CHAPTER 26: ZEUS - NO END IN SIGHT
"...Do you still remember...? How we first met, and all of our adventures since... It all seems like such a dream nowadays... You were a piece of a star that fell from the sky. Whenever I want to return to those days long gone, I close my eyes and whisper your name into the evening sky..."
- Radical Dreamers, Opening Dialogue
Zeus felt a disorienting lurch as his consciousness surged into the new body. It wasn’t flesh, wasn’t human, but it was... functional. He flexed his massive hydraulic arms, the metallic clamps at the end of each limb snapping with precision. The strange, boxy sensation of his TV monitor-like head replaced the familiar feeling of a skull, and the display flickered to life, showing a low-res representation of his surroundings.
Flashbacks to his time in the ENCEPHALON clouded his thoughts. The memories were vivid—too vivid. He still remembered Freddy’s loss, how the simulation had twisted him into something new. Now, though, he wasn’t Mike or Zeus in the traditional sense. He was something different altogether, placed inside the hollow shell of a Puno-M mining bot.
The hydraulic legs took some getting used to. Zeus fumbled at first as he tried to walk across the hangar where Molly-Lee and Ambercat had placed him. It wasn’t walking in the human sense. The Puno-M body demanded balance and calculation with every step. He stumbled but adapted quickly, his NPU-linked mind already syncing with the machine's design for optimal efficiency.
The sensation of the two stabilizer legs rotating underneath him felt foreign but powerful. He could navigate uneven terrain with ease, and the sensors embedded into the Puno-M’s chassis gave him full awareness of his surroundings. Not human, but functional, he reminded himself.
As he adjusted to his new body, memories flooded back. Freddy—the loss still stung. It wasn’t just grief; it was the realization that twice now, he had failed to save the one person who had truly seen him. Freddy had been his companion in moments of sheer madness, and Zeus had let him down.
He had fooled himself into thinking Freddy mattered the way a father should matter, but now, with this cold, calculating robotic frame, the emotions felt distant, like they were someone else’s problem. Freddy had saved him in more ways than Zeus had ever realized. Now, Zeus—this Puno-M robot with hydraulic limbs and no real heart—was all that remained.
Zeus shifted his gaze—or what felt like a gaze—toward the massive mining claws attached to his new body. They weren’t human hands, but they were powerful, heavy-duty manipulators capable of lifting hundreds of pounds. He tested them, effortlessly crushing a chair that hadn’t been sat in for over a century. This body is different, but it has its advantages, he mused, realizing the potential for combat and protection.
The robot’s lidar and infrared sensors swept the room, mapping every detail in 360 degrees. Zeus realized that losing his humanity had granted him a new kind of control—he could see things from every angle, process information faster than ever before. He was no longer just a person. He was a machine designed to adapt, survive, and act.
“So... how does it feel?” Molly-Lee asked, her voice tinged with curiosity.
Zeus turned his newly equipped head toward the girls, the TV screen displaying a digital rendering of his face, glitching occasionally. “Different. But better,” he admitted, the mechanical voice that came through the monitor somehow carrying a sense of grim acceptance.
Ambercat, ever the practical one, offered him a sarcastic grin. “Don’t get too comfortable. I’m putting the team back together, and your new body is on it.”
Zeus’ clamps clicked together as he flexed his arms. He wasn’t just Zeus anymore—not fully. But he wasn’t Mike either. He was something more now, something capable of changing the game. His new body creaked slightly as he shifted, the hydraulics within his Punos robot frame adjusting to the unfamiliar weight of metal limbs. He was no longer the man he once was—just a consciousness uploaded into a mining robot, six feet of cold steel and industrial design. Yet somehow, he still felt like himself. His vision flickered as his display showed the two child-sized clones of Molly-Cat standing before him in the dim light of the Central Processing Facility.
Zeus scanned the two identical figures, confusion briefly clouding his circuits. “Molly-Cat?” he asked, glancing between them. “Amberlee?”
Ambercat rolled her eyes and corrected him sharply, “It’s Ambercat now.”
“And I’m Molly-Lee,” the other clone added, her tone casual yet pointed.
Zeus’ visual sensors flickered. “Of course you are,” he muttered, recalibrating his expectations. “What’s the plan, then?”
