Origin of the 11th

Chapter 7: Fire in the Sky

"What now?" I asked, after recovering from the sight of the city. The dim lights in the city seemed to ease my anxiety, making the city seem less menacing. We were walking down the side of the cliff, following the light of Alpharathon who seemed to glow in the dark. Even in a passive mood, the Mechanon king radiated an aura of magnificence with simply its stature. If there were three other Mechanon like Alpharathon, then I hoped that either no others were in the city or that Julia and I wouldn't have to fight our way out of it.

"The two of you will be scanned. If you both pass, then we will let you go. If either of you fail, then both of you shall be terminated." Alpharathon answered, not bothering to change its motions or tone at all. We had finally reached the front gate of the city, the size of which seemed similar to the defensive walls that surrounded the HSFMA at night. "Open." Alpharathon spoke, and the gate obeyed.

"Alpharathon, why did you bring humans into this most sacred city? They desecrate the ground upon which they walk with their greed and selfishness." It was another Mechanon who stood behind the gate. This one was about a foot taller than Alpharathon, but it was a dark red, to the point in which it almost resembled brown more than red. It didn't have a weapon, but had thick retractable spikes that seemed to cover its entire body. Wearing an outside suit of armor, with holes to allow room for its spikes, it had to be another one of the Mechanon kings. However, this one seemed less friendly to humans than Alpharathon did.

"Armageddon. They are going to be scanned. Who else is here?" Alpharathon said, not at all fazed by Armageddon's accusations. It seemed intent on getting us to this "scanning" that seemed less pleasant the more that Alpharathon tried to get is to it.

"The Supreme King is absent, but Apocalypse is here. I'll let them through, but Apocalypse must be the one scanning them. You should go to the cleansing center immediately. We do not wish for one of the kings of the Mechanon to have become corrupted by humans." Armageddon said distastefully. Hearing Mechanon attempt to put emotion into their words was quite humorous, but I couldn't help but feel slightly sorry for them. The Mechanon seemed to experience emotion just like humans would, but were unable to express them. It was different than even most humans nowadays such as people like James, who were bland like soulless machines.

"Very well. You two." Alpharathon said, pointing at two of the Mechanon soldiers that were accompanying us. "Take them to Apocalypse. I shall return momentarily." And with that, the white Mechanon king left. The soldiers motioned for us to move, and we began walking again.

"What should we do?" Julia whispered to me, hopefully out of earshot of the Mechanon soldiers. Thankfully, it seemed that they didn't hear us.

"Why are you asking me?" I whispered in reply, thinking of options that we did have. It didn't seem likely that we would be as well received as I had hoped, and fighting was still an extremely unappealing option.

"Because I know that I would fail in negotiating anything with Mechanon. They just cloud my thoughts and mess with my judgement." Julia said quietly.

"Oh. That's a good idea." I replied stupidly, having already observed Julia's messed up judgement with Mechanon when we first encountered Alpharathon. So I had to do the diplomacy here. Usually, HSFMA students were not trained for diplomatic discussion. After all, our opponents were the Mechanon, a foe that we had been told of not being open to any talk. How would I talk our way out with a Mechanon king?

That question was still in the forefront of my mind when we arrived at the great factory in the heart of the city. The Mechanon soldiers that were walking with us, opened the doors and shoved Julia and me inside. Inside the factory, I could see large assembly lines that were entirely self-operated within the vast spacious area. The top of the factory was a massive transparent dome that we could see the sky from. Directly in front of us, there was a high chair that was facing away from us. The Mechanon soldiers turned and walked away, leaving me and Julia alone.