Chapter Thirty

What does it take for everything to go wrong? A gunshot that was not supposed to be there? An anomaly caused by curiosity or one simple misstep?

Because in times like those, there was only one question.

Where had it all gone wrong?

Was it when Viktoriya had the initial thought planted in her mind that she must seek after the truth of what and who her dearest aunt really was?

Or was it when she had overheard the wrong conversation and then, driven by insatiable curiosity, sought the answers she had no business to even look for?

Or perhaps it was the moment they accidentally yelled out and exposed their presence?

Was it her obsession?

Her compulsion?

Argosys had concluded they did not even need the girl, agreeing with Aura to leave her alone and let her be. It was their best recourse, and it would limit their exposure, not gaining extra unwanted attention to their cause.

But then Viktoriya had forced herself into the equation by prying into their business, making her a threat to their entire operation, putting everything in jeopardy.

But there was no time to ponder on any of those questions.

Azid had already seen her, and she had seen him.

He knew she would put him at risk, everything at stake. And like every cruel man, he would stop at nothing to get his hands on her now.

He pushed through the group and made his way toward her, but CLEFF corralled her behind himself, standing between Azid and his prized treasure.

Azid immediately reached for his gun, but her parents had prepared CLEFF for that.

They had created his entire protocol for chaos and protection. Even before Azid had thought of drawing his pistol, CLEFF had engaged the torso mini-guns inside his chest, unfolding and locking into position. Whirring loudly as the assembly spun, CLEFF targeted and fired a quick burst toward the men.

“Ah, he is well-armed. We’ll need help to take him out,” Azid said under his breath.

The volley of rounds left the air tasting of metallic smoke, with the odor of gunpowder taking hold of the fresh air, strangling it out of existence. But those shots had only agitated the desperate men even further. They had been in heavy battles and skirmishes before.

Azid stooped behind his plasma shield, hiding behind the wall, and once the shots stopped coming in, he pulled his gun and fired around the corner.

“No, stop it, Azid!” Aura screamed, but it was as if a marauding demon had taken over; he shoved Aura behind him, taking another shot at CLEFF.

The bullet bounced off him again, not leaving a scratch. He had diverted some core power to his plasma shields, encasing himself in an extra shell of protection against the thugs.

CLEFF turned, this time shooting to kill, but Azid had fully shielded himself again, covering both ears from the loud bangs that escaped with each bullet intended to take him apart.

“Stop it!” Aura cried. “Stop it! Don’t do this, Azid, let them go!”

The dissidents took shots at CLEFF, firing at will, relentless and ongoing. There was no undoing any of it now. It had escalated much too far.

The war machine found an easy target and fired right back, not giving them any chance to advance. Bullets perforated the terrorist, and he fell dead to the floor with a loud thud.

Viktoriya was terror-struck to her bones, her ears ringing. She could not stop her body from trembling much as she tried.

She curled herself tightly, her teeth gnashing against each other as fear began overtaking her. She would have screamed, except the very air had left the room, and she was having a tough time inhaling her next breath.

The screeching whir of CLEFF’s gunnery array danced in a choreography of the explosive rattle of flying bullets taking over the apartment, alongside Argosys competing rounds ricocheting from CLEFF. The song was an ear-piercing reminder he was the only reason that she was even still alive.

“Emergency protocols activated. Protect Viktori-Ya Kuzland at all costs.”

A new building alarm began sounding, along with eye-piercing white, flashing light showing paths to the building exits.

“Emergency, mandatory evacuation.

“Emergency, mandatory evacuation. Please follow the holo-guide to the nearest safe exit.”

Aura panicked. She could not take in the exchange. Bullets glancing from CLEFF, jostling and handled so roughly by Azid, the absence of any pleasing fragrance or thought.

All she could think about was Viktoriya getting hurt and the bullets flying all over the place.

Maybe if I can stop the shots from one side, the android would cease fire and flee, taking Viktoriya out of here.

She rushed toward Azid, trying to pull him away, but as she reached for his arms, she lost her footing and twisted her ankle. Azid turned and pistol-whipped her with the edge of his gun and lowered to fire on her.

“Get out of here, Vik!” Aura shouted as she hit the floor. “Run and don’t look back!” she cried, then started losing consciousness.

