Terra peaked around the corner but immediately stayed at the lab doorway when she saw two Patrollers sprint down the hallway, most likely meaning there were others around.
“If we’re sharing the same body, why can’t you reattach my arm?” Terra asked the Neiman AI.
“Have you ever tried to do surgery blind? Making robots isn’t easy, much less trying to reattach wires and running diagnostics from this perspective and with only one arm. I’m sure there’s a body for me here somewhere but there’s no time. In Onto there’s one, so, for now, you’ll just have to make do with me in your head and dealing with one arm.”
“Look, I can’t do much with one arm. I’m carrying two bags, one of which has my other goddamn arm, and a weapon. We run into any trouble and we’re screwed.”
“I have taken that into account,” Neiman stated. “Luckily for you, I am fully programmed and am not limited by human capacities. I have infiltrated the security monitors, so if you simply act when I tell you to, we won’t need to run into any unnecessary action, although it is entertaining to watch you beat the crap out of people.”
“Well, I can’t say I don’t enjoy it,” Terra admitted. Her new body was pretty cool, despite the evident lack of one arm.
“When I get transferred to another body, I desperately need to run a psych eval on you because you clearly have issues.”
Terra was about to make a snarky remark back but a handful of Scouts and Patrollers ran past them so she kept her mouth shut.
“Go straight now and make an immediate right and tuck behind the pillar.”
She rushed forward and did as she was told, narrowly being spotted by a person in an orange uniform.
“That was close, Neiman,” she hissed quietly.
“I never said it wasn’t going to be. I don’t know if you noticed, but there are a lot of people running around, so it’s going to be tight getting to Petri.”
Terra sucked up her pride and her words and followed his orders to the dot since she was not in fit fighting condition at all. Not that she couldn’t if it came down to it but it would be messy since she still felt as if she had her left arm and kept catching herself off balance. At a certain point in their traveling through the hallways, a set of Patrollers had gotten a glimpse of her and she was forced to push one of the switches she had swiped from Neiman’s pockets, which distracted them as a distant boom was heard and another set of alarms erupted.
“Alright, the hallway is clear. Two guards are in the room with Petri, but if you catch them by surprise you can easily take them down. Or you could just pretend you’ve come to take him away since you are a Combatant and no one suspects you, but I can already guess what option you want to take.”
Terra nodded and ran down the hallway as quickly as she could, stopping right in front of the door that read “Reserved for Pharmaceutical Property.” She swallowed her questions and dropped the two bags on the floor, leaving her hand free to carry her black crystal sword. Staring at the sharp weapon, she warped the crystal to a baton since she would feel bad slicing people in half just for doing their jobs. Plus, it would be really messy and she felt a blunt object would be a little safer to carry around anyways. Steeling herself, she went for the doorknob with her other hand and ran directly into the metal door, completely forgetting, not for the first time, that she only had one arm. Awkwardly fumbling with the knob since she had her baton in her hand, her element of surprise was lost when one of the guards opened the door for her.
“What is a Combatant doing here?” The guard threw the question in the air in no direction.
“Pharmaceutical Division has recalled Petri to the labs,” Terra said quickly, changing the sound her voice to match what she thought a robot would sound like.
“What the shit? That Combatant can talk!” Both guards’ hands fell to the guns at their sides.
“So much for the element of surprise,” Neiman said and Terra just struggled in agreement. She should have just kicked the door open like she had originally wanted to but had wanted to prove Neiman wrong about choosing the less violent option.
Not wasting any more time, Terra swung her baton at the torso of the guard closest to her and was surprised when she heard something crack and saw his body fly against the wall where it crumpled into a pile. Up until then, Terra had only fought other robots in her new body and had to go all-out to be on equal ground, but against actual people, it was too easy. She turned and saw the other guard literally faint when their eyes met, making her job even easier.
