--Point of View: Crim--

The mana started to burn and warp my flesh as soon as I stepped foot inside the reactor room, the door closing shut behind me with the now all too familiar sound of gears whirling to life. It hurt. The pain was different than before. The droid weaponry was quick to do its job, searing the flesh almost instantly, but this pain was agonizingly slow. It crept little by little. I debated if I would even be able to complete the job in time before my body withered away and I was left crawling for the exit. Fear once again crept into my mind, causing me to hesitate. Valuable time was being wasted. I needed to move, and now.

I took a deep breath and immediately regretted it, the mana seeped into my lungs and burnt my throat. Coughs started to spew from me as I tried violently to expel it. The pain was unreal. In the middle of my struggle though, I felt a sort of, click, in my chest followed by a very strange feeling. It was like somebody flipped a switch and all the pain I was experiencing just vanished. I felt good, very good in fact. Upon opening my eyes, not having realized they were clenched shut, a wonderous sight greeted me. The mana that was hanging like a dense fog in the air just moments ago, was now swirling like a whirlpool with me at the center. While I had no idea what was happening exactly, the mana appeared to be entering my body. I was absorbing it. More and more questions spilled into my mind. What am I exactly? Why was I created? How much longer Crim?

“Wait, what?” I said to myself, realizing that last line was not in my head but coming from Katie.

Katie was knocking on the reactor room door, peering through the thick glass window that separated us. Annoyed was the first thing I felt but that passed quickly. Even if I told her to stay away for her own safety, she was not going to listen. I probably looked a little foolish just standing here anyway. I hastily gave my best shrug and whipped back around before running to the center of the room.

Tom and Katie had both described what I was looking for to the best of their abilities. They too had never actually repaired a reactor but did have one back at their base to reference. According to them, the chamber door I was looking for was located on the central sphere that rotated around. Nobody at their base had ever managed to get one open, but closing it seemed the easier of the two. That should be easy enough to find. I hoped my lack of thumbs was not going to cause any issues.

Now that my eyes were not burning from the mana, I was able to make out the room. Standing in the middle, I was surrounded by four reactors. One stood at each corner. Compared to the reactor I saw back at the human base, these were nearly twice the size. I would need to stand on my hind legs to reach the center sphere. It was not often that I felt small standing next to something.

“The fourth reactor” I said to myself, spinning in place as I scanned each of the reactors.

Tom has explained to him that the reactor I was looking for should be off, or in simpler terms, not spinning. Thankfully, that made it very easy to spot the culprit. Three of the reactors were happily humming away as they performed their job. The last one though, just as Tom had said, was not moving and the central core was exposed. A small hatch no bigger than my own paw laid open on the side of an otherwise perfect sphere. That must be it.

I scampered over and reared up, propping myself against the machine so my face was level with the small door. Peering inside, I saw it. A still beating dragon’s heart laid cradled inside of the machine. I honestly expected more blood. It had a glossy red sheen and gave off an air of importance. Its very existence made me shiver. The mana seeped out of the once connected valves with each beat. Boom, boom, boom, it echoed, the heart beating in a slow, predictable pattern. The longer I stared at it the more I felt myself becoming entranced. I wanted to devour it. It looked so appetizing. Surely nobody would miss just this one.

My maw slowly opened, my teeth exposed in all their glory as I drew closer to the heart, boom, boom. I was so close. It would be so easy. I fear I would have done just that if it was not for a sudden interruption. An explosion shook the whole room. I reared back and nearly toppled over as I regained control. What was happening to me? It was the same feeling from when I fought that first droid and nearly died. A compulsion was taking over me. Why though was my question. Just glancing in the direction of the heart seemed to trigger the desire and it scared me. I needed to get out of here. We all did. Also, what was that explosion just now?

Hesitantly, I closed my eyes and leaned forward, feeling for the door with my snout before swinging it closed. Peeking through one open eye, it looked like I was successful. I was glad. It took a few more seconds to secure the latch, pawing at it with some difficulty. That should do it. As if to confirm the job was complete, a light near the reactor, which was red moments before, swapped to green. Looking around, it now matched the rest of the reactors. It began to hum and hiss to life. Within a few seconds, it was already spinning, picking up speed.

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“Good, that’s done. I better hurry. I hope that explosion was Katie or Tom’s doing.” I said to myself as I bolted back through the room towards the exit, leaving a now somewhat, leaving a much clearer room behind me.