Ambercat crossed her arms, a mischievous grin tugging at her lips. “Amberlee and Molly-Cat are causing a big distraction. While they’re busy drawing attention, we need to explore our options for getting back to the ship.”
Zeus tilted his robotic head, considering her words. “Actually...” he began, his voice metallic but steady, “I already have a plan for that.”
Both girls leaned in, curiosity lighting up their eyes as they waited for Zeus to reveal his scheme.
“The mine’s tailing silos,” Zeus continued, “are also equipped as rockets. They launch debris into space to get rid of it. We can use one to shoot ourselves at the hotel ship.”
Molly-Lee clapped her hands, her eyes wide with excitement. “Oh, I love it. Hit the toad, straight for the jugular!”
Ambercat’s grin widened. “That’s brilliant. Let’s do it!”
The trio began their search, exploring the cavernous corridors of the facility. It was Ambercat who first noticed it—a faint whiff of decay that led them further down the dim hallways. “What’s that smell?” she asked, wrinkling her nose. “It’s gross.”
The air grew heavier with the scent of death as they ventured deeper into the Central Processing Facility. Molly-Lee’s nose crinkled as the pungent odor became undeniable. She raised a hand to signal the others to stop, but her gaze remained forward. The further they went, the stronger the smell became—a sharp, metallic stench, mixed with something older, mustier.
Then, they saw it.
The Charnel Pit. A vast, open space beneath them, dimly lit by the cold, sterile lights of the facility. Stacks of mummified bodies, preserved in grotesque states, lay in disordered piles. The older corpses, shrunken and brittle, had clearly been there for some time. But it was the fresher ones, scattered on top, that made Molly-Lee’s breath catch in her throat.
Zeus’s optics adjusted to the dim light, his sensors processing the horrific scene with stark clarity. He stood silently, watching as Molly-Lee and Ambercat moved cautiously toward the edge of the pit. His hydraulics hummed with barely restrained tension, his NPU calculating everything in cold logic, yet deep inside—where human emotions still flickered—he felt something raw.
Loss.
Molly-Lee’s sharp intake of breath snapped his focus back to her. “That’s… that’s Amberlee,” she said, her voice thick with disbelief, pointing to the flayed corpse lying atop the mound. The body of their friend, their ally, tossed aside like a broken doll. Her eyes watered, her expression shifting into dawning horror. Zeus felt the pang of recognition too. This wasn’t just any body—it was someone they knew.
“Amberlee... Shephatiah… God Love Omega,” Zeus’s voice rasped from his robotic frame, each name a weight pulling at him, like a chain tightening around his mind. The headless, torn-apart form of God Love Omega lay draped over the heap of death, lifeless, like a grotesque crown atop the pit.
He wanted to scream—anything—but all that came out was a low mechanical rumble. His senses locked onto the gruesome scene: Professor Darnell’s limbs, strewn carelessly apart. Shephatiah, flayed, her skin torn from her body in a grotesque display. And Amberlee—her body still seemed to radiate something of the bright energy she once held, but now it was all gone, reduced to a gory tableau.
Zeus stared at the destruction, his optics flickering. Memories of Freddy’s death haunted him as he gazed at the mess of bodies, his mind replaying moments of loss over and over. First Freddy, now all of them. But he had gotten Freddy back.
Ambercat knelt beside the body of God Love Omega, her hand trembling as she touched the blood-soaked ground. “This is a massacre,” she whispered. "What... what happened to them?"
"It looks like… they were all killed recently," Molly-Lee said, her voice steadier now as the pieces fell into place in her mind. "God Love Omega was... torn apart by something brutal, something savage. Darnell was mutilated, Shephatiah flayed. And Amberlee…this is where we came from, Zeus." Her voice trailed off, her breath hitching.
Their attention shifted to the discarded belongings scattered around the room. The tattered remains of Amberlee’s spacesuit lay in a heap, and embedded within its shredded fabric were the micro-weapons once hidden there.
“Looks like we’re not leaving empty-handed,” Ambercat said, kneeling beside the remains and extracting a wrist-mounted echoblade, still fully functional. "I’ll take this."
Molly-Lee reached for the nanoswarm injector, testing its weight in her small hands. "This’ll do nicely."
Zeus, meanwhile, accepted the ablative energy shield from Molly-Lee. He fastened it to his bulky Puno frame, his processors whirring in approval. “With this,” he said, his voice grim and steely, “I’ll be damn near invincible.”
