Smiley is an individual automaton in the contingent of palemen under the control of Easton and Jack West Jr's team.
History[]
Early History[]
The automaton that would later become known as Smiley was originally a part of a contingent of Bronze Guardians that were created by the Super-Ancient Beings long ago at an unknown point in Earth's history. As the Super-Ancients were preparing their series of trials, the automaton was placed in a silver "coffin" at either the Underworld or one of the Three Secret Cities.
After Hardin "Sphinx" Lancaster completed the Trial of the Cities and was awarded the Rings of Command, he gave two of the lesser rings to Jaeger Eins and Dion DeSaxe, instructing them to begin gathering the numerous bronzemen from the Underworld and Secret Cities.
Easton later managed to take Yago DeSaxe's ring of command, allowing him and Jack West Jr to control the compliment of bronzemen still on the plane for their team's use. Soon after, Easton heeded Jack's suggestion to paint them in a pale blue paint so that they would know which automatons were under their control.
Later, as Jack's team made their play to get Jack, Lily and Zoe inside the Supreme Labyrinth, Easton and his "palemen" aided them in getting past Sphinx's defences, with the trio eventually making it through the gate before it closed with Easton and four remaining palemen, including the one that would become Smiley.
The One Impossible Labyrinth[]
As it squeezed its way under the closing gate of the Supreme Labyrinth, the last paleman received a curving scratch on its face, giving it the look of smiling crookedly.
As they made their way through the First Cavern, Jack's group came under attack from a pair of Vandals Sphinx had left behind, and Easton had the palemen grab and kill the assailant. As they were hurried into the Cavern, the palemen was ordered to accompany Lily and Easton as they hurried on ahead of the others. Ultimately, Lily and Easton's paleman was the only one that made it to safety, as the other palemen were during the scuffle.
The remaining painted-bronzeman, now designated Smiley, continued to accompany Jack, Lily and Easton through the Labyrinth. When the group were attack in the Endless Tunnel by another pair of Vandals, Smiley grabbed the second one as it harassed Lily and Easton and threw it further down the tunnel towards an awakened goldman, then the paleman resumed following Jack and the others in traversing the Endless Tunnel.
Once they reached the entrance to the City-Maze, Rastor's men set off a trap they had laid using a Vandal and a crimson orb, intending to catch Jack and the others in the blast. To Jack's surprise, Smiley stepped between them and the blast, protecting the trio even as its back was doused in the liquid fire released by the orb's detonation. After Jack took care of Rastor's sniper, he noticed the damage done to the automaton's back, and he and Easton pulled the now-still paleman back into the tunnel. Easton proudly noted that Smiley had been a good bronzeman for obeying his orders, while Jack sadly noted that Smiley's fight was now over.
As Rastor collapsed a part of the seawall around the City-Maze, the rotor blade from a chopper falling off from a Russian carrier nearly came down upon Lily, only for Smiley to suddenly reactivate despite the damage it had endured and shield Lily with its own body, with the paleman being only slightly jarred by the impact. After he was cut off from Easton and Lily, Jack saw that Smiley had gone still once more, and so headed off on his own to continue the mission. Soon afterwards, as the rest of Jack's team reconvened, the barely-functional Smiley accompanied Aloysius Knight, Rufus, Sky Monster and Easton as they took a Russian chopper and began assaulting the remainder of Sphinx's forces.
After the Omega Event had been averted, the last-remaining paleman was taken back to Jack's farm, where Smiley remained a companion for Easton at his new cottage, and was used to aid the minotaur by doing heavy-lifting tasks, being a scarecrow, and delivering packages and messages to the main house and Sky Monster's neighbouring station.
Description[]
Being a blue-painted version of the almost robotic bronzemen, Smiley stands around six feet tall and is largely humanoid in appearance, baring for a faceless head with a downturned beak-like appendage. The only feature it has to separate itself from the other palemen is the curved scratch on its facial area, giving it the appearance of a crooked smile.
Smiley is crafted out of a bronze-like metal that is actually far sturdier than anything found on Earth, making the paleman able to withstand attacks from conventional human weapons such as bullets, knives and even grenade blasts. After being rendered almost inoperable by the scorching blast of a crimson orb, it was still able to absorb the impact of a falling helicopter's rotor blade. As with other palemen, Smiley is extremely strong, being able to easily overpower and toss aside humans, and broke a Vandal's neck with minimal force.
Trivia[]
- The paleman Smiley is the second non-human character of Reilly's novels to bear the nickname; the first was a Red-Bellied Black Dragon in The Great Zoo of China.