The Settlements

In the settlements, where children grew thin on gray water, they called him the Repairer. He would stand at their gates, eight feet of brass and ceramic, and he would fix their water pumps. He would weld their broken generators.

He felt the heat of the sun bake his armor. He felt the grit of the sand grind in his joints. He was a machine built to feel, and the world was nothing but pain.

There are rare places where the commerce of the old world still survives. Twisted, paranoid, but surviving.