Vanya

The sky was bleak, yet only parts of it were blue. The deep silence was occasionally broken by the crunching of burgundy leaves and the silent steps of a deer. It was quiet. Too quiet. But that’s how life was like now in the only forest left. All the others were consumed by the ever growing black-cities, cities consumed by the constant smog and flushing of toxins that turned their waters to inky nothingness.

Vanya stops analyzing the surroundings, eyes cataloguing and storing every last detail. “Air quality: 30% Oxygen levels slowly creeping. Soil Ph: 27.5%. No traces of pollen. Most plants are dying or already dead. Decomposers present.” She rattles off data like it’s the one thing she knows. Then she comes across something she’s not very used to. a dead faun.

“A dead member of the Odocoileus virginianus family. Known collectively as a ‘White-Tailed Deer’,” She begins, crouching down as her mechanical body whirrs. “Most likely in its infancy, mother no where to be seen. Meat still present, scavengers haven’t found it yet. Good source of protein,” She says, her robotic voice making whatever attempt at humor fall flat.