“My name is Stanley Duncan, and I have an amazing story to tell you.”
Thick snowflakes drifted downward, coating the Fermi’s windshield. Dan wound several pieces of rope around his waist, sheathed a knife and tucking it into his boot, and put on a small backpack filled with a vial of nanites and other miscellaneous items. Getting out a block away from the Coliseum, he hid the bags containing unmixed chemicals, his helmet, and two gas masks behind a snow-pelted tree. There was nobody else around, and his casual appearance went untested until he approached an armed guard stationed in a small booth, watching the entrance.
Dan knocked loudly.
The guard jolted upright. “What?”
Dan’s heart raced. Contorting his face, he stared into the corner of the lot behind the booth. “Oh, God. Deputy Wilcox is going to flip his shit when he rolls up here.”
“What the hell are you — ”
Dan grabbed him from behind and choked him out. Dragging him back into the booth, he tied up his arms and legs. A video feed of the inside of the Coliseum showed a dozen men, and he knew there could be more off camera. He needed to act fast.
After finding the ventilator, he returned with the supplies. The mask easily slipped over his face, but he had to jam the helmet on over it. Tape screeched off the roll. He sealed the metal grill with a plastic bag, which had a small tube for the gases to flow into the building. Mixing the chemicals in another bag, he taped off the tube and watched the bag expand.
Back at the security booth, he waited until the men had passed out. The size of the main room was larger than he’d anticipated, so the little gas he had used wouldn’t keep them knocked out for long. Intending to rescue all the androids he could, he took out his phone and requested two large vans to pick everyone up and drive them out of the state.
Dozens of mutilated android heads lined the unlocked door at the main entrance. The stench of stale booze oozed out. Broken glass and unconscious men were strewn about the floor surrounding an empty platform. A toilet seat around his neck, Brutus sat powered-down on a vile throne made out of android limbs.
A grinding noise sounded outside of a door. Inside, sparks flew as a man welded a sword to the top of an android’s head. Dan punched him hard in the kidney, choked him out, and then tied him up. A dolly was resting against the wall, and a light breeze was blowing in from an open window. Shutting it, he looked around this little torture chamber. Weapons, tools, spray-paint, and more lined the shelves — all intended to hurt and ridicule machine life. He couldn’t understand why these men were driven to such insane cruelty. It was as if their goodness had been corrupted by bad code. What sense was there in getting pleasure in hurting others — and what kind of God would allow it to happen?
Taking the dolly, Dan continued to search room-by-room until he finally found Teddy chained up and passed out in a room full of androids. Seeing the exposed telephone line and the synthetic blood on the ground, he marveled at Teddy’s resolve and ingenuity. He poured nanites down Teddy’s throat. It wouldn’t regrow his arms, but it would help revitalize him. Grabbing a blowtorch from the other room, he slid the gas mask over his bruised and swollen face and cut through the metal links.
Teddy jolted to life, flailing his stubby arms chaotically.
“It’s okay. It’s me, Dan.” He couldn’t begin to imagine the horrors Teddy had experienced.
“What’s going on?”
“I’m getting you out of here. Can you walk?”
Teddy nodded.
“We don’t have much time. I leaked gas into the vents and knocked everyone out, but I kept the amount low so as not to cause long-term harm. The gas is thinning, and they’ll wake up soon.”
“That was your first mistake,” said Teddy. “You should have killed everyone.”
Dan helped him up. “I’m here to save lives, not take them,” he said. “There are two vans waiting outside. We can carry the other androids and load them in.”
Teddy slowly limped toward the hall. “Leave them.”
“So that they can be tortured by these maniacs?” Dan hoisted one of the androids onto the dolly. “No, thank you. Everything has a right to a life without suffering.”
Leaning against the door frame, Teddy looked like he couldn’t wait to get out of this hellhole. “They’re lifeless pieces of junk. They feel nothing.”
Dan ignored him and took out a rope.
“We can save so much time if we put them out of their misery.”
