No matter. I'm fine. I don't have time to worry. I peeked around the corner again. The automaton guardians sat in silence. Once again I took aim with the firearm. I remained steady as best I could. Kept a firm grip. Didn't let the barrel sway. Waiting. Waiting. Where to aim? Waiting. Maybe... And bang.

The shell burst through the barrel in a puff of fire and smoke. It soared through the air at an alarming speed until punching through the tinted glass chamber on its chest. Cracks were forming from the hole and a trickle of blood spurt out upon impact. I did it. I actually hit it... Just as I felt the exhilarating rush it shifted to fear once the automatons began to stand up, their red eyes honing in on my position as they readied their cannons. Uh-oh. I pulled the bolt back on the firearm. A small, empty shell casing flew out of the top as a new shell was loaded into the chamber with that same sickly sound. I fired another shot off but missed. The automatons started to fire. I ducked back, feeling the impact of their shots hitting the wall behind me serving as my cover. So this was happening... I loaded another shell then prepped myself to peer around the corner once more. Doing so, I honed in on the automaton I had hit. The barrel was pointing directly at its chest. Another shot fired. Another hole left penetrated from the shell. The cracks spread further. With thundering footsteps, the automaton began to charge towards me, blade at the ready. I started stepping back, fumbling to pull on the bolt so the empty shell could eject. I can do this. I can do this. Or maybe I can't do this. The charging automaton had reached my line of sight and I fired again. It reeled slightly then swung its sword, smacking the firearm out of my hand and down to the area at the foot of the stairs. I ducked, bending my knees and reaching for my instrument when the machine swung again. With a deep breath, I glanced up and plunged the blade into its glass chamber. I didn't think it would work. But the weakening glass must have finally given out when it shattered. Is this it? Shit! With a mighty swing, the cannon arm smacked my stomach and sent me flying into the wall and on to the ground. My back was aching with a severe pain. I grunted as I tried to get up, looking over as the automaton transmogrified its blade back into a hand. Its movements were stuttering. Blood was seeping from where the blade stuck out. It reached for the hilt of the instrument to grab on. It tried yanking on it. Desperately trying to pull it out until it just ceased moving all together... And fell back.

Now the machine was still. The gears stopped turning. I had finally managed to stand up. Walking over to retrieve my weapon I couldn't help but gaze into the construct of organs and cogs housed inside of the chamber that glass was protecting. Even these monstrous machines of power and brutality were made with flesh too... I pulled the blade out and started bolting down the stairs in a hurry. There on the ground not at all phased from the height at which it had fallen was the firearm. What a sturdy piece of work. I felt relieved. I double checked the receiver and striker to ensure they still functioned. Good, they do. Time to... Bang. From high up at the top of the stairs the sound of a cannon fired off. I felt an excruciating pain from my chest. Looking down I saw a big hole had punctured my flesh. Blood was spilling out onto the ground. Suddenly my vision was blurring. I was starting to lose all feeling in my body. As I fell I could see the second automaton staring down at me beside its fallen comrade. Then... Blackness. Nothing.

Is this what death feels like? An empty abyss devoid of anything. Even my inconsistent dreams are more vivid then this. I'm alone with only my own thoughts to keep me company. Something isn't right though. I don't think I'm dead. A faint heartbeat echoes in the vast darkness. Then a dim beam of light shines on me. It blinds me. I open my eyes. So I wasn't dead after all...

I could only move my head. The rest of my body was numb and frozen stiff. Above me was a lantern dangling from a rusty arm. The eerie sounds of beeping and pumping were heard nearby coming from a complex machine that seemed to be hooked up into my arms and legs. Looking down at my body I saw that my chest had been splayed open with wires attached to the bed. Huh? I always thought me and all of those corpses similar to my breed were entirely comprised of flesh. Instead what I saw was a grouping of internal organs that were not all flesh. My beating heart, my liver and my spleen were fused with metal containing gauges and sensors. The hole left from the cannon shell was nowhere to be seen, patched up with stitches. My ribs were bars of steel rather then bone. My insides were on full display but I could not comprehend what I was seeing. Even my wrists and ankles were strapped to this bed by metal cuffs. I'm... Really not all flesh and skin?