After struggling with the latch on the door, I managed to slide back into the control room and seal the door shut behind me, pausing for a few seconds to ensure it did not creak back open. Upon looking around, I was startled to see that neither Katie nor Tom was still here. Where could they be? I rushed to the exit, almost barreling over Tom in the process as he rounded the corner at the same time as myself.

“Woah! There you are! I just finished up with the faulty reactor. Where’s Katie?” I quickly asked, peering past him into the great vastness of the main gate room.

Tom was very winded and was struggling to get enough air into his lungs, his words pausing between breaths. “She is by the gate. She almost has it going but the droids are about to break through. I managed to lock the door but we need more time.”

Hearing his words urged me forward and towards the colossal gate. I spotted Katie almost immediately. She was at the foot of the machine, tinkering on the control console. Just as I broke into a sprint towards her, a streak of light zipped by me, missing me by only a few feet. Whipping my head towards the source, I saw why Tom was in a panic. The droids had taken what must be another elevator down, one much larger than the cramped one we took. Its imposing door stood on the opposite side of the room and was slowly being riddled with holes. A few blasts were probably all it took to break through the door’s plating. Soon enough they would have an opening big enough to step through.

I kept my pace, my gaze now on the door. A few more ducks and weaves delivered me to Katie with a sliding halt. The gate thankfully provided ample cover from all the blasts but did block my view as well.

“Crim, thank goodness! Is the last reactor ready? As you can see, we are running out of time.” Shouted Katie, only looking up from her work for a moment to give a quick look of relief.

“Yeah, I noticed. How are we looking on this end?” I replied, just now noticing just how loud everything was in this room. Every shot echoed and reverberated.

Katie only responded by typing faster on the keyboard, sweat starting to bead and drip down onto the display. She was pushing herself hard. So was Tom. If they did not hurry and get this gate going, they would not be leaving this place. I knew what had to be done.

“I am going to try and slow them down. Don’t wait for me.”

Without giving Katie a chance to protest, I leapt from the safety of cover and dashed forward, the hole riddled elevator door directly ahead of me. The droids caught sight of me immediately and started to fire through the larger gaps in the door. The shots grazed me several times but I found they did not hurt as much as before. On the contrary, they barely hurt at all. My wounds were healing at such a fast rate that I barely registered I was hit at all. I felt good. I felt strong. Stronger than I had ever felt.

With this new found strength, I pushed myself harder, my legs striking the ground in an ever faster rhythmic beat. The door was approaching much faster now and the few glances I made to my left and right showed only a blur of motion. It was only a few seconds before I reached the door that the first droid stepped through into the opening, its arm cannon firmly locked on me. Without thinking, I gave one finally push and propelled myself at the machine.

The crash felt like it could have shook the whole building. Sounds of clashing and torn metal filled the room. My speed combined with my sheer mass had not only shattered the droid I had barreled into, it also carried me into and through what remained of the elevator door. On the other side, it was not much better. Any droid that was unlucky enough to be lined neatly in front of their newly created exit, was blown to bits by the devastating amount of energy that collided into them. While effective at taking out a good chunk of the droids, it was unfortunately a double-edged sword. I was probably a very sorry sight to behold.

Even as I thought about how badly I must be hurt after my reckless endeavor, my body could not care less. Looking down at myself, I could see muscle fibers reattaching themselves, skin regenerating and even my badly twisted leg snapping back into place. I felt nothing but the slight burn of mana. This feeling though. It was the same back when I fought my first droid but I was in control now.

Rising to my feet, I was met with a dozen blasters primed and pointed in my direction as the droids regained their footing. They lacked fear. They were machines. Thankfully, that made it even easier for me. I would not feel as bad for what I was about to do.

Instead of dodging their blasts, I simply met them head on. Any hesitation I had was now gone. I felt like I could do anything right now. I slashed and ripped at anything within my reach, gashing out large chunks of the droids with each swipe. The blasts from their arm cannons continued to pelt me from all angles, but the damage was never enough to knock me down. It all healed up moments later. The smell of burning hair and flesh started to fill the elevator.

“Die you annoying machines!” I cried out, throwing my weight into a few bunched up together, crushing them against the sturdy walls of the room.

The robots did not respond to me though, they just kept on evading and firing, content to work towards their mission regardless of any threat to themselves. This is what made them so effective I thought. No fear, no consideration for their own well-being. Just a mindless machine created to follow orders and deliver death to whomever it points its weapon at. I honestly was not too different from them at this moment I thought.