<strong>Amanuel</strong><br/><br/>Amanuel slid out from beneath the leaking corpse of one of the brightly painted vans. The sliding itself was made far easier by the liberal coating of blood that had turned the dry dirt underneath the carriage into a squishy soft mud. His gray coveralls were filthy with oil and other vital fluids but he was oblivious to how much this brought him into line with the average of Rez's gang. Happily he had found an anchor point beneath the vehicle that should prove secure for the voyage home, bringing the last of the metal carcasses into conjunction with the remainder of the monstrosity he had constructed.<br/><br/>There were two things that were bothering him. First, the manufacture of the engines in the original three trucks bespoke a facility of surpassing exactitude, and their condition implied that such a facility must not be too far from here. This was a troubling and puzzling situation, and one which called for, nearly demanded, immediate investigation. He would speak to the engines later and find out their birthplace, perhaps even coax some pre-birth memories from their chambers.<br/><br/>The second thing that bothered him was that the chaos machine, the one made of flesh and sinew and motorcycles and foreign elements driving Great Lights, had apparently broken down in his absence. The components lay strewn across the battlefield, and the two principle drive units were grinding against each other instead of working in tandem. He could smell the friction, each stroke heating the metal unnecessarily, casting shavings into the lubricant and, not incidentally, making a great deal of noise.<br/><br/>He gazed upon the faltering engine and understood. The Wedge, which could channel force into the separation of materials, and the Inclined Plane, which could raise consciousness to a higher level. Did not these two parts understand that they were one and the same, merely applied differently? The statics were identical; the dynamics were highly variable. There was no mechanical advantage to be gained here by directing the force of the parts against each other.<br/><br/>On the more practical hand, Rez had just shot the stranger in the chest, and Amanuel did not wish be shot in the chest. Amanuel maintained a respectful silence.<br/><br/>