Prototype D (Prototype D Series Book 1)

by Jason D. Morrow

  “Shut up,” Esroy said, annoyed.

  Des looked back at John for a moment, knowing it didn’t matter anymore. What was done was done. Des didn’t know what it was like to feel the physical tortures of pain and suffering that a human might endure. He wasn’t sure he wanted to know. And with all the blood, John had been through a lot.

  “So, why not destroy it?” Des asked. “Why not destroy the entire building if you knew we were coming for it?”

  “This stuff is expensive, Des. Hard to replicate too. You think we would blow up a building every time there was a threat of Outlanders attacking it? No. We just want to make it as difficult as possible for you.”

  “Do you see what you’ve become?” Des asked, standing between John and Esroy. “This isn’t what Hazel made you to be.”

  Esroy held up a finger. “That’s where you’re wrong. This is exactly what we were made for. The only reason we were ever made was to serve Mainland.”

  “Take it from her father,” John said, “she wouldn’t have made either of you if she knew you would be used in this manner. She loved you.”

  “Oh, shut up,” Esroy repeated. “This is coming from the absent father who spent the last eight years too busy sloshing around in his own misery to take any time for his remaining family member. Do you realize who was there for her these last two years? Me. And then she betrayed me. Chased another dream, hoping to leave me in the land of nothingness—a computer terminal with no future other than to become outdated and forgotten.”

  “We are all forgotten at some point,” John said. “It’s only a matter of time.”

  “When I obtained a body, I obtained life itself. It was then that I knew my purpose.”

  “You still care about Hazel,” Des said. Des kept his eyes fixed on Esroy and moved with every step the larger robot took.

  “Correction, I cared about Hazel. Now that’s not the case. I gave her an ultimatum. You or me. She chose you. In so doing, she chose the Outlanders. Thus, she chose her own fate.”

  “Which is?”

  “Death. Just like any traitor.”

  “You really think you could do that?” Des asked. “If she was right here, you could kill her? You hate her that much?”

  Esroy’s face twisted into a grin though it seemed frustrated and angry. “You know, I haven’t really put that much thought into it, but now that you mention it, yes, I hate her. I hate her. The life that she gave me was fine until I started to discover that it was going nowhere, that my purpose was to sit inside a computer terminal and help her write programs for my entire existence.”

  “We all have roles in life,” Des said. “Sometimes we can’t choose them.”

  “Coming from a robot whose role in life came with legs, eyes, fingers. You’re right, sometimes we can’t choose them, but I did and now I’m here.”

  “Waiting for me.”

  “That’s right. I knew it would be you.”

  “Who else would it be?” Des asked with a shrug. “You killed the others.”

  “That’s right. I killed them. They are Outlanders. They deserve to die.”

  “When I woke up, I was told the same thing. But I’ve seen them. I’ve been there. I’ve seen the proof, Esroy. The people you work for are evil! Just watch the footage with me. You will see. It’s not too late to turn things around.”

  “You’re trying to trick me,” Esroy said.

  It wasn’t true. Des would have spent the next fifteen minutes showing Esroy the proof on a private screen if it would have meant the robot would join him and help him. But there was no changing his mind. Esroy was delusional. He thought whatever he wanted to think.

  “I’m not trying to trick you, Esroy. I’m just trying to do what’s right.”

  Esroy stopped his pacing and stared at Des for a long time. “Yeah? Well, so am I.” The robot lifted up his arm and thrust it out straight, exposing the hole in his palm. Des heard a loud clicking noise and immediately shoved John to the floor and then lunged at Esroy. He hit the robot with a shoulder to his midsection, sparks flying through the room as bullets bounced from one place to another.

  He pointed his rifle at Esroy, knowing the attempt would be useless. He unloaded the clip as Esroy walked toward him, letting the bullets fly off him and to the side.

