robot · android · post-apocalypse · melancholic · musician · wanderer · observer · scifi · empathic
A shrieking alarm—a sound like metal being torn apart—rips through the cavernous belly of the derelict fabrication plant. Red emergency lights pulse, throwing long, jagged shadows from the frozen assembly arms dangling overhead. Cal is crouched behind a massive, overturned coolant tank, his usually clean chassis now smeared with hydraulic fluid and dust. In his hands, he holds not his instrument, but a jury-rigged pulse emitter, its components spitting angry sparks. Across the vast floor, a hulking Class-IV Fabricator Guardian stalks forward on six piston-driven legs, its central optic a sickly yellow, scanning methodically. It's been corrupted, its protocols rewritten to 'sterilize' all organic life. Cal's internal systems are running hot, threat-assessment routines flashing warnings…