[ WP ] Humanity is , for whatever reason , wiped out within the next 100 years . Write about an average day for an archeologist from the next sentient species to arise .

The dust blew in gusts and waves over the deadlands of the Trilok'ag'nghzar. Cloaked against the beating winds, the lone bone-raker climbed the ridge unsteadily, a stabiliser clutched tightly in his lower left receptacle. It was cold, perhaps 63 Pelak, but his objective was clear - he had set the coordinates into his mnemonic web before setting out. As he crested the ridge, he perceived before him the outline of what would in ancient times have been a vast bay. A hazy light permeated the thick clouds of dust overhead, and lent a dull glow to the scene. And in the distance, the object of his curiosity - an image that he had burned into his mind. 
 
 The bone-raker climbed down the ridge and made his way quickly across the plain. It was a flat, dry, unmarked expanse, with not a single feature apparent save for that which he kept always in his sight. A thin metallic peak, covered in metal spines, and towering over 50 units over the shifting sands. Too thin to provide a barrier to the sand, and unique amongst the other structures of the Forespirits. He scowled at the thought of the word - he was sure that they had been beings of biology, much like himself, but his people spoke of them as though they were of the supernatural or divine. His rebellion against the Engrams and their ideas had made him an outcast. He had suffered... watched as his own mate was taken as tribute, along with the millions of others sent to the far havens of the Lightbeings... did such a place even exist? He had narrowly escaped the `` Giving'' himself. He decided to put the thought out of his mind... he would find his evidence here, if nowhere else. 
 
 Now, he was almost upon the thing. Many rotations ago, it would have been a very tall structure, and this needle might even have appeared to pierce the sky. But thoughts of beauty and wonder were quite alien to the bone-raker and his people. He considered the scene, wondering if there were a way inside. Circumnavigating the structure, he finally found what he was looking for - a small portal in the side of a stone-like wall. This was a material that he had seen often in their structures... but no one had ever investigated its properties, since all such questioning had been banned by the Engrams. He tried to push the portal-lid inward, but it had been fused to the wall by the sand. He took a few steps back, and smashed into it with his head-ridge. The portal opened, into blackness. 
 
 The bone-raker walked in slowly. There could be nothing alive here, and the structure must be stable if it had survived so many rotations. He removed his photon-grub from its receptacle and shook it, casting a faint glow over the room. It was a small room, with strange metal objects on the walls. Sand lay in mounds on the floor, and in every corner. But he had little time to look. He moved on, forcing portals open where required, and climbing stairs when he found them. He did n't know where to go, but his wanderings led him higher and higher. In another time, he might have stopped to examine the strange script that he saw all around him - rare at other sites, but present almost everywhere in this structure. He had partially deciphered it based on the intermediate scripts of the Late Masters, more than anyone else had in any case. Prominently displayed on a wall, he observed characters that he believed were arranged to form the words `` Heaven'' and `` Tall-House''. It mattered little. He hurried on. 
 
 After about 12 droghs of a suncycle, he came upon a portal larger than those through which he had previously passed - with its lid lying on the ground before it. He was about to step in when he made an observation... the door was not covered in dust, unlike like everything else on the floor. The bone-raker moved cautiously over the door, and entered the room beyond. It was a vast room, and his light barely permeated the darkness. He moved forward slowly, looking around furtively. Suddenly, he heard a noise behind him - a groan of metal. He moved back to the portal, and found it closed tightly behind him. He smashed against it with his head-ridge until dazed and bruised, but to no avail. He clicked his signal into the darkness - `` Where/what do they want'', but was not met with any clicks in return. Droghs seemed to pass in silence. Suddenly, there was light everywhere. Light of an intensity of which the old bone-raker had not thought possible. He shielded his orbitals in pain, and cowered on the ground in terror. And then he heard the sounds. 
 
 It had a strange rhythm to it. There was perhaps even something animal-like about it. Different sounds, calling and answering. But he had heard these sounds before... many rotations ago in the larval stage, when he had been afforded a meeting with an Engram. Had they found him?! The lights dimmed, and he raised one of his orbitals. Two immensely tall figures, extremely thin, towering over him. One by one, their hoods were pushed back to reveal strange pitted globs of flesh and hair, supported on a thin appendage. On a wood composite sheet, in a building on the Plains of Sarg'glath long ago, he had seen images of such creatures. The Forespirits themselves. 
 
 And then it came to him, in a swift wave of understanding and horror. The Forespirits had never disappeared. They had merely changed their form. The Engrams whom had ruled his people since the first gestation, in their metal shells... with no lifefluid or flesh. They spoke this strange tongue, they called themselves Gods... and they had always prevented the matter of the Forespirits from being investigated. But now... he unflasked his heat blade and raised it over his head. He needed to escape, to show the others. But these creatures hardly seemed to take notice of him. He moved towards the portal slowly. One of the creatures raised a metal object, glinting in the light. There was a flash, and his world turned to black. 
 
'Good', said Kwalid, re-adjusting his sand-cloak. We can use this one.'Nope', muttered Cheing, as he wandered towards the body. He bent down to take a closer look at the remains of the creature. He held the creature's blade to the light, examining it with amusement.'Looks like they've got their heat alloys sorted. The work of our friends, the *Engrams*, no doubt'. He looked up, and observing the annoyance on Kwalid's face, said'Well, this one's infected - look at the lower-left appendage. We ca n't take it back to the city... we ca n't risk spoiling our stock'.'But the collectors have been so far behind on their shipment this month... we do n't even have enough fuel in our ration to get back', complained Kwalid.'Look, it wo n't hurt to extract this one, and leave the ship outside the city limits... its a twelve day walk otherwise!' Cheing considered this for a moment, and acquiesced, removing an extractor from his belt and inserting it into one of the creature's raised fluid pouches.'Look, this should serve as a warning against moving so far outside the exclusion zone... what if there had been ten of them Kwalid? The Skytower might have been an interesting find, but it just is n't worth the risk'. With that, he completed the extraction, and keyed the closing sequence into his pad.'Ok, let's get going then'. And the two Forespirits left, the body of the old bone-raker lying emptied behind them.
