Dimension Of Perfection (And Its Flaws)

Chapter 7 - Society Of Ants

I find safety behind a metal construction girder, and feel my whole body tense up as I listen to the sounds of a robot racing toward the bench.

I hear its treads stopping just by the area, and then afterward a sudden click followed by some phwooshing that sounds like air gushing out of somewhere.

I inch my head around the beam I'm cowering behind, and cautiously watch the cop. It seems to be standing in place, with a tentacle stretching out of its eye region, waving subtly around in front of it. Some electric noise emits from the end of the arm, and a beeping sound dives up and down in pitch as it searches for me.

The tentacle raises up rapidly and seems to extend further, causing the old man from before, standing just out of view, to suddenly jump in fright.

"No! P-please! Don't hurt me!! It's hiding over there!!" The guy pleads, supposedly pointing over to my hiding spot.

My eyes stretch in shock. "You f*cking snit-!" I automatically force my mouth closed by slamming my hand onto it in terror. I admit, I couldn't have done worse.

I hold my lips shut and hope that it somehow can't hear.

Surprisingly, nothing happens. Maybe it actually didn't hear that. My eyes reopen again, hoping to see if I'm dead.

Weirdly, I'm not; the back side of the construction site is still in front of me and to my left, is a big frighteningly large floating eye, glowing red.

My gaze darts back to my left, and in a sudden realization, I fall over backwards out of the way of the pole, and fall off the ledge of the building. "SH*T SH*T SH*T SH*T!!!"

I hobble up and scurry away from the eye, as it's pulled back into the top of the robot and prepare myself for a mad dash into the hills.

An electronic clanking interrupts any thought I have of escape.

I bolt the opposite way and down the street, subtly swinging too and fro in a hardy attempt to not collapse. As I've started running again, my killer headache really makes a TV worthy comeback, as it stabs into my head as a reminder into why they don't let you drive after you've had one too many.

As a rising tone hums from behind me, my movement makes the first railgun shot barely miss me. I yelp again as I feel the heat radiating from the blast, grazing straight by my wings. They restlessly flap by instinct as I realise that I'm not gonna get lucky like that again, so if I keep running down this street eventually I'll be vaporised by this beast.

I look at my surroundings and rub two brain cells together to try to formulate a plan of desperate action.

My speed increases and I scamper over the park fence to the side of me, stumbling through the bordering bushes as another blast fries the foliage behind me.

I run down the stone path while my bare feet sting from various forces.
I come up on an imposing metal statue fountain in the centre of the parkland, and duck around the opposite side to hide.

As I sit I hear the robot approaching, and nervously look around the rest of the park for any more snitches. It rolls closer, and for a few moments, I crawl around the fountain as the robot persists in rolling closer around the loop, attempting to follow me around.

I catch a glimpse of its little cap, and back away further and faster around the circle.

Another few moments go by, of me slowly but surely avoiding sight as the robot keeps trying to follow me. A stabbing pain coming from my foot makes me wince, amplified by the uncomfortable position that keeps me hidden.

I almost make a full orbit, but my exhausted breathing perks up and gives away my condition, to which the robot deviously takes the opportunity and speeds up to catch me.