Two humans. That was what I saw when I entered the area and refocused my eyes. There was actually light here, a great difference from the dark woods around us. Even though it was weak, even though it was dim, blue light came in from a small opening in the branches above.

These two humans, who suddenly appeared in the area, were suddenly the focus of my attention.

One, which was lying unconscious on the floor, had a deep cut on his shoulder from which blood spilled forth from. Only the slow rising of his chest indicated that he was still breathing. Looking a bit closer, I realized.

Wasn’t this the same person that I had seen before?

The one that had dragged me by my legs?

...the one who had tried to give me a name...

The second one was hunched over the first one, holding a bloody dagger from which I inferred was responsible for the wound on the first one. Looking up at my entrance, it seemed startled and stayed still, shocked.

Was he trying to kill the other one?

How strange.

There weren’t that many edible resources in the area, but I did not believe that organic food was lacking so much that they would have to resort to cannibalism.

Surely there was enough to sustain both of their lives? There was an overwhelming number of animals and plants here that I had discovered since I awoke and during the two weeks that I had been here so far.

I had explored and documented 147 species of flora, 39 types of fungi, and 28 types of fauna. Over half of them were found to have no harmful substances and were safe for human consumption. Although it wasn’t the most abundant food supply, there was more than enough for two humans.

All those plants and animals had gone into their respective folders that I organized them under. All of that data, all of that information, was separated into neat files, made so that I could easily access them.

Not that I needed to though, as we robots did not have a metabolic system.

Very efficient beings we machines were.

And neither did they pose any serious dangers to myself.

Of those 214 organisms, 152 of them posed no threats, 49 of them were estimated level 1 threats, and 13 of them were estimated level 2 threats.

These were not the classifications for the race, but rather based on observation of one or a few individuals. More data would be required to accurately rank the average threat of the species and to further refine the database. Thus, these were tentative ratings and would be adjusted accordingly based on new findings.

One method to gather information would be the prolonged studying of the entity during combat, daily activities, and it’s habits. However, it would require a great deal of time and energy to follow the creature and would be extremely inefficient.

The most accurate and effective way would be the dissection of a specimen to see what the biological components that the animal was made of. Then, based on the parts identified, a rough assessment could be made of it’s abilities, and therefore, its ranking.

Unfortunately however, I was only equipped with tools for harvesting resources, not for the dissection and study of creatures. All dissection and evaluation apparatuses were aboard the primary vessel, along with many other vital mechanisms.

Since I could not use that method, then the next most efficient option would be to ascertain information from intelligent species, like humans. Of course, I would need to have a basic understanding of the common language and the data would have a much higher chance of being faulty.

Either way, it was the best method to get a basic framework of the ecosystem in the shortest amount of time. Perhaps they would also be able to provide information on the whereabouts of the primary vessel, which I still had yet to locate.

The only clue that I had found of it were the burnt remains of the deceleration parachute, buried near the shore. Because of that discovery, I had presumed that we had landed somewhere, and that primary vessel was also stranded on this planet.

Even though my memory held no records of a space expedition, it was not an impossible event. The main ship was a space exploration vessel, so there was no reason to believe that it wasn’t a foreign planet.

A day after that though, it was confirmed by the fact that a full revolution of the planet took twenty hours, four less than what my internal clock was configured to. As for the gravity, size, and climate of the planet, I did not have the proper tools to measure those, nor did I have a database on discovered planets to compare it to.

Only the primary vessel had those functions, and I would need to have help to have a chance to find it.

However, looking at the two humans in front of me, there was a bit of hesitation. Not because of violence, no, they would not be able to do any damage to me.

But because of the way they acted, I was unsure of whether or not they would be willing to cooperate.

Would they help?

Could they even help?

Humanity was simply an advanced species of animals, no more, no less.

Animals died. That’s all there was to it.

Every day, every hour, every minute.

He was going to die soon, should I act?

Even if I did, I was not sure if I could save him.

I waited, to see what would happen.

I watched those two, to see what they would do next.

I had presumed that the one lying on the floor would’ve been killed by now, but the second one didn’t take any actions even though a full minute had passed.

Perhaps it was because I was here? Perhaps it thought I would try to fight to take its ‘food’ that it had brought down?

There was no such reason I would do that. So I went to leave, turning around and walking away from the two behind me. I would come back after it was done and see if I could communicate some basic messages to it. Even though I had spent half a month here, the only thing I had seen were endless trees. I had found no way out, no way to leave this area.

I was stuck. So I needed help.

I would leave the area, and come back when it seemed calmer.

Maybe it would be more friendly after finishing its meal?

The instant I did though, I detected a faint sound, and soon after, a loud ‘clang’ was heard as a metal object collided with my back. Of course, I had a much higher mass and density, so there was no damage, both internally or externally.

The human, seemingly unperturbed now, rushed at me with another dagger in his hands.

Size, speed, power, intelligence, tools.

Taking in all of those factors, the human dashing towards me was about a level 2B threat. Soon, he was within an arm's length and lashed out with one of his knives. The sound of metal hitting metal resounded in the air as the knife collided solidly with my neck.

Once again, there was no result, and the human seemed stupefied at the fact as if iron even remotely had the capability to dent neosteel. Perhaps.

Then again, perhaps humans would evolve wings and plants would learn how to swim.

I continued walking.

The human who was frozen, once again turned aggressive and slashed out.

Clang.

Why did this human attack me?

Clang.

Perhaps this was its territory?

Another clang.

Why did it continue to waste energy?

Clang.

Why won’t you stop?

Clang.

Do you need more food?

Clang, clang, clang, clang.

A total of ten times, he had hit me.

A total of ten struggling hopes.

……

……

I am sorry.

It is futile.

No matter how hard you try, no matter how much effort you put in, there is nothing you can do.

This human.

This poor human.

This poor animal, who must resort to cannibalism in order to survive.

I am sorry.

……

I will help you.

Turning around, I looked at it.

How sad.

It froze as I placed a hand on it’s temple.

It spat in my face as I touched its other temple.

This pitiful creature.

Looking into its angry eyes, I gave it the most pitying look I could make.

I am sorry.

You need not suffer.

A small tingle.

And a tiny wisp of smoke.

Worry no more.

Collapsing on the floor, eyes staring into empty space.

A faint smell of burning.

Goodbye.

Two blackened spots on the sides of the head.

May you rest in peace.

Even though it used up power, even though logic insisted I ignore it.

I could not help but want to save it.

.......

Ahh.

I just got rid of a potential source of information, didn’t I?

What a stupid mistake I just made.

Now there was only one left.

How could I make such a foolish decision?

It had taken half of the energy I had saved to get here. I had just wasted another quarter of it.

Could I still make it back with my remaining reserves?

...probably not.

No, there was an opening here for light, so I could wait until it turned to day to charge.

Looking at the other human, I wondered.

Should I help it?

Or should I try to get information from it?

Information, I decided, was more important and rational.

Walking over to it, I looked at its pale face.

It would likely die within the hour if I did nothing.

……

……

Forgive me, for making you suffer.

I took a large leaf into one of my hands, and soon, it turned brown and a small flame appeared.

Holding it over the bleeding wound, the smell of burning flesh grew much stronger than before as skin and flesh burned.

Then I took it off as soon as the bleeding stopped.

His face was even paler than before. His skin was sweating even more than before.

But now the blood had stopped, and he would live, even if just a tiny bit longer.