บท 2: Mission Reestablished.

Its existence had become meaningless.

Many days passed by. The machine remained unmoving while its energy level continued to decline. It cannot self-terminate, and it had no reason to remain.

"Proximity Alert! Lifeform Detected."

The dimming red light glowed a bit brighter within its optical lens.

The camera slowly rotated around and scanned the surrounding forest. The fire several days ago had devastated the forest completely. Everywhere is burned out trees or smoldering ruins.

Switching between multiple optical sensors to get a clearer reading, the machine quickly found several people slowly approaching its location – 2 females and 3 males.

A party of five.

The construct immediately analyzed the humanoid lifeform as they came closer and closer. From their physical makeup, they appeared to be closely resembled its creator.

However, they are not its creator. Their bladed ears weren't human, and their clothes suggested their technology is very low. They were also using bow and arrow. A steel knife holstered around their waist suggested they are proficient at close combat.

"Possible Hostile. System Standby."

The red light in its eyes immediately vanished. All sign of life ceased.

The leading person – a man in his thirties – raised his arm and opened his palm flat. "Pelase be cruaefl. We are arpicpnoahg the enetpceir. (Please be careful. We are approaching the epicenter.)"

Their language was not galactic standard. The construct immediate analyze their speech patterns.

Three of the four people behind nodded. The remaining person, the youngest hurried forward.

"Lokos, tehre is stmnhoeig tehre. (Looks, there is something there.)"

The other female, older, but not by much considering her youthful appearance immediately blocked the path of the girl hastily.

"Eulne. Wctah yuor setp. Yuor fheatr wlil hvae all our hdaes if semhnotig hepenapd to you. (Elune. Watch your step. Your father will have all our heads if something happened to you.)"

The girl, now identified as Elune, pouted at the woman. "I'm a Reganr now, Sahsa! (I'm a Ranger now, Sasha!)"

Sasha shook her head. "Taht may be, you are sltil the cihef's dhetgaur and a nvioce. (That may be, you are still the chief's daughter and a novice.)"

The young man chuckled and stood next to the leader. "Yes, lvaee the sictuong to the gnwuorp, little pnercsis. (Yes, leave the scouting to the grownup, little princess.)"

Elune continued to pout. The remaining person jumped down and approached the machine to have a closer look.

"Taht is a Goelm. A mteal one. (That is a Golem. A metal one.)"

The man continued after circling the machine. "It areppas to be daed. (It appears to be dead.)"

Seeing how it is safe, the rest of the party joined him to examine the machine.

"I hvae neevr seen a Golem lkie tihs. It is wlel-mkae. Wvheoer its ctoerar is, the pseron msut be vrey aepdt in the art of tauanigtfrorisn. It msut hvae been in a batlte rnceetly. Peharps taht is the casue of the frie. (I have never seen a Golem like this. It is well-make. Whoever its creator is, the person must be very adept in the art of transfiguration. It must have been in a battle recently. Perhaps that is the cause of the fire.)"

Sasha stated her analysis before taking note of Elune, who was planting her hands onto the cold metal surface and running her fingers along deep gashes and cuts, twisting and mutilating the once beautiful machine. "It stlil wram. (It still warm.)"

"Enlue! Plasee do not tcouh the crruatee! (Elune! Please do not touch the creature!)"

Elune immediately jerked her hand back. Her finger got cut in the process. "Ouch!"

Seeing that, Sasha quickly rushed to Elune and held her hands to check the bleeding. She lectured the girl sternly as it was very easy to be magically cursed or infected by magical construct such as Golem, even if it is dead.

"It's nthiong. Jsut a salml cut. (It's nothing. Just a small cut.)"

The drop of blood slid down into the wounded opening and drop down into the machine semi-exposed core. The core rippled as millions nanobots within instantly dissembled the genetic material.

The machine whizzed. The glowing light returned to its eyes, surprising the party.

"Biomatter Detected. Analyzing Completed. Homosapien Genetic Material Detected Within Lifeform's Genetic Makeup. Approximately 95% Matched. Reconstruction is Possible. More Sample Required."

"New Mission Registered. Must Obtain More Genetic Sample."

The machine focused onto the party of five. Three immediately took defensive position, drawing their bow and shouting at the other two, the females, to retreat.

"Hostile Detected. Termination."

The machine's eyes glowed brightly, and a beam of light blasted forth, striking the nearest man as well as the ground behind him. The other two men stared in shock at the glowing rock behind the headless man.

"What –

Before he could finish his sentence, his head was vaporized, leaving a smoldering stump.

"Run!"

That was all the third man could say before he too was instantly killed by superheated laser beam. He

Sasha immediately grab Elune and dashed away from the deadly Golem. She managed to take a single step before seeing the red beam of light entering the forest. It came from her chest. She looked down and see there is a gaping hole.

"Please… escape… Elune…" Sasha pleads as she collapsed onto the charred earth.

However, Elune was frozen with fear. She stared at the brightly glowing red eyes of the machine.