No. That can't be right. Surely this is just a dream. I remember being shot by the automaton then losing consciousness. Perhaps I really am dead and this is some kind of Hell I've found myself in. But why? I tried closing my eyes. I couldn't enter a state of sleep. It seems I was trapped here, still unable to move. All I did was keep my eyes closed and wished for real death. End me now and take me away from this place.

The author's narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

Hearing the faint sound of a door opening shot my eyes open. I titled my head down. What the hell was that? Entering the room was an individual that shared a similar husk to mine. Another humanoid? No. This one looked... 'Modified.' It's mechanized legs creaked when it walked. It had two normal, fleshy arms and two mechanical arms protruding from its back. A sickly red tube connected the mask over the lower half of its face to a device infused on it's chest. Metal covered most of its chest except for a split down the middle revealing pale skin. Its hands were cupped together. On the mechanical arms were a pincer and a small curved blade. Over its left eye was a long, scoped monocle. The red right eye was gazing at me. It got closer until it lurched over me, bending down to get a closer look at me before studying my insides. It tapped a finger on its chin. I wish I could ask what it was doing with me. All I could do was lay there and observe. The cyborg then fiddled with the machine I was hooked up to. It continued to study me for a moment. Then... It got close to my face. I could hear its breathing through the mask.

"You are the one."

It murmured. I was the one? Before I knew it, the cyborgs' blade came down and started cutting into me. Strangely enough, I felt no pain. All feeling was numb. Once the bloodied blade came up, the pincers lowered and grabbed a hold of my liver, tearing it out of my body. Thin wires and a skin tube dripping blood hung from the severed organ. It was torn up, matted and damaged. Was that where I was shot? The cyborg tossed the tattered organ down. From the sound I heard, it landed in a metal tray on the floor. It got up and left my line of sight. I heard something open up followed with a puff of steam. It returned to my side, holding a metal case. It set the case on the table and opened it up, pulling out a fresh organ from inside the frosted box. I only watched in awe as this cyborg reinstalled this organ into my system with nimble finger-work and careful precision. When the liver was reattached, the cyborg wiped its brow and began removing the wires holding my flesh open. It was resealing my chest...

Stitching the flapping skin together, I was finally finished from the looks of it. My internal organs were no longer exposed and my flesh was mended together fully. Afterwards, I was disconnected from the machine. No more tubes, wires or cuffs. The cyborg went behind me and lifted my back up. My limbs were moving now. All feeling had returned to my body. I examined my hands, clenching and expanding my fingers. But these hands. These legs. This body... It's truly made of machine and flesh. I couldn't believe it. From all I can remember the moment I awakened from that pod I was led to believe that my husk was entirely of tissue and bone... The cyborg walked over to the front of the table to face me.

"Come."

I just nodded. This one clearly was not hostile. So I followed its order. I swung my legs off the table and stood up. My mind was still wracking with these thoughts troubling me but I still obeyed this mysterious figure leading me out of the dark room.

There were other rooms similar to the one I was in. Each one contained the same operating tables, machines, lanterns and cabinets. Corpses lay on every table completely lifeless. Tubes filtering crimson fluids to storage tanks lined the industrial walls. We came to a three-way division in the hallway. The cyborg led me down the middle as the other two hallways were sealed off with locked doors. It took me to an elevator, motioning for me to step in first. So I did. Once inside, it pulled the lever and we began ascending.

We arrived on the desired floor. This elevator felt like a cage. The iron bars slid open so we could exit and carry on. A single long corridor lay ahead with stairs at the end going up. The windows were long and extended far enough to cover most of the hallway. Glancing outside, I could see the dead city below us. We were very high up in the skies. The cyborg led me up the stairs. It stopped once we reached a door. A complex device with a keypad was next to the door. It held a finger up as it typed a series of numbers on the device until the door slid open.

This was a chamber. A large room at what felt like the very top of this tower we were inside of. Strings of sinew intertwined with various wires covered the walls in here. Screens were plastered all around us. Already grappling with these existential thoughts plaguing me, a sense of dread loomed when I laid my eyes upon what was at the center of this chamber. A huge, circular machine laden with gauges, steam pipes, gears and canisters filled with blood. The base of it was connected to all of the cords and sinew strung about the walls. What's worse is that this machine was housing a terrifying creature I was desperately trying to comprehend even existing...