Wind whistled through the crimson rocks as the prisoner stood.

  “Very funny, Listen, I intercepted your little command there, why don’t you complete the mission, I’m sure you have ample supplies down there, did you rescue the colonists?”

  “People are dying down here you bastard!” Jameson muttered.

  The voice almost began to smile.

  “I know what you can do, what you have done, I don’t want you to die, I just want you to feel a little pain in your new occupation, I want to see you bleed” It hissed.

  Jameson looked up at the Intrepid and saw it hovering in the sky above.

  “One day, I swear to god I’ll kill you President, I’ll stab a knife through your goddamn brain and smile at every sqeal that sprouts from your ragged breath, I’ll watch as your children burn” Jameson roared.

  In a rage, he punched the ground with his exoskeleton fist causing dust to spew into the air. With each word, the radio spoke he pounded more. Until he screamed. A guttural roar came from his chest.

  “Why do you think I sent you on this mission so unprepared? Do you think it’d let you walk from that trial? You really thought your friends would save you, let you do this sentence? You think I didn’t know about the glam?” It hissed.

  Jameson was now about to cry, but he held it back. Teeth biting the inner part of his cheek.

  “Do you know what you’ve made me?” Jameson barked.

  A silence echoed across the misty rocks.

  “You want to save your soldiers just like old times, report when your mission is fulfilled, then I’ll contact the Admiral and let the intrepid pick you up” he breathed. The sound of his voice was a cackle which cascaded through the air, a screech that howled like the wind.

  Jameson violently pressed the radio into his back slot and picked up Wild’s shotgun. It lay discarded at the edge of the pod, Glam innards still touching the hilt. Punching the ship's locker he broke open the lock and grabbed a handful of red shells. Walking towards the compound he slowly fed the ammo into the gun. Hate streaked across his face, anger pumping through his veins.

  When he stumbled upon Lamprey, he tossed the radio into her lap. Both were still resting. Slowly bandaging their wounds. They had moved into the shade of a mining tent. The Luitenant was using a rifle to prop up her bandaged legs.

  “What happened?” She asked.

  “How’s Wild?” Alistar questioned.

  “He’s dead follow me”

  Jameson picked up Alistar and the officer. They had left their armour discarded in the sand so it was a feat of a minor triumph. The exoskeleton easily lifted the two humans. A measly feat for the reinforced steel. He unloaded the wounded marines into the drop pod’s awaiting seats and let them see Wild’s body. Alistar burst into tears. It was clear he was a rookie, someone who did not fully comprehend the meaning of war. Someone who still believed in the hollow words they muttered every day. While Alistar placed Wild’s helmet over his cold bloodied head, lamprey simply ensured the sentury was working, hoping to aid its view sensor.

  “Call In when in I return” Jameson.

  To their imminent surprise, Jameson pressed on the door release causing the drop pods' plexiglass to fold in.

  Lamprey shouted after him.

  “What! What about Evac, what are you doing?” She screamed.

  She pounded on the glass with her fist as it sealed and pressurized.

  “You’ll kill yourself?” She shrieked.

  “Saving you” Jameson muttered as the two were locked inside the pod.

  Brown armour glinting in the sun, the warrior walked, footsteps echoing across the concrete. His suit had already started to repair itself, a tiny robotic hand welding patches in the exoskeleton's hull. Sparks flew from the man as he watched himself heal.

  Lampray attempted to open the door via the console but Jameson shook his head pointing to the sky above. Then he turned to face the towering concrete walls infront. Wild swept through his buzzcut hair as sweat trickled down his brow. He clutched the shotgun and reloaded, dread instilled into his heart.

  “I have the oath to fulfill”

  “Tannatt are you there?” He clicked the radio twice.

  “Tannatt?” Jameson questioned.

  A static buzz filled the air as he awaited a response.

  “What took you so long? I heard you were attacked are you alright?”

  “One marine down but were doing just fine, I need you to direct me to the Colonists” The prisoner spoke, he walked down the shattered remains of the mining outposts hallway. The hole where the glams had sprouted was insight. Scratches sprouted from the steel, thin viens from where the metal had parted. The pit was dark and roughly half a meter wide, a mixture of sand and dirt clumping at the entrance.

  “Listen you need to know it’s not just Glams, it’s more it’s…”

  “Bandit’s” Jameson muttered.

