E-816

It woke to tumbleweeds and mesquite and the sound of wind that has traveled for miles without touching human life. The sand and the rocks, dry as the thing itself, stretched to the horizon.

The thing became aware of its limbs, head, and fingers, and figured out how to work them. It shook the dust off of itself, and discovered that the right half of itself was a set of disjointed bones loosely connected by an outer shell of thin, peeling skin. The other half was made of a complex network of wires, circuits, and mechanical parts. The thing took this into consideration, and then set about the business of learning how to stand.

As it was just discovering that its legs bent at the knee, it became suddenly aware of a ferocious scrabbling inside of itself. This was a most unpleasant sensation, and the thing immediately thrust its hand into its chest, breaking the skin, going in between the ribs where the feeling was coming from.

There is something Else inside of me, the thing realized. It was not sure it liked the idea.

The thing grabbed at the something Else, but in vain, writhing as the something Else scurried from its rib cage to its neck and head. The thing, desperate to get the something Else out of its body, slid its hand out of its ribs, and tore away the skin covering the hole in its skull.

The something Else paused a moment, but then, finally, crawled out of the thing's skull.

The thing sighed in relief. Then, curiosity overcame it. It turned its head, wondering what sort of creature this something Else was. At first, it did not see the something Else, because it was the same color as the sand and dust, but as it made out the shape, it noted a long tail, four limbs with three clawed fingers each, and a fat, triangular head. The something Else was oriented on to move on its belly, not to move while standing vertically like the thing.

You need to be called something, thought the thing, To distinguish you from me. The something Else licked its lips in response.

The thing thought for a while, its left side making soft mechanical whirs, its ride side silent as death. Then, as an experiment, it turned a certain circuit in its left side, and was surprised by a strange hissing sound. It soon discovered that the circuit blew air through the teeth on his right side, making this sound that was both pleasant and unpleasant.

You, you something Else, are both pleasant and unpleasant, the thing thought. This sound shall be what you are called.

It made the sound again, and the something Else jerked its head up as if it was listening.

I think, the thing thought, I need a sound, too.

Such was the first step into a marvelous world. As the thing decided on its name, it stood, and walked out into the desert.