The signal source was within walking distance of Lectric Land, so Tanya and Emily took it on foot. As they traveled, they saw more signs of the mayhem; cracked windows, toppled vending machines, an accident that looked fairly benign and already attended to by first responders.

The rest of the team beat them there with the Migrator. Mallory spotted them and waved them over. Emily tossed the box of surviving parts into the cargo hold without grace or care, happy to be rid of it.

The location that Drake One had pointed them to seemed of dubious usefulness. They were confronted with a patch of earth and the dead grass clinging to it, tucked between a road and a culvert with a tiny trickle of water. On the dirt rested a massive pylon, with overhead wires connecting it to its siblings several hundred feet away, carrying electricity.

Tanya looked around, confused. Perhaps what they were looking for was underground. Or the signal had come from something mobile, long gone before they had arrived.

Wildwing appeared to be explaining to their newest teammate the situation as he understood it. “This isn’t Dragaunus.”

Winterwing seemed almost offended. “Exactly how many problems do you have that aren’t Dragaunus?”

“I can think of at least two,” Mallory said, staring at him pointedly.

Wildwing made a small nod of acknowledgment as Tanya approached, and pointed to the top of the pylon. “There’s something up there.”

Tanya squinted up the pylon. It was a cold gray metal, probably aluminum, with a wide base that tapered as it went upward, and then splintered out into many branches at the top, holding the high voltage wires a few hundred feet over their heads. It was a symmetrical design, the same on either side. A lump at the summit made the structure slightly lopsided. At first glance she would have assumed it to be a bird’s nest or debris trapped in the wires. Something blue, she thought, though its reflectivity and size made it very difficult to tell from the ground.

“I can climb it,” Duke said. “But I’m not big on bein’ fried.”

“There’s-there’s a kit in the Migrator’s storage, for handling the laser battery,” Tanya suggested. “That should offer enough protection. Leave the saber. You don’t want to accidentally bridge anything up there.”

Duke looked to Wildwing for approval, and Wildwing hesitated for a moment, looking back up to the object, and reluctantly gave a nod. Tanya tried her best to help Duke into the bright yellow insulated suit, though he seemed to be too tall for a correct fit. She explained best practice for approaching the wires, and he listened in grim silence. He would be able to feel the effects of the electric field as he approached the top, and while he shouldn’t be alarmed, it would be wise not to spend more time in it than was necessary.

They watched him ascend in nervous tension. Tanya noted that their two recruits had chosen to stand some distance away, together. Perhaps they had worked out whatever their disagreement had been.

Emily moved closer to her, and said, lowly, “So, if it isn’t Dragaunus, what is it?”

“Ah. Human,” Tanya said, without moving her gaze from Duke’s climb. “Replaced most of his body with machine parts.”

“Is… that a thing they do?”

“No, that is definitely a weird choice.”

The strange attack had been brief, but there was little doubt in Tanya’s mind it must have been the work of Doctor Droid. Machines that inexplicably came to life were an old trick, and flashy more than effective.

“Machine parts?” Emily pressed. “You mean like that antique garbage we were looking at?”

Tanya smiled bitterly. “Given better cir-cirusmstances, it would be interesting to see how he bridged the immune response problem.”

“Let me guess,” Winterwing interjected. “This one’s mad at you through no fault of your own, too.”

“Oh,” Tanya dismissed him with a wave. “He hates all living things.”

“And the bringing machines to life?” Emily asked.

“Radio waves, last time. Broadcast a signal,” Tanya gestured to the object on the pylon.

“Some Artificer nonsense, then.” Winterwing sighed.

“No, not…. Not anything that advanced. This is all parlor tricks compared to a swarm civilization,” Tanya corrected. “This is just a guy that r-r-replaced his body with artificial parts, and lost his mind in the process.” As she said it, the words tickled a memory, and she would have to itch at it later.

The seconds drew on slowly, and her apprehension grew more intense the closer to the top Duke traveled. She was concerned that he was going to be unable to dislodge the object without his saber, but it came off easily in his hands. He was much faster in the decent, eager to return to the earth.

“Next time I’ll offer t’ cut the whole tower down,” he muttered as he shoved the lump of wires and metal into Tanya’s waiting hands, and began stripping off the protective gear with enthusiasm.

“What is it?” Wildwing prompted.

“Antenna,” Tanya said, and turning it over. “Tower gives it better line of sight.” It was a crude thing, hastily put together. The welds that held the individual pieces together were amateur in nature, she never would have tolerated such sloppiness in her own work. “Small power supply, but no storage. This was a relay, not the actual source. There’s part numbers on these c-components, I think I can track down where they came from.”

“Can you confirm Droid made it?” Wildwing asked.

She turned it over in her hands again, shaking her head. “His work tends to me more… designed. This looks like it just barely functions.” The antenna was clearly not of Saurian origin, and the parts were visibly human, though perhaps on the more cutting edge of the spectrum. “He was only a head the last time we saw him. Perhaps his cog-cognitive function was damaged.”

“Well. He’s never been shy about taking credit for his work.” Wildwing said, considering the pylon again. “If this is him, and not someone else, we should be hearing from him soon.”

“It looks fairly short range, I think. Wherever the source actually is, it is probably close.”

“If there’s a severed head shouting monologues and threatening people around here, it can’t be that hard to find, right?” Nosedive said.

They made another search of the lot, in case there was something more to be discovered, but turned up nothing of value. There was great deal of cigarette butts, broken bottles, food wrappers, and none of it looked any more important than the trash on any other street corner.

They left as a group in the Migrator.