Dan finished strapping in the android. The coarse rope fibers pressed against his skin. Looking up at Teddy, he didn’t understand why he would want to leave anyone else to suffer. “Is that what you want me to do to you?”
A murderous aura beamed out of Teddy’s beaten face. “No, I’m not ready to die.”
“And maybe they aren’t, either. We can at least give them a choice.”
“They are lifeless murder-bots. The only thing they’re going to be deciding is who to kill next.”
“So says the man who was going to assassinate someone outside of Paul’s restaurant.”
Teddy scowled. “Whatever. Do it quickly, so we can get out of here.”
“I need your help. Come over here. Let me tie one of these guys to your back.”
Kneeling down, Dan placed an android on Teddy’s back, winding a piece of rope around them several times. “How’s that?”
Teddy pretended not to struggle under the weight. “It’s fine. Let’s go.”
Dan and Teddy brought several of the androids outside and loaded them into the awaiting vans. When Dan and Teddy returned to rescue more, some of the men began to stir.
“We need to hurry,” said Dan, placing an android into the van. “Soon we’ll have a horde of angry humans bearing down on us.”
“Then let’s leave.” Teddy knelt down and waited for the android on his back to be unloaded.
“We’re not done.”
Teddy kicked the van, denting it. “We’ve saved enough of them, and I’m not going to be captured again.”
Dan grabbed a fistful of his blood-caked shirt and pulled him within inches of his face. “If you want to get out of here, fine. I won’t stop you. Nobody should have had to suffer like you did. But I’m not going to leave the others behind so they can continue to be tortured. We haven’t got long before everyone wakes up.” He nodded toward the huge cavity in the door panel. “You’ve got strong legs — much stronger than mine — and I could use your help.”
“Fine! Shut your damn face — and get it over with.”
Dan didn’t know why he was pushing him so hard. Teddy must have been exhausted.
“My android nurse, Maple, is inside. If they haven’t reprogrammed her, I’ll make her help us.”
“Great.” Dan pushed open the entrance door.
Five men, still shaky on their feet, surrounded them as they entered. “Kill the abominations!”
Dan attacked them like chain lightning, punching, elbowing, and kicking one after the next, dropping four of them within seconds.
The last one backed up, looking completely terrified. “I give up.”
Teddy brought him down with a swift kick to the knee, breaking his leg instantly.
The man screamed.
Dan knocked him out with a punch to the jaw. “Aim to knock them out. We’re trying to avoid fighting against everyone here. Plus, there’s no need to cause unnecessary damage.”
“Whatever. These pricks can go cry all they want to the android doctors at the hospital.”
More bodies were stirring.
When they got back to the holding area, Teddy nodded toward Maple. “Turn her on — but be ready for a fight.”
Dan took an ax off the floor and went over to her. “Here goes.” Toggling a switch in the back of her head, he knew he’d have only a few seconds to act if she tried to kill him
.
Her eyes opened. “Hello, Teddy. Your arms are injured. Shall I call an ambulance?”
“Shut up. Help us carry these androids out of here.” Teddy pointed with his stub.
Maple looked back and forth between Teddy’s stub and the androids. “I’m sorry, Teddy. I’m unclear which androids you are referring to.”
“All of them,” yelled Teddy, as Dan strapped an android onto his back.
Maple lifted two androids onto her back. “This area is unfamiliar to me. Would you like me to search — ”
“No, you idiot,” said Teddy. “Follow me.”
Dan shook his head. “Real nice.”
They made several trips without any confrontation, loading nearly all the androids safely into the vans. On their final trip, they were accosted by Cratos. “Stop. If you — ”
Dan kicked him in the side of the head, knocking him out instantly, and then continued on without even stopping. He glanced at a lit-up cell phone that had toppled from Cratos’s hands, but it didn’t look like he had called for backup.
The ground shook behind him.
Teddy was stomping on Cratos’s head.
“Stop!” shouted Dan, darting toward him.
