Beast Machine
never let them be used by others,” she thought.
“Never.”
    Ding.
    Ding.
    Diiiiiiiiiing .
    It was complete. The moment
of Owlstein’s birth was upon them.
    “ Hitbear, wake
up.”
    Rolling over slowly,
Hitbear yawned, “What? Is that cliché done baking or what?” He
rubbed his eyes and picked at his ears. His drowsiness made him
forget to cool it on the smarminess.
    “ Yes. And he should be
greeting us any moment. Come close, child. Witness this with me,”
said Gora in a motherly tone. She had mostly forgiven Hitbear for
his rash choice to grab her by the throat, albeit not verbally. It
was not in her to become hateful of something she loved, regardless
of what transpired.
    Hitbear lumbered over to
Gora and plopped down on his furry rear-end, while Gora remained in
her chair. He rubbed his stump arm wrapped in gauze with a grimace
running across his face. In this moment, he wanted his paw back
more than anything he had wanted throughout either life. More than
his human existence. More than Poland. More than England. More than
all of Russia.
    The door to the Beast
Machine slowly began to open and a small amount of smoke was
released. “Did smoke appear when you were created?” asked Gora.
“No, I don’t think so,” replied Hitbear. The fluttering of wings
could be heard and the fog began to dissipate. Gora and Hitbear
rose to their feet, waiting anxiously. Gora clutched Hitbear’s left
paw tightly.
    An unusually large barn owl
emerged with a shit-eating-grin on its face. It fluttered over to
the pair still clutching hands waiting for the barn owl genius to
speak, if it could. The owl cocked its head to the right, examining
the bear and woman.
    The owl clicked his beak
several times before speaking.
    Tick, clack, tick, clack,
tick, clack.
    “ Hallo! I am Owlbert
Einstein! Hehe!”
    “ Owlbert?” scoffed
Gora.
    “ Ja?” smiled
Owlbert.
    “ Don’t you mean Albert
Owlstein?” questioned Gora.
    “ Nein, my dear; Owlstein
detracts too much from mein original existence.”
    Gora examined the roughly
three foot tall Owlbert Einstein. He was massive for a barn owl and
owl in general. She gingerly gripped each of his wings and looked
close. She plucked a feather from her newest creation.
    “ That hurts!” barked
Owlbert playfully.
    “ My apologies, friend. I’m
just stunned at another one of my creations – your owl body is
remarkable! It has a perfect mixture of the majestic owl and
brilliant Albert Einstein!” giggled Gora as she looked at
Hitbear.
    Hitbear looked away, mildly
hurt, and sat down near the map collection – he was determined to
prove his brilliance over Owlbert. He would show Gora that strategy
trumps science.
    “ I’m so glad you decided
your name and did not let me decide it for you! Shows your
independence and brilliance!” said Gora. Hitbear, too, had decided
his own name, yet Gora neglected to heap praise upon his brilliance . The lumbering
bear was genuinely hurt by Gora’s intrigue in Owlbert over him, the
great strategist!
    “ Oh, bitte jungen kind. I
am merely your servant since this ist mein second chance at life
und clearly du brought me here for ein reason, nein?” questioned
Owlbert. “Vhy vould I be brought back to life – in ein sense – if I
vere not to serve du in some vay?”
    Tick, clack, tick, clack,
tick, clack.
    During the creation
process, a small amount of data is uploaded into the minds of the
beasts. This data included information on new cultural trends,
inventions that have helped mankind progress along into the modern
era and important dates in human history. A small message
concerning loyalty to Gora was relayed to them several times before
they were allowed out of the Beast Machine. It was brainwashing,
but a brainwashing that Gora wanted of her beasts. Gora didn’t
expect the uploaded data to help them adjust as well as this. She
thought there would be hand holding at their beginning of their
existences. Hitbear had caused her trouble
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