Suddenly, Viktoriya was pulled to her feet by a mighty robotic pair of hands.

“CLEFF, you’re hurting me!” she screamed—his grip far too tight on her small arms.

“We must leave… Now!” CLEFF said.

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“Emergency protocols activated. Protect Viktori-Ya Kuzland at all costs.”

She tried to pull her arm away, but CLEFF’s grip was overpowering. Then, with his free arm, he knocked out two oncoming men. They fell to the floor with a thud.

With two single, thunderous booms, CLEFF ended both men.

“I must preserve ammunition… for as long as possible.”

“Azid!” Rebecca screamed.

He raised his head to see Rebecca staring at him in shock, but again turned to continue the exchange of fire with CLEFF.

The only thing ringing in his ears was to get the girl. Get the girl.

An older lady peered out farther down the hall and saw the calamity unfolding.

“OH!” she screamed as she ducked back in and slammed the door.

Rebecca reached for Aura, dragging her from the flying bullets. As she pulled her into the vacant kitchen, Aura held her hand to her temple, blood seeping from the side of her head.

Blood drenched her temple, and her eyes were almost out of it, barely focused enough to see. She slurred, “Save her,” as she lost consciousness.

“Damn it!” Rebecca cursed, then bit her lips. She dragged Aura into the pantry, closed the door behind her, and then ran back to help Viktoriya.

As the shooting escalated further, a few bullets penetrated his plasma shield and finally left a mark. The six Argosys dissidents firing in unison caused CLEFF to retreat deeper into the apartment while shielding Viktoriya from their assault.

The more hits he took, the weaker his preliminary shields became.

“Plasma shields failing, re-directing power back to the core.”

CLEFF knew Viktoriya was too fragile to remain in this condition for much longer.

If the assault continued, she might even die of fear, and he was not about to allow that to happen.

He stopped firing, lifting the shaking girl into his arms, then stomped farther into the apartment. Each giant metal foot thumped heavily against the carpeted floor while his overpowered hydraulic legs delivered them toward salvation.

Azid and his men were unwilling to give up. Instead, they chased after CLEFF, bombarding him with more bullets.

CLEFF was losing it. He was becoming penetrable, sustaining damage from their relentless assault. As a result, he had now upgraded the threat to Sev-4.

CLEFF automatically re-dialed the emergency number, notifying them of the events that were now transpiring and escalating while sending images of the attackers for facial recognition.

“Target facial list confirmed, Sec-11 emergency, deadly force authorized on active threats.”

But the rescue team would not be there for at least five minutes, and CLEFF calculated he did not have five minutes. Not with the amount of firepower railing against him. He placed Viktoriya in the room’s corner, using his expanded backplates as a shield once again.

“Do not worry, love, I will end this now,” he said, activating the second set of mini-guns on his left torso as the chest plates folded back to expose the auxiliary gunnery array.

CLEFF turned to the assault and rose to full gear. Clicking and clanking mechanisms sounded from within, locking into place. With Viktoriya safely behind him, he went full metal, turning to the six attackers.

“Tracking.”

“Acquired.”

All gunnery arrays were now active, tracking the nearest thug, and before the terrorist realized what was going on, CLEFF began spewing bullets, perforating him perfectly, mercilessly.

“Tracking.”

“Acquired.”

The high-pitched whirring of the guns hurt Viktoriya’s ears so severely; she pressed her fingers in far too deep to dampen the noise, pleading for the pain to stop.

Blood from his prey sprayed the walls; the velocity of the munitions did not leave a moment for it to hit the floor.

Each man fell as a contorted rag-doll, and when CLEFF was confident that the target was dead, he turned to the next.

“Oh shit, he’s like a 50-Cal spinning turret!” the terrorist yelled.

“Tracking.”

“Acquired.”

There was no air left to breathe, only the heat and the smoke of the gunfire. The area became overwhelmed with the scorched fog of the spent ordnance, and it was difficult to see through the haze.

The surviving thugs scattered and dove into the adjacent rooms, seeking cover behind their plasma shields.

CLEFF continued blazing at them with all guns as a warning sounded for reloading and overheating.

“Warning, approaching thermal threshold.”

