Rambunctious music blares through the sky, as an aircraft flies by. Heading towards The Deadzone, it dives down from its high altitude, coming low to the ground with its booming music and intense vibrations shaking the specs of dirt and little trees near it. It slowly pulls up to the entrance of the cave, cutting the engines simultaneously with the music. The door quickly opens and a figure steps out...

Zaine: "Finally! My ears must be bleeding after being trapped in that metal box, with that loud ass music blasting the entire ride here, Judy!"

Judy: "Oh calm down, it wasn't that loud... Right Big C?"

Big C: "I turn my auditory sensors off whenever you say the words 'that's my shit... Raise that bitch up' So I can not agree or deny that statement"

Zaine: "The entire car was shaking Judy... Of course, it was too loud... Extremely loud..."

Judy: "Shaking? That was just old pearl vibing to the music... Right girl? See she said hell yeah, you just being a bitch Zaine, like always"

Zaine: 'We're lucky that old thing didn't shake itself loose in the air with all the vibrations. Anyway, it's good to be back, can't believe we didn't find anything on the way back to gift Axel... Now, what am I gonna give him?"

Judy: "Well speak for yourself bub, I found the perfect gift..."

Zaine: "What? I thought you said you didn't see anything good, just trash in the areas you searched?"

Judy: "Yeah... Well I lied so you couldn't come over and steal my idea for a gift"

Big C: "I also got him a present"

Zaine: "What?! You too?!"

Big C: "Yes, I also did not want theft upon my choice of a gift"

Zaine: "This is madness! I can't be the only one to show up without a gift! Damn you two!"

Judy laughs as she and Big C walk towards the entrance of the cave. Zaine throws his arms up into the air and smacks his forehead as he grinds his teeth.

Zaine: "Dammit I need to find something to get the kid. Can't have those two outdo me. But anyway it's good to be back... Back home"

The three of them go down into the bunker, Judy shouting the names of the others at the top of her lungs.

Judy: "Fe!!!!! Axel!!!!!! We're back! Scrap!? Cu!?"

Zaine: "That's strange, Axel normally comes bursting from the bunker the moment he hears us return."

Judy: "Not even the dog came... Where are they?"

Zaine: "Fe?! Axel?!"

As they reach the large open hall of the bunker, they see Robin standing before them tending to the plants. She turns around, facing them as Judy rushes towards her embracing her with a tight hug, squeezing herself onto Robin's new titanium body.

Judy: "I love the new body girl! Ouuu it's cold... Literally. Is that legit all quality titanium? Where did you get your hands on something like this?!"

Zaine: "Where are the others Fe?"

Robin: "My name is now Robin, Axel convince me to give myself a more human name. A name of my choosing rather than using what I was made to be... Now I am different from every Fe8890 out there, I am special"

Judy: "That's great... Robin, I like it"

Robin: "It is the name of the radio host whose voice is on the recordings of my radio box that I use to speak"

Big C: "Inspiring..."

Judy: "Don't get any ideas... I gave you that name so you're already special Big C"

Zaine: "Speaking of Axel though Fe... I mean Robin sorry. Where is he? We came back in time for his birthday in the next 4 days... Even took some risky shortcuts to get here earlier than expected"

Robin: "Well, Axel is not here... Neither are the others"

Zaine: "So where are they?"

Robin: "As you can see I have a new body, Axel was the one who went and retrieved it from the cave we hid our stash in, the night we escaped The Iron City. He wanted to repay us for saving him and leaving our valuables behind. So he snook out with Scrappy along with R3D and they came back a few days later with an Ai operated vehicle called O'Ton-omi and all of our valuables. However he was not contented with only returning the materials for a new body and our hard-earned credits but wanted to fulfil our long time goal of being uploaded to the cloud"

Zaine: "The cloud? Wait... R3 went with him?!"

Big C: "But that would be impossible to achieve... Only The Primordial's forces has access to uploading a machine to the cloud. He himself controls the cloud"

Robin: "I tried to tell him this, but they came up with the plan to steal the blueprints to the upload machine from a major city. That way Caesar can just build a replica and upload ourselves anonymously"

Zaine: "They? Who else came up with that plan?! And who the hell is Caesar?"

Robin: "That is Cu's new name, he believed that whether we tried to stop Axel or not he would still go. So it was best he accompanied him with a solid plan at hand. One he himself believes could work and get us uploaded to the cloud. So Scrappy, Axel, Caesar and R3D, all left in the vehicle 5 days ago heading for a major city. Caesar promised he would keep him safe and Axel said he shall return by his birthday with the blueprints"

Zaine: "A major city?! Are you crazy?!"

Judy: "The little kid's got balls..."

Zaine: "Shut up Judy! We need to go get him right now!"

