It was dark, as it usually was at night.

“Wow! It sure is dark tonight!” one security guard said to the other.

“That is very true my companion!”

They chuckled, for some reason, and went back to trading cryptocurrency on their phones. While talking, they failed to notice four drones flying above them. They were not necessarily to blame, as these were not ordinary drones. The drones had noise dampening motors, and reflective underside paint coatings. Moving silently, the drones traveled over to the roof of the one story building that was being guarded. Hovering a foot off the ground, three drones dropped a metal canister that each landed with a light thud.

The canisters hissed softly, and a series of latches undid themselves. Viscous gel started to pour out, and its volume started expanding. The canisters reshaped themselves, forming a metal spinal column and rib cage. Delicate circuitry was etched in and around the metal. The gel formed onto the metal, then pushed outwards to create a head and limbs. After thirty seconds or so, three full sized humanoids had fully formed, made from the gel surrounding the metal spine. Each humanoid was not identical. A keen observer would notice circuitry focused in different areas. One had more wires in its chest. Another in its hands.

They were at a MOO substation, and their mission was to access a computer that was preparing to make a transmission. The building appeared to be a small warehouse, but they knew that it had a hidden basement floor. The computer was in this basement. The first humanoid, code named ‘Pride’, picked up a handgun attached to its drone. The second, ‘Cete’, picked up a small machine pistol. The third, ‘Murder’, went over to the roof door, and started gaining access to the electronic lock. Murder’s fingers melded with the lock, and they directly started interfacing with it. After thirty three seconds, Murder got the door open. The three went over, while Pride picked up the fourth as yet unopened, significantly larger canister, and attached it to their metal belt before entering.

They walked down the talls rows of raw materials. This floor had less security than the basement. Soon, they found an ideal place to hide in the form of an employee break room. Inside was a lone worker, who was mixing coffee, honey, energy drink, and crushed ibuprofen together in something he called the ‘Heart Attack Nightcap’. His late night concoction was interrupted by the gelatinous group rushing him, and quickly restraining his limbs. Murder put their hand over the mouth of the frightened worker, and the anesthetic they secreted had the man unconscious in under 10 seconds. It was the best sleep he had had in weeks.

Cleverly putting an ‘Out of Order’ sign on the outside of the break room, the three were able to calmly remain undisturbed while they waited for their distraction. To communicate, the particularly purposeful posse didn’t need to actually speak. They could talk to each other with a rapid series of clicks, flashing lights, or even short range radio communication. No that they were in, the three needed to wait until their distraction showed itself.

The time was spent rapidly talking about the objects in the room. They had all seen a microwave before, as Dr. Zoonbas often used one to heat up instant ramen during his late night sciencing. The same was true for the coffee pot. What they hadn't seen before was a vending machine. Reading the colorful packaging with promises of low calorie salty snacks was a novel experience for them. They theoretically knew how a vending machine worked, so Cete took several bills from the unconscious man’s wallet and fed them into it. Murder input a code, and with a soft whirring, a package of fruit snacks fell into the tray. Cete clapped politely. Murder opened the package and distributed the snacks. Placing the snacks somewhere on their surface membrane, each dissolved the morsels and gained four and a half seconds of operational nutrition.

Finally, the distraction occurred. A faint explosion was heard somewhere near the center of the city. Cete removed and stuck one of their visual sensors to the outside of the door. Within five minutes, a conveniently placed stack of wooden pallets swung open like a door, revealing a hidden elevator, from which emerged six MOO guards. The guards went outside and drove off. With the path clear, the group left their hiding sport and went over to the pallets. Murder interacted with the hidden elevator, and gained them access to the basement.

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The basement was full of surveillance rooms that monitored different processes in and around the city. The far wall had a line of computer banks that would be sufficient for their goal. Creeping over, Pride and Cete kept lookout while Murder went to work. Various lights blinked inside Murder’s body, and they clicked to themselves. Cete looked nervous, drumming their fingers against the side of their leg. Murder pulled back her fingers, signaling to the others that she had the information. At that point, a blaring alarm went off. Murder had failed to avoid some invisible failsafe from the computer.

