Reunification (18 page)

I jumped back to my feet, despite mine
aching and spinning head, and ran the other way. 'Twas no way I
could defeat this villain on my own; after all, it was clearly no
ordinary machine and I lacked my metalligick armor and sword to
fight it with. It had bloodlust, and it would not be satisfied
until it had torn me to shreds.

But mine attempt at fleeing was no use. I
heard its tentacle whipping through the air behind me and then felt
it wrapped around mine ankles, causing me to trip and fall
face-first into the sand.

Some of that sand got into mine mouth,
making me hack and cough, but I had no time to get it all out, for
I was soon lifted off my feet until I was above the machine's open
maw. Looking down, I saw, just beyond its front teeth, what
appeared to be a series of saws, blades, and pistons in its mouth
that looked more than enough to tear me apart.

I slashed at the tentacle with mine knife,
but the energy blade did not so much as scratch the tentacle's
surface. That perhaps was for the best, for if I had indeed
succeeded in making the tentacle let me go, I would have fallen
directly into the machine's mouth, where I surely would have died
for certain.

Then again, it did not matter much whether
I wounded it or not, for either way I would end up in its bowels. I
knew not what the stomach of a clicker looked like, but I did not
wish to find out.

Unfortunately, as I looked down into the
gaping maw of the machine, I knew I had no chance at survival now.
For its spinning saws, sharp teeth, and clashing, clanging blades
came closer and closer to my face. And though I should have
screamed, I did not, for I was too overcome by terror to do so.

Then, without warning, the machine's
tentacle swayed, making me sway with it. Not only that, but the
machine cried out, as if in pain, and threw me away.

My whole world spun several times before I
landed hard on the sand several feet away. Thankfully, this time I
did not fall on any rocks; however, the impact of the fall was
indeed enough to knock me almost silly. Mine back and head ached,
making me wish that I could just lie here and rest until I was
better.

But alas, I had no time to do that, for
that monstrous machine was still active. Therefore, I gathered all
of my strength and willpower and sat up, rubbing my aching head as
I did so.

I heard the machine roar again and looked
over mine shoulder. The terrible clicker that had been about to
devour me was now on its knees, its back sparking as if 'twas about
to explode. I did not understand why that was until I heard a
familiar voice call out, “Apakerec!”

I looked in the direction that that voice
had came from. Resita was running toward me, his laser gun clasped
between his talons, the hatch open behind him. I had almost
forgotten about mine bird friend while I dealt with that machine;
nonetheless, I was happy to see him just the same.

“
Resita?” I asked as I
got up to my feet, dusting off my clothes as I did so (though they
still stunk as horribly as ever). “What are ye doing here? Are ye
responsible for injuring that machine?”

“
You mean the
Destroyer?” said Resita, coming to a halt a few feet from me. He
raised his laser gun as if it was the most important item in the
world. “Yes. I used my laser gun here to shoot it. My aim isn't all
that great, but I think I must have hit something vital, based on
the way the Destroyer is acting.”

“
Indeed, ye did,” I
said, mine eyes wandering over to the groaning machine, which
sounded like 'twas dying, though I knew robots could not. “Shall we
finish it?”

“
No,” said Resita,
shaking his head fast. “I mean, I would like to, of course, but I
don't think we can. That thing has survived way worse than a shot
from a laser gun and we really don't have the kind of weaponry
necessary to even think of killing it.”

“
Then let us flee,” I
said, “before it recovers.”

Of course, I knew not which direction in
which to run, for the canyon was as unfamiliar to me as Xeeon's
winding streets. Resita did not seem any better informed, yet the
Checrom janitor took off to the east, toward one of the canyon's
exits. Not wanting to be stuck with this 'Destroyer,' as Resita had
called it, I dashed after him, though I did mine best to keep an
eye on the rocks in the sand to avoid cutting my feet open on any
that peeked out.