  He stopped in his tracks when the armour’s thermal vision revealed the horrors behind the next set of titanium blast doors. A single figure was highlighted in the dark, a gun lay in it’s grip as a thin fiddly helmet sat on top of it’s head. The garb of a mercenary. Jameson tapped his helmet two more times pressing the thin orange button on the side. The machinery whirred for a moment, lights flickering for an instant. Scans showed two or three more sitting about, all were on guard, fluid pacing movements crossing the room. His tongue swirled in his mouth. He stomped his foot against the ground causing dust to stir. Clearing his parched throat, Jameson approached the door, keeping his gun aimed at the first guard's location. Like a hawk to an invisible prey, his barrel glided along with the soldier's movements. Every inch was calculated, slowly and meticulously tracing his next victim. Time’s like these the exoskeleton was really worth its weight in gold.

  “It’s never easy is it Tannatt?” He hissed. The radio buzzed overhead.

  “ listen your going to need to take the first elevator on the right, follow the orange wires overhead. A soldier is there, they have an enhanced psych device downstairs, thats how they control the glam. I counted fifteen when they entered. It looks like you killed all the glam in the region but they probably have more downstairs, it’s how they over ran the base”

  The radio spurted as the electric light flickered overhead.

  “A psych enhancer? How did they get their hands on that?”

  Jameson stood still for a moment, catching his breath as his muscles flexed inside the steel. His breath fogged against the plating, it was cold in the depths.

  “How do you know all this? How do you know my name?” He questioned.

  “Listen time is running out, whose knows what the Bandits are doing down there” The radio crackled.

  Electric light danced upon the carven walls as Jameson’s eyes wandered to the corridor infront. Rubble and scorched plastic lay discarded across the floor. A shiny metal caught his eye, a sharp reflection gleaming over all.

  “Tannatt I think we both know what theyre here for, Orchram, that shiny metal is the lifeblood of our people and worth it’s price tenfold”

  He bent over and clasped the tiny object, sifting it in his guantleted palm. Flakes of the ore tore off as his hand shifted, almost like small flakes of stardust cascading before his blackened eyes.

  Jameson took a deep breath and ran a finger along his rifle. Fatigue spread across his bones, shivering down his metal spine but now was not the time to falter. Meticulously, he shifted his feet, slowly getting into a combat stance as he pulled down on the trigger. The resounding shockwave ringed through his ears. The bolt of energy streaked from his barrel, through the steel wall and into the first soldiers head splattering him against the floor. Running full force he tore through the metal like hot butter and burst into the elevator corridor catching the next two guards in a mixture of horror and awe. Seeing his carnage firsthand the soldier realized the plight of his enemy. Two mercenaries sat half-baked by the sun. They wore green surplus marine helmets and makeshift armour. The scarred plating on the police vests showed the stories of a thousand battles and was likely stolen from an outpost world. A single emblem sat adorned and welded into their steel plating. A black skull twirling in the midnight stars. Jameson quickly recognized his enemy. These were no ordinary raiders, they were part of a guild. A syndicate from some backwater where the law was found at the end of the nearest barrel.

  Blood pooled onto the floor from the first bandit’s exploded head as a guard stood up. Rifle in hand he whacked Jameson’s exoskeleton plating to produce a resounding clang. Jameson retaliated by punching him with the gauntleted hand and sending him flying backwards into the wall. He crumpled in an instant. The third drew his pistol and fired, the shot scathing by the prisoner's shoulder plate and melting the circuitry behind. A screech emitted as Jameson’s armour took the bullet, shrugging off multiple rounds. Seeing the smoking revolver was a toy in the face of the death that lay infront the footman reached for a grenade at his belt, ready to pull the pin.

  As his enemies hands fumbled around their lives, Jameson fired the shotgun once more, blasting the bandit into oblivion. A casing emptied into the ground below smoke following from the empty shell. Blood smeared everywhere as innards flew throughout the small room. The soldier shook them from his visor as he stood above his enemy. All were dead, rotting corpses of the scum they once were. As he prodded and pocked the corpses he examined the remains. Thin stretchy fabric, cheap corporate guns, light plastic and ineffective for heavy combat. It was apparent they were depending on the enslaved glam to defeat any superior opposition. With the veneer of a madman, he ignored their pale warm faces and worked as would a machine. His eyes showed not a hint of emotion yet the empty pits they represented spoke volumes. Every twitch, every movement of his cumbered soul was that of a haunted man. A man who would see ghosts until the day he died. Blind to the monster he was, Jameson rapidly pressed the elevator call button. Turning on thermal vision to scan for any more targets inside the shaft, the prisoner steadied his gaze.

