Release Me From Hell

Chapter 7: (System 11: Number 503/Iskil) City Dwellers

         Lami was ready to go, her wires moving so fast that it was hard to keep up with what she was doing. However, I pulled her back as I noticed two guards at the front gate with their eyes locked in our direction. They were System 75s, just like the two that were with us. I suddenly realized I had no idea what their names were.
         "System 75s," I sighed, trying to hold my immediate discomfort. "That reminds me. You two haven't told me your names."
         The guards both exchanged glances. "My name is Saisim," the one with the dent in his cheek told me. "He's Logaitih."
          "Do me a favor," I started. Saisim immediately pulled away before I could say the words. "Replace the System 75s at the gate. We'll never get in otherwise."
          Logaitih gulped. "We were assigned the prison for a reason, you know."
          "Just go."
          I gave Logaitih and Saisim a shove, and they both skidded across the platform with uncertainty. Lami was uncomfortable with the situation, but I shushed her and watched the two. They both stood stagnant for a moment before slowly walking forward to the other two that seemed completely distant now that I focused on them. Their eyes were discolored, like they lost all available light in the universe. The city did that to machines. The unnatural lights that made night and day in the city had made the metal on machines' bodies saturated and dull. For a moment, I stared at my own skin in comparison.
          Logaitih and Saisim approached the two, mouths barely moving as they said something out of ear's reach. There were moments of nodding and understanding, and they all seemed to get what they were saying. Until Saisim pulled out a gun. He pushed the barrel into the one's neck. A powerful glow came from the end as it pulsed into the unnamed 75's neck. Logaitih had repeated the same movements with his gun, though he was shaking every second. Saisim turned back to us, oil across his face.
          I ran with Lami to the gate until I was face-to-face with Logaitih and Saisim. They had anger strewn across them- a genuine emotion. They... Reacted. At least he did. Saisim didn't show any difference as he kicked the bodies he had watched die. Bodies... I was null to them now after being stuck inside that factory.
          "Where do we go?" Lami asked me. "I've only heard stories from convicts about this place, and they weren't exactly nice."
          The lights in the sky started to darken into night. "That's true, too. We're exposed, especially with my face." I stepped inside. The layout hadn't changed. "Follow me."
           I dragged them through the first alley I saw with hope still laid bare in my eyes because I knew that this city had not changed even in a thousand years. Bavarn was stupid enough to keep that, and I kept up my pace until we reached a large clearing. The walls on the abandoned buildings were stained black, and there was a shadow continuously etched all around the center of the ground that seemed to look like a broken machine. Bavarn didn't even dare to clean up my mess... A thousand years was a long time. It was too long to eave this place in disrepair.
         Lami, yet again, started to walk out like nothing was wrong, but I yanked her by a wire on her neck until she dropped into my arms without a trace of elegance. I could hear voices coming closer, growing stronger with every passing second. Two figures appeared from another alley, eyes on each other rather than on the scenery. The one machine I could not identify because they had a cloak to cover up what they looked like, but the other one was a System 13. The System 13 had soot covering most of his face. The Factory... I gulped, knowing that System 13s were teachers and not workers.
         "Well, I saw it," the System 13 told the cloaked one. "Viania had fire coming right from her fingertips, and she was just as strong as Iskil and his lightning. Electricity. Look, Viania is in danger of herself."
         The cloaked machine didn't have one... voice. It was many, hidden in pitches and depth as he spoke. "She had never seen a corpse until now. That must've done horrible things to her."
         "She's not strong enough to control that fire, and we don't need another Iskil incident."
The cloaked machine took in a hearty laugh. "Maybe we do. Maybe we need the machines to fear something again."
          This was stupid. Real stupid.
          I cleared my throat, standing up for the whole world to see. "Instead of using a copy, why don't you just use the original?"
         Their eyes were like ice as they landed upon us, and Lami hid behind my torso for comfort. I knew them, both machines, and of course they knew me. My body slipped away from Lami and the two as I came closer to them. The cloaked machine had pulled away his hood in shock as he stared at me with a strange bit of admiration. A Bliam, the only survivor of them. The System 13, who I knew as well, had gulped down the pain rising in his chest. Guilt. He had been feeling guilt as he watched my stiff movements.
         "Arsokis," I nodded to the Bliam. I turned back to the System 13. "Siddim."
          "So," Arsokis sighed. His voice was still different pitches, and I could see a dangling box at his throat. "you're back. It's been... a long time."
          "Yes, well, prison isn't a place you can escape from. Not easily, anyway." My tallness intimidated the both of them, and I leaned in real close to their faces. "So, I heard a machine's name pass your lips earlier."
          Earlier? Two minutes ago, more like.
         SIddim nodded. "Viania. She's a Firadae."
        The Firadae. That name sounded like a distant memory, yet it was only from twelve years ago.
         "Take me to meet her," I demanded. "There's things that need to be discussed, and I want to do them with her."
           With the machine who had fire growing at their fingers.