The Esoteric Design: Disbanding Hope

by A. R. Crebs

  “There’s a double confirmation process to make sure you are absolutely positive you want to set those commands. Don’t want any accidents out on the field now, do we?” Aren explained.

  “Accidents,” the Scotty scoffed. “Stupid process,” he grumbled lowly.

  Aria kept her stare fixated on the corner of the alley where Spoofy had initially spotted the target. Spoofy passed an overturned tank, her robotic arm shoving the giant barrel out of her way. The female crouched, walking stealthily over shards of broken glass. She came to a halt behind a second tank, looking down the side alleys.

  “Anything?” she asked.

  “Not seeing anything. Can you confirm the location?” Zombie replied.

  Once again, Spoofy took in her surroundings, guiding the tip of her weapon around the corners. The left side was void of any living targets, civilian bodies strewn about. The woman eyed a street drain. A hydrant’s water mixed with the blood of the dead, a swirling pool of red. Unfazed, she moved her sight to the right. On the other side of the tank was one of the Spewers. It rose, standing tall even on stumpy legs. Hot magma rolled between its teeth and thin lower lip, the acidic substance dripping and sizzling through the wheel track of the tank. Moving its eyes downward, it immediately locked onto Spoofy. The revelation startled her.

  “Oh shit!” she cursed aloud.

  The sound of her voice ignited the monster’s rage. Jumping to the side, Spoofy opened fire upon the beast. She was too late, however, as the bursting magmatic flame gushed from the Spewer’s mouth, slung through the air, and poured over the top of her.

  “SHIT!” she screamed as the boiling liquid doused over her.

  Spoofy looked down at herself; the magma digitized and dropped onto the ground in bursting pixels. The woman angrily folded her arms, her armor twitching in and out of focus. Her brown eyes thinned into slits as she glowered at the Spewer. The beast roared, magma flying in long streams. Next, Spoofy felt extremely heavy, her body forcefully dropping onto the ground. She groaned, struggling to breathe against the constricting force.

  “Damn it…” she snarled.

  “Guys…I’m dead,” she mentally spoke.

  “NO!” Monkey called out.

  “Need a medic?” Kaino asked.

  Spoofy rolled her eyes. “No. I got melted…totally wasted.”

  “Don’t worry, princess. I got yer back,” Zombie sounded.

  The cowboy rounded the corner of the alley behind the Spewer. He aimed his revolver at the magma sacs on the creature’s back. He shot three times, popping the upper sacs first. The Spewer howled, its thick arms reaching for its wounds. It spun. Fiery eyes looked upon Zombie as the monster’s body began to bubble and swell. Zombie popped a few more shots into the creature’s torso before he launched a grappling hook over the side of the building. The beast dove, trying to take Zombie out, but missed and crashed into the side of the complex as the man flew into the air and climbed atop the roof. Exploding, the Spewer took out the lower right side of the structure. Zombie stumbled, holding onto his cowboy hat. Using his hook, he zip-lined down the face of the building. After a rather ungraceful landing, he unclipped himself and ran to the opposite side of the street just as the shop crumbled in massive heaps to the ground.

  “Ha! Got the bastard!” Zombie drawled, giving Spoofy a thumbs-up.

  Spoofy’s face twisted into a look of uncertainty. Zombie’s enthused expression fell. He knew it was coming, but he couldn’t move out of the way fast enough. A Brute from the opposite alley sent a violent shockwave in the man’s direction. The impact slammed against Zombie, throwing his body in two different directions. His top landed not far from his previous position; his legs shot across the road, slammed against the crumbled building, and dropped to the ground.

  “Son of a bitch…” he angrily twanged.

  He eyed his legs across the road and looked down at his split midsection. He felt heavy, his suit locking him onto the ground so he couldn’t move; his head slammed back onto the pavement.

  “This is bullshit.” He stared upwards at the black sky, the smoke swirling in consistent patterns overhead.

  “Damn. I saw that,” Monkey said.

  “Guess I’m out, too,” Zombie added.

  “Need a medic?” Kaino asked.

  “Not unless you can tape my legs back together.” Zombie glared at the sky.

  “Ouch,” Kaino dryly stated.

