This is a part of the personal project I'm working on. A Pail of Air, visualization of an Science Fiction Short story by Fritz Leiber.

This is the Mobile Transmitter. Without the ionosphere, radio signal is unusable. Mankind instead developed a short range communication method. These mobile transmitters work as relay stations. They can daisy chain wireless signal to the far lands. When the Pioneers set route to search for human civilization, they will "herd" these transmitters with them, so they can communicate with their operation base -- Los Alamos.

The mobile transmitter travel with their feet. With feet, comes the ability to climb on high grounds. Their "wings" can bend up to 90 degrees, and will change color to reflect the multiplied electromagnetic frequency it was set at. Their inside mostly contain gigantic batteries, for if one transmitter fail, the hole chain will fail to transfer data.

(This item doesn't appear in the original short story.)



The world of A Pail of Air -- Earth had deviated form it original orbit, flying away from it's precious sun. Without the sun, photosynthesis stops, mass panic occur, the apocalypse had come.

Years later, the temperature drops below -200°C. Most part of the world had become nothing but darkness and bitter cold air. With temperature this low, oxygen starts to liquify, the survivors will have to dig up a pail of liquid air, heat it up for them to breath.

The quake destroyed most underground pipelines. With no ionosphere, contacting with radio or any wireless method is impossible. The protagonist and his family lives in a obscured world far away from civilization, yet they strive to survive.