by Luis Robles
While she was looking so cautiously at the signs, another came around the corner. The first of many guards to come, I was sure.
I ran toward him, appearing almost instantly in front of him. I grabbed his helmet and cracked his skull against the strange near-organic walls. They tried to use their typical fashion of shocking staves and blasts of energy. I ran to meet the other one approaching from the opposite end of the hallway; he met the same end as his comrade. Two more came from the first side, which I managed to disable before they could reach Jaika. My arm reached for Jaika to pull her behind me. I braced myself against the impact and bolted forwards to slam myself into them and pound a fist into the helmet to crack it and forced my hand inside until I felt a crack.
Jaika’s vitals raced and with hands slicked with viscera, I guided her through the strange passageways.
“This way,” she told me, making a sudden turn. She pushed up her glasses to make sure, deciphering the script as she went. As we ran, I picked up a pair of those electric sticks they tried to use on me, assuming they'd be effective against them.
Jaika’s eyes flicked around behind her glasses as she mapped the corridors for the most effective route to take. We round a corner and I saw another group rushing towards us.
The lights here faded from a white to a light blue and back again as the singing continued through the walls. It was as though they didn't use the same speaker technology that humans did, but the sound resonated throughout the walls themselves.
This time seemed to be a small troop of them. Some of them were in armor; I counted two of them without. I went for those weaker links first and used the sticks to knock them out and pushed them aside. There were so many of them however, the armored ones, that soon struck me hard at the joints.
I could feel internal issues arising due to the sudden ripping of chords. I worried that my back plates could become damaged from the whaling of these attackers. My body was still adjusting to what it could or could not do. In numbers, the enemies seemed to have the upper hand. I was trying not to fire my railguns, saving all my energy for when the real battle began. I struggled against them. I flung myself backwards against the wall and kicked out with my legs. I jabbed the lightning rods into the creature's face and neck until they let me go. It affected them even through the armor and made it more difficult for them to move afterwards. I looked down at them for a moment, impressed, before carrying forward.
Jaika meanwhile tried to stay out of the line of fire, but I could tell that she was scared. I couldn't devote too much processing to it however as I ducked and weaved between an oncoming onslaught of beatings.
“RAILGUN!”
A few of the creatures towards the edges couldn't help but try for an easier target while I was taken care of.
They reached for Jaika, trying to grab her arm, missing only by a few inches, “You're the little murderer. Stop your creation!” they started. Jaika's face dropped and fell pale as their face was inches from her own.
I felt a fury well within me, and I forcibly ripped myself free of the remaining guards holding me back. I leapt towards them, grabbing their legs and flailing them against the wall. They grunted and tried to get up but I kicked them again swiftly. They stayed down then.
I didn't know if what I had done had killed any of them. I assumed, at the very least, the crushed heads were dead. But their vitals worked differently from the humans that I was programmed to understand. Frankly, I didn't care, as long as they weren't moving to harm us or capture us. Or at least, I felt as though I shouldn't care. To protect Jaika, anything was acceptable... But as I looked upon the littered room, I couldn't help but wonder if they, too, were just scared, like those men who tried to take Jaika's purse, only a few days ago.
Jaika clung to the metal plates and looked over my body, “Oh god, Railgun, you don't look so good,” she commented worriedly.
“We don't have time to worry about that, I still have a lot of fight left in me,” I told her, continuing forward. One of the back plates that protected my railgun had been torn nearly free from its hinges.
She gave an impression that she wasn’t convinced, her eyebrows furrowing up like that and her lips pursed. I didn’t think she believed me, but I was being honest.
Maybe she figured that out herself after a moment, because she began stepping through the bodies, nervous but determined.
“We need to get to the core,” she told me. “That's where the engine is. With everything, if you take out its engine, that means that the whole thing will fall, especially something as complicated as this. I mean, I would assume they usually would have a backup generator, but if we can find a way to take that out afterwards, or even overrun its capabilities and hack into its system and somehow counteract its implementation, then we could get this thing down in no time. If the ship falls, then we win, Railgun,” she explained, urgency in her tone.
Nine Lives
Amadeus
It had been a long two days with the humans. I had no idea what happened to Jaika after the door closed. I could only assume with my higher reasoning that, of course, Railgun was taking care of her, that she was safe. I could only hope. She had to have a plan. She would not give up so easily. That wouldn't have been like her. As I stared out the window, I saw the ship just there, unmoving in the air. But something about it looked wrong; it did not look as mighty as it used to. Changing my optical scan, I noticed that their shield was down.
“What a remarkable sight. They are not indestructible, after all. We might still have a chance,” I whispered.
The people downstairs were still pissed off at me, as the local language would say, for rendering them inert and almost causing a heart attack to two when they tried to get a hold of Jaika. But I figured that this news would make them reconsider their position and not try to kill me as soon as they saw me.
As I walked down the stairs, they all turned to me, uncertain, angry and beginning to stand up from their seats. Some of them were ready to leap for me, whereas others were more hesitant. I sensed a moment, if you would, an opportunity.
