Hence, I divert all remaining energy into my arms, legs, and shoulders, which causes my electrical barrier to shut off, but that is fine because I do not need it at the moment. As long as I am strong enough to shove this Portal down, I will be all right.
Then I hear the lizard humanoids behind me and I look over my shoulder. The lizard humanoids are climbing the steps toward me, their claws drawn and their teeth bared. But I do not have any energy left to deal with them because the rest of my energy is diverted into putting all of my strength into pushing this Portal over.
Rather than tear at me with their claws, however, the lizard humanoids stop as they surround me. Scanners indicate that their body temperatures are rising rapidly, which means they are going to unleash their fiery breaths on me again. And considering how high their temperatures are rising, I know I will be melted into slag if I do not move before they breathe their fire on me.
But I must continue to put all of my strength into knocking down this Portal. If I succeed in that objective, then the fall might shatter its power crystal, which will force it to shut off even if its Xeeonite counterpart on the other side is still active.
Yet if I continue to push and shove, the lizard humanoids will melt me into slag, which means I must move now if I want to avoid that fate.
Thus, I divert all of my energy into the boosters on the bottom of my feet and immediately go flying into the air. As I soar upwards, the lizard humanoids unleash their collective fire breaths on the spot of the Portal that I had been pushing against.
As I hover in the air, I watch as the flames—which are so hot I barely believe the temperature readings my scanners show me—cover the part of the Portal I had been shoving against. The flames are loud and noisy, but at least they are nowhere near me.
The lizard humanoids must realize I am no longer there, because they soon cut off their fire breaths and look up at me. They appear to be trying to figure out how to get me, but that does not matter to me because I now see the full damage that their fire breaths have caused to the Portal.
Their fire was so hot that it had burned straight through the Portal's ring. The Portal itself blinks in and out of existence several times, but I now see an excellent opportunity to destroy not only the Portal, but these lizard humanoids as well.
I soar around the Portal and reach its backside, while the lizard humanoids that have attempted to turn me into slag follow my progress with their strangely intelligent eyes. Using both hands, I grab the top of the Portal's ring and shove it forward as hard as I can, using my boosters to give me extra momentum.
It works. The Portal—weakened by the flames from the lizard humanoids—teeters and totters before falling forward. As it falls, the Portal within immediately shuts off, turning it into a powerless and unusually large stone ring.
The lizard humanoids attempt to flee, and a few of them succeed, but most of them are crushed by the falling Portal, which lands on them with a boom. Not only that, but the impact causes the Portal to shatter into pieces, which creates a much louder crashing sound than I expected.
But I am satisfied with this, because the Portal has been shut off entirely now. Its Xeeonite counterpart is probably still active, but without this one to connect it, it is essentially useless without proper repairs.
The fall of the Portal is loud enough to cause many of the lizard humanoids and Foundation agents to stop the fighting and look at my handiwork. The lizard humanoids appear stunned by what I did, while the Foundation agents recover quickly from their initial surprise and begin hacking away at the closest lizard humanoids, killing a few before the lizard humanoids snap out of their shock and resume their fight with the agents.
Hovering in the air, I check my power levels briefly again. My systems indicate that I am at 77% now, despite all of the power I have used. That is more than enough power for me to aid the Foundation agents in killing off the rest of these lizard humanoids.
I soar down to the floor and land gracefully. As soon as my feet touch the floor, four of the lizard humanoids surround me. Scanners indicate they are angrier than ever now, with their body temperatures rising with their anger levels.
Nonetheless, I fire a finger lightning bolt at the one in front of me, striking it in the chest and forcing it to stagger back. Its brothers jump on me, but as soon as they do, I activate my electrical barrier, shocking them in midair and causing them to fall to the floor stunned.
Then I look around and notice how much more viciously the Foundation agents are fighting against the lizard humanoids. Konoa, for example, beheads one of the creatures and then kicks another in the face, while the agent fighting next to him tackles another humanoid to the floor and stabs it repeatedly in the throat. The destruction of the Portal must have boosted their morale, but I do not have time to stand here and think about this, because there are still many of these lizard humanoids trying to kill us and I must do what I can to help stop them.
Just as I take another step forward to aid the nearest agents, the doors to the room burst open, slamming into the lizard humanoids that are trying to break through it. Not even one second later, more Foundation agents pour through the doors, at least three dozen in all, carrying weapons of all sorts, and those that do not have any weapons have skyras rings glowing on their fingers.
The unexpected appearance of so many agents at once does not, however, surprise the lizard humanoids at all. Instead, they turn their attention from the few agents already in here and move to meet the reinforcements, although I can tell even now that they are unlikely to succeed.
As I watch, the reinforcements stab and slash at the lizard humanoids, dividing the creatures from each other and using magic to finish them off. Nacina, for example, beheads one of the lizard humanoids with her dead gray sword, while the witch Rina snaps her fingers and freezes another lizard humanoid inside a huge block of ice before Rozan smashes it with a hammer he carries.
While I still want to help, it becomes plain to me that any help I can render is unnecessary. This battle started with the agents outnumbered, but with the Portal now closed—and with it, any hope of the lizard humanoids of receiving back-up destroyed—the Foundation agents appear more than capable of finishing off the remaining lizard humanoids by themselves.
