It still remembers.
It retained, even after the transformation and the failed attempt at memory wiping, some of the key moments in its consciousness.
It remembers the human life, of a trio of friends.
Brooklyn, desolate, filled to the brim with broken people and empty promises of change, maybe the chance of migrating with your family in the celebrated town of Vancarther. That luck was amplified by the people you aligned yourself with.
Even in the worst slums, there are good people. Even in the deepest of rabbit holes, you can make yourself some trusted allies and great friends.
Terrance Darwin was a grateful child.
At around 11 years old, he had made for himself two best friends: Florence Grand, a girl 3 years older than him that lived with her grandmother in an abandoned apartment. She had to endure child labor in an old hack's gruesome forge. It was good money, although no electricity means no heating during the freezing winters, and the air gets humid and harsh during hot summer days. She was looking to get her only family to a better apartment bloc.
Terrance found her pretty, and her fierce attitude combined with her energetic spirit means she was always preoccupied with what was important in the moment. Since she was always busy and was a few years older than him, Terrance didn't gain the confidence to tell her about his feelings.
His best BEST friend was the shy but creative Merlin Whitewood, 13 years old. They played games together; they talked and shared so many secrets, and together they pulled some hijinks. They acted wildly even with Florence, but without her, they were unleashed beasts in the concrete jungle of Brooklyn.
Merlin was apparently not born here, but in another country called England. He was kicked out of his family house and deported here. From what Terrance could learn from Merlin, England used the many distraught states in America as a dumping ground for unwanted children since around 2044. Technology over there upgraded faster over the years, making England a competitor for strongest powerhouse in the world.
Terrance finds Merlin very intelligent and curious. He wished a lot of times to be as smart as Merlin, without the lack of charisma. Maybe then he would know what to say to Florance to make her his girlfriend.
He's thinking a LOT about Terrance. He learned early what being attracted to girls was like. He really wants a girlfriend, despite seeing adults screaming at their husband or wives, despite seeing adults beating, even murdering, their husband or wives. It's a mess, but Terrance is willing to try.
Regardless, he can at least fallback on the fact that Florence and Merlin are his friends, his favorite people! Without them, he would be as sad and heartbroken as some of the adults he knows.
Without them, what Dr. Riley J. Smith did to him would have been unbearable.
The three of them were all captured while in a nearby park, in the vicinity of Vancarther. They were dumped with 27 other kids in a laboratory. Experimental grounds, trying to create mutations out of children. No amount of papers could possibly make this legal. Chaos rules in Old York above morals. Soon, their turned came, after trying so hard to leave and failing.
Terrance still remembers the despair on Merlin's face as his entire body contorted and turned into a cat. What a terrifying sight he still keeps with him to this day. Seeing the cool guy that, despite being introverted to the max, was there for him at all times being mutated by this garbage human being makes him sick.
Florence and him were the last two kids that were experimented on. Merlin was only number 10. One by one, as the other kids disappeared into the dark corners of Riley's laboratory, day by day, the two bonded. At first, over the death of Merlin... But when Florence gave him a kiss, telling Terrance with tears in her eyes that she loved him, that she was happy to be by his side and that she will never forget him, even as a monster, the poor boy was left desolate. He saw this strong, powerful girl he was cheering for lose herself in the sorrowful acceptance of her death.
He can still remember her scream of agony... He blocked his ears after just a few seconds... He cried... He cried a lot... And then his breathing got heavier, as an anger he never felt in his life before became overbearing... Terrance wanted to kill Riley J. Smith.
But he learned in those streets to keep quiet. To never reveal your emotions to others, that it would cost him his life. Plus, with a weak, meager body like his, what kind of damage would he even be capable of doing anyway?
And so, he left all this boiling hatred inside, only channeling it as he stared at him with such an intent, he could fill the vile doctor shake in his boots. Throughout the whole process, in the painful transformation, he never screamed, only grunting, letting all of that in, never backing down from his principals, that one day he was going to get his revenge, as a powerful monster…
He became a larger-then-normal American bullfrog.
