Camellia gazed out the window and watched for their stop. They had a mere five minutes to wait, and everyone was ready to get off the train. No one particularly wanted to enter the Animatronic Jungle, but they would.

Eva described it as a terrifying tribute to nature, somewhere between fantasy and reality. They would find elements of southern and northern landscapes as well as animals, real and imagined.

Loopy cruised to a stop and announced in a spooky tone, “Animatronic Jungle. Enjoy your stay.”

The team exited the train and stepped onto the platform. Loopy had instructions to see them to their destination. Then, Loopy would leave and cruise his route at a slow pace. They wanted Loopy to make the rounds and meet them back at the platform in case they came his way again.

Before Loopy could leave, Camellia ran to the train’s face. In Lurrien, she asked, “Loopy, what are your names?”

The train turned its large eyes to Camellia, moving only the pupils.

His smile stayed wide, until he spoke. “You know me. I’m Loopy. Call the other trains Zigzag and Sleepy. If you need to get somewhere in Lurren, we’re here to help.” Loopy’s eyes faced forwards. “I will do my route and continue to send false data.”

“Thank you.” Camellia stepped back and waved weakly.

Loopy sped into the tunnel, and Camellia felt her hair follow the breeze. She felt good to have solved one mystery, however small.

“What’d you say?” Meladee asked with narrow eyes.

Camellia turned. “Loopy, Zigzag, and Sleepy. Those are their names. Loopy also promised to send more false data to central.”

“Zigzag,” Eva repeated. “I knew Zaggy wasn’t right.” She walked to the station stairs and stopped short.

A little green parrot fluttered from one step to another. Each time it landed, it blinked, and a thin, eerie eyelid slid over glassy eyes.

Eva warned, “Stay clear of the bird.”

On the ride over, Eva told them the story of the jungle, not in a coherent format, but in bits and pieces of memory. Camellia equated it with some of the darker tales told around Tagtrumian campfires. Except, Eva’s story was real, if half-remembered.

Sten stayed well away from the stairs. “Eva? Can we review what happened here one more time?”

So, they would hear it again…

Eva began, “I was young. It was the start of Ul’thetos’ reign, but I didn’t know it. I watched a news program, something like Girandola’s moving pictures. Somewhere nearby, Cereus fixed the dishwasher. The reporters said the animatronic jungle mysteriously became a place of nightmares. The animatronics malfunctioned or worked within new programming. No one knew Ul’thetos was to blame – not at first. On the screen, the newscasters showed images taken from the jungle’s own interior cameras. Cereus joined me, and together we saw an aerial view from inside the dome. Birds swarmed and beasts stampeded in circles. They raced through the artificial landscape like angry merry-go-round animals. Eventually, they went quiet, and the jungle closed.”

Camellia imagined herself trapped in the animatronic jungle. Reflexively, she made herself small. That version of the story had been Eva’s best rendition yet.

Camellia looked at the little bird. It hopped and fluttered from step to step. It seemed so life-like and not at all like a bird from Eva’s memory.

Sten prepared to move around the bird, wary and slow. “At least we can expect the entrance to be open if we see this little guy down here.”

The bird stopped and looked at Sten.

“How do the robots track us?” Benham asked.

Eva didn’t take her eyes from the bird. “They’ll have vision like ours. Some might have heat vision or night vision. I do remember...if the lights go out, the animatronics freeze. It’s a safety measure to prevent them from trampling visitors.”

Again, Camellia imagined the stampede. She feared to be trampled by a great Iruedian beast or caught by a big cat. Or worse, sucked into an aquatic netherworld.

“Eva, is there any water inside?” Camellia prayed not.

Electronics didn’t seem to like water. But, Camellia thought it wise to ask, since her own dislike of water had grown recently.

Eva shook her head. “No, no water.”

Camellia sighed.

“But, there will be simulated water.”

Camellia stiffened. “Simulated?”

“Yes, in some places, you might see illusory bodies of water, created with patterned, moving lights. Don’t step into them. They are holes, some deeper than others. There are also other water substitutes. In general, stay away.” Eva continued to watch the green bird.

It fluttered over their heads and perched on a rail some distance away.

Meladee spread her hands and shrugged. “Wonderful, so how do we get through this? Turn off all the lights? Invisibility spell?”

