Binary Love (18+)

Am I Sentient, Or A Thing?

"MARK!" Nova screamed at the top of her lungs, barely loud enough to be heard over the tearing of metal. Her knuckles were white as she gripped the large spanner in her hand, watching in horror as claws started to pierce the door to her workshop and home. She could see Mark holding the door back in vain, desperately trying to get grip from the floor to help him push against such ferocity.

"Nova, grab the thermo cutter!" He yelled back, but never removing his gaze from the claws slowly dragging and stabbing their way through. She dashed to her tool drawers, carelessly dropping the spanner on the top so that she could frantically pull and throw things out in a bid to find the thermo cutters. Sharp metal cut at her flesh, leaving nicks on her hands as she shoved things aside. "Now, Nova!"

"I'm on it!" She shouted, slamming the draw closed to then try to open the next one. The sweat on her hands making her palms slippery, sliding off the draw handles as she fumbled open another. To her relief, she found it quickly, turning to throw it. "Catch!"

With his whole body pressing against their last defence, he snapped the cutters from the air. "Call security and get somewhere safe!" Mark demanded, flicking the switch to release a burning red blade. It began to loudly crackle and hum as Mark quickly sawed off one set of claws piercing the door.

A loud and terrifying bellow came from the other side, just before the slams on the door became more insistent.

Nova knew that there wasn't a lot of time, and that she couldn't help standing there naked with a spanner. Almost slipping and falling, she dashed to the comms unit and mashed the panic alarm that would alert security. Red lights spun and flashed the workshop, bathing everything in a bloody light.

The noises were overwhelming; sirens blared, roars sent goose bumps down her skin and a sharp squeak drowned out whatever Mark was mouthing at her.

Then to her horror, the beast broke through.

The door flew off the hinges, throwing Mark across the opposite side of the room. His body was sprawled underneath the door, with a gash across his leg that slowly leaked out a trickle of fluid. She held her breath, terrified that he wouldn't get up, before releasing it when she saw his arms flex and begin to lift the door off of himself. She quickly scanned the room, clocking that the cutter had skidded away across the floor, resting by the entrance to the bot assembly line.

Nova's wide eyes took in the six and a half foot Lupus standing in her doorway; it was definitely a male, with firm pectoral muscles rippling as its one good set of claws tore the doorway wider so that it could fit itself through. His body shape could be described as mainly 'human', but that's where similarities ended. The Lupus had wolf like ears and a tail sprouting from his body, with a more animal like face. A thin and mangy grey fur covered his entire body, except where patches could be seen. Despite clearly being strong and powerful, this Lupus looked sick. Nova could see blue veins pulsing under the skin, with a light blue liquid leaking from the Lupus' darting eyes. Foamy saliva dripped from his mouth, as his jaws snapped and roared.

"He's high on Blue," She whispered to herself.

The Lupus had on shredded clothing, similar to what the workers on planet side wore. From her guess, this Lupus looked like a Beta. Not as large or as strong as an Alpha, but still formidable.

A loud 'thunk' snapped Nova out of her shock, as she watched what was left of the door slam into the head of the Beta. He fell back away from the door frame, and slid several feet back along the hallway. Nova's eyes flicked to Mark, who now was quickly making his way to the cutter.

From her estimation, although Mark would have an android's strength and would not be limited by pain, he still probably wouldn't be strong enough to fight off a drugged up Lupus. It would take several to probably bring down someone so clearly on a war path.

"I have an idea!" Nova quickly cried to Mark, "Follow me!" As fast as she could, she dashed into the assembly line, wildly beginning the boot up as many androids as possible. But within seconds she heard another growl from the Beta, and the dreaded tap of clawed feet running in the hall.

"I'll keep him off you for as long as possible." Mark's deep voice said behind her, accompanied by the buzzing of the thermo cutter turning back on.

Although she was terrified, Nova knew that she had to get as many androids up and working to protect her and Mark. All she needed to do was delay long enough for security to arrive.

When she heard the first crunch, she couldn't stop herself from looking over her shoulder to glimpse what had happened. With utter panic she saw that an android lay crumpled on the floor, with several others hanging off the Lupus as Mark darted in and out with the cutter. He tried his best to target key areas, like the tendons or the neck, so that he could slowly chip away at the Lupus while jumping away before being swung at.

As more androids piled onto the Beta, more got crushed or thrown, leaving crumpled androids littering the ground. But it wasn't in vein. Soon Nova could see the Lupus slow down from the collective weight - for every android removed, two would replace it, until the Lupus was smothered with them. He then started to slip on his own blood, arms flailing trying to grip on to anything stable.

It was then that Mark miscalculated and didn't get out of the way in time.

Claws dug into his chest, scraping down his torso before finally releasing him as the Beta crashed to the floor, finally subdued.

"Mark?!" Nova yelled, running to him as he dropped to his knees, looking at the wiring spilling from his body. "Holy shit!" In a futile attempt to try to fix things, Nova shakily tried to stuff the wiring back inside.

"You need to g-g-g-get somewhere safe Nova," Mark gripped her arms, gently trying to push her away, trying to prompt her to leave. The intense blue of his eyes flickered, his mouth started to tick upwards uncontrollably. "He m-m-m-might get back up again."

"No, no, no, no, no! I have to fix this, I can fix this." Nova ignored him, her fingers fumbling to reconnect wires and plug fluid leaking from major parts.

"It is not f-f-f-fixable Nova, I am about to shut down." As his fingers rested against her face, forcing her gaze to look up at him, she couldn't help but burst into tears. "You are so beautiful." Mark gently leaned towards her, closing his eyes, to give Nova the softest and most sweetest kiss she had ever known. As his cold, synthetic lips rested against hers, she heard the moment when his systems stopped functioning, and when her heart broke.