Alliance

by Timothy L. Cerepaka

  Entering sleep mode in five … four … three … two … one …

  -

  When I awaken, I notice that my interior alarm still has at least an hour left on it. That makes me wonder why I have left sleep mode when I notice something pale-skinned and winged standing over me, raising its claws above its head like it is about to attack me.

  Without waiting, I raise my right hand and fire twin finger lightning bolts at the creature. It vanishes into the shadows before my lightning bolts can hit it, however, and then reappears several feet away, hissing and growling at me like an angry bear.

  I rise to my feet and observe the creature as it hisses at me. As I noted before, it is pale and winged, but also humanoid, with crimson eyes and stained red lips. In addition, my scan picks up traces of snow bear blood on its lips, which confirms this creature's identity: It is an arctic vampire.

  According to the mobile Database, arctic vampires are vampires that live primarily in the Delanian Winterlands and other cold climates. Due to their viciousness toward outsiders, there is not much information on their language, customs, or social structures, although it is known that they suck blood and never show mercy to their prey. It is not known exactly how they procreate, either, because no infant or youthful arctic vampires have ever been seen before.

  This is the first time I have seen an arctic vampire in person. Its movements are jerky and unnatural, which makes it seem more robotic than organic, although I have seen robots with more life in them than this creature. Still, I am not fooled; the mobile Database's records state that arctic vampires are known to be strong enough to tear apart robots with metalligick plating. Therefore, I cannot let my guard down around this creature, no matter how pathetic or strange it may look.

  And it does look as though it has not eaten in quite a while. Its body is thin and boney and its pale skin makes it look close to death. Yet I continue to keep my guard up, because appearances can be deceiving when dealing with Delanian creatures.

  The arctic vampire stalks back and forth, looking at me with its red eyes like a predator. It appears to be looking for an opening in which to strike me, but I will not let it find one. Its eyes focus on the hole in my chest, but I cover that quickly.

  Then the arctic vampire says, in a strange accent, “So you're one of those J bot machines I've heard so much about. You look like so much clack to me, hardly as impressive as the rumors made you out to be.”

  I run the word 'clack' through my mobile dictionary. There are no matches for that word, either in Delan or Modern Xeeonish, which means it is probably a vampiric word or possibly slang. While I do not know its exact meaning, I can derive its meaning from the context in which this arctic vampire uses it.

  “I do not wish to fight you, arctic vampire,” I say, my optics following its every move. “All I want to do is stay inside this cave until the blizzard passes. I won't stay here forever.”

  The arctic vampire shakes its head, although I am starting to think it is female based on its voice and vaguely feminine form. “No. This is my cave. I won it by right of conquest. Do you see those bones over there?”

  The arctic vampire points at the unidentifiable pile of bones I noticed earlier. “Those belonged to the last idiot who tried to take this cave as his own. His blood tasted awful, by the way.”

  “I did not know this is your cave,” I say. “It appeared abandoned and uninhabited to me, which is why I decided to stay here until the storm passed.”

  “I don't care what you did or didn't think,” says the arctic vampire. She bares her long, dagger-like fangs at me. “You robots probably don't understand things like protecting territory from enemies, so you can't understand why I want to rip you to shreds right now.”

  I tilted my head to the side. “How do you speak Delan so well? I thought most arctic vampires were savages incapable of speaking in anything other than hisses and growls.”

  “That's none of your business,” the arctic vampire snaps. “The only reason I wasn't here when you got here is because I was out hunting and got caught in that terrible storm.”

  “So you took refuge in another cave to wait it out?” I ask.

  “Of course not,” says the arctic vampire. “I would have been killed by another arctic vampire. No, I just fought my way through the storm. It took me hours, but I did it.”

  The arctic vampire sounds proud of herself, although I find it hard to believe that any creature, even an arctic vampire born and raised in this environment, can make it through a blizzard as powerful as that one through sheer willpower. That is another hint at the strength and power of these arctic vampires, which is yet another reason to keep my guard up and not underestimate her.

  “You are certainly a fearsome and brave creature if you managed to fight through that blizzard on your own,” I say. “By the way, has the blizzard gone down at all since I went into sleep mode?”

  “Slightly,” says the arctic vampire. “But it doesn't matter because you won't live long enough to leave this place on your own two legs.”

  The arctic vampire lunges at me with her claws outward. I fire more finger lightning bolts at her, but then she vanishes into the shadows again.

  She is gone for only a little while, however, because in the next instant she leaps out of the shadows behind me and tackles me to the floor of the cave. The impact is harder than I expected due to the arctic vampire's heavier-than-expected weight.

  Still, I activate the electrical barrier in my body, which causes the arctic vampire to shriek in pain and jump off my back. I then jump to my feet and whirl around to punch her in the face, but my blow misses when she vanishes into the darkness again.

  I look around again, even though I know I will not see her until it is too late. I wish I understood how her disappearance into the dark works, but even the mobile Database says that no one knows exactly how the arctic vampires do it, so I will simply have to keep my guard up as always. I cannot even sense her right now, like she has disappeared into a pocket dimension of some kind.