Eva shook her head. “No, invisibility won’t serve us here. They’ll hear you breathe.”

“Okay...invisibility plus silence,” Meladee said. “They won’t see or hear us coming.”

Eva paused a long time. “No.”

Camellia’s heart beat fast. She would feel much safer if the robots couldn’t interact with them. “Eva, I think we need some way to hide. What if they…”

Eva shook her head. “No. We can make ourselves silent and invisible, but they have ways to know where we are. There are sensors in the floor, designed to respond to pressure. I remember, Cereus knew where one was, and we avoided it because I didn’t like the attraction.” Eva looked through Camellia, not seeing her at all. “Other sensors have been placed into walls or scenery. Some are designed to capture breath or heat.” Eva’s eyes snapped to Meladee. “How silent and non-existent can you make us?”

Meladee looked grim. “I can’t do all of that.”

“No, you can’t. We might as well save the magic. I think they’re less likely to lose their minds if they can see what triggers their sensors. We’ll face them as we are.” Eva started for the stairs.

Camellia knew she wore a face of extreme anxiety. She looked at Adalhard and saw sympathy. She looked at Meladee and saw a mirror of her expression, plus a little grim frustration. She looked at Sten, and he just seemed wary, like he had a doctor’s appointment. Finally, Camellia exchanged a glance with Benham and was surprised to see him thinking hard, brow deeply knit.

“I feel very under confident about this place,” Benham said. “The way you talk about it… I don’t know. It’s like you’re afraid.”

Eva nodded. “Even before the animals went mad from Ul’thetos’ influence, I feared it.”

Camellia stuck close to Adalhard.

“So, now you want my protection?” he said quietly.

“No.” Camellia shook her head. “Well, yes, but not at this time. It’ll be dark in there. I’m offering you mine.”

“I accept.” Adalhard drew his magic gun. “But, just the same, I think I’ll go in armed, especially since you’re shaking.”

“Stay quiet.” Eva took the first step up.

The others ascended in her wake. They exited the stairs, not into an open train station or a dark, frightful jungle. They found themselves in a welcome center, partially lit by the emergency lights from the platform below.

Camellia shone her quivering flashlight into the room and saw old posters and displays, well preserved. She and Adalhard lingered, and Camellia admired a poster for an animatronic circus. Then, she set her light ahead.

A tree sculpture stretched over a welcome arch, complete with gnarls and curling leaves. That was the way up.

Eva stood at the tree’s threshold. She peered beyond. “I think the power is on. I see light.”

Sten joined Eva. “I agree. That’s one less thing we have to do.”

Camellia shivered. She moved her light away and searched for Meladee. Camellia almost laughed.

Meladee scuttled over to the gift shop and silently clapped her hands. A treasure trove of century old stuffed animals gazed at the visitors. Touched only by the stale air, the animals looked dusty but certainly unused. Meladee picked up a lion and showed it to Benham. He seemed disgusted but took it and dusted it off. Together, mage and man stuck the plush thing inside Meladee’s bag. Meladee also pillaged a stained glass wind chime, a set of plastic animals, a set of glasses, and several pins and pendants.

Camellia caught the glint from most of the items. The wind chime, she heard.

Eva crossed her arms and shook her head. She walked the lobby and pointed. “A few loose over here.”

With her shaking light, Camellia tracked them. A baby hippo wandered the cafeteria, separated from the lobby by a waist-high dividing wall. With some trepidation, Camellia enjoyed the baby hippo’s antics, but she worried the mother might come, however artificial the relationship might be. Several birds explored the rafters, and Sten showed Camellia a fish flopping along the hall. Just what Camellia needed to see – evidence of the water exhibits and nearby the entrance.

Sten leaned very close to Eva. He placed his lips over her ear.

Camellia still heard his words.

Sten said, “They seem calm. Completely within their programming.”

Eva shook her head, but reluctantly, she admitted, “Maybe, they’ve recovered.”

Nearby the arch, Camellia watched a parrot. It stood completely still, decked out in the same shade of brown as the tree. She looked closer and saw wood grain. Camellia determined that the parrot was no robot, just a carving. She gently touched a feather.

The bird attacked. It peeped wildly.

Camellia let out one soft cry and threw her arms over her face. Then, she suffered silently before Eva snatched the tiny bird.