Even as we ran, however, I could hear the
Destroyer yelling at us to stop. 'Twas too bad for it, for neither
of us even slowed down when it called for us; in fact, I believe we
ran faster than ever, as though its words had had the exact
opposite effect than it had intended for them to have on us.

Still, I looked over mine shoulder anyway,
though it was just in time to see the Destroyer's legs vanish
beneath the sand. Where it went, I did not know, but that mystery
would be for later. For now, we had to run and find safety, if
indeed such a thing existed in this desert.

***

Chapter
Nine

A
lthough I was more certain than
ever at this point that the Destroyer would pop out of the sand and
slay us before we got within one inch of the valley's exit, the
machine did not appear anywhere near us. Indeed, I almost fancied
that it had simply vanished into the sand, never to return,
although I knew that that was a silly thought for certain.

Resita and I climbed up the sloping valley
exit, which 'twas a difficult feat, for the hot sand burned my feet
and was unstable to walk upon. Nor was this trek made any easier by
the rocks that sprouted out of the sand here and there, sharp,
jagged little things that reminded me more of knives than stone. I
stepped on more than a few on our way up, which sent sharp pains
through my feet, but I was in such a hurry to get out of that
valley that I did not mind it too much.

Eventually, Resita and I emerged from the
valley into what appeared to be a vast, rocky wasteland for as far
as the eye could see. And indeed, mine eye could see far, for my
eyesight was clear and allowed me to see rock spires, boulders, and
grottos and cave openings wherever I looked.

Again, neither of us knew with any
certainty where we should go, but Resita continued running to the
east and I followed. I noticed that Resita was heading toward what
appeared to be a cavernous hole in the ground, though I did not
know for certain what lay in that hole. It was likely better than
that Destroyer from before, but I did slow down when I saw where we
were going, for I still did not know what lay hidden within there,
perhaps waiting to kill us.

Resita entered the hole first. I followed
soon enough, for I did not hear him cry out in pain, which led me
to assume that that place was indeed much safer than it appeared.
At least, I thought that until a large, brown snake slithered out
as soon as Resita entered, causing me to jump, but the snake merely
slithered past me without a second look, as if it saw barefoot,
stinky humans every day.

Once the snake was gone, I then entered
the hole, which was much smaller than it first appeared. The
ceiling was low overhead, forcing me to squat and bend over, and
the cave smelled like blood and dead animals, perhaps the remains
of whatever that snake had been eating earlier.

Nonetheless, I discovered that there was
indeed room for both of us. A trail of Resita's feathers—which must
have fallen off him in his attempt to escape the Destroyer—showed
me that Resita sat near the back, forcing me to sit closer to the
entrance, but 'twas fine by me, for it afforded me a goodly view of
the outside so that if some beast or machine tried to sneak up on
us, I would indeed see it.

Panting, I rubbed the bottom of my feet,
for they burned from the hot sand and hurt from the sharp rocks I
had stepped on. I had drawn no blood, thank the Old Gods, but that
did not mean that mine feet were in perfect condition.

“
That … was … close,”
said Resita, shuddering as he drew his legs up to his chest. “If I
hadn't gotten that lucky shot in, both of us would have died for
sure. And hey, maybe we still will anyway, since I doubt it will be
very hard for the Destroyer to track us down.”

“
You have much to
explain, my birdie friend,” I said, wincing at the pain I felt in
my feet. I nodded my head at the entrance to our cave. “Was
that
the Destroyer of legend I have heard so much
about?”

“
Unfortunately, yes,”
said Resita. “We Xeeonians, though, don't think of it as a legend
so much as a natural disaster.”

“
What be natural about a
machine that looks exceedingly
un
natural?” I asked. I
glanced outside, but saw no sign of that mechanical
monstrosity.

“
It's a metaphor,” said
Resita. “See, the Destroyer—which was originally called 'Helper' by
its creators and only got its current nickname later—was an attempt
by Annulus Robotics, Inc. to create a brand new type of robot that
could be used by militaries in both Xeeo and Dela to aid soldiers
in war.”

