They towered over us, gleaming dully, three stories tall, steel dinosaurs. Dust mantled
them. Rust blossoms patterned their hides in complex overlays that made them look like
they'd been draped in oriental rugs. Pentagonal bolts as big as my hands studded their
armored plating and stitched together the vast sectioned pipes that spanned the
darkness and shot down black tunnels in every compass direction, reaching for every
neighborhood in the city. Moisture jewels gleamed and dripped from ancient joints. The
pumps thrummed on. Perfectly designed. Forgotten by everyone in the city above. Beasts
working without complaint, loyal despite abandonment.
Except that one of them had now gone silent.
I stifled an urge to get down on my knees and apologize for neglecting them, for
betraying these loyal machines that had run for more than a century.
They towered over us, gleaming dully, three stories tall, steel dinosaurs. Dust mantled them. Rust blossoms patterned their hides in complex overlays that made them look like they'd been draped in oriental rugs. Pentagonal bolts as big as my hands studded their armored plating and stitched together the vast sectioned pipes that spanned the darkness and shot down black tunnels in every compass direction, reaching for every neighborhood in the city. Moisture jewels gleamed and dripped from ancient joints. The pumps thrummed on. Perfectly designed. Forgotten by everyone in the city above. Beasts working without complaint, loyal despite abandonment.
Except that one of them had now gone silent.
I stifled an urge to get down on my knees and apologize for neglecting them, for betraying these loyal machines that had run for more than a century.
Pump Six and Other Stories - Paolo Bacigalupi