Cryo-Man (Cryo-Man series, #1) (36 page)

CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN

Still keeping his gun aimed at Mom, Black-Dome releases her. His free hand moves to the side of his dome. He pushes a button, causing the heavy black tint to fade away to clear glass. Inside is the head of a man, a familiar looking man whose face I conjure from a memory during
this
life…

I’m approaching the CIFPOL entrance hidden within the land of broken concrete… I spot movement emerging from the ground… I duck down among a hole in the rubble… a huge robot climbs onto the surface… at first I think it’s an assassin-bot but then I see it’s wearing a glass dome like the one I wear… the dome slowly turns and I see the head and face of an ugly man inside…

The same ugly man that now holds Mom hostage. Just when I thought nothing could distract me from the Heaven Box…

“You killed E,” I say.

“At least I know he wasn’t lying about making other freaks. How many more of you are there?” Black-Dome asks.

“None, it’s just the three of us,” Mom says, her robotic voice quivering.

“E saved your life,” I say angrily.

I take a threatening step toward him but Black-Dome shakes his gun, as if warning me not to try anything foolish. If only
my
life was on the line, I would’ve attacked, regardless of his weapon and the dozens of robots waiting to shoot me from behind. Now that I’ve found everything in my Heaven Box destroyed, I have no real reason to live. But I can’t sacrifice Mom’s life, not after everything she’s done for me. Still, the smirk on Black-Dome’s face enrages me, especially when I think about what E did for the three of us.

“He stopped you from defrosting and dying,” I say. “And in return you killed him in cold blood?”

Black-Dome shrugs, his smirk turning into a sneer.

“I was supposed to be grateful? For what? Being turned into…
this
,” he says, looking down at his metallic body in disgust. He shakes his head a bit too quickly; he looks insane. “He
ruined
me,
ruined
who I once was. And for what purpose did he turn me into this monstrosity? To protect his first two creations, which I assume means the two of you. Did you really think I didn’t notice you watching me in the fields? Did you really think ignoring your assignment at the gate would raise no alarms?”

For a brief moment, the look of fear disappears from Mom’s face as she glares at me.

“Just because I was once a soldier didn’t mean I had to take orders from that old freak. I killed him before he could do anything else to me,” Black-Dome says. “And if you take another step toward me, I’ll kill her and
then
you.”

I have no doubt he’ll do exactly as he says. Still, I can’t keep my mouth shut, not as rage flows through me.

“So
this
is where you came? To Robot Headquarters to work for
them
?”

“Not at first,” Black-Dome says. “After I left the Cryonics Facility, I wandered around for years, not sure what to do with myself. Whenever I ran across humans, they tried to destroy me; they wouldn’t even listen to who I really was, to
what
I really was. I received no such harsh treatment from robots. They treated me like one of their own. It was clear the world had changed; it was clear my memories of robots being enemies were all wrong. Now that humans were my enemies, what better place to come than here? Who better to work for than the family trying to destroy humankind?”

“Family?” I ask. “Of robots?”

Black-Dome laughs, a high-pitched shrill that sounds strange coming from a hulking figure like him.

“You’ve really learned nothing about this world, have you? I should’ve realized how foolish you were to come here,” he says. “I told them how E created at least two more modified human-robots like me. They wanted me to find you but I didn’t think it was possible. I figured you’d have enough sense to use your strength and human intelligence to stay away from here. I was about to lead the newest squadron of robots into battle when I sensed you out in the fields.”

“What do you want with us?” I ask. “What do
they
want from us? This family or whatever?”

“Not so much a family anymore, just one… never mind, I’m not saying too much. Anyway, he doesn’t want robots running around that weren’t created here, especially robots made by that traitor, E,” Black-Dome says. “He’s had trouble trusting even me but once I bring you to him, maybe that’ll change.”

I shake my head. “But you aren’t one of them, you aren’t a real robot. You see what they’re doing to humans out there, how they’re trying to destroy our species. We can help fight them. I’ve been inside the humans’ River City. Knowing what I do now, I could talk to the human leaders and convince them that we could – ”

Black-Dome holds up a hand and taps the side of his glass helmet. Though he continues to aim his weapon at Mom, his head turns slightly to the side and he nods very slightly. He appears to be listening to someone or something, though I don’t hear any noise beyond the normal sounds of Robotropolis.

“Copy that,” Black-Dome says before lowering his free hand from the helmet. When he turns back to me, his jaw is clenched. His next words are spoken with a much more annoyed edge in his robotic voice. “Enough talk. The two of you need to come with me. I don’t have to remind you what’ll happen if you attempt to resist. Move it.”

He pushes Mom in the direction of the city buildings but I don’t budge an inch from my box.

“I’m not going anywhere without my box,” I say.

Black-Dome’s eyes narrow. It’s obvious he’s not accustomed to having his orders ignored. He roughly shoves the barrel of his gun against Mom’s glass dome. I hear the slightest sound of cracking.

“What’s in that box?” Black-Dome asks.

“None of your business,” I say. “It’s from my family.”

Black-Dome shakes his head. “On second thought, I could care less. Walk away now or I put a bullet through her skull.”

Mom squeezes her eyes shut. I look into the box’s darkened mess again, unable to leave the only thing that’s been important to me since returning to life. This is a decision I can’t possibly make; luckily – or unluckily – Black-Dome doesn’t give me long to consider.

“Restrain him,” he tells the rest of the robots.

In unison, the dozens of waiting robots surge toward me. When the first set of metallic hands reach for me, I realize there’s only one reaction I can make. Fueled by a combination of disappointment and anger, I lash out at the first robot, shoving my pincers through its power core. It feels good to release some steam and I quickly turn to the next robot. They’re all smaller, weaker models than I am, which allows me to smash my way through five of them before they even react.

