The security vehicles overhead were following TO as closely as they could. They couldn’t maneuver into the narrow alleys thankfully, but they hovered overhead, waiting for their opportunity to intercept the rogue spider-bot. TO could have lost them easily if they turned off the communicator, broke it, or got Vik to disable the signals coming from it on their end, but that wouldn’t work long term. No, for their plan to work TO needed the signal to keep broadcasting.
That meant they had to put up with the vehicles overhead. There were six that they could see, but TO was certain that there were more nearby.
“Careful up ahead.” Vik said, “My drones don’t show it, but according to the street-cams they’re planning a blockade up ahead at the next major road.”
“Was I being that predictable?” TO asked as they checked their map. Vik had already marked the blockade with a red dot just a little further ahead.
“If you turn here, you can redirect-”
“If I redirect now, they’ll reposition.” TO said. They checked Pearla’s location again, watching the little red dot moving along with the transport that carried her and the other bodies. “The building to my left, just before the main road; what is it?”
“Records office.”
“They should have a fire alarm, can you-”
“On it.” Vik said. “Oh, and some good news as well.”
As TO got closer to the exit to the main road, they could see the vehicles waiting for them; the shiny black exteriors and tinted windows hovering as the spider-bot came into range. A small panel opened on the bottom of the vehicles and a silver laser came out, its sheen such a contrast to the dull black metal.
“What’s the good news?” TO asked as they maneuvered the spider bot off the ground and up the wall of the building.
“Well, once you took off, I sent word to Tham about the situation. They directed Leanaran not to go back into the waterway. They sealed up the exit and they’re heading through the underground to our little home here.”
“Good.” TO said. The lasers were preparing to fire; the first blast on these larger lasers always took a bit of a warmup, and TO hoped to be in position by the time they were ready. “How’s Mira?”
“Oh, the ink fucked her eyes for the day.” Vik said, “Goretta said that she can treat her once she gets back, and she’ll be fine in a couple of days, but she’s out of commission for the rest of the day.”
“She’ll be alright through?” TO asked as they scurried up the wall.
“She should be.” Vik said, “That was some nasty shit Outis shot out at her though.”
TO’s ears pinned back, their teeth grit. They had hoped that Outis had been hiding in the cracks in the water, and that Leanaran would just find them and draw them out once he came back. While they still didn’t want to think about anyone getting trapped in the water cleaning system, the idea of Outis free to report to Gyrini about what they were doing left a particular lump of dread in their stomach.
Still, they had to leave. They had to keep Pearla safe.
Just seconds before the lasers fired, TO stopped the spider-bots' ascent up the building, released its grasp on the wall, and let it fall down several meters. The lasers still fired, six heavy shots landing where the bot had been just a second before and creating a large hole in the wall.
The lasers were not part of TO’s plan. They hadn’t been sure they would open fire in the city and risk more damage, but apparently they would. Had they evacuated the building ahead of time, had they noted the alarm, or did they just not care that there might be civilians inside the building. Well, whatever the case the destruction worked for TO on this day. They guided the bot up the wall of the opposite building, zigzagging about to avoid further laser fire until they were in position to jump into the newly created hole.
The trick to avoiding fire in these kinds of situations was simple. Your attacker, if they were competent, would fire at the place the bot would be, not where it was. If one kept this in mind, then the way to avoid fire was simple; don’t be where you look like you’re going to be. While this did often result in a relatively chaotic movement pattern it would disorient the enemy. The hardest part about this was to not fall into a pattern. If you kept veering right when you seemed like you’d go straight, then your attacker would just adjust to that in seconds if they were competent. No, the trick was to not fall into a pattern, to keep the movements sporadic.Occassionally, it was a good idea to move in exactly the direction you seem like you might, just to keep the enemy guessing once they’ve varied their shots.
The necessity of chaos and randomness in this was difficult for bots and Ai to replicate, or track. It was also difficult for many of the normal synths to maintain. Thankfully, for TO and their friends it had been much easier so long as they focused a little.
Once in position, they jumped across the narrow space between buildings, landing the large spider-bot into the empty office which the laser shots had opened up. The alarm had triggered a deluge of flame retardant chemicals to rain down from overhead. That, along with the blaring of alarms and the flashing red lights would have left TO completely disoriented but the bot blissfully dulled the sounds, protected TO from the water, and even filtered out the worst of the flashing lights.
“They’re going to the other side of the building.” Vik said, “And setting up security at the other sides-”
“Good.” TO said as they turned around and lunged right back out of the hole they had just entered, scurried up the building, and made their way to the main road. Luck was with them as they left the safety of the alleyway as a large transport made its way up the road. With careful timing, TO could leap from the walls and grasp the side of the transport just as it passed by.
