[Episode 26585] [Episode 26585]It's night in the Makai world. It's always night in the Makai world.
In a small hamlet at the western edge of the Aensland-controlled territories, the last Sentinel of the Fifth Sun is watching over the innocent yet somehow darkened play typical of children in the demon-haunted realm. They run in circles, giggling, tagging and leaping upon one another, but are still careful not to be TOO loud, or to run TOO far... and always, they keep one eye to the east.
There are five children in various stages of malnutrition there, being watched by their idle parents. They are expendable, and if need be, can be dispatched inside of three seconds. There is another child, however -- tanned, fatted, and wearing clothes that while still filthy, are of much higher quality than that of any other person in the village. That child is special. That child is both the Master and the Protected Target. That child went by the name of Cecil in another world.
The Sentinel Huitzil does not feel love for his Master, he in fact does not feel anything at all. He is a machine, worked of bronze by blacksmiths and witch-doctors, imbued with magic and with technologies far beyond the ken of anything within the normal scope of the Mayan peoples that crafted him. He is their final testament, their ultimate work. His bronze carapace conceals inside it a plethora of armaments for any occasion: argon beams, automatic cannons, rotary-blades, even a device that can project a field that will protect the Master from all harm. Huitzil's objectives were lost long ago in the steamy jungles of the Yucatan. All he knows now is to defend the life of his Master.
Cecil loves Huitzil, though he cannot pronounce his true name. Cecil loves all his toys, and that is what the Huitzil is to him: A big shiny toy that follows him around and can change into whatever he wants. Cecil doesn't fathom the danger he is in by falling into the Makai world, and he wouldn't care even if he did know. He is young, and reckless, and such concerns are beyond him. The children climb upon the Sentinel, Cecil leading them. Huitzil does not move. He doesn't mind, so long as Cecil is safe from harm.
The Sentinel detects the noise far before any human ears can pick it up, and when he hears it, he throws the children from his body and projects his force field around Cecil. The other children get no such benefit, and scurry to their mothers and fathers after having been rejected by their climbing edifice. Huitzil opens one of his massive shoulders and looses the Xolotl Auto-Cannon from it, training it on the source of the noise. He knows that the source of the noise is not likely to be a threat, but then again he is aware that it could be a creature in the service of the Aensland family, in which case he would do well to be prepared for a battle.
It is not long before the sound is heard by the others in the village, as well. Those with children have already fled to the meager protection of their houses. The others who stayed first hear a n indecipherable murmer that rises to a clarion shout:
"Monsters! Monsters!"
There is a man in the distance, disheveled and dirty. He looks drunk, or insane, or both. Huitzil determines that any possible threat posed by him is minimal, but keeps his cannon armed and force-field deployed for safety's sake. The Master could be killed even by a child, if circumstances were right, and Huitzil cannot allow that to happen. The man advances, though he is still outside of the Xolotl cannon's optimal range, shouting "Monsters!" over and over again. His voice is becoming hoarse, and his steps drag more and more the closer he gets to the bronze robot
Huitzil does not fire, as he knows that The Master has ordered him not to harm those who pose no threat to him. He keeps his cannon trained on the man's head even as all the others flee, as he nears to 10 cubits, to 5, to 3. Eventually Huitzil can no longer aim his cannon for the man's head, for the man is within arm's reach of him. Unaware -- or uncaring -- of the fact that Huitzil is not a fellow living being, the man throws himself onto the ornate breastplates marked with the signs of the Fifth Sun.
"Monsters!" he screams again, "Monsters from the East! They're coming, the monsters are coming! The Queen is back! Queen of the Monsters! Queen of the Horrors! Eyeless horrors from the East! Beware! She's coming! Shambling creatures! Plagues of lepers! SHE'S COMING FOR OUR SOULS!" He grabs places his hands over Huitzil's optic sensors as he howls, no longer using any language but that of pure despair.
(Posted Sun, 08 Jun 2003 15:10)
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らんま1/2 © Rumiko Takahashi
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