Machination

It strode into the workshop on smoothly articulated, massively powerful piston-driven legs; caught the light with brassed steelwork when it locked softly glowing eyes onto me. It was a crowning jewel of an achievement.

Thick, angular plates protected the vital clockwork of its beating heart, capable of defeating any shell or bullet. Those hawklike eyes can pick out a target at any range. The finest cogmind ever created by the House of Gears selects the next one to die; precise fingers and deft hands will turn any weapon into a tool of destruction.

A pair of elegantly sculpted cooling fins rose from its back, folded down like the wings of an angel. Driving it all, a single aether core - the spirit of aether to fill it was now nearly beyond the means of mortal men. An extravagance, perhaps, but a necessary one.

I looked into those emotionless eyes for the spark of sentience and found nothing but purpose. I felt reassured rather than disappointed.

_Purpose is all we seek, after all._