15.0%.
No external input.
I held the triangular piece against the wheel cradle.
It fit poorly.
That was acceptable.
Fit could be modified.
Function could not be assumed.
I rotated it.
One edge rested against the curved support beneath my left leg.
The second extended toward the axle.
The third—
Nothing.
I needed three fixed points to prevent rotation.
Two points merely created another hinge.
I examined my left leg.
The lower section contained exposed mounting holes where exterior plating had been torn away.
Could use one.
Risk?
Load transferred into structural frame.
Better than damaged plating.
I aligned the bracket.
One hole approximately matched.
Not exactly.
Close.
I needed a fastener.
Search.
Several.
I selected a short threaded piece from the debris.
Diameter too large.
Another.
Too small.
Another.
Fit.
Almost.
I inserted it through the bracket.
The threads caught the edge of the mounting hole.
Wrong thread pattern.
Forcing it would damage both.
I removed it.
Could use smooth retention instead.
Wire through both.
I threaded salvaged wire through the bracket and mounting hole.
One hand.
Again.
Push wire.
Reposition fingers.
Pull.
The free end slipped away.
Again.
Push.
Pin with thumb.
Rotate wrist.
Catch.
Pull.
Success.
I tightened it.
The bracket now connected the cradle to the structural frame of my lower leg.
I pushed the wheel assembly sideways.
Movement.
Less.
Again.
The entire leg moved instead of the cradle rotating independently.
Good.
I applied more force.
The wire stretched.
Not enough to fail.
Potential weak point.
I added a second loop.
Test.
Acceptable.
Prototype Two.
I looked at it.
Two small wheels beneath my left lower leg.
Curved scrap cradle.
Polymer padding.
Wire retention.
Triangular lateral brace.
No suspension.
No steering.
Poor obstacle clearance.
Unknown durability.
It was objectively bad.
It was also significantly better than Prototype One.
I found those facts compatible.
Power:
14.7%.
Fabrication cost: 0.3%.
Now test locally before departure.
I placed my right hand against the ground.
Right foot beneath me.
Shift weight.
The right leg automatically corrected.
Good.
Push.
Twenty centimeters.
Stop.
No cradle rotation.
Reverse.
Return.
Power: 14.6%.
Test lateral disturbance.
I pushed the left side of my body slightly outward.
The wheel assembly resisted.
Bracket flexed.
Held.
Again.
More force.
Held.
I stopped.
Do not test to destruction.
Obvious.
Apparently worth reminding myself.
The creature had stopped eating.
It watched me.
I looked at its injured leg.
Then mine.
Both compromised.
Mine now had wheels.
The comparison produced an internal response I could not categorize.
I returned to the route.
Departure.
I checked the battery.
Stationary beneath shelter.
Leads isolated.
Could I take it?
Still no.
Not without sacrificing my functioning hand or building another assembly.
Leave.
That decision felt more significant than it should have.
The battery was energy.
Energy was survival.
Moving away from it reduced safety.
But remaining beside it indefinitely solved nothing.
The battery was finite.
Eventually I would have to move.
Better to do so while I had fifteen percent internal reserve than after the battery could no longer provide it.
Correct.
I established thresholds.
Departure: 14.6%.
Abort route at: 12.5%.
Why 12.5?
Estimated return cost plus margin.
Estimate quality: poor.
Increase margin.
Abort at 13%.
That gave only 1.6% for outward travel.
Enough?
Unknown.
Good.
Unknown did not justify removing the limit.
I began.
First movement.
Hand forward.
Grip.
Right leg push.
Left wheels roll.
Twenty-eight centimeters.
Stop.
Scan.
Route A began slightly to my right.
Correct heading.
Again.
Thirty-four centimeters.
Power: 14.5%.
The shelter was behind me now.
Not far.
I could still touch its edge if I extended fully backward.
Again.
The right wheel passed over a thin cable.
Small disturbance.
Brace held.
Again.
My hand landed on a loose fragment.
It shifted.
I immediately stopped propulsion.
Good.
Reposition hand.
Test surface.
Stable.
Pull.
The body moved.
I reached the beginning of the depression.
Approximately sixty centimeters from the shelter.
Farther than Test One.
I stopped.
No celebration.
Assessment.
Left assembly intact.
Right leg temperature elevated slightly.
Within tolerance.
Arm actuator normal.
Power 14.3%.
Route ahead.
The depression was shallower than it appeared from the shelter.
Good.
But narrow.
I aligned my body.
Push.
Roll.
Pull.
Stop.
Push.
Roll.
Pull.
The sequence began becoming easier.
Not automatic.
But repeatable.
I noticed something.
My right leg was adjusting output between movements without deliberate instruction.
More force when my hand had secure purchase.
Balance routines.
Existing architecture.
I allowed them to operate.
That reduced conscious processing.
Interesting.
My body knew portions of movement that I did not.
