Abraxas and Sara watched all this from the back of the Sand-Trekker, staring as their new robotic overlords took over the planet. Ara kept her eyes on the road, and the C.O.R.e seemed to ignore them for the most part, busily creating large turret-like structures drilled into the mottled ground. The place was changing, and fast.
"Sssso..." Abraxas mused, "what do you think the new leaderssss will be like? Maybe they'll just let ussss live out normal livessss."
Sara's response was a swat to the back of his head. He yelped out. "Don't be a fool!" she hissed. "Those creatures seem to loathe all organic live with a vengeance. Chances are they'll either kill us all or turn us into cyborg soldiers working in their huge army."
"Hey guys!" Ara called from the front of the Sand-Trekker. "We're here!"
The two of them turned to see they were approaching a ramshackle house. Looking down on it from the hill they were on, they could see it was made of wood, but that wood was old and weather-worn, and many newer planks boarded up holes and window slots. A cloth tarp stood as the door, and there was another building attached to it, where a rusty chimney belched out smoke and ash. A large wooden fence, bespeckled with barbed wire, surrounded the house. It maybe stood 6 or 7 feet.
Ara drove up to a gate-like structure. Suddenly, a panel in the wood opened up, revealing a small metal panel with a camera screen. Abraxas started. Where would they get technology like that in a place like this?
The camera scanned Ara's face with a red laser, then the panel closed and the gate opened for them. Ara drove in, and it closed behind them.
Ara turned off the vehicle and jumped out. Sara and Abraxas followed. She strode through the tarp and into the house, shouting "MA!!! I'M HOME!"
The two of them followed her inside, and were greeted with the scent of fresh muffins. Abraxas' stomach rumbled. He realized he hadn't eaten in possibly 3 or 4 hours.
Ara could be seen inside, being hugged by a massive woman. The woman had perhaps the height, weight and width of a full-grown adult grizzly bear, and had a face of similar appearance. Her hair was ratty and gnarled, like a curly hairstyle gone bad. This differed from Ara's smoother and darker hair, which she tied in a long braid possibly to keep it from looking like this woman's 'do.
"Ma, cut it out!" yelped Ara, red from embarrassment. "We've got company, so don't get all mushy on me!"
The woman finally let her daughter from her embrace, who dashed off to another room. She then came over to the two of them. Sara seemed to be visibly breaking out into a sweat.
Ara's mother took Abraxas' hand into hers - which could have fit his entire head, and then some - and shook it heartily "Hejj 's the name," the woman croaked in a deep voice, "and who might y'all be?" She spoke with a thick accent that Sara seemed to recognize.
"You're half-giant, aren't you?" She inquired. Hejj started at the woman's rude bluntness. People seemed to do that around Sara.
"Ssssara!" Abraxas cried, aghast. He gave her a small slap of his own. "I'm very ssssorry, ma'am. Sssshe can be quite brassssh at timessss - you know how ssssome people can be that way." Sara glared at him as if to say, I'll get you for that.
Hejj just laughed. "Nah, it's fine hon. My daughter can be quite the lil devil at times."
"I HEARD THAT!!!" shouted Ara from the other room.
"You seem to be quite the sweetie-pie, arn'cha, hon?" She crooned, patting Abraxas' face. "Come on in, and hav'a muff'n or-"
Abraxas had had her at "muff'n". He dashed into the room she'd pointed to, where Ara lounged on a rickety rocking chair, eating a blueberry muffin and puffing on a long pipe, stuffed with marijuana. "That's quite a feat there, eating and smoking at the same time," Abraxas noted. Ara nodded her thanks.
Her mother rushed into the room. "Girl, you know what I've said about smoking yur father's pipe!" she scolded, snatching the pipe out of the girl's mouth. "Aw, Ma!" Ara protested.
The girl stood to perhaps her mother's stomach. She still was plenty tall - she couldn't have been more than 17, but already was 5 foot 8, which was impressive for any normal woman. Abraxas guessed that her father was probably human, so that made her, what, one-fourth giant? He didn't care for the math, he just wanted muffins.
While mother and daughter argued, Abraxas scarfed down two or three muffins.
An old man walked into the room. Despite his hunched back, balding head, white beard and liver spots, he was very muscular, with large biceps, triceps and everything in between. He wore a shirt that once was white but was black with coal dust, and torn overalls. "'Lright, what's the lil rat been up to?" He inquired in a wheezing voice.
"Grampa!" Ara said, "You're tracking ash on the floor again!"
"Who're the newc'mers?" He asked, ignoring the girl. "Got anything to buy or sell?"
A thought occurred to Abraxas. "Do you do invesssstigating of the originssss of itemssss?"
"Got coin?"
Abraxas brought out ten or so gold coins. The man took them, sniffed and bit them, then stashed them in his pocket. "'Lright, then. What's the p'ticular item?"