The wind blew through the shattered glass panel wall and into the room. The air crackled with electricity from the muzzle of rifles. Rays of electricity sliced through the round dining table in half, setting it up in flames. The fire alarms rang.

Florence and Stella dropped to the floor with their hands over their heads. The floor beneath the pink androids trembled, and one of their arms transformed into a rifle.

The palm of Florence’s hand sweated. She couldn’t understand how those pink androids came here so fast, so she pulled her unkempt blond hair back.

Aisling, with Sam in her arms, dove towards Florence and Stella.

Yuze retracted her arms to her chest, putting away the thumbs up of hers.

“We’re so dead,” Aisling said. She kicked Florence in the stomach, pushing her away.

Florence groaned, bumping into Stella.

Beams of electricity seared over Aisling’s knee.

Aisling screamed, smothering the fire spreading over her ripped jeans. She swayed and rolled on the floor. But it only encouraged the flames to grow larger.

The floor creaked beneath Florence as she crawled towards Aisling. Florence gripped Aisling on the shoulder, pulling her.

The pink androids charged up another shot.

But before it fired, Mai dragged her body across the floor. Then she pushed herself onto Florence, Aisling Stella, and Sam, covering them.

The sparks from the rifle barrels winded down. The pink androids turned away, aiming through the rear and front sights at Yuze. The crackle of electricity echoed.

“Why did that happen?” Florence asked.

Aisling groaned. She pushed her head onto Florence. The tears and snot soaked into the fabric of Florence’s apron.

“Can’t… breathe,” Sam said. He squirmed between Florence and Aisling.

“Get the… dagger. Give it to… to her.” Aisling sniffed, cracking her voice.

“Who?” Florence asked. She tossed the burning ripped jeans off Aisling onto the stove. “How am I supposed to know if everyone here is a she?”

Now, Aisling’s skin on the knee reddened and blotched.

Another ray of electric energy flew across the room. Yuze rolled to the side. The spot where she used to be got smoldered.

“Aisling, tell me,” Florence said.

An eerie crackle filled the air.

Florence unsheathed the dagger from Aisling. The blade vibrated in the rhythm of those fire alarms.

Yuze waved her hands. “Over here.”

“Stop taunting them,” Florence said. “Do you have a death wish?”

A beam of electricity burst from the barrel. Yuze slid to the stove, narrowly dodging it.

“Not them,” Yuze said. She pointed at Florence. “You.”

“Pardon me, why are you taunting me?” Florence asked.

Stella snatched the dagger from Florence’s hand, throwing it to Yuze.

“I don’t see how this would help us at all,” Florence said.

“Yuze… you can use it,” Aisling said. “Just get us out of here.”

Stella fidgeted her skirt. “I mean… Florence, I should have explained what she meant.

“I am sorry. It is not your fault,” Florence said. “It is just that Yuze… you know.”

“Could all of you stop chit-chatting? That’s if you don’t want to be killed,” Mai said.

A powerful burst of electricity shot out of the rifle. This time penetrating through Yuze’s shoulder.

Yuze collapsed to the floor with a thud. The dagger clattered on the floor. She took off the black jacket that burned. Her hand cupped the smoke coming from her wound. She closed her eyes, curling into a ball.

“You got to go now,” Mai said. “My stats are better than yours. So, I’ll hold them off for a while.”

“What? Why? I mean… you don’t have to do it,” Stella said. She grabbed and pulled Mai back.

Florence shook her head. “That is certainly insane. Do not do it, Mai.”

“Nope… Mai will not get harmed by them,” Aisling said. “Since… you know… just like what she said.”

The static tingled Florence’s skin. The pink androids’ marching deeper into the room shook the floor.

“Listen to me, I can handle it,” Mai said

Florence downturned the corner of her mouth. She furrowed her eyebrows, wrapping her head around this situation. “Absolutely, if this is your decision, then… I guess I have to respect it,” she said. I’m sorry you’ve got to do this.”

