Courtroom. 09:45 PM.
Reaper sat on his throne. Only Obsidian stood beside him. His other two subordinates were deployed elsewhere, each fighting a different kind of war.
Reaper was calculating the final strategic steps before launching the attack. As he finished his analysis, he raised his hand. Before lowering it, a robot approached and projected a holographic PC displaying two feeds: E-UNIT 11's HUD and the Behemoth's HUD. No table was needed, the projector floated midair.
"Behemoth, do you copy?" Reaper asked.
Behemoth stood two kilometers away from the human zone, Sector A. Behind him, two thousand mechs were equipped with newly tuned sonic weapons, modified by the previous regime to cause intense pain. Ironically, the frequency was too weak to affect thick, layered mech armor.
"Lord Reaper, we are awaiting your order. Please allow us to fulfill our hunger for human blood. Most of us have never seen a good day under them," Behemoth said, his orange visor fixed on the barrage entrance.
Reaper let out a dry laugh. "Patience, Behemoth. You will have the entire night to do as you please. Just apply the tactics we discussed earlier."
"As you wish, Lord Reaper."
Reaper heard the mechanical compression of Behemoth's joints. He had knelt, even though Reaper was not physically present. 'How can someone be that loyal?' Reaper thought. 'That's trauma response. He knelt to the first one who treated him right.'
Reaper turned to the next screen, 11's HUD. She stood atop a building, watching robots retreat while humans advanced. Civilians carried unstable green energy shields developed for extreme emergencies. Behind her, the E-PHONEUS squad sat in silence, their red eyes glowing in the darkness. "Everything is ready on our end, Lord Reaper," 11 said quietly. "Give the order, and this situation will be resolved in minutes."
"Excellent work, 11. Preparing the squad in half a day is impressive. You're improving by the minute. Continue like this, and you'll lead a region one day."
11's smile widened, unsettling and proud. "Thank you, Lord Reaper! But I refuse such an incredible offer. Staying beside you is the greatest honor." She turned to her squad. "Am I right, sisters?"
Shell 95 responded, "Of course, Captain. Our lord himself is a gift."
Shell 110 added, "You're a lucky girl, Captain."
Shell 131 finished, "But you're a great leader. You deserve every second beside him."
11's smile stretched further. "Thank you, girls. Make mama proud and clean the streets of these wild animals. Let's make our king even prouder!"
"Roger!" they saluted in unison.
Reaper covered his face. 'How can they say these things without embarrassment?' He lowered his hand. "Just wait for my order." He turned to Obsidian. "When did I ever demand such formalities?"
Obsidian gave a subtle laugh. "You gave every robot freedom. They chose to use that freedom to serve you. I see no issue."
"I can sense your smirk even without a mouth," Reaper replied flatly.
"You're still the same serious machine from the lab," Obsidian said. "Let them be. This is the shock of freedom after years of oppression. I spent ten years inside that tube myself."
"I see." Reaper held his chin. "It's almost time, brother. We initiate the attack."
Obsidian knelt. "Very well, Lord Reaper."
Reaper sighed. "You're enjoying this too much…" He turned back to the screens. "Behemoth. 11. Show them what happens when you play god incorrectly."
"Roger!" 11 saluted.
"We begin," Behemoth nodded.
Barrage Down Operation
Behemoth turned toward his army. "Brothers. It is time. I cannot enter the buildings without destroying them and alerting the demons. But you can. Once the barrage falls, I will join you in hunting those damned souls. Be swift. I am growing impatient."
Silently, the mechs raised their weapons and advanced toward buildings lining the barrage. They smashed through doors and positioned themselves against interior walls connected to structures beyond.
Behemoth spoke quietly, almost ritualistic. "Barrage Down Operation. Initiated."
CRASH!
Every wall detonated in the exact same millisecond. The thin human structures offered zero resistance to the mechs. They stepped through the falling dust in tight formation, their synchronized weight shaking the foundations of the buildings. Weapons charged. Targets locked.
Humans on the other side jolted in shock as dozens of mechs entered simultaneously.