He had to end it once and for all, assassinate the terrorists and take Viktoriya away from the scene.

That was his only objective.

“Ammunition critical, five percent.”

“Oh… shit, that is the word I think the humans say when in dire straits,” CLEFF muttered.

“Tracking.”

“Acquired.”

He continued blazing more rounds through the wall. The terrorist on the other side screamed in agony and fell.

Viktoriya shut her eyes tightly at the sound of the man’s scream. She had opened them to see CLEFF’s full-fledged attack, but she also heard the warning sounds from his systems.

But he would not stop.

It was as though he had suddenly gained emotions and was furiously trying to eliminate the enemies, protecting, as if she was his one true love.

Azid heard the droning beeps and alarms from the war machine. He knew the sound all too well. Machines designed for war had limits, too, just like a human.

But instead of getting tired, machines overheat and shut down. And in this case, it was exactly what Azid had been hoping for.

Finally, at just the right time, his reinforcements arrived. Z did not mind turning the entire apartment building into a battlefield. That was their only shot at getting the girl and keeping to their mission.

The elevator surfaced, and three more of the Argosys thugs rushed out, advancing into the apartment, and firing straight at CLEFF.

CLEFF quickly retrieved and enclosed his gunnery. He turned to Viktoriya, picked her up, and secured her close again.

Everything was harmonious. The bullets ripped through the air, flying from both sides now. Gunpowder had become the new fragrance, and the sound of gunshots ringing had become the song of the dance.

CLEFF turned again to form a protective barrier over Viktoriya with his shielded back, deflecting the menacing rounds.

The men continued deeper into the apartment, moving closer, all guns bearing down on CLEFF.

Bullets took their toll, though most still ricocheted away.

Viktoriya stopped moving and went limp as a rag doll. Too scared to budge, she let CLEFF carry her, not caring anymore if it hurt. Then she peered from between his arms—and saw the rouges had cornered them in the living room.

The sounds of CLEFF’s engines revving inside his shell filled Viktoriya’s ears as the blue glow of CLEFF’s thrusters lit up the room.

One of the nearby attackers who had advanced right behind CLEFF screamed in pain, burned by the scorching heat.

His thrusters propelled them sideways through an interior wall as he cradled Viktoriya in his arms, shielding her as they broke through the wall to another area of the apartment, struggling to find a safer position.

“CLEFF, stop it! Please! You’re hurting me!” she screamed.

Viktoriya’s neck jerked upon the impact onto the floor. Rubble tangled in her hair as the wall gave way. She was stunned and coughed, heaving to get the dust out of her eyes and lungs.

“You’re killing me! Stop it! Stop it, please!” she screamed in her hoarse voice.

She pried her eyes away from CLEFF’s chest for a moment to see their enemies following through the wall into the enormous bathroom.

He rose with her, turning his back to their assailants again. They pushed through the hole in the wall, like a pack of wolves that had the scent of blood. Finally, trapping their prey, they would soon devastate their victim.

The sound of CLEFF’s thrusters powering up again frightened her, and she tucked her head tightly against his chest, banging her forehead against him over and over out of fear.

“Noooo, no… stop.”

He launched them toward the opposite wall, and she braced herself against him again as he spun his back to take the impact, breaking through the ceramic sink on the way out.

Viktoriya held her breath as they crushed through and finally emerged from the rubble into the long hall that led to the master bedroom.

Gunfire ricocheted against CLEFF’s back.

“Gunnery array cooled sufficiently, back online.”

“Brace yourself, Vik,” the droid said as he dropped her behind him, unfolding his gunnery once again.

Bullet casings began spilling onto the ground in mass as if dumped from a crate onto the floor.

“Warning, thermal threshold exceeded. Munitions offline. Ammunition one percent.”

His mini-guns again quickly overheated and were finished. After that, there was nothing left to give.

Any attempt to use them further may well have caused an explosion.

The cooling systems had failed, and he knew they had no time.

Silence.

The comforting arrival of a calm quietness on the scene was strangely peaceful.

Peaceful, but momentary.

A ding of the elevator door rang out as two more thugs rushed through the hall into the apartment, ending the calm stillness.

“Emergency protocols activated. Protect Viktori-Ya Kuzland at all costs. Warning, systems compromised.”