Mausoleum of Nature

Kyotyoryon was walking near the house and accidentally noticed a brown puppy, similar to a bear cub, who was going somewhere about his business.

“People eat meat,” the spirit of metal thought. “If I catch this animal and cook it, my creator will be very happy.”

Kyotyoryon came up behind Kimchan and grabbed his tail. The puppy moaned pitifully, but the naive character did not suspect anything.

The spirit of metal brought Kimchan to the kitchen. Unana was sitting there at the table in a pink robe, with headphones on her head, eating something. When the archer noticed how an unreasonable character was holding the archer's pet, she lost her appetite. Unana stopped eating and summoned her weapon, loaded with an ordinary arrow.

“Let the dog go!” Unana shouted.

“I want to cook it,” Kyotyoryon answered calmly. “I want to fry meat for my creator so that she can become alive again.”

“But why cook the dog? In particular... my dog.”

“Is it your dog? I didn't know. Then cook it yourself.”

Kyotyoryon threw the puppy to Unana. The archer threw her bow and tried to catch her pet, but could not. Kimchan fell to the floor and groaned even more.

“I won’t cook Kimchan,” Unana frowned. “My dog is not food.”

The archer picked up the crying puppy from the floor and left the kitchen. Kyotyoryon looked at the cooking stove.

“Now I have no meat,” the spirit of metal thought. “I can’t cook anything and help the creator. I'll have to look for something else.”

Kyotyoryon came out of the kitchen and met Yueret in the corridor in a gray robe with a hood.

“This is what I need,” the thought flashed through the head of the spirit of metal. Kyotyoryon grabbed the man by the hand and dragged him to the kitchen.

“What are you doing?” Yueret asked.

“I’ll cook you,” Kyotyoryon tried to smile, but instead made a terrible grimace.

“Why? Are people edible?”

“People also have meat. I want to cook you for my creator. She lost a lot of blood because of me. That's why I want to correct what I did.”

“I don't think she'll like human meat.”

Kyotyoryon let go of Yueret’s hand and turned away.

“I already tried to cook the dog, but your little sister didn’t allow me to do it. Then I saw you. I thought I could cook you. You have meat in you, and there is more of it than in that dog. I wanted the creator to be happy. She will eat the meat I prepared and she will feel better.”

Yueret patted Kyotyoryon on the head. It seemed to the guy that the hair of the metal spirit was harsher to the touch than his sister’s hair.

“Let’s cook some other meat, that people eat,” Yueret suggested. “Your creator will definitely like it.”

Kyotyoryon turned to Yueret. Tears sparkled in her eyes.

“She can cry,” Yueret thought. “I thought she was like a robot, because she’s non-living.”

Yueret took out a bag of food from the refrigerator and placed it on the table.

“We will cook a bear’s paw in the dough,” Yueret said. “Bear meat is very nutritious. This food will help your creator recover quickly.”

Yueret summoned the interface, took a knife from his inventory, and swiped it through the air. A virtual kitchen control panel appeared in front of him with white buttons on which dishes and cutlery were depicted.

After pressing a few buttons, a metal grill on a stand appeared on the stove. Yueret took a clawed bear paw out of the bag and placed it on the grill. After this, a fire began to burn under the grill.

“So this is how they cook meat?” Kyotyoryon asked.

“Yea,” Yueret replied. “You didn’t know?”

“I didn’t think about it. I just wanted to cook the meat.”

“You can also summon such an interface.”

Yueret gave the spirit of metal a knife. Kyotyoryon ran her blade through the air. The same table as Yueret's appeared in front of her, but with additional gray buttons on the sides.

“What are these buttons?” Yueret asked. “I do not have them. There are some strange signs on them.”

“These are the buttons to control my metal. Somehow I know what they are, but I don't know how to use them. There are a lot of metal objects in this room, which is why these buttons appeared here. I wonder what will happen if you click on them?”

“Don’t!”

Kyotyoryon did not listen to Yueret and pressed one of the additional buttons. The metal grill doubled in size, causing the bear's paw to fall straight into the fire.

Yueret pressed several buttons on the control panel. The fire went out. The grill with the stand has disappeared. The bear's paw remained lying on the flat stone surface of the slab.

Kyotyoryon turned away and tried to hold back her tears, but she couldn’t. Drops of water from her eyes fell onto her chest and then disappeared into her corset.

“I shouldn’t have pressed that button,” Kyotyoryon said. “I’m bad.”

Yueret hugged the metal spirit's shoulders and then stroked her head.

“You are not bad,” Yueret said. “You will learn to cook. It just doesn't happen as quickly.”

“Is it true?” Kyotyoryon turned to face Yueret and accidentally pressed her chest against him.

Yueret felt something soft but cold through his robe.