Eva silenced the robot just as the other birds chirped and threatened to join its dance.

Camellia breathed hard. “I’m sorry. I thought it was a carving. It looked just like the tree.”

“It’s alright. Many animals have fanciful qualities.” Eva patted Camellia’s arm and put the broken bird on the ticket counter. “Don’t touch anything that looks like an animal. They are all robots. And, I think we’ve determined that they’re still a danger.”

Yes, Camellia agreed. They’ve gone mad.

Adalhard gently tugged on Camellia’s chin and turned her face to his. He studied her.

“I’m fine,” Camellia whispered. She hid her arms, which she knew had received the brunt of the attack. They stung.

Adalhard took another look at Camellia. He grabbed her arm and turned it over, noticing the tears in her sleeves. He didn’t say anything, but he did stay close.

Very thorough, Florian. I shouldn’t hide things from you. Camellia thought of the Obsidian Mirror, and her thoughts took on a guilty tinge.

Eva stood at the tunnel and beckoned. Everyone joined her and collected themselves into a tight group.

Eva said, “I don’t like to take the bombs in so soon, but we really have no choice. We need to get in, find the northernmost edge, and get out. We’ll have to cut our way through several feet of concrete.”

“I’m aware,” Sten said. The decay bomb was strapped to his back, and he carried a cutting device as well as some explosives.

On his back, Adalhard carried the wormhole bomb and kept his magic firearm in hand.

Under the archway, Eva took the first step into the animatronic jungle. She led them into the tunnel, and each step was darker than the last.

Camellia found herself at the rear of the group. All light disappeared. One by one, her friends shut off their flashlights and navigated by the low light ahead.

Camellia focused on the end of the passage and saw subtle, colored glows. Purple emanated from the distance, and light of blue and green hovered over the foreground. A red light winked on an off.

They reached the halfway point, and Camellia could just see the shapes of trees and bushes. With each step, the scenery came into view, and finally, Camellia’s friends stopped at the entrance to the jungle. She was the last to join them.

Animal noises permeated the air. The group huddled under another arch and another tree. Before them rose a lush, surreal landscape, half-tropical and half-temperate. The warm air smelt stale, and several animatronics skittered by. Lizards, salamanders, waving flowers, and giant bugs greeted them, acting their parts.

Above them, the dome towered, lit by artificial stars, not the galaxies that traveled across Iruedim’s sky. Camellia wondered if the sky she now saw reminded Lurriens of their home through the wormhole.

Below the sky, everything was dark, except for glowing bugs, flowers, and strategic pathway lights. The lights glowed, high in tree trunks and low in the grass. Camellia saw light of every color.

The whole scene was artificial but not in the sense that it was waxy or plastic. The plants and animals were heightened versions of themselves, cleaner and more attuned to the imagination, perfect like a picture. The tree where Camellia laid her hand lacked the roughness of bark. Instead, it had a rippling texture, alluring beneath her fingers. The moss that she caressed lacked the often unexpected sticky or prickly sensations of a wild plant, and the flower that she stroked had perfect petals, devoid of pollen. The petals felt springy to her touch rather than delicate and limp.

“Evidently, we do find ourselves in the dark,” Sten spoke softly.

“Not dark enough to shut down the animatronics. This level of lighting is normal.” Eva stepped out from under the arch, but she sheltered beneath the artificial tree’s leaves.

“Damn, how dark does it get?” Meladee whispered.

Eva glanced back. “When I referred to dark, I meant total darkness.” Eva turned away and searched the pretend landscape.

“This won’t make them freeze?” Camellia asked.

“No,” Eva answered.

Camellia put a hand to her cheek. She imagined what it would be like to navigate this place in total darkness, with nothing but a flashlight. In her mind, she saw her light rove over trees, flowers, and tiny reptiles. They would move when the light touched them. Finally, she pictured her light as it illuminated a long-fanged beast.

Someone’s shoe scraped the floor, and Camellia jumped.

Sten gestured to multiple paths. “We could cover more ground.”

Eva shook her head no.

Adalhard and Benham checked modern compasses, designed to show the way through even a large metal structure, like the dome. Benham pointed them forward, toward a stone path. Adalhard nodded his agreement. Benham led, and he turned their steps northward.

