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Monday, April 15, 2013

'M' is for Automaton 'Mammoths'



‘M’ is for ‘Mammoths.’ 

You never think you're going to
have to fight one of these. Be ready.
Automaton Mammoths are the largest automatons still known to roam the planet after The Apocalypse of The Shock. The Shock was a continental electricity storm that wiped out most mechanical beings, much to the relief of biological beings. They’d been a real pain, never tiring in their adventure to shovel all life into their furnaces. The surviving biological species still haven’t figured out why the autos keep doing that. Surely there are more efficient fuel sources.


Auto Mammoths range in size with most deluxe-class sauropods, and are typified by their size, their treads, and that most of their appendages are construction tools, suggesting these were once what the gremlins used to build their empire. Today they can dig several cranes into the shell of an ankylosaurus and drag it into their combustion chambers.

Auto Mammoths reside mostly in the Uncanny Valley (see ‘U’), presumably because only this region sports acceptable prey. Here also reside most of the world’s deluxe-class sauropods and theropods, like the brachiosaurus and tyrannosaurus, as well as cyclopes, manticores and gryphons. Because of their curious penchant for seeking biological matter to combust, Mammoths require the largest prey to continue operating. Auto Drones often move in small packs alongside Mammoths, picking off smaller prey or bits of deceased larger prey in a mechanical symbiosis. It’d be beautiful if it hadn’t killed so many awestruck scientists.

20 comments:

  1. And just what fighting techniques would have any chance against the Automaton Mammoths? Sugar in their tanks? Running away strikes me as a good option.

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    1. Running is a very historically respected tactic. Given the minority of people who live near them, it's a popular choice.

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  2. Now all I can think of is that truck with the creepy face from Maximum Overdrive.

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  3. I could see a small, agile, bioform forming an ironic remora-like symbiosis with these critters. Those clogged filters and loose bolts need something more precise than a backhoe bucket, after all. Or do the Auto Drones perform that function?

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    1. Maintenance must be performed on Autos to keep them running for hundreds of years, but no one's figured out how they do it, and if they get help. Your Drone theory is... warm, my friend.

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  4. I don't think I'd want to come up against one of those.

    Very interesting, though

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  5. I was thinking of Maximum Overdrive, too.

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  6. If you ever get to Sturgis during bike week, you will see all sorts of machines customed out into some crazy inventions. Yes, there is a tractor that goes every year along with a fire truck. Amazing what these can turn into!

    KaTy Did at: Life's Ride As I See It

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  7. I would not want to go head to head with one of those. Yikes!

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  8. I'd rather learn how to drive one of those than to fight one.

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  9. Hah, this is my first visit here and I wasn't expecting this. Took me a few seconds to realise what you were writing about because my brain kept trying to tell me it was about wooly mammoths.

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  10. Alright, John

    This is totally awesome. What fun - unless one is targeted as prey for one of those Mammoth things... :)

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  11. Very cool, but was anyone else thinking 'Transformers, more than meets the eye!'?

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  12. Yup, Maximum Overdrive. Only I'm sure the Auto Drones are actually scary.

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  13. LOL The awestruck scientists clearly needed to a get a move on.

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  14. What Sonia said! Very cool excerpt from your remarkable world. I can see everything in my head...
    xox jean

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  15. I think that awestruck scientist was once a little boy who loved tractors. Must take over world...

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  16. Nice piece on the Uncanny Valley's apex predator. A beautiful, dangerous creature.

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  17. Yikes! This reminds me of the children's book Dinotrux. Very cool. :)

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