“Why is it moving away so quickly!” Terra screamed as she sprinted through Yunto.
“Perhaps the person carrying the baggage has gotten a faster mode of transportation,” Neiman responded, although even his AI voice sounded unsure.
For the past twenty-eight hours Terra had been running at the pace of a car and she had been making slow progress moving towards the red beckon but progress nonetheless. However, an hour ago the pace suddenly picked up and was moving away faster than she was gaining. With less than two hours left and the light moving speedily farther away panic was beginning set in.
“You’re not winning my vote of confidence right now.”
“There is very little that can move faster than you at this speed.” Neiman clarified. “But much of the technology was lost after the war. Lost, mind you, not forgotten. If someone had found an Old World relic and knew what they were doing, they could have renovated it. The only thing in my records that indicates a speed faster than you is an air vehicle or the water-propulsion vessel. Considering we just passed Yunto, it is most likely the latter.”
“That still doesn’t really help me catch up to them. Who exactly did you give the bag to and how did they find such a fast boat?”
“The water vessel is not a boat my dear, but a vessel that travels under the surface of the water. Subaquas, I believe they were named. And I’ve got a bad feeling the man I entrusted the bag to may not be in possession of it anymore.”
“And why is that oh wise one?” Terra asked, voice dripping with sarcasm.
“There are groups on the water that target cargo vessels and raid them. Considering the sudden change in speed, my best bet is that a piranha group stole it.”
The ETA timer on Terra’s screen started counting back down as the red beckon in the sky slowed and then came to a stop.
“It seems like we may still have a chance to both survive this ordeal,” Neiman stated hopefully.
Terra did feel a spark of hope spark in her chest as the ETA timer dipped below the timer counting down the amount of battery she had left. It was going to be a close one, but if Terra continued at the same pace until she reached the fuel containers she might make it with a few minutes to spare. She tried picking up her pace but she was already running the fastest she could along the riverside. A few times she was grateful that she didn’t need to sleep or rest because of her robotic body. Those thoughts were shoved down in her unfeeling chest when she remembered the whole reason she was even needing to run for thirty hours straight was because of her body. Talk about a double-edged sword.
“Uh-oh,” Neiman whispered.
“What’s ‘uh-oh?’ I don’t need an ‘uh-oh’ right now Neiman!”
The timer had ticked down to the last half-hour mark and the ETA was reading twenty-five minutes. Whatever this ‘uh-oh’ was that Neiman had felt the need to express needed to take less than five minutes to solve if they wanted to make it out alive.
“Don’t be alarmed but we have four people chasing us and they’re probably not friendly.”
“How am I not supposed to be alarmed by that?”
“I propose we attempt to outrun them for the moment. They are far enough away they pose no problem for the next ten minutes.”
“And after ten minutes?”
“We should have already arrived at whatever facilities the people with the bags stopped at and take refuge there.”
Terra sighed and continued running towards the red light that was slowly approaching. As she got closer to her destination she grew more nervous since she couldn’t spot a single building or any indication of a resting point for pillagers. In fact, when she reached the red light the timer on her display still read nine minutes and forty-three seconds left.
“Neiman, where’s the bag?” Terra asked in a shaky voice.
“Just a theory, but it might be--”
“FREEZE!”
Terra nearly jumped at the voice that boomed out at her and turned her head in time to see four figures jump off their motorcycles and point their weapons at her. Were those nunchucks?
“Drop your bags and raise your arms!”
Terra didn’t know what to do and watched in horror as her time continued to drop. She didn’t know where the bag was and now there were four hostiles. Granted, she could easily deal with the hostiles in less than a minute, it still didn’t mean she knew where her power cells were.
“I suggest following their orders as quickly as you can. I believe they’re part of the piranha group. They may lead us to their base, which I suspect is underground. We’re running out of time so you should do as they say.” Neiman said in a hushed tone.
Terra didn’t need any additional encouragement since she was out of options and running out of time so she dropped the bags on the ground but made sure to warp her black crystal to coat the surface of her hand and give the appearance of a glove. There was no way she was going into a lion’s den unarmed.
“Both arms!” The voice called out.
“I only have one dumbass!” Terra yelled back, making her voice deeper to sound more intimidating.
“Don’t get smart with me! We’re the ones with weapons! Kneel down!”
Terra fought the urge to roll her eyes and dropped to her knees, willing herself to shut up so that this whole process would go faster so she could find her bag. She heard the crunch of footsteps walk towards her and fought her curiosity to put a face to the pair of green boots to her right. Although she couldn’t feel the person handcuff her hand, she nearly broke out laughing when she heard the click of the metal ring around her wrist and the person fumbling around with the other half not knowing what to do with themselves.
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“State your intent!”
“I’m trying to find something you may have!” She hollered back.
“What makes you think we have it?”
“Tracker.”
That shut the voice up and she could hear three of them mumbling to each other about what they would do while the one nearest to Terra shifted from boot to boot while awkwardly holding on to the metal handcuffs. A new pair of boots appeared and they squatted down near her bags, shuffling through the contents. She bit down her yelp of surprise when she saw that the newest set of boots belonged to a girl no older than Terra would have been if she were in her original body.
“They got some goodies in here Pon!” The girl called out.
“There’s more where that came from,” Terra started, hoping to hurry up the charade. “Take me to your leader or whatever and we can come to an agreement. I’m on a strict time schedule and need to get this done as quickly as possible.”
A heavy set of footsteps approached her from behind and she heard the sound of metal hit the fabric cushion of her hood, indicating that there was most likely a gun pointed at her head.
“Or what?” The man threatened as he nuzzled the muzzle of the gun closer to Terra’s nearly impenetrable metal skull.