Terra turned and saw Petri was sitting up in his hospital bed, eyes wide with fear as he saw the large robot easily take out both of his guards. He broke eye contact and leaped out of bed, wincing in pain and gripping his side as he grabbed the gun of the guard that had fainted. With a shaking hand, he lifted the gun at Terra.
“Petri, it’s me,” Terra said after altering her voice to sound more like her original one, internally smiling at the gusto Petri was showing.
His eyes reflected his confusion and using one of his hands to tell her to keep talking.
“Terra. It’s Terra,” she said. “Do you like my new body? It’s super cool. I totally took out a bunch of robots to get here which is why I’m missing an arm. Ohh, can you help me carry the bags? It’s really hard carrying all this stuff with one hand.”
Petri’s arm lowered and a smile broke out on his face and he sprinted forward and gave Terra a hug. He quickly broke it off and reached into his pocket where he drew out a pen and notepad.
Vocal cords removed. Can’t speak. Where’s Indo?
Terra was dumbstruck. Petri’s vocal cords were removed? Why? Who would do something like that? She wanted to ask, but Petri urgently pointed to his own question written on the notepad and she was brought back to reality.
“We’re going to rescue him now.”
Petri nodded and knelt by the fainted guard and stripped him of his uniform, quickly donning it himself. It only took three minutes for Petri to get fully changed but he looked entirely believable when he was done.
“Alrighty then, let’s get moving!” Neiman’s cheerful voice said, but Petri made no indication of reacting to it. “Go down this hallway until you reach a set of elevators. You’ll need to go up eight stories and then just walk down the hallway until you reach the Interrogation room. They never moved him since he was a low priority in comparison with the safety of the Patrollers.”
“Got it,” Terra said, drawing a confused expression from Petri but he followed her nonetheless, gripping one of the bags in his hands while Terra carried the other. A few Patrollers were already waiting for the elevator as they approached them.
“What do we do?” Terra whispered in a panic to Neiman.
“Nothing. A Combatant carrying two bags by itself is suspicious, but a guard and Combatant with bags of equipment is completely natural. Just don’t talk and you don’t need to do anything.”
Terra and Petri stood by the group who were busy chatting amongst themselves. A few of them gave them odd looks as they all boarded the elevator together.
“So who exactly are you going to escort if you get your own Combatant? Is it someone dangerous? Maybe that crazy old scientist from the junkyard?” One of asked Petri in the elevator.
Petri grimaced at the questions but kept his eyes focused on the doors ahead of him, ignoring the inquiring mind. The Patroller wasn’t taking the silence as an indication of stopping though.
“They say the virus that got released was created by that old guy and the bombs were planted by that gay guy he lived with at that trash yard. I hope they both pay for their crimes against GreenHouse. Actually, we’re going to beat the shit out of the scientist right now if you want to join us. I’ve been going there every afternoon. It’s extremely therapeutic.” A chorus of nodding heads and mumbles of agreement rose from around the two from the other Patrollers.
Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.
“Maybe we’ll take it into our own hands to finally end that miserable son-of-a-bitch’s life and end his reign of terrorism over us!” A louder chorus of whoops and hollers rose around them but was silenced when Petri drove his fist into the Patroller’s nose.
The Patroller didn’t have any chance to recuperate since Petri continued to throw a barrage of punches at his face. Terra peeled Petri off the limp Patroller’s body just as the elevator door dinged open and dragged him away from the shocked faces of the others, struggling to handle Petri and all the luggage at once.
“Wow. I didn’t know he had it in him.” Neiman said proudly. “I’m glad Indo had him.”
Petri broke away from Terra’s grip and straightened out his uniform and wiped away some of the blood that had flicked up on his cheeks, making a beeline straight to the Interrogation room.
He burst through and stood with mouth agape for a few seconds before rushing to Indo’s side. Terra simply stood there in the doorway in disbelief of the condition Indo was in. According to her vitality monitor, Indo’s heart rate was half what it was supposed to be and there was a massive amount of internal hemorrhaging in his abdomen along with a burst eardrum and four broken ribs and two fractures in his right upper arm. His face was too swollen and bloody to recognize, his hair matted a dark red with congealed blood as his head hung limply against his restraints.