  “Guess it’s up to me now,” Monkey sighed.

  From the rooftop, Monkey looked down at Zombie and Spoofy. The two were sprawled on the ground. Each shared matching agitated expressions.

  A deafening crash commenced, tearing Monkey’s attention away from his comrades. Grabbing his sniper rifle, the soldier ran and slid to his knees, aiming attentively in the direction of the hospital where Kaino was residing. Through the scope, he saw a multitude of figures rushing down the street toward the hospital. Monkey readied to fire but halted, unsure of which action to take.

  “Are those friendlies?” he curiously asked.

  The mob moved in an erratic pattern and speed, darting from one trashed vehicle to another, leaping over barricades, climbing over walls. The sight was unnerving. What Monkey expected to be monsters were regular human beings, but the way they moved wasn’t natural.

  “I’d say no,” Kaino chimed in.

  “What the hell are they? I haven’t seen these in the report.” Monkey gawked through his reticle at one individual. The man had dark hair spiked with neon-green tips. His skin was pale, and he wore basic military fatigues. The way he ran and leaped three meters into the air was spooky. The man’s face was undecipherable, not showing fright, rage, or amusement. The man seemed to be on a mission, all the others following close behind.

  “Shoot them, Monkey!” Kaino called out. “We can’t let them reach the hospital!”

  Monkey gasped, took aim, and quickly fired. Kaino always had good instincts, so Monkey didn’t need to be told twice. Firing, the round burst through the mysterious man’s head. Monkey continued on, blasting over and over again into the crowd. He got about a dozen shots in before one person made a sudden stop. It was a woman. She was average looking, her long orange hair waving like a fan as she turned her head to look up at the sniper. The woman was a good two hundred meters away, yet her green eyes locked directly onto his. Monkey shivered.

  Reloading, he kept his eyes on the mob. The orange-haired woman was making a mad dash in his direction. Monkey knew his weapon inside and out. He was lightning fast at reloading, dismantling, and putting his gun together. By the time he had the fresh clip inserted into the rifle and was aiming, the lady was at the base of his building. He frowned. Through his sights, he watched as the woman slapped her hands together, and a nightmarish scene unfolded.

  An electric whir sounded as the woman’s arms snapped out of place. The shoulders curved inward toward her chest, her elbows snapping to the side. Her jaw dropped, hitching onto the top of her arms. From her mouth came a telescoping barrel that locked into the palms of her hand. Her arms vibrated, feeding energy into the pipe. The electric whine rose in volume. This all happened within a second, and after another, blue energy fed down the length of her barrel and detonated like a cannon upward toward Monkey’s position on the roof.

  “Holy shit!” he shouted, diving out of the way.

  The energy exploded upon impact with the roof’s entry door, its blast radius expanding as the current moved like fire across the surface of the floor. Lying on his back, the sniper scooted away, sliding the best he could from the rushing static. As he spun to his feet to run, the orange-haired woman floated to the roof’s level, her feet now bursting thrusters. Monkey heard the windup; the sound sent chills over his body. Before he could even take a step, the woman’s cannon fired again, the blue orb of electric light exploding against his back.

  Monkey dropped to his hands and knees, blue light enveloping him. His body appeared to char and blow away in the wind, but quickly pulled back together
. He felt a heavy weight push against him, and he was locked onto the roof of the building, staring blankly at the cement floor.

  “No need for a medic. I died,” Monkey whimpered.

  “I’ll be joining you in just a moment,” was Kaino’s solemn response.

  There was an orchestra of electrical whines revving up from the streets below. Contorting his face, Monkey awaited the inevitable. Within a second, the whole city was erupting into a devastating roar as each booming cannon device sounded one after another from the strange people. He couldn’t see the hospital from where he lay, but the corner of his eyesight glowed with a brilliant light. Everything had fallen silent only for a moment before the world was engulfed in a sizzling hiss. The hospital ruptured into pieces; the pavement lifted off the ground in generous loads, crashing and tumbling into the surrounding buildings. Monkey saw it, the debris of rock and metal as it flew high into the air and then came crashing back down toward his body. He flinched, wanting to shield his face, but everything suddenly shattered into tiny pixels, sprinkling around him like rain. Then all fell into darkness.

