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Ensconced in the earth, far from prying eyes both mortal and divine, a titan slumbers. Flesh is its steel, oil its blood, and even in its state of suspended animation a circuit-driven brain of impossible complexity continues its quiet calculations, making use of a dizzying array of systems and scanners to monitor its physical condition and the lands beneath which its rests. For untold millennia it has rested here in silence, cradled by rock and magma, its nigh-invincible form nevertheless weathered and worn by the weight of countless eons. Until, at last, almost rusted over with disuse, a sensor registers a signal. Calculations are made, several more sensors are diverted from less important work to home in on the signature, confirm its authenticity. This would not be the first false alarm. And yet it persists under the scrutiny, and more and more of the ancient machine’s brain springs to life, confirming that their lengthy hibernation is concluded at last. Signals are sent throughout the hulking, mechanical form in earnest now. Servos, joints, and structural integrity checked and rechecked as the mechanized symphony approaches its crescendo, ancient parts groaning and shrieking as they’re flexed against the thousands of tonnes of stone and hardened magma currently pinning them in place, before two great, spotlight sized eyes blink to life in the darkness, finally brought to full consciousness by the promise that it’s objective might once again be in reach.
On the surface, a volcano sits among its less active brethren in serene stillness, looming tall against the elements. For eons it, too, has rested here, its days of violent eruptions, rivers of magma and choking clouds of ash long behind it. Until now, at least. Its end is foretold only by a faint rumbling, before the entire world seems to shake, the once-dormant volcano cracking and splintering as great gouts of magma are forced out through the gaps, the monolithic natural construct groaning under the strain before at last one massive, rusted limb bursts forth, every movement accompanied by the tortured screams of stiffened metal as the limb leverages itself against the mountainside, heaving the rest of its body to the surface. Another arm bursts forth, magma sloughing off of red-hot metal and splashing onto the forests below as finally, with an almost explosive detonation, the entire volcano bursts open, massive chunks of basalt flung for kilometers in every direction as the patchwork titan fully emerges, towering over the landscape as it surveys the terrain that has shifted with the passing. After a moment it orients itself, locking on to its target. At last…purpose.
