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Description
A blaring alarm tore my peaceful dark apart and my motor stalled as startled fear gripped me. My eyes unexpectedly snapped on, the pain of burning receptors spread in my photo caps. I shot into a sitting position and was immediately alert, all sensory patterns 100%. The ceiling lights flashed scarlet with every cry of electric voice, set apart in rhythmic intervals.

Muffled voices full of panic and fear were heard outside of my door. Voices of nurses and aids--even guards were quickly asking for instructions. I tried to listen to what they were saying but whoever passed my door was hurrying down the hallway, not pausing long enough for me to find answers. I sat in my own suspense and waited for something to happen. Then came to my senses. Someone tried to escape, was spotted, the alarm was thrown, and now ward staff were panicking because they’d lose their positions. Just after making that conclusion my room went black and the entire floor became silent --not even the sound of the staff was outside.

I blinked in the darkness, my photo caps making a soft beep as my eyes glowed in the shadows. The faint light of the city mixed with the pitch black in my room was unlike the solid shadows I could sense beyond the sliding doors. Why would they shut off the lights to look for an escapee? Then I heard distant footsteps beyond the doors: fast and in a hurry. They got louder as they neared and then finally stopped outside of my room. There was the sound of someone fumbling for something and then the acknowledgement of code as the scanner outside accepted a metallum’s number. The doors quietly slid open and I was surprised to see Zeus fly in, his eyes bright and panicked. “Zeus? What’s--?”

“They’re coming for you, Abraham,” the metallum spoke quickly. He gestured for me to follow and then turned back to the open doors. “We’ve got to get you out of here.”

I stood but didn’t follow, asking, “Who’s coming for me? The guards? Does the Operator think I had something to do with this?”

Zeus pulled a finger to his speaker-grill and said, “Shh! No, the Galtrin. Two of them blew the entrance down and terminated several of the staff. I don’t know where they came from! They threatened an assembler, asking where an F9 unit was being held. I hid and saw it all, coming here as soon as I heard.” He urgently gestured for me to hurry. “Now come, I’ll get you out through the back.” I finally followed, still confused. If any normal machine had heard that two Galtrin were searching for an F9 model, they would have thought the enemy was cross-wired. But anyone involved with the Guard Sector knew that models F7-F10 were only constructed for the war, built for quick downloading and tactical enhancements. That meant me, who was the only F9 unit in the ward--perhaps in the city.

We quietly snuck through the open doors and made our way through the darkness. Zeus was in a half crouch, gently reaching and arm back for me to follow in the shadows. I couldn’t see well but I knew the route fairly enough. We quietly crept down the hallway till we came to the first four-way cross a third of the way down. Zeus guided us right, which was the hall away from the elevators. I had been down the other two halls before for appointments and the elevators that lead down to the refueling area of the analyst wing.

There were doors that lead to patients’ rooms on either side of us, like the other hallways, but this section alone seemed older, less kept. I could hear banging and cries of fury behind the doors the deeper we silently crawled. I leaned forward and whispered, “What is this section?”

Zeus gave a hush meaning for me to be quieter and then answered my question, “This is where they keep the poor souls that are too far gone to repair with analyzing.” He stopped as we approached the end of the hall and faced a turn. There was the sudden chime of the distant elevator behind, declaring someone had arrived back in the main hall. Zeus and I looked back over our shoulders and sat still keeping silent. I heard the faint sound of the doors slide open and there was the thudding crash of very large footsteps clamor down the adjacent stretch from afar. A minor click later three silhouettes thundered straight toward my abandoned room: two massive machines with the glow of charged canons in their hands and one small metallum, thin and armored. It was impossible to see any other details in the blackness as the trio hurried past where we had just been moments before.