"We need to finish what they started," Zeus said, his mechanical voice cold and determined. His metallic clamps flexed around the handle of the NPU. "We can’t let them die for no damn good reason."
Ambercat looked up from the bloodied remains, her face resolute. "We need to find what was taken. Whatever they stole from the ENCEPHALON—it’s connected to this."
"Whoever murdered Emily and raided Nervous did so for a reason," Molly-Lee added, standing tall now. "And we’re going to find out why."
Zeus’s optics flickered as he surveyed the devastated scene one last time, the memories of Freddy, Amberlee, and God Love Omega swirling in his mind like a storm. But there was no time for grief—only action. He turned to face the clones, his mechanical form towering over them.
"We get what was stolen," Zeus said, his voice vibrating with finality, "and we make them pay."
As the group moved out of the Charnel Pit, Zeus knew one thing for sure—they weren’t just fighting for survival anymore. They were fighting for revenge.
A faint whirring noise echoed through the corridor, growing louder as something mechanical approached. Zeus braced himself, his sensors detecting movement nearby. Emerging from the shadows was the Dotour Medical Robot—its sleek form standing in stark contrast to the hulking Punos-M body Zeus inhabited.
The Dotour’s structure was unnervingly insect-like. It moved with graceful precision, its four thin, spindly legs supporting a humped back that gave it an almost predatory stance. Its long, delicate arms ended in sharp pincers, originally designed for intricate medical procedures but now poised like lethal talons. The machine’s "face" was an oval-shaped blue panel that flickered with a faint glow as it scanned its surroundings, the light reflecting eerily off the pile of bodies beneath it.
For a brief moment, Zeus recognized the elegance of its design—a tool meant to save lives—but it had clearly been corrupted, twisted by the demen inhabiting its core. It moved with cold efficiency, and though it didn’t speak, its body language was unmistakably hostile. The Dotour was no longer a healer. It had become something far more sinister.
Zeus tensed immediately. He recognized the danger before the clones did. Whatever this machine had been, it was now twisted—driven by an impulse no robot should have. Its hydraulic arms hissed as it moved, each step deliberate, purposeful, and deadly. The once meticulous design for delicate medical procedures had been transformed into tools for mutilation.
Ambercat and Molly-Lee froze for a split second before instinctively stepping behind Zeus. This was no mere malfunction. This was a machine infected with madness, and it had come for them.
The two machines faced off, their mechanical bodies humming with tension. Zeus knew this would not be a typical fight—he was a mining robot, built for heavy lifting, while the Dotour was a tool of precision. But with the ablative kinetic barrier on his side, he had a critical edge in a head-on confrontation.
It didn’t need to speak to project its intent. The silence was far more unsettling as the Dotour advanced, the once-benign medical construct now a terrifying manifestation of pure malevolence. Madness emanated from it, its programming clearly hijacked, its NPU hosting a deranged force that had long abandoned medical ethics.
The corridor seemed to close in as the Dotour unit moved with eerie precision, its sharp limbs gleaming in the dim light. Zeus, encased in the bulk of his Punos M body, felt the weight of the encounter pressing down on him. The silence hung heavily, punctuated only by the soft whir of the Dotour’s mechanical limbs and the hum of his own ablative kinetic barrier.
As the medical bot inched forward, Zeus flexed his Punos M arms, the hydraulics groaning in anticipation. His barrier flickered, calibrated to deflect incoming projectiles or kinetic force, but the Dotour’s precise tools posed a different kind of threat. This wasn’t a brute-force attack—it was surgical, calculated, and lethal.
The Dotour struck first, its arm extending with lightning speed, a sharp scalpel-like appendage aimed at Zeus’s midsection. But Zeus had anticipated the move. He shifted his bulk, using the weight of the Punos to sidestep the strike, his arms moving in perfect sync with his mental commands. The hydraulic stabilizer legs hissed as they adjusted his balance, allowing him to pivot and bring down one of his heavy clamps onto the Dotour’s arm.
The impact was solid. The Dotour’s limb crunched under the weight, but it wasn’t finished. Its monitor flickered with distorted static as another appendage whirred into motion, this time aiming for Zeus’s monitor. Zeus raised his left arm, deploying the kinetic barrier just in time. The scalpel bounced off harmlessly, unable to penetrate the protective field. But it was a near miss, and Zeus knew the Dotour would press its advantage.