Terra helped Petri undo the rope around Indo’s arms and legs.
“Pe..tri?” Indo choked out as a glob of blood fell from his bleeding mouth.
Petri cupped Indo’s head in his hands and tried to wipe away the blood that prevented Indo from seeing anything. All the blood that he wiped away revealed a discolored bruise which contorted Indo’s face in pain, so Petri ended up giving up his task and settled on planting a quick kiss on the scientist’s forehead before trying to help him to his feet. Indo collapsed as soon as his bottom left his chair so Petri draped his arm under Indo’s armpit to help support the larger man.
“We won’t be able to get your body this way,” Neiman stated. “We might be able to escape without retrieving your body, but it’ll still be tight.”
Terra looked at Indo and Petri struggling together to move forward. As much as she wanted to feel the wind against her skin and taste eggs, she wasn’t going to sacrifice those two to get it.
“We can always come back for it,” Terra said hopefully although she knew this would be the only chance to get it back. “What’s the new plan?”
“The Patrollers in the elevator are about to reach your door. Taken them all out and steal their security badges, that’ll let you get a vehicle. You need to go down the stairs since word has already spread about a rogue guard and Combatant so they’ve shut down the elevators. Patrollers coming in three...two..”
Terra dropped the bags and gripped her baton, ready for combat. The instant she saw the doorknob turn, she kicked the metal door forward, taking down three Patrollers in the process. It was incredibly satisfying seeing the surprised faces of the blue-uniformed officers as her six-foot-self rose from the door she had blown off its hinges. Two ran away while two stayed. She barely had to swing her weapon at all to decommission them from the ‘fight’.
“Alright, now others are coming. Either get out now or face the entire GreenHouse Combatant squad by yourself. Need I remind you that you only have one arm and you are now responsible for two others?”
That sudden realization broke Terra into action and she ran towards the two slowly made their way forward into the hallway, having to step over the fallen bodies of Patrollers. Terra grabbed one of the bags and scooped Indo up and slung him over her shoulder like a sack of potatoes.
“Grab the other bag and let’s go!” She cried out to Petri as she started running down the corridor.
Petri did as he was told and followed at Terra’s heels.
“Change of plans.” Neiman suddenly said. “Turn left here.”
Terra did as she was told. They made a few more turns and run down a few flights of stairs before Neiman’s orders stopped coming. She was about to try and goad him out and ask why he’s stopped, but Petri started leading the way.
“What are you doing?” Terra questioned but still followed.
“He’s...been here longer...than anyone.” Indo wheezed. “He knows...what he’s doing.”
Terra was still skeptical since the corridors Petri was leading them down had incredibly dim lighting and were looking more grimy and gritty than the fluorescent-lit hallways that seemed to line the interior of the buildings she had been in. But then again, she hadn’t really had a grand tour of the place and had to trust Petri’s judgment in this condition.
They stopped in front of a large metal-bolted door. Petri looked at Terra expectantly and pointed, but Terra wasn’t sure what he wanted. Finally, Petri made a kicking motion and Terra felt stupid for not getting the gist earlier. It took two kicks to bust through and the freedom Terra was expecting was shot down as they entered an even dimmer room with machines and equipment in it. Petri ran to one of the control panels and started furiously typing away.
“Where are we?” Terra asked. “I thought we were escaping?”
“Sorry to disappoint,” Neiman said. “I heard Indo and Petri talking about this place so I rerouted us.”
“Wait, I don’t get it. I thought we were getting out?”
“That was the original plan, yes, but even if we do get out Indo isn’t going to make it by the time we get somewhere we can apply first-aid,” Neiman said sadly. “This is his last stand.”