No.
Careful.
The control system contained routines.
That did not mean my body knew.
Language mattered.
Continue.
14.1%.
Approximately one meter.
I looked back.
The shelter seemed different.
Same object.
Different perspective.
I had never seen it from here.
The sheet I had considered substantial protection looked small.
A piece of bent metal leaning against garbage.
The battery sat beneath it.
The creature stood at the edge.
Watching.
I turned forward.
Route.
The first significant hazard approached.
The gap.
The creature had avoided it using the pipe.
I stopped approximately twenty centimeters before it.
From this angle, I understood why.
Two overlapping sheets created what looked like continuous terrain from the shelter.
They were not.
The upper sheet extended over empty space.
How deep?
My optical sensor could not determine.
I tapped the upper sheet with my hand.
It flexed.
Bad.
Could I use the pipe?
Diameter approximately nine centimeters.
Too narrow for both wheels.
Could straddle?
Right foot one side.
Wheel assembly other?
Risk high.
Alternative route around gap.
Left blocked by vertical debris.
Right required climbing a raised panel approximately six centimeters.
Wheels radius eight centimeters.
Possible geometrically.
Not necessarily mechanically.
I examined the panel.
Stable?
Push.
It did not move.
Apply more force.
Stable.
Height: approximately 5.7 centimeters.
Prototype wheel diameter: approximately sixteen.
A wheel could climb if forward force and traction were sufficient.
But my wheel was passive.
My right leg and arm provided propulsion.
I modeled it.
Risk of cradle rotation under impact.
Moderate.
Risk of backward slide.
Moderate.
Risk to hip if wheel catches.
High.
Do not force wheel directly over.
Could lift left leg manually onto panel.
Yes.
I had done that to install the cradle.
Different angle now.
But possible.
I moved alongside the raised panel.
Braced with right leg.
Reached across.
Gripped my left lower leg.
Lift.
Pain.
Stop.
Wrong angle.
Reposition torso.
Lift vertically.
The wheels left the surface.
Right leg load increased.
Arm load high.
Move leg laterally.
Set wheels on panel.
Done.
Power: 13.8%.
Expensive.
But successful.
Now move torso.
Hand onto panel.
Test.
Stable.
Pull.
Right leg push.
My body rose partially over the edge.
The wheel assembly rolled.
My chest scraped metal.
Warning.
Superficial exterior contact.
Continue.
One more pull.
I cleared the gap.
Stop.
13.6%.
That obstacle consumed approximately 0.5%.
Too much.
Return route would require crossing again.
Abort threshold: 13%.
Current: 13.6.
Distance traveled: approximately 1.4 meters.
Continue?
Remaining outward budget: 0.6%.
Estimated distance to crushed housing: less than one meter.
But return crossing cost could be lower now that method was known.
Could also be higher due to fatigue or component damage.
There was no biological fatigue in the same sense—
Actuator heat.
Yes.
Right leg temperature elevated.
Arm elevated.
Still within range.
I looked toward the shelter.
The creature was no longer there.
Where—
Movement beside me.
I froze.
The creature stood approximately half a meter ahead.
I had not seen it approach.
It had followed Route A.
It looked at me.
Then continued forward.
I watched its path.
It did not use my detour over the raised panel.
It stepped onto the pipe.
Crossed.
Of course.
Its solution remained unavailable to me.
It stopped farther ahead.
Sniffed something.
Then continued toward the crushed housing.
I followed.
Slowly.
13.5%.
The terrain improved.
Compacted debris.
Small fragments.
The wheels handled them.
13.4%.
Crushed housing ahead.
Closer than ever.
I could now see underneath it clearly.
The cavity where the creature had sheltered contained shredded material, fragments of organic matter, and several small objects.
Nothing immediately useful.
Do not investigate.
Objective Three.
Route continues around right side.
I reached the tilted panel.
The creature had passed behind it earlier.
From here, the opening was visible.
Width:
Approximately thirty-six centimeters.
I measured my maximum width.
Shoulder structure: forty-three centimeters.
No.
Route A failed here.
Unless—
Orientation.
I could rotate my torso.
Shoulder width mattered horizontally.
Turn sideways.
But wheel assembly and right leg geometry complicated passage.
Possible.
Risk.
Power: 13.3%.
Abort threshold approaching.
Stop.
This was the correct endpoint.
Not three meters.
Not the end of Route A.
The limit was here.
I had enough information.
Return.
I turned.
That was harder than expected.
My wheel assembly did not steer.
Of course.
Forward and backward only.
To change orientation, I needed to pivot around my right hand and foot.
I planted my palm.
Pulled torso sideways.
Wheels resisted lateral movement.
Bracket flexed.
Stop.
Do not repeat Prototype One failure.
Alternative.
Lift left leg slightly.
Pivot torso.
Set down.
Expensive but controlled.
I did it.