Therefore, I decide to take this opportunity to study the stunned ones around me, which are so still that they look dead, although my sensors indicate that they are still breathing. Ignoring the terrified and angry cries of the humanoid lizards and the swearing and magical blasts from the agents, I bend over the nearest stunned lizard humanoid and examine its body.
Studying your enemy in the middle of battle like this may seem foolhardy, but I wish to collect as much information on these creatures as possible so I can share it with my fellow J bots when I return to Xeeo. Besides, the Foundation is keeping the still-living lizard humanoids distracted, so I doubt any of them will attempt to attack me while I study this stunned one.
As carefully as possible, I scrap off a part of this lizard humanoid's skin and run it through my systems. Ordinarily, my scanners are used in the occasional detective work, such as when I am examining evidence at a crime scene, but they can scan just about anything and tell me what it is, regardless of whether it has anything to do with a crime scene I am investigating or not.
Scan complete. According to the skin sample I scanned, these creatures do indeed have Grand Lizard and human DNA in them. While these creatures are most definitely unique in that regard, this confirms my theory that these creatures are the result of gene-splicing, a science still in its infancy in Xeeo, but which is rapidly becoming popular due to its possible uses in the medical field.
That does not explain, however, how Reunification created these creatures. From what I have read about gene-splicing, it is still far too new of a science for anything even remotely this complicated to be created. That Reunification has made so many of these lizard humanoids means that they must possess scientific knowledge and understanding that even
Xeeo's brightest do not. If so, that makes Reunification even more dangerous than I thou—
The eyes of the lizard humanoid, the one I have been studying, open without warning. My own optics register that in less than a second, but before I can react, the lizard humanoid stabs me directly in the chest with one of its claws.
This time, the lizard humanoid's claw pierces my chest and tears through some of my inner-circuitry. My systems immediately begin working to find out what the damage is, but I have no time to waste waiting for what it finds, because the lizard humanoid is still tearing at my interior.
I shoot my twin eye beams at the lizard humanoid's face. The beams strike it in the face, burrowing through its forehead and into its brain. The lizard humanoid does not even cry out in pain before its head falls limply to the side and its body becomes still.
I grab its claw that is still embedded in my chest and gently remove it. The claw did not stab very far into my chest, but it is enough that I cannot simply ignore it. Perhaps I can have Konoa repair it, because despite his lack of certification, he seems unusually knowledgeable about repairing J bots.
System scan complete. Report indicates that nothing vital was destroyed or irreparably damaged by the lizard humanoid's claw, but I still need to have a certified J bot technician repair what was damaged as quickly as possible. My legs are still in working condition, so I stand up, but as soon as I do so, I hear something coming behind me.
Turning around, I see that it is another lizard humanoid, this one with blood covering its face (unable to ascertain whether that is its blood or the blood of one of the Foundation agents), as it charges me even faster than its brethren. I aim my fingers to shoot lightning bolts at it, but the lizard humanoid is faster than I can shoot.
It slams headfirst into my abdomen, causing me to stagger backwards. I trip over the lizard humanoid I killed and fall on my behind, but I take advantage of the fall and roll backwards out of the range of the lizard humanoid that had slammed into me.
Rising back to my feet, I aim my fingers at the creature again, but then it breathes a stream of fire at me. I jump aside to avoid being melted by the flames and then shoot my finger lightning bolts at the lizard humanoid.
The bolts strike the lizard humanoid dead on, causing it to collapse immediately. And a quick scan of its corpse tells me that it is indeed dead.
I glance around the area, but I do not see any other immediate threats nearby. Almost all of the lizard humanoids are dead now, having been slaughtered by the Foundation agents, while the surviving handful have been captured with thick steel chains around their wrists and ankles, their mouths shut tight with metal muzzles (though I am not sure where they got those muzzles).
As for the Foundation agents themselves, they do not seem to have suffered as many casualties as the lizard humanoids have. Some of the agents are dead—for example, a dwarf whose face is now little more than burnt meat—but the rest are alive, albeit wounded or injured in many ways. Still, it seems like the wounded will survive, especially now that the enemy is defeated.
The surviving lizard humanoids are dragged out of the room by some of the Foundation agents, while the rest stay behind to clean up the corpses of the ones they killed. They are far more efficient and quick than I expected them to be, because the agents waste no time in gathering the corpses into one large pile near the right side of the room, away from the corpses of their fallen fellow Foundation agents.
As they clean up the corpses, Konoa walks up to me. He still wields that short sword from before, although it is now covered in blood and his sweaty face is covered in scratches. His shirt has been ripped down the front, partially revealing his chest, but he looks better than I expected him to look after fighting so many of those vicious beasts.
“Thanks for destroying the Portal, J997,” says Konoa. He nods at the broken Portal, although it is a tired nod. “If you had not destroyed the Portal like that, we probably would have been completely overrun by those monsters.”
I nod. “It is nothing. I only did what I had to do.”
Then I gesture at the surviving monsters that are being hauled out of the room. “What will happen to the survivors?”