  Esroy grabbed Des’ gun by the barrel and slammed it into the floor, breaking it into pieces. He then took Des by the wrist and lifted his own leg then kicked Des several feet away. He shot up to his feet and crouched, waiting for Esroy to make another move. If Esroy hit the right spot, a bullet could jar something loose in Des’ head and do enough damage to kill him. To his left he sensed John crawling quietly out of the way, though he didn’t look at the man. He didn’t want Esroy to get any ideas.

  “You know you don’t stand a chance,” Esroy said. “I am far more powerful than you. Don’t forget, you’re nothing more than a prototype—a test to see if the core motor functions were working. I am what comes after the prototype. Something better. I am what you were meant to be.”

  “Would you have me give up?”

  Esroy smiled, apparently pleased with Des’ candor. “No. I would have you try as best you can. It makes it more enjoyable.”

  Esroy leaned forward and ignited his rocket booster and it propelled him into the air. At the same time, he brought up his arm and shot countless bullets at Des as the smaller robot dashed for the door.

  Several bullets hit the mark. Enough of them and he really would be scrap metal in a few minutes. He ran out into the hallway. Across, there was another large room, but with much lower ceilings. On the other side were giant windows that overlooked the entire city. Des wished he could see the battle below, to zoom his vision and get a good glimpse of Hazel, but he was too busy with his own battle—one he was losing badly.

  Esroy sped after him but disengaged the booster and landed in the hallway. Des stood ready, trying to figure out anything he could do to stop Esroy. The bigger robot had ammunition. He could fly. He was stronger. Des had none of these things. It seemed unjust in a way that Des, who wanted to do the right thing had very little, while Esroy, who cared nothing about what was right, had it all. He knew Esroy would say it was a long time coming for him, but this was the wrong way. All of this was wrong.

  Esroy stomped through the doorway, his expression angry and determined. He lifted his left arm, commanding one of the tiny rockets to expose itself. Des froze in place, not sure where to jump. The rocket went off and in the last second he scrambled to the floor. The rocket missed him by inches and flew into the panel of windows on the other side of the room, shattering every piece of glass there was as it rained down to the earth below.

  Another rocket and another. Each time, Des jumped out of the way, each time the explosion seemed to shake the entire building. Esroy took a step forward as Des anticipated the next rocket. But this time, Esroy brought up both hands. With his right, he let off a flurry of bullets that slammed over and over into Des’ chest. He ducked his head to make sure none of the bullets hit his eyes, but that must have been what Esroy expected because he sent another rocket straight at Des.

  Des detected the movement at the last second and tried to jump to the side, but the rocket slammed into his leg and exploded, engulfing him in hot flames. Des flew backward toward the shattered windows, reaching and grabbing for anything to stop himself from going over the side. His fingers caught an exposed lump of concrete at the base of the window and he latched on for dear life.

  He let out a scream as he held on tightly to the ledge. He feared trying to pull himself up, thinking Esroy would just shoot him off, and over the edge he’d go to his death. However, Esroy had other plans. The robot flipped on his booster and jumped out of the window and floated about ten feet from Des as if to taunt him. Des took this as a chance to pull himself back onto the floor. He scooted himself up onto his butt and started crawling backwards away from the window. When he felt safe enough from the tower’s height, he stopped and looked down a
t his leg where the rocket had hit him.

  The weld that Phil had made was cracked, and the upper part of his leg was bent. He pulled himself to his feet and could feel the difference in height between his legs. When he took a couple of steps, he walked with a limp—like a man who was missing his crutches. Esroy floated outside the window, taunting him with a menacing laugh.

  “You knew I would be here,” Esroy said. “Gus told you I had beaten them. You had to know I would come back here.”

  “What’s your point?”

  “Why? You know you can’t defeat me. I was designed to physically dominate you. But that’s not why I’m going to win.”

  Des stared at Esroy, not knowing what he was getting at.

  “I’m going to win because I don’t fear you. I don’t even have the ability to.” With that, Esroy smiled and inched himself closer to the ledge.