“Excuse me. I do beg your pardon. I know that the shock wasn't exactly what you asked for...And I know it might have caused a great deal of pain for some of you. But as I said before, I am very sorry for that,” I said, giving a little bow from on top of the counter they were all turned to. There must have been about twelve people here. Probably more, but it was hard to tell when they all grouped together like that.
“As I tried to explain before, my name is Amadeus, and I—”
“Yeah! Yeah, we know and we also know that you're worth a hell of a lot of money! So cut the crap,” said one of the men in the crowd. They were a large barrel of a man with a shredded eight-pack and a mane of hair; others in the crowd hollered laughter.
“No, well... Yes, I am,” I expressed quickly, “But I'm only really worth a large amount as long as I'm in operation... For you see, no one knows how to fix me right now, and frankly my components wouldn't really be very profitable compared to what I can provide you all in the long run.” I found my paws kneading at the counter nervously.
“And what is that exactly?” they asked me.
I looked between them. It was a wild shot, honestly. No idea if it would work or not, but there was only one way to find out.
“The girl you tried to capture a day ago? She's being protected by the only thing that we know can kill them,” I explained to them.
“Them? Who the hell do you mean by them?” another large man demanded.
“The so called Keepers,” I replied, pausing.
Their postures changed, and there was muttering among the crowd. The consensus, unsurprisingly, was that they had thought as much, that they knew it already. Oh, of course. Surely, something there would have seemed important.
Shu-Hui stood up, “You know what? I'm listening. Talk. This is your only chance!” she said firmly, and the whispering grew louder, either in agreement or in outrage, I wasn’t sure. Kuan-Lin hesitated at first, but th
en gave a nod, “As am I,” he stated in that quiet voice of his.
Sitting up a little prouder, I gave the couple, who had been our hosts for all this time, an approving smile and explained to them, all while I had their attention, what had led Jaika, Railgun and I here, and what our plans were.
They had many questions that day, and I tried to answer them as best as I could, but there was quite a lot to cover.
“The bottom line is this, I know that you have a Resistance movement, and we have to act now,” I told them, “I have strong reason to believe that their deflector shield is down. Something must have happened in the inside of the ship, and I am more than sure that Jaika and Railgun are behind it. I am also sure that they are in a great deal of trouble, and they need my help.”
After a brief silence, a frail looking silver-haired woman gave a nod, her face had something steely in it, and I felt that I could trust her.
“I need to get to her. I need to get to Jaika so that I can increase their odds of success. Every small percentage counts. Can you all help me?”
“Are you out of your mind? We are not going anywhere near that thing. You are asking us to go near the one thing we have been hiding from for the last ten years,” one of the guys in the crowd said and many more seemed to agree.
“I am also telling you that this is your only chance. Aren’t you supposed to be rebelling against them? Then rebel, and help Jaika now,” I persisted.
There was silence for a moment, and then the radio announcer had everyone informed that the reward had gone to the Hsus for successfully bringing the young girl, Jaika Liu, up to the ship, alive. The timing couldn't have been more perfect.
There was silence, with rebels looking among each other, scratching their various body parts as subtly and casually as they could, like kids not wanting to be called out in class.
“But what can we do? We have nothing. Most of us have tried to attack the scouts in the past when they first came to Taiwan, but our bullets are meager weapons. At least the ones that still work after the great blackout, don’t work against them,” one of the men reasoned as the rest of the crowd nodded in agreement.
“What can we do, cat? Shu-Hui asked sincerely.
“Doing something, anything at all, is way better than doing nothing. I am not asking you to fight them. I just need a distraction, and I need to get to them as soon as possible.”
There was a moment of silence before one of them stood up, looking a little bashful and hesitant. It was the guy with the eight-pack.
“... I have been keeping aside some rocket fuel and the last bit of weapons we have… I have been keeping them away for something special. I think this might be it.”
Confrontation
Jaika
If the ship made any sense at all, we were moving toward its center; toward the place where we would surely find the core of the ship. At least, that was what I was hoping for. I was moving as fast as I could; sweat building up in my forehead.
“Jaika, we should really stop and rest for a few minutes. You are exerting yourself too much,” Railgun said with a genuine worried voice.
“Nah, I am fine. We are almost there…just a few more minutes,” I said in between breaths.
He called it; as I took a few more steps, my body buckled, and I fell towards the floor. Railgun caught me just before my face came in contact with the floor and then lifted me to my knees. My chest was in pain, I felt uncomfortable and exhausted.
“Where can I find your medicine?” Railgun asked, attentive, only waiting for my reply.
“I should have my pouch in the left pocket of my jacket; there is also a pouch of water there.”
Before I was able to move my hand out the way, he already had the little white pill and the pouch of water in front of me.
“Would you like me to administer this to you?” Railgun asked with a soft voice.
I couldn’t help but to smile. “No, thank you. I can do it myself,” I said as I grabbed the pill and the pouch of water from his hand. “Just be on the lookout, ok? It shouldn’t be long before they catch up to us.”
