A packrat chitters frantically at Kerri as the fuse sputtered to life. The lead pack rat hissed at Claire and pointed to the tunnels, where the rest of them were vanishing. The pack rat holding the dynamite flung it toward the oncoming gremlins.

She sprints into the tunnel.

He doesn't hear the warning. He's too focused on killing as many as he can.

A packrat drags him away and down a tunnel. The boom shook the ceiling. Dirt and rocks rained down on them, filling the air with grit. When everything was still, the entrance to the tunnel had caved in. The pack rats were moaning softly. One of their own hadnt made it through in time.

He kicks the packrat away with a growl, glaring at the now caved-in entrance.

She continues through the tunnel, she wouldn't let her emotions control her, not when they needed to concentrate on the path ahead.

They walked for hours, and gradually, the tunnels turned into natural caverns, dripping with water and stalactites. The pack rats loaned Claire and Linna a flashlight, and if they shined it about the caves, they could see that the floor was littered with strange items, a fender here, a toy robot there. It seemed they were heading deep into the pack rats nest, for the farther they went, the more junk lay strewn about.


At last, they entered a cathedral-like cave, where the ceiling soared up into blackness, and the walls were piled with mountains of trash, resembling the Wasteland in miniature. In the center of the room, sitting on a throne made entirely of junk, was an old, old man. His skin was gray, and I dont mean pale or ashen, but metallic-gray, mercury-gray. His white hair flowed past his feet, nearly touching the floor as if he hadnt moved from his chair in centuries. The pack rats shuffled around him, holding up various items, placing them at his feet. The old man smiled as the pack rats chittered and milled around him like eager dogs, then his pale green eyes looked up at them.

He growls softly, obviously not trusting this place.

She kneels, bowing her head in respect. "Thank you..." She waited for him to tell them how to address him.

He blinked several times as if he couldnt trust what he was seeing. Was this Machina? Had the pack rats brought them straight to the Iron King? For an all-powerful ruler, I doubt anyone expected him to be so...old.


"Well," he wheezed at last, "my subjects have brought me many curious things over the years, but I do believe this is the most unusual. Who are you? Why are you here?"