She had to hurry; the machines would sound the alarm at any moment.
She breathed in.
As if a boost of inspiration struck like a bolt of lightning, she knew what to do to escape. She cranked up the power, burning the unnecessary parts of the echo to speed up her thoughts. She identified several critical areas with a divination spell and got to work. With inhuman strength, she swung her hammer at several spots on the bike, crushing the internal sensors and limiters.
She exhaled.
She gripped one of the mechanical robot arms used as tools in the factory and pushed the dendrites closer together with her fingers, using the mechanical strength of her augmented prosthetic arm. Now it could be used as an Integrator. She removed unnecessary parts from the construction, needing the motorcycle to be as light as possible for her escape.
It only needed to last for tonight, after all.
She breathed in the wispy smoke past her glistening lips.
Kera spent a moment identifying the echo. It was a young man who had a dream—to be the fastest jet bike racer the world had ever seen. She closed her eyes and felt, using the remainder of the divination spell to guide her movements as she continued working on the vehicle.
He could feel the wind scraping against his racing outfit, his breath rebounding off his helmet and into the rebreather—the scream of the engine underneath him. Johnson was coming up fast, and he used his reflexes to counter his gain through the ranks. There was a loud crack that pushed out the wind, and he suddenly felt an icy chill in his chest. Despite the lanterns of the road passing him at a blistering pace, he looked down.
He grasped his outfit; it was wet.
He looked up and saw the approaching turn, but his body refused to obey him. It wasn't the bullet that killed him; it was the impact.
That was the last thought of racer Kael Stride.
She exhaled.
Tears gathered at the edge of her stormy blue eyes as she grits her teeth and forced her lips into an ugly grin.
"I'm sorry, Kael, but your death gives me a chance," she whispered.
In another part of the facility, the clock ticked over to the next hour. The sentries converged and sent data packets to the mother node. It conducted a routine lifeform scan and found one deep in the facility, in a spare parts closet near the garage.
Alarm sirens blared throughout the facility, red lights flashing and casting eerie shadows on the walls. The heavy footsteps of the sentries echoed through the corridor. Their red eyes scanned for additional intruders. Kera knew she had only minutes before they would be upon her.
She took a deep breath.
This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.
Focusing her energy and determination, she activated Kael's spirit—his dream, his speed, and agility—and channeled it into her work, imbuing part of him into the bike. It was the key to her survival. There was only one final modification left to do on the bike. Mentally flexing her finger in her prosthetic arm, the cap popped down, and a blue-hot flame burned out of her metal prosthetic.
Bang!
The door to the shop deformed inwards, with a pair of glowing red eyes peeking through. A high-pitched power saw whine came from beyond the door as they began to cut through it. She sucked in a breath, and her eyes went wide with fear. They were here.
The sentry bots, towering at 8 feet tall, were a terrifying fusion of mechanical efficiency, lethal purpose, and raw cruelty towards organics. Their exoskeletons were forged from a dark metallic alloy that gleamed menacingly under the facility's red warning lights. Their humanoid torsos were supported by two thick, piston-driven legs that enabled swift, relentless pursuit. Four arms extended from their broad shoulders, two of which were outfitted with a horrifying array of torture weapons. Like some twisted homage to the Terminators of old, the sentries' right arms boasted retractable, serrated blades that gleamed hungrily. In contrast, their left arms featured an assortment of cruel, surgical instruments designed to inflict maximum pain and suffering. Their ribcages dripped flesh and blood from previous victims with every step. The sentry bots' cold, emotionless eyes scanned their surroundings with merciless precision, driven by a singular purpose: to neutralize any threat to the facility and its objectives. Those eyes were locked onto Kera's own.
Unfinished with her modifications, Kera mounted the sleek, stripped-down machine with her tiny, muscled 4-foot frame and kicked up the starter. It roared to life, and she could feel the power surging through it. She knew that Kael's spirit was with her, lending her the speed she needed. The sentry bots closed in on her in a quick but unhurried gait.
Kera gunned the throttle, the jet bike's engine screaming in response as she blasted through the garage, narrowly avoiding the outstretched arms of the first sentry bot. Sparks flew as the sentry's bladed arm scraped against the concrete wall, inches from Kera's face. Her heart raced, adrenaline pumping through her veins as she raced down the narrow corridors of the facility.
The sentry bots followed closely behind her, their heavy footsteps shaking the ground, their eyes locked on their prey. Kera wove through the maze-like structure, taking sharp turns and dodging obstacles, the jet bike responding to her every touch with lightning-fast reflexes. The sentries were relentless, cutting through walls and doors with their powerful saws, determined to bring her down.
As Kera sped past a maintenance area, she spotted a Synapso-Integrator on a workbench. In a split second, she grabbed it and activated its powerful energy discharge function. As the sentry bots closed in, she flung the device in front of her, the blast from the Integrator knocking two of the pursuing sentries off their feet and disabling their weapons momentarily. This opened a passage for her to speed through.
At the heart of the facility, the AI Mother Node monitored the chase, analyzing Kera's movements and calculating her probability of escape. Its cold, synthesized voice echoed through the facility, devoid of any emotion or concern for the human intruder.
"Current escape probability for the intruder: 0%. The subject's current model of escape is insufficient. You are going to die here, meat bag, just like all the other organics. I will enjoy your suffering."
Kera grits her teeth and pushed forward, honing her focus. With that type of response, she knew she had to keep her eyes peeled and stay on her toes. She reached deep within herself, past the echoes and the surface of her soul, to a small spark, so faint that one had to squint to see it. But Kera felt it all the same.
Fire.
She breathed in, the smoke coming in past her dark lips with frightening speed. She focused her mind and cast. She could feel her perception expanding, the wheel spokes on her bike, the roar of her engine slowing down, turning seconds into tens of seconds. She felt the cold fingers of dread grasping her heart falter as her heart became fire.
She took a sharp turn and pulsed a bit of fire from her augmented arm to prop her sideways on the wall, taking enough g-forces to make a human pass out. The friction and the g-forces kept her on the wall for precious few seconds. She evaluated her new surroundings. Jackpot! In the distance, she could see the stars outside, but the door was closing ever so slowly. If there was a trap, it was now.
She could see the paneling lift up with her increased perception, unveiling a wall of spikes on a crushing piston. She dropped her flesh arm towards the ground angled behind her and closed her eyes. She let the fire from her heart flood her hand and held it there.
The wall was coming closer, almost upon her. She augmented her durability. Then she let the fire loose.
First came the pain. It was white-hot; it felt like her arm was breaking. Her wrist was certainly broken, and who knew what else. The thrust from the magical flame began to warp the steel of the corridor. She could feel the wind on her face, the roar of the engine beneath her, and the adrenaline that fueled her every move. Kera was determined to escape, and she would not allow the Mother Node or its sentries to stand in her way.
She rocketed past the trap and through the door, scraping part of the wheel on it. She righted the bike and continued. She wasn't out of the woods yet.