Bionica: The War

The Hunt

Ever since Phase II of the exoskeletons came about, the country had been torn into chaos. And little Riley St. Clair had been caught in the middle of it all. She and her twin sister, Rose, had lost their parents just weeks before. But they had to keep moving in order to avoid being captured.

Captured and made inhuman.

When Phase II was announced, Icharus Steele had kept the public in the dark about exactly what he was planning. All they knew was that Steele, Inc., was moving into the military industry. On the day of its launch, millions had gathered in cities all over the world to watch Steele and the newly elected Cassius Tronyx press the launch button on the balcony of Steele, Inc. And when that happened, all those wearing newer exoskeletons began writhing in pain. Citizens ran screaming. Some tried to throw things at the perpetrators, but they were long gone, protected within the building's walls. When the victims got up, they'd been encased head-to-toe in metal. Their eyes had begun to glow and they started beating back the protesters and taking citizens in for experimentation.

Riley and Rose had been in the center of it all. Their mother had been flung over the shoulder of a robot, and their father ran to try and save her. The robot knocked a fatal blow to his head and Riley had heard bone crack. Riley assumed that her mother had probably been turned into a robot, just like the rest of them. She'd been just four.

That was the day Riley had officially grown up. She and Rose cared for each other the best they could while continually hiding from the robots patrolling the streets. Two years passed and they could fend for themselves fairly well.

It didn't stop what happened next.

Riley turned down an alleyway and saw Rose huddled in a corner. She was covered in all the jackets they had; Riley had given them to her because she knew she'd be getting a workout. When Rose looked up, Riley tossed her half of a loaf of bread. Rose dug into it heartily before talking, naturally with her mouth full. "That guy's shop is still open, huh?" she asked.

"Yep," Riley answered, tearing a piece off her own half. "That old guy's a sucker for a couple kids on the streets. And c'mon, we're six. Who wouldn't be?"

"Cheers," said Rose, holding her bread in the air. Riley touched her half to Rose's and took a bite.

They sat a bit in silence. The sounds of post-apocalyptic New York buzzed around them. Even when it was about to be destroyed, the city still never slept. People- or robots, rather- walked the streets as vendors and shopkeepers proclaimed their wares for the world to hear. Every once in a while, the words "A division of Steele, Inc.!" could be heard or seen. Naturally, only the shops that kept their allegiance to the government remained open. Riley had figured out which shops wouldn't report them and settled for begging at their back doors. She and Rose got by day to day. It wasn't much, but at least they still had each other.

A loud whirring began to make its way closer to Riley. She stuffed the bread she had left up her shirt and pointed to a dumpster. "Hide!" she hissed at Rose, opening the door. Riley knew why the robots would be coming for kids like them. They still had time to develop; they could get used to life as a humanoid robot easier than an adult could. But Riley wasn't going to let that happen. Rose climbed into the dumpster and Riley went after, shutting the lid without so much as a creak.

Through a hole in the metal, Riley could see the robots coming towards their original location. One of them bent down and found bread crumbs from their last meal. Dang it! Why hadn't she cleaned those up? She could only hope that neither she nor Rose had trailed any crumbs to the dumpster.

"They were present moments ago," said one robot. Their one consistent piece of programming seemed to be to use the fanciest word possible to get their points across. "There are crumbs from a baked meal on the ground."

"I understand, RJ-310," said the other. "But that shows no fruit unless they have neglected to cover their footprints."

Rose leaned over to Riley. "What'd he say?"

"He said that's no good unless we left a trail," Riley replied, putting a finger to her lips. She continued to listen.

"Did you register the vibrations in the air?" asked the first robot.

"Affirmative," said the other. Riley heard their clunky footsteps coming toward the dumpster. As the lid lifted, she and Rose shielded their eyes from the light.

"Apprehend them!" said the first. Then he picked up Rose while the second shouldered Riley.

"Rose!" Riley said almost under her breath, "work the magic!"

Rose understood immediately and used her fingernails, which were just long enough for the job, as a sort of temporary screwdriver. Once four Phillips-head screws littered the ground, she dislodged a panel off the robot's back. She then proceeded to tear a fistful of random wires out of the open panel. The robot dropped as Riley reached for her pocket, in which she kept a pocketknife. She turned and stabbed the robot in first its left eye, then its right. It was left to stumble about in its blindness as Riley and Rose ran off.

Who knows how long they ran? It seemed endless to Riley. Up and down streets that were unfamiliar until they came face-to-face with a group of them.

At least ten robots lined the street, blocking a whole lane of traffic in wait for these two. Riley tried to think of a way out, tried to push through their line, but it was no use. She and Rose were knocked unconscious with some sort of drug, and it was all over.

_______

"Riley! Riley, c'mon! Wake up!"

Rose's voice pushed its way through the mess that was Riley's hearing. She let out a groan. Where was she? She knew she was lying perfectly straight on something hard. She decided it was a table of some kind. Her hands, ankles, and stomach were strapped to it. The last thing she remembered...

A slight pinch in her neck, the black dots that had swirled in her vision... and now she was here. But where was here?

Riley heard a door open and a robot walked in. She knew where she was.

And she knew she had to get out.

"Salutations," said the robot monotonously. "I am S3-E3, your caretaker for as long as you reside within the walls of Steele, Inc."

He walked behind the table that Riley lay on and began to push it. It was wheeled; maybe Riley could use that to get out eventually. But he kept pushing her through a set of doors, and didn't stop.

"Hey!" Riley yelled. "Where are you taking me?!"

"It is none of the subject's concern," the robot said. Finally he stopped in front of a door and went to type in a passcode. The door slid open and Riley was wheeled into her worst nightmare.

An operating theater.