  None came into view, but the leagues of rock below were thick. Strong enough to delay ship sensors that would have his armour’s fickle computer pale in comparison.

  Once inside, Tannatt’s voice filled his head oncemore.

  The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.

  “Listen good work with those guards, the observation deck should be on the seventh level underground, please note this is the main refinery so the most bandits will be located here aswell, they hacked the doors but i’ll get them open for you”

  “Great, any more good news” Jameson inquired.

  No response came.

  The steel box zoomed downward as Jameson braced himself. Whatever lay below those depths was certainly a terror unseen. He pressed the grimey button indicating seventh level and awaited his fate. When the doors finally swung open, the two guards infront were horrified at the sight. They stood defending a pair of blast doors, re-enforced and likely leading to the core.

  “Sound the alarm!” the first screamed, spit flying from his parched lips to land upon the dusty floor.

  The second his assault rifle pulled, a flurry of ammunition pierced Jameson in the arm. This was a higher calibre, every resourcing shot causing smoke to rise from the melting barrel and sending Jameson backward into the elevator wall. His entire body slammed into the rock causing debris to soar through the air planting itself in the dust on the steel floor. Finally, the gun ran out, a resounding click haunting its owner's ears as they fumbled for a second magazine, sweat-glistening fingers twisting upon the metal. Eyes wide with shock the guard barked for aid as his fingers danced upon his belt, feeling for a grenade.

  Finger bent on the trigger, a full magazine was unleashed into the soldier. Bullets pittered off the tempered steel as he took the hit in full. Energy swirled through the armour’s core as metal plates slowly melted together from the relentless barrage. Swinging himself infront, Jameson blasted the two with the shotgun, streaks of bullets emptying into the air to pin his enemies in the rock. Blood pooled on the shaft’s floor as he walked, eyes wide for reinforcements that were soon to arrive.

  The area was a cave that had been enforced with a metal grating floor. Steel beams shot up into the rock holding the ceiling together as industrial compound lights were moulded into every inch of the cavern. Industry had found itself into the heart of the mountain, computers welded into the gilded stone.

  An alarm blared overhead as Jameson heard more bandits shriek behind the blast door. He cast a glance down at his mechanical arm to see exposed steel beneath the exoskeleton’s initial plating. The armour began to mend itself but very slowly. The brown plate was scrapped off with laser burns and scorching peeled back and shrivelled into flaking dust. Minor damage yet entirely present. He had to remember this armour was his life now, his skin, his flesh and blood. No longer just an extension, a tool of metal but rather his very bones. If it died, he would too. Jameson coughed before rearing back with all his might. He released the punch and struck the blast door head-on, but the steel retained its composure sending him flying back.

  “Tannatt, there's a big door here” Jameson yelled.

  “Working on it!” The voice scuffled.

  A moment passed as he waited, smoke filling his eyes from the mining exhaust. The alarm continued its squealing pitch like a burning hog, it seemed the industrial smelters were being pushed beyond capacity. A warning light blared on the refineries door, in a matter of hours this kind of use would incite a meltdown.

  Silently and suddenly, the steel door slid open. Mysterious vapours pooled on the murky rock as two more bandits looked on in horror. Shivers trickled down their spines as they saw the Marine infront, bloodshot eyes staring into his prey. They were more well-armed, with vests and steel helmets complimented by stolen assault and security weaponry. Corporate brands mass-produced to see blackened streets. Jameson could see he had reached the inner core, various bits of machinery and consoles were spread throughout a control room overlooking a massive cavern. For leagues outside the tempered glass, it was nothing but empty darkness, a gigantic underground lake bustling with robots who toiled for Orcham. Mechanical slaves for the greatest resource to ever curse the stars. Worklights were like torches dotting the rocky skyline as industrial furnaces heated and churned the ore into a pulp. The sound of grinding metal filled the air as steam rose from the boilers. It was a massive operation and one that was fully automated. Small robotic drones streamed in every direction as they slowly chiselled into the carved surface. White metal was plastered in embers as splintered rock spewed through the floor of the cavern.