  Then I see a flash of paleness out of the corner of my optic and I jump back just as the arctic vampire goes flying past me with her claws stretched outwards again. As she passes me, I bring both of my fists down on her body, sending her crashing into the ground.

  But as soon as she hits the ground, she rolls away and jumps back to her feet. A low growl emits from her throat as she claws at the ground.

  “You are stronger than you look, machine,” says the arctic vampire, panting slightly. “Much stronger. When I saw the hole in your chest, I thought you were too wounded to fight. I suppose I made a mistake there.”

  “Yes, you did,” I say. “We J bots are capable of operating even when damaged. It is nothing more than a 'flesh wound,' as I already explained to someone else today.”

  “Impressive,” says the arctic vampire. “Most impressive indeed. I do not understand machines very well, but perhaps it would not be wise for us to keep fighting like this when it is clear neither of us will go down easily.”

  “You mean you do not want to fight for your territory anymore?” I ask. “Not that we actually were, of course, as I have no interest whatsoever in making your territory mine, but this does not seem like something I would expect from a vampire like you.”

  The arctic vampire shrugs. “While I still do not want you anywhere near my cave, I know better than to draw out a fight with someone of your strength and caliber. It would be a waste of time and energy for both of us.”

  The arctic vampire seems far more reasonable than she first appeared, but I do not let my guard down entirely. The mobile Database says that vampires of all stripes, including the arctic kind, are often very deceptive. She is probably saying all of this in order to get me to lower my defense, but I will, of course, not let her do that.

  “If you do not want to continue the fight, then I will leave shortly,” I say, glancing at the cave mouth, where I can hear the howling winds of the blizzard raging. “I do not have time to
waste here in this wasteland. It is of utmost urgency that I return to Xeeo and reconnect with the Database.”

  “Let me guess,” says the arctic vampire, scratching her chin. “You don't know how to leave these mountains, do you?”

  I look at the arctic vampire. “How did you know that?”

  “Because why else would you be in my cave like this if you did not already know your way around here?” says the arctic vampire. “I don't know how you got here in the first place, but I can tell you have no idea how to find the nearest Portal back to your home; otherwise, you would be long gone by now, I'm sure. Correct?”

  I nod. “That is correct. Are you implying that you do?”

  “Of course,” says the arctic vampire. She pats her chest. “I was born and raised in the Winterlands. I know every inch of this place like the back of my hand. From the tip of the Frozen Peninsula to the edge of the Warmer Regions, I know it all.”

  My scanners indicate that she is telling the truth, although it is hard to tell for sure because my scanners are not designed to detect lies from vampires. Still, I cannot assume she is lying, because if she is telling the truth, then she seems to be my best bet for finding a way out of here and back to Xeeo. On the other hand, I cannot safely assume she is telling the truth, either, so I will have to speak carefully and make sure not to let my guard down around her.

  So I say, “Are you going to tell me where the nearest Portal is, then? If so, I would greatly appreciate that.”

  “I will,” says the arctic vampire. “But for a price.”

  “A price?” I repeat. “What price? I lack any digits to pay you with, as we J bots are not allowed to have money. Even if I did have some digits on hand, I know you Delanians prefer physical money over digital money, so I still wouldn't be able to pay you.”

  “I don't want or need money,” the arctic vampire snorts. “Paper and metal is as useless to me as water is to you. By 'price,' I mean we will exchange services, which I can tell you robots do not have a very good understanding of.”

  “What services could I render to you?” I ask. “After all, as a J bot, I serve the Xeeonite public by catching criminals. I am not some profit-minded bounty hunter who hires out his services to anyone who offers him a lot of money.”

  “I don't need you to hunt anyone's bounty,” says the arctic vampire. “Instead, I need you to solve a problem for me and the rest of my fellow arctic vampires here, one we have not been able to solve ourselves.”

  “And what problem is that?” I say.

  The arctic vampire points at the cave entrance. “Not far from here is a group of beings who have taken over a portion of our land and made it theirs. When they first arrived some years ago, they slaughtered dozens of arctic vampires with little difficulty, and as a result we've left them alone, even though we still do not want them here at all.”

  The arctic vampire sounds bitter and angry, likely due to her memories of the event. She must have been there to see it herself, which explains why she seems so strongly affected by her memories of it.

  “What do these beings call themselves?” I ask. “Do you know?”

  “I don't,” says the arctic vampire, shaking her head. “They never introduced themselves to us. They came, staked out part of these mountains as their own, and killed any of us arctic vampires who tried to stop them. They wield magic and technology unlike anything I have ever seen and they know how to kill arctic vampires easily.”

  “I believe I see where you are going with this,” I say. I point at myself. “You want me to go and defeat these invaders, correct? You think I can succeed where you arctic vampires failed.”

  “You guess correctly, machine,” says the arctic vampire. “I want you to do this because you seem strong. Along with your understanding of Xeeonite technology, you might be able to put a stop to them once and for all, or at least scare them away from these mountains for a while.”

