"There was something in Agate Forest that people never got a good glimpse at. It started when people noticed the leaves had been swept into neat little piles, and the forest floor had a few less acorns on it than usual."
In which Doris 1 spends her days in Agate Forest and people notice.
There was something in Agate Forest that people never got a good glimpse at. It started when people noticed the leaves had been swept into neat little piles, and the forest floor had a few less acorns on it than usual. Most assumed there was a park ranger or some sort of conservationist doing this, so it was more or less ignored. The more superstitious thought it was the ghosts said to live in the forest.
One day, someone saw something out of the ordinary. Reportedly, a short humanoid with a rectangular head. They only saw it slip through the shadows cast by the leaves for a moment, though. Many people didn’t believe at first, but when a second and third report of this strange humanoid came out, people started to get curious.
All the while, Doris 1 dutifully cleaned the forest floor. She’d look up when people on the trail passed by, and a part of her hoped they’d wander off to say hello. They never did, and while she was content to care for the animals that lived in the forest, she did wish for someone to talk to.
Many more people reported sightings of the strange humanoid, and it was soon considered to be some sort of cryptid. It wasn’t the first cryptid seen around Diamond City - people had reported seeing sasquatches in the Peridot Mountain Range, among other things in and around Diamond City. A bit more detail was slowly added to the humanoid’s description over the years: a small crest atop the head, hands with no fingers, a dress that never flowed in the wind and what was assumed to be a broom.
The years went by like clockwork. Doris 1 continued to tend to the forest while keeping an eye out for people walking on the trail. On the occasions where she felt she was close enough for the passing-by folks to see, she would wave hello. That seemed to get a positive reaction out of them. It was never enough to get them to initiate conversation, but the delight on each passerby’s face was satisfying enough.
There was one occasion where Doris waved hello to a reserved girl in red, to which the girl only stared for a few seconds before quietly waving back without so much as a smile. The little red demon flying around with her then called out to her, exclaiming he found some very tasty-looking mushrooms. It wasn’t until later that Doris fully realised just how young that girl was. She knew her casting’s colour had long since faded in the sun, but she never really thought about how long that would take until that point.
Doris would also take up cleaning near the trail during the quiet hours of the morning, where it was light enough to see the litter but early enough that no one would disturb her. On the one occasion someone was up at that time, she threw the empty energy drink bottle they dropped back at them.
The people of the city would tell their children the tales of when the Crested Agate Forest Creature was first spotted by an ordinary person just like them. It was a time just before the rise of personal websites and internet forums, and the word spread through gossip from one friend group to the next. The children would be told how lucky they were that they could simply look up articles on the creature whenever they wanted.
Some of the more artistic residents had taken to drawing their interpretations of what the Crested Creature looked like. There were interpretations where it had a chicken’s head with large plumes of feathers on each side of its head and a human woman’s body beneath, and there were interpretations that combined the bird and human elements more neatly. There was the occasional interpretation that opted to give it more geometrical features than the others, too. In the niche of cryptid fans that had the Crested Creature as their favourite, it was known as Aggie.
For a man of science, Dr. Crygor was weirdly superstitious. It was something that was lost on Mike, and he figured it wasn’t because he wasn’t human. So when Crygor insisted they go to Agate Forest for a research expedition despite his belief that it was haunted, Mike was… confused. He didn’t think it was that big of a deal that the mushrooms there supposedly had been infused with ghost powers or whatever, but he figured he should at least pretend to look for mushrooms with him. Maybe he’d find a cool bug or something. Deep into the forest and the mushroom collection process, they were the ones found instead. By a robot, strangely enough.
The robot introduced herself as Doris 1 mere moments before her face recognition software recognised Dr. Crygor as her creator, flying into a rage and chasing him through the forest. In a loop. While she hit him with her worn broom. Fortunately for Crygor and Mike, Doris’s stubby little legs caused her to trip over a lot while running. It made Mike’s lack of helping look not quite as bad. Once Cygor found a way to outmaneuver Doris, he apologised for abandoning her all those years ago and offered to let her return to the lab. Doris would only accept the offer if Crygor let her have her own room. She was very insistent, and, well, he couldn’t say no.
After that strange Wario Bowl ended, no one ever saw the Crested Agate Forest Creature again.
The next few weeks saw Doris accustom herself to living in Crygor Labs again, familiarising herself with the modern world and getting her new room set up (which led to Mike wanting his own room too). Mike was glad to have another robot to talk to, especially one that was actually made to do the cleaning so he wouldn’t have to. Likewise, Doris was glad to have someone to talk to while cleaning. She also met Crygor’s granddaughter Penny, and immediately she was doting on her like she had known her all her life. The lab felt homier than when she was last in it. It was nice.
One day, Penny came over to the lab to see Doris, raving about how Ashley told her about the various cryptids that were said to exist in and around Diamond City. There was one in particular that came up in conversation that sounded like it looked like Doris herself, and she showed her the various artistic interpretations of her cryptid self. It got a small laugh out of her - funny how she made that impression on people.