“Rechargé life.” Quick sketch of a street scene, early evening. Worked quickly as the light filtering down to the sidewalk was changing minute by minute.
Crouching next to the dead body for a closer look, the robot remarked “This is an old body. Several years since this particular antenna design was last used. And there’s no obvious signs of damage.”
I surveyed the scene. “Why is there even a dead body here? How could this happen?”
The other robot replied “This is an exceedingly rare event. And the environment hints at potentially anomalous circumstances.”
I looked into the gloom farther down the tunnel, suddenly wanting to be outside in the light.
Analog interface drift. I was told that with each analog/manual interface, a small amount of drift or irregularity is introduced. This is a favorable outcome that heightens the appreciation of the music experience.
Just as all “big things” happen, there was no preface, no hints, at what perception-altering event lay ahead. One moment the dry, dusty emptiness of the tunnel system, and then, in a shallow alcove, evidence of an entirely unknown facet of the robots’ existence. The edge of the map had been unfolded to reveal a terrible landscape.
As much as there is out in the light, there is probably just as much in the dark. A robot took me down to what appeared to be storm surge tunnels beneath an older part of the city. I didn’t go too far into the tunnel but the robot did not follow me. Strange. They provided no explanation for why they would not venture past the mouth of the tunnel.
This is the first in a series of drawings using the contents of Marker Universe‘s “January blind box”: A curated selection of various markers and pens from Karin, Graph It, Sketchmarker, and Aristo.
Pointing to their own head, one said to the other “It was not apparent to me before but you seem to have sustained an injury during your recent incident. I suggest you not repair the damage—your adventures are being written to your surface.”
Riding the breezes across the slight ridge, the two robots were finally out of range of the buzzing, noisy RF emitted by the edifice and its circuit of shattered rings.
While the showers were short-lived, they were intense, brutal affairs. Conformal coatings on vital components offered excellent protection but the best line of defense was a long coat or poncho. (And a can of Water Displacer-Formula 40 was good to have, just in case.)
As darkness fell the traveling companions made camp for the night under the shelter of an outcropping of rock. As the thermoelectric charger topped off their batteries, they shared stories of their respective journeys through the Unmapped Areas.
