[ WP ] You are the last human on earth sitting in a room watching old reruns of law and order when all of sudden you hear a knock on the door . Uncertain whether it 's fake or not you go and find out as you slowly approach the door you hear a second knock .

Following the second knock the door forced itself open. 
 
 Tall, firmly built, yet elegant. Matte black shell broken only by polished white markings primarily across its abdomen and its expressionless face. Two arms propped it up; two more pairs hung limply at its side. Looking into its large compound eyes the man saw only his haggard face now slowly twisting with terror. Two segmented antennae slowly reached down to his height and, with the greatest of care, caressed his face and neck. Once satisfied, they retreated back to their owner who now took a step forward. The man staggered back, fell; the sounds of the television lost on him. Filling his door way was man ’ s final technological testament: the *vesproid*. 
 
 Built to defend the biomechanical apiproids who were in turn built to replace the honey bees, the vesproids were machines born and grown from other machines. Created in the image of the Japanese giant hornet, they were normally golden yellow with black markings. However, the one that towered over the man was defective: it was marked as a bald-faced hornet. 
 
 *What ’ s it going to do? Take me back and feed it to the larvae? * The man knew the warmongering ways of the vesproids and their overzealous protection of the apiproids: many ecosystems had been entirely dominated by them and their underground hives. Hives brimming with soldiers ruled by intelligent queens. 
 
 The man closed his eyes and lay motionless. He felt the warm, metallic hand of the vesproid grasp his shirt collar. *Right for the neck, eh? * Yet to his amazement the vesproid merely stood him up and let go. Hesitantly he opened his eyes and saw nothing in the doorway. *Wait, what? * 
 
 Instead he found the hulking thing standing beside his old CRT television set, Law and Order no longer playing. Instead the channel was static. 
 
 “ Don ’ t break that, ” the man said, his own voice strange to him. 
 
 The vesproid ’ s antennae perked up a little, but otherwise she showed no interest. Placing her four free hands on the back of the television, magnets in her hand altered the CRT to form a single word in the static, 
 
 HIDE 
 
 Bewildered by the intelligence of the vesproid he failed to heed her warning. At once four faces broke through the brittle wood ceiling of his shack. Their faces were golden yellow and the man knew that the defective vesproid hadn ’ t left her hive unnoticed. Three of the soldiers dropped into the shack and converged upon the defective unit while the man cowered in the far corner. He watched as the defective unit picked up his television set and threw it at the nearest soldier, stunning it upon impact. The second soldier then dived at her, likely aiming for her thorax. She caught the attacker by her head and, with her great mandibles, bit it off with a bright blue spark. Dropping the corpse she failed to dodge the first soldier and the two fell to the ground. The soldier attempted to pierce the defective unit with her stinger, but she proved to be too maneuverable. The defective unit flipped them and now she lay on top. With one well-placed jab of her stinger she pierced the soldier ’ s abdomen, killing it instantly. About to stand, the third soldier leapt on her back. The two wildly wheeled about to the center of the room. Nearly about to have her own head twisted off, the defective unit straightened herself and at once a pair of great iridescent wings exploded out from her thorax, slicing the piggy-backing soldier into a smoking mess. Abruptly the wings dissipated and she staggered forward. 
 
 From his corner all the man could do was gawk at the vesproid, all covered in scratches and dents. She then faced the man and the two locked gazes. Irrationality and fear took over and compelled the man to flee his house, forgetting that–of the four faces that had poked through his roof–only three corpses litter the floor. Outside in the cold he felt something heavy land behind him. Spinning around he found the fourth soldier approaching him on all sixes. The defective vesproid quickly came up from behind as the soldier began to stand. Out in the open the soldier was better able to use its bulk against the slightly smaller defective unit. It delivered a savage punch to her right eye, smashing it. In a rage she grasped the soldier ’ s two antennae and pulled them off, tossing the wriggling things aside. The soldier writhed in pain on the ground, unable to defend against the defective unit who now born down upon her. Pinning the soldier down, the she pried open the metallic plates encasing the front of her thorax. Two punches smashed whatever vital components were placed there and the soldier ceased all movement. The defective unit then tore off its head; whether out of spite or caution the man knew not. 
 
 This time the man stood his ground as the vesproid approached him. In the dust she spelt out a word with her hand-foot. 
 
 WHITEKNELL 
 
 “ Is that your…*name*? ” the man asked, unsure of how she had acquired such intelligence. 
 
 The vesproid ’ s antennae twitched happily. 
 
 “ Whiteknell it is then. ” He stuck out his hand and said, “ Dalton. Pleased to meet you. ” 
 
 Whiteknell took his hand and shook it in a crude approximation of a handshake. The two remained out in the cold a little longer, entirely unsure of what to do next. 
 
 * [ never done one these before, so I apologies in advance for any formatting errors! Constructive criticism is greatly appreciated! ] * 

