10 A Robot and His Feelings

Chapter Ten A Robot and His Feelings "Okay, here they come," said Abigail. She and Foggy had climbed a tree about fifteen feet from the ravine. Elias and the bunny were back in a clearing, working on Elias's invention. It was getting dire now. The crack in the planet had opened even wider, and the rumbling made it difficult to hear anyone. Smoke rose off the branches of the trees closest to where the planet had split. The heat rising from the lava was making them dizzy. "It's too smoky. I can't see what they're doing," said Abigail. "Can you make it out, Foggy?" "Yes, I can see through the smoke," said the robot. "It appears they are approaching the edge of

the chasm. It is Doug, three of the smaller aliens, and three of the large aliens. Finn and Vale are with them. And—Oh no." The wind blew the smoke in a different direction, and Abigail strained her eyes to see why Foggy was upset. The problem was immediately clear. And horrifying. Vale's helmet was glowing with a bright-red light. She could make out a bit of light coming from Finn's, as well. But Finn's light was duller than Vale's and seemed to flicker. "Does that mean what I think it means?" asked Abigail, not really wanting to know.

"I'm afraid so," said Foggy. "It looks like Doug has taken control of Finn's and Vale's minds. No wonder Vale was speaking their language. And now I know why Finn didn't care when that brute smacked me away." Abigail put her hand on Foggy's shoulder. "I'm sure he was upset," said Abigail. "Finn would never let anyone hurt you. No matter what

Doug has done—" "Thank you, Abigail," said Foggy. "Wait, let me finish. No matter what Doug has done, you're still Finn's robot and—" "I know, Abigail, but—" said Foggy. "Will you stop being such a robot?" said Abigail, shaking Foggy by the shoulders. "I know human emotion is hard for you to understand, but Finn really cares and—" "Yes, I comprehend, Abigail," said Foggy. "Sometimes people's actions don't actually express how they feel inside because they don't understand how they feel inside. So they fight, argue, or, I don't know, split up for no good reason and go their separate ways on planets doomed to explode." "Oh, yeah," said Abigail. "That's basically what I was going to say." "And I was going to say we better get out of here, because one of those giants is stomping this way," said Foggy. Foggy grabbed hold of Abigail and flew her back to the edge of the forest. They watched one of the brutes rip a tree straight out of the ground and carry it back to the ravine. The others joined

him, and within a couple of minutes, they had uprooted more than a dozen trees. "Can you see what they're doing with them, Foggy?" asked Abigail. Foggy could see the big aliens lashing the trees together and laying them across the chasm. "It appears they've built some sort of bridge," said Foggy. "That's ironic. Oh, um, this is bad." "What is it, Foggy?" "Finn and Vale have now walked to the middle of that bridge. And, oh my goodness. No, they

can't. I have to stop them!" Foggy leapt off the branch and rocketed off into the sky. Through the smoke, Abigail couldn't see where he was going or what was happening out there with Finn and Vale. But whatever it was, she could tell it wasn't good.