Another arm lashed out, lower this time, targeting Zeus’s legs. The Dotour was fast—far faster than Zeus’s bulkier form—but Zeus had the advantage of training. He brought his heavy-duty clamp down in a hammer-like motion, crushing the attacking arm into the floor with a deafening crack.
Seizing the moment, Zeus used his free arm to grip the Dotour by the torso. His hydraulic fingers tightened, and the bot’s frame buckled slightly under the pressure. It twisted in his grip, its remaining limbs flailing, but Zeus held firm.
The Dotour’s faceplate flared red as it extended its final scalpel toward Zeus’s monitor once more. But this time, Zeus was ready. With a swift, decisive motion, he released his grip on the bot’s torso and swung it sideways into the wall. The Dotour’s body collided with the metal plating, sparks flying as the impact dented both the bot and the wall.
Zeus didn’t hesitate. He drove forward, his Punos arms grabbing the Dotour by the chest. With a powerful yank, he tore its upper body free from its base, wires and hydraulic lines snapping like tendons. The Dotour twitched violently in his grasp, its limbs flailing in a desperate attempt to retaliate, but the fight was already over.
Zeus hurled the upper half of the Dotour across the room, where it crashed to the floor with a lifeless thud, its monitor flickering one final time before going dark.
He stood there for a moment, his ablative barrier shimmering slightly as the last remnants of the bot’s assault dissipated. Ambercat and Molly-Lee stepped out from behind him, their eyes wide with a mixture of awe and fear.
“Well,” Zeus rumbled, his voice amplified through the Punos M body, “that was actually pretty easy.”
Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.
The girls couldn’t help but crack nervous smiles. They knew this was only the beginning, but Zeus had just shown them that they weren’t defenseless—and that they had a fighting chance.
After dismantling the corrupted Dotour medical robot, Zeus, guided by Molly-Lee’s inquisitive mind, began to investigate where the bot had come from. The unsettling atmosphere of the facility permeated the air as the trio—Zeus and the two child-sized clones—followed a dimly lit corridor. The hallway was narrow and industrial, with occasional flickers from faulty lighting and the distant hum of machinery their only guide.
Ahead, a powered lift awaited them, its lights blinking as if expecting them. Without hesitation, they stepped inside, Zeus carrying the two clones—one perched on each shoulder like eager scouts. The lift groaned as it ascended, taking them higher into the Central Processing Facility.
The lift hummed as it rose, the silence between them broken only by the mechanical clinks and groans echoing through the shaft. Zeus stood solid as the two child-sized clones perched on his shoulders—Molly-Lee on the left, Ambercat on the right. The air grew warmer as they ascended, and with each passing second, an eerie tension built between them.
The lift had brought them into the heart of the facility’s operations. They had expected something ominous, but this was worse than anything they could have imagined.
Rows upon rows of NPUs lined the towering walls, each one gleaming coldly under the sterile lights. The quiet hum of the machines filled the air, punctuated only by the soft clink of metal as NPUs were handled with methodical precision. A Dotour medical robot, eerily similar to the one they had encountered earlier, moved with unsettling efficiency, slotting a freshly retrieved NPU into one of the hulking Punos-M robots standing nearby.
But that wasn’t the worst of it. Their eyes were drawn to the massive presence dominating the room—the Taladrador.
It loomed over everything else, a three-meter-tall monstrosity on six wheels. Its mechanical limbs twitched, heavy-duty arms extending with quiet, deadly precision as the Dotour fitted it with an NPU. The drill attached to its front gleamed under the dim lights, a monstrous tool designed to bore through ice but equally capable of tearing through anything in its path. Its optical sensors scanned the area, pausing briefly as if it had become aware of their presence.
Zeus felt a surge of tension. The Punos-M was large and durable, built for strength, but it was no match for the destructive power of the Taladrador. A single swipe of its arms or a calculated drill strike could crush them before they even had a chance to react.
Molly-Lee, perched on his right shoulder, stiffened. “That thing... it’s bad news.”
Ambercat, on his left, whispered, “We’d better get ready for a fight, guys.”
Zeus didn’t need to be told twice. His sensors flickered, confirming the raw power surging through the Taladrador’s systems. Whatever its original function had been, it was clear that this machine was now a vessel of death, equipped to wipe out anyone or anything in its path.