Realistically, I know there are too many for this fight to turn out in my favor. But I can’t imagine anything stopping me from trying to protect my box… until the first gunshot explodes. I see the flash of a gun muzzle and barely dive out of the way.

“No!” Black-Dome yells. “Everyone back away!”

I leap to my feet in time to see Black-Dome shove Mom toward the group of robots, who immediately restrain her. I expect him to attack me but instead he leaps toward the robot that fired the shot. With a single swing of his arm, Black-Dome destroys the robot that nearly killed me. The other robots back away as Black-Dome rushes to stand in front of me.

“Please,” I say. “Just give me my box and let us go. We don’t want trouble, we don’t want to get involved in whatever war you’re fighting.”

              Black-Dome shakes his head. “Can’t let that happen. I have my orders.”

             
“But this is my Heaven Box, my children buried it for when I became unfrozen,” I plead. “Not much survived inside, if anything, but I need to learn whatever I can about their lives.”

             
“I don’t care about any of that,” Black-Dome says.

             
He steps toward me, dropping his weapon on the ground. Still, I can tell by the fire burning in his eyes that peace is the last thing he wants. I stand in front of my box, ready to protect the wet slop with my life. As soon as he’s within range, I lash out, throwing a punch aimed directly for his core. Black-Dome is surprised but turns at the last second. My metallic fist grazes off his chest plate but cracks a solar panel in the process. While Black-Dome looks down in surprise, I follow up with a left hook that crashes into the side of his helmet. I expect the glass to shatter under my strength but my hand bounces off.

             
Black-Dome stumbles back a few steps. Several other robots rush forward but Black-Dome holds up an arm to stop them.

             
“No!” he growls. “I haven’t had a good fight since I was woken. I want this one for myself.”

             
My element of surprise is gone. Black-Dome approaches more cautiously. When I attack again, he’s ready. I’m used to being bigger, stronger and quicker than every robot so it’s shocking when I throw a right cross that he easily sidesteps. I follow it up with a left hook but Black-Dome anticipates that as well. He swats my strike aside with a swipe of his hand, knocking me off balance.

His shrill laughter fills the night. Standing in front of him does me no good so I leap ten feet into the air, hoping to land behind him. But I no sooner spring off the ground when he does the same, jumping straight up and intercepting me before I soar beyond him. This time,
I’m
the one taken by surprise when Black-Dome launches his own attack. Every robot I ever fought seemed to move in slow motion; Black-Dome seems to move in fast-forward. Before I realize he’s thrown a punch, an explosion of pain erupts in my head. I crumple to the ground.

My head spins. Black-Dome lands atop me and rains down blow after blow. I try to cover my face but his strikes hit my arms, which bash against my head. First my sight flickers, then my hearing. I expect they’ll turn off for good soon. For that matter, Black-Dome could rip all the wires from my head and kill me, a second death that would be permanent this time. But my hearing quickly turns back on and I listen to the sound of a woman yelling somewhere nearby.

“Please, just leave him alone!” Mom cries. “I can’t lose him again!”

I don’t have the strength to turn my head toward her. My eyes have trouble focusing but when they do, I see that I’ve landed a few feet from my box. If this is truly to be the final moment of my life, I want nothing more than to see something from my box, to see any evidence of my sons before I hopefully get to be with them again in another place, a
better
place.

I struggle to my hands and knees and crawl weakly.

“I just want my box,” I whisper.

The ground shakes beneath me as Black-Dome stomps forward. I see his leg kick toward my metallic gut but I’m too slow to avoid it. I lift off the ground and feel my body spin in mid-air. When I crash back down, my vision goes black. When it flickers back on, I see Mom fighting to free herself from her robot captors.

“Leave him alone!” she yells at Black-Dome. “Or I’ll tear you apart bolt by bolt!”

I sense Black-Dome’s shadow turn away from me. His shrill laughter begins anew. I suddenly wish my hearing hadn’t come back on.

“Release her,” Black-Dome says.

The robots follow the command and back away. Mom’s face is still twisted in anger but I watch her eyes go wide as Black-Dome approaches her. I suddenly see something else in those eyes – something vaguely familiar I never noticed before – and realize how foolish I was to stay with the box instead of making sure she escaped.

“Don’t you touch her,” I say.

I intend to sound intimidating but the human part of my voice is weak. The words come out sounding totally robotic. Mom glances down at me, but Black-Dome doesn’t turn away from his new prey. Mom stands up straight and tall, proud even in the face of danger. As a former soldier, Black-Dome should have enough respect for Mom as an old woman and leave her alone; unfortunately, I have a bad feeling that won’t be the case.

“What do you got in there, ma’am?” Black-Dome asks.

He motions to the pack on Mom’s back. Before she has a chance to respond, his hand snaps out and rips the bag off her shoulder in one quick motion. I hear the clinking of spare robot parts shifting inside of her bag.

“No!” Mom yells.

I know how protective she is when it comes to those parts. She reaches out to try and grab it back but Black-Dome is too fast, easily moving the bag out of the way. With his free hand, he strikes her with such a hard backhand that her entire body spins around. Such a blow would’ve snapped the neck of a normal human. But Mom clearly isn’t normal.

In one graceful motion, she spins completely around and strikes back, aiming for Black-Dome’s core. I hear a loud cracking noise and she follows up with several more blows to his head. A surge of excitement flows through me. I want to stand up and help but my body doesn’t respond the way I wish it would.

Mom’s success lasts about as long as mine did. Black-Dome isn’t fooled for long, once again proving to be an elite fighter as he adjusts to her attack and counters with his own. He blocks one of Mom’s punches and hits her with an uppercut that sends her flying back several feet. The sound of cracking echoes before she crashes down.