Inedible

Chapter III

As I work on my little project, I hear a voice. It was the same distorted voice from before, the fighter that I “fixed”. It was angry. I turned the head I stole toward it, even though this was useless. I already had other heads that could see it perfectly fine from behind me, but I wanted to flaunt my new head.

It had given itself 3 more arms to balance out my little “mistake” in the amount of time I recharged. That could mean two things: it was either a very fast mechanic, or it did not recharge. My suspicion for the second theory was proved true by the way it swayed with lethargy.

It spoke with an improved static, although it was still muffled, “Stand down. I’m not here for revenge, even though I want to.”

I resisted every urge to kill it, just in case it had any tricks up its sleeve, “That was not a worry of mine, small fry. Why are you here?”

“Just passing through... Ezekiel.”

A scoff escaped my speakers, “Your knowledge of my name does not threaten me. I am a medic; I am known to many people… Lenox.”

“That’s not my name.”

“It was worth a try.” I chuckle. It didn’t find that funny, “Well, if you’re just passing through, goodbye. I’m not going to kill you right now.”

It went straight to the point, “While I was in battle yesterday, I noticed something in your little headquarters. Some sort of device. What is it? A bomb? A way to leave-”

Another kind of beep- a low siren- sounded from my body. It used to be a Growl when I had a larynx. It symbolizes anger or distaste for something, as you may imagine. It seems I have forgotten my plan on hiding in case of danger, “Don’t go poking in sh*t you don’t understand.”

“I poke around in anyone’s sh*t whenever I want to. Now tell me what you’re working on,” It demanded harshly, giving up the friendly persona. I was not at all surprised by this. No Qekti was friendly unless they wanted something.

“I don’t believe you’re in any place to defy me. You are pathetic, small, weak. Don’t think I haven’t noticed you aren’t recharged. You don't have a head. You have no eyes on your backside. I would happily kill you if you speak like that again. Be glad I haven’t already.”

It pauses and sighs with annoyance. After a moment of quiet, it spoke again. “Just tell me what it is. Please. Then I’ll leave you alone.”

I feel amusement creep into my cold, metal bones and I stifle a laugh. I couldn’t help but humor this request, despite my earlier plans for no contact. It’s hard for a Qekti to resist ass-kissing, even though we lost that organ long ago, “Very well. It’s a tool to teleport off this planet. It's not finished yet.”

A silence followed. Then; the sound of metal footsteps in the distance. Almost instantly, I knew I messed up. The only time Qekti’s would ever help each other was to take down a Medic, I've seen it many times before. I took the teleportation device into the jaws of one of my useless storage heads and stepped away. Two more Qektis appeared from the dark into the light of my headquarters. Muffled, sputtering laughter echoed loudly. I swore quietly to myself and began to run. The others wasted no time in chasing me. 

“EZEKIEL, YOU STUPID THING! YOU NEVER SHOULD HAVE F*CKED WITH ME! HAHAH!!!”

I was not built for stealth. My appendages and wires caught the wind and slowed me down, whereas the other had minimal limbs, even missing heads entirely. I was outmatched and took out my device in a panic. Just as they grabbed my back legs, I pressed the button… 

Suddenly, I was plunged into an abyss of white. There was nobody around. It was so bright that I worried I accidentally teleported myself into a pit of fire. But it wasn’t hot. It was only… warm. Like a soft, fur, flesh body. Like I was alive again.

My eyes slowly lowered their exposure and I immediately looked to my body to check. But no, It was the same metal as before, so why was I so warm? I looked up at the sky. The sky! There was no ceiling! It worked, I was truly on a new planet!!!

I snapped out of it and observed my surroundings carefully, remembering that this place could be very dangerous, perhaps even more than mine. Despite this knowledge, I couldn’t help but feel like this place was heaven. Even the ground was soft. There were strange, tall plants all around me that I first mistook as animals. They had so much color. So much green. I felt an emotion that I haven't felt in a long time… no, never. I have never felt this kind of… relief before in my entire cold, unforgiving existence.

A splintering sound occurred past the plants and I jolt to my senses. I slowly raise one of my heads to look beyond them. There wasn't anything there, from what I could see. Until I hear a noise. A humming. But it wasn’t mechanical. I couldn’t figure out what it could be. My claws snipped repeatedly to prepare myself for a potential battle and stepped toward the noise hesitantly.

As I jumped past the bushes, I was met with a beautiful creature. So… squishy. So soft. Its only limbs were two legs underneath its torso. Its only head rested above its shoulders. No speakers, no wires, no metal. Just meat and blood and hair. My moment of bliss was interrupted by a piercing siren- no, a scream- erupting from its fluffy body. It backed away from me in horror, in disgust. Instinctively, I step toward it to shut it up. I reach two of my metal arms toward it, causing it to scream louder.

“Shut up.”

I demanded, successfully grabbing its head. Its screams quieted but were replaced by a strange ventilation noise. A clear liquid glossed over its soft brown and black eyes as it looked up at me. Such a strange defense mechanism... I didn’t know what that was supposed to do, so I quickly let go just in case.

Instead of running, it sunk to the ground, breathing in and out without rhythm or flow. My first thought was that it was shutting down… and I have been right. It started to talk with a soft, deep voice that matched its physical form.

“P-please... W-what the hell are- are you…?!?”

I slowly crawl closer to it again, being weary of whatever it may try to do, “I am a Qekti. What are you? And what are you doing?”

“I’m a- a Leonida…! You’re- why do you look like that??”

“Answer my question. What are you doing?”

“I’m crying because you’re scaring me!” It yelled out in fear. I tilted my newest head in intrigue.

“But I haven’t even tried to kill you,” I state simply as I reach out to touch the Leonida’s fluffy paws. It quickly jerked them away from me, its entire body becoming useless as it surrendered to sobs.

“Even when I was flesh, like you, I never did that. What does “crying” do?”
“YOU were once like me!?!” It sobbed louder and more desperately. It continued to back away but it struggled to get on its feet because it had no arms.

“I see you’re having struggles. I could make some arms for you if you be good.”

Its eyes widened as it looked back at me, shaking its head violently in desperation.

“No, no, no!” It cried while it finally managed to get up and run…