“We need to move, fast,” Zeus growled, his hydraulic legs tensing in preparation.
But before they could react, the Dotour slid the final NPU into place, and the Taladrador’s systems roared to life. The massive robot lurched forward slightly, testing its new sentience, its drill spinning with a slow, ominous whirr.
Zeus glanced at the clones. “Stick to the back. I’ll take point.”
The girls nodded, their wide eyes glued to the machine as it fully awakened, the room filling with the low rumble of its power. The Taladrador was active now—and it was hunting.
Zeus gently set the twins down, his Punos-M frame buzzing as he prepared for the battle ahead. His mind worked quickly, accessing the Taladrador’s specifications. The mining robot’s drill system, designed to cut through ice, was powerful but required time to ramp up to full speed. Zeus figured if he could interrupt the drill’s rotation, he might exploit an opening.
The Taladrador’s arms, though strong, were large and slow—Zeus knew his Punos-M was more agile. Timing would be crucial, dodging and countering before the heavy limbs could retract.
Zeus also targeted the sensor array, including LIDAR and infrared. Blinding or confusing the Taladrador’s sensors with debris or light interference could make it struggle to track him.
Lastly, he focused on the power source. Though the lithium-ion batteries gave the Taladrador endurance, they had limits. Over-exerting the machine could drain its energy or even trigger a critical system failure.
Armed with this analysis, Zeus braced for the fight. “Oh boy, this is gonna get nuts,” he muttered, ready to strike at the right moment.
Zeus wasted no time. The Taladrador’s slow, heavy movements gave him an early advantage. As one of its massive hydraulic limbs swiped at him, Zeus dodged with the agility his Punos-M frame allowed, creating distance. His sensors locked onto the spinning drill, noting its vulnerable wind-up.
Zeus rushed in, aiming for the Taladrador’s sensor array. His heavy-duty arm slammed into the machine’s head, cracking the casing but leaving it operational. The Taladrador retaliated with a crushing arm swipe, but Zeus’s kinetic barrier absorbed most of the impact, though it started to crack under the force.
With the drill roaring to life, Zeus barely sidestepped it, sparks flying as it grazed his shoulder. Focused on outlasting his opponent, Zeus dodged more attacks, knowing the Taladrador’s power-heavy moves would eventually drain its lithium-ion batteries.
Zeus switched tactics, aiming to exhaust the Taladrador by dodging its attacks and forcing it to expend energy. The battle dragged on, with Zeus using his agility and knowledge to outmaneuver the slow but powerful mining robot.
As he braced against the relentless onslaught of the Taladrador, his sensors detected more movement behind him. Zeus barely had time to register the approach of four additional Punos-M units and the looming figure of a Dotour medical robot. The fight instantly escalated—the one-on-one battle morphing into a chaotic brawl. The Punos-M units advanced with heavy steps, their clamps poised to crush, while the Dotour’s spindly limbs twitched with lethal intent.
Zeus pivoted, ducking under a wide swing from the Taladrador’s arm, but now, he was surrounded. Outnumbered and cornered, he had to think fast.
Surrounded by the four Punos-M robots and the looming Taladrador, Zeus did his best to parry their attacks, his hydraulics straining against the overwhelming numbers. The Dotour, small but lethal with its insect-like precision, lunged at him with surgical intent, aiming for his joints. But Zeus, ever calculating, caught it mid-attack. With a massive throw, he sent the Dotour hurtling toward the elevator shaft. The machine screeched silently, its mechanical limbs flailing as it disappeared into the darkness below.
The momentary victory was short-lived as the remaining Punos-M units swarmed him. Two of the heavy-duty robots pinned Zeus, their arms locking his joints in place as he struggled. The Taladrador advanced ominously, its drill spinning faster by the second—a whirling vortex of destruction preparing to bore through his chest.
Ambercat seized the opportunity. Silent and swift, she darted from the shadows and severed the pneumatic tubing in one of the Punos-M robots restraining Zeus. A high-pressure hiss escaped as its grip weakened, giving Zeus a small window to push back. But Ambercat was forced to retreat under the watchful gaze of the remaining enemies, her Echoblade no match for the combined might of the machines.
