"Go!" gasped Brad, pointing towards the desert.

Turran fought the power of the perfume. He and his father, crawled away from the plant, breathing in less contaminated air. The further they went the clearer the air,until they were able to stand and breath clearly again. And as they stood at a distance, they heard the sound of wings, and the pounding of feet, as animals began to pass come towards them. Hundreds of animals appeared out of nowhere, drawn by some force to the plant. Kangaroos, dingoes, parrots, mice, every creature from several kilometers around was coming. They bounded into the broken metal pieces which carpeted the ground around the stalk, and struggled to reach the base, but when they reached it, they were unable to climb. Now they climbed over each other, in a strange frenzy to grip the smooth metal column. Brad and Turran lay some distance away, gasping, while the desert animals pawed and clambered to ascend the smooth, shiny pole. The sun reached its zenith and began to fall towards the horizon. The animals lay exhausted, or dead, in a pile at the base of the pole. Flies buzzed madly over them in a frustrated cloud. Gradually, the smell faded, until the desert was as it had been and the animals lay dazed in the pile, or wandered drunkenly off into the desert again..

The pole was beginning to sway. It was falling apart. Crumbling. Small pieces of its outer shell were flaking off and dropping, like tinsel, to the ground.

"The plant," said Brad, shielding his eyes, "Is unable to propagate fertile seeds without pollen."

"What?" asked Turran.

"Well, when I first thought about it, I wondered if it was self-pollinating, like the corn plant. Those rough surfaces above the seeds are pollinating structures, but something has to get up there and disturb them. When I saw the long stalk going up, I decided it was probably reliant on some creature which is able to climb the stalk and get under the canopy."

"A human could," said Turran, "If they had a helicopter!"

"Maybe," said Brad "Anyway, the perfume was meant to attract a certain kind of creature. Unfortunately, there's nothing on planet earth big enough, or clever enough, to climb the stalk, except perhaps a creature which has also learned how to use machines."

"What are you saying Dad?" asked Turran.

"What I'm saying is this," said Brad 'This machine-plant was built by a highly advanced