“Jym!” Adem called out as he pulled himself up through metallic frame of the insect head. “I need you to be ready. I might need you on this one.”
{I will do as much as I can.} the AI replied.
“And try and get in touch with everyone else. Let them know about the fluid build up.”
/An intruder\ a grating mechanical voice echoed. /How unexpected. And futile.\
“This is just going to get harder, isn’t it?” Adem sighed as he continued his trek through the machine.
/Your interference is useless. I am an artificial being far superior to your race. My abilities outweigh any you could imagine.\
{For a superior being he sure does rely on cliche dialogue.}
Cables acted as tentacles and swiped at Adem as he attempted to climb. Through the web of wires, he could see the brain of the whole unit. It was large. The added responsibilities of the T5 unit necessitated a larger processing unit. One capable of manufacturing and controlling the vast robot army. And there it was just a few more feet away.
But Adem couldn’t reach it. His body was now entwined in the inner workings of the motherbot. Wires tried to strangle him while cables pulled against him with the intent of bringing him back down. Adem struggled to keep his grip. With all he could muster, the alien fought against the force pulling him down.
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“Oh, God! Why am I here? What the hell am I doing here?” a young man sobbed, hidden behind a snow hill. “This ain’t for me. I just want to be at home. I just want to be at home.” Only hours before he had been the average Puerta Mibela resident. He’d come over from the States with a pocket full of money he made in the Dot.Com boom of the 90's. Jerome Saunders had a nice new house on the beach, a Mercedes in the garage, and the perfect trophy wife. Now, he was sitting in the middle of World War III in Antarctic.
He’d gone because for years he’d been a man with a secret. He was a meta. Even living in a country open to his kind, he just couldn’t shake the feeling of shame that this genetic fluke had given him. The man had hidden his power for fear of rejection, exile, from his own family. But the time had come for him to stand up and be proud of what he was. To make a difference when it was the most necessary to make a difference. Unfortunately, he just didn’t have what it took. At heart he was a coward.
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“This is Foxtrot. I have visual confirmation. Permission to engage.”
“Foxtrot, this is Eisenhower. You go for combat. Repeat. You are go for combat. Kick some ass.”
A squadron of F-14's streaked across the sky spitting forth bullets and missiles into the robot horde. On their flanks were Russian MIG’s and the Royal Air Force. The sky became so cluttered that the sun was almost blacked out.
“Sir!” one of the American pilots yelled though his radio. “What the hell is that bug thing?!”
“It’s our next target.”
Missiles and explosions pelted the metallic hull of the T5 motherbot. But the beast still stood in defiance. Though it was scratched and dented, it was far from falling.
*****************************************************************
Jerome sat with his knees cradled up against his chin. He was thinking about how he’d never go home. That today was his, and possibly everyone’s, last day alive. In his mind Hell on Earth was now a reality.
The telepathic call of the fluid build up reached everyone on the battlefield’s mind. They all knew it was there, but few knew what to do. Those that did were unable to respond. In that moment, Jerome made a choice.
His friend and current partner in his Island Excursions business laid on the snow, nursing his wound. As he approached the injured man, Jerome couldn’t help but think of how much he had tried to hide his powers while, at the same time, seeking out those who were just like him. “Lionel, tell Julie I’m sorry.”
“Jerry,” his friend fought through the pain to say, “what the hell are you talking about?”
“Tell her I’m sorry I was such a coward. Luck pretty much gave me everything I’ve got. I was never good at taking chances. What’s the point when you wind up better off doing nothing, right?” His voice was trembling as were his hands as they presented Lionel with his wallet and wedding ring. “But that’s not going to do any of us any good now. I guess there’s a backlog of risk taking that I’ve got to pay up for, eh? Just tell her........ Well, you were always better with words than I was. Just tell her I said something better than this.”
Jerome walked away. A large, tough meta was landing with more wounded in his arms. “You! You can fly. Take me to that bug’s ugly mouth. It’s time we ended this,” Jerome commanded.
“That’s pretty dangerous business, buddy. I don’t think someone like you is quite up to it.”
“It’s okay. I’m............ invincible! I’m invincible. I can handle it.”
In a matter of moments, Jerome Saunders was wading his way through the vile fluid inside the beak of the giant T5 Mantis ‘bot. His body began to shimmer and glow. As he slid down the throat, the light around him became more and more brilliant. As his decent was instantly stopped by the robot corpse and he felt his leg snap, Jerome wished that he really was invincible. His bright light grew and grew into a massive explosion.
The T5 brain lost its connection with the rest of the body as the giant bug came crashing down onto the ice. The wires around Adem loosened as one’s grip might when in pain. The alien pulled himself up and grabbed a hold of the brain unit. His nanites were let loose, rerouting, destroying, and removing pieces.
/You have made a grave error!\ the voice barely screamed. /I am not defeated yet.\ Adem could feel a force invading his own mind. /I am not confined to artificial minds alone.\
The world spun. A fever broke out through Adem’s body as his own natural immunities and those of the nanites fought off T5's intrusion.
/Relent. Even the mind of a highly advanced meta human cannot withstand my will. I have already won.\
Adem gritted his teeth. “I am neither a meta nor a human!” With one final surge of will T5 was condemned back into its own brain. The alien grabbed a loose bar and ripped it free. “And I’m already sick of your condescending attitude.” With all his strength Different smashed the unit over and over again, until his own body passed out from exhaustion.
