The Blue-Eyed General

Chapter 2

2

This is it. Do or die time.

“Guards!” The door bursts open. “Take her away.”

“Scheherazade,” I scream. The sword flies from the desk and lands in my outstretched palm to the sound of Jenson’s squeal. I turn quickly to face the door, wield Scheherazade over my head, and stand, poised, ready for the onslaught of k-19s that are already racing across the room to me.

Scheherazade slices across the metal brow of the lead k-bot effortlessly. Its body collapses to the ground, left lifeless without its rythium brain. She scalps the second one with equal ease and precision.

The third k-19 is quicker than its forerunners though. It’s seen my strategy. Swerving wide to out manoeuvre Scheherazade then, she only manages to slice off its right arm. Useless. K-bots can still function near perfectly until you sever the rythium that controls them away from their bodies. I manage to decapitate it with my next strike though, carving deep into the waist of another bot with the same swing. Its circuits spark and hiss as it crumples to the floor.

The next two assailants attempt to leap over their fallen comrade to reach me, but it lashes and swipes its arms in its unfaltering determination, indiscriminately toppling its allies instead of its prey. It continues crawling though; dragging its broken body behind it. But not for long…

Yelling with the force of the stab, I plunge Scheherazade deep into its head until its glowing brain turns dark with death. Nine more to go.

The remaining androids work together as a more solid unit now, attacking all at once with outstretched arms. I cut and stab and hack, until metal limbs litter the Presidential Suite. Here an arm, there a leg, but the job isn’t finished until their rythium control centre is rendered useless.

I scalp another bot, number eight I think, when one of its legless allies seizes my calves. Its strength is uncompromising; pulling me to my knees before I can slice off its hands. Limbless, it’s forced to release me, allowing for Scheherazade to deal the death blow to its brain.

Before I can rise though, one of the healthier k-bots grabs my arms and forces them behind me. I welcome its challenge. With a flick of the wrist, I launch Scheherazade high into the air and leap up after her, kicking the bot in its torso with both of my feet. It stumbles backwards, loosening its grip enough to allow me to wriggle free. It lunges forwards to recapture its prey, but Scheherazade obediently returns to the battle, finishing her fall by landing firmly in the android’s sculptured metal cranium. 

Its blue eyes blacken within an instant. 

I run forward and yank Scheherazade out of the decommissioned android, attempting to scalp the bot behind me in the same movement. But I miss. They move extraordinarily quickly, the k-19s. But, then, so do I.

There’s only two units left from this squad of twelve now, and I can feel the Emperor’s exasperation growing behind me. I can hardly resist looking over my shoulder and smirking at the old man who, along with his son, has backed himself into the furthest corner of the room. He rages when he sees my smile. 

“Get her,” he roars at his remaining two androids.

I hurtle forwards, aiming to meet the final bots head on and finish this quickly. After the Emperor’s command though, they start zigzagging across the room, utilising the expansive space offered by the suite to stay well clear of Scheherazade. When I run to impale one, it zigs out of my way, and when I try to scalp the other, it zags in another direction. Their new strategy is frustrating, but I quickly notice its flaw. While successfully avoiding Scheherazade’s wrath, their weaving has left the path to the elevator wide open. Perfect. After all, my plan was never to annihilate this squad of k-19s, just to get out of this prison alive.