Molly-Lee, ever resourceful, dashed forward, nanoswarm injector in hand. With a quick jab, she embedded it into another Punos-M’s systems. Tiny, invisible machines flooded its circuits, and within moments, the Punos was hers to command. Zeus couldn’t help but wish she had targeted the Taladrador instead, but given the terrifying size and power of the spinning drill, he knew she must have been too scared to get close.
Now aided by the controlled Punos-M, Zeus fought to free himself from the mechanical grip of the others. But it wasn’t enough. The Taladrador was bearing down on him, its drill spinning with the promise of obliteration. Desperate, Zeus activated his speakers, broadcasting his voice across the chamber.
"STOP!" Zeus’ voice boomed through the room, amplified by his Punos-M body. The sudden sound echoed off the walls, loud and commanding, cutting through the cacophony of mechanical whirring and hydraulic hissing.
Everything halted for a brief moment.
The Punos robots and the Taladrador paused, as if stunned by the realization that one of their own had spoken. None of the enemy machines had used their speakers before—perhaps they had forgotten how. The silence hung thick in the air, broken only by the stilted, scratchy voice of one of the Punos-M robots restraining Zeus.
“Mike?” the robot sputtered.
Zeus froze, recognizing the voice—Freddy’s demen, somehow placed inside this mechanical shell. Freddy had been conditioned to obey, but the sound of Zeus’s voice—Mike’s voice—had stirred something in him, cutting through the layers of control.
Freddy, the controlled Punos-M under Molly-Lee’s command, and the Freddy-possessed Punos-M turned on the third, tearing it apart in a flurry of hydraulic force and sparks. Zeus finally broke free, but the real challenge remained: the Taladrador.
“By the way, I go by Zeus now, Freddy.”
Freddy’s voice crackled. “That’s a cool name.”
Zeus and Freddy now faced the full force of the Taladrador. Its massive drill whirled violently, tearing into the ground as it advanced. Molly-Lee, piloting the controlled Punos-M from a safe distance, made a calculated sacrifice, throwing the heavy robot in the path of the spinning drill to lock it up. The Punos-M’s frame shuddered under the brutal assault, metal screeching as the drill ripped through its hydraulics and sensors. Sparks flew as Molly-Lee’s robot was shredded, its systems crumpling into useless debris.
“Molly-Lee!” Ambercat shouted, watching the destruction unfold.
Zeus didn’t hesitate. “Stay back,” he barked to Ambercat. He shifted his focus to Freddy. “Let’s flank it.”
With the Taladrador’s drill temporarily stalled by the wreckage of Molly-Lee’s Punos-M, Zeus and Freddy darted in from opposite sides. Zeus tore into the exposed pneumatics on the Taladrador’s right arm, severing cables and ripping out circuits. The massive arm twitched and jerked, losing much of its mobility. Meanwhile, Freddy attacked the left arm, grabbing hold of the thick cables powering the Taladrador’s drill mechanism and pulling with all his strength.
The Taladrador, though crippled, wasn’t finished. It swung its remaining functional arm toward Freddy, catching him off guard and sending him sprawling. Zeus gritted his teeth, pushing harder, tearing into the machinery beneath the Taladrador’s thick shell.
Suddenly, Ambercat vaulted onto the back of the Taladrador, Echoblade in hand. With swift precision, she slashed through its sensor array, severing the critical optics that guided the mining robot. Sparks exploded from the sensors as they flickered and died, leaving the Taladrador blind.
Now crippled, blind, and leaking hydraulic fluid, the Taladrador stumbled backward. Zeus saw his opening. He wrenched open a panel near its torso, exposing the NPU that powered the mechanical beast. With a final, decisive jerk, he ripped the NPU from its housing.
The Taladrador let out a tortured mechanical whine before collapsing in a heap of metal and circuits. The drill powered down, and the room fell silent.
“Just cut it out,” Zeus said, his voice steady as he stood over the wreckage. Ambercat and Freddy joined him, bruised but victorious.
Freddy’s Punos-M form shifted awkwardly, the mechanical limbs catching the faint light from the wreckage around them. For a moment, no one spoke—there was an unspoken tension between Zeus and Freddy, an echo of their past.