“I only have eight minutes left in my patience,” Terra growled. “If you’re going to shoot me, do it before--”
She lurched forward and fell face-first to the ground before she heard the gunshot ring out in the stale red air.
“Pon!”
“Why?”
“Gods--”
She heard the other three companions cry out in surprise as the man named Pon holstered his gun at his waist and stepped over Terra’s supposedly-dead body to grab the two bags at her side.
“You can’t just kill anyone who annoys you, Pon!” The youngest girl cried out.
“Try me,” Pon stated in a low tone as if inviting the girl to taunt him so he had an excuse to draw his weapon again.
Terra was tired of this farce. She had less than eight minutes left and she wasn’t going to waste it listening to a trigger-happy douchebag. Pushing herself up with her single hand she stood up and brushed off some of the dust on her coat and whipped around to get a better look at the people who were threatening her.
The little girl was short and had bright red hair that curled out in all directions, dropping down to her shoulders before stopping. A slender male stood next to her with a head of stringy black hair that ran down to his waist and was clutching a set of nunchucks like they would repel Terra. The one closest to her was the one in green boots; a teenage boy a few years older than Terra who had short brown hair and was covered in freckles everywhere. Pon was middle-aged and much heavier than the rest and Terra suspected he probably stole the other three’s meals from time to time.
“Close your mouths and just tell me where you’re keeping my bag. I swear I’m harmless when I want to be and I don’t want to harm anyone, just give me my bag.”
Pon didn’t even hesitate in unloading the rest of his clip at Terra who didn’t even flinch. The others had looks of pure fear painted in their eyes, so much so that it apparently affected their tongues.
“SEVEN MINUTES. I NEED MY BAG.”
Even Pon flinched at her booming voice but at least he lowered his weapon.
“Seriously guys, I don’t want to hurt you. Just point or something!”
Terra was starting to get desperate. She didn’t run thirty hours to let the chance to keep surviving slip through her hands. When no one did anything she decided to get extreme. Grabbing the bags in her hand Terra sprinted forward and scooped the girl her age in her arm and sprinted a dozen feet away before stopping. Concentrating on the black crystal she manipulated its shape so it floated near the girl’s throat. From the other’s perspectives, it seemed as if there was a knife pressed to the girl’s jugular, but Terra made sure the edge was dull and no skin contact was actually made.
“Point in the direction of the base!”
Finally, the teenage boy lifted a finger and pointed at an angle from where they had come from, and Terra charged in that direction with the girl still on her shoulder.
“I dare say that was a huge waste of time.” Neiman chimed in.
“You’re telling me. I don’t know if they were just loyal or stupid but that was a dumb idea going along with them. I should have just taken them all out, to begin with.”
“D-don’t hurt me. Please.” The girl said through the tears streaming down her face.
“I never planned to,” Terra confessed, changing her voice back to her original one. “I was tempted to punch Pon though. Point where the entrance is.”
Following the girl’s finger, Terra pushed her limits until the girl told her to stop. She had five minutes left as she knelt near a metal hatch near the riverbank.
“I’d suggest using caution when opening the door, but I say throw it all to the wind as we are running dangerously low on power.”
“We finally agree on something.”
Terra dropped the bags and girl to her side and grasped the hatch door with her hand and ripped it from its hinges, throwing it to the side effortlessly.
“What are you?” The girl asked with eyes wide with fear and amazement.
“Still trying to figure that out,” Terra stated as she grabbed the bags and entered.
“Who were you talking to?” The girl asked, for some reason following Terra.
“What do you mean?”
“You just started talking to yourself. Something about us being loyal or stupid and dealing with us. And then agreeing on something.”
Terra didn’t quite understand what the girl was asking but Neiman chimed in.
“I should have mentioned only you can hear my voice.” He stated calmly.
“You mean when I respond to you no one else can hear you?”
“Precisely.”
“Of course I can hear you. And other people too.” The girl said.
Terra shook her head and was about to elaborate on the voice in her head when two armed men rushed out around a corner. She saw surprise flash across their faces and she quickly punched them both in the solar plexus before they could react, effectively knocking them out.
Four minutes left.
Now that her tracker was working, she ran forward, following the indication on her screen since now she couldn’t tell where the red beckon was. After running into six more guards and two dead ends Terra wished she hadn’t left the girl behind since the maze of corridors was disorienting and the tracking notification only told her where it was in relation to her and not what route to take. A map would have been very handy.
“Take right here!” Neiman shouted.
Terra did as she was told.
“Left, straight and then turn right after the fourth door. Down the corridor!”
One minute, twelve seconds left.
Terra sprinted down the corridor and didn’t even bother using the door handle, simply tearing the door off its hinges and flinging it towards the wall, which apparently housed some important breakers and wires since the entirety of the hall was plunged into darkness. She quickly switched to night vision and jumped towards the pile of bags sitting in an unorganized pile near the back of the room. The red light was back and she could see the back she was aiming for buried under several others.
Thirty-three seconds left.
Her vision started flashing warning signs about system failure and she tried her best to not let them get her to panic, although she was feeling very panicked indeed. She plunged her hand into the pile and removed the bag, unzipping it and grasping the cylindrical thing that resembled a fusion cell.
“How do I change it out?” Terra hurried.
Instead of explaining it to her, Neiman took over control of her arm and pushed a button on her torso, revealing a grid of squares that he quickly pressed in a coordinated sequence, which then opened a panel that housed their exhausted cell. Terra felt a surge of hope as Neiman grasped the new cell and reached to change them out in a single motion.
System Failure.
The prototype Combatant’s body fell lifeless to the metal ground with a clunk as the last of its energy was sapped.