It was a cold winter's night in the southern parts of the country, the snow was thick and coarse, the wind, biting and the forest dark like a child's attempt at envisioning hell. a figure was standing on the snow, they were easily 3 meters tall, maybe even more. they stood silent without moving on the cold stinging ice below her. but she wasn't alone… all around her it could be heard things crawling and speeding around her, the sounds of moose and screams of something inhuman. The figure moves ever so slightly, the sound of metal brushing and twisting coming from them. 

one of the creatures surrounding the clocked hero stopped, it slowed down until it came face to face with the person in the clearing. its white dead eyes shined like a set of fireflies, its head the dry skull of a deer…or was it a moose? whatever it was, it was staring and ready to fight. its body a lanky bony structure that could be mistaken with a dead ivory black tree. its skin hairless and taut with the elongated limbs of a predator. His hands are that of a person if they were drawn by a madman who sees visions of vicious claws at the end of their doctors helping hand.

Suddenly the forest went quiet, the air was tense and the place lit up with the eyes of the monsters. silence was broken by the cries of one who came head on with the figure.

The person at the center of the clearing grabbed the approaching creature by the skull, their arm a mechanical monster that roared to life with the engines inside of it. a red glow coming from its crevices.

the figure finally revealed themselves, discarding the cloak to reveal the figure of a monstrous woman with wild red hair, two animal-like ears on her head, tanned skin and a set of teeth as sharp as her eyes. her whole body was a metallic beast that gave her the figure of a wall. covered in blue-ish metal she looked bulbous but strong and stiff; and at the same time muscular, the parts of her that would normally be considered soft had plating on them, her arms had the girth of a sturdy maple tree and her torso looked like that of a man who feasted and slaughtered like it was a sport.  her legs two powerful supports that bended and moved with enormous vitality displayed by the constant hisses of vapor escaping from exhaust. she closed her hand into a fist while holding the animal. the result was skull fragments flying all around her.  all the others rush the woman and she responds by activating the strange mechanisms in her body. clicks clangs and roars came out of her form. she moved quicker than any of the monsters, one tried getting the upper hand by jumping on top of her, claws first. She grabbed it's arm and used the beat itself as a club to beat the other two that were approaching from behind then she opened the palm or her hand and from it fiery projectiles were launched at those unfortunate enough to be out of her range. One roared and began to slowly circle her this, they all could walk on two paws but preferred not to, this one however was upright .. challenging her. It used its claws to keep distance so she changed her approach. She launched herself forward with just the might of her mechanical muscles and pinned the monster down. Once in the ground she tore open its chest and bit off its neck.  She killed them all. their corpses littering the white ground, their blood painting the soil like a canvas for a macabre painting. the woman takes her time to breathe, a couple of openings on her back suddenly click and reveal piping, letting off steam caused by the strain. After that she moves around corpse after corpse ripping off the white boney skulls of the mangled figures.  

"Gods dammit" she says. She destroyed one of the skulls. She picked up the two remaining antlers and left the clearing. The storm picking up behind her.

She walked for hours until she reached a nearby town. Broken structures and unnamed graves surrounding the perimeter of the place itself. The only light on sight was that of the inn. next to the inn was a lone cart.

She entered the place, the quiet voices that resided inside went completely silent as they stared at the strange woman in a cloak and her prize of 10 white monstrous skulls tied to her waist.

“I will have a pint of mead and the biggest piece of meat you sell on a plate,” she told the barman, leaving a couple of intricately adorned golden coins. after that she scoured the place in look of… “hey! over here” him. a tiny man with golden hair and a jovial look waves his hand with a stupid smile on his face. the woman just rolls her eyes and goes to his table.

“i saved you two seats” said him. “gee, thanks” responded her, annoyed. “so how did it go” asked the golden haired man to which she only responded by proudly and smugly raising up the cumbersome skulls on ropes tied to her waist. “that many? it's rare for them to congregate. you think there's a defiler with them?” he asks, curiously. “most likely…ah! here comes the good stuff!” she exclaims, the man behind the counter made an appearance and delivered a mug of beer and a big piece of steak..wel…big for a regular sized man. this one looks cartoonishly small compared to the woman's mechanical frame. she began eating. “may i have another beer?” asked the man accompanying the mechanical giant. “heh. and here I thought you were waiting for me” she responded to her friend ordering MORE of what she thinks it should have been his first beer. “what can i say? you took your sweet time with those beasts.” “What can I say?“i suck at tracking.” She justifies her tardiness.

The night went on and the inn was quiet. The only two talking were the odd couple sitting near the entrance of the establishment.  “You really are enjoying that module,” he said.

