Eidos

Chapter 5: The Story of Ro

Chapter 5:The Story of Ro

"Ronaphanes Ronan, but instead of having two names everyone just started calling me Ro."

The white bark door was closed behind them as they entered Ro's hidden refuge. It was much bigger than Harmonia had expected. Yet with the amount of strange contraptions and odd gadgets littering the room there was little space left for anything else. Tubes connected pans to beakers which contained a peculiar looking golden liquid. There were wooden pulleys and metal tripods stacked one on top of the other. A nearby pile of junk held the remains of a dismantled contraption that had needed wings. But what had caught her attention above all else was the white planks that poked through the wall; this was end of the watery trail that had led them to Mine.

"So you're the one who built that weird thinger in the mountains!" declared Harmonia.

"Ah," answered Ro finally taking off his comically large goggles, "You mean the aqueduct. I guess if you found it. That means there will soon be others too. I worked so hard to try and keep it hidden but...."

"No, no, no," interjected Harmonia. "You did a great job. No one would be crazy enough to take that same trail."

"Chirp, cheep-cheep, chirrup," Bird answered in acknowledgement before landing upon a steel doohickey.

"How did you even get all the way up there? You must have had a few people helping you right?" the curiosity was starting to boil in her stomach.

"Nope," answered Ro while placing a white weathered lab coat over his ragged outfit. "It was just me. I don't really have any friends in Mine. The other children just work all day."

"You did all of this by yourself!?" she exclaimed in shock. "It must have taken you years! And how did you even learn how to do all of this stuff?"

"Ha," chuckled Ro turning to face his guests. "My uncle did most of the work. It was actually me who was helping him. The Corporations used to call him a...what was the word...a genius!"

"Your uncle?" a habituated suspicion took over. "I thought you said you lived alone down here? What's the real story and what are you trying to hide?"

"Sorry that's my fault," Ro began scratching his head. "My uncle used to live here but he doesn't anymore. I'm sorry. I keep forgetting other people can't hear the thoughts in my head. You don't know what I know. It's been a long time since I've talked to anyone else besides myself. I must sound pretty confusing, huh?"

"You don't have to explain yourself to me. Before I met Bird I didn't have any friends, well besides my Grandpa George. I used to talk myself for hours and hours. If anyone would have walked by at the right time they would have thought I was crazy."

Ro only smiled, the thought was more than comforting, "Speaking of your friend Bird, how did you come across him?"

"Oh it's not a him, it's an 'it', in a manner of speaking. I'm not sure if it's a girl or boy, so I just call it Bird," confessed Harmonia. "And it found me. When I was travelling along the top of the jagged mountains I found it by a pool of fresh water. Since then, Bird and me have been inseparable. Right Bird?"

"Chirrup, cheep-cheep, chirrup," it sang in gleeful reply.

"Amazing. I have never gotten a chance to see a real life red-feathered skylark before they vanished. Fascinating!" Ro moved in closer to examine its feathers as Bird stared back. "This is a fine specimen. Bright white plumage on its underbelly, very unique pattern of brown designs amongst the whites, and its feathers, the way they almost seamlessly blend into one another is magnificent. Bird must have been able to hide perfectly amongst the red leaves of our trees. After all, it is their main source of defence from other animals, or was anyways."