Late one afternoon while I was out
hunting vermin, one of the biggest, most intact, still-standing robots began to
move. It was one of the big, black ones. They were different from the type I
lived in the head of. There were fewer of them for one thing. Slightly larger,
with a heavier build, and a lot more sinister looking. This one didn’t move a
lot, but it moved enough to dislodge a section of a destroyed skyscraper, which
crashed down on my home, and crushed it flat. I was fortunate to not be inside
it at the time, but losing my home left me short of supplies and vulnerable to
the nighttime ministrations of the rats.
I had sometimes caught a glimpse of light from the ruins of the robot my robot head had been detached from. That indicated a possible tenant. Hopefully a friendly one. Although risky, I made a beeline for the body.
I had sometimes caught a glimpse of light from the ruins of the robot my robot head had been detached from. That indicated a possible tenant. Hopefully a friendly one. Although risky, I made a beeline for the body.
When I arrived there, I found no easy access.
The robot was standing, having shut down when the head (my home) had been
knocked or blasted off in whatever conflict produced the ruined city and the
giant, dead robots. It loomed above me.
There was a lot of rust. Whatever markings had once been on it were faded to
the point of illegibility. I could see the breached access hatch on the torso
of the robot. I had to search around for a bit for the maintenance handholds
which were recessed into the front and sides of the robot at fairly regular
intervals.
I was going to have to climb up 40 or 50 feet to reach the breach in the robots outer skin. It was no easy climb. The maintenance handholds alternated between recesses cut into the robots skin, and metal rungs which stuck out from it. Some were missing or torn off, and others were so rusted- looking that I feared they would break under my weight.
I was going to have to climb up 40 or 50 feet to reach the breach in the robots outer skin. It was no easy climb. The maintenance handholds alternated between recesses cut into the robots skin, and metal rungs which stuck out from it. Some were missing or torn off, and others were so rusted- looking that I feared they would break under my weight.
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