“That is information I am not at liberty to disclose to you,” says Konoa. He shrugs sheepishly. “I mean, I would like to, since I think you deserve to know it after all of the help you've given us, but you are still technically not an agent, so I can't tell you that.”
I nod, partly because I understand the need to keep certain things secret from outsiders, and partly because I suspect that the creatures are going to be dissected and examined by the Foundation's resident scientists. Or, since this is Dela, by their resident wizards and witches, although I do not know if they have any wizards or witches who specialize in dissecting living creatures.
So, changing the subject, I point at one of the dead agents, the dwarf from before, and ask, “And the dead agents? What will be done with them?”
“All of them will be given proper funerals, naturally enough,” says Konoa. His shoulders slump and he sighs. “But that will have to be for later. Right now, the Head needs to know about our victory over the intruders, if she doesn't already. I also need to find out what her next orders for us are.”
“By 'us,' are you including me as well?” I ask. I point at the floor. “Or am I supposed to return to my room several floors below?”
Konoa strokes his chin in thought. “Well, that depends mostly on what the Head wants, but I think it is likely that you will be returned to your room, yes.”
“Even after I helped save your base from being overrun by these monsters?” I ask.
“Well, as I said, it really depends on what the Head wants,” Konoa says. “Normal protocol is that visitors—when we have visitors, which we rarely do—usually aren't even allowed to wander around the base, much less help us fend off an unexpected enemy invasion. So I do not know for sure what the Head will have you do.”
“But you think it is more likely that she will return me to my room,” I say. “At least until this situation with Reunification is taken care of, yes?”
Konoa nods. “That is probably what she will tell us to do with you, yes.”
I nod. “I understand. But first, I must tell you something, Konoa.”
Konoa frowns and folds his arms across his chest. “And what is that?”
I lash out, punching Konoa in the face. The blow knocks Konoa off his feet, but I catch him before he can fall to the floor and then turn him around to face the other agents, who now notice me holding their fellow agent against his will.
Just as I expected, the agents are not happy about my actions. Ignoring the corpses of the lizard humanoids that they have yet to clean up, they begin to advance on me, but they stop when I wrap one of my hands around Konoa's throat. Konoa makes a gulping sound, but my scanners indicate that he is too afraid of what I might do to him to act.
“Machine, what are you doing to Konoa?” Rozan asks. The hems of his robes are burnt black, likely from the fire breath of the lizard humanoids, and there is a bad gash on his left arm, although he appears to be well besides that. “Why are you holding him like you're taking him hostage?”
“I do not mean to cause anyone harm,” I say, twisting Konoa's left arm behind his back as uncomfortably as possible. “But the fact is, I am not an agent of this 'Foundation' and I have no interest in staying here or helping you in whatever it is you are doing. As a law enforcer of Xeeon, I must return to Xeeo immediately to reconnect with the Database and inform my fellow officers of my status. I do not wish to spend an indefinite period of time locked away in that tiny room again.”
“Why'd you take Konoa as a hostage, then?” says Rozan. He rubs his forehead in exasperation. “Do you have a screw loose or something?”
“None of my screws are loose,” I say. “And while it normally goes against my programming to hold innocents hostage, I know you will not let me leave of my own free will even if I ask politely; hence, why I
will let Konoa go only if I am allowed to leave freely.”
“By Waran-Una's name,” says Rozan. He shakes his head. “This is why I don't trust robots. They pull stuff like this at the last minute, completely out of the blue. Palos should have left you to be destroyed by Jornan back there.”
“I am sorry you think I am not a good example of robots in general, but I do not care to be though of as a well-behaved robot right now,” I say. “Now, if you would all move out of the way and let me leave this room, then I will let Konoa free without harming him, as I said before.”
Scanners indicate that the agents before me—by my count, 40 in all—are confused and angry, though mostly angry. While most of their anger seems to stem from my taking Konoa hostage, I also believe they are worn out from battling and killing the lizard humanoids, which is probably contributing to their bad moods. Many of them wield swords or other weapons, which are covered in blood from the earlier battle.
But I do not care if they are angry, confused, or happy. What matters is whether they will agree to my offer. I do not intend to murder Konoa—my programming specifically forbids me from murdering innocents or individuals who do not pose a threat to my safety or the safety of others—but I will harm him if necessary. The only question is whether the agents will agree to my offer or not. I am not certain what I will do if they refuse, but I will figure it out if that happens.
Then Rozan chuckles. He gestures at his fellow agents, saying, “Lower your weapons, boys. I think this robot made a reasonable request.”
“Rozan?” says Konoa. His voice trembles. “Why are you—”
“Because we don't need the robot around here anymore,” says Rozan. He wipes some blood trickling from the corner of his mouth. “He can go and find his way back to Xeeo all on his own. No one will believe him if he tries to tell them about us; what's the harm?”
To say I am suspicious of Rozan's sudden change in attitude is an understatement. I do a quick scan to see if Rozan is lying, but his body does not display any of the typical symptoms of a liar. For whatever reason, Rozan genuinely appears to want to let me go.
Alliance Page 9