She stared up at the colossus, it's dark metal almost translucent in the poring rain, while thunder crashed around them. Inky silhouettes of the surrounding woods danced and jerked about her periphery, flashes of lightening flickering like wild fireflies between them to cast eerie shutters of chaos and horror.
But she was unafraid.
Here, standing sentry in an abandoned farm field was their salvation.
She had heard the stories, from her parents, her school friends, even her teachers, of the mysterious mechanical giants who had once--long ago--faced the hoard and saved humanity.
They had not fallen from the sky, nor had risen from the ground below.
No, they had assembled themselves, one by one, unseen in abandoned warehouses--spontaneous creation in the absence of a creator--she had once heard it described. No one knew why. The magnificent creatures of circuitry and mechanical engineering never spoke--at least not to them.
It was said they did have a language--one all their own--as in the midst of the great war many had heard them chattering to one another, but it was beyond our understanding, unable to be deciphered by even the most prolific of scientists. They were a conundrum--an improbable possibility.
Yet they were real.
The hoard had been ruthless--shedding the blood of thousands--soaking the earth crimson as they raged across continents. They had sprung up like demons from the depths of hell, driven by hunger and the desire for total annihilation. Humanity had no defense, mere flesh and bone against creatures with bodies hard as stone and intelligence far superior to ours.
But the Háomén turned the tide.
Like Gods of old, they emerged from the shadows of descending darkness and pushed back, standing one towering shoulder to shoulder with us until we had prevailed.
That had been decades ago.
Countless efforts had been made to reach out to the wondrous living feats of technology but they had managed to master the art of ghosting out of existence, disappearing from the battlefields as if they had never been there at all--save for the enormous impressions in sand, dirt and mud they had left behind.
It was divine providence that she stood now before one.
She was sure of it.
Another threat was looming--the world at the brink of extinction--about to be pushed out of existence--wiped away like mere pebbles tossed within in a tsunami.
But here was hope. Here was their protector.
Reaching her tiny hand out, she laid her palm against the cool surface and offered the silent beast a timid, "Hello."
Like a bolt from the storm striking right in front of her, the gentle giant suddenly lit up, its outer framework brilliant and bright in a swirling array of colors. It rumbled among thunder as it awoke, limbs creaking, circuits humming, the air around them charging with life--its eyes illuminating awareness, shifting its head with a drawn out groan of disuse...and then it unexpectedly looked down at her.
She held her breath, terror and awe warring within her.
But like a parent sensing her fear, the leviathan slowly squatted, its bulky frame pushing out in both directions, until they were almost face to face.
Tilting its head curiously, it broke the carnage of the storm around them with the loudest melodic sound she had ever heard.
"Hello."
But she was unafraid.
Here, standing sentry in an abandoned farm field was their salvation.
She had heard the stories, from her parents, her school friends, even her teachers, of the mysterious mechanical giants who had once--long ago--faced the hoard and saved humanity.
They had not fallen from the sky, nor had risen from the ground below.
No, they had assembled themselves, one by one, unseen in abandoned warehouses--spontaneous creation in the absence of a creator--she had once heard it described. No one knew why. The magnificent creatures of circuitry and mechanical engineering never spoke--at least not to them.
It was said they did have a language--one all their own--as in the midst of the great war many had heard them chattering to one another, but it was beyond our understanding, unable to be deciphered by even the most prolific of scientists. They were a conundrum--an improbable possibility.
Yet they were real.
The hoard had been ruthless--shedding the blood of thousands--soaking the earth crimson as they raged across continents. They had sprung up like demons from the depths of hell, driven by hunger and the desire for total annihilation. Humanity had no defense, mere flesh and bone against creatures with bodies hard as stone and intelligence far superior to ours.
But the Háomén turned the tide.
Like Gods of old, they emerged from the shadows of descending darkness and pushed back, standing one towering shoulder to shoulder with us until we had prevailed.
That had been decades ago.
Countless efforts had been made to reach out to the wondrous living feats of technology but they had managed to master the art of ghosting out of existence, disappearing from the battlefields as if they had never been there at all--save for the enormous impressions in sand, dirt and mud they had left behind.
It was divine providence that she stood now before one.
She was sure of it.
Another threat was looming--the world at the brink of extinction--about to be pushed out of existence--wiped away like mere pebbles tossed within in a tsunami.
But here was hope. Here was their protector.
Reaching her tiny hand out, she laid her palm against the cool surface and offered the silent beast a timid, "Hello."
Like a bolt from the storm striking right in front of her, the gentle giant suddenly lit up, its outer framework brilliant and bright in a swirling array of colors. It rumbled among thunder as it awoke, limbs creaking, circuits humming, the air around them charging with life--its eyes illuminating awareness, shifting its head with a drawn out groan of disuse...and then it unexpectedly looked down at her.
She held her breath, terror and awe warring within her.
But like a parent sensing her fear, the leviathan slowly squatted, its bulky frame pushing out in both directions, until they were almost face to face.
Tilting its head curiously, it broke the carnage of the storm around them with the loudest melodic sound she had ever heard.
"Hello."
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