“No!” Terra said in defiance. “Where’s the exit? I can run really fast to the hospital or something and fix him! Indo and Petri can go back to the bunker and I can draw attention away from them and then they can live together until they get old. For all I know I could live forever in this robot body so I can just keep all the eyes on me so people forget all about them. Just tell me where the exit is so we can help Indo!” Terra screamed at the voice in her head.
“Help me...there…” Indo coughed and weakly pointed at the central control where Petri was at.
Terra fought back the urge to keep him on her shoulder and run away to find an exit by herself but the longing look in Petri’s eyes kept her in the dark room. With help from Petri Terra gently nudged Indo off her shoulder and rested him on a stool and scooted him in front of the console.
As soon as he was in front of the panel, he typed away at the screen, focused on the strange language Terra didn’t recognize on the console. After less than a minute typing, a red alarm starting blaring throughout the room.
“Warning. Imbalance in cooling systems. Switching to backup systems. Switchi---Danger. Backup system disabled. Manually engage systems otherwise melt-down is imminent. Danger. Manua--All systems failed. Danger. All systems failed. Melt-down eminent. Evacuate. Evacuate.”
“What are you doing?” Terra yelled, tearing away Indo’s hands from the keyboard, but the damage had already been done.
“Green...House...pay...back.” Indo said, his cheek twitching in an attempt at a smile.
Indo fell from his stool but was caught by Petri. Petri gently cradled Indo’s shoulders and head into his lap and sat down with his back leaning against the main panel.
“What did you do?” Terra hollered at Indo, but he had already closed his eyes. Terra looked pleadingly at Petri in a hope for answers.
Tears rolled from Petri’s eyes and dropped onto Indo’s bloodied face but he adorned a smile that spoke volumes. His smile spoke of the times before Terra had entered their world, the struggles they faced together, and the fleeting moments of happiness they had felt.
Petri seemed to have read Terra’s intention to scoop him up against his will to drag him away from the room and drew out the notepad he had kept and handed it to her. She took it in her hand and found that the majority of it had been filled in Petri’s minuscule handwriting, telling of stories during his time at GreenHouse and about his travels with Indo.
Terra looked back at Petri and saw that blood was running down his nose and was leaking from the corners of his eyes. He gave a slight cough that soon escalated to vomiting on the floor next to him. Petri didn’t move, however, and continued wiping away the blood from Indo’s face with a smile on his face.
“We need to move. Now,” Neiman said.
“But I can’t leave them!”
“They made this choice many years ago. If you truly cared for them, leave them be and get out so you can finish what they started.” Neiman stated. “Please.”
Terra turned away and grabbed the bags in her hand, fighting the urge to turn back because she knew she wouldn’t be able to leave if she did.
Following Neiman’s instructions she passed back down the hallways she had come from and went up a few flights of stairs before reaching the ground floor. People were vomiting blood and running around like maniacs when she reached the Patroller division’s lobby, everyone too concerned about what was going on than paying attention to the one-armed robot carrying two bags and a baton.
Nobody paid her any mind as she casually strolled out the front doors past fallen bodies that had succumbed to radiation poisoning. She debated stealing a car but found that running away from the building let her focus on the obstacles in front of her and kept her mind off the two people she had abandoned in her attempt to escape.
She used to hate both of them with a passion when she had first entered this world but had grown used to their mannerisms. It hurt her chest to think about them, and that was the first time she had felt pain in ages. She didn’t like it. She preferred the physical torture over this pain any day.
A sudden white flash accentuated her shadow in front of her and a hot whoosh of air flew past her. She turned and saw a white mushroom rise in the distance right where the lab had been. Her knees gave out and she fell to the dusty ground and watched the cloud rise to the red sky like a bird as red flames licked at its base. A small part of her had hoped that maybe a crew had been sent to investigate the sudden meltdown and had found Indo and Petri and had taken them into custody but gave them medical attention and Terra would be able to rescue them again.
She had lost the people she had cared about. She had lost her body because she had made the wrong choice. She was just a one-armed robot looking for a place to fit in. The world seemed to have different plans for her made apparent by the glowing cloud in the sky.