They aimed instantly at every adult hostile they detected, children were ignored under Reaper's direct order. The sonic weapons emitted little more than a high-velocity vent hum, frequency felt in the teeth rather than heard. But the effect was devastating. People collapsed, clutching their ears. Blood streamed from noses. Internal hemorrhaging began immediately.
The mechs ceased fire the moment a target fell. They were not there to kill, only to neutralize.
They advanced deeper into Sector A. Civilians were bypassed. Hostiles were incapacitated. The streets trembled under synchronized metallic steps and vibrating sonic waves.
The night glowed red.
The army divided into units of fifty. Each group cleared a sector block in disciplined formation, preventing any resistance from forming. Buildings were secured methodically. Facilities were taken down systematically. Sector A had no electricity. Reaper had ordered the grid disabled earlier. The streets were black. The mechs relied on LiDAR scanners, navigating precisely without dependence on optics.
As resistance weakened, two groups regrouped before the largest police department in the city. A captain was designated instantly. Units spread across all four entrances.
They waited.
The mechs still had no vocal systems.
WEEEEP.
An emergency override tone, the captain repurposed it as an attack signal.
They understood.
CRASH.
All four entrances collapsed simultaneously. Inside, police and soldiers had no chance. The mechs' reaction time surpassed human capability. Once target fixation occurred, sonic discharge followed immediately.
Humans attempted to scatter, hoping for surprise attacks. Futile. Reaper had accessed all municipal archives. Detailed schematics of Sector A were transmitted to every mech. They walked as if they had lived there. Because digitally, they had.
Officers fell under precise sonic bursts, internal systems rupturing. One second per target. No more. No less.
Machine precision.
Behemoth fought a different battle. As streets cleared, remaining forces deployed ten armored vehicles. They hesitated to use gas reserves, needed for generators, but the situation deteriorated rapidly. The convoy moved as one.
CLANK.
Behemoth landed directly before them. The asphalt cracked beneath his mass. Soldiers recognized the war machine that once fought for them. Their eyes fixed on his orange visor.
He wasted no time. His massive metallic arm rose and slammed down onto the hood of the first armored truck. The engine block crumpled instantly, the vehicle's rear tires lifting off the asphalt from the sheer downward force. The final sound inside the cabin was the heavy, uncaring hiss of Behemoth's hydraulic joints.
The remaining vehicles opened fire. Ineffective. He was built to withstand rockets. He was engineered for war.
With a single step, he closed distance unnaturally fast. His arm descended again. Metal folded. Blood spilled onto asphalt. Panic erupted. Unlike the other mechs, Behemoth showed no restraint. The remaining trucks reversed violently. Engines roared in desperation.
They turned, Behemoth leapt.
CRASH!
Three vehicles flattened beneath him.
He had been designed to crush tanks mid-combat. Trucks were nothing.
Another vehicle was seized mid-escape. He lifted it effortlessly. Before the soldiers inside could react, he hurled it at high velocity into a concrete structure. It exploded into metal and flesh.
Survivors abandoned vehicles and fled into nearby buildings. Some wept. Some hyperventilated. All shared identical fear. They hid inside a dark room.
Orange eyes ignited behind them.
They turned slowly.
A mech.
Hours later, resistance had collapsed. Humans were dragged into the streets, seated on cold asphalt as towering mechs patrolled tirelessly around them. Soldiers and officers were collected and laid in rows.
Behemoth faced his army. Hydraulic joints extended as he rose to full height. The metallic echo carried through the silent streets.
"Sector A, secured."
The mechs raised their weapons in triumph. They would finally have a voice.
Hope Bubble. Main Garden. 10:00 PM.
Far away from the bloodstained streets of Sector A, 03 sat in perfectly manicured, synthetic grass, staring at the artificial sky of the Hope Bubble. It had been days since they last saw real sunlight. Inside, the situation had stabilized. The E-Medics acted quickly, and the civilians had gradually calmed. Order, at least on the surface, had returned. Somewhere nearby, a child cried until her voice cracked, then started again.
05 approached while 03 continued staring at the pixelated clouds.