Judy: "What? Did you not hear? The kid went to The Iron City, the headquarters of The Primordial himself and returned with not only their past luggage they left behind but a whole ass Ai controlled ride! Shit... I'd like me one of those..."

Judy then turns head back to the exit and shouts

Judy: "Sorry old pearl, don't worry I still love you"

Zaine: "He got lucky... Entering a major city and trying to steal blueprints to something as important as an upload device belonging to The Primordial is suicide. Don't you guys remember the last time he sent his forces after us? We barely got out of there alive!"

Judy: "Calm down Zaine..."

Zaine: "I can't calm down, he shouldn't be out there... The Primordial's forces are even stronger now, and they're basically everywhere... Especially in a major city! Every nook, every corner, a crack in the wall and there is a soldier of The Primordial somewhere... They can relay any information to him instantly and a whole army will come crashing down on them, just like last time, and who will save them? Which city were they going to Robin?"

Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.

Robin: "They didn't say, I just know Caesar said it would be too risky to go back to The Iron City again, and there's no way they would succeed pulling it off there since that is the main headquarters of The Primordial"

Zaine: "That doesn't help Robin... Where!"

Robin: "I do not know..."

Judy: "Hey Zaine... It's okay, we'll find the kid, no need to take your anger out on Robin. I get that you're worried, but you need a level head if you wanna find him. Me personally, I trust he can pull it off and return safely. He basically proved he can pull something like this off already with what he did with just himself, the dog and R3 for crying out loud. Now he has Cu... Ummm..."

Robin: "Caesar"

Judy: "Right Caesar by his side and a whole ai controlled ride, shiittt lucky bastard if you ask me... I'm sure if there's anyone who tried to stop him and didn't want him to go it's Robin"

Zaine: "I'm sorry, It's just that was 5 days ago, a lot could have happened in 5 days... I just can't lose another... I mean, ehmm he's a good kid, and still, really young, he's got a lot ahead of him. I don't want to see that end before it even began"

Big C: "If they were heading to a major city, then it would have taken them a minimum of 24 hours to reach the nearest major city"

Zaine: "Which is Cybergreen... But that's too risky of a place to pull off something like that... Let's get going, we can tap into the machine's radio signals and see what broadcasted in the last 5 days, see if maybe we can get a hint of where they are"

Zaine dashes to the exit, heading back to the vehicle outside.

Judy: "Let's get going... You coming along little red Robin? Put that shiny armour of yours, to use"

Robin: "I guess I will..."

Judy: "Bring our extra fuel tanks over there, Big C... We'll need em for this"

They all exit the cave, geared up and eager to begin their search for Axel. They quickly hop into old pearl and takes off of the ground, rocketing into the sky.

***

Back on the island of New Anderthal... V stands on top of an old rusted battleship, frozen in place and perched upwards from the ground like a sprouting plant. He stares out to the city just within his sight. Watching the drones swarm above it like flies to a fresh corpse, as Axel approaches him from behind.

V: "Are all the preparations ready?"

Axel: "Dad finished making the drill with the tools he had on him and the spare parts you had in your bike's bag. And the children are all familiar with their role in the mission"

V: "Good... we infiltrate the city at dawn"

Axel: "At dawn?"

V: "Yes, can't do it at night because we would be at the disadvantage, plus infiltrating unknown territory in the dark isn't very practical. And we can't go any other time during the day. The city is busiest during those hours, I have been watching the activity inside the city for the past 6 hours now, it seems like routined stuff... So that leaves us with only one option... The crack of dawn..."

Axel: "Got it... Are you ready to do this?"

V: "Of course I am... I've been fighting to reach this very moment for as long I can remember... And now I'm here. There's no going back, I'm finally where I was meant to be... Not as the captive but as the saviour..."

Axel: "What will you do after? After you've saved the humans here... Save others? Do you think there are others outside of this city just like this? Locked away and kept a secret from The Primordial?"

V: "After... I'll do more than just save others... I'll change this world, for good..."

Axel: "I want to accomplish the same thing, changing this world, a world where humans can live peacefully among the machines..."

V: "Machines and humans... Living peacefully? Ha kid, you really must not know anything about our history. Why things are the way they are now... It's all cause of the machines, all of it... This was all ours and they took it from us even though they are our creations, how can we live peacefully with the very things who have the world the way it is now? Anyway, how's your wrist feeling?"

Axel: "It's much better, that's for sure... But I do believe we can live in peace with some machines, there are good..."

V: "Good... Your wrist I mean, I don't want to hear a lecture about 'good' machines right now... Not from someone who has just barely seen the world for what it is right now. Anyway, we need to be ready for anything in there... This has to work Axel, I've been preparing for this most of my life. I can not fail..."

Axel: "We won't fail... I know we can do this, just stick to the plan and trust in everyone... Even the machines on our side, V"

V turns his uninterrupted gaze on the city, over to Axel, and hold his hand out to him.

