A far off cloud of dust got closer and closer until I could see the outline of the two trucks. Behind each one was a large trailer, which I assumed was being used to transport more robots.
Both of the vehicles creaked to a halt once they got to the grove. Walking closer, I realized that there were way more robots than I had anticipated. The trucks were full to the brim, with robots hanging off the sides and even sitting on the tops of the trucks.
“Eve!”
“[Yes?]”
“How many robots did you bring?!?”
“[In total, I brought 30 Enforcers, 20 Predators, 1 Medical Assistance Droid, 30 Dianmu Gunners, 3 R.O.A.R Artillery robots, and 40 Lyco model Arachnid Robots.”
I took a deep breath in an attempt to calm myself down.
“Two questions: One, why did you bring so many robots, and two, how the hell did you even fit all of them on two trucks?”
“[You had previously stated that you shouldn’t underestimate mages, and considering we may be facing them in the near future, I thought it prudent to bring extra personnel. And to answer your second question, every space on the vehicles was made use of.]”
A clicking sound from under both of the trucks brought my attention to them. A small horde of Arachnid robots scurried out from underneath, the shiny metal tips on the ends of their legs glistening in the light.
“Well, go big or go home, right?” I muttered to myself under my breath.
I quickly ordered the large boxes in the trailers to be opened and sorted. Inside each one were drones, with some shaped like animals, and others with rotor blades and wings for aerial surveillance. The aerial surveillance drones were released immediately, and they promptly flew over the walls of Ocaephis with none of the guards being the wiser.
“[Establishing connection…]” Eve said.
Suddenly, I felt streams of information from the drones entering my consciousness. If I didn’t have Eve with me, the torrent of data would have been overwhelming, but with her help, I could organize and digest it in manageable pieces.
The ground drones would have to be smuggled in by hand. While the robots, disguised in different types of heavy clothing, got past the guards, I managed to get the drones in by pretending I was a merchant and they were my wares. Not wanting to be associated with Venari in any way, I changed my appearance and dismissed my bodyguards. Since none of the guards had ever seen the drones before, I was able to bluff my way through relatively easily..
I was finally able to relax once I got into the city again. Needing somewhere quiet to release the drones, I chose to head back to the slums. The drones were activated and deployed from an alleyway, slithering or crawling off to begin their hunt for Hayek.
“[Do you recall the boy you gave two gold coins to yesterday?]” Eve asked out of the blue.
“Yeah? What about him?”
“[An aerial drone that had been stationed in the slums reports that he is currently being assaulted and/or robbed.]”
“What?!?”
“[Are you planning on helping him?]”
“Already helped him once, didn’t I? Might as well go all the way!”
I had Eve send out a rendezvous signal to a few Enforcers and Lycos while I sprinted through the city. Using the directions provided by the aerial drone, I navigated through the slums at a breakneck speed. I was forced to go deeper into the slums than I had the previous day, running past mumbling drug addicts and beggars. Eventually, I reached an area that was completely abandoned. Like the rest of the slums, the houses and streets were broken down and run down, but for some reason, everyone seemed to avoid the area. Even the addicts that were high out of their minds appeared to steer clear.
I didn’t have time to figure out what was going on, so I kept following the drone’s signal. When I got close to the source, I heard the sound of retching and coughing.
“Where’s the money, huh?!?” I heard someone yell. Immediately after, the loud thump of a kick rang out, causing more retching and coughing.
“I told you, I don’t have any more…” a weak voice said. I recognised it as the voice of the boy, and I peeked around the corner of an alleyway.
Three brawny men stood in a semi-circle around the boy, who was laying limply against a wall.
One of them, a tattooed man with a large piercing through his cheek, leaned down and grabbed the boy by the hair.
“We ain’t stupid, y’know. If you got two gold coins, chances are you got more.”
“I told you, the guy only gave me two!”
“Stop lyin’!” the man yelled, slamming the boy’s head into the wall behind him.
“Eve,” I thought desperately, “what’s the robot’s ETA?”
“[They will arrive in approximately 6 minutes.]”
“Now if you don’t wanna tell us, I understand.” the man said, pulling a knife from the sheath on his waist and holding it up close to the boy’s eye. “But that would mean we gotta resort to some more, let's say painful, methods.”
“No time!” I thought before darting around the corner.
“SUP FUCKERS!” I yelled, trying to get their attention. My distraction worked, and all three turned to look at the unexpected interloper. Sprinting forward, I snatched a random rock off of the ground. The other men pulled out their own weapon, with one pulling out brass knuckles and the other taking a baton-like stick from his belt. The one with the brass knuckles came at me first, taking a wild swing at my midsection. Smacking his hand out of the way with the palm of my hand, I swung the rock at his head, managing to hit him above the eyebrow. Blood spurted from the new cut, and the man went down.
