Steel Guardian

by Cameron Coral

  “She is part of him—a human clone implanted with his consciousness—the first of many. Mach X will rewrite evolution.”

  Block didn’t understand, and there was no time to ask more. The mech lurched forward, aiming its canister at the guard tower. “No, please don’t hurt them!” he shouted.

  But the top half of the war machine was suddenly sheared off and the rest burst into flames. Cybel ducked as debris rained down onto the road, striking Block in his legs and torso. He stared down at a jagged piece of metal that had pierced his left side.

  The armored SUV screeched into motion, reversing and pushing open its door. “Let’s go,” it said to Cybel. “Tank.”

  Cybel’s right leg had been injured in the blast, but she stood and peered down at Block. “You turned against your own kind,” she said. “You’re a traitor to all machines. Let those be the last words you ever hear.”

  She placed the tip of her rifle against the center of Block’s chest—where his CPU was located—and pulled the trigger.

  47

  One week later

  Block couldn’t sense his body parts. He glimpsed fuzzy patches through his ocular display—a brightness, as if someone were shining a flashlight in his face.

  Before this, there had been nothing. It was as if he’d been powered down for a very long time, unable to bring his system online.

  He must be operating on very low power; he couldn’t access his comms, his peripheral data storage, or his GPS. The one thing he did have was access to his most recent memory cloud entries: reaching the New Denver checkpoint with Nova; giving her Wally and his bulletproof-lined trench coat; creating a decoy to stall Cybel Venatrix; the Titan mech exploding and Cybel shooting him in rage.

  Destroying his CPU.

  He shouldn’t be processing anything at all. Yet, here he was, existing somewhere, though he had no idea where. Someone had helped him.

  Gradually, objects became clearer in his ocular display. The bright fuzziness turned out to be recessed lighting in a paneled ceiling. The tiles were whitish-gray, bland like the hospitals in movies. He had no idea how much time had passed. His auxiliary systems were disabled. No auditory input, nor any of his usual physical sensations. Somehow, though, his thought processes seemed sharper. He couldn’t explain how or why.

  One moment, he stared at the ceiling, and then the next, a man came into view. He wore thick goggles over blue-framed glasses. His nose was hawkish and he had a small red beard. The man said something to him, but Block couldn’t hear.

  He held something up—forceps and a soldering iron. The man reached up, tapped his head, and a headlamp flickered on. Opening Block’s chest, he dipped his instruments inside, twisting them about. The man glanced at him again, and then everything went dark.

  System initiating…

  Reboot status 32%

  A man’s voice said, “How long has he been like this?”

  A second voice, also human and male, yet more high-pitched, said, “He’s been rebooting for seventeen hours.”

  “Is that usually what happens?” A woman’s voice. “I thought you had done this before.” She was impatient. Familiar.

  Nova?

  Block drifted off.

  System status 63% power. Checking diagnostics.

  Ocular display – registered.

  Auditory – registered.

  Sensory – not optimal. Critical damage.

  GPS – registered but disabled.

  Comms – registered but disabled.

  Memory cloud – registered.

  Peripheral storage – registered.

  “Block,” a woman’s voice said, “can you hear me?”

  He tried to nod. He hoped he had, but he wasn’t sure.

  Someone else besides the woman was nearby; he heard footsteps.

  “If his motion is damaged, how can I communicate with him?” the woman asked. According to his memory cloud, the voice matched that of Nova.

  Nova! She had survived.

  And now he was somewhere with her. New Denver?

  “Block,” the man with the deep voice said, “can you open your eyes?”

  His optical display had shown up as registered—meaning it was functional. He powered it on. Light seeped into the edges of his vision, and after a few seconds, he saw the bright lights, monotonous ceiling, and Nova’s face peering down.

  “His eyes are open!” she said. “Block, it’s me, Nova. I’m not sure you can hear me.” She waved her fingers in front of his face. “Are you in there?”

  He tried to talk, but his lips wouldn’t move. He tried lifting his arm, his fingers. He could not.

  “Why isn’t he saying anything?” Nova glanced at someone else in the room.

  The man with the blue glasses stepped into view. He stroked his thin, spotty auburn beard. “Hmm,” he said. “It’s possible the sensory damage has rendered him incapable of speech.”

  “Jesus,” Nova said. “Block? If you can hear me, blink once.”

  He sent a command to his ocular display: close/open synthetic lids.

  “He did it, yes!” Nova jumped, grinning. “How do you feel? Blink once for good, twice for bad.”

  “How’s that going to help anything?” the deep-voiced man whom Block couldn’t see asked.

  Nova ignored him. “How do you feel, Block?”

  He blinked once, twice, then again.

  Nova’s brow furrowed. “What does three blinks mean? Do you mean you feel somewhere in-between good and bad?”

  He blinked once. Yes.

  “He may be confused,” said blue glasses.

  “Does he remember what happened?” she asked him.