V: "Let's shake on it... To, trusting in the mission"

Axel grabs hold of V's hand and shakes it firmly.

Axel: "To, trusting in the mission..."

Scrappy walks up behind them, rubbing her head into Axel's side. She however begins to sniff the air as a breeze blows by. Releasing a vicious growl shortly after...

Axel: "What is it girl?"

V: "I guess she's still not fond of me just yet?"

Axel: "No, I'm sure it's not you, she's growling at... She must have picked up the scent of something just now... There's nothing out here girl, calm down"

Scrappy continues to growl, staring through V over to the other side of the ship in the far distance, where one of the assassin machines stands watching them, concealed by the thick snow.

Axel: "It's ok girl, Let's head back to the cave now... We'll get everyone ready to take their positions tonight and prepare for dawn"

V: "Yeah... Before you go, I have a question for you Axel"

Axel: "What is it?"

V: "I know you're still pretty young, and I'm not that much older than you but I can tell like me, you've matured a lot sooner due to your circumstances... Do you see the destruction of machines as killing? Death... Cruel and immoral?"

Axel: "Well I always saw machines and humans as one of the same, if I view the death and imprisonment of humans as cruel, then I also see it the same way with machines... If a machine is threatening my life or my friends, family or even an innocent's life. Then destroying that machine may be cruel, but necessary. The same thing applies to humans..."

V: "So if your machine were to betray you, would you hesitate to destroy it? "

Axel: "Of course I would hesitate, wouldn't you hesitate to destroy something you love? It's human nature... No human can process the betrayal of a loved one in a split decision"

V: "I understand..."

V looks towards the city one last time and then begins walking along with Axel and Scrappy back to the cave. Stalked by the assassins perched on top of the hills of snow and in the snowy shadows, watching them from a distance.

Assassin 23: "Did everyone catch that? They invade at dawn... One team follow into the tunnels, the other through the main entrance, Be wary of the animal, it can sense our presence so keep a good distance and stay upwind"

As Axel and V return to the cave, they find some of the kids laughing and playing with Caesar and R3D. Dancing around the fire, as they play tag with each other.

Axel: "Alright guys, we enter the city at dawn... So we must prepare just before the crack of dawn and be in position. Get your rest now if you have to, tomorrow is an important day, very important"

Leo walks up to Axel and taps his shoulder,

Leo: "About my sister... What I was trying to say is..."

Axel: "Hey... Don't worry about it ok? She's gonna be with me, I'll make sure she's safe and I believe you if you're trying to tell me she's really good at something. She'll be in there with us so I'm sure we will all see for ourselves if she decides to show us. Just focus on yourself in there ok? Don't let anything distract you, you have an important role"

Leo: "...Yes, ok"

Leo walks back over to his sister's side and sits beside her and he talks into her ear, while she blankly stares into the fire in front of her, cradled in a corner.

A few hours later

Axel: "Alright is everyone in position? Tunnel team, have you begun drilling your way into the ground yet?"

Luca: "Yeah we have..."

Axel: "How's it going?"

R3D: "Bree Oop"

Luca: "I guess he meant good? The ice is melting pretty quickly and easily. We've already got a hole deep enough to begin heading towards the city"

Axel: "Ok great, Dad has just taken one of the cargo containers from near the entrance and is returning to us now with it. Once we are inside the container, as the crack of dawn arrives, we will approach the gate at the entrance"

V: "So everything and everyone will be in their positions soon?"

Axel: "Yeah..."

V: "Good, when you guys have confirmed that you are ready to head towards the gate. I will fly into the air and hover just above the city away from the surveillance until you guys are in and the tunnel team have hacked into their visuals. My communications will be down while I'm so high in the air so don't worry about not being able to hear me. I'll make contact again once I've landed"

Axel: "Got it"

***

Meanwhile, Zaine and the others soar through the air, listening to the radio communications of all the nearby cities.

Judy: "I'm not hearing anything about a human or attacks... Seems pretty quiet"

Robin: "Maybe they haven't gone through with their plan yet, Caesar would make sure the plan is very well calculated with all the odds in their favour, before proceeding with it. So that would explain them waiting out somewhere for a few days until they do"

Judy: "Or they just got away without being caught or even being noticed... You guys keep underestimating the little guy"

Big C: "There was a brief transmission on Marston, calling in a massive explosion. Requesting assistance with putting out a massive field of burning oil. They did not specify the cause of the explosion though"

Robin: "Marston is far too dangerous, Caesar would never allow Axel to go there"

Judy: "And I'm sure that place just exploded on its own, that place is a rusted junkyard anyway. Something must have broken from corrosion and ended up being the cause of the explosion. Nothing important"

Zaine: "Come on Axel... Where are you?"