“yeah? i guess?” said the living truck in front of him. “I mean…..eating is fine but i would rather have a second ancient core like-” the blonde interrupted her. “yeah i know. and you know damn well why i make you shift parts from time to time” the conversation shifts fo her. “i really don’t care for any more of your sermons, man. every time we talk about MY parts you never fail to bring it up” he retorts. “is it that bad that i worry about you? its also kind of my job to make sure you run properly and unless you want a repeat of-” their discussion is cut short by a group of human men of different builds all surrounding the freight train and her relatively small companion. “you cant be here.” one of the men said, clearly nervous. the woman of the red mane stood up, towering anyone in the inn. “Do we have a problem here?” she thought it may have something to do with her being an ALTER WOLF. “you’re smoking the whole place.” responded another man. “so, it’s because of my enhancements.” she thought. She raised the wendigo skulls to show them off. “And here I go and help with your plague problems.” “and we are grateful. but that's the other issue…those stink” the man who first talked to them said. “they invite death!” another said. she looked annoyed but simply sighed and started walking towards the door.”ill go with you.” her companion said  “enjoy the room johan. ill go sleep in the wagon.” she responded.

The storm subsided, its roar no more than a whistle now. She walked to the back of the inn to the stables. The wagon was there and it was sizable enough for a wealthy merchant who needed to transport an entire shop’s worth of merchandise. It had tall arches covered by a lavender colored cloth, it had no horse and a couple tiny steps just big enough for one of her mechanical toes to hold on to. she pushes herself inside the vehicle, lights up an oil lamp and sits. the inside was austere, nothing much other than a couple of books, a diary and several charcoal pencils. 

she sits there for a while before finally grabbing one of the pencils and beggins writing. she wrote about her day, what happened at the tavern, how johan scolded her for even considering getting another piece of archeotech implanted, how the wendigos looked and what she did to them. this went for a while until she began doodling meaningless shapes. she sighted and tossed her diary to a corner of the already tight wagon. she then sighed and laid down trying to sleep. “never thought you would continue writing a diary.” the rugged voice of an old man interrupted her rest. one that feels too familiar for comfort. “who 's there! show yourself!” she ordered the man. “very well” the man said, revealing himself from what looked several mirrors that concealed him from around him. several mechanical puppets guarding his every flank. their sleek black carapaces shone elegantly as they walked next to him as the man approached the iron wolf. all this while she sat there, her eyes fixed on their every move like a threatened animal. “It's good to see you theresa.” the man said. “go fuck yourself cartaphilo” she responded. she wanted to scream at him, to close the curtains of her wagon to simply jump high to the buildings rooftop but she was just too cautious or too brave to do any of those things. at least she coped thinking facing him was the best course of action. the man responded furrowing his brow. “ what happened to `its good to see you too`?” “it's not good to see you.” the metal wolf responded. he sighed “ ill make this short i promise.” “not short enough” her retort. “it's not about me! it's about the twins! why is it always so difficult to speak with you!” he responded. the conversation between the two was tense and in a way familiar, like something that used to happen constantly. “then why don't you use one of those commands you’re so fond of? want me to smile and nod like a dog? uh!? i already got the ears i just need the collar!” her breathing was heavy after she got that out of her chest. “what about the two of them?'' Her response was quick. “they are missing.” the woman with the red mane inhaled sharply. “where.” “i have a contact in the capital. i know you head there for pieces after every hunt.” responded cartaphilo. “you piece of shit. you’ve been spying on me?!” her anger clear as day on her face. “not really, I just asked around workshops and precincts….you also never changed your hair. it's impossible to miss an alter wolf with crimson red hair...although it's clearly vermillion.'' Theresa interrupted him “you love hearing yourself, don't you? dipshit. i'll see what I can do.” the man softened his face. “thank you” her only response, “leave already.” after saying that she finally closed her wagon and layed down on its floor. The man left with his machine servants. That night Theresa couldn't sleep.

the next morning the singing of birds and the sound of horses was her alarm. she sat down in her wagon-tent and stayed like that for a couple minutes before joseph came and found her in her daily routine of procrastinating doing nothing because she doesn't want to wake up but has to. “sleeping beauty, c’me on. we have a few mo-” theresa interrupts his partner. “we’re going to the capital.” joseph looks at her, surprised. “thats a new one. normally we hunt a couple more packs before i convince you to get repairs.” theresa is annoyed by her friends comment. “you don't have to rub it in.” she rolls her eyes and gets out the wagon. she grabs two handles at each side of the vehicle while johan gets up to the seat. and so the journey to the capital begins