In a way, it was lucky the giant redwood tree had grown so large by the time we arrived because the branches formed a living landing platform that was sturdy enough to hold the hover-truck. We brought undamaged equipment packs out of the truck and made a guess as to where to descend. Beta and Omega had their rocket packs, and there was enough spare fuel in the hover-truck to top off their tanks. Mom and I decided to just ride down on them to save on what we had to carry.
Standing on a branch a couple hundred feet above Arcadia Station, I was able to see things I never noticed before. like how small Arcadia Station was compared to what I could see around it. Tanglewood stretched out for miles in all directions on three sides of Arcadia, which made me wonder how large of an area the Archers controlled. I also wondered where their area was considering I had never heard of the Archers until today.
"You coming?" Omega asked. He, Beta, and Mom stood near the front of the hover-truck, Mom already mounted on Beta's back.
"I am," I said. "Just taking in the view because who knows if I'll ever get a chance like this again."
I climbed on Omega's back, and the boys leaped from the branches, igniting their packs in unison. Mom and I leaned forward to keep as close as possible to the boys' necks as we flew down through the branches, dodging smaller ones. Less than thirty seconds later, we were on the ground.
A deep green moss covered Alpha Hill, except where trees grew. Aside from the one we parked the truck on, most of the others barely reached fifty feet high. "Boys, see if you can pick up Alpha's scent," I said. Mom and I stayed on the boys' backs as they roamed the hill, snouts to the ground.
We rounded the hill to the backside of the landing tree--as I was now thinking of it--and both Wolfdroids stopped at the same time. Parts of Alpha Hill, and the vegetation growing on it, were robotic. It was an organic-looking robotic, but still robotic. A five-foot section of the hill was metal, with metallic moss "growing" from it's surface. A young tree, maybe ten feet tall, was wood, but all the leaves were actual solar panels.
"The Orb is adapting," Mom said. "It looks like when it stopped Alpha from scanning it, it also took on some of his aspects since he is living, in a sense."
"So it's using some of his... life force, for lack of a better term, to create the natural surroundings?" I said.
"It appears so," Mom said.
"Okay, Mom. Time for you to tell all you know about the Forest Orb."
Mom looked at me, then to the metallic hillside, then down at Beta. "The Forest Orb is one of seven Orbs spread throughout the Amazon tribes. Each tribe has an Orb specific to their region. Tanglewood has the Forest Orb, the Archers have the Desert Orb, the Mantas have the Ocean Orb, et cetera.
"Each orb can control the natural features of its region, as you can see from the Forest Orb's outburst."
The ground shook, almost rocking me from my seat on Omega's back. He steadied himself by spreading his paws and I remained where I was while the tremors grew. As we stood there, trying not to fall over, Alpha Hill grew under our feet. In the distance, at the edge of the Forest Orb's influence, we could hear more pieces of Arcadia Station breaking and tearing and crumbling. After a couple minutes, the growth tremors settled down.
"So the Orb is trying to grow more forest here? And it's been, what, corrupted? By Alpha?" I said.
"Yes," Mom said. "We need to find the Orb so we can stop this."
"Boys, get back to sniffing," I said.
Beta and Omega moved forward, side by side, straight towards the metal part of the hillside. As soon as their noses touched the metal surface, they both reared back from it.
"Ewww, that's so wrong!" Omega said with disgust.
"Smells like Alpha and the ground," Beta said.
"Alice, I'm not sure we can track it this way," Omega said. "All that metal smells like Alpha, but covered with this moss stuff."
"Try your eyes," I said. "Try different light spectrums."
"Got it," Beta said. He looked to his left, and I could see that now infamous green glow from behind one of the larger trees. With Mom still on his back, he bounded over to the tree.
"Don't touch it!" I screamed at him.
"Verifying location," he yelled back.
Mom jumped down from Beta's back and picked up the Orb. "I've got it... Whoa," she said.
"Omega," I said. He took the clue and walked over to Mom and Beta.
"I can see why this was hidden away," Mom said. "And I can also see how it changed Alpha." Her eyes started to glow the same green as the Orb.
"Mom?" I said, a note of worry in my voice.
"It's okay, Alice. I'm in control." And to prove her point, the hill began to shrink. "I'll be careful with your truck, too."
True to her word, Mom managed to shrink the vegetation on Alpha Hill to a tolerable level, and bring my hover-truck down safely. She kept the hill mostly as it was because if she lowered it, it would upset Arcadia Station even more at this point, until repairs were made.
Omega's eyes lit with a yellow light, meaning his communications were active. "Alice, Dad is asking if we have something to do with what's going on here. What do I tell him?"
"Tell him we have it under control. You, Beta, me, and... and Mom."
Omega relayed the information, his eye lights shut off and he said, "Dad says to go see him ASAP. The High Council wants to talk to Mom."
Beta said, "Alpha just contacted me. He seems to be feeling better."
I looked at Mom. "I took care of him when I took the metal out of the hill."
"Even from this distance?" I said. She nodded. I told Beta, "Have Alpha meet us at the High Council chamber. We need to figure out how we're going to work all this."