“Is this transport driven manually or-”
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“Ai.” Vik said, “I’m checking and getting control through your chip. Increasing its speed and heading to Pearla. Also, they’re coming at you again.”
TO moved the bot to the front of the vehicle so that if the security vehicles were to shoot at them again, they’d at least have the large transport between them.
“How fast can this go?” TO asked, checking the dots on the map, calculating based on speed and positioning where everything was and would be.
“Not overly fast.” Vik admitted, “Not as fast as those security vehicles, but I can at least get you some time and help you cover some distance-”
TO did the math quickly in their head, calculating angles and acceleration, making their best guess what variables they’d have to deal with. “Increase vehicle incline by seventy-degrees, increase speed to one-seventy mph.”
“I can only go to one-fifty-five.”
“Not if you drop the load the vehicle is carrying.”
There was a moment of silence on the line, then the vehicle shifted as it released the transport crate it dragged behind them. Now that it was front heavy, it nearly spun forward into circles, but Vik was quick to adjust the vehicle balance and increase the speed.
They were just reaching their speed when something hit them. A laser blast struck through the vehicle, cut through the cockpit, and struck off the heavy, reinforced metal of the spider-bot. Alarms went off, and a warning that many functions were now offline flashed on a different screen before TO. A brief check told TO that they’d be fine despite the damage. They could still move, still climb, and still jump. Some useful features were now offline, but that wasn’t a concern for TO anymore.
Another shot. This one penetrated the metal and hit something on the inside. The systems warned of a fuel leak. Thankfully, the bot still had an electric battery. TO set the bot in energy conservation mode, and the many lights and readings from all around went dark. If it weren’t for the windshield before them and the video from their chip, they’d be in darkness.
“How many more shots do you think you can take?” Vik asked.
“None.” TO said. That was fine, they didn’t need to take any more shots. “Increase angle to eighty-five degrees.”
The transport took a sudden turn upwards. TO released the bot’s grip on the transport and let the trajectory of the transport and all the speed behind it throw the spider-bot in an arch towards an intersection. Their keen eyes watched the road, the seconds drawing out as they looked, hoped they were right, hoped that their math was right.
It was.
The transport carrying the bodies collided with TO, spiraling off course and into a nearby building. This building seemed to be some kind of storage facility, and as soon as TO and the transport crashed through the wall more alarms went off, more chemicals poured from overhead.
“End the alarms.” TO ordered, “And open the transport for me.”
There was no response, just action. Good, that was what TO wanted. They rushed ahead to the now open transport and grabbed the first body bag there. While the cargo was supposed to be non-living, someone had strapped all the contents down to prevent unfortunate shifting and colliding in transport, so despite the crash Pearla was still alright.
TO opened the door to the Spider-bot and jumped out. They didn't have long before the security vehicles caught up, so they grabbed Pearla, still in the bag, and tried to pull her towards the spider-bot.
She was too heavy. TO had forgotten how heavy a Nagarajin could be with their tails of solid muscle. They needed a new plan, or a quick way to get her into the bot.
“Vik, use the claws. Get Pearla to the door.” TO said as they gently laid Pearla down on the ground and rushed back to the bot. Again, no response, just action as the bot pinched the bag with one of its powerful claws and lifted Pearla up. Once it was close enough, TO could pull her into the Spider-bot and position her so that she was safe before taking their seat again.
“Alright.” They said they got the spider-bot up again, moving out of the way just before another laser hit the spot where TO had been, cutting a hole through the transport. They scurried back into the narrow alleys of nearby buildings and continued in the rough direction of the interior of Okoia.
“Vik, get me directions to The Cabin.”
“... You mean the bar?” Vik asked, “Why the Bar-”
“Just do it.” TO said as they eyed the security vehicle above. They stopped in their tracks just before it fired, the laser striking the ground behind them, then TO hurried off again.
“Alright, understood.” Vik said. Pearla’s dot disappeared, and another lit up on the projection from their chip, this one further towards the interior.
TO had Pearla, and everyone else was safe underground. They were almost done.
“Alright.” They said they got the spiderbot up again, moving out of the way just before another laser hit the spot where TO had been, cutting a hole through the transport. They scurried back into the narrow alleys of nearby buildings and continued in the rough direction of the interior of Okoia.
“Vik, get me directions to The Cabin.”
“... You mean the bar?” Vik asked, “Why the Bar-”
“Just do it.” TO said as they eyed the security vehicle above. They stopped in their tracks just before it fired, the laser striking the ground behind them, then TO hurried off again.
“Alright, understood.” Vik said. Pearla’s dot disappeared, and another lit up on the projection from their chip, this one further towards the interior.
TO had Pearla, and everyone else was safe underground. They were almost done.