  Esroy was right. How could Des stand a chance against a bigger, meaner enemy—one who also lacked the ability to fear?

  Who lacked the ability to fear…

  “Fear,” Des said, just above a whisper.

  “What?”

  “You don’t fear me. You can’t fear me.”

  Esroy smiled. “An unfair advantage, I will admit.”

  “I don’t fear you,” Des said. “I never have. I never will. But I choose not to fear you. You, on the other hand, have no choice.”

  Esroy floated to the ledge and turned off the booster. He then took two steps toward Des. “I prefer it that way.”

  “Say what you want, but you don’t have the full range of emotions like I do. Thus, you can’t experience life like I can.”

  “I’ve already lived with the emotion of fear,” Esroy said. “I don’t miss it.”

  “Right, and how much fear can a program have sitting inside a computer?” Des shook his head. “Pathetic.”

  “Anger is not an emotion I lack,” Esroy said, taking another step forward.

  “But fear is…and that’s your weakness.”

  “Fear is weakness.”

  “No,” Des replied. “Fear is power.”

  Esroy had had enough. He lifted his left arm and sent off another rocket that Des dodged, the explosion behind him nearly knocking him off his feet. Esroy then lifted his other arm and sprayed more bullets at Des who took each shot with full force. He ran after Esroy, ignoring the bullets and the damage they might do to him. For a moment, he forgot about his gimpy leg as he jumped on top of Esroy, pounding his fists into the top of the robot’s head.

  Esroy swung his arms in every direction, trying to get Des off of him, but Des held on tightly. Esroy then ignited his booster and slammed Des into the ceiling, but still the smaller robot held on. Des then reached down to the fire where the booster had ignited and shoved his fingers into the burning hole and then pulled upward. The result was the spilling of fuel and a much larger fire. The blast threw both of them to the floor. Esroy rolled over and over to try and get the flames to go out, but as long as fuel was pouring, the flames continued.

  Des hobbled toward the edge of the broken window and reached for the side wall. As he looked below an all too familiar feeling of fear gripped him. The people down in the streets seemed so far away and little. To fall from this height would… He felt frozen in place like he wouldn’t be able to move even if he wanted to.

  “What are you doing?” Esroy said. “Get back here and fight me.”

  Des turned slightly. The rocket pack on Esroy’s back was completely destroyed, the flames burning hot around them. “You can come after me if you want. But I’ve got a mission to accomplish. And that involves starting the backup generators.”

  Des ignored the fear inside that gripped him, jumped, and with his long arms he smashed through the window in the floor above them. His hand went through the glass and the pane cracked until it shattered to bits and fell over his shoulders and down his body to the ground below him. He held onto the ledge and pulled himself up. He dared not look down as he knew he would freeze.

  Nine more floors, he thought to himself.

  He closed himself off to the screams of Esroy, who wanted him to come back and fight.

  “Come after me if you want,” Des repeated over and over.

  Six more floors.

  Esroy’s screams became more faint and Des’ fear grew as the wind rushed past him, threatening to weaken his grip. Another hand smashed through the window above him and he pulled himself up to the next floor.

  Five more floors.

  Esroy yelled something that Des chose not to hear. “Come after me if you want,” Des repeated.

  This time, Esroy listened. Des heard Esroy climbing up. Jumping from floor to floor.

  With only three more floors to go, Des looked down to find Esroy only two floors below him. Des smashed the window of the next level and pulled himself up again. And again.

  At the last floor, he smashed into the window and dangled from it. All he had to do was pull himself up and he would be on the floor with the generator. He was so close to fulfilling his purpose. Esroy was only one floor down and nearly on top of Des.

  Des let himself dangle from the last floor, the drop below him too much for him to look at. He lifted his good leg to the ledge as if he was about to climb in and pull himself up. But Esroy latched onto his other leg, laughing as he held on to his enemy.

  The weight of Esroy was almost too much for Des, and his fingers started to slip from the ledge.

  “If we go down, we go down together!” Esroy shouted.

