Robo-vored! Patreon Reward -Maundrill- (Patreon)

Story first,  background / behind-the-scenes second!

Maundrill was exploring a derelict outpost when he stumbled upon a securely locked up door  -  naturally, this meant he needed to see what was on the other side. With some ingenuity and a little luck he got it open,  and descended into the vault below armed with only a flashlight... What could go wrong?

It wasn't long before Maundrill stumbled upon the remains of the outpost's staff, and not long after before the Robo-Rex that ate them stumbled upon him! Maundrill was swiftly devoured whole, and the synthetic life-form settled down to conserve power while it processed the first meal its had in years.

After burping up what little remained of Maundrill it got up to scout the area, curious as to where the tasty creature came from - after all, no living thing had set foot in this sealed off bunker for some time. Consuming Maundrill had replenished only a small amount of its fuel reserves,  which remained dangerously close to total depletion.

If he had made it in here then there had to be others, or at least a way out. That's when it found the passage that Maundrill had unsealed.  It was a tight fit, but it managed to squeeze its way through.

Free at last but still low on power, the Robo-Rex needed to feed again and soon.  Scanning the area it detected lifeforms relatively nearby,  perhaps Maundrill's traveling companions or a camp he may have come from. And so it departed the outpost it had once been a prisoner of in search of the life signs it had picked up... And to its next meal.

Maundrill suggested either another snake or a mechanical pred for this month's reward,  and while a snake would certainly be an easy choice I was intrigued by maybe going with a mechanical this time around,  picking out this texture set that I'd had lying around since 2011 but never used.

That fact lent itself to the story I wrote up on the spot - surely if it's gone unused for so long it must have quite an appetite worked up!  It also was reminiscent of Athlos's backstory in some aspects, though Athlos did not devour his rescuers :)