Erin looked out the window as five figures split from the armored man. Two were still left with him, but they didn't look ready to fight. Gary watched them leave below, balancing his giant sword on his shoulder but otherwise unmoving. Erin had no idea what was going on, but she knew there was about to be a fight. And she didn't want to be involved.

"Go get him, Gary!" Runa yelled from next to Erin as she leaned at the window.

"Runa!" Firril tried to pull the old woman away, but she seemed possessed. "You have to get away from there!"

"Not while Gary's going to give him a thrashing. That petty prince deserves every lick! I should have bent him over my knee a thousand times when he was a child!"

Erin raised an eyebrow as she started to back away.

"Runa!" Firril pulled at the woman, albeit gently. "Gary's in danger, and so are you. We need to leave while he buys us time."

"What?" Runa turned, her eyes empty as she searched the room. "Is that M.A.R.I.?"

A pain tugged at Erin's stomach as she saw the woman reset again. She was out of her mind, her thoughts taken by the dementia of her age. Erin's back hit a bookshelf, and she nearly fell over. Mari watched her with blue eyes as she righted herself and took a deep breath.

"Erin," Mari whispered, walking over to her and taking her hand. "Can you help?"

Erin froze, looking into Mari's large blue eyes as her heart clenched tight. She wanted to get out of there. She could get Alex, and they could deactivate the towers and hop on the ship to run. There was no need to get involved in a fight against some random man down below. Sure, she had gotten involved in a few fights, but that didn't mean she wanted to rush into one.

The gate in her chest writhed and shook, calling for her to open it and draw in more aether to fuel its power. It wasn't the first time that Erin felt like the gate had a will of its own. On Glory Plateau, it had called her to action. On Cragg Hollow, it made her want to fight.

"I can't," Erin said, kneeling to be at eye level with Mari. "Gary can handle him. We need to get everyone out of here."

Mari's blue eyes flickered with static as she tilted her head and stared at Erin. Despite how inhuman Mari's features could seem, she still had a face beyond her large blue eyes, and she frowned at Erin. Erin grimaced.

"But you're all heroes, right?" Mari asked. "Sayed told me the stories. You save people when they need help. That's what you all do."

Erin wanted to correct her. Sayed certainly saw himself as a hero. Although Alex usually acted in his own interests, he might be seen as a hero. Jean was in fights for his own interests as well. Erin only went into a fight when there was no choice. She would rather sneak away than go face-to-face with anyone and risk her life. Without the others dragging her into their conflicts, she would do anything but fight.

She was no hero.

"The mission comes first," she whispered, the words tasting foul as she said them.

To Erin, the small fights were largely irrelevant. Getting to the ship and getting the rest of the group off the island was more important. As soon as the barrier was down, she could pilot Roald's ship and pick up the rest of the group. They could get off the island without having to worry about any fights. Beyond survival, there was no point in fighting the people sent after the group.

"We need to get out of here," Erin said, tugging on Mari's arm.

"But what about Gary?"

"Gary isn't a person!" Erin said, and Mari froze.

All eyes in the room focused on Erin. Firril's eyes locked on her. Mari's blue light reflected on her skin. Runa's jaw dropped, and a look of shock crossed her face. Erin frowned. It was like she had detonated a bomb in the room.

"You'd just leave him to die," Firril said, her voice warbling. "Because he isn't a human?"

"Who says he's going to die?" Erin stood up. "Do you think that man is that strong?"

"I don't know," Firril said. "But I know he's going to fight. He's risking himself down there for us."

"Which is why we should run to the ship. Everyone should have flipped the switches in the towers by now. We can get in the ship and get them out of here."

"Which leaves Gary behind." Firril let go of Runa and rose from the bed, her body hissing with steam as she stepped toward Erin with robotic movements. "I will not abandon him."

The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

"Sometimes you have to abandon a person for a mission."

"So Gary's a person now when it's convenient for you?"

"No," Erin whispered, her ears radiating heat as she looked down. "I just—I just want to make sure we can escape. We shouldn't be taking fights we don't have to."

"It's too late for that," Runa whispered. "The fight is on your doorstep. Will you abandon your home or stand and save it?"

Erin closed her eyes tight to force away the headache that was trying to form. The gate in her chest strained against its restraints. It wanted to open. It wanted her to use its power. Erin knew that this wasn't her home. Runa was just talking about her own perspective, but she understood. Her body wanted to fight, even if her mind fought against it.

"Erin."

Erin opened her eyes and saw Mari staring up into her own.

"Am I a person, or am I just a machine? Would you leave me to die if it meant everyone else could escape?"

Erin's heart skipped a beat as those blue eyes looked into her own. Mari hadn't been with them long, but she was like a little sister. While her body had many doll-like features, Erin couldn't help but see her as a person. She thought of the two automatons. Was she more willing to think less of them because they didn't look human?