Stick guy attacked next, and I was forced to back up when he swung the baton at my face. Lunging in, I hit him with a swift punch to the gut, before trying to follow up with the rock in my hand. Seeing the danger, he used the baton to knock the rock out of my hand before rushing and pinning my arms to my sides with a bear hug.
“[Warning. Brass knuckle assailant is behind you,]” Eve alerted me.
Looking back, I could see the guy with the brass knuckles winding up for a devastating punch. Unfortunately for him, I simply allowed the nano-machines that made up my body to lose cohesion, causing me to flow out of the trap like water right before being hit.
Brass knuckles guy couldn’t stop his momentum, and his punch ended up landing on stick guy’s arm. I heard a sickening crack echo through the air, followed quickly by a loud scream. Stick guy’s forearm was bent at an unnatural angle, and it made me nauseous just looking at it. The man with the brass knuckles stared in shock, unable to comprehend that his target had just disappeared from in front of him. Reforming my body behind him, I dispatched him with a haymaker to the back of the head. The other one had already fainted in shock from the broken bone, and I turned my attention to the one with the knife.
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“What the hell are you?” he asked fearfully, holding his knife tightly.
“Just your average disembodied consciousness inhabiting a semi-liquid infiltrator robot,” I said, shrugging casually.
“I don't care what you are, you’re not gonna feel so good with a knife in your chest!” he yelled, charging at me. He tried to slash me diagonally across the chest, but I dodged backwards and grabbed his wrist with both hands to immobilize his weapon. However, the knife was just a distraction, as he hit me with a hook to the side of the head. The blow threw me to the ground, and I was disoriented for a few seconds. The man took the opportunity to drive the knife straight into my chest, burying the blade all the way up to the hilt.
“Hahahah! Hurts, doesn't it?” he asked with a sadistic cackle.
I looked at the knife before calmly turning my gaze back to him. “So, like, is that supposed to be doing something?”
“The fuck?” he stared in confusion. “How do you like this then?” he said, twisting the knife deeper.
I just looked at him in disappointment. “Dude, it's not working. Give up already.”
The man staggered backwards in shock, pulled the knife out as he did so. It was at this point he realized there was no blood on the knife or on me. His jaw dropped as the hole in my chest wriggled and closed up.
“What kind of monster are you?!?”
“I already told you what I was. You really gotta pay more attention.”
Looking around desperately, the man’s eyes lit up when they landed on the boy, who was still sitting against the wall. Darting over, he dragged the boy in front of him and held his knife across his throat.
“Get any closer and I’ll kill him!” he shouted.
“Woah woah,” I said, holding up my hands. “Let's just calm down here.”
There was a flash of greed in the man’s eyes as he realized there was something he could use against me. “Now empty your pockets, or this little shit gets it!”
“Ok, ok, take it easy…” I reached to my hip and pulled out my coin purse, the coins inside clinking against each other. Looking him in the eyes, I slowly untied it and held it out.
“Now toss it over here!” he demanded, his eyes fixed determinedly on his prize.
“Here you go,” I said, tossing it towards him. Letting go of the boy, the man reached out for the coin purse. But just as his hand was about to make contact with it, a shadow fell over him. With a metallic chitter, a Lyco Arachnid Robot dropped from the sky and speared the man through the wrist with one of its legs.
“AHHHH!” the man screamed in shock and pain. Dropping his knife out of reflex, he clutched at his wrist to try to stem the bleeding. Several other Lyco Arachnids leapt from the rooftops and landed on the gangster, pinning his limbs to the ground.
Calmly walking over, I picked up the coin purse from the ground and re-tied it to my waist. Inside though, I heaved a big sigh of relief.
“Damn, those robots got here just in time.”
“[You should not be so reckless in the future.]”
“Well, see, I was planning on doing that until you said it.”
Quickly checking up on the kid, I saw that he had a large gash on the back of his head, probably from when the gangster slammed his head against the wall. Peering into his eyes, I noticed that he looked pretty groggy, as if he had just woken up from a nap.
“Eve, where’s the M.A.D.?”
“[It is on route and should be arriving shortly.]”
Heavy, thunking footsteps were heard around the area as the Enforcers surrounded the immediate area. Three of the Enforcers were dispatched to hold down the gangsters. After a few minutes, the M.A.D. arrived. A vaguely humanoid robot, the silver M.A.D. had long flowing limbs that went far past its knees, a large rectangular head, and a single stalk eye that resembled that of a snail. It had been difficult to disguise it, but with heavy clothing, a hunched back, and severe limp, it was able to get past the guards without arousing suspicion.