From around the corner a group of guards emerged and started shooting. Small arms fire was largely ineffective against the gel composition of the group’s body. The bullets that didn’t bounce off only pierced an inch or less into the gel, far from delicate circuitry. Cete returned fire with their machine fire. Small shields extended from the arms of the guards in front. The firefight continued, adding many holes to the hallway that would probably reduce the property value.

Two additional guards arrived. One had a comically large sniper rifle, and the other sported a sleek black crossbow. The crossbow guard eyed the sniper rifle, as if wishing he could have a comically large weapon too. Pride, Cete, and Murder ran back towards the elevator. The elevator opened up. The four guards patrolling outside had come inside, forming a pincer. They opened fire, peppering the group with more bullets.

From a box held by another guard, the sniper rifle guard took out various random objects. A clock. A wind up toy. A heating vent. Some batteries. The things were not weapon attachments, but she somehow attached them to her weapon just fine, causing her rifle to grow in size. An electric mixer. A pair of water goggles. A bottle of perfume. The crossbow guard, not wanting to be outdone, took an extension off of his back, and added it to his weapon. The crossbow doubled in size. The rifle guard added more objects. A small television. A ring of keys. A magnet. At this point, the crossbow guard was distraught with how small his weapon was, and decided that he should have a good cry later.

The guard with the sniper rifle steadied her gun on the shoulder of the guard in front of them. With a thundering blast, the rifle fired, releasing a shockwave and making the guard whose shoulder it was on wish he had earplugs. The bullet cut straight through Cete’s spine with as much resistance as a snowman against a lightsaber. With their electrical signal disrupted, Cete’s legs immediately disintegrated into liquid, and they fell to the floor. Cete sprayed wildly with their machine pistol at the guards behind them, while the guard with the crossbow fired a bolt. The bolt whizzed through the air embedding itself in Cete’s exposed spine. Sparks flew up, and Cete’s arms stopped working.

Pride let off a few suppressing shots from their handgun, while they lifted the metal canister from their belt. Pride unlocked the canister, and lobbed it. Code name ‘Herd’ was much larger than the other three of the group. Their gel also was a different chemical composition, causing them to explosively form after only a few seconds. Having been listening the whole time, and aware of the situation, Herd barrelled into two guards running towards them. They raised their massive fist, slamming down. Herd picked up Murder like a football, and barrelled through the other two guards like a ‘roided up linebacker. Murder looked a little bit irate being held the way they were, but they diligantly started unlocking the elevator.

At this point, getting Murder out was the priority. Instructions dictated that they should abandon Cete. Dr. Zoonbas had designed the four of them with a self-destruct system. On risk of capture, their semi-solid structure would turn highly acidic, becoming more liquid and melting their internal circuitry. None of the proprietary tech secrets that made them would fall into enemy hands. Pride knew this, but they still felt that allowing this was not the correct course of action. Some part, deep inside them, was uneasy at the thought. So, Pride decided that it would take too long to determine if Cete’s self-destruct system was functional, and that, logically, they should save Cete to prevent their capture. Through the gunfire, Pride performed a handspring and landed next to Cete. They took what was left of Cete’s spine, and held onto it by sticking it into their membrane near their chest.

The guard with the sniper rifle readied and fired another shot. The shot pierced Pride’s spine in the same location that Cete was hit. Several important clusters of metal were ruined by the shot. Instead of losing their legs, Pride’s arms lost cohesion, becoming a liquid that splashed onto the ground. Seeing how Cete had fallen, Pride had shifted around their internal circuitry to control different limbs. Having lost some of their coordination to the damage, Pride staggered, but stayed on their feet. They waddled quickly to the elevator door, like a newborn trying to run on two legs. Murder got the elevator working, while Pride carrying Cete stepped inside. The guards ran up just as the doors closed in their face. Taking a brief moment to rest, the group made it back to the ground floor. Whatever alternate path the guards took to escape the bottom floor, it was slower than the elevator. Herd was nice enough to carry everyone under their massive arms, and the group was able to run out the front door of the warehouse into the night.