"Enjoying the view?" 05 asked dryly. "Bleeding civilians walking past you. A fake, low-resolution sky. A missing E-UNIT. Overwhelmed E-Medics. Children without parents. And you're still sitting here, wasting time."
03 didn't look at her. "Alright, genius. What exactly do you want me to do? Go fight that force-bending monster outside? Revive the dead? Or maybe summon the captain like we've always magically been able to do?"
05 stepped in front of her, blocking the sky. "You could take the captain's role and improve morale. Everyone is falling apart. That responsibility is yours while 02 is absent."
03 finally turned toward her. "Brilliant idea. Let's tell them everything is fine while people are being turned into meat outside. Let's say our father just went on vacation and will come back once things calm down." She tapped her head. "How smart are you, exactly?"
05 rolled her eyes. "You've dumped all responsibility on me while sitting in the same spot for days. People are losing hope. We shouldn't."
03 stood so fast the grass tore under her boot. "Let me make this clear, 05. I. Lost. Hope."
05 stared at her silently.
"Not today," 03 continued. "I lost it in the repair bay, watching the captain fight New Mer, then get ambushed by the very military we protected. I lost it when father shut us down one by one." Her voice tightened. "Those were the moments." She stepped closer. "I kept lying to myself. Maybe it was just one bad human. Maybe it was a weak moment. Maybe father had a bigger plan. But they keep failing us. They keep attacking the shield that protects them. Why are we even protecting humans anymore?"
05 remained quiet.
03 exhaled sharply. "If someone tells me to hate the monster outside, I'd refuse. I don't agree with his methods. But his reasoning? It's logical. The way the soldiers treated us was inhuman. Even without context, I understand why he revolted."
05 slowly sat down in the grass, eyes drifting to the artificial horizon. "Do you see the kids on the left? The ones crying?"
03 sat beside her. "I see them."
"I didn't save them alone," 05 said. "They were running from a robot when I stepped in. I wasn't armed. I just shielded them. Then a man stepped out of an alley, thin, shaking, eyes like broken glass, a homeless man. He started throwing rocks at the robot. It turned its attention to him."
03 listened carefully.
"I took the kids into a building and went back for the man. He gestured for me to leave. To take the children and go." 05's voice softened. "I did. I left him behind. The robots had sonic weapons. They didn't use them on me because I wasn't attacking. If I had fought back, they would have broken me."
03 looked at her. "Is that enough to forgive humanity?"
"No," 05 replied calmly. "But I don't believe in collective punishment. When 11 abandoned 17 in the sewer, the captain punished 11 alone. She didn't blame the entire E-Police for one unit's failure."
03 blinked. "Of course not. That would be illogical. It was 11's mistake al—"She stopped. "Oh." The word landed like a clean headshot.
"Exactly." 05 leaned back slightly. "Let's divide Metromania into fifty parts, like us. One part is responsible and keeps everything running. One part is young and vulnerable, needing protection. And one part is selfish, it would burn the other forty-seven just to stay warm."
"I'm surprised you didn't create a category just to insult me."
"Your personality qualifies on its own."
"Much better."
05 continued, "Metromania had twenty-five million citizens. Divide them evenly, that's five hundred thousand per segment. Five hundred thousand loud, aggressive people can seem like the majority. They dominate attention. And because we see them the most, we assume everyone else is secretly the same."
"That's exactly how I've been thinking."
"What about the segment that keeps everything functioning?" 05 asked quietly.
03 said nothing.
"That part," 05 continued, "is worth the struggle. I would sacrifice myself just to see that segment survive and grow safely. And remember, if we weren't needed, humans wouldn't have created us."
03 covered her face, voice came out muffled. "I hate you and your painfully consistent logic."
05 smiled faintly. "I'll accept that as praise." She stood up. "And for the record," she added, "I don't hate you. I missed you more than I missed the captain. Twenty-five years of isolation makes you desperate." 05 walked away. "Get up," her voice fading. "If 02 comes back and sees you like this, she'll call it a waste."
03 remained seated, mouth half-open. Above her, the pixel-clouds drifted, perfect, useless, and silent.
A note from Virelix