“Full facility lockdown completed,” Leviathan said as her voice echoed through the complex.

Nigel collapsed onto the floor, and he placed his hand over his face.

This is all too much. Nigel felt like a giant weight was pressing against his head. First his mother’s coma, his father taking Ralphie, Jet’s disappearance, and now Natasha had been shot.

Several thoughts darted through Nigel’s mind all at once. What the hell am I doing? I’m just a kid! I’m going to die!

“Get up, mate. We’ve got a mission to complete. Do you want them to die for nothing?” Jony said.

Nigel got up, wiping at his eyes.

“Now, let’s find a terminal,” Jony said. “We’ve got some Delta arse to kick!”

Nigel heard some voices in the distance. They sounded gruff and mean. He took cover just behind a parked ATV. They appeared to be in a large hangar-looking area with a ramp leading up to a platform. Everything looked very industrial.

“We need to find a computer that is plugged into the network, or least an open port on a network switch,” Nigel said.

Jony nodded and followed Nigel up the ramp. He stayed low and close to the wall. When they reached the top of the platform, they had their choice between two hallways. Nigel chose the one on the left because of its lack of activity. They tried each door as they came to it; all were locked. A few hundred feet later, the hallway narrowed. Nigel proceeded down the narrow hallway, which gave way to a metal catwalk. Nigel started feeling uneasy as he looked down. The area was lit so he couldn’t be certain, but he thought the drop below him was at least a hundred feet, maybe more. He tested the steadiness of the catwalk; it felt solid enough. Nigel couldn’t see the other side, but he picked up the pace. He stopped when he heard movement.

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It sounded like a clanking sound—like metal on metal—but they couldn’t see anything. They continued down the catwalk.

“I hope that we can find a way into the network. This place gives me the willies,” Jony said.

Nigel froze as he saw movement just ahead on the catwalk. It wasn’t moving like a human but—a robot? It’s a robot! Nigel thought. The machine in front of Nigel was about the size of a large kitchen trashcan. It had a light in front of it and a tray with cleaning supplies was on the top of the robot.

“What’s that doing here?” Nigel said.

“There’s another one behind me,” Jony said.

Nigel snatched a glance behind Jony. It was another robot, but this one was larger, and it looked like it had been designed it to haul packages around.

“There’s no way we’re going back now!” Jony said.

Nigel tried jumping over the smaller robot, but lost his footing. He slammed against the metal catwalk. Pain shot up his arm as he tried to protect his head. He looked up and saw the cleaning robot; it stopped just short of hitting him. Then he noticed some stains on the robot’s cleaning bristles.

Is that blood?

He looked closer now. The stains were gummy, and hair was stuck on it too. Nigel tried getting up, but the robot slammed into him. The robot behind Jony did the same to him.

“Bloody hell!” Jony cried.

Nigel felt something hard against his fingers, it felt like metal slamming against his hand. He pulled back, wincing in pain. He was bleeding.

“The robots are attacking!” Nigel yelled.