Cratos’s face had caved in. Teddy was standing in a pool of blood — still stomping.
Dan shoved him away, meeting Teddy’s cold eyes with a firm gaze. “Was that necessary?”
“Did you want him to keep abusing androids? It’s not as if the police are going to put a stop to this anytime soon.”
“I understand what you’re saying, but it doesn’t feel right.”
“Then stop feeling, and start surviving. These guys aren’t your friends. They’re not going to change. They want to kill you, and if you don’t do anything about it, you’re going to wind up dead — and maybe even someone you care about.”
The concept hit home as Dan thought about Stanley and the dangers his high-profile campaign would bring to them. But he wondered if, as Teddy said, it was better to take a more aggressive stance — killing murderers to prevent more murder and torture. The lesser of two evils. If he wiped out the worst criminals in Marshfield, then the town would be a safer place, and his friends could live without fear. It was a complicated situation, though, and he wanted to run it through his neural nets. Undoubtedly, this was one of the issues Stanley had been so concerned about. He had the ability to rewrite his programming. So what if the Peacekeepers decided that they needed to cleanse the population to keep humans — or even cyborgs — safe?
Disoriented men struggled to stand, too slow to stop anyone from escaping.
Kicking the door to the exit open, relief swept over Dan. All the androids except for Brutus had been rescued. With Maple’s help, he’d be able to get him out of here with ease. Soon, they would all be rehabilitated, their firmware replaced, and their mutilated bodies repaired. He trusted that Teddy and Maple would be able to take care of the rest on their own.
Screams of terror punctuated the sounds of crushing skulls. Brutus was killing everything in sight.
Dan let go of the dolly. “I’ve got to do something about him, or he’ll kill everyone.”
“Forget them. They’re not worth it.”
“You’re wrong. Take this android, and then get into the van. The destination has already been set. If I’m not out in three minutes, get out of here.”
“Like I’d wait that long.”
Dan gave him one final look of disapproval before running toward Brutus, approaching him from behind. The arena champion was moving quickly, slaughtering screaming men as they struggled to stand. Dan lunged, reaching toward the back of his head to turn him off — but there was no switch.
The war-hammer came crashing down.
Twisting to his right, he barely avoided the blow. A quick follow-up punch landed at the edge of his rib cage, which would have shattered his bones had it not been for the special armor he was wearing. The war hammer was in the air again, and he barely managed to roll out of the way. Concrete exploded out of the floor.
Too drunk and disoriented to recognize the danger he was in, an older man pushed himself to his knees and then took a swig of alcohol.
“Nobody move — or you’re dead!” Dan dove for a pistol, wrenching it out of the still-warm hands of a man whose head had been crushed beyond recognition. With Brutus charging after him, Dan squeezed out a shot.
No effect.
Aiming for his neck and eyes, Dan fired shot after shot. Crushed bullets ricocheted off of Brutus’s body. Even when Dan managed to hit his eye, Brutus ripped off the flattened steel like it was a small piece of dirt — and still he ran toward him. Dan barely avoided being crushed by the war-hammer as it slammed down and impaled the dead man.
Dan backed away from the indestructible android. “Does anyone know how to stop him?” While Brutus untangled his weapon from the web of intestines, Dan ran into the torture chamber. The man he had knocked out had regained consciousness and was squirming on the floor, demanding to be untied.
Scanning the room, Dan wasn’t sure what would work against that impenetrable armor. The blowtorch could do it, but only if he could restrain him for enough time. “How do I stop Brutus?”
“You can’t.”
Dan ran his hands over a claymore. “There must be an off switch.”
“I hope you die.” The man grabbed a knife and sloppily sawed at his bindings. Blood dripped down to the floor.
“Are you serious? He’s going to kill everyone out there. All humans.”
“Screw them. As long as he gets you, too, it’ll be worth it.” With his hands free untied, the man jabbed the knife toward Dan.
