Lilly crouched at the edge of the forest and drew aside the mossy tree branch with her rifle.
In the grassy meadow beyond the tree line, a kaleidescope of butterflies fluttered around clusters of pink flowers.
“Amazing!” Ryan whispered, kneeling beside Lilly.
“They love those flowers,” Lilly said.
“Milkweed. Makes them unpleasant to eat and act as deterrent against predators.”
He reached into his backpack for a small pair of binoculars and looking through them, he pressed a few buttons on the side, and the lenses made a soft hissing sound as they rotated and adjusted their length.
“This is just what I was looking for,” he told the girl. “Thank you.”
“I kept my end of the bargain,” she said. “Now it’s your turn. What are you really up to?”
He put his backpack on the ground and proceeded to take out some gear, including a small glass case. The glass was dark, so the contents of the box were hidden until he opened the lid to reveal three butterflies on a foam cushion.
“They’re beautiful!” said Lilly taking a closer look at the delicately crafted creatures. “Can they fly?”
“That’s what I’m here for,” Ryan said. “I need to understand the behaviour of real butterflies, so I can teach these ones how to do it properly.”
“So you’ll get them to fly and join the others so they can learn,” she said.
“That’s right. Very good,” he said, impressed by her quick thinking.
He opened his laptop then pressed some buttons on his wristwatch. Waving his hand around like a magician, he commanded the butterflies to slowly open and close their wings.
“Impressive,” said Lilly, a smile beaming on her face. “So you control their flight with the watch. That’s why you didn’t want to part with it.”
“Like I said, company property.”
The three butterflies rose in the air and fluttered around the brim of her hat. Holding up her finger, she laughed in surprise when one of them landed on its tip.
“Did you make it do that?”
“Sort of. Given the complexity of flight, I can only give them suggestions, a decision matrix of possibilities. They mostly do their own thing within range of the watch until you call them back. We measure and record different variables to further refine our models.”
“I gotta admit, I wasn’t hoping for much,” said Lilly, “but this is pretty cool.”
“I agree.”
The butterflies fluttered back onto their spongy launch pad in the case.
“So there you have it,” Ryan said. “I’ll be conducting a few tests, then I’ll be on my way. I’m pretty sure I can find my own way back from here.”
“You’re not trying to get rid of me, are you?” she said.
“As I mentioned, this is company work, so…”
“Well that's too bad,” Lilly said with a flushed face, “the deal was that you were to tell me exactly what you’re up to, and as far as I can see, you’ve only told me half the story. Now get on with the rest, or I’m gonna shoot my gun and scare your pretty butterflies away.”
“Please do not do that.” Looking at the girl, he sighed then said, “very well. You can watch, but do not touch anything.”
“Yes, sir!” said the girl tipping her hat with the barrel of her gun.
Ryan typed a few keystrokes and opened schematics of the three butterflies showing different systems that made up their bodies. Video feeds of mounted cameras were superimposed with a graphical and numerical interface that processed navigational and environmental metrics in real time. After some preparation, Ryan raised his hand, and the butterflies fluttered their wings and clumsily made their way toward the field of pink flowers.
“Looks like they gotta a lot of learning to do," Lilly said looking after the creatures. While they certainly looked pretty, their flight did not look natural.
“It’s not easy,” said Ryan looking at the butterflies through the binoculars. “You need to take into account their body kinematics and structures including mass and shape. All this affects their flight trajectory, speed, duration, and so on. They’re capable of many flight maneuvers like hovering, climbing, upstrokes and downstrokes. The math driving them is fiendishly complex, which is why you need artificial intelligence to learn the intricacies of flight.”
In the video streams, the three butterflies mingled with the others. Lilly looked at the screen in awe as the insects fluttered in a seemingly random way like a blizzard of color.
“Something is wrong with that one…” Lilly said pointing at one of the streams. The image was erratic showing the large head of another butterfly as the camera shook and twirled. Then landed in a tangle of grass and pink petals.
“That’s odd,” said Ryan. “I think it’s-"
He was interrupted by a rustle in the bushes.
“Hush!” said the girl, peering through the leaves.
There was a coarse heavy breathing. A strong musky scent wafted through the air and made the hairs prickle on the back of Ryan's neck.
Through an opening in the undergrowth, two bear cubs appeared. They growled and played rough with each other.
“Shit!” cussed Lilly.
“What do we do?”
“They're coming this way. We have to make noise,” the girl said. "To spook them before they get too close."
There was a louder rustle in the bushes, and when the grasses parted, a large bear stood there. It breathed heavy and sniffed the air.
Lilly and Ryan stood up and waving their arms, they began shouting.
“Hey bear!”
“Go away!”
Upon hearing the humans shout, the two cubs remained still looking in their direction. The larger one stood on hind legs and growled.
“Hey bear!!!”
The confused animal roared then bluff charged.
Without warning, there was an ear-splitting blast.
Ryan recoiled covering his ears.
“Yeah, you better run if you know what's good for you, mama bear!” shouted Lilly with the smoking gun pointed in the air.
The bear along with the cubs swiftly disappeared through the trees.
“Geez,” said Ryan panting and with his fingers in his ears. “You could’ve warned me.”
“And you’d be bear chow, right about now,” the girl said. “Too bad about the butterflies.”
Ryan ran back to the meadow and saw that the butterflies were all gone, including his three drones.
“That’s impossible,” he said as he looked through the milkweeds for the missing units. “It’s like they were never here.”
“I thought you had them under control with your watch.”
Ryan looked at his bare wrist. “My watch is gone!” He began a fruitless search for it through the bushes. He had been waving his arms frantically at the bear, so it could've flown anywhere. He shook his head.
“On the bright side, you're still alive,” Lilly said. "And now that I think of it, you still haven't told me why you're doing all this to begin with?"
"It's my turn to be a smartass," he said. "The deal was that I would tell you what I was doing, not why."
He packed up his gear.
"I only saved your life from a bear," she retorted, "but if you want to be that way, fine then."
"Can't tell you. Company secret."
"Yeah yeah."
With the girl leading the way, they arrived at the main trail.
“I live in that farm over there,” she said pointing down the valley. “If you ever need a guide, you know where to find me.”
“Thank you," he told her. "And remember, not a word of this to anyone.”
“Sure thing. I love keeping secrets with strange old men and shady companies.”
“I told you, Missy, I’m not an old man.”
“Whatev, gramps.”
She watched the man disappear down the trail, then she followed the opposite direction. When she reached a clearing in the forest, she sat in one of the benches that the park crew had set up. She then reached into her pocket and pulled out a watch. Strapping it to her bony wrist, it dangled several sizes too big. Nevertheless, upon contact with her skin, the watch face lit up.
In a little while, three butterflies fluttered through the leaves and into the clearing, their deep orange wings shimmering in the afternoon sunlight.
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Guns & Flutter, pt. 2