Railgun moved toward the middle of the corridor as I rested my back on the wall. I thought about many things as I sat there waiting for my body to recover. I thought about the great big mess I was in, I thought about how would we ever get out of this ship, and I pondered about how unfortunate it would be for any of the Keeper to confront Railgun right now as he was keeping watch. They would be walking into his new territory, into his new comfort zone. I could only imagine how many calculations and plans he had processed at the same time just to keep me safe.
“How long has it been since we stopped?” I asked worried, not realizing the time.
“It had been fifteen minutes,” he simply replied.
“And you have not heard any movement whatsoever?” I asked as I got up slowly, supporting my weight as I pressed my hand on the wall.
“There has been much movement, but all at a safe distance from us. I believe they have laid out a trap for us, of some sort,” Railgun replied. “I recommend caution.”
“So do I,” I said almost with a smile, thinking I was losing it. “Let’s go, we are almost there.”
The final door had a code sequence, and I went to decipher it before Railgun just tore the door apart with a shriek. Shuddering a bit, I moved inside.
The air was colder here. There was calmness and a silence. It seemed completely serene and... Perfect.
The room was circular and wide, with a dome-like curvature for the ceiling. At the very center, there was a large, round opening. From there, you could see a whole magnified universe. Nebula shifted positions behind that lens, and the colored light of the trillions of stars made its way down in a beam toward the floor. The sight of it was mesmerizing.
There was a map on the floor where the light struck. It was like something from the old world astronomy books. There were rings upon rings of different planets and symbols. The floor turned and moved to adjust. Then, the middle section of the map raised itself and levitated a huge, approximately four-ton block of mass in that same strange unknowable black material. It glowed and changed to a clear white crystalline color within moments as it caught the light from the nebula beam. The room glowed. I realized my jaw had dropped slightly and brought it up. I didn't even look away to see Railgun's expression or search the room. It was the most beautiful thing I had ever seen.
“That must be it,” I whispered, “That's the core...”
There, sitting below it were two of the Keepers. They seemed different from the others, sitting cross-legged like that and not particularly focusing on anything. It was as though they were floating on the air, but my mind went automatically to magnets. It was probably magnets, I said to myself to try not to freak out. Like the magnet chairs back in Granddad's house, my house. I clenched my jaw and they opened their eyes.
“You really shouldn't be in here,” one of them said with a barely audible voice.
“Well, why not? Isn’t that the plan? We wanted them to come here, and they came here,” the other said with a chilling voice that I was able to recognize instantly.
I had seen Railgun take down more than two Keepers at a time, and I had seen him do it several times, but there was something about these Keepers… Everything felt different, it felt strange. How can they be so confident knowing what Railgun can do?
Railgun took a step in front of me as if sensing danger. His core engine roared to life. At the same time, his back metal plate adjusted halfway open. His body tensed up as electrical particles danced all around him. He was ready for something big.
“Please, step back away from the door but in clear view of it at all times,” Railgun instructed.
I was quick to follow the advice and found a place between Railgun and the door, just to the side in one of the ten or so pillars in the room.
“Don’t you worry, little girl, we aren’t going to do anything to you, well at least not until we tear to pieces this android of
yours,” the Keeper that I recognized from earlier, the so called Prize-Lieutenant Nuvsef, said as he got up. “You can remain seated, Captain. I think I will suffice.”
Railgun stood there motionless and emotionless, most certainly calculating and formulating a strategy.
“Ah, forgive my rudeness. I don’t know where my hair is nowadays. Allow me to introduce the great Captain. This is Captain Sizol, commander of the Nefvalia, the ship you are currently desecrating,” said the Prize-Lieutenant Nuvsef as he gestured toward the other. “And as for me, well you know who I am.”
Nuvsef continued walking toward Railgun, unafraid. I feared for Railgun.
“Railgun, do not hold back. Use everything you got! These two are the last in the way for what we need to do. We don’t need to listen to them!” I said in a loud voice.
“You don’t need to listen to us?” Nuvsef asked with an arrogant tone of voice. “It’s more like you are scared to know the truth about humanity,” he said as he stopped in the middle of the huge chamber.
“What truth are you talking about?” I asked, not being able to help myself.
“Since the beginning of the human race, there has been violence, not only amongst them, but also towards this once great, paradise planet. Humanity has neglected the planet and has put their selfish intentions first before anything else, before even taking care of the world they live in. They have littered the earth with trash and disease, corruption and dirt. There has not been one government among you that is not corrupt, somewhere along the line. There has not been a single prolonged act of kindness toward the planet. The earth is filled with disgust,” Nuvsef said, raising his voice with each line.
“My grandfather built the world fans, the Great Dragons, to help and fix the earth back to its normal self. He devoted his life to saving the world. How dare you say those things about everyone?” I asked as a single tear ran down my cheek; fury kept the rest from coming out.
“Exactly! To patch up the problem that humanity had created among themselves. Human greed did this to your planet, the hearts of those that wanted power over anything else, even if it meant their own bloodline would be lost to the pollution of the future. All worthless,” said Nuvsef with venom.