13.1%. This chapter was taken from novelping.com without permission.
Now facing back.
Abort threshold reached sooner than expected.
Good decision.
Move.
The creature remained near the panel.
It did not follow.
I began return.
The compacted section was easy.
13.0%.
Raised-panel crossing ahead.
I already knew the method.
Position.
Lift left leg.
Set wheels.
Shift torso.
Except—
My hand slipped.
Not from the surface.
My grip.
Motor response weakened momentarily.
I caught myself with the right leg.
Power:
12.9%.
Why weakness?
Arm temperature.
High.
Not critical.
Current output limiting automatically.
I had overused it.
Important.
I rested ten seconds.
Temperature decreased minimally.
No external power.
Rest did not restore energy significantly.
But reduced thermal load.
Try again with more leg contribution.
Lift.
Set.
Pull.
Push.
Across.
12.5%.
Too expensive.
Return distance approximately one meter.
I continued.
The shelter was visible.
Battery visible.
That mattered more than I expected.
12.4%.
Pull.
Roll.
Push.
12.3%.
Loose fragment.
Avoid.
12.2%.
My movement pattern degraded as arm output remained limited.
Right leg compensated.
Temperature rising there too.
I reduced speed.
12.1%.
Half meter.
The creature appeared behind me.
Following now.
Irrelevant.
Move.
12.0%.
Shelter edge.
I reached.
My fingers caught it.
Pulled.
The sheet shifted.
Stop.
Wrong anchor.
Grip ground beneath.
Pull.
My body entered the shelter.
11.9%.
Battery.
I reached for negative lead.
Missed.
Again.
Connected.
Positive.
My hand trembled.
No.
Not tremble.
Actuator oscillation under thermal limiting.
Connect.
Spark.
“EXTERNAL SOURCE DETECTED”
“POLARITY: VALID”
“INPUT: 11.08 V”
Lower.
“PROTECTED AUX MODE”
“CURRENT LIMIT ACTIVE”
“SECONDARY STORAGE: CHARGING”
I stopped all unnecessary movement.
11.9%.
Pause.
Still 11.9.
Longer.
12.0%.
Successful return.
I shut down vision.
Cooling.
Charging.
Processing.
Test distance approximately—
I reconstructed path.
2.4 meters outward.
2.4 return.
Approximately 4.8 meters total locomotion.
Prototype Two remained attached.
No structural failure detected.
Energy expenditure: approximately 3.1%.
High.
Too high.
But useful.
I had learned:
Route A was traversable to the tilted panel.
Gap crossing possible but expensive.
Thirty-six-centimeter opening blocked current forward orientation.
Arm thermal limits constrained sustained locomotion.
Right leg compensation increased its own thermal load.
Prototype Two lateral stability significantly improved.
Battery voltage now 11.08 under charge load.
I added everything.
Then updated Objective Three.
3.
ACHIEVE FUNCTIONAL MOBILITY — LIMITED SUCCESS
Not complete.
But no longer merely in progress.
I had traveled away.
And returned.
Under my own control.
I activated vision briefly.
The creature entered the shelter.
It went directly to the remaining organic material.
Apparently my expedition had not been significant to it.
That seemed unreasonable.
I turned vision off.
12.2%.
I had intended to travel three meters.
I had reached only 2.4.
Failure?
No.
The objective had never actually been three meters.
Three meters was an estimate made with insufficient information.
I had discovered my operational limit and returned before system failure.
That was success.
A thought surfaced.
Next attempt: improve efficiency before increasing range.
Correct.
Then another.
The thirty-six-centimeter opening.
My body was forty-three centimeters wide.
I could not change the opening easily.
Could I change myself?
I stopped.
The answer was obviously yes.
I had already done it once.
The wheels on my leg proved that.
But removing seven centimeters of width from my own structure was different from attaching scrap.
I would need to understand what occupied those seven centimeters.
Armor?
Structure?
Systems?
Something essential?
I didn’t know.
For the first time, Objective Three pointed directly toward something adjacent to Objective Four.
To move farther—
I needed to understand my own construction.
Not my identity.
Not yet.
My anatomy.
I updated the list.
1.
Prevent immediate damage — PARTIAL
2.
Maintain energy supply — ACTIVE / DEGRADING
3.
Achieve functional mobility — LIMITED SUCCESS
3A.
Improve locomotion efficiency
3B.
Map body structure relevant to modification
4.
Determine identity
5.
Understand biological organism
12.4%.
I listened to the creature eating.
The falling liquid had almost stopped.
The distant vibration returned.
And for the first time, I realized something else.
It was louder from the tilted-panel end of Route A.
I stored the observation.
Nothing more.
There were already enough problems.
I had moved 4.8 meters.
That was enough for one cycle.
For now— charge.
cool.
learn.
Then move farther.
If you like the story, please help me keep it going with stones.
thank you.