  “What will I receive in exchange?” I ask.

  “I will show you the way to the nearest Portal,” says the arctic vampire. “Then you can return to Xeeo and never have to pollute our lands with your unnatural technology again.”

  I consider her offer. On one hand, she might be lying in an attempt to have me lower my guard so she can kill me. On the other hand, she does not appear to be lying, although again it can be hard to tell when an arctic vampire is lying or not due to my scanners not being designed to work on them.

  Her offer is good; however, I need more information on these invaders first before I agree to it. Hopefully she will be able to answer my questions about them.

  “Why did these beings come and steal part of your land?” I ask. “What are they trying to accomplish?”

  The arctic vampire scowls and looks away. “How should I know? They have not even tried to communicate with us. They've brought in loud, heavy machinery from your world and have dug up much of the earth and rock, but none of us vampires have ever gotten close enough to see what they are searching for. Not that I care. They stole our land and killed our brethren and that is all that matters.”

  Based on her description, it sounds to me like these beings might be archeologists of some sort, or maybe a mining company from Xeeo searching for mineral deposits. The Winterlands are speculated to have an immense amount of natural resources, and the only reason no one has ever succeeded in attaining these resources is because of the arctic vampires, the extreme weather, and other dangers that these mountains present to anyone who comes here. Anyone who succeeds in mining the Winterlands' natural resources will become rich; according to the mobile Database, the current value of the mountains' ores is one trillion digits.

  Assuming the invaders are a profit-driven company of some sort, then it is possible they have received a license from the government of Delig to dig here. Of course, there is always the possibility that they are operating without any such license, which would make their activities illegal, which is good enough motivation for me to stop their activities right away. It might even be enough to clear my name with the Delanian authorities, which would certainly make it easier for me to return to Xeeo.

  “By the way,” says the arctic vampire, breaking me out of my thoughts, “if you refuse the offer, then I will kick you out of my cave and force you to wander these mountains by yourself. You might be able to find your way to the nearest village with a Portal … or you might freeze to death, if you can even die, that is. Just something to take into consideration as you think about my offer.”

  I have to admit, she has a point. Without her guidance, I likely will end up freezing and being buried under the snow, lost forever. These mountains are big and easy to get lost in, even with the map in the mobile Database to guide me. It makes sense to accept this vampire's offer, then, although I keep my guard up nonetheless, just in case she is planning to betray or harm me.

  So I nod and say, “All right. I will go and see what I can do about these beings, whoever they are. Will you lead me to them?”

  The arctic vampire smiles. “Of course. The storm is dying down, so soon it will be safe for us to travel. We can leave in about ten minutes.”

  ***

  Chapter 9

  Ten minutes later, just as the arctic vampire says, the blizzard is gone. I find it puzzling how quickly the blizzard disappears, but the mobile Database does say that Winterlands blizzards can leave just as quickly as they come. It is part of the unpredictability of the Winterlands, I suppose.

  What is even more puzzling is how the arctic vampire predicted when it would be safe enough to travel. This may be due to her growing up here, or it may be another mysterious ability of her species. I cannot tell for sure, but it is worth noting nonetheless.

  Once the arctic vampire confirms that the storm is over, she leads me out of the cave. We emerge back into the valley from before, only now the ground is covered in even more snow. It is still nowhere near as deep as the snow above, but it is slightly harder for me to traverse than it was several hours ago.
>
  As I follow the arctic vampire to the south, I glance up at the tops of the walls around us. The sky above is still gray with clouds, although the arctic vampire assures me that it will not snow again for a few more days at least.

  But the current weather conditions are hardly on the top of my list of priorities to worry about. I am more interested in finding out how the battle between the Foundation and Reunification ended or if it is still ongoing. That blizzard must have affected the course of the battle. Maybe it forced Reunification's army to retreat or maybe it helped them win.

  In any case, I suppose this will not matter in the long run. Once the arctic vampire shows me where the invaders are, it will hopefully not be long before I return to Xeeo, where I can finally reunite with the Database and clear my name.

  As we walk, I realize that I do not know the arctic vampire's name. It may be unimportant to know, but I like to have complete information on my allies, or at least as much information as I can realistically gather, anyway.

  So I say to the arctic vampire, “I do not recall you telling me your name earlier.”

  “Do you need to know it?” says the arctic vampire without looking at me. She is a little ahead of me, moving across the snow with more grace than I.

  “Technically, no,” I say. “But even so, I like to know the proper names of things and people. It makes it easier to sort and search for things in my memory.”

  “Too bad,” says the arctic vampire. “Arctic vampires do not give out their names to just anybody. You must first earn our trust, and then we give it to you.”

  She stops and glares at me from over her shoulder. “I thought you knew that, since you machines seem to know everything already.”

  “Well, we do not know everything,” I say, stopping so I do not walk into her. “We know only as much information as has been collected by the millions of individuals across both worlds who painstakingly cataloged it for us over the century since the two worlds were connected. Besides, no one knows much about you arctic vampires anyway due to your reclusive and anti-social natures.”