Arkanas, an exile of the great cities, walks the outlands alone. He had escaped the clutches of the machine god, though it was not an easy feat to achieve.
There's no guarantee that he will survive the wilderness, especially alone. But a day in the wilderness is better than years in the great cities: where the mechanical managers do not see his kind as a being worthy of respect, but a resource to be consumed.
Hope and meaning are the enemy of the machine god, and he does everything to sedate humanity so that they never feel a drop of it.
The sun beats down on Arkanas' head as he travels the open wastelands that stretch for miles beyond the city walls. Before him on the horizon stands a mountain range covered with trees and snow. But there's no telling how long it will take him before he reaches it. He may die of thirst long before he touches the edge of the mountains. Regardless, Arkanas' presses forwards in the hope of a peaceful future.