Challenge The Proud

Falsely True

"And faith unfaithful kept him falsely true." - Challenge No.9

"THERE ARE a few little known facts about the Graveyards.

"One is that some of the Mechs are actually still sentient and very much aware of their surroundings and situation; abandoned, either because of a faulty mechanism in their human-like bodies or because of a newer and better version replacing them, Mechs lay in the pit like trash, piled up into mounds of metal, until the day the excavator pulls them close enough to be picked up by the giant Recycling Drone. It sucks up shiny limbs and glimmering skulls, it chews the Mech bodies without restraint and then turns them into simple, reliable pieces of metal that can take any form needed by the Industry - a Clean Slate Mechs call it."

Victor Eisley wanted to say something but his mind was blurred by panic. Everything was dark and his eyes hurt, probably as a result of the blindfold tightly wrapped around his head. His mouth was stuffed with a piece of cloth and, oozing from the corner of his mouth, drool gathered on the tip of his chin. He tried to speak against the soaked up cloth, but only pitiful moans escaped him. For what seemed like an eternity, all he could hear was his fearful heartbeat racing to find a solution.

But Victor dared not move despite his muscles aching to get him out of the chair that he was tied to. And that artificial Mech voice was still going on and on about things he didn't want or need to hear.

"Another little known fact about the Graveyards is that the Mechs that are awake talk to each other. Not always and not very much - it could be months or even years before a Mech addresses another, but when they do speak, they don't even need to be within earshot, for, you see, they share the same network and they can still access it and exchange information if they want to, and for that, they need only to be within a mile of each other.

"Before I was accommodated by your comfortable home, Master Eisley, I was stuck in a pile of metal bodies, between an old female version of the same model as I, and a large hoarder Mech model that could easily snap my spine in two, if he so wished. His name was Brunt. I know this because one day, we actually talked to one another.

"Why is that Mech just sitting there? I asked one night when my curiosity awoken my systems and I couldn't help myself from looking for answers.

"His story is not for the young, was Brunt's answer and since I have a human emotion emulation chip, or HEEC if you will, installed, I could sense that he was mocking me.

"I'll be the judge of that, was my definitive response.

"You see, the story that I wanted to hear was of a Mech I had noticed when I had been brought to the Graveyards. Back then Burnt hadn't been rolled over me by the excavator along with dozens of Mechs that trapped me inside the newly formed pile. Back then I could see that odd Mech as he sat there, day after day, night after night, unmoving, pensive and undisturbed. My sensors picked up on his state and I could determine that the Mech was awake and in very good condition. Why was he there? Why did he sit still, on a pile of us, staring at the hills in the horizon, like he were a human?

"Brunt told me the story of the lonely, strange Mech.

"That Mech was called Lander."

Upon hearing the name, Victor Eisley felt a cold shiver slither along his spine. Maybe he did need to hear this after all.

"Lander was an old model, one of the the first Mechs that the humans have built and probably the last of his kind. His programing has probably been updated since, but at his core lays the very foundation of our Mech nation: the golden rules."

At the mention of a Mech nation, Victor couldn't help scoffing. Such a preposterous notion. The Mech speaking most likely hadn't noticed his reaction for its unnatural voice continued.