I frowned. “How so?”

“
Well, say some soldiers
are penned underneath a crashed vehicle or were caught under the
debris of a destroyed building,” Resita said. “The Destroyer was
supposed to go in and get them out safely. It was given a brand new
artificial intelligence chip called the Module that would make it
smarter even than the J series of robots.”

“
If it is supposed to be
so smart, then why did it try to kill us?” I asked. “Do we resemble
enemy soldiers to it?”

“
And there is the
problem,” said Resita with a sigh. “On its first day of testing
about six years ago, something went wrong with the Destroyer's
circuitry. It was supposed to be controlled via a remote, but it
somehow broke free of its creators' control, killed the people who
were testing it, and then ran into the Dead Lands, where it has
lived for the past half decade killing anyone or anything that it
comes across.”

“
What a peculiar story,”
I said as I ceased rubbing mine feet, for they no longer hurt quite
as much as before. “How come ye Xeeonites have done nothing to stop
it?”

“
The Xeeonian government
has tried to stop it several times over the years,” said Resita,
who sounded offended by mine words. “It's just that Destroyer is,
well, smarter than even most organic beings. They've worked with
Annulus Robotics to figure out how to exploit its weaknesses, but
every attempt to take it down has utterly failed. That's part of
the reason why the government has made it illegal for anyone to
enter the Dead Lands; they don't want the Destroyer to kill any
innocents.”

“
What a savage
creature,” I said. I looked out the hole again, but still saw no
sign of it or any other threat to our safety. “You mean to say that
it has been wandering out in the Dead Lands for six years, yet it
has never broken down? I thought all machines broke down if no one
took good care of them.”

“
That's another
problem,” Resita said, nodding. “The Destroyer is technically a
prototype of the final product, which means that it's made out of
inferior materials, but the fact is that it has shown no sign at
all of falling apart or breaking down. Now it might just be taking
really good care of itself, but where it could possibly get the
parts to repair itself, no one knows.”

“
How come ye did not
mention this to me before?” I said, placing the bottom of my feet
gently on the stone ground under us. “'Tis seems like important
information to me.”

“
I didn't think we'd
ever run into the Destroyer,” said Resita with a shrug. “That's
why. Besides, the Destroyer usually stays away from Xeeon and other
cities along the Dead Lands border, so it's not much of a threat
even when you're not in HQ.”

“
Then why is the
Destroyer considered such a terrible threat?” I asked. “Ye don't
sound much happy about the fact that it leaves most cities
alone.”

“
Note that I said
'usually,'” said Resita, putting strong emphasis on that word, like
a wizard speaking an incantation. “Sometimes, it does attack people
completely unprovoked. Nothing major. Usually it will sneak across
the border and destroy some vehicles or buildings before the law
enforcers arrive and drive it off. We don't know why it does that.
My personal theory is that it's because it thinks of the Dead Lands
as its territory and it doesn't want any of us intruding on it, but
that's just my speculation.”

“
Are we, then, in the
Dead Lands?” I asked. Sweat began to moisten my brow due to the
heat from the outside.

“
Yes,” said Resita. “I
thought you had figured that out already.”

“
But this makes no
sense,” I said. I gestured outside. “I thought your headquarters
were located underneath Xeeon. How, then, did we end up out
here?”

“
As I said, Xeeon is
located on the edge of the Dead Lands,” said Resita. He lifted his
wrist, but then lowered it and sighed. “I forgot. I lost my
wrist-mounted holographic projector back in the chaos of the
initial explosion, so I can't show you what I'm talking about. But
anyway, the Foundation's waste system opens up into the Dead Lands,
which is how we got out here.”

“
I see,” I said,
stroking mine chin. “How far are we from Xeeon? Do ye
know?”

“
No, I don't,” said
Resita, shaking his head. “I doubt we're that far away, as I don't
think that that secret passageway was that long, but it's not like
we can just stroll up to Xeeon's border, either. But again, I don't
know.”