Sustra and the Machine

Audio Version Here

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For several days, Sustra had trekked through the desert, a seemingly endless stretch of light brown sand visible for miles in every direction. Her red cloak and black and white hair stirred in the breeze. The only sound she made was the soft swish of sand beneath her boots, and the occasional pat of her pack and weapons as she dropped down or jumped up on the uneven ground. Overhead, the sky had thankfully dimmed from a gathering of grey clouds. However, no rain fell. Instead, warm air shifted sand to and fro, as if not quite decided whether to create a storm or not.

Sustra hoped for the latter. There was no telling how close she was to her goal. The map was all but useless in the vast expanse of this desert. There were no landmarks, not even any animals or plants to at least indicate she was getting close to something. In the days she had walked, she had not seen so much as a single oasis.

Her journey came to a brief halt as she scaled another dune, only to find the other side ended in s steep drop off. A great crater, perhaps half a mile wide, stretched out before her. In its center was a single structure. Sustra approached it slowly, sliding down the sandy crater side until she reached the relatively flat bottom.

The structure was an old building of brick, collapsed into itself from who knew how many years of neglect. Through the gaps, she could see glints of sand-scoured metal, half-melted or torn, the remnants of some great machine. Most of the structure was buried in sand, and even the exposed parts were caked in piles of it. Perhaps the structure had once been fully buried, and the winds recently uncovered it. There was no telling how tall the building had once been, but the ruins were wide enough to hold hundreds of people.

Sustra circled the structure slowly, looking for any sign of recent use. From the look of things, no one had touched it in years. She gave it one final glance over, frowning, wondering what it might have been. Then, she turned to continue her journey.

A moment later, however, the ground beneath her suddenly shook. Nimble as she was, she managed to leap and run while avoiding spilling face first on the ground. Fearing that the building behind her might be caving in, she dashed hastily for the crater’s edge without looking back. Only when she reached it, did the shaking stop, and she realized the ground wasn’t sliding out from beneath her.

She then saw the ground darken around her, as something cast a great shadow, even in washed out light of the overcast sky. Sustra whirled and her eyes widened as she saw a great form rising from the center of the crater. Where once had stood the ruins of the building, there now kneeled, on hands and knees, an enormous humanoid machine. A great robot made of rusted, scorched, and bent metal, dropping wires and cords, packed earth and chunks of glass embedded in its frame. The pieces of brick and chunks of metal from the former building rolling off its back. The creature was the size of a whale, at least a hundred feet long and two dozen tall, even kneeling. A great cylindrical head, bedecked with six circular pits, was the size of Sustra herself. Though it bore no facial features, one of the pits was covered in a red lens, which glowed dully.

Beneath her cloak, Sustra’s hands were already gripping her shotgun and rapier. But she paused before drawing them. The great, decayed robot stared down at her, looming over her, but it did not move. Sustra and the machine stared at one another for several long seconds. Then, the machine made a sound.

A deep bass tone emanated from it, causing it’s looser parts to rattle, and Sustra to wince slightly. The sound seemed to come more from it’s chest than it’s head. As the tone sounded, the single remaining lens on it’s “face” flared a bit brighter. The entity paused for a moment, and then sounded again, this time modifying the tone several times. There was an almost musical quality to it.

Sustra let go of her weapons, and instead slowly reached behind her back and pulled out her electric guitar. She made a single strum on the strings. The robot’s eye  flickered, and one of it’s empty sockets sparked. It made another sound, a high whistle. Sustra replied with a high note on her instrument.

The robot made several light notes in a steady beat, then uttered a song, deep electronic tones. Sustra lightly played her guitar, matching the tune for a moment, before adding a chord of her own. For a moment, traveler and machine were synched in melody.

Then the machine shifted its head in what could have been a nod, and went silent. Sustra ceased her playing. As she watched, the light in the robot’s eye faded, and it sank towards the ground, folding into itself and half digging into the sand. As it did, a slight gust went through the crater, and the grey clouds finally set loose their bounty. Light rain pattered around her. She turned her face to the sky, removing her wide brimmed, pointed hat and opened her mouth to taste the drops.

Then she climbed the edge of the crater, and continued on her way.