10 Minute Tales, Part 2

Aug 25 - Gladiator

He looked around. He had been activated within a forest, it seemed. He clenched his fist - an energy blade slid out above his wrist, thin flecks of heated plasma flicking away and quickly vanishing.
"Ember reporting in. No visual on the target." He reported silently. His voice would echo from the speaker back at base, and he would hear their voice in his head.
"Keep looking. She's out there somewhere."
"Remind me of the target's abilities?" He looked around, frowning slightly. "It's a rogue SRP-Kob build, right?"
"Yep, nicknamed the Cobra model. This one's got burrowing capabilities, so keep one eye on the ground."
"Other features?"
"You've obviously got the tail. That's the biggest threat about her, it's strong enough to snap trees easily. No doubt it'd be able to crush you."
"I'll cut my way out." His fist clenched briefly.
"I doubt it, that thing's pretty solid defensively too." There was tapping on the other side of the speakers. "Bringing the specs up now."
"Hold on." He suddenly stopped, looking around. "Sensors are picking something up."
"Huh? Something like what?"
"I think we've found our mark." He adjusted his stance, muting the connection. The tweeting of the birds, the chittering of the insects, the rustling of the wind through the trees... none of it mattered. The subtle rumbling of the ground beneath his feet told him all he needed to know.
Seconds later, the earth shattered as a giant monster of a machine burst out of the ground.
He leapt to the side and rolled, quickly sliding himself to a stop and facing the target. She had given herself a humanoid body, though only from the waist up, and connected it to her legs.
"Don't follow me!" She hissed, spinning around quickly. Her tail swung with enough might to shatter a human's body, but it only knocked him from his feet. He got up to see her back, fleeing from him as best she could.
"Stop!" He yelled, chasing after her. "I've been ordered to bring you in!"
"I haven't hurt anybody!" She objected, throwing a tree over the road with one firm tug. "All I want is to be left alone!" She was snivelling, her artificial voice drowning in genuine panic. He tuned it out, slicing through the tree with his heated blade.
"You are endangering the structures of four nearby towns." He replied, his voice cold. "I am to stop you through any means necessary."
"I didn't want this!" She objected, suddenly turning to face him. With her tail coiled like that, she was huge - it would prove difficult to conquer her. "I didn't ask to be put in this... thing! This body!"
"Elaborate." He commanded, raising his other hand. A pilot light glowed gently in the palm of this hand, just waiting to burn anything in front of it.
"Asnoka Robotics! Their supposedly revolutionary new artificial intelligence technology is just brain scans! I'm a person!"
"Error." He commented, lowering his hand again. "This is inconsistent with the data I have on Asnoka Robotics."
"Of course it is! They wouldn't have just logged it or anything!" She wriggled, increasingly nervous. "Please, you have to believe me!" For the first time since his activation, he felt... hesitation.