Chromium

11.4

Double chapter this week. If you haven't already, read chapter 11.3 first.

First draft

She tried to stay strong and stand up, but her legs were like jelly. Yet, she knew she had to move. The mechs weren't just standing still but splitting up into platoons. Most of them were going east, toward downtown, but one group was coming toward her. She had to leave, but she wasn't able to walk, so she crawled. However, the factories were few and far between. She had nowhere to hide.

Unless...

She looked up at the hole in the ceiling and then down at the snow piling up on the ground. She made a split second decision and headed directly toward that white field. The snow was cold on her bare skin, but she didn't try to avoid it. Instead, she crawled right in the middle of it until she was completely submerged by it. A minute later the platoon approached her position, and she froze, wishing that her heart would slow down. She tried to think of her body like a computer in power-save mode. Maybe it was because of what had happened with the Shinigami, but it worked. After a while, she didn't feel the cold anymore, her temperature dropping until her body was hard and cool as ice. She just felt a bit lethargic like she was about to fall asleep.

"Scanning..." One of the mechs said as its sensors scanned the ground around her.

She didn't move, lying completely still as dozens of robots surrounded her. It was a gamble, a groundless speculation, but it paid off.

"Results: Negative. Directive: Keep searching."

The mechs went past her and kept going west until she couldn't see them anymore. Only then Dia stood up, her teeth chattering.

They detect body heat.

It was good to know, but it didn't solve her immediate problem. She was freezing. She had to keep moving. She crossed her arms and followed the Navigator's instructions. She made a turn and went up along the road until factories and warehouse were replaced by houses and small shops. Yet, that wasn't the only thing that changed. The entire landscape was dramatically different.

The Undercity was burning. Several houses were on fire, and hundreds, maybe thousands of people, were in the streets. Some of them were trying to save their loved ones, braving the flames as they rushed into the burning buildings, but others were running.

The mechs were chasing them, restraining them when they could, or directly mowing them down. They were everywhere, breaking into houses and dragging the people outside. They forced them to line up, scanning them one by one. They weren't hundreds, but thousands, maybe tens of thousands. Legions.

It took her some time to notice that the Umbra's men were also there, standing at the mechs' side like they were allies. Dia looked at what was happening in the square just below her. One of the Umbra's men was trying to talk with the people, keep them calm.

"Don't try to resist!" He said, speaking through a megaphone, "They won't do anything to you! But you have to stay calm and let them scan you!"

However, just a few meters away, the mechs were handling the dead bodies like they were trash, stacking them until half the square was filled with corpses.

"Scanning..." One of them said, "Result: Biological waste. Analysis: Potential biohazard exposure. Directive: Immediate disposal."

Twenty mechs or so lifted their arms and pointed their blowtorches at the bodies.

"Wait..."The Umbra's man interjected but it was too late, the mechs were already incinerating the bodies.

The smell of charred meat hit her like a punch, but the temperature was so high that the bodies soon vanished. The flames flared-up, rising high in the skies before disappearing, leaving just ashes behind. Everything had lasted less than a minute, but they were gone, and only those black spots, almost like ghastly silhouettes engraved by fire on the asphalt, were left. Probably, however, the worst part was that the mechs denied them a proper burial, disposing of them like trash.

"We are just waste to them." A man said.

"We have to fight!" Another man shouted, pointing at the black dots on the asphalt, "Or we'll be next!"

It was like a call to arms for the citizens.

"No!" The Umbra's men tried to stop them, but the damage was done.

A hundred people charged at the mechs, but most of them were unarmed and the few people who carried guns didn't know how to use them. It made no difference to the mechs. They blew them away with their rockets and dismembered the few of them who managed to get close with their Gatlings. The smoke billowed into the sky for a few seconds, and when the dust settled, none of them were left standing.

The mechs' eyes turned green, "Menace removed. Collateral damage: Within acceptable parameters." Their robotic voices resounded in the silence, "Get in line, please."

They behaved as nothing happened and lifted those wrecked bodies before adding them to the pile, efficiently disposing of their remains. After that, no one tried to rebel anymore.

While the citizens got in line like automatons, obeying the mechs' orders without discussions, Dia went around the square, and even when the Navigator said to turn right and take the main street, she avoided it like a plague. She chose the side streets instead, taking a shortcut through an alley before going down by the underpass. At first, It seemed a good choice. There were fewer mechs around. Problem was, there were fewer people too.

She had just left the suburbs and was walking along the freeway circling around the east side of the city when a mech saw her. It wasn't the usual type, but a smaller robot, almost like an eyeball hovering in the air. It was disturbing, especially when it gleamed and pointed that ominous red light right at her.

"Stand by, citizen." The Oculus---that's how she decided to call it---said to her, "Scanning..."

Dia forced herself to stay still, well aware running away wasn't an option. However, she was out of juice and couldn't destroy it either.

She was starting to get desperate. She just wished it would go away, leave her alone, when she felt something: a strange sensation like she could sense the robot, in her head. She tried to delve deeper, but it was like she was trying to break a wall with her bare hands. Then she started hearing something. It was a voice, monotone and robotic.

"ds2 = −dt2 + a2 (t)(dχ2 + f2 (χ)(dθ2 + sin2 θdφ2 )) ρ˙ = −3(ρ + p)˙a/a 4πG(ρ + 3p)/3 = −a/a 8πGρ/3 = ˙a2/a2 − k/a2 16πGU/3 = H˙ + 2H 2 (3.3a) 8πG(K + U)/3 = H2 − k/a2 .(3.3b) 16πGK/3 = H˙ (3.4a)"

What's that? Computer code?

Of course, it sounded like gibberish to her.

Am I inside the Oculus'...brain?

However, even if she was receiving some kind of...input, it was clear she was unable to understand it.

But maybe I can...send something back?

She tried to "connect" with the robot, going past that string of computer numbers to send a message directly to its brain.

The target is not here. Keep searching.

Nothing seemed to happen at first, but she insisted, repeating those words over and over again until her own head started to hurt. It was like the stimulation was excessive, and her brain wasn't able to handle it. Soon the pain became so intense she couldn't handle it anymore. It seemed like someone was breaking her skull, piece by piece, with an icebreaker. It was too much. She was about to lose consciousness when the Oculus froze.

Its eye flickered, slowly turning green, "Scan results: Negative. Directive: Keep searching."

Then the Oculus turned and flew away. Dia opened her mouth wide, unable to believe it'd actually worked.

Yet, that effort had cost her. She lurched for a meter or two as a wave of dizziness washed over her. Maybe what she'd just done drained her or she'd overexerted herself and her brain was shutting down. Either way, she was done for. She tried to take out the stimulants, but her hands were cold, her fingers stiff and insensitive. Dia was about to keel over when someone grabbed her arm.

She looked up, and her mouth fell open. She couldn't believe her eyes.

"Omen?" She whispered, her tone a bit unsure.

The corner of his mouth quirked up, a smile transforming his face, "Don't worry, Dia. I got you."