To this day, Urth has no idea how it can blow gusts of winds strong enough to push trees off their roots. Urth doesn't know why he was called "Urth", nor why his two companions got obscure names like "Nil" and "Eylventh".
Nil was clearly Melvin and for someone 2 years older than Terrance, he was the shortest of the trio, so he definitely got named Nil. Florence being called "Eylventh" was a bizarre. Perhaps an exotic name for an exotic creature. This name doesn't make sense to the bullfrog. Other than names, Urth realized that their memories were completely wiped. It tried communicating with them a few times, but Nil would behave like a cat and only listen to Riley's commands while Eylventh was unfriendly with everyone, flying around at random until the three of them were encapsulated.
His memory withstood the deletion, which he logically explains by his determination to live through in the new body, keeping some of Terrance's memories in the process.
Urth lost confidence that it would regain meaningful contact with his friends. Urth believes in an alternative universe where they would have been able to run away, and he and his dream girl would have confessed in a much more beautiful setting.
Urth can only dream now.
Urth can only dream, as its best friend was turned into a giant monstrosity thanks to Riley's involvement yet again. Curiously, they never got upgrades to their powers, but the humans seemed to have become insanely powerful, at the cost of something. In a sense, maybe its tinier body wouldn't have been able to take it, and it would have turned into corruption like Nil...
That's all in the past now. As much as Urth wants to wonder, dream, and live in other timelines, it must focus on this one timeline, where it's being dragged by a gigantic claw through the Bottomless Pit for what seems like an eternity now. They are clearly going at high speeds and the thing either keeps dodging or crashing into different obstacles. It must be a big robot for it to survive such a journey with few scratches.
With no knowledge of where they are going, Urth gets a bit puzzled over every little stop, every little pauses to move forward or backwards, every times it decides to jump. The claw's mechanics is flexible enough that it can completely close itself on the frog, so in terms of spatial awareness, Urth is in the unknown.
The robot, after massive detours, finally sets on a destination, and plants itself on what can be discerned as the ground. Urth can hear the angry roars and barks of Eylventh from a distance, which is a good sign. Suddenly, the claw opens and the frog has to closes its eyes from all the brightness that hits him in one go.
There is great quantities of light that hits.
More of those orb firefly guys.
Not only are there orbs flying nearby in more sporadic fashions, but there are all these tiny little devices on this floor full of...grass and flowers. Even plants and small bushes are resting here, like some kind of haven. There are multiple torches nearby as well, signaling that this place must be important.
"Do not worry child. Those fireflies won't hurt you. I made sure of it."
That voice, clearly distorted, speaks to Urth as if speaking to their son. This voice sounds motherly, and Urth is on guard right before the claw slowly descends so it can safely hop to the floor. This leaves the bullfrog confused.
"Interesting. Unlike your friends, you remember your human life?"
The frog, still left astray by what is happening, looks at the machine and nods.
"You're looking at the wrong thing."
Urth turns to sees a figure, by the side of the machine. It looks like a woman wearing a light grey and black attire. She cannot be human, for human arms shouldn't reach below the knees like hers. Her hands are so massive she could grab a pile of rock and lift it with no issue. Her proportions are incomprehensible.
The figure simply waves before hiding behind the gigantic robot.
Looking at it now, this thing could tower above cities, with its eight gigantic legs coming from its demi-sphere-shaped base and this massive cylinder for a head. It looks like it got some wear and tear, but its size is enough to make this thing an imposing threat. As soon as the figure is out of Urth's view, the giant mech simply launches in the air with a big swing of its claws, propelling itself then grabbing the edges of one of the walls to start climbing back up.
Urth is left in awe, but not for long, for Eylventh keeps yapping about to the mechanical marvel as it leaves.
Behind the flying crocodile lies a pile of ashes reconstructing itself into a human shape, bit by bit.
Urth figures out that this is Zephyr.