Davidia and the Prince of Triplock

by Ken Spargo

  ‘Is there any way that we can leave the valley?’ asked Grunt, whilst safely in the pool.

  ‘No one ever leaves the valley,’ replied Metroid. ‘We need to disassemble you and find out what special powers you have so that we might learn from them.’

  ‘So there is no chance of letting us go?’

  ‘None at all. Professor, get them out of there. Pull them apart. Do your duty. If you fail, you get no renewable electrical charges for two lights and darks.’ The Professor knew that missing out would mean that his system would be run down for quite a while.

  A huge, robotic, overhead crane that was used for retrieving the rusted robot parts, swung out over the pool. Davidia swam in circles avoiding its pincers. Grunt couldn’t swim, but float. He was an easier target. The pincers nabbed him. As he was hoisted upwards, he hung onto his necklace in case it fell off. He had a strange feeling. He hoped it was that he wouldn’t fall. His mind went blank. A strange rhythm beat incessantly in his head. It felt like his many brain cells were about to explode. A voice whispered, ‘Listen carefully.’ A flashing vision of five pulsating objects moving as one, appeared then vanished. He shook his frame, only to find himself on the floor again surrounded by Minjans, not Blenders. Escape was impossible. Davidia was still swimming. Her arms were tiring. She decided that she was clean enough to leave the pool.

  ‘Who has got my towel?’

  The Minjans had no idea what a towel was or what she was. They surrounded her as she dripped water on the floor. No one dared touch her whilst wet, otherwise doom would be their next visitor. Soon, she was dry enough to approach.

  ‘That was refreshing. Why don’t you all go for a swim? Your skin could certainly do with a shine.’

  The Minjans were truly intrigued in a communicating, independent life form. The last mobile transport back to the Fatigue Management Centre had already left. It meant a stay of one dark in the Minjans’ quarters, which were dotted around the Steel Tower of Minjocan.

  ‘You will stay with us for one dark and when we have the next light, you will both be examined by me,’ said the professor.

  ‘It’s not a dental appointment, is it? Have you been speaking to mum and dad? I was supposed to have my teeth checked this week. I hope I don’t miss my appointment.’

  No robot had any right of reply and here the professor was being badgered by a talking book called Davidia. The trip to the Minjan plug-in socket quarters was via a series of corridors. Batbit was flying quietly above the group. He dived down and landed in Davidia’s armpit. His sense of smell was acute, so he knew where he was. He was safe there where no one could see him.

  ‘What’s the rounded lump going to do to get us out of this mess?’ he said.

  ‘Shush,’ said Davidia. ‘He’s thinking.’

  ‘He won’t hurt anything by doing that, will he?’

  ‘I’m sure he has a clever plan. I want to go home.’

  Bzzt, bzzt, bzzt could be heard following them. The Minjans paid no attention as Blenders worked everywhere. Bzzt, bzzt, bzzt came closer. A Blender walked past and gave them a quizzical look. Batbit, at that very moment, peered out from odour heaven and noticed that it was Unitse. He pushed out a wing in greeting. Unitse recognised his friend. At the end of a long corridor there was a T intersection. The Minjans were expected to turn left toward their quarters. Unitse, by this time, was in front of Grunt and brushed his arm as he drew level with him. An explosion of kaleidoscopic proportions erupted in his head. One hand grabbed the U in his necklace and a word zipped down the slide of memory and said, ‘messenger.’ Grunt turned to see Unitse walking quicker than all the other robots. He was to be a decoy and lead the Minjans away from Davidia and Grunt, who could then escape or at least try to. He got ahead of the small party. At the T intersection, he indicated via his camera that he was Unitse. The relay to the Steel Tower of Minjocan was instant. A message was sent, ‘Get him.’ In the excitement of discovering the rogue Untonk, the Minjans forgot about Grunt and Davidia and now pursued Unitse.

  ‘This way,’ said Grunt, as the two of them ran down another long corridor. Everything seemed cloned. Once again the message, ‘listen carefully,’ hounded him.

  ‘What’s that noise?’ said Davidia, as a weird, continuous thumping sound could be faintly heard. ‘It’s coming from down there,’ she pointed.