  The man shrugged. “Probably. I don’t know for sure how much damage was sustained. Ask him.”

  Nova studied Block’s face, her jaw softening. “Do you remember what happened outside the checkpoint, Block?”

  One blink.

  “Do you remember that Cybel shot you?”

  One blink.

  “You did a fine job that day. You saved me and Wally.” She paused. “Block, you’re worthy.”

  Had he been capable of tears, they would have flooded his synthetic eyes.

  48

  Two days later, Block had regained partial sensory functionality. He sat up in what amounted to his bed—on the operating table where Nigel, the fellow with the blue glasses, had worked at repairing his CPU and other areas impacted by Cybel and the mech.

  Nova leaned forward in a chair next to the table. “It’s amazing how much progress you’ve made in two days,” she said.

  “Are you talking to me or him?” Nigel asked from the corner, winking at Block.

  “Both of you, I guess,” she said. “I’m so glad you’re able to talk now, Block.” She squeezed his left palm. His right was still missing—that hand had been destroyed by Cybel’s bullets.

  “Who is the other man that’s been in the room with us?” Block asked. “The one with the deep voice?”

  Nova raised her eyebrows. “Oh, you must mean Shane.”

  “You found him,” Block said, “your boyfriend.”

  Her lips twisted in a half-smile. “Yes.”

  “I’m so happy you and Wally managed to escape.”

  “Your trick with the decoy was genius—to know the possum would provide a heat reading. And the bulletproof lining in the coat—when did you manage that?”

  “The night we stayed in the house. There was a sewing kit. I took it with me just in case and eventually found the bulletproof vest at the Costco.”

  “I had no idea.” She smiled, shaking her head.

  “When can I see Wally? When can I check out New Denver?”

  Nova’s smile faded and Nigel looked away.

  “Uh…” Nova hesitated and chewed on her lip. “Nigel, do you mind giving us some privacy?”

  “Sure thing.” He left the room with a nod.

  Block watched as he left. “Nigel fixed me?”

  “Yes. You were badly damaged.�
��

  “I know. I shouldn’t be here. Did other robots consult on the repairs?”

  Nova glanced at her hands; her nails had been bitten down to short, jagged points.

  “Is something the matter, Nova? Did I do something wrong?”

  She shook her head. “You did everything you could…”

  “Is something the matter with Wally?” He leaned forward. “Are you feeding her, changing her every few hours? Did her fever return?”

  “She’s fine.” Nova laid her palms on Block’s shoulder, pushing him back gently. “She’s being well taken care of.”

  “By whom? Not you?”

  She hesitated. “Not me. A woman who has other small kids. She’s taking very good care of Wally.”

  He processed this. “Is she worthy? Did you ask her the questions?”

  “No, err… not exactly.”

  Block suddenly wanted out of the room. He wanted to stand and roam the halls, to leave whatever building they were in and find Wally.

  But his legs weren’t yet stable. And he hadn’t tried walking.

  “I want to visit Wally.”

  “That’s… not going to happen right now.” She frowned.

  “Then when?”

  “A lot has happened since you were hurt.”

  He waited. “Go on.”

  “We’re in New Denver.”

  Good. Finally, a place where they wouldn’t have to constantly look over their shoulders, constantly be on the run. Maybe there were hotels?

  Nova struggled for words. He had never seen her take this long to say something. Usually, she was vocal—loud, even.

  She continued, “New Denver isn’t what you think.”

  This didn’t compute. “What do you mean?”

  She rose from the chair and paced next to his bed. “There are no robots here.” She paused as he processed what she was saying.

  “How can that be?”

  “This is a human-occupied city. The people here fight against Mach X. Against AI.”

  49

  Though it went against his programming, he wished Nigel hadn’t fixed him. Wished the humans had left him on the road to be retrieved by junk scavengers. The situation was worse than Block could have imagined. Not only was he inside a militant, human-governed city, but he was their prisoner.

  Trapped inside the room, he paced it often once he could walk again. Ambling was a better way to describe it. Nova continued to visit, and Nigel checked his status, making tweaks to his internal circuitry, and tried to fix his leg coordination.

  And still, no contact with Wally.

  He’d eventually wrangled the truth from Nova. Shane was in charge of New Denver. The leaders before him had experimented with human-robot cooperation, but after SoldierBots had infiltrated the city, a skirmish had ensued and all AI had been terminated or expelled.

  “Shane and I are part of a group called Hemlock,” Nova had explained. “He assumed control of New Denver after the former leader was assassinated by Mach X.”

  Hemlock. The word was familiar to Block for some reason. Where had he heard it before?

  “I don’t understand why I can’t see Wally.”

  Nova hung her head. “Shane thinks you could be dangerous.”

  “Me? Dangerous. I’m just a CleanerBot.”

  “I’m working on changing his mind,” she said. “Give me time.”

  “Does he know Mach X was hunting Wally?”

