- Sand gathers in his knee joints.
Sand has been gathering in his knee joints
for the past 10 days.
That is when the sealant eroded completely.
Sand gathers in his knee joints
at 16 to 32 granules per minute,
depending on the wind speed.
Eight to 10 are forced out by the still functioning
internal defenses, but, clearly,
this leaves accumulation.
With effort he modifies his walking method,
taking more abbreviated steps,
allowing less exposure of the vulnerable area.
Now there's slightly less accumulation
but still, ground is lost.
Another minute passes,
and another 17 granules come in.
Nine are pushed out.
Somewhere along this long line of the horizon,
he theorizes, is a place where they still exist.
The things that built the assembly,
and the city.
Series and series ago, somewhere,
something had to have built them or so he reasoned.
And perhaps these things could explain why they built them.
And perhaps they could explain
everything.
His coworkers at the assembly had clicked and hissed at him
when he said he would leave.
"But what else is there?" he questioned.
"Assembled day after day to only rust, degrade,
"and eventually be melted?
"Is that all there is?"
He found it impossible to accept,
and they found him impossible to accept.
And so he left.
He is sharply aware he may not reach his destination,
if such a destination even exists.
He wonders if he and the assembly were designed such
that they could never successfully escape the city.
He could initiate self repair on his knees.
He has reserves of the sealant in his neck cavity,
but this, by his estimation,
would allow into his knee 73 to 106 granules
and be far too temporary a fix
to make the excess granules acceptable.
He continues his abbreviated steps.
He begins a diagnostic on his elbows
wondering how long his arms can carry him
after his legs have failed to do so.
Another minute passes.
Another 22 granules come in.
Eight are pushed out.
He focuses on the horizon and tries to think.
It is beautiful.