Release Me From Heaven (Release Me From Hell Series)

Chapter 4: (System 86: Number 5/Askin) We Breathe Toxic Air *2 Weeks Ago*

          I didn't see what came, but I felt it. After the shut down of the Factory, I wasn't sure that Matum was ready for anything else. The girls were long asleep in whatever human dreams they tended to have, and Vaeshi was gone on her evening trip, so I was left alone to feel the metal of my mansion vibrate. Immediately, I began to descend my staircase and out the front door with haste. If I was truly in an emergency, I would call Vaeshi to come home, but I was just suspicious.
Since the Factory returned, the world had been suspicious to even trust it. It failed at protecting our well-being, and it failed to inform us that there were people outside of Matum. Iskil's feed still haunted the corner of my vision, and he hadn't moved. As I paced outside of my door with those thoughts in mind, the ground vibrated again.
          There was an old subway station from before WoE under there, rusted to hell and surely lost to time. the vibrations weren't enough to be one of those old trains in use, but it was there. I knew an entrance down there, but it would have been risky to go down there myself. Without a bot. I realized after a moment that it was worth checking out before anyone from the Factory decided it was their business. They've been meddling with everyone's lives since the first attack two weeks ago, and I was afraid they weren't going to let me leave if there were continuous disturbances in Matum. I had to cover my tracks no matter what.
            The old escalator that led down had seen its days. It was rumored that it once housed a hundred AWOL soldiers during the war, including Iskilla Madoeken. It was abandoned after the city walls were built, but it was still in existence. It had seen its days, and the escalator was no longer safe for pressure. So I quickened my pace to hurry down the stairs into the darkness of what once was the most elaborate set-up of human nature.
          A few thousand years could make anything perish, including any evidence that humans were once here. Except there were. My eyes began to pulse red as I noticed three people surrounding a burning hull of a machine. Humans, all cowering in their own skin as the machine's reactor burned a nice blue fire up to the top. It was almost sad to see it, but they were homeless humans. The machine, however, was nothing like I had ever seen before. Its limbs were bubbly and rounded to look less than human, and its eyes were tiny. It seemed it wouldn't move the way us Systems moved, like it was supposed to be a janky version of us.
         "Things are getting worse," said one of the homeless. His hands had been calloused and burned from whatever battles the man had been in. "We can't expect the Factory to do anything about these... intruders."
          One of the others leaned back into the sunlight that came from a crack in the walls that led up to the streets. "Where are they coming from, anyway? Where could these old subways lead?"
            "To the outside. I'm surprised there was anything out there to begin with. The Factory never told us there was life out there."
            "Robots aren't life. These clearly aren't made by humans."
            There was an old train next to them. It had been hollowed out for parts a long time ago, and it was showing its time from the see-through rust that cascaded over whatever it once said. That wasn't what mattered, however. With my night vision on, I saw reactors shining blue through the car. Crawling. They seemed to be stuttering, their reactors pulsing red like they were dying. And maybe they were. The one in the fire didn't look like it was in that good of shape to begin with, but these ones were coming. Fast.
            The vibrations started from the walls, and the broken machines were clanging against the train with no real direction. I wasn't a fighter. My Elite power involved being behind a screen, so I wasn't sure I could actually combat the coming machines. They were coming from somewhere. That was what I had to find out.
            "503. 503. 503..."
            They were mumbling numbers. Iskil's numbers. Why? All three of them leaped out from the crusted doors, crawling on all fours with fingers crumbling from impact. The three homeless picked up makeshift weapons and pointed them at the broken. One leaped, and its reactor was stabbed without any consequence. The others idled as they saw their friend get stabbed.
           "YOu NEVer unDErSTOod US!" one screeched. Whatever it was trying to say came out at a higher frequency than it was supposed to, so I covered my ears so that my eardrums wouldn't burst.
            "THIs wAr dEStROyeD us! WE WeRE pINnED AGainsT THe WAlL. OUr LIveS wERE At STAKe."
             Another one leaped, and it met the same fate as the first. Reactor stabbed through. The one that was talking took a step back and opened its mouth wide. Large rows of teeth showed themselves, like they could tear flesh and metal. It was different than the lackeys that had gotten destroyed by the humans. Desptie my lack of combat experience, I leaped from the shadows. The skittering machine cocked its head and turned its body to me.
              "YOu," it called.
               Me? It knew me? I stood my ground despite my shuddering body. It gripped the concrete as it approached my body.
               "YoU wIll BE tHeRE aT THe eND OF dAys." I refrained from engaging despite it being at my feet. "YOU, ASKin."
                I put my fists up, and it leaped at my body. Despite my punch, the thing knocked me down and scratched at my face. I felt the claws reach deep into my neck, my wires being exposed to the air. Everything in my eyes was displaying errors.
               "LEt ME INfeCT YoU!" it screamed. From behind its teeth, there was a large tongue that was made of half-cut wires. It reached into my wounds, and I felt it go into my system. I suddenly felt like my body was being shocked from within. I screamed out, and I grabbed the machine's throat.
               "HE Did THIs tO US!" it shouted. "IT wAS hIm THaT hURT Us!"
                  Suddenly, there was a spear that went through its reactor, and it stuttered in its last moments.
               "tHERe ARe mORE OF Us!" Whatever oil was inside its body began to spill from within its mouth like blood, and one of the humans tossed it aside to bang against the train. I keeled over and gasped like a human would when choking, and wires started coming from within. There were errors up on all of my display corners, but I couldn't listen to them. If it was anything serious, I would ask for Yen's help, but now was not the time. One of the homeless pointed their spear at me.
              "Who are you with?" he asked.
              I stuttered to my feet. "No one. I'm investigating on my own behalf."
             "What's your name, Elite?"
            Of course the homeless wouldn't know me by face. Now was the time to lie. "Untopel."    There were a few generations between me and Untopel, but did any humans pay attention to the minor differences?
              "If you're looking for where those things come from, the train leads outside of the wall. They've been coming since the Factory shut down," the man said. The other two sat back down at the fire.
             "Why are you three down here?" I asked. Untopel would never ask such a ridiculous question. He would just say that homeless have no reason to be anywhere.
               "Some of those machines went after us, you know. We decided that we needed to be fair enough away from them to stay safe. But these ones keep coming. They've got names. Firadaes, is what they're called."
             Firadae? The machine looked alien and had such a strange name. I turned to the train.
             "Thank you," I said. I took a step into the rusted train.
             "Are you going down there?"
             "I need to know how far this rabbit hole goes."
             "Good luck."
             I continued my descent.