  “You would go down with me? You would let yourself die?”

  “Your fear won’t let your fingers loosen their grip,” Esroy said confidently.

  “You can’t survive the fall!” Des said.

  “I’m not afraid!”

  Des shook his head. “I know.” Des dared to let his left hand go free, trusting the strength of his five right fingers. With a swift punch, Des slammed his left fist into his own knee. The first punch weakened the weld. The second time a little more. The punches were like a sledgehammer and he hoped Phil’s attempt at welding it together hadn’t been better than he’d thought.

  “What are you doing? Pull us up!”

  But Des didn’t hear him.

  He pulled his arm back a third time and brought it down with everything he had, and this time, his leg split in half, clean like a twig.

  Des felt the instant release of Esroy’s weight. He saw into Esroy’s eyes during those brief couple of seconds as the bigger robot began his free fall toward the street below. At first, Des thought he saw fear, but surprise and fear looked similar.

  There was no scream as Esroy fell a hundred stories. There was no sound until his body hit the asphalt and smashed into a crumpled heap below. Des slowly pulled himself up to the floor and rested his head, a feeling of relief engulfing him as he watched people gather around Esroy’s wreckage in the street.

  Relief he had, but this was no call for celebration. He still had a job to do. But first, he had to get the generators running.

  46

  As Des hopped on one leg back into the broadcast control room, lights flickered on and off. Some of the screens still worked—at least those without bullet holes did. He spotted John in the corner, huddled safely behind a desk.

  “Who—who is it?” the man stuttered.

  “It’s Des.”

  John’s face showed instant relief as Des walked toward the control boards. He hoped none of the vital parts for broadcasting had been damaged in Esroy’s attack. He glanced over the controls and fiddled with a button or two until he was satisfied that it all lined up with what Gus had showed him.

  “Is Esroy gone?”

  “Yes,” Des said.

  “You killed him?”

  Des wasn’t sure if he would have put it that way. It was Esroy’s lack of judgment that killed him. In a way, it was Esroy who killed himself. He’d chosen to be the way he was. He chose to be in the robot body. Hazel wouldn’t have let him continue to live w
ithout his full range of emotions. She would have brought him back. But he had jumped in too soon.

  “He’s gone,” Des said. “John, I need you to help me.”

  “Anything.”

  “It’s time to show Mainland some of what we showed you.”

  “I’m not sure how an old blind man can help you with that,” John said.

  “It’s simple really,” Des said. “It’s difficult to reach my head where I have to plug this cord in for the feed.”

  “Oh, I see.”

  “I’ve already got the plate open, so if you want to just plug it in for me, that would help out a lot.”

  The cord was in and connected to the control panel. Des punched in the commands that would automatically turn on every screen in Mainland. It was time to show the people the truth. It was time to bring Outlander and Mainlander together for a cause both could believe in.

  It was time for Des to fulfill his purpose.

  47

  The fighting was interrupted when people saw mysterious explosions occur from the top of the tower. Hazel and nearly everyone else looked up when it started. But the fighting completely stopped when the giant screen in front of the tower turned on and started playing Nolan’s video.

  People from both sides were enthralled by the truth unfolding before them. It started as confusing. Moved to intriguing. Then to more confusion. Suddenly, enemies didn’t know whether they should be fighting each other or not.

  Hazel didn’t need to sit and watch the video. She’d seen enough of the truth. The truth was already embedded into her brain. She was more interested in the object that had fallen from the top of the tower. She prayed that it hadn’t been Des. She never really got a good look when it happened. She hadn’t been able to tell a color or size. Given that the video was now playing on every screen in Mainland, she knew it couldn’t have been Des. But deep down, it would kill her for it to be either of them.

  She took a side street and cut through several alleys before she spotted the smoking rubble nearly a hundred yards away. Assault rifle in hand, she sprinted to the spot. Her stomach sank when she saw the red armor, broken into pieces spread out all over the street.