Every city and state has different requirements for shelters. Some need to be inspected regularly, others expect their citizens to maintain the structures, and there’s even a few that consider a windowless room with a solid door good enough. At the end of the day you’re responsible for your own protection, so make sure you choose a building with the right protection. Let me show you some options…

-Les Shroud, Shroud Real Estate.

—

I found that Emily and the squad had spread out, and were providing overwatch when Skyler and I stepped out of the shelter. “Everything good?” the commander asked, without directly looking at me.

“According to the manager they managed to evacuate all the guests to the shelters before they lost power,” I replied, leaning down to help Skyler disconnect the power cables from her bot. “Unfortunately they also lost contact with the other two locations, so we probably still need to check on them.”

“What about the androids?” Bulldog grunted.

“The manager can’t do anything about the androids without power, they’ll only respond to commands from the local network,” Skyler replied, “which means we’ll have to continue dealing with the androids.”

“Wonderful,” the big man whispered quietly.

“Not exactly the best news, but we’ll deal with it,” Emily growled, shooting Bulldog a look. “So what’s next?”

I pulled up the park map in my augs. Instead of a basic road layout, like I expected, I got a colorful, cartoony version of the park.

[Artymis, what is this?]

Since Nimbleland is private property, the only publicly available map is the official visitor map.

[And what if I wanted something that wasn’t covered in cartoon squirrels?]

I can clean it up a little bit, but if you wanted a complete layout of the private areas, I’d need to pull that Nimbletainment’s servers, and I can’t give you that information unless you invest in the proper catalog.

[I don’t think it's worth resorting to corporate espionage for a slightly different map. Just clean it up please.]

Got it, check your file again.

I swapped back to the map, and found the thing much more legible this time. The next closest shelter was at the back of the park, hidden behind the show stage. The android stage show. I glanced over at Skyler, then shot her a copy of the map.

“We need to head to the east, right to the back of the park. This map only shows the public paths, but it looks like we may be able to use these back roads to skirt the perimeter,” I said pointing down a service road that followed the back of the arcade, before disappearing into the darkness. “We might want to avoid the public areas, less chance to run into rogue androids that way.”

“Plus, it seems like it’s a fairly straight road, so it’ll be easier for Howie to work,” Skyler added.

“You say that, but all those androids were standing out here, in the backlot,” Steve said, “they may be stalking the back areas too.”

“If they are, we’ll deal with them. I’d rather take a fairly straight path, then be stuck in the maze of rides and games out front. This visitor map looks like a labyrinth, probably meant to keep people in the park as long as possible,” Skyler replied.

“We’ll do whatever you two decide, you’re in charge after all,” Emily reported.

Skyler and I exchanged a quick glance. “Then we’re taking these backroutes,” I announced, before heading towards the narrow passage. As I walked down the road I couldn’t help but notice how different the back area of the park was. Instead of the colorful facades, the entire place looked like a row of plain concrete warehouses. The road was lined with loading docks, and not much else. I guess this must have been how they got supplies into the various attractions.

Unauthorized use of content: if you find this story on Amazon, report the violation.

Despite occasionally getting a whiff of smoke, from what I could only assume was another antithesis pyre, and hearing movement within the various buildings we passed, nothing came out to challenge us.

“Why is it so quiet back here?” Ratchet whispered.

“The manager said he was using the androids to help evacuate people, but they’re probably programmed to avoid this area normally,” Skyler replied quietly. “There are no guests to entertain back here after all.”

“And the antithesis?” Ratched asked.

“Hopefully they were wiped out by the droids,” I answered.

As we approached the back corner of the park the road opened up. There was a small, unadorned gate through the wall, a moderate parking lot, and a decent sized warehouse. Possibly the employee entrance, or where the park brought supplies. Maybe both.

I paused at the entrance, scanning the area. Since the area was mostly full, there were a lot of blind spots. I didn’t see any movement, but I could see that the warehouse had been completely ripped open. Something big had torn right through one of the metal garage doors, folding the edges inward. I just pointed silently.

Emily made a couple quick hand signals, and the team split up, eyes locked on the broken door, but they didn’t advance. They were waiting for me.

{Rei: If I can lure whatever’s in there out, can Howie take care of it?}

{Sky: Absolutely, but don’t do anything stupid. If you run up there, you might get caught in the blast. Howie is more of a ‘To whom it may concern’ than direct delivery.}

{Rei: Right. I’m sure I can figure out a way to poke the nest without sticking my nose right inside. Gimme a minute}

I stared across the lot, trying to determine the best way to attract attention. Maybe I could set off some car alarms? I reached for my bow.

Are you really going to fire randomly at cars to maybe trigger an alarm?

I paused. [Maybe? How did you know? Are you reading my mind?]

No, I’m extrapolating. I have access to nearly every data point about you ever created, and I have more processing power than your entire planet, trillions of times over. It seemed like something you’d do.

[So you have a better idea?]

You could just get a noise maker arrow. Not only will it be more reliable, but I can optimize it to aggravate the antithesis. All you need to do is ask.

I noticed Skyler glance in my direction; I guess I’d stopped moving for longer than originally planned. [Fine. That does seem like a better choice. Put one in my quiver. We’ll give it a try.]

There was a subtle shift of weight on my side, and when I looked down into my quiver, I noticed a very different arrow sitting there. It was slightly thicker than my other ammunition, and the head was a blocky rectangular shape. It wasn’t super heavy, just awkward.

After inspecting the thing for a few seconds and getting the weight of it, I fit it in my bow, aimed for the breach, and let it fly. I expected it to let out a screech as it flew, but the arrow was silent until it hit the ground. Then all hell broke loose.

The machine let out such a wail that everyone in the team flinched. The sonic shock broke several windows in the surrounding cars, causing their alarms to go off, adding to the cacophony, and, most importantly, it caused whatever was in the warehouse to stir.

A handful of Threes poked their heads out first, eager to identify the offending noise, but what followed them out was something beyond anything I’d seen before. It was a six-legged behemoth, the size of a bus. Its squat head slowly moved back and forth, looking over the lot before it trundled out of the hole, which it barely squeezed through. Unlike the smaller models, this one had a series of heavy overlapping plates along its back. It looked like a tank.

Model Twelve, heavily armored transport unit. Don’t let that fool you, though, it can easily crush small vehicles with its mass.

I only had enough time to open my augs to respond when Skyler whispered, “Sequential fire, armor piercing, don’t stop until it’s dead.” Howie instantly opened up, not with all six rounds, but one tube after another, creating a constant unending barrage.

The Twelve had slowly shuffled over to the lure, eager to investigate, when the first round connected. A massive explosion lit the surrounding lot and cracked the alien’s carapace but didn’t penetrate. The titan just had enough time to look around and identify where we were standing before the second round hit and shattered one of the plates. The smaller models rushed across the lot in a vain attempt to save their larger cousin, but they were easily cut down by rifle fire before they got close.

My eyes were locked on the Twelve. Each consecutive mortar dug deeper into the creature, blowing off pieces and pulping its insides. The creatures tried to move away, but each round hit exactly where it needed to. When the sixth round hit, it penetrated through the bottom of the monster into the road below, blowing the Twelve in half. It was only then that the creature lay still.

“Hold fire!” Skyler ordered.

I wasn’t sure if my sword would have been able to cause any damage to that thing, but Skyler’s bot had finished the thing in less than five seconds. I turned and stared at her.

Skyler smirked. “Don’t underestimate the power of heavy artillery.”