The sun brightly peered through the trees, casting golden rays onto the grass where Rane Carson lay, fast asleep next to the fallen tree. Boyd Viotto stood not too far away, strapping a worn gun-holster onto his right leg. He leaned over and picked up the laser-pistol perched on the edge of the fallen tree beside him, sliding it into his holster. Taking his trenchcoat by the lapels, he pulled it forward to conceal the gun before glancing over at Rane; he was secretly hoping she’d seen his “impressive” moves. 

      Cy stood a few feet away, with a large brown knapsack strapped to the back of his metal frame. He knelt to the creek that flowed nearby and began washing out an iron skillet filled with the remnants of dinner the night before. Once all the contents had been thoroughly washed out, Cy gave the pan a few good whacks against his arm, shedding several droplets of water before turning and tossing it in Boyd’s direction. CLANG! It hit him squarely on top of the head! “CY!” screamed Boyd at the top of his lungs. Cy gasped and hurriedly clomped over to where Boyd was standing, holding the skillet out in an accusing manner. “This yours?!”

      “My apologies, Boyd Francis Viotto,” stammered Cy, desperately attempting to gloss over what he had done.

      “Ow!” snarled Boyd as Cy took the skillet from his hands, allowing them to rub his injured head. 

      Cy glanced over at Rane who hadn’t stirred at all and was still fast asleep in the grass. He gestured to her with the pan, “Are we going to wake the female?”

      “Rane!” sighed Boyd. “Her name is Rane.”

      “I fail to see how her name affects the obvious actuality that she is of the female gender.” snapped Cy. 

      “And I fail to see why you deem it necessary to call her ‘the female’ when she has a name!” He paused for dramatic effect. “Rane!”

      “Scientific proof shows that dolphins name each other, but you humans never refer to them by their names.”

      “Yes. But she’s not a dumb dolphin. And we know her name!”

      Cy shrugged. Arguing with Boyd was useless. “Name or not, I require your response.”

      “Yes, you can go wake her up.” 

      “Very well.” Cy swung his right arm outward and slapped the skillet back into the arms of Boyd before stomping over to where Rane lay. He leaned down, firmly gripping her by the shoulders, and shook her violently! “Wake up, female! Wake up!” 

      “What the–?!” Rane jumped awake, lashing out at Cy and shoving his lanky metallic arms away from her! Wide-eyed, she leaped to her feet, looking like she was about to kill someone!

      Cy held out his hands in a friendly and calming manner. “Do not be alarmed,” he reassured her. “It is Cy. Boyd Francis Viotto’s faithful bodyguard.” Rane settled down; her eyes weren’t as wild as they had been moments before, and she had visibly come to her senses. “My internal scanner’s processor indicates that you remember me.”

      Rane serenely nodded. “I do.” Cy seemed to be content with her curt reply. He nodded and awkwardly strode back over to where Boyd stood, turning his back and allowing Boyd to begin fastening the skillet to the knapsack. Rane watched them with absolute confusion; she rubbed her eyes and blinked in the bright sunlight. “What are you doing?”

      “Oh, we’re going on a run.” Boyd proudly stated.

      Rane raised an eyebrow. “A run?”

      “Yeah, there’s plenty of useful supplies out by the ruins.” retorted Boyd, just as he finished fastening the skillet to the back of the knapsack. 

      Cy leaned back, allowing Boyd to begin loosening the pack on his back, all the while jabbering, “I like to refer to our little missions as ‘scavenger hunts’, but Boyd Francis Viotto doesn’t like that,” Boyd finally got the pack loose enough and he pulled it off of Cy’s back, placing it onto his own. Cy turned and stepped back, taking up a position near Rane. “He still calls them ‘runs’.”

      “That’s because scavenger hunts are games,” huffed Boyd, tightening the leather straps on his pack. “These missions are not games.”

      “But referring to said missions as ‘scavenger hunts’ adds a colorful addition to our otherwise dull-sounding duties!” whined Cy. Boyd rolled his eyes - this robot truly was something else.

      A smile crept over Rane’s face and she giggled, pointing a finger at Cy, “I kinda like the way ‘scavenger hunt’ sounds, to be honest.”

      Cy turned and skeptically stared at Rane with his massive unblinking eyes. “Hah!” he exclaimed. “The female has expressed agreement!”

      “You agree with this crazy machine?!” snapped Boyd, staring at Rane in utter disbelief. 

      Rane laughed. “Hey, I’m just sayin’. ‘Scavenger hunt’ makes it sound cooler!”

      Boyd shook his head, snatching an empty canteen off of the fallen tree. “Call it whatever you like,” he sighed. “Let’s get going.”

      “There is much to accomplish.” nodded Cy. The two of them turned and strolled off, leaving Rane to follow along behind. 

       “Uh, are we going to eat breakfast?” stammered Rane.

      Cy turned back to face, pointing one of his metallic fingers in her direction, “Boyd Francis Viotto already consumed his morning meal while you were fast asleep.”

      “Yeah,” Boyd sheepishly grinned. “Uh, you were out cold.”

      “I calculate that you will have to wait until midday arrives before we are ready to dine again.” 

      Boyd came to an abrupt halt. Holding up one of his hands, he barked. “Cy…Shut up! Grab a wheat-snap from the back and give it to her.”

      “As you wish,” grumbled Cy. He reached forward, taking the canteen from Boyd, and carelessly tossed it back in Rane’s general direction. Unzipping one of the pockets on the knapsack, Cy retrieved a sticky square-shaped object. It was brownish, lumpy, and covered in what appeared to be whole wheat grain. Turning, he chucked it at Rane too. 

      Rane caught both the canteen and the wheat-snap before giving Cy a loathsome glare. Hesitantly, she lifted the brownish square to her lips and took a small bite. A terrible creamy flavor assaulted her taste buds and she choked, “Ew! What’s in these things?!”

      “It’s a secret recipe.” Boyd smiled, proudly. He turned and continued walking forward.

      Cy shrugged, before turning to follow Boyd.  “The crickets and cockroaches add a rather delightful consistency to them, don’t you think?” 

     Rane almost puked. She instantly spat the foul mush out of her mouth and onto the ground. Wiping her tongue with her shirt sleeve, she attempted to rid herself of the horrendous taste that still plagued her mouth. Angrily, she hurled the remnants of the wheat-snap at Cy, striking him in the back of the leg. When he turned to glare at her, she had averted her eyes and was looking at the trees around them. “So where to, first?” she innocently asked, trying to change the subject so Cy would stop staring.

      “Oh, we’re going to go get our rides,” Boyd answered.

      Rane’s face wrinkled up into a confused look. “Rides?”

      Boyd snapped a finger and turned back to look at her with a childish grin. “You’ll see.” Rane couldn’t help but smile too - his enthusiasm was undeniably contagious. As they moved forward, Cy reached over and shoved Rane. She looked up at him as if to ask, What did I do? Then she laughed, realizing that he was still butthurt about the wheat-snap.