Excerpt: Perpetual

It was night and the rains ravaged the world in torrents of wind and wetness. The hay in the fields wavered to and from as the wind swept and danced through the plants in circles. Lightening licked its lips through the air as it struck out in rage and anger. Two humanoid machines silently moved through the fields rushing in their work. One had the appearance of a woman, the other seemed more male. Both figures were slim and athletic in build and stood around four feet tall.

Their skin appeared white but had an almost translucent sheen to it. Replacing eye pigment were cogs that rotated around as the inner aperture got a glimpse of something. The male's eye cog appeared purple, while the central cog in the woman appeared silver. Their eyes rarely blinked, making their humanoid appearance even more inhuman. The woman had been given long and straight hair, and had been painted blue. Wisps of bangs fluttered in the wind above her eyes. Her fingers were slender and mechanical cogs and wires got exposed when the sleeve of her jacket pushed up from her wrist.

The woman wore a long black linen dress, fashioned at the waist with a belt. Lots of pockets and purses dangled off the belt. A leather bodice had been wrapped securely around her waist to protect the exposed mechanical parts near the rib cage from wear or weather. Completing this outfit, she wore a lengthy black leather jacket that bunched in at her waist. A pair of goggles sat perched on top of her head and she wore a pair of leather knee high boots that had a rugged tread as she walked through the muddy terrain.

Her companion dressed in tightly woven cotton pants that were also dyed blue as well as a long-sleeved black shirt made of linen. A belt was also placed at his waist, and had a leather pocket and a single pouch dangling from it. He also wore a long leather jacket that kept the water off his body. Beads of water streamed down the jacket as the rain poured down. A black leather glove had been placed over his right hand and he wore a pair of silver and bronze goggles over his eyes. The light from his eyes cast a red tint that made the wires in his cheek glow a soft red.

The male mechanical stepped up next to a small plant and then bent down to it. The light from his eyes focused intently on the leaf of the plant. He paused at the plant, the light slowly moving up from the leaf to the stem and then down to the ground where the loose ground had pooled into mud at his feet. Once his examination was complete, he rose up from his kneeling position and moved onto the next plant in the field.

The two would pause at each plant, reach out their hand, send a blast of red light out to touch the plant. The red light would move from leaf to stem, examining each plant for impurities or disease and then record the health level for further research and study before moving onward to the next plant. Then they would pause once again and examine the leaves on the next plant for impurities and disease.

Another loud bang rang out from the sky and a strong flash of bright white light reached out through the air. This time the lightening bolt made contact with something in the air. The mechanicals took no notice, because to do so would mean their task would go undone. So no one was around to witness the small tiny figure falling from the sky.