"No, Mari," Erin said. "I wouldn't."

Her heart seemed to beat again when she said those words. She hadn't thought about them, but they felt right. She wouldn't leave Mari behind. Even if—even if the revolution gave her orders otherwise. That thought was less certain in her mind. The foundations of it were shaky.

She took in a deep breath. The man was just in armor. He couldn't be that hard to fight. She had fought with an ex-Apostle on Glory Plateau and beaten a crazy mutated crab doctor on Cragg Hollow. She wasn't weak. She could handle him.

"We'll run if there's trouble," Erin whispered, pointing to Mari before drawing a line to both of her eyes. "We're not going to stay in an unwinnable fight."

"Yay!" Mari threw her arms up before falling back onto the floor.

Erin shook her head. She opened her gate, headed through the door, and left all of them behind. The second the door closed behind her, she regretted everything she said. Erin knew she didn't want to fight, but she also knew that she would be okay. It didn't change that her first gut reaction was to cut and run.

Erin opened her gate as she walked, embracing the power of growth inside her chest. Power writhed and twisted through her arms and legs like growing roots and branches of a tree. Her fingers and toes tingled as she drew more aether into her body. Even her skin began to itch, and she knew that plants would be budding out beneath her clothes and forming into small multi-colored stems. She was ready for a fight when she stepped through the doors, down the stairs, and into the park.

The armored man stood before Gary. Gary held his sword in both hands, pointing it forward as they faced off. The man in golden armor didn't have a weapon on his person. In Erin's eyes, he was about to lose against Gary unless he had some tricks up his sleeve. She approached but kept quiet. Only the two men who stood away from the man in armor noticed her, and they did nothing but watch.

"You will fall today, machine," the man said. "I, the great King Bibi, will restore you to your rightful place."

"I'm a man," Gary said. "You may be the lord of this island, but if you can't recognize flesh from steel, you don't deserve the title."

Bibi's face grew red at the words, and he held up one arm toward the automaton. "I won't be cowed by some machine!"

Click.

A panel opened on his arm, and a long barrel shot out from it, pointing directly at Gary. Erin had a moment to recognize it as a gun. Gary didn't flinch. He charged forward, swinging his sword in a wide arc and down on Bibi.

Bang. Ting.

A ringing sound shook Gary, and he froze on the spot. Smoke rose out from the barrel of the gun, and Bibi smiled. His ears still burned with anger, but he began to laugh. Erin froze on the spot as she watched Gary. He was as still as a statue, his sword mid-swing.

Hiss.

A line of steam shot out from his chest, shooting out and into vapor as he stood frozen.

"A machine, through and through until the end." Bibi began to laugh. "Machines should know their place. They are the servants. They are the worker. They should follow orders and think of nothing else!"

"Stone and Fury," a warbled electronic voice escaped Gary's blank face. "Will you just shut up!"

Clank. Crack.

Gary's body twisted, swinging the sword forward despite the internal damage. The long blade clanged into Bibi, not with much force, but with enough to send the man falling to the side in his armor. Bibi gasped as he fell, landing on his side in the dirt.

Thump.

The large sword fell out of Gary's hand as he collapsed to the ground, grasping at his side as he knelt on one knee. Erin hesitated before running forward, placing a hand on Gary's shoulder as he shook from the steam releasing from his body.

"I've been hit bad," Gary said. "I think I'm bleeding out."

Erin wasn't sure what to say. He was clearly only leaking steam, but it did look serious. Her abilities were only good for living tissue, so she couldn't simply accelerate his body's growth. However, she wasn't sure how to break it to him.

"Hang on," Erin said as she watched Bibi stand again, his face burning a bright red all the way to his nose.

"I will not stand for this mockery!" Bibi yelled, bringing his barrel to bear again.

"Vine Whip!" Erin lashed out with her arm, a green vine sprouting from her skin and shooting toward Bibi.

Thwap.

With a solid hit, her vine wrapped around Bibi's arm, closing the hinge around the barrel and pulling Bibi closer. The attack nearly threw Erin off her balance, and the weight of the armor pulled against her more than she expected.

On the island of Nowhere in Death's Yard, her curse had evolved to the next stage. She hadn't been able to use it in a fight yet, so she wasn't used to it. Instead of needing to rely on seeds she carried around with her, her body was now a garden. Any seed she consumed, she could grow plants based on it. There was more to it, and she was certain she could even modify the plants she took in, but she had yet to get a chance to really experiment with them.

"A parlor trick," Bibi said, holding up his other arm.

Click. Fwoosh.

A line of fire shot out of the arm, cutting through Erin's vine and sent it falling limply to the ground below in a blackened mass. With another lick, the panel closed as Bibi rose to his full height in front of her. The fight was far from over.

"Another trespasser to take care of," Bibi sighed. "You're truly all like roaches."