A Construct in a Box: Plot - A Construct in a Box

Oria was glad for her thick sleeves protecting her from the cold night air as she walked gingerly across the huge deck of an airship. 

An airship! 

The wind buffeted against the backs of her curls, assuring her that this was in fact real. She had known she would see incredible and strange things as she traveled, but she had never thought she would be on a ship this big, nevermind it flying through the skies. 

She was here for a reason. She was supposed to be getting the hang of these portals and meeting new people. She hadn’t had much of a connection with anyone since she had left her clan. 

She reached up and rolled her hair wrap between her fingers, an ache in her heart as she touched it. It was probably just hurting her more, keeping the hair wraps in, but she couldn’t let go of them. They were a symbol. They told everyone around her who she was. Oria Pallerd…..

No. Just Oria now. The snow elves were fastidious in their connections, especially after so many years of bloodshed. They had new ceremonies for when children wanted to renounce their families and their beliefs or when parents felt the child needed to be cut off. Oria had gone to her ceremony. Watched her name being removed from the books. They took her ceremonial hair wraps, leaving her with her common use wraps under the understanding that she would burn them since she was the one who initiated the ceremony. 

She tried. But she hadn’t been able to that night on the cold mountain face, crying until there were jewels of ice all down her front. 

So, yes, she needed connections but all she could find herself doing was walking back and forth across the deck, feeling the sway of the ship with each gust of wind and looking over the edges down into the clouds, glimpsing the inhospitable planet below. 

As she was pacing back to the other side, she heard a grinding sort of chirp. She tipped her head, pointed ears snapping up. 

She turned and followed the little sounds. She couldn’t identify what it was, but it did sound distressed. 

Finally, she found herself in the forest of boxes and crates that were stacked towards the front of the ship. There were a couple of workers there, but they ignored her, obviously not paid enough to really care what she was up to, and she seemed harmless enough. 

She poked around the crates, listening for the buzzing sound until she passed it. She stopped and turned to a small crate. It was vibrating as something inside beat on it, but it didn’t appear to be having any luck getting out. 

Oria checked her surroundings before crouching. She touched the box, letting water leak into the cracks and freeze all at once, splintering the box and loosening the lid. 

The top came off as the creature inside pushed itself out and rolled to the ground. 

It was a smooth metal creature, round with a flared bottom out of which came two segmented arms. 

It hummed lowly, little metal sensors flashing with relief as its clawed hands reached out for her. 

She picked up the little construct, her thumb running over the engravings on its flare. K80. 

“Are you alright?” she whispered, moving to get away from the destroyed box. 

The little bot buzzed again, though it looked exhausted as it clutched at her clothing. 

“You can stay with me for a little, then,” she whispered, opening her bag for the bot to stay in. 

The construct whirred softly and gratefully and Oria quickly went to find her way to a quiet place to plan their next move. 

She found an empty room further into the ship, a rather roomy supply closet, and she locked the door with a spike of ice as a door stop after stepping inside. 

She opened her bag to get a better look at the construct. The little bot was painted a silvery blue color, but it had chipped off in a couple of places. Underneath the metal looked a bit corroded, though Oria didn’t really know enough about machines to guess if it was damaged in any other way. 

The construct whirred sleepily at her as she pulled it out of her bag, cleaning its sensors with the edge of her shirt. 

“Why were you trapped in there little buddy?” she murmured, mostly to herself. 

That got the construct’s attention. The bot, after a moment of concentration and flashing lights, finally got a little holographic screen to appear in front of itself. There was a flash of confusing images before the screen went blank and words started typing themselves up. 

Kidnapped. What day is it?

“I have no idea what day it is in this world, I’m sorry,” she replied, glancing at the door to make sure no one would be coming in. 

K. Tired. Help me, please? My protector has money. 

“Oh, I don’t need money,” Oria assured the construct. “What’s your name?”

K80. Pronounced Kate-o. 

“K80. Okay,” she said with a little nod. “Why don’t you get some rest. You can stay with me and I’ll find you some help. I’m not good with little mechanisms and gears and such.”

Thank you. Thank you. 

“Of course,” she said, tucking him in her bag again and melting the ice at the door. “Now, let's see if I can find the portal back out of here.”

She stepped back out into the ship, looking around nervously before heading up to the deck. She was pretty sure she’d be able to sort out this whole portal business from there. 

As she came out, she spotted cleaning constructs sweeping across the deck, the sunrise peeking through the heavy grey clouds that spanned the horizon, coloring the bottoms pink and orange and lighting up the crates. Oria spared a moment to look at it before she tried to dig around in her back for her portal token to get back to her world. A helpful little metal claw put the triangle in her palm and she bit back a thank you as she passed by a worker, finding her way to this big ship’s official portal room, showing her pass to the tired worker about to end their shift. She was worried he would search her bag, but he didn’t seem to even care, waving her through easily when he saw the triangle, setting Oria free to escape with her precious cargo.