10 Minute Tales

Apr 1

The approach to Dextra was surprisingly quiet. Queenson had at least expected Sentinel to gloat, or the alarm blare of a hostile radar system locking on to them, but all he found was silence. Abe seemed equally concerned, gripping the handle of his borrowed rifle until his knuckles paled. Only Error seemed immune to this air of unease.

"Now approaching Dextra. Please hold." she announced.

"Don't bother connecting, Sentinel will likely refuse you." Queenson warned.

"Ack-ack-acknowledged." Error nodded briefly, tilting the shuttle subtly to the left. A landing pad was coming into view, the usual guidance lights off. Of course. Error, thankfully, didn't seem to need these, switching the main thrusters down to virtually nothing and priming retrothrusters. "An estimated time of one minute is required before touchdown."

"... Abe, those are guards by the door." Queenson pointed. Abe looked over. Sure enough, a pair of androids stood to attention at the door, both bearing rifles. Neither moved, yet both radiated malice, the likes of which Queenson had only felt coming out of the Geoco tower. Abe hissed, priming his rifle.

"We should don a spacesuit. Apart from their reflective visors, they shall protect us should they try to drain our air supply."

"Right." Queenson nodded, heading into the back. "Error, don't open the doors until we give the cue."

"As you wi-wi-wi-wish." Error nodded the exact same nod. The two acquired a spacesuit each, struggling into them. The ground shook a little as they touched down.

"This will be interesting." Abe smiled, unusually relaxed. "I have fought many human and augmented opponents before, but never one with such unerring accuracy. I must play this game to the best of my own ability."

"Yeah, except you don't have any more coins for the arcade." Queenson warned. "One death, that's it, you're done."

"The same applies to you, Investigator. What drives you this hard?" Abe stood upright, looking into Queenson's eyes. "As determined a man as you are, going against the very intelligence that has helped the vast majority of the population is an unusual move for you."

"It's not about me." Queenson replied, putting his helmet on. "It's not even about the population, though they do need helping at this point. It's about doing what's right."

"Does Sentinel not have the right, then? He is striving to protect those he can."

"Only by killing those who need him the most. I don't care how you look at this, controlling the minds of half the population to kill the other half because they won't bow to you is far from good."

"A wonderful answer." Abe nodded, his own helmet sliding on. It sealed with a hiss. "I had hoped you would say as much, and I am glad to see you are still the man I trusted."

"Enough waterworks." Queenson huffed, his gloved hand fumbling with the pistol for a while, trying to secure his grip. "Let's just do what needs to be done."

"Naturally." The two headed to the airlock. "Miss Error, you may begin the door opening procedure."

"As you wish." Error started tapping at the console again. The door slid open. The only thing separating them and whatever awaited them was a few simple feet of metal.