Strange Machines: The Astro Code

A Tussle in the Tundra

[Note for humans: This work, "le epikos be la Astro" in our tongue, is the bedrock of our culture. Part Hammurabi, part Gilgamesh, part Kamehameha, Astro was a foundational figure among Kansa peoples across the Galaxy. This work served as a foundational work of history, folklore, ethics, philosophy, religion, and instruction in various arts.

While the works were structured as an epic, our memories were preserved in such a way that they were closer to what a human might consider a historiography, or recorded account.]

In a lonely pocket of the cosmos, tucked behind a billion barren worlds, there existed an icy island on a lonely planet—a lonely, frozen expanse suspended in the great void of the heavens.

The island, far from devoid of life, was a battleground. Not of the sort that men or gods would recognize. Here, metal beings—mechanical entities of neat geometries, were locked in combat.

A purple robot scanned the barren fields of ice, antennae whirring as it searched for a signal of others.

Suddenly, a large red robot crashed into the purple robot, the purple robot hitting the ground with a large crash, creating a cloud of snow and sparks. Holding up its huge tin lobster claws, the red robot threw vicious, unending strikes down on the other, the ice cracking with the mighty blows.

As the light of the purple robot's eyes faded, the red robot lifted it from the ground and opened up its chest like an icebox. Inside, millions of gears were turning, including two large ones. The red robot lifted the lifeless husk of the purple humanoid and crammed it into its torso. As it did, violent crunching and sparks lit its unfeeling face, the drums of death a beat no one would dance to.

Inside was movement, as millions of skittering metal creatures poured out, working the ground-up metal into new plates. As construction work started, endless cutting, welding, and placing pieces on the machine were underway, all over, and soon, the red robot was towering over its former shadow.

The scene was unfolding all across the island, and soon, the island was buckling under the pressure of the evolution and death of a million metal beings. It was a crucible of existence; a place where survival was redefined as often as the robots within. In this icy arena, to grow in mass was to grow in all manners, and to fall into the abyss was to become one with the eternal sleep that plagued the cosmos.

In time, a small blue robot found itself on the icy island. It had snow tracks for legs, and a boxy frame with wrench-like hands, and gyroscopic antennae protruding from either side of its grilled face. On its back was a marking, "Astro-246b".

Astro was by no means the largest robot on the island, standing at 2 meters, but what it lacked in power, it made up for in drive and ingenuity.

Astro had spent the day punching holes in the ice, then carefully covering them with shards of ice and packed snow. It wasn't particularly large or strong, but it had a plan.

In the cold, steam rose on the horizon, and light, sure signs of impending conflict.

As it approached, Astro could easily make it out. A huge, 5m tall robot, yellow and red, was coming over the horizon. Its mighty wheels tore across the tundra, eyes bright red.

Astro quickly rushed to one side of it. It sensed its heat and light, and knew by instinct to mask them, so it did the unthinkable, restarting itself. If it worked, Astro would be able to slip behind the angry robot, but it would be vulnerable the entire time, and it wasn't guaranteed to work.

The world around Astro faded, the white snow turning grey as it was swallowed into the black abyss of oblivion.

Then, it was back.

Astro suddenly jolted up, as if rudely awakened. It turned, seeing its plan worked. The other robot was barreling ahead, into the trap. Its wheels, although mighty, proved too heavy to pass over the holes. With a snap of ice and the sound of rushing water, the bot was stuck.

Astro rushed forward, readying its arms. By the time the other bot heard Astro it was too late. Its hands allowed for it to crank every bolt, the yellow tin plates crashing into the already weak ice. With each one, Astro became a bit more yellow, and larger, not bothering to digest all the scrap and allow it to be pigmented its natural shade. Its method was more time-efficient than most, a special skill that went beyond digestion. It seamlessly integrated the plating, then worked down to the arms of the other. The yellow robot had hands, unlike Astro's claws, they were articulate, graceful, even. They seemed capable of grabbing and moving objects in ways Astro couldn't even dream of. With some thought, Astro removed these, and cut holes in its sides with its claws to shove them in. Soon, millions of metal spiders poured out, attaching them to its sides.

With these new arms, Astro found it easy to pull the circuits from the now naked, armorless robot quivering below it. The words etched on its back, "Saiyandual," would only be a memory in its mind, as it pulled the plate away.

Soon, Astro was 7m of tin, a four-armed death machine. It swung its new arms around, fluttering its new fingers up and down for the first time.

Astro searched for other robots, picking up some with its sonar. Two robots, an 8m and a 6m, were locked in a dance of death. The 6m robot, a green and purple robot with a glass helm, was chasing the larger green robot with its cutting torch arm, a powerful tool Astro yearned for with every circuit of its being.

As Astro raced forward, a massive hunk of ice and metal clipped it, tearing off one of its antennae. Disoriented and confused, Astro whirred around to see a 5m robot hurling scrap and ice down on it. It was an impressive skill, but ultimately only gave the user one shot, and meant they wasted valuable metals on attacks. Astro rushed forward. The robot, panicking, fired whatever it had left, sputtering snow impotently. Astro gripped its pitcher-like appendage and bent it in on itself. The robot whirred and beeped, attempting to wrest itself out of Astro's grip, but Astro was too strong now. It moved a claw under its head and popped it off like a cork. Its new arms made quick work of the creature, and Astro thought to put the pitcher on its shoulder. It might be a useless attack, but it could make for a useful distraction.

Still, missing an antennae, Astro was at the mercy of the snow. It half slid, half shambled across the ice, retracing its steps, until it saw the blinking blue antennae in the snow. It carefully placed it to its head, and the tiny blips of sparks and movement let it know it was working. Soon, fully repaired, and now an impressive

12m tall, Astro was ready. Just then, it felt a powerful thud from behind. Turning, it saw the most awesome and terrible being of its short life.

Covered in red, cyan, and gold plating, this 15m robot had an imposing face shaped like a metallic lizard. It had a triangular frame and humanoid legs that ended in snow ski feet. Its tube arms didn't end in hands, but large proboscis cutting torches, and the name "Fullydericu" was on its chest, between the flashing lights and knobs.

Fullydericu held out its arms, and suddenly they shot forward, only to spring right back. The proboscis, red hot, seared a hole into Astro's side before it could even react, many spiders fell out as they instantly began welding Astro back together.

Another attack went through one of Astro's arms, leaving it dangling from its side. Astro quickly moved back, expertly swerving to avoid a punch, and used one of its humanoid arms to grip the tube, holding it in place. Dericu paused momentarily before firing off another shot, but by then Astro was firing snow from its shoulder, filling the proboscis. As Dericu landed the punch, Astro's shoulder had part of a hole missing, unfinished as the proboscis broke. Reeling back, Dericu tried to make distance to set up another strike, but it was too late. Astro was holding its remaining proboscis with two arms, and punching with the other. With a wrench hand, Astro gripped a bolt on Dericu's right leg and pulled it down. Dericu whirred and beeped as Astro disassembled it methodically, and when it was gone, Astro was the sole remaining creature on the island. It stood back, now a 28m tall robot, six arms, and totally alone.