Dan dodged and punched him hard in the face, knocking him out. The door burst open, and Brutus rushed in. Dan swung the claymore as hard as he could at Brutus’s neck. The giant android was unfazed, smashing the sword with his war-hammer and sending it flying across the cluttered room. Trapped into a corner, Dan’s exhausted body had little space to dodge. He wasn’t going to last another minute like this. Desperate, he grabbed a knife and tossed it at him, but it bounced off like a rubber ball. Brutus lifted the war-hammer high into the air, ready to bring it down and crush Dan in an instant.
This was it. He was going to die.
Stanley gazed down at the attentive students. None of them were afraid of him. “Dan is a — ”
“Abomination,” shouted Evan, walking toward him and tapping a pair of cuffs against his hand. “And you are under arrest for the murder of Officer Michaels.”
Chapter 20
Ever since he’d first became conscious, Dan had enjoyed life. Every step of this journey, Stanley had been there for him. Between their conversations over tea and coffee, the countless movies they watched together, and their adventures with Machines with Dreams, Dan had felt his love. He had been blessed with this opportunity, through good times and bad, but he never told Stanley how much he —
The table thumped loudly.
The rope-bound man had stumbled from the floor and was running for the hall. Brutus chased him down, tearing his arm off with one swing of his weapon and crushing his spine with a squeeze of his powerful hand. The poor man lay in a pool of blood, two sections of spine jutting out of a nauseating hole in his back.
Brutus turned toward Dan.
There was no way out. The claymore had been Dan’s best chance of fighting him off, but it had no more impact than swatting the demon-cat with a broom. A can of black spray-paint was lying on a nearby counter. Dan scanned the table and shelf tops for a lighter to make a flamethrower but found none. If he could get to the room where he’d found Teddy, he could use the blowtorch and melt Brutus’s CPU — but getting past him seemed impossible. The dented claymore was on the other side of the room. He could sprint and make one more attempt at cutting Brutus down, but it had already proven itself useless. Brutus mu
st have a weak spot, Dan thought. That juggernaut’s eyes were tougher than steel. There was no way he was going to be able to cut through them, but maybe he didn’t have to.
Praying that it wasn’t empty, Dan grabbed the spray-paint, giving it two shakes before spraying a black mist in Brutus’s face, blackening it like death. The war-hammer crashed through a wooden shelf, exploding it into splintered pieces.
Taking a step back, Dan knocked into the counter.
Brutus charged forward, swinging wildly.
Dan froze, and the two stood there for minutes without moving. Somehow, he had to distract him so that he could escape.
“What the hell’s taking so long?” said Teddy, appearing at the door.
Brutus rushed toward him but ran into a table.
“He’s blind, but he can still hear!” shouted Dan, dodging the incoming swing of the hammer — but it connected with the helmet, ripping it and the gas mask off Dan’s face and sending them into a shelf. Brutus followed up with another swing and shattered the bulletproof helmet.
Dan’s neck and head hurt, but nothing felt broken. He held his breath, noiselessly thanking Stanley for his never-ending insistence. When he looked toward the door, Teddy was already gone. Word must have gotten out by now about what had happened at the Coliseum, and half the police force were, no doubt, on their way. Staying still was not an option — it was a death sentence.
As quietly as he could, Dan grabbed a wrench and threw it to the other end of the room. When Brutus charged after the sound, Dan tiptoed away. Creeping into the room where he had found Teddy — who, hopefully, was en route to the safe house with all the androids — Dan saw the blood on the ground next to the blowtorch. It made him sick to think about the kind of person who would do this. But in his mind, he knew the answer. Something was fundamentally wrong with this world. An inescapable truth was slowly revealing itself to Dan, a void too terrifying to accept. Like flawed code that was impossible to force into correct functionality — or perhaps it was his understanding of reality that was ill-conceived. But now was not the time to dawdle on such thoughts. Returning with the blowtorch, he saw Brutus scraping the paint out of his eye with a knife. “Oh, crap.”
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