[Cynthia closes her shop after a rather uneventful day.]
[As you approach, the blacksmith and Gladius walk by on their way to the tavern.]
BLACKSMITH: We're one step closer to winning this thing.
GLADIUS: Da! Matron will pay!
BOTH: Hahaha!
[In their anticipatory revel, the two men fail to notice the demure Cynthia closing her shop.]
[Gladius bumps into her with a manly forearm.]
GLADIUS: Oh, excuse me, miss!
[The jolt causes Cynthia's hood to fall back. She throws her arms over her face and turns into the darkness.]
CYNTHIA: Just go!
[The two men are confused, but leave her be.]
BLACKSMITH: Geez, what's her problem?
[As you draw near, you notice that Cynthia is visibly shaken.]
CYNTHIA: I'm all right...
[Cynthia looks up at you and smiles. Half of her face is beautiful, the soft and radiant face of a young girl.]
[The other half is chrome-plated and metallic. Robotic.]
CYNTHIA: I suppose you've seen weirder things than a cyborg in your travels.
[Cynthia puts her hood back up and the robotic half of her face is shrouded in darkness.]
CYNTHIA: *sigh* Did you hear what they were talking about?
[Cynthia fumbles around with her hands]
CYNTHIA: I know she's done some truly awful things, but... I wouldn't be here if it weren't for her.
[The dull glow of Cynthia's robotic eye lulls you into something of a trance. As Cynthia begins talking, you find

her words taking shape.]
CYNTHIA: I wasn't born: I was built. Yet, I still had a father, The Machinist.
[The camp gives way to the buzzing and whirring of gears and other machinery. The Machinist is hunched over a work

table, sparks flying and illuminating the room.]
CYNTHIA: I died once. Or I guess I should say the Cynthia before me died.
CYNTHIA: Unlike me, she was flesh and blood. My father became obsessed with bringing her back to life.
[The Machinist works over the metal frame of a human skeleton, the wireframe face a ghastly patchwork of metal and

circuits.]
[He screws an eye into place and it glows red.]
CYNTHIA: My father had a gift when it came to machines.
CYNTHIA: But regardless of how intricately he could assemble circuitry, there was something missing.
CYNTHIA: No matter how intricately he could fabricate circuitry, in the end, all his creations were nothing but

silicon wafers hiding behind lifeless shells.
[The Machinist stands over his partially completed creation.]
MACHINIST: Good morning, Cynthia.
CYNTHIA BOT #0: ERROR ERROR ERROR. 404 LOVE NOT FOUND. PLEASE INSTALL DAUGHTER PLUG-INS.
MACHINIST: No, no no!
[The Machinist throws his hands up in rage.]
[He grabs a wrench and brings it down onto his creation again and again, sending gears, springs, nuts, and bolts

flying.]
MACHINIST: Not again!
[The Machinist collects the crumpled frame of his failed creation and drops it into a pile of other failures.]
CYNTHIA BOT #1: Hell...o fa...ther. Input command.
CYNTHIA BOT #2: BUZZ BUZZ BZZZZT
CYNTHIA BOT #3: DESTROY ALL HUMANS. DESTROY ALL HUMANS. DESTROY ALL...
[The Machinist collapses onto his workbench and weeps.]
CYNTHIA: All he wanted was to hold his daughter in his arms again.
[The Matron emerges from the shadows and places a delicate, leathery hand on The Machinist's shoulder.]
[The Machinist turns and the two lock eyes.]
MATRON: A father deserves to be with his daughter. Consider this a gift.
MACHINIST: What is it?
MATRON: Something which separates a person, all their hopes, fears, dreams, joys and aspirations from the empty

and inanimate husk their body occupies.
[The Matron places a glowing crystal onto his workbench, and without another word, vanishes back into the

darkness.]
CYNTHIA: She didn't just give my father hope. She gave him the power to get what he wanted.
[The Machinist begins his work with renewed vigor, welding and tinkering for months on end.]
CYNTHIA: All the science in the world wouldn't bring me back. But magic could.
[After countless hours, The Machinist's work is complete.]
[Cynthia, with a fully human face and body, lies dormant, eyes closed and an empty socket in her chest.]
[The Machinist tenderly places the crystal into the socket, and with a small click, Cynthia's eyes open.]
PAST CYNTHIA: Oh, hi father. Have I been gone long?
[The Machinist is momentarily at a loss for words. His daughter has returned to him. He smiles.]
MACHINIST: Too long, Cynthia. Welcome back from the dead.
PRESENT CYNTHIA: His happiness didn't last for long though. The Brotherhood had caught wind of his interaction

with The Matron.
[The door to The Machinist's workshop bursts open and uniformed Brotherhood officers stream in.]
CYNTHIA: What my father saw as a blessing, the Brotherhood saw as heresy--treason.
[The images fade from your sight as Cynthia turns her hooded face away.]
CYNTHIA: I managed to escape with my life and half my face, but my father...
[Cynthia draws her cloak tight around her as if chilled by a sudden breeze.]
CYNTHIA: Whatever the Brotherhood did to him killed him on the inside.
[Cynthia turns from you and looks up into the starry sky.]
CYNTHIA: Bringing me to life doesn't excuse everything The Matron has done, but I don't think life is so black and

white.
[Cynthia turns to you. Her eyes are narrowed and you can read determination on her face.]
CYNTHIA: We're fighting for an end to this war.
CYNTHIA: Not for the Brotherhood, not to defeat The Matron, but for peace. Don't forget that.