  She nodded.

  “That was stupid. Why did you tell him?”

  She looked away, crossing her arms. “Shane’s a good guy. You’ll see that in time. He won’t do anything to hurt Wally.”

  Block rested on the edge of the bed, defeated.

  “I came here to ask a favor,” she said.

  He waited in silence.

  “Shane wants to ask you questions… about AI, Cybel, Mach X. Stuff that could help us gain more intelligence.”

  “You mean help you kill more robots,” Block challenged her.

  She flinched.

  And, suddenly, his circuitry connected. “I know Hemlock. You attacked the school where I found Wally. The incubator warned me about Hemlock. Said to avoid it at all costs.”

  Nova’s eyes grew wide.

  “You lied to me. Said you weren’t a soldier.”

  “I couldn’t trust you,” she said, grabbing his shoulder. “I didn’t know you yet. All I knew was that there was something important in that classroom…”

  “You….” He paused. “It was you shooting into the classroom?”

  She nodded.

  “You nearly destroyed me; almost killed Wally.”

  “I had to take out the SoldierBot. I wasn’t sure what the hell you were. It only dawned on me once I was inside the van, after your friend bought me… it was you in the classroom.”

  Nova had lied all along. She had betrayed him after all.

  “We still don’t understand why Mach X’s forces had Wally in the first place. Can you help?” Nova asked him.

  He folded his arms. “I will not answer Shane’s questions.”

  “Block, please be reasonable.”

  “Mach X won’t stop hunting Wally. She is too important.”

  Nova sank to her knees. “Why? Why does Mach X want her?”

  Block knew why. He had replayed the record from his memory cloud 12,453 times, each time trying to understand what Cybel Venatrix had meant.

  A human clone implanted with Mach X’s consciousness. The first of many.

  Incubator X79 had implanted an encrypted file deep in Block’s core… how could he access it? He would not tell Shane, nor Nova.

  His mission was clear now…

  To find Wally.

  To protect her.

  Dear Reader,

  Thanks for reading Steel Guardian! Are you ready to find out what’s next for Block? Book Two is coming in 2020.

  In the meantime, I’d like to invite you to check out Block’s journal logs from Chicago. You’ll discover what happened in the days before the Uprising and how the aftermath affected him and others at the hotel. It’s a page-turner you don’t want to miss.

  You can download Block’s Journal for free by visiting: CameronCoral.com/BlockJournal.

  -Cameron Coral

  Also by Cameron Coral

  Cyborg Guardian Chronicles:

  STOLEN FUTURE

  CODED RED

  Rogue Spark Series:

  ALTERED (Book 1)

  BRINK (Book 2)

  DORMANT (Book 3)

  SALVAGE (Book 4)

  AFTER WE FALL (A Rogue Spark Novel) - get it for free on CameronCoral.com

  Anthologies:

  Dark Shadows 2: Voodoo and Black Magic of New Orleans (An Authors on a Train Short Story Collection)

  About the Author

  Cameron is a sci-fi author who loves travel, nature, museums, and kickboxing. She grew up in Maryland but has moved a lot—Maine, Arizona, and even a stint living in Australia. Chicago is her home these days where she lives with her husband and several sock monkeys. Cameron writes about robots, cyborgs, and strong female characters.

  Want a free novel, advance copies of her new books, and occasional rants about why robots are awesome? Visit her website!

  CameronCoral.com

  Acknowledgments

  I owe a debt of gratitude to you, dear reader, for taking a chance and picking up this book. I hope these pages transported you to another world for a bit and that you enjoyed the ride.

  Sometimes you get lucky. I met J. Thorn and Zach Bohannon, my publishers at Molten Universe Media, on a long train ride from Chicago to New Orleans during the 2018 Authors on a Train experience. Like a sponge, I soaked up all the knowledge I could from them (and still do as much as possible, especially when I see them in person). They helped me birth the idea for Block—a gentle robot caught up in a violent and unpredictable world. His precious cargo makes him consider a new purpose for his life.

  Thank you to my hard-working e
ditor Jennifer Collins! You helped improve the book immensely. You adored Block, and it showed. Additional thanks to Laurie Love for her excellent proofreading.

  Love and thanks to my husband Steve for all his patience and help during my brainstorming sessions, long days, endless slack messages, and all the craziness that accompanies this author life. You + me.

  Thank you to my parents for their endless support and encouragement.

  This book is dedicated to my niece Hannah, who happened to be born as I wrote this novel. Her incredible cuteness inspired me to get the baby details right. Everything fell into place once I found my tiny muse.

  Cameron Coral

  November 2019

  Chicago, IL

  More to Read Plus a Free Gift

  Thank you for reading Steel Guardian! Not sure what to read next?

  Molten Universe Media offers the best in thrilling post-apocalyptic fiction! Check out our entire catalog and sign up to our new release mailing list to receive a free gift at:

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