I was too familiar with Galtrin canons--there was no mistake in recognizing them. But…the smaller machine. A squeeze on my shoulder and Zeus whispered urgently, “Hurry!” We remained crouched but quickened our previous pace. The sound of ransack echoed far back as guttural cries of rage were picked up in my receivers and I suppressed a chill of static. I told myself, Come on, mech up! If you had a gun in your hand you’d melt ‘em down. But I didn’t have a gun and they had battle canons--and if I had been in my room…

Zeus’ touch stopped the flow of my thoughts and the old machine halted movement. I stayed quiet, feeling safe with the other metallum’s hand gripping my arm. I listened and heard the sound of distant voices echo off the empty walls of the ward. Obviously the smaller metallum was speaking to the two Galtrin, giving them orders of some kind. All I picked up was “Search next floor,” in the middle of the rant and ending with, “I’ll stay up here.” The echo of thundering feet toward the stairs and elevator were identified and then silence. A moment later the click of metal feet on metal floor was heard and getting closer. Zeus pulled me without hesitation and half dragged me further down the aging hall. Then a familiar voice called from behind, “I know you’re up here!”

The next thing I knew, Zeus pressed his number on the scanner of a door and pulled me into a small room with no windows, blanketing us in pitch darkness. The door closed and I felt Zeus’ hand reach up and cover my grill. The old machine’s eyes glowed in the emptiness. His lighter colored bulbs darted toward the sealed door. I felt some kind of heavy device leaning against my back and the touch of iron barrels on my right arm. We must have been in a cleaning closet of some kind.

I sat in the shadows waiting as the muffled sound of footsteps got closer to our position. Clack, clack, clack! I refused to move, allowing Zeus’ firm touch to remain on my speaker. The footsteps finally reached the door…and abruptly broke into a run, quickly getting farther and farther away until I could hardly hear them. Zeus removed his hand from my face and I could sense the machine’s body relax. I was sure to whisper as I asked, “Why? Why are they doing this?”

“They’re probably after you because you know something they need. I can’t think of any other reason why.” Zeus’ voice was a mess of worry when the words were spoken, his eyes electric pools of concern. But the metallum held an air of static strength, a solidness mirroring the years as a fighter. He knew what he was doing but his feelings toward my well being were visibly clear.

I was as stifled as my friend about the situation. This was unrealistic--someone was behind this, some Galtrin I had come in contact with when I was a fighter. My central recovery drive suddenly recalled the voice in the darkness that had called after us. I put my thoughts into words, “I…I knew that voice.” Looking up, I caught only Zeus’ eyes in the darkness and said, “The voice in the hall, the one searching for us.”

Zeus’ photo receptors gave a small click as he blinked, “Are you sure? Someone from your fighting days?”

I couldn’t grasp it, “I’m not sure.”

There was a moment of silence until Zeus pressed a receiver up to the surface of the locked door. He then raised his wrist above his head and a chime sounded as the door recognized the number. Without hesitation, he darted out of the closet as the doors slid apart, I made sure to follow close behind. Surely someone had heard the chime and it wouldn’t be long before they’d investigate.

We rushed back down the hall the way we had come, desperate to reach the elevators. It would be safer knowing there was no one in the vertical cart rather than meet one of the Galtrin on the stairs. I kept even pace with Zeus, glancing sideways as I worked my legs at maximum speed. The older machine had his eyes narrowed, concentration and determination vibrating from the moving orbs. A fighter. That’s what he was. Rescuing the life of a machine to replace the proles he had lost. I had lost two who were close to me: Rentraica and my own crafter. We were two fighters, speeding down the hallway of a ward, eager to escape the same enemy. I decided then that I was going to protect this machine and would take full responsibility for whatever happened to him. Zeus was taking a great risk saving me and I wouldn’t forget it.

We approached the end of the hallway and I looked to Zeus, “Where do we go after we get to the first floor?”

Zeus replied, “There’s a staff exit that leads to the transport garage. We’ll have to make a left away from the entrance.”

We finally rounded the corner, only for Zeus to crash into something and be thrown to floor from the impact. I stopped and froze, staring into the sizzling, red eyes of an unseen machine in the blackness. The eyes were level with mine, so it wasn’t the two Galtrin that I had seen earlier, but had to be the smaller metallum accompanying them. I had only been standing there a minor click but the shadowy figure didn’t wait. Something glowed in the darkness, raised to my face-plate and I immediately recognized the boiling glow of a weapon.