  ‘I’m more concerned that Unitse may need our assistance. What if they catch him and disassemble him? I had a feeling when he passed me that perhaps he’s related,’ said Grunt.

  They all felt that Unitse was up to his “use by” date and the distraction he provided gave them time to consider their escape options. They didn’t have any, but the help was valuable anyway. It was almost a case of the blind leading the blind. The musical sound that they had heard was similar to the noises made when electrical impulses erupted each time an electrical charge was turned on to feed the Minjans. Could this be the base of their power source and if so, could it be used to change anything? It was tepid thinking, but in a predicament, it’s better to think a way out than pass it up.

  A massive, steel door barred the entrance to the Room of Misery. Grunt pushed hard against it. A sound could be heard from the other side. The door was immovable. Once again, another flash entered Grunt’s brains. It was an electronic sound. A vision of five pulsating objects also flashed past again.

  ‘My head hurts,’ he complained. ‘There are things happening in there that I don’t understand.’

  ‘What things, Mr Grunt? Maybe, I can help.’

  ‘Strange sounds and voices I’ve never heard before. They keep trying to tell me something.’

  ‘Maybe your necklace is a window into other worlds. Each time you touch it, you go all silly and quiet. All your outside bits disappear into a ball. Touch it again. It might calm you or tell us what to do,’ said Davidia, thoughtfully. ‘We mightn’t have much time if those dreadful Minjans come back. They have awful dress sense. I might be a small girl, but I already know how to dress well. Mum showed me on the internet how to bargain-shop.’ All of this was beyond the simple life that Grunt had lived and shared as a guardian. Maybe his world was also odd for Davidia.

  Grunt gave the U in his necklace a finger embrace. As sure as a pudding isn’t a souffle, Grunt’s body began its contortionist actions. There was no perfect ten in his poetic movements. A flash of light escaped from his circumference and hit a wall socket. Sparks flew haphazardly in different directions. A large popping sound was made. A robot was dancing in a wall cavity. Well, at least it moved to give that impression. It possessed a quizzical look. A message flashed across the small alcove, ‘Doof, Doof, beware, Doof, Doof.’ In a blaze of blinding brightness, the light retreated into Grunt’s circumference. He fell to the floor, smarting from the burn he felt.

  ‘I’m a lightening bolt,’ he said.

  ‘See, Mr Grunt, something always happens when you touch the necklace,’ said Davidia.

  ‘It looked like Unitse,’ screeched Batbit, who was having a quiet day with the word thoughts.

  ‘Did you see anything, Mr Grunt?’ asked Davidia inquisitively.

  ‘I had a magical, floating, feeling. Everyone was nice, but I wasn’t in this shape. I was different, I am different. I think I saw the real me. I didn’t know if it was, but it felt like it. The feeling gave me strength beyond what I thought I could do. I’m empowered.’

  ‘Wow! I must have one of them empowerments if it makes you feel so good, Mr Grunt.’

  The Doors to the Room of Misery beckoned them. Grunt felt as if something was pushing him into becoming powerful.

  He puffed out his rounded body into a huge balloon. It was difficult to walk, but he placed two hands on the huge doors and suddenly they both spat fire. The space where he had placed his hands were now two huge holes. Somehow he had oxyacetylened the doors. He repeated the treatment and once again his hands blazed with fire. There was no explanation as to how he had gained this extraordinary power. The doors to the Room of Misery
gave way. They walked into a massive room full of electrical impulses, which appeared to act nervously. Zap, zap, bzzt, bltts, ssstts were all mixed together. They stood gazing into a kaleidoscope of erratically behaving, light rays travelling around the room, as if following a lost leader.

  ‘That was amazing, Mr Grunt. Are your hands sore?’

  ‘No, believe it or not. I had a feeling I was being pushed.’

  Unfortunately for Grunt, Davidia and Batbit, they had entered the Minjans most dangerous space, where the light rays accompanied by strong, electrical sounds sent anything in the room insane. Minds were blown away after musical tampering. Robots were disfigured and malfunctioned as their electronics were destroyed with insidious vibrations. Life forms such as themselves, who can act independently, are warm-blooded and survive on a different motoring system, should fail to stand the powerful sounds produced by electronics. Perforated ear-drums, brain-cell destruction and choice of poor sounds should hasten their destruction – at least, that’s what the Minjans thought.

