Boom!

I groan as I notice the red light pulsing under the machine's casing and hear the Automaton's shrill complaint. There's no mistaking that noise… it's not just a simple problem. The gauge is going into the red, and the situation is critical. That's the problem with Kelon cylinders: When they reach saturation, they have an annoying tendency to explode at the worst possible time. Cursing under my breath, I wave my arms around wildly, urging everyone to get out of the away as quickly as possible. Anyway, there's nothing more that can be done other than limiting the damage. The alarm suddenly speeds up and turns into a constant whistling. Well, I did what I could. I throw myself into cover, protecting Marmo and covering my head with my arms. It won't be pretty, and my eardrums will be…

The explosion blasts over me as debris showers my face and shoulder… I hear faint thuds as metal chunks fall around me. Whisps of smoke rise from my beard. Damn it, I hadn't planned a trip to the barber. I grumble at the thought of it. Thanks, Sierra, thanks a whole lot. "It's stable, don't worry. We've done lots of tests. It's ready to be used." Yeah, right! My ears are ringing. The Automaton was handling everything just fine until we asked it to pull a load that was too large. And now it's nothing more than a pile of scrap metal strewn across the ground. I sigh. Plus, all this needs to be cleaned up now. I stand up and survey the carnage, petting Marmo to stop him from growling. There are scraps of smoking metal everywhere… Next time, Sierra, keep your experiments to yourself.

Subhash

391 AC