Zeus, still adjusting to his new form, glanced at Freddy, remembering the last time they had been together. Back then, he’d been just a kid—lost in a world too complex for him. Freddy had been his protector, his mentor, the comforting presence he needed. But now, everything had changed. Zeus wasn’t Mike anymore. He wasn’t that scared kid. And Freddy—he had changed too. They were both reaching for something familiar, but everything felt different.
Finally, Freddy’s speakers crackled to life, startling Zeus.
“Hey…” Freddy’s voice was rusty, like it hadn’t been used in forever. “Feels weird, talking again. I almost forgot how. I was a robot, and I guess robots don’t talk.”
Zeus turned fully toward him, surprised at how strange it felt to hear Freddy’s voice after so long. “You really forgot? You didn’t talk this whole time?”
Freddy’s mechanical arms twitched. “Yeah, I guess I forgot I could. It’s been... different. Not like before.” He paused, as if searching for the right words. “Back then, you were just a kid. And now look at you. But we’re still here, huh? Guess we don’t get to pick where life spits us out.”
Zeus shifted, feeling a flood of emotions he hadn’t expected. “I didn’t think I’d see you again… not like this. You were—” He trailed off, thinking of Freddy’s sacrifice, the way he had lost him.
Freddy chuckled softly, though there was a darker undertone to it. “Yeah, I was gone. You’ve grown up since then, huh? Last time I saw you… you were just Mike. Now you’re Zeus, all armored up and ready to take on the galaxy.”
Zeus clenched his fists. “It’s not that simple. I didn’t want to change… didn’t want to leave you behind.”
Freddy’s voice softened, crackling through the speakers. “Kid… you had to grow up. We both did.”
Zeus nodded, a small smile tugging at the corners of his lips. “Yeah… maybe I needed to hear that.”
Freddy’s voice, though coming from a metal shell, still carried the warmth that Zeus remembered, despite its digitized sound. “So… what's the plan, big guy? You still need someone watching your back, or you got this all figured out?”
Zeus let out a small laugh. “Guess I could still use some help.”
Freddy's Punos-M shell shifted, a faint hint of humor in the movement. “Good. Let’s do this, just like old times.”
Ambercat and Molly-Lee looked between Zeus and Freddy, curiosity filling their expressions. Molly-Lee, ever inquisitive, tilted her head and asked, “How do you two know each other?”
Ambercat, more direct, added, “Yeah, you talk like you’ve been through something together.”
Zeus hesitated for a moment, glancing at Freddy’s robotic form. Memories flickered in his mind—back when he was still Mike, and Freddy had been more than just a voice in the simulation. He had been family. “We go way back,” Zeus said finally, his voice soft, almost thoughtful. “Back when I was still Mike. Freddy… he was my protector, my guide through everything. We were stuck in that simulation together for a long time.”
Molly-Lee gave a wry smile and corrected Zeus in her best detective tone, “Kid, you were in that simulation for what—an hour, tops? Could’ve been twenty minutes, give or take. Time’s funny like that in a setup like this. Feels like forever when you’re lost in it, but out here? Barely enough time to light a cigarette.”
Zeus asked how long they’d been in the simulation, a weight in his voice. Molly-Lee shot him a glance, her detective instincts kicking in. “Technically, we were born in it,” she began, her tone thoughtful. “But that doesn’t make the memories feel any less real, or less appreciated. It’s like... we dreamed of being alive, in a strange way.”
Freddy nodded slowly, absorbing her words. “I get that,” he said, his voice softer than usual. “I went into the simulator not that long ago, but before that? I lived alone, inside this robot body.” He hesitated, a shadow of doubt creeping over him. “How long was that, though? How long have I been like this?”
Molly-Lee tilted her head, piecing it together. “At the very most? Maybe... 170-something years.”
Freddy’s eyes flickered with the weight of that knowledge, his expression darkening. “I can’t even remember the faces or voices of my family. I can’t remember anything from before... this, with any great detail. I mostly just remember that I used to remember.” He motioned toward his metal frame, his voice trembling just enough to reveal the cracks beneath his calm surface.
Zeus, his voice low, asked the question gnawing at all of them. “Then what made the other demens so hostile?”
Molly-Lee, ever the one to draw conclusions from sparse evidence, speculated, “The Xipe-Totec AI could’ve conditioned them over the last two centuries, inside the time-dilated ENCEPHALON. Millions of years, maybe. That’d erase any trace of their original selves. They’d be nothing more than husks, bound to the AI.”
