Chapter 2 plot outline

I wake up from the dream to find myself right where I was. This world is just as I left it... No.. It's different. I couldn't have been inactive for that long, yet the buildings now bow their heads lower than before. The snow is a bit deeper... What happened while I was asleep?

"Hello?" I call out... The world is still empty, it seems, as the only response is the echo of my own voice off the crumbling walls and rusted girders. With creaking joints I slowly stand up and start my journey. One foot in front of the other, watching as my feet sink a little bit into the powder with every step. I'm not sure where exactly I'm headed anymore... Just a vague recollection of a job I must attend to. I know not where or what, I know only the way.

As the colossal giants rise up around me, looking down with their sullen, distraught faces, I find myself slipping again. Slowly my vision dims...

***

"Dammit Sam! Do you have to make such a racket?"... the man speaking is standing over me on my left... He looks... Ghastly. As though he were nothing more than skin, pulled tight across a skeleton. He's doing something to my chest, but I can't feel anything. I see the reflection of sparks and light in his welding goggles, his mouth twisted in fierce concentration.

"Well gosh Bill.. I'm sorry. I wasn't watching and just bumped that tray there and it's.. Well, nevermind. Let me just get these chemicals cleaned up. I'm real sorry Bill, it won't happen again" I can barely see the other man. He seems clumsy... His movements are jerky and erratic as he scrambles to wipe things up from the table. It's like the two are opposites, and not just in personality. This one is shorter, more portly. But he seems a nice enough fellow.

"-sigh-... You said that last time Sam. Just watch what you're doing over there, with your flowers and your dirt. I don't need it meddling with my sensitive equipment! Spilling those chemicals could very well ruin my life's work if they get on these devices" He's losing his temper. I can see the spittle fly from his mouth as he speaks, waving his arm wildly around the room. I wonder what he's building..

"I'm real sorry Bill. I'll be more careful... I'm just so excited about this research! I think I've really made a breakthrough with these mixtures! I might even solve the food crisis!" The fat one gets excited as he talks.. Like a child on Christmas. There's a food crisis?

"Yes, yes, I know all about your precious flower growing. But some of us are doing REAL work! My mechanical creations could mean a complete change in how labor is done. We might even be able to get funding for that new power device we've worked on! Think of it, you dolt.. We'd be rich! Unlimited power for the nation, and newer, more powerful weapons for the military. And no one would have to know the side effects of the power source, because it would be machines doing all the work!"

"You're right Bill.. I'll try to stay out of your way. I just don't know if that thing is worth the cost, y'see... Too many bad things happen to the people near it"

***

Changes -
The city around Archie is more decayed now. While the reader sees him believing he was only "inactive" for a span of a few hours, the scenery makes it seem more like years, even decades.
Archie himself will appear more worn and dirty as well.

Introduce Sam and Bill, scientists who work for the country Archie is in. Sam works on developing crops that grow faster and hardier, Bill is building Archie (tho Archie is unaware of this at the moment). Sam is shorter and clearly overweight, but a kind person. Bill is tall, skeletal, and... well, he's a douche. Think old movie Mad Scientist, both for Bill's appearance as well as for the lab they work in.

Flashback will be done with a light green filter for all images (seen through Archie's eyes, as this portion of him was active). Present day will again be stark black/white contrast.