“Mai, you can’t,” Stella said. “Please, just I… I mean, don’t do it.”

“We’ve got to go through there,” Aisling said, pointing at the shattered glass panel wall. “That is the only way.”

“Have you gone mad?” Florence asked. “You certainly do have a death wish. Plus, how will we survive from taking a leap of faith from all the way up here?”

“Could you stop asking questions?” Mai said.

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A shadow engulfed Florence, Aisling, Stella, Sam, and Mai. Before Florence realized, a pink android jabbed the rifle at her. Her head swung backward. Blood oozing out of her nose sipped into her mouth, and the metallic flavor lingered on the tip of her tongue.

The muzzle pointed between her eyes. She froze with her muscles paralyzed. Within the barrel, the next shot charged up, ready to fire the next shot.

Mai spread her arms out, blocking clear shots from the pink androids. The electricity inside the barrel died down. The zapping statics tingling on Florence’s skin fainted away.

“Hand over the NPC, now,” one of the pink androids said. “For the peaceful harvesting.”

“Never,” Mai said. She sniffed, pushing her back to Florence.

Florence pinched her nose. “I’m not… where should I even begin… Mai?”

Stella extended her fingers out, reaching for Mai.

Florence and Aisling worked together to drag Stella, with every inch getting closer to the shattered glass panel wall.

Stella yelped, kicking and thrusting in every direction.

A zapping energy expanded within the barrel. The company of pink androids aimed down the sight at Florence. The static bounced on her skin as she got farther away from them.

Mai pressed her weight onto one of the rifles. But it didn’t budge a single bit.

“Do not get in my way,” one of the pink androids said. “Mai? If you don’t listen to my orders, your stats will be lowered as a consequence of your disobedience.”

The floor squeaked beneath Florence, closing into the shattered glass panel wall. The gust rustled her blond, unkempt hair.

Stella squirmed. Her nails dug into any surface that she could find. “Let… me go,” she said.

“From what I can see, Mai will be fine,” Florence said. “The pink androids are not going to harm her.”

“She… Mai, I mean… she is going to be fine.” Aisling coughed and wheezed. “Her stats should be high enough to stop the pink androids from hurting her.”

Yuze, still covering the hole in her shoulder, knocked the dagger clattering over to Aisling’s side. Aisling gripped onto the handle as she wiped her snot off her face.

The zapping and crackling grew, ringing in Florence’s ears.

Yuze nodded, stretching one of her palms out.

In a smooth sweep, Aisling gashed Yuze’s palm. Blood dripped from the tip of a blade.

Yuze clenched her fist. She squeezed the blood out. Droplets plummeted down from the tenth floor, splashing onto the pavement below.

Rays of electricity erupted from the muzzle.

At this moment, Florence, Stella, Yuze, and Aisling, with her arms around Sam, leaped off the ledge. Gravity pulled them nearer to the ground.

The wind whistled from a high to low pitch in Florence’s ears. Those rays of electricity slowed down, with Florence counting its zig-zag pattern zapping her ankle. She closed her eyes, gritting her teeth. Maybe… this might be the end. Not being able to see her sister again after all of this was pathetic. Her sister’s odor filled Florence’s nostrils. Florence could still vividly envision her sister’s unkempt blond hair and baggy gray eyes.

Something with a fiber-like structure wrapped around Florence. Slowly, she opened her eyes. Her heart jumped out of her chest.

A flora of plants engraved itself onto the concrete below, slowing her descent. She sniffed. This pungent odor and sweetness tickled her nose. The vines cuddled around everyone, slowing their descent.

The company of pink androids leaned over the edge. They readied their rifles, aiming through the rear and front sight. A spark charged up in each of the muzzles.

Aisling coughed blood. Her face paled.

In sonic speed, the vines swung. The columns of smoke and burning fire from the street blurred.

Florence and Stella screamed.

The air rushed out of Florence’s lungs.

Aisling wiped the blood off her lips. She sheathed her dagger, and the color on her face returned to normal.

Amidst all of this, Yuze snored, falling asleep.