  The cave was enormous stretching for as far as the eye could see. Stalactites streaked down the carven rock seeping into the jagged terrain. Mountains towered underground, spiraling to the highest peak and scraping against the dusty stone. Pools of liquid flowed through the mine, an underwater river streaming beneath the planet's sandy surface. He stood in a structure at the bottom, with walkways and stairs carved from lasers into the thick stone.

  “Over there!” A cry pierced the air as a bullet whizzed past Jameson’s turning head.

  He pinned the first enemy, blocking their strike with his fist and punching repeatedly into their chest to hear ribs crack. The mercenary screamed as he crumbled but swung out his hand smacking into the exoskeletons damaged helmet and causing glass shards to fly..

  Then the prisoner blasted the next two mercenaries and watched the third flee in terror. The shot burned through their plating, blood spewing into the air as they crumbled into the ground. However, he was soon overwhelmed. More of the soldiers pooled out of every direction, blasts and gunfire whizzing overhead. Streaks of light filled the air as at least fifteen made ranks around the entrance peppering the steel walls with glee. Plastic splintered and warped as the entire room turned into chaos. Ducking for cover behind a nearby control desk, wires and sparks spewed from the walls above as the fight damaged the surrounding equipment. A stray bullet pierced through the console's computer causing the glass to shatter across the surface, shards like daggers strewn across the stone floor. The metal desk began to bend and warp from the heat of the guns, pools of molten aluminum seeping into the grating. Pinned down, Jameson returned fire blindly but was soon completely suppressed. For a moment he closed his eyes, stirring his breath as his gaze wandered to the heavens above. He felt a cold feeling of fear creep across his bones, yet he held firm, body pressed against the cover, hugging it for dear life. A voice echoed around him as the soldiers seized their endless barrage.

  “A prisoner?” It screeched.

  The bullets stopped, steam rising from the guns as their trigger-happy compatriots stared curiously into the beyond.

  “Surrender, we have you surrounded,” The creature said again, almost a deep growl in its throat.

  Jameson held his breath, he paused for a moment, using his suit helmet to examine the surroundings. Thermal outlines traced in every direction, and only six shells rested in his gun’s stock, half of what he would need. His brown armour was peppered in strikes, ashen swirls etched into the overlapping metal.

  “How do I know you won’t shoot?” He cried.

  “I give you my word” The other responded cooly.

  At this the crowd laughed, a guttural sound echoing across the cave.

  Jameson gulped as he slowly raised himself. Towering to his full height of seven feet as he stared into the eyes of his enemy. The creature infront was human, dirt-plastered face shrouded in a stolen grey captain's helmet and an officer's pistol clutched in her hand. Her scar-riddled cheeks were accented by beady eyes, cold and cruel yet sneering at the sight infront. A smile danced on her lips as she beckoned for two more of the mercenaries to move forward, slowly slinking to surround their prey. She had long dark hair, wrapped into a messy bun and a medium composure, it was clear once in her career she was fit, yet as a leader exertion often changed. She smiled a cruel twist of lip as she saw Jameson yet he remained firm. He snarled through the exoskeletons helmet, his exposed eye twitching in the light.

  “I assume you’re a forced conscript?” She inquired.

  “That would be true” He stood tall as he spoke, the exoskeleton looming over all.

  The room almost seemed to back away, fear striking into their eyes..

  “What’s stopping you from killing me?” he asked.

  “Curiosity, I’ve never seen a convict soldier up close before, you made quick work of those guards there, don’t worry they come cheap” She replied.

  He could feel their eyes like daggers piercing into his skin. A gaze he had held before, a mixture of emotions swirling through their faces: fear, hate, awe.

  “You must have been good to avoid being locked in a cage” She smiled revealing crooked teeth.

  They waited in silence for a moment.

  “I was more than good” Jameson replied, his teeth bared for a moment as he took off his helmet. The mechanism jutted before popping off. His face was sweaty and plastered in sand yet the scar riding from his chin to cheek shown fiercely in the light. His short hair glistened with sweat.