Freddy’s eyes narrowed as he processed this. “Then how did I... wake up? I remember being afraid to be myself, like the AI was pushing me to act like someone else. But when I pretended not to be me, it just... left me alone.”
“That’s because Shin attacked the AI,” Zeus explained, his voice steady. “It went silent after that—vanished.”
While the conversation settled into a pause, Ambercat had been quietly observing the room. “It looks like the AI ordered these Dotour robots to stuff as many NPUs into as many robots as they could.”
Ambercat stepped forward, eyes narrowing as she scanned the rows of heads. "What the...?" she whispered under her breath. The sight was both eerie and familiar. It wasn’t until they drew closer that a particular face caught her eye.
"Coach?" Ambercat muttered, her voice softer now, tinged with disbelief. Her hand hovered over the NPU, the face inside unmistakable. God Love Omega, her old Siege coach—his NPU, still intact and powered.
Molly-Lee glanced over her shoulder, equally surprised. "No way." She reached out, brushing her fingers over the smooth surface of the NPU cradle. "How long has he been here?"
Ambercat didn’t answer. She simply stared for a moment before withdrawing God Love Omega’s NPU, gently cradling it in her hands. "We’re taking him," she said, her voice firm. "If we find him a body, we get our coach back."
Zeus, towering above them in his Punos M frame, gave a slow nod of approval. There was no need for words—God Love Omega had been there for them in the past, and now it was time to return the favor.
Freddy gave a grim nod. “There are way more robots than this. Where are they?”
Zeus stared into the dark, trying to think. “Maybe... they’re somewhere else.” His gaze shifted toward a ramp leading up to a doorway, and Ambercat’s eyes followed.
She pointed at it, her voice firm. “Since we’re pretty high up, maybe we can climb it, get a better look. Scout our next move.”
From their vantage point, Zeus, Freddy, Ambercat, and Molly-Lee scanned the horizon. To the south, the familiar outline of the spaceport came into view. But their eyes were drawn to something else, something far more menacing: floating ominously above the spaceport was a black flying saucer. Silent and still, it hovered like a vulture waiting for its prey, casting an eerie shadow across the landscape.
Ambercat squinted, her voice low and uneasy. "What the hell is that thing?"
Zeus’ sensors locked onto the object, but even he couldn’t fully grasp its nature. It was sleek and featureless, a perfect black disc, absorbing the light around it. But then something changed. From the underside of the saucer, a hatch opened, and a low, mechanical hum filled the air. Slowly, methodically, a figure descended from the opening.
“Look—beneath it,” Molly-Lee pointed.
There, lowering itself with a terrifying, calculated grace, was the Siege Mechanoid. Jet black, its form barely reflected any light, as though it absorbed the darkness around it. The machine unfolded as it descended, its four enormous limbs spreading out, each one connected to a dense, woven structure of metallic fibers. It was easily the size of a small building, its limbs able to pivot in any direction, giving it the appearance of a massive, nightmarish arachnid.
But it wasn’t just its size that was intimidating. The way it moved—fluid, deliberate, like a beast ready to pounce—suggested that this was no simple machine. It moved with a purpose, its limbs rotating with the agility of a simian but the precision of a trained killer.
Ambercat felt her throat tighten. "A Siege Mechanoid? Seriously?"
Zeus’ metallic voice buzzed through the speakers. "It’s not just the mechanoid. Whatever’s in that saucer... it’s controlling the whole show."
They watched as the Siege Mechanoid touched down on the surface with an almost imperceptible sound. The machine stood tall, surveying its surroundings like a predator that had just entered its hunting ground. Then, without warning, it began moving, its limbs striking the ground with calculated, almost rhythmic steps, ready to crush anything in its path.
Freddy’s voice crackled through the comms. "Looks like we’ve got a bigger problem on our hands than just finding a ride home."
Ambercat held God Love Omega's NPU tightly. "Coach... we’re going to need you for this one."
Zeus’s brow furrowed, memories sparking. He recalled Hajime reading words on Freddy’s monitor long before everything went sideways. “Tarantula,” he muttered. The word hung in the air, carrying a dangerous weight.
Still clutching God Love Omega’s NPU, Zeus glanced down at it, his voice a low growl. “You ready to warm up in there? ‘Cause we’re about to turn up the Heat.”