             I knew of a clearing far away from Matum. It was empty, full of rusted Systems and machinations that were large enough to destroy two of me, and I knew that this old subway led to a place out there. This train was a connector to a town turned to ash. Whatever was up there was starting to seep into this city, and I needed to block it off or stop them.
             I found the other escalator that led out into the open, and there was a guard at the base. I paused as I saw the labeling on its chest. Firadae. I leaned down low and peaked up at it to see what it was doing. It began mumbling a different set of numbers out in the open. 732. I had no idea who those belonged to, but I knew that this Firadae was crazed like the ones that came down the train. It craned its neck and stuttered violently.
             "OUr CReaToR wILL diE sOOn."
             It was mumbling nonsense, but I couldn't hack into it. This was a completely different system than what I was used to. Its body showed up on my display, but it was like staring at the body of an alien. The internal wires were all in the wrong places, and it seemed to have a spring in its mouth that ejected its internal organs. Wires. Internal wires.
             "i CAn sMeLL yoU!"
             The Firadae leaped forward towards the train. Its fingers coiled around the broken door. I ducked under one of the metal frames of the seat, peering at the Firadae coming in.
              "MacHINes aRE CAreleSS thINgS." It crawled across the seats while gripping the metal hard enough to crush it. "THey sERVe a PURposE thAt nO lonGER eXiSTS." The arm of the Firadae landed in front of my frame. His head tilted downward, and he cocked his head. Slowly, it turned towards me.
               "ASkiN, SYstEM 86, NUMbeR 5. WHy aRe yOU HErE?"
               I saw the erroes grow on my HUD as my body tensed. My coils were tightening. You guys can't come to Matum."
              "WE? MaTUm? We'Re oNLy CREAtIng tHE gATeWAy for IsKIL's cREAtions tO COmE DOWn." His fingers that had rounded tips snatched the air in front of my coiled neck, and he tightened his knuckles.
              "I need to stop Iskil," I said.
               The thin laughed and backed away. "PAy aTTenTIOn tO tHAT haCKER. He STARted tHIS. HE STArtED uS!" The Firadae pulled himself away. "LEAve nOW beFORe thoSE eRroRs GEt WoRSE."
             They were getting worse. I stood up on my feet, and I panted like I was out of breath. I wasn't, I was just full of errors.
               "HiS NAme IS GaKaNILR," the Firadae said. "GO HoME. NOw."
                 I limped, my body exhausted. On my HUD was a message from Vaeshi, and I tried to focus on that.
                Vaeshi: There's something I need to tell you, Askin.
                There was something I needed to tell her too.