“What is her body made of?” the guy thought. “It looks like Unana’s body, but inside it’s filled with something else.”

Yueret lowered his hand lower and touched Kyotyoryon’s thigh. It was also cold, but at the same time hard. The guy drew attention to the character’s horns, which were located opposite his neck.

“Is it really metal?” Yueret thought. “Now I understand why she is so cold. Unana is not like that. Unana is warm.”

“You will succeed,” Yueret said. “I don’t know how it happens in creatures like you, but people can learn. At first they don’t succeed, then they succeed a little, then they succeed even more. Gradually people learn something and then can do it well.”

Kyotyoryon hugged Yueret and pressed her chest even closer to him. The horns of the spirit of metal came almost close to his neck.

Unana entered the kitchen wearing a black T-shirt with a cut-out chest and short purple shorts that did not hide part of her buttocks.

And then Unana noticed Kyotyoryon and Yueret, who were hugging.

“Yueret, why are you doing this?” Unana was indignant. “It's not even a human. This is an artificial creature that does not feel anything.”

“I’m trying to calm her down,” Yueret explained.

Yueret stopped hugging the character and walked over to the stove. The guy had to explain to his little sister why Kyotyoryon was crying and what she was trying to do for his creator.

“That’s understandable,” Unana said. “But what you do with your little sister cannot be done with other girls.”

“What not to do? Should I not hug her?”

“Yeah. Only I can hug you, because it is my right. This is the right of a little sister.”

Yueret turned away and continued cooking, but this time on his own. After some time, the bear paw in the dough was ready. Yueret put it on a tray and gave it to Kyotyoryon.

“You can take it to your creator,” Yueret turned to the spirit of metal.

Kyotyoryon took the tray and went to the room where her creator was. Halankuo, wearing a long T-shirt, stood near the window and looked out of it.

“Creator, can you walk already?” the spirit of metal asked.

“She began to worry about me,” Halankuo rejoiced. “Kyotyoryon appears to have features like living beings. I chose some characteristics for her, but I didn’t think they would develop so quickly.”

“Yes, I can walk,” Halankuo answered. “But my strength has not yet fully recovered.”

“I brought you a bear’s paw in dough,” Kyotyoryon said joyfully. “This will help you regain your strength.”

“Thank you. I haven't eaten bear meat for a long time.”

“You lost a lot of blood because of me. I want you to become the same as before.”

“Nothing. This happened by accident. It's not your fault.”

“Not your fault?” Kyotyoryon thought. “So I cooked the meat in vain?”

The character threw the tray on the floor, and somehow it did not tip over. The spirit of metal made an angry face and left the room.

“I shouldn’t have said that,” Halankuo thought and pointed the wrench at the tray.

Kyotyoryon went into the yard and looked at the surrounding objects for a long time.

“I want to cut,” the spirit of metal thought. “The trees are good, they shouldn’t be cut. I need to find something to cut.”

Kyotyoryon walked along the fence and noticed a robot that looked like a beetle with a shell like a turtle.

“This thing is made of metal,” Kyotyoryon guessed. “That means she’s mine, because I’m the spirit of metal. All the metal in the world is mine.”

The spirit of metal approached the creature and tapped it with the bracelet on its arm. A metallic sound was heard. Kyotyoryon smiled and raised her hand up. The robot also rose up and then froze in the air.

Kyotyoryon tried to move the robot to the side, but it was as if something was holding it in place. The metal spirit grimaced and tried again. But the robot continued to hang motionless in the air.

“This is a robot buyer. You shouldn’t treat him like that,” a voice came from behind Kyotyoryon.

The spirit of metal turned around and saw a doll with red hair, which was looking at the robot with eyes with purple pupils.

“Don't try to control him,” the doll said. “My abilities take precedence over yours. You can move objects that have a high metal content. I can move objects that contain metal in any quantity.”

Kyotyoryon, of course, did not understand the phrase she heard. But the character was offended. The spirit of metal did not know the meaning of many words, and often did not understand what was said to it.

The doll carried the robot into the house, into the kitchen. Unana and Yueret were sitting there at the table, eating something.

“I’ve come,” a thin “machine” voice came from the robot’s body.

Yueret noticed the creature arriving, stood up from the table and summoned a shield.

“Tell your master that I won’t help him!” the guy shouted.

“I don’t serve Kuttanai,” the robot answered. “The doll named Ikte can confirm my words.”

“It serves me,” Ikte’s voice was heard from the corridor.

A doll with red hair came to the kitchen threshold.

“But that man with the carrot said that this robot serves him,” Yueret objected.

“It was like that at first,” Ikte answered. “But then I subjugated the robot to myself. My little brother thinks he still controls him. But the robot is not a doll. It cannot be controlled by signals from the brain that are transmitted through the antenna. Artificial intelligence is very independent. That's why Kuttanai created dolls rather than robots. They are more obedient.”