Description
A blaring alarm tore my peaceful dark apart and my motor stalled as startled fear gripped me. My eyes unexpectedly snapped on, the pain of burning receptors spread in my photo caps. I shot into a sitting position and was immediately alert, all sensory patterns 100%. The ceiling lights flashed scarlet with every cry of electric voice, set apart in rhythmic intervals.

Muffled voices full of panic and fear were heard outside of my door. Voices of nurses and aids--even guards were quickly asking for instructions. I tried to listen to what they were saying but whoever passed my door was hurrying down the hallway, not pausing long enough for me to find answers. I sat in my own suspense and waited for something to happen. Then came to my senses. Someone tried to escape, was spotted, the alarm was thrown, and now ward staff were panicking because they’d lose their positions. Just after making that conclusion my room went black and the entire floor became silent --not even the sound of the staff was outside.

I blinked in the darkness, my photo caps making a soft beep as my eyes glowed in the shadows. The faint light of the city mixed with the pitch black in my room was unlike the solid shadows I could sense beyond the sliding doors. Why would they shut off the lights to look for an escapee? Then I heard distant footsteps beyond the doors: fast and in a hurry. They got louder as they neared and then finally stopped outside of my room. There was the sound of someone fumbling for something and then the acknowledgement of code as the scanner outside accepted a metallum’s number. The doors quietly slid open and I was surprised to see Zeus fly in, his eyes bright and panicked. “Zeus? What’s--?”

“They’re coming for you, Abraham,” the metallum spoke quickly. He gestured for me to follow and then turned back to the open doors. “We’ve got to get you out of here.”

I stood but didn’t follow, asking, “Who’s coming for me? The guards? Does the Operator think I had something to do with this?”

Zeus pulled a finger to his speaker-grill and said, “Shh! No, the Galtrin. Two of them blew the entrance down and terminated several of the staff. I don’t know where they came from! They threatened an assembler, asking where an F9 unit was being held. I hid and saw it all, coming here as soon as I heard.” He urgently gestured for me to hurry. “Now come, I’ll get you out through the back.” I finally followed, still confused. If any normal machine had heard that two Galtrin were searching for an F9 model, they would have thought the enemy was cross-wired. But anyone involved with the Guard Sector knew that models F7-F10 were only constructed for the war, built for quick downloading and tactical enhancements. That meant me, who was the only F9 unit in the ward--perhaps in the city.

We quietly snuck through the open doors and made our way through the darkness. Zeus was in a half crouch, gently reaching and arm back for me to follow in the shadows. I couldn’t see well but I knew the route fairly enough. We quietly crept down the hallway till we came to the first four-way cross a third of the way down. Zeus guided us right, which was the hall away from the elevators. I had been down the other two halls before for appointments and the elevators that lead down to the refueling area of the analyst wing.

There were doors that lead to patients’ rooms on either side of us, like the other hallways, but this section alone seemed older, less kept. I could hear banging and cries of fury behind the doors the deeper we silently crawled. I leaned forward and whispered, “What is this section?”

Zeus gave a hush meaning for me to be quieter and then answered my question, “This is where they keep the poor souls that are too far gone to repair with analyzing.” He stopped as we approached the end of the hall and faced a turn. There was the sudden chime of the distant elevator behind, declaring someone had arrived back in the main hall. Zeus and I looked back over our shoulders and sat still keeping silent. I heard the faint sound of the doors slide open and there was the thudding crash of very large footsteps clamor down the adjacent stretch from afar. A minor click later three silhouettes thundered straight toward my abandoned room: two massive machines with the glow of charged canons in their hands and one small metallum, thin and armored. It was impossible to see any other details in the blackness as the trio hurried past where we had just been moments before.

