My Faithful Friend Carballo

Carballo’s motor alloy shrieked again, empty of brai. However, in The Mountain, where all traces of mankind had disappeared, and where all flora and fauna had taken back their primal status, even metallic junk was as coveted as gold once was. This fact made Loren and Carballo perceive themselves as little more than exotic, extravagant, and unique beings, though there was no other being to which boast about such singularity: the winged rats rose in flight as soon as they spotted them; the Canis lupus barked or bit them (especially the latter); the other smaller, rounder Canis lupus, with a horizontally dichromatic tail and black eye mask, used to stole their body pieces; and, once, they had tried to establish a conversation with an equine, who demonstrated a very… passionate interest toward Carballo. From then on, avoiding mammals relative to that family became a top priority.

Despite every obstacle throughout their journey, none of them gave up, and, together, they traveled through the vast green ocean.

Everywhere Loren looked, all he saw was organic matter: giant fungus with a brown pillar as its foundation, and, on top of it, a hat made of green pages (these ones he hated the most: they obstructed the view and hindered accurate analysis); winged rats (their whiteish disposals always fell on him; 357 hours with 14 minutes and 14 seconds ago, he tried to use it as fuel, it didn’t work, and neither could he remove it, so it was still inside him); plants or flowers (immovable unless their death is desired, useless, in summary); grass (it moved simultaneously with each gust of wind, as if it were an ocean wave; this one he liked); water (though it didn’t classify in the ‘organic matter’ set, he categorized it as such due to a programming error; drinking it was as close to poison-induced suicide as a mechanic being could suffer); among others.

They rode for 22 days, and each day the shrieking grew worse. Nevertheless, Carballo kept on galloping with his usual grace. In turn, Loren, fully aware of his friend’s hidden effort, forced himself to keep quiet, and proceeded with greater insistence in his search.

So, on the twenty second day, next to one of the giant mushrooms, Loren seemed to catch sight of a reflection of himself. This seemed strange to him, since water only operated in such a way in perpendicularity (or, at least for now, he hadn’t found any abnormal water wall that resisted obeying the gravity force, and that, in its rebellion, acted like a mirror). Thus, riding on Carballo’s back, he indicated for him to advance there with caution. Once the distance had been shortened, Loren noticed that, in fact, there was no abnormal water wall. On the contrary: for the first time, he observed the metallic case of someone from his same model, his same family. For the first time, he observed one of his twin brothers.

Loren dismounted from Carballo and ran toward his equal. All kinds of reasonings were produced in his brain: both could interchange body parts and pieces! They could complement their databases! Maybe this lad possessed enough brai to share with Carballo! And maybe he could join them on their journey! The possibilities were infinite! He ran through the high, green grass, boosted by the wind. And when he arrived…

A red rash gnawed at his sheet-like skin. Useless, snake-like plants surrounded and held the body case, probably to prevent any of his poor, poor brother’s escape attempts. In mocking fashion, little flowers protruded from the organic bindings, concluding the dominance regarding the inert body. Another victim of Mother Nature, Development’s Great Opponent. This Organic Witch had achieved an additional victory.

Loren fell to his knees. In the depths of his memory, there was a piece of information that caught his attention. ‘Minute of silence’, was its name. He didn’t remember the source of it, but, unconsciously, he inferred and executed it, remaining silent for exactly the next sixty seconds.

With the minute gone by, he opened the compartment in the deceased’s chest, where the brai deposit was located. It was empty. A worm appeared through the staring hollow eye socket. Loren closed the deposit and opened it again. Still empty. He repeated the same movement several times, each one more abrupt than the last, knowing every time that he would get the same result. Then, he sought various areas for even a trace of brai: in the small compartment located at the nape, in the hands, in the legs, inside the eye socket, inside the ears… even a bottle with a quarter, a quarter of the capacity filled would be enough.

Everything was empty.

Carballo snorted behind him. Usually, when doing so, several drops of brai splashed onto grass around them. None were expelled this time.

Loren had forgotten to indicate him to wait, and, in exchange, his dear friend had lost some meters of life. His last meters of life.

But that didn’t matter anymore. Nothing did.

Loren rushed to hug him. From the resounding crash of metal against metal, countless winged rats fled in flight; various green pages detached from the giant fungus, dancing in the air until reaching a gentle repose on them.

Loren focused on feeling his friend’s sheet-like skin, the metallic wires of his fur. Ever since he woke up, Carballo had always accompanied him, had always been by his side, and now would be no exception.

Carballo rubbed his head against Loren’s chest, aware that the end was near.

All of Loren’s memories crossed his mind, in each one of them, the same constant kept appearing: Carballo. He remembered the time when they discovered the grass and decided to roll together over it. Leaves, sticks, thorns, and some insects ended up interfering with their circuits; the cleaning took six hours. He revived the moment when they lowered their heads to look into a water well, so surprised to discover their own faces that their self-defense systems couldn’t process them and opted for an instant shutdown, which lasted for two days; when they woke up, both had winged rat nests on them. He also remembered when they came across a Canis lupus pup lost in the forest. “Canis Babys”, they called her. Carballo used to carry her on his back. After returning her to her mother, they stopped suffering from Canis lupus attacks. He found it curious that the simplest memories were the ones he treasured the most.

Loren turned on all his tactile sensors, ensuring he felt and lived this last hug at its fullest. For a long, long time, they stood there, silent…

Then, Loren grabbed Carballo’s wires with great strength, employing only his left arm. Carballo instantly deduced what was happening.

He snorted and snorted, twisting himself from Loren’s fixed grip, who, in turn, opened his own chest. There rested a bottle of brai with barely ten drops of this substance.

Carballo tried to turn to his left, moving his deposit away from Loren. He pulled and pulled, gathering all his strengths… in vain.

Loren took his own bottle of brai and disconnected it. Then, he opened his friend’s deposit, through which nine drops were transferred, the last of these already dry in the bottom of the container.

With no fuel to sustain his body, all of Loren’s systems, functions, and sensors started turning off, one by one.

Tactile sensor: terminated.

Motor system: terminated.

Energy manager: terminated.

The shutdown was imminent. He stopped feeling Carballo’s head rubbing against his chest. Neither could he caress him, comfort him, let him know everything would be all right…

He couldn’t move.

Visual system: terminated.

The deepest night took hold of him, with no glimpse of light that cracked it. This dark place was almost desolated, only penetrated by Carballo’s neigh: a constant, high-note sound, that was getting farther and farther away. Somewhere far from all this darkness was his dear friend, trying to wake him up as he once did when they met.

It was useless, and both knew it. Without brai, no mechanical being could function.

Although everything did not end as he wished, Loren was satisfied. A part of him could travel with his friend for a few more miles. He hoped that Carballo would meet a new travel companion, one who could guide him somewhere safe, some dream place full of machines, where these bathed on brai, feasted with brai, and didn’t fear for its shortage. Where the metal was the norm and not the exception. Where, why not, they coexisted with organic matter, in peace and harmony. Some place full of grass, winged rats, Canis lupus, Canis lupus with black eye masks, Canis babys, Carballos, and Lorens… an ideal place.

He was satisfied. His dear friend’s neigh became the usual whinny. Loren caught the sound of the brai’s dew over the grass that surrounded both, forming a very, very heartwarming, last memory.

Listening system: terminated.



So long, my faithful friend Carballo.



Forced shutdown completed.