The shield in Yueret's hand disappeared. The guy sat down on the floor and looked at the robot.

“I’m sorry that I thought you were the servant of that man with the carrot nose,” the human apologized to the robot.

Unana finished eating and noticed a robotic buyer standing near the threshold of the kitchen. The girl remembered how he came to her at the station at night, and felt alarmed. Unana crawled to her brother on all fours and hid behind him.

“I have news,” the robot said. “Kuttanai can now go outside his home.”

“What?” Ikte asked. “Did someone guess the password? Suturu and Aibi cannot do this.”

“I don’t know who did it,” the robot answered. “I just saw Kuttanai near the river. There was no one with him.”

“Kuttanai couldn’t unblock himself,” Ikte said. “What you say is difficult to believe.”

Yueret heard what the doll and the robot were talking about, but could not understand what happened. The guy hugged his little sister and tried to support her at this difficult moment.

“I need to check the information that the robot provided,” Ikte thought. “If I feel that the signal has strengthened, then Kuttanai has truly become free.”

Soon Unana released her brother and went to the refrigerator. Yueret realized that everything was fine with his sister and went to the exit of the house...

… It was raining. Halankuo stood on the porch and looked at the raindrops that fell from the awning onto the paving stones.

“In this weather, it is better not to go to your former village,” Yueret turned to the girl.

“Why?” Halankuo asked.

“The road there passes through a living village. There were only old people left there. It's better not to go through this place. Local residents do not like people walking on their territory.”

“Is it possible to walk here?”

“Nobody lives in this village except me and my little sister. Therefore, there is nothing to be afraid of here. It's better not to go there, especially in this weather. There are no good roads to your former village, only paths that get wet from the rain.”

“You’re so worried about me,” Halankuo blushed and turned away.

Yueret felt something grab him by the ends of his hair and lift him up. The guy screamed and tried to free himself, but he couldn’t.

“Kyotyoryon, let him go,” Halankuo asked.

“I’m testing a new skill,” the voice of the spirit of metal was heard from behind Yueret. “I wasn’t able to grab a creature with a metal hand before, but now I’ve succeeded.”

Kyotyoryon actually stood behind Yueret and held him with a metal hand from the back of his neck.

“Let me go,” Yueret groaned. “Now my younger sister will come, and...”

Unana appeared behind Yueret with a small black bow in her hands, loaded with a white-blue arrow. The girl had an angry facial expression.

Kyotyoryon looked at Unana and released Yueret. The metal hand went back to the neck.

“You are with her again,” Unana said. “I warned you that because of other girls, something bad could happen to you.”

“I’m fine,” Yueret replied. “I just told our guests that it’s better not to walk through that very village in this weather.”

“Scary stories usually start like this,” Unana’s face stopped looking angry. “Let's go into the house. The doll wants to talk to us.”

The brother and sister went to the kitchen, where a doll with red hair was sitting at the table.

“I have bad news,” Ikte said. “I checked the information from the robot buyer. And it was confirmed. Looks like someone hacked the passwords that kept him from leaving the house.”

“Will he come here?” Yueret asked.

“I don’t know,” Ikte answered. “Kuttanai might try to take your sister away. He collects dolls simply because he likes them, although battle dolls are designed for battle.”

“It’s disgusting,” Yueret said. “I don’t want to meet him again. He's disgusting.”

“And creepy,” Unana added.

“After the release of Kuttanai, I felt that the signal strengthened,” Ikte said. “My little brother’s nose is constantly transmitting a signal. Previously the signal was weak. Only dolls and robots felt it. Now the walls of his house no longer block the signal, and even people at a distance can sense it. And if they can feel it, they can fall under its influence.”

“Can the signal affect living beings?” Yueret asked.

“Yes,” Ikte answered. “But the signal can only control those living beings that have a low level of feelings. It’s even easier with dolls, because their level of all feelings is as low as possible. While Kuttanai was locked in his house, I could resist the influence of the signal because I am older than him in age. But now I'm not sure if I can resist the signal. If the signal gets stronger, I may obey it. That's why I need to leave here.”

Unana smiled. The archer had long wanted the guests to leave her house, and she was left alone with her brother.

Ikte went out into the corridor where Kyotyoryon and Halankuo were standing.

“I can deliver you through the air to your former village, if you agree,” the doll said. “But I can only take one person with me.”

“Kyotyoryon can fly in battle form,” Halankuo twirled a strand of hair around her finger. “You’ll just have to take me. But how will you deliver to me?”

Ikte's pupils turned purple. Halankuo's body rose to the ceiling and hung there.

“It’s a little scary,” Halankuo noted. “But if you don’t lift me too high, then I will agree.”