  “Stop the simulation!” Aria called out, her voice bouncing through the air.

  Slowly, everything lit up into brilliant white.

  The woman was leaning against the control panel; her mouth pulled tight as she ground her teeth together. The large training room was void of all replicas. There were no flames, no debris, no monsters, and no buildings. Instead, all was laid out like a colorless obstacle course. Spoofy remained on the floor with Zombie only a few meters away. Monkey was high on a white platform, gaping at the floor beneath him. Kaino was at the far end of the room, leaning against the tall white box that was previously his hospital. He folded his arms and gave a huff of frustration. Franklin sat closest to the training room’s exit. The spherical droid had only made it two minutes into the simulation before he was brought down by a Brute’s blast. The bot shrieked as it lifted into the air and followed up with a flatulent noise.

  “That was awful, you guys,” Aria called out, her hand pressing against the speaker switch. “I think that was one of the worst simulations I’ve ever seen.”

  “What were those things?” Monkey loudly asked.

  Aria’s forehead wrinkled. “Those would be the biomechanical androids. Sapphire has a whole army of them. As far as I know, each one is very lethal. We need to be prepared for anything. Always use EMPs. An EMP will give you an immense advantage. I’d prefer you to waste an EMP grenade than not use one. Clarke said he’s working with the science team to replicate Camery’s electrically-charged rail guns. I’d like you each to have an ECRG form of weaponry. Not only that, but you will also be fitted with new armor. But we cannot use that as an excuse! We must be vigilant at all times! Every corner is dangerous; every step is one step closer to a potential death, and every breath you breathe can be your last. Don’t forget it, or this simulation can very quickly become a reality.”

  She dropped the speaker device and plopped into a leather chair. She eyed Nerd and Aren. The two men were avoiding her stare, feeling like children caught in the middle of a fuming mother’s lecture. Out of all the simulations that morning, this one was the messiest.

  “Erm, want me to go get you a coffee?” Aren spoke up finally.

  Aria eyed her teammates out on the training room’s floor. She heaved a weary sigh and snatched up the speaker again.

  “Hey, guys. Come in for a break. We’ll discuss strategy a bit more before moving onto the next simulation.” Her tone was a bit softer.

  Franklin was the first into the room, chiming and beeping excitably. Bridgette swirled, giving a squeal, and sped toward Aren’s bot. The two machines flashed lights and squawked and tweeted to each other. Aren and Nerd eyed each other awkwardly.

  “Bridgette,” Nerd called out.

  Bridgette ignored her owner and ran her faceplate into Franklin’s, a repetitive cheap sounding cheerfully as the two spun in a circle while pressed together.

  Nerd leaned forward in his chair. “What kind of malarkey is this? Bridgette!”

  Franklin brought out one of his clamps, poking and prodding the other bot. Bridgette squealed in what sounded like delight.

  Aren leaned against the control panel and folded his arms. “Seems they like each other.”

  Nerd scoffed, eyeing the younger man. “Like each other…heh. Bridgette!”

  Nerd’s droid turned around, running her backside against Franklin, the two honking and flashing lights once more.

  “Bridgette! Ya blasted prostitute!” Nerd shouted.

  Giving another screech, Bridgette’s back panel dropped, allowing Franklin to look inside at her computer parts.

  Nerd covered his eyes. “Oh, lordy! Showing off yer posterior parts already. I’m disappointed in ya young lady!”

  Aren snickered, watching the scene with interest. Aria was also intrigued by this exchange of communication between the two drones. She had never seen it quite like this before. Franklin this time squealed, his clamps opening and closing animatedly. Suddenly, he reached inside Bridgette, gathering data.

  “’Ey!” Nerd screamed. “Get yer dirty clamps offa her capacitors!”

  “Did we miss something?” Spoofy asked as she entered the room. Her hair was sticky with sweat, pressed against her forehead. The military woman eyed the two robots that were dancing in the corner of the room. “Aw, did Bridgette make a new friend?”

  “How can you stand there and laugh? She’s clearly being molested!” Nerd protested.

  Aren patted Nerd on the shoulder. “I believe she came onto my Franklin, first.”

