feminine. Her voice was normal, with no accent or strange pitch. Tom didn't know why that didn't surprise him so much, but he expected the robot to sound like a Mech-war bot.

So much for not judging others by their looks.

"And I must be the dumbest tall robot you'll ever meet," the female robot continued, "because I went invisible to camouflage myself in a place with short shrubs."

Tom stared, with no idea of how to respond. He noticed the shivers in his spine were beginning to diminish. He was getting comfortable at that moment with the fact that the robot looked and seemed harmless.

"My name is Machina," the stranger said, bending and holding a hand down toward Tom as its body crinked.

"My finger might be the half-size of your body, but don't be scared to shake it. Nice to meet you."

Tom reached up and clasped Machina's index finger, though it didn't cover the whole finger, shaking it very gently and feeling the cold metal, rough and rigid.

"What's that?" Machina asked. "Feels like I'm grabbing a floppy fish. You think I am made of porcelain or something? Shake my hand if you're going to shake it."

Tom didn't know when he gripped harder and shook, completely amazed by this new robot. He must've thought this was the strongest and most courageous female he had ever met, though she was a robot. He finally spoke back. "Sorry, I'm just a little surprised. I had no idea..."