Camellia followed. As she walked the path of stone, she reclassified the material. They did not walk on real stone but instead some kind of soft rubber. She felt her feet squish the irregular tiles. Camellia watched waving grasses, knowing the grass would always stay the same length. And, she wondered how it could wave with no wind. Then, she spotted the artificial gusts, blown from holes in tree roots, trunks, and rocks. The concept was clever but so strange.

In silence, Benham steered them towards the northernmost wall. Benham tried to cut through the center, but Eva kept pulling him and the others around the edge. She wove between knolls of soft moss and waterfalls of fine blue beads.

The beads gushed, almost to the same tune of water. Camellia studied them and watched pools and rivers move in a kind of current. Little fish poked their heads above the beads. To Camellia’s comfort, the beaded rivers and falls were always small, probably to conserve resources.

Camellia’s eyes widened. She spotted a river of light. Much bigger than the beaded rivers, it was beautiful, in an awe-inducing kind of way.

They passed the watery section and crossed into the forest. Firebugs blinked in the darkness, and the path itself glowed. Camellia peered into the woods and saw a green, moss covered woman look back. The woman’s eyes glowed softly, and Camellia held her breath.

The thing crawled closer.

“Eva,” Camellia whispered.

Eva turned and spotted the nymph. When Eva looked at it, the nymph froze and waited. It tested Eva and crawled a few paces closer.

“That’s fucking creepy.” Meladee moved behind Benham.

Adalhard pushed Camellia to the back as well. She did not object. The way the nymph crawled reminded her of starving vampires, looking for anything to eat.

“Eva, let me.” Sten gently moved Eva to stand with her companions.

Eva grabbed his arm. “You have the bomb.”

“I’m designed for greater than average strength. I doubt this creature has the same specifications.”

Eva fell silent.

The nymph made its way towards the group, and Sten took a step forward. The nymph stopped. Adalhard and Benham joined him, and the nymph began to crawl back.

Camellia exhaled. She thanked their luck. Apparently, they had found the most easily intimidated synthetic in the whole jungle.

“Why the hell is that thing trying to pick a fight with us?” Meladee asked.

“I don’t know. But, they shouldn’t get too close. It might go off program…” Eva took a step after their men.

Hands shot down from the trees. They grabbed Eva, and Eva disappeared into the canopy.

Camellia got no time to scream. She found herself pulled off the ground, up into the canopy, and across the dome. From the sound of Meladee’s cries, she experienced the same.

Still, Camellia didn’t scream. Monkey noises surrounded her and made the situation seem too ridiculous.

Monkeys. Peoples all over Iruedim generally thought of them as a nuisance. Despite all anthropologists could learn from primates, the animals were like people without rules or society, and more than a few anthropologists wondered who brought the things through the wormhole in the first place. To make matters worse, Iruedim had many species of primates. Too many to pin on any one ship. The poor judgment could be laid at the feet of many colonists.

Camellia dropped into the grass with an oof.

She snatched up a stick and found it rooted to a fake tree. She snapped it free. With her damaged property, Camellia swung at the monkeys. They laughed their monkey laughs and gave her space. Nearby, Eva swatted them with her staff. Meladee just tried to recover herself. Between Camellia’s angry swings and Eva’s practiced defense, the monkeys retreated and went on their way.

Camellia caught her breath.

Eva searched their surroundings.

Meladee muttered. “What the hell just happened?”

“We tripped a sensor,” Eva growled. “Monkey attack. Luckily, they stuck to their programming.”

Camellia brushed hair out of her face. “They’re very well programmed. Just like the real thing.”

“So, that’s the sensor you hated?” Meladee sighed. “I can see why. I wish we had Cereus here to remember where it was...then, this wouldn’t have happened.”

“That wasn’t the attraction I hated.” Eva shook her head. “The attraction I hate is more towards the center, and we happen to be in the area.”

Camellia’s heart pounded. She watched small animals flee for holes. Bugs disappeared into crevices, and flowers closed. Lights winked out or dimmed, and the air grew still and quiet. Camellia breathed hard. Predator.

In that instant, her companions also picked up on the atmosphere.

“Ghost?” Meladee worried.

Eva said only, “This part is very familiar.”

A deep voice growled from above, somewhere atop a knoll. “I hear you there in the forest. You whisper, but I know you are there.”