“What is happening?” Florence asked.

“Are you seriously asking this now? Never mind, just hold on,” Aisling said. “I will explain it to you later… if we have spare time.”

“Why am I here? I want to go home.”

“Everyone wants to do that, but you can say we’ve got a job.”

“Why?”

“I don’t know. So… yup.”

A ray of electricity sliced through the vines. Florence, Aisling, Yuze, Stella, and Sam rolled on the street, the rough surface scratching and stabbing their skin.

Florence wheezed as the smoke filled her nostrils.

The company of pink androids jumped off the tenth floor and crashed onto the pavement, cracking it. The ground trembled beneath them. Without breaking a leg, they rushed closer to Sam.

A new batch of vines whipped, restricting the pink androids. A squeak reverberated inside them, but with a swing of a limb, they uprooted the plants.

Aisling stood up with her legs wobbling. Her hand was over the seared part of her skin, now swollen and blistered. She wiped the tears off her face, scooping Sam up from under his belly. Then, she poked her toes at Yuze’s side.

Yuze pushed her palm on the pavement. “What?”

“Come on… we’ve to… go… now,” Aisling said. She coughed.

“What… is that?” Florence pointed at the flora down the street. “It wasn’t there for a moment… how?”

Stella lifted Florence up under her armpits.

A burning pain erupted in Florence’s ankle. She fell back, scraping against the rough ground.

The maw of a Venus fly trap plant gaped wide, snapping up one of the pink androids. But a burst of light exploded inside the plant’s jaws. Its head erupted in flames, slamming down onto the pavement with a thud. The pink android emerged completely unscathed from the fires and smoke of its burning corpse.

“Gosh,” Aisling said. “I really… shouldn’t have taken this… pizza delivery.”

A spark illuminated inside the rifle. The company of pink androids aimed through the rear and front sight at where Florence stood down the street.

Florence, Aisling, Yuze, and Stella pounded their feet on the ground. They dove into a nearby alley, flying past a burning dumpster. A bright light exploded behind them. The rancid odor flowed from a pile of garbage deeper inside this narrow path.

Florence thudded on her face. She cracked her nose, bleeding out of the nostrils.

Yuze and Stella landed on their stomach. Only Aisling scraped across the rough surface. Somehow, she managed to still hold onto Sam.

The pink androids marched through the narrow gap between the glass panel walls on both sides. The flaming rubbish trembled with each clanging step the pink androids took.

Sam extended his claws. Then he scratched Aisling on her cheeks.

Aisling groaned, letting go of Sam.

Sam landed on his paws. He dashed deeper into the alley.

“We should try to circle back to help Mai,” Florence said. She stood up, but immediately, she fell on her bottom. The ache burned her ankle and spread through the nerves. “After we get… back Sam… obviously.”

Aisling with her face covered, banging her head. “What’s wrong with him?”

A shadow loomed over Florence, Aisling, Yuze, and Stella. A crackle echoed behind them. They wheeled around. Everyone stared down the barrels of rifles.

Boom.

Florence froze as a lighting spark flashed towards her.

Stella tackled Florence. Rays of electricity shot over them. The back of Stella’s blouse burned into ashes, revealing a scar on her shoulder blades.

Yuze slammed her bleeding palm on the ground. From the splash of blood, plants sprouted. The vines and roots leashed onto the pink androids, pulling them towards any surface that could be found.

A leaf whipped, propelling Florence, Aisling, Yuze, and Stella. They rolled on the ground with bumps on the surface, poking at them.

From the corner of Florence’s eye, Sam sniffed a pile of garbage. He dove into it, clawing deeper.

“He is over there. We gotta get him,” Aisling said. Her hand cupped on her seared knees. She pushed herself up, crawling towards Sam.

Without another word, Florence, Yuze, and Stella followed.

As Florence approached the piles of trash, Sam dug out a bloke NPC with a torn jacket and wires for hairs buried under all this garbage. But on this NPC’s belly, a red eye tattoo stared at her.