  “She’s only a year old, for Christ’s sake! She’s just a baby!” The Scotty whined.

  “Franklin!” Aren said. “Cool it.”

  Franklin immediately released Bridgette, making a sound of discontent. Simultaneously, Aren and Nerd pointed at the ground beside themselves, telling their bots to “get over here.”

  “So, how bad was it?” Spoofy asked, dropping into another chair beside Aria.

  Aria feigned a smile, and Spoofy cringed.

  “That bad, huh?” Spoofy glanced down at her arm, messing with a loose panel.

  “It was pretty bad,” Aria said with a laughing scoff.

  Zombie trudged into the room, his cowboy hat in his hand. He leaned against the wall, already smoking a cigarette.

  “I told you to stop that,” Kaino said as he passed the smoking man.

  “I’ll stop after this ridiculous war,” Zombie drawled.

  “Thanks for saving me, princess,” Spoofy sarcastically stated, eyeing the Southern man.

  “You coulda warned me about the Brute,” he replied sourly.

  “That would be cheating,” she said. After a pause, she looked toward the doorway. “Where’s Monkey?” she asked in a seething tone.

  Jumping from her chair, Spoofy marched directly into the hall and slammed her palms against her hips. Zombie’s face contorted, and he placed a hand on the side of his face, not wanting to watch the spectacle. Aria looked at him with interest, mouthing the word, “what.”

  “JEFFREY!” Spoofy yelled. “You went to the vending machine? Are you kiddin’ me?!”

  “Babe! I’m famished!” Monkey’s voice whined from down the hall.

  “Snack cakes? You’re eating snack cakes!” she shrieked.

  “There’s nothing healthy in the machines,” he pouted, shoving one of the snack cakes in his mouth as he entered the room. “Mmm. I’ve been workin’ hard all morning,” he said with a full mouth. He swallowed hard. “Burnin’ lots of calories!”

  Spoofy threatened to knock him upside the head with her mechanical arm but stopped when Zombie leaned forward, giving her a warning stare.

  “You’ve just lost a night of sex,” she hissed, pointing at Monkey’s face. Stomping back to the chair, she sat down, refusing to look at her husband’s face. “I swear! I didn’t get married; I adopted a man-child!”

  Aria giggled, watching Monkey as
he angrily stuffed the second cake into his mouth.

  “Damn. Aria says that about me all the time…and we aren’t even married!” Troy’s voice sounded from the hall. He rounded the corner, his military trench flapping around his knees as he leaned against the doorframe.

  “Where the hell have you been?” Aria irritably asked.

  “Had some important things to deal with,” Troy said. Rubbing the back of his head, he avoided her stare.

  “Important?” she asked. “More important than stopping Sapphire?”

  Troy slumped. “If I hadn’t done what I did, I wouldn’t have come up with my genius idea!”

  “Genius?” Aria’s eyes widened. “You and the word genius don’t go well together.”

  Moving his head slowly from side to side and pressing his lips tightly together, Troy filtered his brainwaves before continuing. “If you can just shut your sassy mouth for one damn minute, I can explain.”

  The black-haired woman crossed her legs and folded her arms, giving the man all her attention.

  He cleared his throat. “Okay, so this may sound a bit crazy, but I think I know when we should declare the war.”

  All eyes were on him, waiting eagerly for him to give details.

  “December twenty-fifth,” he croaked.

  “Are you serious?” Kaino asked.

  Aria eyed her partner, weighing his words.

  “I know, I know. It sounds crazy, but I think that’s the best time to do it.” Troy unbuttoned his coat, suddenly feeling a bit warm in the crowded room.

  “Christmas day may be appealing to Sapphire. It’d be insanely blasphemous,” Aria spoke.

  “That’s what I thought, too! But there’s another reason. One that even you haven’t thought of yet.” Troy fed her a cocky smile.

  “And that is?” she asked slowly.

  Troy sank to the ground, taking a crouching position. He stared at the tile floor, deep in thought. It was a habit he had when he was in charge of making plans. “Okay, so you remember in Saray? That one night that caused all kinds of trouble?” he asked.

  All eyes immediately flitted to Aria. The woman could barely contain her blush.