I was too familiar with Galtrin canons--there was no mistake in recognizing them. But…the smaller machine. A squeeze on my shoulder and Zeus whispered urgently, “Hurry!” We remained crouched but quickened our previous pace. The sound of ransack echoed far back as guttural cries of rage were picked up in my receivers and I suppressed a chill of static. I told myself, Come on, mech up! If you had a gun in your hand you’d melt ‘em down. But I didn’t have a gun and they had battle canons--and if I had been in my room…

Zeus’ touch stopped the flow of my thoughts and the old machine halted movement. I stayed quiet, feeling safe with the other metallum’s hand gripping my arm. I listened and heard the sound of distant voices echo off the empty walls of the ward. Obviously the smaller metallum was speaking to the two Galtrin, giving them orders of some kind. All I picked up was “Search next floor,” in the middle of the rant and ending with, “I’ll stay up here.” The echo of thundering feet toward the stairs and elevator were identified and then silence. A moment later the click of metal feet on metal floor was heard and getting closer. Zeus pulled me without hesitation and half dragged me further down the aging hall. Then a familiar voice called from behind, “I know you’re up here!”

The next thing I knew, Zeus pressed his number on the scanner of a door and pulled me into a small room with no windows, blanketing us in pitch darkness. The door closed and I felt Zeus’ hand reach up and cover my grill. The old machine’s eyes glowed in the emptiness. His lighter colored bulbs darted toward the sealed door. I felt some kind of heavy device leaning against my back and the touch of iron barrels on my right arm. We must have been in a cleaning closet of some kind.

I sat in the shadows waiting as the muffled sound of footsteps got closer to our position. Clack, clack, clack! I refused to move, allowing Zeus’ firm touch to remain on my speaker. The footsteps finally reached the door…and abruptly broke into a run, quickly getting farther and farther away until I could hardly hear them. Zeus removed his hand from my face and I could sense the machine’s body relax. I was sure to whisper as I asked, “Why? Why are they doing this?”

“They’re probably after you because you know something they need. I can’t think of any other reason why.” Zeus’ voice was a mess of worry when the words were spoken, his eyes electric pools of concern. But the metallum held an air of static strength, a solidness mirroring the years as a fighter. He knew what he was doing but his feelings toward my well being were visibly clear.

I was as stifled as my friend about the situation. This was unrealistic--someone was behind this, some Galtrin I had come in contact with when I was a fighter. My central recovery drive suddenly recalled the voice in the darkness that had called after us. I put my thoughts into words, “I…I knew that voice.” Looking up, I caught only Zeus’ eyes in the darkness and said, “The voice in the hall, the one searching for us.”

Zeus’ photo receptors gave a small click as he blinked, “Are you sure? Someone from your fighting days?”

I couldn’t grasp it, “I’m not sure.”

There was a moment of silence until Zeus pressed a receiver up to the surface of the locked door. He then raised his wrist above his head and a chime sounded as the door recognized the number. Without hesitation, he darted out of the closet as the doors slid apart, I made sure to follow close behind. Surely someone had heard the chime and it wouldn’t be long before they’d investigate.

We rushed back down the hall the way we had come, desperate to reach the elevators. It would be safer knowing there was no one in the vertical cart rather than meet one of the Galtrin on the stairs. I kept even pace with Zeus, glancing sideways as I worked my legs at maximum speed. The older machine had his eyes narrowed, concentration and determination vibrating from the moving orbs. A fighter. That’s what he was. Rescuing the life of a machine to replace the proles he had lost. I had lost two who were close to me: Rentraica and my own crafter. We were two fighters, speeding down the hallway of a ward, eager to escape the same enemy. I decided then that I was going to protect this machine and would take full responsibility for whatever happened to him. Zeus was taking a great risk saving me and I wouldn’t forget it.

We approached the end of the hallway and I looked to Zeus, “Where do we go after we get to the first floor?”

Zeus replied, “There’s a staff exit that leads to the transport garage. We’ll have to make a left away from the entrance.”

We finally rounded the corner, only for Zeus to crash into something and be thrown to floor from the impact. I stopped and froze, staring into the sizzling, red eyes of an unseen machine in the blackness. The eyes were level with mine, so it wasn’t the two Galtrin that I had seen earlier, but had to be the smaller metallum accompanying them. I had only been standing there a minor click but the shadowy figure didn’t wait. Something glowed in the darkness, raised to my face-plate and I immediately recognized the boiling glow of a weapon.