Things Unknown

Things Unknown Part 2: Broken

Thud-thud. Thud-thud.

My heart beat harder than ever before as what must have been a legion of Humanoids raced by, causing the earth to shake violently and nearly topple the pile of machinery that I was hiding behind. After the first few had flown by, I had still considered that they were trying to find me. But after at least a hundred came rushing through the door, causing it to nearly splinter and break, that thought drifted away.

I hid behind what seemed to be a pile of broken and sparking Humanoids, all thrown on top of each other like rag dolls.

Then it struck me. Who could ever even attempt to destroy the Humanoids? Even though one, on its own, could possibly be taken down by multiple humans, the pile that I was using as a hiding spot consisted of over five. As far as my rational mind was concerned, I must have been hallucinating.

Firstly, Humanoids didn't die. And even if they did, it was because they had gone too long without power - something that was increasingly rare as they upped their security around their power supplies.

No, only one thing could ever do this to a Humanoid, and draw so much attention.

That doesn't make sense! my rational mind argued. They're a myth. A fairy tale.

But it had to be.

But it couldn't be just one, no, even with their raw strength and brute ability, it would still be nearly impossible to take down this many Humanoids. Even as I thought this, more dead Humanoids seemed to appear out of nowhere, materializing all over the ground.

My eyes widened as I realized they were everywhere - from the first, larger wall to the second, shorter wall, the ground was littered with the machines. Many had even had their human skin completely ripped off, not that it was any extra torture.

There was only one reasonable explanation.

There is none, idiot.

Sometimes rational sides can be a pain.

But really, it had to be.

Don't say it out loud. You'll jinx it.

The creature, the being, the cruel abomination that was only known by one name, a symbolization of what, in essence, it was.

“Broken,” I breathed, letting the word roll off my tongue like a deadly poison only capable of the worst evil.

It was impossible, but at that point I thought that it was also the only possibility, as strange as it may have been.

They were horrible creatures of legend. Not that they were like "mystical beings," or anything, that would be a laugh. No, Broken were known simply as the man-made project intended to follow up on the Humanoids.

They failed. Miserably.

People refused to admit that they were real, simply shoving them away like the things of nightmares, but looking at this carnage they were the only explanation.

Broken weren't really that well known. Most people thought they were made up, but I knew differently. I had researched them, wanting to be the master of all things unknown even at a young age. What I found shocked me.

Broken were tall, easily the mass of four or even five humanoids. Clearly the follow-up experiment was meant to replace the Humanoids, but the Broken disappeared one day from their lab. Nobody knows what happened to them, but there are definite conspiracy theories.

In the distance, my fear was confirmed. Despite never having seen one in real life, it's impossible to miss the dark machinery that causes the ground to shake with it's every move.