It was a pleasant day. The morning began with the sun shining its golden light upon the landscape of Eudoria. As the sunlight brightened, so did my mood. Although, in all honesty, it was not only the pleasant weather. The coffee helped as well.

I had had a terrible night of sleep, dreaming those dreams. The ones where I am eaten. It usually starts with Trox, but it's gotten worse. These days, I even have nightmares of puny creatures.

This morning, I took a bold decision; I was going to take the day off. No work today. Sure, that would put my long-term financial goals back a bit, but what use is a battery when it doesn't get recharged every now and then?

I slipped in my comfortable attire, packed something to eat and drink and strolled to the nearest TP. There, I spent a few minutes to decide on my destination: Jennifer's Island, or perhaps the beach at Corinth. I choose the latter.

I shouldn't have.

Upon arrival in Cape Corinth, I noticed an unusual amount of people there. I smiled, as I thought that perhaps something was going on. A beach party? Or even a music festival? Such a lucky coincidence.

I entered my hoverpod, to drive along the beach a bit, in order to find a spot to plant my hiney, drink a few moonshines and just waste my day away. As I drove, I saw some fighting. Low level drones were easily defeated by colonists. My first fright as seeing robots here was ushered back to sleep by the ease with which our defences held. I felt secure.

I shouldn't have.

I drove on, crossing the large flat sandy plains just east of the TP. And that is where misfortune struck.

One moment, the plain was empty, then, suddenly, it was filled with... I do not know what it was.

They just seemed to TP in at the same moment. Twenty or more of them. Huge, metal machines. Like giant spiders. And all twenty turned to me, and started firing.

The structural integrity of my vehicle lasted for 3 seconds.

I lasted for another second.

Then, I was overwhelmed by this all-too-familiar pain and red haze. Remembering the CDF warning about too much pressure on the revival terminal system, I wondered if this would be the last time I died on this planet. Dead, without having found those riches promised when I arrived. Dead, eternally dead.

I was revived, as you can see, but the revival process was slightly scrambled. It took me days to recover from my injuries. Many days I spent in the hospital ward. Awake in pain, or asleep... haunted by new nightmares. Nightmares which will be with me for a long time to come...