Matthew's 20's were spent in distant lands, the names of which are still seared into his memory. Forests, deserts, coastlines, wreckage, topography. Shortest routes, most energy efficient paths, the best places to charge the solar panels of their enormous machines.
Matthew enlisted in the Navy when he was 18, with no where else to go. He worked hard and kept his head down, and became particularly skilled with the construction equipment he worked with. An admiral noticed when he was able to pour a glass of wine with an excavator and not spill a single drop. He was named the perfect candidate for the world's first squadron of piloted mecha.
The machines were nicknamed 'the animals.' Steel alloy armor wrapped around four limbs, each one capable of being either feet or hands. They switched from bipedal to quadrupedal depending on the situation. In the night, when the squad moved, their silhouettes appeared as headless deer moving in a silent, steady line, as though they were ghosts escorting the dead.
Each one was equipped with a plethora of weapons, from detachable guns, to knives, to precision short-range laser instruments. With enough sunlight to preserve their auxiliary banks. they could move indefinitely. They were created to handle any threat 'las luces' posed, and handle they did.
The agency didn't know where 'las luces' came from. First spotted on the western coast of Mexico, they came quietly, and without warning. The first one was made of pure, white light. It was recoded as ██ meters tall, bipedal in nature, and given the name LLX-0.
The locals, forgivably, mistook it as an angel. Until the ocean began to boil. Incident LL-1 occurred shortly after. Estimated fatalities range from 12,356 to 52,112, though exact numbers could not be recorded due to what was dubbed 'the evaporation effect.'
It took three days, millions of bullets, hundreds of grenades, and two high-heat small-area ballistic missiles to fell LLX-0.
LLX-1 would arrive shortly after, over the same ocean, father north. LL-2 announced itself to an empty base in Antarctica and slowly moved south. LL-3 manifested in the Russian tundra. They left behind nothing, not even ash. Only then was it clear, las luces were there for one purpose: to sterilize the earth. Governments decided it was easier to lie, and handle the problem quietly. Thus, the animals were created. Multi purpose, and always ready.
Las luces was handled, secretly, over the span of ten years. The world turned. Weddings happened, parties continued, movies released, wars waged, negotiations occurred, and business continued as usual.
Five of the ten original squadron remained. Three of the remaining ended their service in a vegetative state. The remaining two, Matthew, and one other, floated silently through the world. Their heads full of secrets, and the memories of inhuman, terrible things.
