After the End of the World

Hao Ren drove his official car—which could do almost anything short of transforming into Optimus Prime—at full speed across the desolate, eerie planet. Massive, ancient, dilapidated steel ruins that seemed to press down on the spirit flashed past the windows. They were passing a gigantic engine that had gone dark. It looked like a strange, extinct volcano, broad at the base and narrowing toward the top. Thick pipes and alloy supports covered its pitch-black shell, while weathered, mottled marks ran across its lofty "peak"—probably rust left behind from when the planet still had a substantial atmosphere.

Lily had been pressed against the window, gazing outside. She sighed softly. "The machines are still alive, but the people are dead... Who built all this?"

"We haven't detected any signs of advanced life. There are only a few microorganisms barely surviving in extreme conditions deep underground." Hao Ren glanced down at the car's control panel. Where the fuel gauge and odometer should have been, a virtual screen hovered, displaying a complex radar map and the communications interface for the Giant Turtle Rock Platform. "The people on this planet may all be dead... Though they could be hiding in some kind of shelter we haven't found yet."

"The second possibility doesn't seem likely," Vivian said, shaking her head. "Just a hunch."

"You think these engines are running automatically?" Hao Ren turned to look at Vivian.

Vivian shook her head again. "I don't know anything about engines. I just feel an aura of death hanging over this place... Bloodkin are sensitive to that sort of thing."

The group didn't linger near the extinguished engine. They merely took a slight detour to capture a few images, then continued on their way. The enormous thruster, as imposing as a mountain, soon fell behind them. They drove on,