  “I would kill you, but i’m a few guns short right now if you agree to join us, I’ll forget those murders back there, we’ll take off that armour of yours, make you a whole new man”

  Jameson cast a glance to the fourteen dirt smothered faces infront, they were scared yet confident, their first mistake. His eyes wandered to the floor below as he pondered, the mirky blue pupils stopped when he saw the tattered boots of a mining officer, the guild crest upon her shoulder showed she was leader of the outfit. Blood pooled for still warm corpse, their place face striken with grime. Thousands of cuts marked her frail body as a single bullet hole lay in the center of the officers head. One word rang through his mind as he saw the stream of red trickle. Torture.

  “What do you say prisoner?” She beckoned.

  He straightened his back, but loosened the grip on the shotgun, mind racing. Anger coarsed through his viens.

  “A distress beacon has already been initaited, re-enforcements are enroute, be it a matter of minutes or hours, they will slaughter you and you know how merciless they can be. No matter how many glams you enslave, a platoon will descend upon every inch of these depths. Those machines, the drones, every piece of the mining equipment is already operating at maximum capacity and from what I can tell the generators on these smelters will burn out from overehuastion in a matter of minutes. You would have been smarter to just steal the store and leave, this, this is madness”

  She snarled as he spoke and they others began to shout yet the prisoner held his ground, metal armour shining in the electric light.

  “The way I see it, you only have one option” Jameson breathed.

  She was leaning against the wall now, resting the stolen pistol on her thigh as she laughed. A grinding cackle sprouting from her lips.

  “Enlighten me” She muttered.

  “Free the miners, hand me your psi disruptor, allow us to reach the surface and I will let you live with as much Orchram as you can carry” he barked.

  At this the entire group burst into laughter. All fourteen howled as the leader grimaced. The sound of thier voices pierced through the hall as Jameson held his gaze firmly upon his enemy. A second mercenary stalked forward. His scruffy face was buried beneath a veneer of tactical gear, a submachine gun dangling around his neck as the pointy eared creature’s footsteps echoed. He wore a looted luitenant’s uniform, bullet holes sprouting through the fabrics grimey chest.

  “You don’t seem to understan do ya” He snarled.

  “Do you?” He cried again.

  Swinging the butt of his metal rifle he smacked Jameson in the face causing blood to sprout from his thin lips. Jameson didn’t whimper yet he still felt the blow, pain spreading through his entire body. He was about to strike back but soon felt the cold hard steel of a barrel press against the back of his neck forcing him into submission. The female leader slinked forward, her eyes shifting as she spoke.

  “That PSI disruptor wasn’t a gift, but i’ll cut you a deal, mining can be boring, if you can kill my little friend, I’ll give you the PSI and let every single worker go free”

  For a moment silence ensued.

  “Do you agree?” She pressed her own pistol to his head, he could feel the heat slowly rising from the energy-weapons hilt. It singed his hair, causing him to wince in pain.

  Jameson let no response.

  “Answer me!” She spat.

  “I agree” Jameson coughed.

  At this the room went wild, clamoring and shouting from the soldiers as exitement spread accross their wicked faces.

  “You five, secure the entrance and tend to any wounded, if they're too wounded, kill them” The pointy eared luitenant barked.

  “You come with me” The Captain smirked.

  Jameson got to his feet as she pressed a silver button and opened the observatory door. Rifle to his back, the prisoner was pushed along the jutted steps outside of the plexiglass viewing deck and into the open caverns below. A hiss resounded through the chamber and the door swiftly closed behind them as the mercenaries sealed themselves inside. Jameson examined the surroundings, the cavern stretched for as far as the eye could see, and worker bots squirmed at his feet as they fed raw chunks of Orcham into the furnaces, robotics desperate to quench an undying thirst. He cast a glance into the perilous beyond, the thick dark cave which spanned for miles. Darkness casting its shadow over all. Tiny worker lights and light rails dotted the endless night. Then as he placed a metal foot upon the cindering sand to have a dark pit catch his glance. The PSI Disruptor and a series of metallic equipment sat next to the circular hole, obviously remnants set up by the invaders.

  Roughly ten meters wide and unveiling nothing but pitch black within, the cut in the side of the rock was surrounded by a flurry of shattered debris. Cracks spread like veins from the opening, intertwining with the smooth stone to stretch through the layers of sediment. It’s sight sent shivers down the prisoner's spine. The PSI disruptor’s thin metallic frame and whirring console could be seen to slowly charge. An orange bar slowly seeping forward on the electronic screen. The mercenary captain above flicked a lever, causing the intercom to buzz to life. Her voice echoed through the loudspeakers.