They froze, and Camellia and Meladee turned to Eva for an explanation.

“Big bad wolf,” Eva said in a hush. She grabbed her friends’ arms.

With wild eyes, they all searched for the beast.

A huge, black wolf, like nothing in nature stood on the edge of a ridge. They would have to pass to it to reach their men. Camellia wasn’t sure, but from the way the wolves’ red eyes scanned the area, she thought it hadn’t seen them.

Eva must have believed the same. She pulled her friends off the path, and they tucked themselves under a knoll. With the wolf still between them and their menfolk, they pressed deep into the shadows. Moss and ferns covered their hiding place. Eva clutched her staff.

The wolf’s voice came through the dim air. “She called to me. Once. A grand experiment, but we can never be one with her. She has long since forgotten us inside this tomb.” The wolf paced.

Camellia’s body felt tight, too tight to shake. He talks about Ul’thetos. He thinks Ul’thetos is a she too.

“Unable to reach our instructor – the one who writes the stories for the day – I can only be expected to write my own.”

Camellia heard the wolf’s steps above them. From tremors through their the knoll’s support beams, she knew it was big.

“Do you know what it’s like? To receive messages every morning from your God? A path to take. Lines to say. And, then to have nothing? I can’t say I like the freedom, but I don’t hate it either.” The wolf jumped down from the knoll and landed in a big black bunch. Matted fur, bony hind legs, and a clumped tail swished mere feet from them. The wolf’s head whipped around, and red eyes found them.

Meladee and Camellia released choked screams. Eva thrust her staff forward and caught the wolf’s jaws around the crystal. Camellia got to her feet and helped Meladee. Together, they ran, and Eva yanked her staff free to follow.

The wolf followed close, but they dodged around a great tree, gaining some ground.

Eva ordered, “Steer clear of our friends, until we’ve lost him. They have our important cargo.”

Camellia obeyed and ran away from their men. Meladee seemed so out of sorts that she just followed Camellia. Meladee probably didn’t know which way to head to find their beaus anyway. Camellia pulled slightly ahead and tempered her speed to keep Meladee with her.

Behind, Meladee made sounds of spell casting. Camellia glanced back and saw a ring of chain links. The single circle flashed around the wolf’s feet, and chains rose around the robotic beast. The wolf went wild. It growled and tried to leap, but the chains held fast.

“Very short spell,” Meladee warned.

Eva pushed both women ahead of her and hustled them into a wood. They ran several paces. The wolf’s steps sounded behind, and above, birds fluttered in a spiral pattern. The excitement increased as smaller animals began to run in circles on the ground.

Merry-go-round, Camellia worried.

“Go,” Eva whispered.

“We could try to get back,” Camellia said.

“No, we don’t want to jeopardize the bombs. Now, get away from the swarm. Hope it doesn’t spread.” Eva pushed her friends far into the wood, and the sounds dimmed again. Eva didn’t pause, until she heard crickets. “He will hunt us, and we need to wait for that swarm to die down.”

Camellia leaned against a tree and breathed hard. “I’m ashamed to say, I might be lost.” She looked around at the dark wood, glimpsing palms in the distance. “I think it’s safe to say, this animatronic has gone quite mad.”

Meladee sat and rested. “I’ll try to organize a spell, just give me a second to find my breath – and all the memories I keep around when I’m out of survival mode.” Meladee shook. “God, these things are fast. They don’t give you time to think.”

“We’re close to the center. That’s a bad place to be,” Eva said. “We need to move on but quietly. Head to the western edge, and we can walk back on the outskirts. We don’t need any magic just yet.” She offered a hand.

Meladee took it, and Eva pulled Meladee to her feet.

A low growl came from the wood, and Camellia spotted the wolf’s red eyes. The giant robot bent low and prepared to chase them.

“Already…?” Camellia complained.

Again, they ran. This time, each woman guided herself. Camellia heard the wolf. It wove around the trees, too big to move quickly through this section. It snapped its jaws, but not at Camellia. She worried that her friends might not be okay, but she didn’t know which ways they ran. She heard footsteps and frightened breathing. She heard the ring of magic and the sound of Eva’s crystal staff and guns.

Soon, those sounds faded, and she heard only her footsteps and breathing. No screams reached her ears, and she felt that was a good sign. But, it wasn’t good to find herself so alone.