The first point-blank shot ripped through the things head. The second shot ripped another hole as the creature shook. The third shot went wild as he slipped off the creatures chassis. While jumping off, three more shots rang out in quick succession, peppering the already battered head with expert precision. The gun clicked empty.
Lights flickering to darkness, the machine slumped to the ground, finally dead. Father's feet landed back on the ground, the only one in the room still left standing sohow. He instantly rushed to my side next.
The machines hand on my ankle had slipped in the final blows, but it had locked the one around my throat in a dead mans hold, still preventing from drawing a breath. Father was at my side, prying off the dead things fingers, one at a ti with whatever strength was left in his relic armor. He worked without stopping, finding ways to pry the fingers with one hand. Darkness ebbed at the edge of my vision until enough fingers had been ripped off that I could draw a single ragged breath. Soon, hacking and coughing, I found myself sohow still alive.
Stabilize your yourself, Father rasped out. He didnt wait to see if I had, instead stalked on an unsteady path to the body of the second automaton hed partially destroyed earlier. One of the two hed taken out with his rifle. The thing was still twitching, trying to get back up.
I couldnt stop looking at it, violet lights flickering at the side while it struggled.
Father paused on his way and turned a glance at , then spoke out. Listen to to boy. Do you still still have your kit? He asked while struggling to reload the pistol with one hand. I looked at my belt and fished out a tal container at the side, it had a dent on the side but otherwise looked intact. I confird it to him.
You are in shock, He said. You have a few hours before trauma settles permanently in your brain. Pick out the propranolol-7 and set it for quarter vials worth. It will block stress neurotransmitters on the on the amygdala. Do this right now.
I glanced down at the pack, then hit the release tab and opened it without issue. A few different drugs and first aid kits were snuggly bundled together next to the field repair gun. The padding had done its job, and the contents were all still in one piece despite the hits Id taken.
The appropriate marked vial was removed, twisted for a quarter dose, and then prid. Id read about what this thing did. They werent to be used lightly. Ive had this tal vial for years now, sitting unused in the kit since the day I'd gotten them.
Keith. Look around and describe every object in the room to yourself. Take a deep breath at each object. I dont care what you damn see, just whatever you do, dont let your mind free until the propranolol hits your system. There was an urgency to his voice in this.
I numbly put the syringe to my throat, then clicked the release. I felt a prick, but the adrenalin was still going strong in my system. The vial beeped, signaling it had delivered the payload.
The movents were chanical on my end. It seed, now that everything was over, the training Id done with my sister was finally kicking in.
Shots rang out in the room and I looked up in ti to see Father making sure that one automaton from the start of the fight had been completely destroyed. Job done, he holstered the gun and walked over unsteadily to the dead automaton his knife had ended up in. You dont have ti to waste. He growled out in anger, Do as I ordered, or youll be seeing this day again and again years from now, boy.
I nodded, then took a deep breath of the ice cold air. I could see the vapor leave my mouth, heat fading out.
I took a breath. Father wrestled his knife out of the things head, then moved to the automatons chest, cutting into it with the recovered weapon.
I took a breath.
The walls here were half tallic and half concrete, the gaps between both were stark and had no pattern that I could spot. It looked like tallic cancer with a geotric style.
I took a breath.
Father sheathed the knife back in his boots with that usual flourish. The knife slipped his grasp halfway and clinked to the floor. He stared at it for a mont, before reaching down and sheathing it plainly this ti. His hand now free, he reached into the things chanical guts, rifling through until he drew out a power cell. It was connected by a mass of black wires.
I took a breath.
The wires grew taunt between the dead automaton and the heart he was pulling out. In monts, they snapped away, releasing the power cell with a jolt. Father pocketed it, moving to the next automaton to repeat the process, picking up his unspent grenade as he passed by it. Wed have a small stockpile of power cells after this.
I took a breath.
There were lights on the walls with so closer inspection, tiny, and without any pattern. Teal. The mites were still here, fixing up any damage that was caused by the fight, and almost pointedly ignoring everything else.
I continued with the exercise, hyperfocusing on sothing - anything - and taking a deep breath in between. My mind grew fuzzy and then almost detached from the world. As if I was existing outside it but still controlling a fleshy avatar. It felt like such an odd thing to inhabit, so filled with chemicals and noise. Was this what I was? The sum of all my parts? Just flesh and chemicals in the end? It felt like I was sothing that existed separate from my body, only inhabiting it temporarily.
I think its kicked in. I feel... disconnected. I said instead of pondering further.
The dissociation will pass in a few more seconds. The neurotransmitters will remain blocked for a day or two depending on your system. Youll rember details from today, but they will feel abstract, as if they were soone elses mories. Thats normal.
And you?
