Excerpt of The Sapien Empire by Nathan Ogloff

THE SAPIEN EMPIRE by NATHAN OGLOFF EXCERPT

It was about time someone in this broken society did something right. If nobody else was going to take out Arch-Lordchief Vibrun Magrite, Shindo Dacan had to do it himself. The scar on the side of his face, in the shape of gaping wolf jaws, wasn’t his only reason. Looking at it every day reminded him of what happens to those that fail the Arch-Lordchief.

Lately though, it was reminding him of the carnage Vibrun wrought using the machines Shindo had been making for him since the age of fourteen. After ten years, Shindo decided the people of the Domain deserved better.

The young man was covered in sweat and grime as the day neared its end and he hauled into place the hydraulic arm of the mech. After three months of work, the machine was almost done. Carefully, Shindo guided the arm toward the chassis using the overhead crane. It screeched as the crane moved overhead upon rust-colored rails within the cavernous space of the Shopgarage.

He wouldn’t be sneaking up on the supreme leader of the Domain and stabbing him in the back, nor lying in wait with sniper rifle in hand. Rather, Shindo would lure Vibrun into a trap, using what he knew best - his gift in engineering one-of-a-kind machines like this. Such aptitude had earned him his moniker - the Machinewright.

The machine had two mechanical arms attached to a chassis, which itself sat upon a pair of tracked wheels. The driver sat in the middle and operated the machine from behind a simple protective cage. Shindo often thought that it looked like an artificial person, one whose massive bulk in no way indicated the thin body frame of its maker.

Shindo climbed on top of the vehicle, tried to lock the arm in place, but realized he had forgotten the final pin. He dropped down and walked past the forge toward the fabrication table. He rifled through drawers underneath trying to find the right part.

The table held memories. It was here he drafted the plans for what would become the ghost-flame tanks, chained-battering rams, and climbing-jackhammers. All of them used by Vibrun Magrite on his warpath as he conquered the other three city-states, creating the Domain in the process. The Arch-Lordchief, Under-Lordchief Vik, their lieutenants, and anyone else who helped him ascend to power would pay.

Shindo needed them all in one place. Vibrun had asked him several weeks ago to work on something new, something that would truly outdo himself. The Arch-Lordchief would get just that, and Vibrun would be unable to resist showing off his new toy. That’s when Shindo would get them.

There it was, the pin he needed. He went back to the machine, slid the pin in, and did some last-minute spot welding. He climbed down from the mech, lifted his visor, and looked up at the fruits of his labor. Finally complete.

Shindo hung up his tools on a peg board adjacent to the fabrication table. He always went straight to bed right after a day’s work. Tonight was no different. Shindo walked to a small washbasin in the back of the Shopgarage. The cold water always felt refreshing upon his tanned skin at the end of the day. He sloshed water all over his bald head and wiped his face, gingerly stroking the scar.

It was throbbing especially hard today, almost as if it were fresh. Maybe it was

because of overexertion, but Shindo knew the real reason. It throbbed as one last reminder - don’t back down now, you’re so close.

He took off his welding apron and hung it up beside the small cot in the corner of the Shopgarage. His one-piece, which often felt like a second skin, suddenly felt tight. He undid the strings on the arms, legs, and torso of the body covering garment. Shindo draped the singular piece of clothing over a chair at the foot of his bed, shut down the lights of the Shopgarage, and lied down.

The silence of the room was only interrupted by the occasional low rumbling of the forge. The plan he had set in motion would see its fruition tomorrow. However, unlike previous nights, as Shindo drifted off to sleep he found himself not think about that. Instead a much smaller, but no less important, memory had come to mind.

After years of creating machines for battle, Shindo had taken the time to craft a prosthetic arm for a boy named Tate. Tomorrow would be for people like him.