Season 3: Chapter 90: Machine Spirit
“3-5-8-3-7-0-7-8-2-5,” I mumbled, moving through the ambient light of the alert sirens as I went over the plan with Lhikan and the other paladins.
The plan was to access the control room, a location hidden deep within the Dectus highway to lift the security measures. To get there, we would use the maintenance tunnel we were currently in to find the staging room hall before we entered into the living quarters and then towards Control.
At best, I only had a few more minutes of lucidity left to me, a few moments before my mind was clouded by the dark haze once more.
“3-5-8-3-7-0-7-8-2-5,” I mumbled again, turning to Lhikan. “Everyone remember the passcode?”
“3-5-8-3-7-0-7-8-2-5,” Lhikan replied verbatim, the paladin nearest to me repeating the string of numbers as we stopped at a nearby door.
“Good,” I said, a burden lifted off of my shoulders.
There was also the issue of Tipsy and Ayaka missing, the two most troublesome of my group somehow finding an opportunity to disappear during the chaos.
At the very least, my skills still worked, but without my dungeon set up, reaching out and feeling my minions was proving a bit difficult.
Punching in the code, the door opened with a swish, revealing a massive chamber twice the size of the Demon Lord's throne room.
I went first obviously, scanning the staging area filled with metallic crates, barrels, and war machines used for the battle against the Demon Lord Barbaros.
Lined up neatly in various bays illuminated by red sirens were catapults, trebuchets, cannons, and some metallic contraptions I had never seen before, enough weapons to outfit an army.
“Holy Mother Destina…” Jesse muttered, stepping into the room, “How much you reckon everything in here is worth? There's got to be an army’s worth!”
“We're in staging Sector D,” I relayed, my memories of the layout coming back to me. “Just up ahead and we should be by the living quarters.”
“Master Hiro,” Simone called out, “I have to ask, and uhm... please don't be offended.”
Oh this will be good.
“What is it priestess?”
“With all this war gear… how did you lose?”
A hush fell upon the gathered adventurers, all eyes wide as they snapped towards Simone and then back to me.
“You petulant-!” Immediately Slimey was in action, but quickly retreated as I raised my hand. “Yes, Lord Hiro.”
“My apologies Lord Hiro!” Simone exclaimed, quickly kowtowing.
I eyed the two paladins frozen in fear, their expressions not quite sure what to do if I suddenly became offended.
“It's fine. He was stronger. Simple as that. Even in a six versus one he still came out on top,” I looked away, a bitter taste caressing my non-existent taste buds. Despite how strong I was, in the face of overwhelming power I had failed. “If that's all, keep moving, I don't have much time in this form.”
I looked down at my wobbly hand, already I could feel my control waning just a bit, my time almost over where I would be-
Wait.
I turned, spreading my senses, realizing that we were missing a certain talkative rogue.
Jesse was gone.
“W-what is it sir?” Simone asked, clutching her staff.
“The annoying one is gone,” I replied, trying to expand my senses to locate the human. However, in this form I was extremely limited, even more so since I wasn't in my dungeon and didn't have access to squeakerlocation.
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The two remaining humans looked around, the pair confused as to where the thief had run off to.
Great, just what I need, another idiot roaming off.
Well, whatever, besides Lhkian and Simone, of the other two wanted to wander off then it wasn't my job to-
“huh-?!”
Suddenly Simone disappeared, snatched into the darkness with all eyes spinning to face the echo of her voice.
Ok. Maybe they haven't been wandering off.
“Simone!” Lhikan shouted, drawing his blade alongside Gobledo who gently set down the statue of Alexio.
Narrowing my eyes I attempted to pierce through the darkness, to locate the threat, yet all I saw was an empty room occasionally lit up by red lights.
*Clink. Clink. Clink*
Then I heard it, a sound so faint I could barely perceive it over the blaring alarms.
Something was definitely out there.
“Man what a bad time to send Slimey away,” I muttered as I directed the others to place their backs to the nearby wall.
*Clink. Clink. Clink.*
With dragonslayer in hand, I held it forward like a shield, waiting as I felt something’s gaze settle on me. I didn't actually feel it per say, but as a warrior, something was definitely looking at me.
“It's coming,” I warned before diving off to the side, dodging a metallic claw that ripped apart the wall.
“My Lord!” Lhikan barked, the paladin slashing at the automaton only for his weapon to bang futility against the thing's metal hide.
The quadrupedal machine screeched, kicking Lhikan away with a claw as Gobeldo rushed the metal monstrosity.
No! Get back! I ordered, with Gobeldo backpedaling just as a beam of red hot magma sprayed from the machine’s mouth.
Under the glow of the emergency lights, I could finally make out what I was up against.
At roughly six feet tall, the machine looked like a six-legged black bug with large forward arms and mandibles that hung off its triangle-shaped armored head. Unlike the bipedal automatons, this one held no glow, no telltale signs of its existence with even the faint whirrs of its mechanics masked by whatever technology powered it.
Damn it! My teeth clenched, eyes narrowed, dragonslayer in my hand with my feet already on the move.
I ran forward, moving to join the fray with my colossal weapon parrying the creature’s first attack in a display of sparks as his other speared my body just shy of knicking my rubber body.
Unfortunately for it, I wasn't exactly flesh and blood.
With my arms moving, I brought my oriculum blade down, the weapon biting into the thing’s chassis with the monster letting out a binaric screech in response.
Suddenly the back of the metal bug opened, revealing dozens of metallic hands attached to black hoses that reached out for me.
But how do you grab a liquid?
Easy answer, you don't, not with hands at least.
Leveraging my form I deflated, Slimey reading my thoughts and moving my body in the way I needed to to avoid the fountain of hot magma fired from the machine's mouth.
I spun the Dragonslayer, building momentum with the weapon and parrying a multitude of heavy blows before my sword cut through the hands aimed at my rubber body.
Tsk, now it’s aiming for my core.
This would be a tough battle, with Slimey's main body searching for Ayaka, it was just me versus a tank and to make matters worse, I was running out of time, less than a minute to be precise before I was back in my rubber shell.
Still… I've faced tougher. And it wasn't like this hunter was invincible, no. I could already see the electronics beneath it's head plate that would be key to victory.
Heh.
I couldn't help but smirk. Even as the chassis of the creature opened up to produce barrels a smile was plastered on my face.
This. Heh, oh how I’ve missed this feeling.
Backing away, I brought the dragonslayer up, the heavy weapon blocking a cascade of red beams that poured from the automaton’s body as Gobledo, Hector, and Lhikan moved to flank the machine.
Sensing movement, the thing spun, hands reaching to attack the others who did their best to by me time.
Fortunately, I knew how to take this thing down.
I readied my blade for a decapitation technique. A skill I developed to kill the Terminoid bugs that once ran rampant in the Turing Hills. Seeing how it’s armor plates moved and bits of circuitry, one well placed strike should damage it enough to end the battle.
“S-3 Stand down!”
Suddenly the lights flicked on, the red alarm falling silent as dozens of automatons surrounded us.
Crap.
I hadn't sensed them. The metal machines leveraging their lifeless forms to sneak up on me in the heat of battle.
“Identify yourself! How do you know da override!?”
Wait a minute… I recognize that voice.
I turned to the crowd of machines, the lead one a bipedal automaton in the shape of a hulking suit of yellow armor.
“Virgil?” I said, cocking my head to the side as the mustard-colored machine froze in place.
“Hiro?” The machine replied before my timer hit zero and my consciousness returned to my duck.