Im moving forward on the assumption that Ill live through today. Frustration radiated from him, as if too many things were going wrong and he couldnt do anything about it.
Your left arm, I said almost in a daze. Its not just injured isnt it?
Yes. He said after a mont of silence. The muscles were cut.
He reached for his own kit and drew out a syringe of his own. It didnt look like the sa thing Id taken either, the fluid inside was a pale blue, and a warning sign was etched on the silver tal sides. This wasnt part of the normal kit. Sothing only relic wielders were allowed to use?
What does that do? I asked him.
He paused, glancing over . It will trick my body into letting move as if nothing was wrong with it and cut pain completely. If we make it back to the expedition in under a day, Ill be fine.
I didnt ask what would happen if we didnt make it in ti. I wasnt that stupid.
The syringe prid, he stared at it, contemplating. Then he raised it to his neck and took a breath. His hand shook, holding the syringe at the ready. One breath. Two breaths. "Talen, guide ." He whispered, and with a jerk slamd the syringe against his suit until it beeped satisfactorily. Then he threw it aside, almost as if disgusted by the thing. It clinked hard on the ground, bouncing off and rolling away to join the rest of the detritus.
Get up, He hissed. I wasnt sure if he was talking to or himself at this point. We need to get moving, before more arrive. These things move in packs and quickly swarm any area that resists.
The armor even groaned as he stood, crackling sounds of electric failure lit up inside as the inner servos strained to move, but Father pushed past and up, limping to his rifle. I could see more clearly those glowing lines under the plate. It reminded of an occult knife glow, except it was clear these lines weren't for cutting. I'd heard there were a lot more occult items then just knives. Could these armors also have parts of the occult inside?
That terminal, are you positive it will work if powered? Father said, cutting through my wandering mind.
Terminal? The mite terminal. Before wed been ambushed. My mind felt fuzzy, but the details flowed back.
I needed to make it back to that terminal, trace the power line to the switchboard, and then turn it on. And pray it would work. Im not sure. I only think it does. It could go any direction.
He grunted. We dont have another option. Theyre coming for us, we cant stumble around for another chance. It either works and we have a chance to live, or it doesnt and we die.
He walked over to my cracked backpack and slung it over his shoulder, placing the pilfered power cells into it.
Power cells are not our limiting resource now. Ti is. He said. "Get on my back, the suit can carry us both faster around the city." He walked over, and lifted up with his free hand. I wrapped my hands around his neck to hold myself still on his back.
My environntal suits broken." I said. "Even if we make it out, I can't go back top level. I'll freeze to death.
He shook his head. There is still one way to get you to the surface. We can deal with that later, once were out of danger. Terminal first.
He began a brisk jog that would have been more of a sprint for my speed. The steps were unsteady, and his direction didn't follow a straight line. A few tis he stumbled but continued forward. Soon wed co back to where the dead terminal had been. The mites had already repaired my earlier slices. No trace of damage was left.
How much ti do we have until they co back?
He grunted. Half hour at best. Theyre already on our trail at worst. But the armor would notify if it had been pinged. We havent yet been.
There was still so ti to escape. Whats our plan?
If the terminal works, well make use of it. After that, Ill carry you out. At my speed well be able to avoid patrols and slip out of their search radius.
A mont later, we had made it back to the switchboard, now knowing which one of the wires was ours from the hundreds that connected here.
By then I was feeling a lot more lucid. Felt more like myself now, everything before seed like I had read it from one of my books rather than lived it. Gods above, it felt like everything had happened months ago even. Father's footsteps had also visibly improved, the stride returning to normal and no more stumbles. Whatever drug he took was doing its work.
I was dropped off within the structure. Despite my mind feeling free of this whole ordeal, my body clearly reminded it had all happened minutes ago. Father held my shoulder, and we both limped to the switchboard.
Turning on that light was almost trivial. Oddly enough, the example light Father had asked earlier, before the fight, had been harder to turn on. The whole process took three switches on different sides of the board and quarter turned a valve. The terminal wire lit up as predicted within seconds of touching the whole contraption.
I waited for a mont, thinking sothing inside this room would change, or a hidden door would open. Nothing of the like happened. The solution had been anti-climatic, but what had I really expected?
The only way forward was to trust what I've done so far and check at the terminal itself. Again, he carried back to the terminal, Fathers relic armor reducing the ti taken to re minutes.
When it ca into sight, a crushing wave of utter defeat followed behind. The thing was still black and lifeless, even with the wire clearly powered on. All that for nothing. I chuckled. "I guessed wrong."
"No." Father said, dropping down and walking to the terminal. Then tapped on the black screen. "Look."
There, on the bottom right of the black screen, was a small line of white text. Complete with a text line divider, slowly blinking.
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