  “Allow me to introduce, my little friend”

  The ground started to tremble and tear, almost as if the cavern itself had begun to destabilize. Particles of dust and tiny shards of ore flew down from the ceiling to collapse into the ground below. The rock beneath Jameson’s feet began to split, a huge slab of granite parting like waves before the open sea. Then he heard it roar. A wind like a hurricane tearing through the putrid dark. Pebbles and small stones were tossed in the guttural air as the prisoner readied his stance compressing his armoured foot into the shaking ground. For a moment he waited in trepidation, every breath resounding in his turmoil. Even the mercenaries watching from their lofty cove above seemed scared for a moment. Fear shivered down their spines as they sat behind shallow smiles. The first step felt like a hammer pounding into the rock. Then a second caused the walls to seemingly crumble into ash. A single word formed at Jameson’s parched lips, syllables that would haunt him until the day he died.

  “Dragon”

  “It’s been a long time since I fought a Dragon” Jameson coughed.

  The Captain overhead this remark and for a moment, a sliver in time, a tinge of fear trickled before her eyes.

  Darkness parted for a moment as a creature emerged. The world stood still as it stepped it’s first foot forward, claws like spears crunching into the crumbling sands. Thick scales dripped from the thin tentacle-like structure, each one crusted and bent to intertwine with the other, coarse hard rock-like skin streaking around it’s tattered body. The worm slinked forward, using all ten of it’s limbs to propel itself forward. The centipede-like creature snapped it’s gigantic, head breath tearing through the air. Large fractured and jagged fangs spouted from its sandy beak as rows of earth-crunching molars lined the acid-frothing mouth. Sharp talons protruded from slender hands as minuscule eyes dotted either side, beady black orbs jutting from patchy layers of moulting skin. Eyes that showed no emotion, no hindrance of sentience. The eyes of a machine. Then as Jameson watched in horror it rose. Spine climbing to twenty feet in height, its massive head clashed with the cavern wall, thick hide crunching the rock and causing boulders to come crashing down into the surface below. Oil sprouted like a foundation from the ground, a vein spilling from the crackled rock. As the shroud of darkness removed its viel, the soldier stood, entire body encompassed by the shadow of his enemy.

  The creature was about to lumber forward, each step causing rivets of the rock to upheave when the PSI enhancer began to stir. A high-pitched shriek echoed from the metallic device causing the monster to shriek in agony. Opening its beak it’s coarse patchy tongue sprouted out and flailed in the air. An action which caused the very walls to shake and Jameson to fall to his knees clutching his ears to protect what hearing he had left.

  “Remove your chest piece Prisoner, I know convicts can do that and I want to see this as a fair fight” She cackled over the loudspeaker.

  Jameson stood up as the PSI enhancer worked its plight, sending the monster into a half sleep, a slave to its every command, dependent on their every whim. He dug his metallic hand into the mixture of dust and splintered rock infront. Fingers sifting through the rubble he traced a thin line within the fine sand. Then another, and another. His actions forming a triangle within the dust. Then as a single tear rolled silently down his cheek he placed his entire hand upon the drawing smothering it into oblivion. Caressing the ground he slowly closed his grasp allowing a pile of dirt and oil to sift within his open palm. He let it trickle down ever so slightly, a tiny river of brown returning to an endless sea.

  “You see Captain” Jameson muttered, his voice unwavering not a single hint of emotion tearing through. Mockery however underlined every tone.

  He meticulously lifted his palm and removed his helmet allowing his thick fingertips to smother a mixture of dust and oil upon his own cheeks.

  “I can’t remove this armour”

  A slender hand reached into his backplate slowly taking out a thin blade. It was an energy knife no more than twenty four inches long. It sang in the coarse air, illuminating his every swipe as he paraded it through the murky night.

  “For it is no exoskeleton”

  He planted his foot forward and placed the helmet back on top of his head, one eye still protruding through the darkness, hate seeping into every word. Then in one final act of defiance he pressed the eject button on the side of his hand to have the suit’s back open. To the terror of those who watched when the steel interlocking hissed and parted they did not see flesh, no controls or inner wire not even a prison console awaiting some unseen key. Just a thin sprout of crude nails, gears and molten iron. Where a human would be seen there was nothing but a machine.

  “It is a part of me”