  In the Steel Tower of Minjocan, the Minjans had been tracking their every move. They sat smugly in their tin chairs, pressing buttons in safety, feeling victorious at having trapped the life forms. ‘Increase the volume.’

  They had failed to capture Unitse, who had once again blended into the mainstream of bland, clonic, Blender society. He would fool the Minjans for years to come waiting for his opportunity of control.

  However, unbeknown to Grunt, Unitse was important in his journey as he had provided assistance in finding the exit from the Valley of Undonko. The robot life was not for Grunt. As with the passage of history, where the past is brought to the present, Grunt’s father, Iglandus, had prepared well in advance for the hoped eventuality that one day Grunt would embark on a journey to discover himself. Support would materialise in many unusual ways and locations. It was time for the U in his necklace to be activated so his journey could continue.

  The Irrids had been keeping a close watch on the progress of Grunt and company. They considered that the deafening sounds would crack his resolve and destroy his capability to continue. He represented a fearful signal that if it ended up in their lands, it could spell disaster – DISASTER, in higher case lettering. The evil mists in the first two valleys had disappeared as impotent messengers to halt Grunt’s advancement.

  ‘Let the Doof, Doof free to wreak havoc and devastation,’ said the head Irrid, who was grossly unhappy. ‘They will not succeed.’

  The Minjans, who controlled the Steel Tower of Minjocan, suddenly had electrical interference. Were there beings in the universe stronger than them? There was an intruder in the force of their electrical sound waves. A huge attack in volume sent their sound signals in the Room of Misery off the Richter scale. No known living life form, as against a robotic one, stood any chance of survival.

  The doof, doof, beat consisted of repetitive, loud sounds, not necessarily classed as connected together. It sent fear through the mind of anyone who heard it. Its doom, doom, beat weighed heavy on any listener to understand what it was they were listening to.

  ‘What’s that dreadful sound?’ yelled Davidia at high pitch. No one responded.

  ‘What is it?’ It was impossible to communicate by sound. Davidia ran over to Grunt and took hold of a hand. He was confused and disturbed.

  ‘It’s awful, isn’t it?’ replied Grunt, having to cover his many ears.

  Davidia was aware of music at home. She’d often snuck into her brother, Dan’s, bedroom and turned on his CD player. It had also emitted brain-numbing sounds as she was currently hearing.

  ‘We call it music at home, but I doubt if this is. It’s boring. Doof, doof, doof. I can’t understand it.’

  Batbit shrunk in fear. It sounded far worse than his piercing screech.

  The Minjans thought that they were onto a winner. They believed the sound was so powerful and dreadful that it was a sure-fire success to destroy them.

  Suddenly, Davidia started to gyrate on her legs and sway from side to side. She began to hum and shake her head. The Minjans were totally lost. Was she collapsing in her final moments? It certainly looked like it. However, she kept the routine going for quite some time. She pretended that she was in a musical video game and got lost in all the sound. The Room of Misery was rocking. Even Grunt moved round, but it was more from trying to recognise if any ejector stones were hidden in the room. He had the capacity to shut down any ear and deny the sound entry. Batbit’s large ears were folded carefully to reduce the risk of damage. The three life forms continued to survive. The Minjans couldn’t believe it.

  ‘Increase the volume again.’

  The light and sound rays behaved frantically like a brides-maid elbowing her way to the front of the crowd trying to catch the bouquet. They criss-crossed each other as if duelling. It was becoming difficult to see clearly with all the coloured rays strobed across the room. The noise began to affect their judgement.

  ‘Mr Guzzle,’ stuttered Davidia, ‘Can I have a break from this noise?’

  The sound deliverers were pulsating wildly. They were placed all around the room at various heights. Grunt kept searching. He knew salvation was here somewhere. The noise stopped for a moment. Someone in Minjan management had accidentally hit the mute button. The sound deliverers continued unaffected except that they were silent.

  ‘Can you see a group of five of anything?’ asked Grunt.

  Davidia and Batbit could see zilch. The light had affected their sight. At that moment, the door burst open and in walked Metroid who posed an ominous figure.

