Against the Tide - A New Elysium Story [Complete]

12. What's Dead Should Stay Dead

It was insane. Absolutely lunatic. Impossible.

Yet here they were, trying to escape a space station while outrunning a group of killer robots on high alert, because twenty minutes ago, one of these robots had picked up a strange reading from an otherwise inconspicuous red-haired woman dressed in white.

It happened on their way back to the transit station. They walked right into a group of four patrolling scandroids, in a deserted side street. They opted to make a detour, but instead of avoiding them, they walked right into their arms.

One of the hulking androids hovered closer, the lights on its head blinking erratically.

Stay calm, Lars told Null, who was still in control of the body, and keep walking, like a good citizen. Don't draw any attention and we'll be fine.

She didn't reply. Her mind had gone completely blank, her side of their shared space looked like a flood wave had ravaged through it and taken everything away, leaving behind nothing but desolation. But she kept on walking, their heart beating somewhere around their larynx.

They had passed it by, and had already thought it was over, but then they felt it.A sensation like myriads of invisible hands groping all over their body, and their insides, as if somebody was prying right into their innermost - the hellish construct scanned them. A shiver ran through their body, as the frequency of the scan seemed to resonate with the mechanical implants within them. The wires under their skin seemed to singe with searing heat. A low-pitched electronic sound emanated from the scandroid, as it turned its head towards them.

Run, Lars had whispered.

And she had broken into a sprint.

Impossible, she thought now, We won't make it!

Their lungs were burning and a leaden feeling began to spread through their legs. Behind them, they could hear the low vibrato of the scandroid echo through the corridor.

We will make it, he told her, trying his best to sound reassuring, It's only one, the others didn't follow us. They were probably confused by the unconventional tech in our body.

Only one? she repeated in disbelief. We have no weapons... we have nowhere to run... hell, we don't even know where we are right now!

At a cross-way, she stopped. Their breath came ragged and erratic. She took a look around to regain some sense of direction.

So this is the backstage area of the show outside... she thought.

In the maintenance corridor they found themselves in right now, the old age of the space station showed.  Its inner workings were much less smooth and streamlined than the public areas. Countless pipes and cables were running along the walls and ceiling, and underneath the metal grid that made up the floor. Only dim, orange emergency lights illuminated their surroundings. Nothing around them could be used as a weapon, and none of the three paths branching off looked like they would lead to any kind of exit from the maze they had maneuvered themselves into.

She had pulled off the eye patch and had tried to activate some of her combat augs a while ago, but it took time for them to boot up again. At least her mechanical eye was coming back up now, and they began to scan their surroundings.

I bet they're not quite used to being scanned themselves...Two hundred meters, it's getting closer. Weapon systems not charged. It probably thinks we're not a threat, Lars summarized the data that whirled through their head.

That's because we are no threat! she snapped at him.

Okay, relax. Let us come up with a plan.