Verum I: The Awakening

2: A Soul for a Soul

Notes:

CW: Blood, suicide, death
__________

Mike is screaming. What I fear has become true; they are torturing him. I don't know how bad his injuries are. I have to stop this at once.

I pushed the door open. A gruesome sight greeted my vision. Blood dripped onto the floor. Some of it has already dried. Mike was tightly bound to a chair with thick ropes, which irritated his skin harshly. Blood and tears oozed from his face. I didn't care
much about the guns pointed at me, only about the ones that were pointing at him.

"Any frantic movement and your little Mikey here will have taken his last breath", the overseer, that bitch, said. He was holding a blade against Mike's neck, eager to slice his throat. Cruel...
"Mikey won't tell his friends his secret, I thought you might help us? Or, you know, he's finito". If his smile had a smell, it would be one of badly rotten sweets.
A deep but calm growl escaped my vocal box, "I do not know what you are talking about, would you care to explain further?"
"Michael has used our secret knowledge for his own benefit and shared it with his daughter, Luce Balton. But you know about this."
The glow of my eyes shaped into a confused stare. "I do not have any knowledge about such actions" This was my honest answer. I know about his daughter; her loving relationship with Mike, her interests and hobbies, but not about that. Assuming that this is true, it was wise for Mike not to tell me these details.
The overseer's face shaped into one of annoyance. "Of course you know about it. You're basically best friends from what I could observe! So tell me now; where does Michael hide his secret? Is it in his home? In some other base?" He pressed the knife harder against Mike, drawing fresh blood. He winced. "Tell me! Or. he. will. die!"

For once, I did not know what to do. I cannot give them the information that they want. I cannot move or Mike will be killed.

Mike spoke then for the first time since I've been here. "Dethra, my dearest friend... Please. Keep your promise and keep the people dearest to me safe. If you ever talk to them please tell them that I loved them and that what I'm about to do is just to keep them safe. I have always trusted you with all of my life."

My "stomach" sank.

The next thing that happened was a total irrational move. With his last power, Mike moved his head in a way that the knife sliced his jugular. The fluid of life traveled down his neck as he let out a silent grunt. I moved slightly forward because I wanted to save him from his suicide, but a guard pressed a gun against his temple.
"No step further. He's a dead man anyway, no matter what you do. You can't help him."

"NO!" I roared.
I jumped forward, but the guard pulled the trigger too fast. Blood and brains splurged all around me, and soon it was not only Mike's.

Timeskip

I was running through endless fields of wheat. The sun was setting, giving the yellow plants a beautiful touch together with the orange horizon. This would be a beautiful evening jog for a human. But I'm a huge robot, covered in dried blood and gore, who is also destroying the crops. Not a very wise thing to do but there aren't any roads nearby. But I don't care about that right now anyway. I need to reach Mike's family.
I have been running for about a day now. Sadly I can't go much faster than 50 kilometers per hour (31 mph). Something that I must patch. Mike told me a long time ago, at the very beginning, that he lived in a town called Redville. He hasn't mentioned any moves, so I hope his family still resides there.

I've been running straight for another day until I saw little houses in the distance, only then I would stop. Not for a break, no. I don't need one. But for the view. The sun was setting once again. What a beautiful view. Never ever have I seen the outside with my own eyes before. There isn't much nature here besides that one single tree that I'm standing next to. I let my hand slide down the bark of the tree. It's the first time I have touched a tree, it's a feeling that I will cherish forever, I already know that. But now there is no time for me to inspect the plant.

I looked back at the houses, they wouldn't be visible by the normal human eye since they are still about 80 kilometers (50 miles) in the distance. I still have a while to run. Curse this slow speed!
Behind Redville, on the other side, should be the house of Mike's family. The town isn't too big so it shouldn't take too long to get to the other side, only a few minutes. I already know their address thanks to the internet. If it truly is their address.

Mike told me that he was always flying by plane to go to his job. No wonder with that much distance. Sometimes he wouldn't even see his family for a week or two. He was a good man and missed his wife and children very much. He loved spending time with them and teaching his kids all of his knowledge.
The reason why I didn't steal a plane is because they would track it. I have deleted Mike out of the system and all of that effort would be for nothing if they would just track the plane back to this town. I don't have to worry about myself getting tracked, because I never had a tracker in the first place. I made sure of that. Now I only have to hope that nobody, who is still alive in the facility, will remember Mike's full name.

I was passing the town now, but I remained a few hundred meters in the distance. It was still slightly bright and I didn't want to be detected. So I have to wait until night has fallen.

I found a spot to rest in the lightly wooded area and sat beneath a tree. I put my hand on the bark again and traced its pattern with my long finger. I had the side of my head pressed against the tree with my arm, the one that was tracing the pattern, around it.
I already miss Mike. I wish I could cry, but I'm not designed to feel sad. Somehow I still feel all of these emotions though. I figured out how to handle them pretty quickly, but what am I supposed to do about sadness? How do I release my grief without being able to cry?

My whole body was hurting because of all the emotional pain. For the first time in my life I shut off my eyes. But I didn't see the darkness that I hoped for, but the body of Mike. After everyone was dead I went on my knees and took his body into my arms. Both in my memory and in this moment I screamed.

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Notes:

No Mikey? *Insert that one Megamind meme*