A sci-fi serial in 69 parts featuring original art with every chapter.
Braggadocio between American and Japanese robotics engineers on social media becomes serious once corporate backers join the fray and commission build teams for an international...
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After a week of building anxiety, the day of Lumin's meeting with Edridge Roundstone had finally arrived. She spent the remaining hours before her trip at the factory, distracting herself with paperwork, trying not to dwell on the fact the entire project hinged on the success of her "date." No one else besides Yasamin Jones knew the team had lost their financial backers.
A private jet would be arriving at the factory's makeshift airstrip in a few hours a to take Lumin to Roundstone's estate outside of Cupertino, California. She left the factory's elevator and made her way down the hall to the building's entrance, checking the visual voicemail on her phone as she walked. "Mom, mom, pharmacy, mom, mom, Steve? Uh, no, we're done. Mom--God, why did I get her a smart phone?"
Lumin grunted as her body collided with a wall of studded leather. "Jesus! I'm sorry!" She looked up and saw Darwin Spotswood grinning at her in his favorite biker jacket. "So, Spotswood...you just decided to let me walk directly into you?"
"You should be more observant, boss lady. Look." Spotswood pointed out a window that faced the massive testing field. The valley behind the factory was once filled with a bustling mining community, but became a ghost town soon after the copper vanes ran dry. A decade later, the government swooped in and converted the abandoned town into a massive artillery testing range. When federal budget cuts closed the range, Ryan Lumb purchased the wasteland for a pittance--along with the factory--which had somehow survived all the shelling.
The craterous expanse of the testing range took up a good chunk of the central Oregon desert. A naturalist at heart, Lumin normally cringed when looking out at the wastes, but she found herself staring with wonderment. "Is that the skeleton? It's complete?" she asked Spotswood, her heart pounding as she moved closer to the glass.
"We wanted to surprise you. We finished the steel laticing on the torso this morning and Skip installed a temporary operational system an hour ago," said Spotswood.
A gigantic crawler-transporter salvaged from NASA's shuttle program was hauling the 200 foot tall titanium-alloy frame of the team's robot from the build hanger. The bot's skeleton lay peacefully on its back as it rolled out into the dry, desert air; its hull not yet covered in the armor, weapons or sensory systems.
"Come on, we're gong to be late for the show," said Spotswood through his toothpick. He hustled with Lumin to the team's communal pink golf cart--riddled with punk rock stickers and sloppy graffiti. "I'll drive."
Lumin was still in mild shock. "Fine. punch it, Spotty!" They hopped into the electric cart and tore through the building to the hanger's entrance.
"Faster!" barked Lumin.
"I'm about to flip this thing as it is!" yelled Spotswood, white-knuckling the wheel.
Lumin groaned. "Some badass you are." The rest of the team--assembled at the edge of the testing grounds--watched as the cart launched out of the open hanger doors and skidded to a stop in the dirt.
