What May Come In The Sands

a story
canon
2013-02-27 21:45:30,
2016-02-29 17:32:22
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Deserted

      "I may not have enough water, my friend."
      His poor automaton companion, Bob, was beginning to clank and grind. Bob wasn't going to last much longer without some water, and Lucas knew that he was going to have to conserve it for himself.
      Lucas stared out at the world and saw nothing but gold everywhere he turned: the gold of the sands and the gold of sunrise. What a hell of a night it had been. Damn unreliable things, dirigibles were, and weather had gotten the best of his journey out west.
      What exactly did he expect to find out here?
       He was heading out to the farthest post in Antiford. Farthest post of the known world to be honest, Barroh Camp. A few scientists and survivalists were out there in the middle of the Istoki desert.
      It was because he couldn't decline a request for a robot. He didn't know when orders would come in, and money was always tricky with the business.
      Unfortunately, he was probably much closer to hell than Barroh Camp or even White Haven.
      His guide and pilot were both up at the cockpit when it crashed back to Orr, so he was alone with his creation out here.
      He walked onwards to the east until happening upon a tiny ghost town. a few buildings here and there settled into the shade of a gigantic cliff face.
      By the looks of it, there were some demon dwellings and large carvings of the moons deep in the rock. This must have been an early settlement. Most of the earliest settlements were established by taking over a Vibranni dwelling or a sacred spot. The bottom of every mural, however, was filled with horrible, malevolent faces. Perhaps the settlers were poking fun at the demons, but Lucas could not imagine living day in and day out near these carvings. They gave him chills.
      Bob slouched over, and his eyes stopped glowing. His backpack slid off.
      "Damn it. I really don't want to lug you around."
      And so, Lucas threw his pack and Bob on his back the way one would carry a child. A half ton child.
      He quickly found a house to spend the night and threw everything on the floor.
      "The next automaton is definitely going to have some kind of wound clockwork. I can't always rely on water around here."
      Indeed, the plans back at Buford Automata included just such plans.
      He propped Bob up in one of the chairs and went looking for a bedroom. This house was really nice. Too nice. Why would anyone leave?
      He undid his mechanical arm and placed it on the nightstand, along with goggles and coat. He crawled into bed and drifted off to sleep, worried about what tomorrow's journey may bring. Today was trying, but he knew the days ahead would be worse.

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