  ‘Spray them,’ he commanded.

  A group of Minjans walked toward them armed with metro spray, which would render them incapable of movement. Batbit flew out of Davidia’s armpit directly towards a wall. He flew at lightening pace around the room having no idea what he was doing, although it felt good to stretch his wings. It was a desperate flight as his friends only had moments of freedom and life left. Above the entrance door he noticed five pulsating sound deliverers.

  ‘How many toes do I have? Not enough. How many toes does Grunt have? Too many. Davidia has, yes she has, five.’ He flew past one of Grunt’s ears and whispered a thought. ‘There’s a group of those sound things above the door, as many as Davidia has toes on one foot, just behind that big buffoon, Metroid. I’ll distract him.’

  The heroic little bat flew between Metroid’s legs and scratched his inner thigh. The unusual sound stopped Metroid and his advancing metro sprayers in their tracks. Grunt in the meantime had taken hold of Davidia’s hand. He knew it was time to unleash the power of Unitse, in the letter U of his necklace. He unscrewed the small container and spilt it on the floor. A yellow, rust-coloured liquid began to worm its way across the floor. A Minjan accidentally stepped in it and instantly changed colour. Its fine, steel colouring of morbid grey was now a bright, iridescent yellow. It reflected the brightest of light. The other Minjans’ steel jaws dropped with a clang onto their chests. The Room of Misery began to change colour too. It became a brilliant yellow. The magic of Unitse was loose. Metroid stood stunned.

  ‘Spray them immediately,’ he ordered again.

  The Minjans were too stunned to do anything except revel in their new appearance.

  ‘They have all turned the colour of my dress,’ said an excited Davidia.

  Grunt knew that time was short. He spun into his invisibility character and now stood behind Metroid at the front door.

  ‘Mr Metroid, we apologise for the shortness of our stay, but it’s time we left.’

  ‘Destroy them,’ he yelled ferociously.

  The doof, doof sound suddenly recommenced worse than ever. It started to shake the Room of Misery to its foundations. From all the sound deliverers in sequence blasted an electronic enemy of Grunt’s, which appeared as visions of thin, wispy, demonic forms searching for him. The brightness of the yellow room blurred their vision long enough for Grunt to place a hand on the five pulsating sound deliverers, which hadn’t
yet emitted their slayers of death.

  ‘You can’t steal them, Mr Grunt. The music might have been awful, but that doesn’t mean you need to take the amplifiers,’ said a twelve year old music expert.

  ‘This is our means of escape,’ replied Grunt. ‘I feel it.’

  ‘Look, everything is turning yellow. It’s my favourite colour.’

  Grunt pressed hard. The sound deliverers, which hid the secret ejector stones, gave way and once again a twirling journey began.

  ‘Not more headaches,’ wailed Davidia.

  The Valley of Undonko disappeared under a bright, yellow haze.

  An unhappy Irridia stood looking over her valley feeling as empty as a hole-riddled bucket. She breathed heavily with ice-cold breaths covering her thoughts. What is happening in her valley that worries her from the past? Her cold, unhappy eyes once held beauty and life. Now, a dark, bottomless depth seemed to have replaced any good. She brewed and stewed over the inability of her evil demons to destroy Grunt. Davidia would be collateral damage, which was of no interest to her. She vowed that Grunt must never make it back alive. He represented danger.

  'I can’t see. Who turned out the lights?’ asked Davidia, as she, Grunt and tiny Batbit hurtled through the atmosphere in between valleys.

  ‘There is no light in the dark zone,’ replied Grunt, as the breeze wrapped its movements around him.

  ‘How do we know where we are?’

  ‘You must rely on the goodness of the ejector stones that have saved us and sent us on this journey.’

  ‘Mum and dad always left a small lamp on for me at bedtime whenever it was this dark.’

  ‘Your world seems a nice place.’

  ‘My brother Dan is the favourite. He’s older than me.’

  ‘A favourite what?’ asked Grunt. He never had a favourite anything because he didn’t know what that was.

  ‘He gets to stay up later than I do. That’s all.’

  It was impossible to see any expressions in the dark. Davidia’s little eyes dropped some moisture. Maybe it was the wind causing the liquid loss.