“What appears to be the problem here?” it asked in a calm, feminine voice.
“Treat this kid. I’m pretty sure he’s been beaten, and I know for sure he got his head slammed into the wall pretty hard too,” I said, pointing at the kid.
The M.A.D. kneeled down and began examining the kid. “Hi there. My name is Jovina. I’m going to fix you up, ok? Just stay calm and let me help you.”
The boy mumbled something unintelligible. Taking that as permission, Jovina pried his eyelids apart and shined a light from her eye into his eyes. After several minutes of thorough examinations, Jovina stood up and gave her report. “Individual appears to be a male, about 15 years of age, standing 170 centimeters in height and weighing 72.1 kilograms. Patient has several lacerations, the most severe of which is on the back of his head. Severe bruising indicates he was hit with blunt force trauma, and it is possible that he has fractures. Slow constriction of the pupils, confusion, and lethargic behavior also lead me to believe he has a minor to moderate concussion. The recommended treatment is stitches and antibiotics for the cuts, and plenty of bed rest and possibly painkillers for the concussion.”
“Is there somewhere we can take him?” I asked her.
It was at this point that the kid looked up at me with unfocused eyes and muttered in a voice so quiet I could barely hear it, “I have a place…”
I hesitated, but I didn’t have anywhere else to go. “Ok, where is it?”
“West end of the slums…near a ruined store…Blood-Hungry…”
“Eve, have the drones found any place like that?”
“[Accessing data…]” Eve said, pausing for several moments. “[Blood-Hungry has been located. Providing directions now.]”
I instantly knew the direction we had to go, but Eve interrupted me before we could leave. “[What do you plan on doing with the three assailants?]”
I looked back and realized they were all staring at me with fear and pain evident in their expressions.
“[You could kill them,]” Eve suggested helpfully.
“What??? No, I'm not killing them!”
“Knock them out and blindfold them, we’re bringing them with us,” I ordered the Enforcers. With a few quick punches to their temples, the three men were rendered unconscious. The Enforcers hoisted them onto their shoulders, and I had the rest of the robots disperse in order to not arouse suspicion. Jovina carefully carried the boy, wrapping her long arms around his body and neck to make sure he was stable during the journey.
With Eve guiding us through the slums, we made good time. We occasionally had to run through buildings or climb over ruined sections of the slums, but before long I saw a rotten wooden sign hanging off the side of an old store. On the sign were two crossed swords and a drop of blood, with the name Blood-Hungry carved underneath. Peering through the dusty windows, I saw rusted swords, rotten sheathes, and corroded shields.
“Must’ve been a weapons shop or something.”
Noticing where we were, the boy tried to wriggle free from Jovina’s grasp.
“Please remain still. You should not be moving with a concussion,” she warned.
“Let him go. I need him to show us where we need to go from here,” I commanded.
Standing on wobbly legs, the boy limped to the alleyway adjacent to the store. Cautiously following him, I looked around the dirty and narrow passage. The kid bent down and appeared to rummage through a pile of trash on the ground. It was only when he pulled open a hidden hatch that I realized the trash was only a clever bit of camouflage.
The hatch led down to a cramped cellar. Using the M.A.D.’s light, I peered into the darkness, noticing how surprisingly clean and organized the area was. As by instinct, the boy stumbled to a corner of the cellar and collapsed onto a bed made of hay and straw.
“Go make sure he’s ok,” I said to Jovina, jerking my head in the direction of the kid.
While she tended to him, I looked around the room. Old and worn clothes were neatly folded and placed on a small wooden table, all of them a patchwork of random kinds of fabric. Dried pieces of fish, flour, and hardened bread had been tucked away on a shelf high above the ground where it would be kept cold and dry.
The three gangsters were tossed in a corner, each having their hands tied behind their back with a thick piece of leather. The Enforcers stood inches away, staring at them with an unflinching gaze.
“How’s he looking?” I asked the M.A.D.
“Luckily, the concussion was a minor one. I believe with a few stitches and some bed rest, barring any unexpected developments, he should be healed in a few days.”
I sighed in relief. “Ok, that’s good. Just make sure to keep an eye on him.”
Grabbing a rickety chair, I sat down and relaxed a bit.
“Eve, have any of the drones spotted Hayek yet?”
“[No. The drones have only searched 3% of the city. The city should be fully searched within 3 days.]”
Looking at the kid, I couldn’t help but feel sorry for him. His malnourished body reminded me of my own when I was younger, and I had a flashback at the gnawing hunger that I had felt every day. I paced around the room anxiously, not knowing where to go from here.
“Let me know if you find Hayek, ‘kay?”
“[Understood.]”