Well That's Not Good

Chapter 16 - iRobot

Sky pulls his blindfold back over his eyes. The fog of the morning diluted the sunlight enough that it wasn't too bright, but there was comfort in blindness. Still, his hearing was clear as day. The first thud against the wall caused True to pull him closer, the second almost making him drag them both into Seto's lap. At the third, Sky's hands fly to his head, pressing against his head in hope of drowning out the noise. There's another hit. Behind his blindfold, Sky's eyes squeeze shut. A desperate attempt to silence the outside world. He feels True's grasp tighten, but it hardly grounds him in a safe reality. He remembers horror movies Lox showed him upon landing, how families and loved ones cling to one another just before they get eaten by the monster . 

True looks up as Lox powers back on. Green light fills the darkened room as Lox glances over at the cowering pile in the corner. True sits on the couch, his back to Seto's chest and Sky in his arms. Seto's eyes are locked on the door, alert and awaiting the sound of cracking wood. Lox and True make eye contact, and the android goes upstairs. 

From the second floor, Lox makes his way to the roof. The fog has begun to thin, but the clouds keep the sky grey and dull. The yard is littered with lumbering, limping figures. Lox watches as they drag themselves aimlessly through the murk. It occurs to him that they don't seem to be directed towards the house, and as he slides down the roof for a better view, he sees one walking into the wall of the barn repeatedly. He thinks for a moment, then jumps. 

Lox hits the ground hard, sliding down into the trench he's made around the house. For a moment, there's panic, and when he gets to his feet he almost expects to short circuit. A quick overview says the mud is far from his wiring, and he gets back to his plan. 

Digging his hands into the dirt, Lox manages to climb back out of his moat. He finds himself amongst the hosts of whatever Seto has made, wandering, blank, faces slack. Lox walks right up to one, a teenager with large glasses and black splattered down his red flannel shirt, and pokes him. 

Nothing. 

"Hey." The zombie turns more towards him, but doesn't attack. Black eyes stare blindly ahead, and Lox gets an odd feeling. The zombies don't seem to notice him, but clearly react to sound. Lox waves his hand in front of the host's face, who follows the action how his head, but quickly dismisses it. 

"What, don't care cuz I'm not alive? Bullshit." Lox mutters. The banging on the barn continues, and he makes his way through the fog to investigate. He finds a red haired woman in a stained white sweater swaying forward and backward, her head and shoulders hitting the side of the barn with a hard thud in a steady beat. Black stains the wood, drips down her face, and farther muddies the ground at her feet. Inside the barn, Lox can hear what used to be the comforting sound of pigs, now filled with anxiety. Lox hesitates, then raises his hand. 

His arm hits her skull with a sickening crack. She sways, then steps forward again, her head hitting the barn again. He hits again, more sure of himself this time, and the bone crunches, caving in on her brain. Black liquid begins to seep from the wound. He hits her again, his arm coming back black this time as part of her skull fails and opens her head like a door to a horror show. Every zombie show has said to go for the brain, but the blows seem to hardly slow her down. 

Lox glances around, quickly gathering up a rusted wrench and swinging it like a bat. The host's head is forced against the barn door, causing alarmed pigs inside to raise hell. Somewhere behind him, Lox hears a door open. 

"What the fuck are you doing?!" He swings again, the wrench hitting pure brain matter. It splatters across his face, his chest, his arms. From the porch, True can only hear the blows and see a faint outline. Inside, Seto has taken on the job of holding Sky. 

"Hang on!" Lox yells back through gritted teeth. He hits again, chipping off part of her face. Black liquid now mixed with flesh slides down the side of the barn. 

"That doesn't tell me what you're doing! Why are you out there?!" True yells back. Lox raises the wrench again, and the host turns, taking a staggering step away from the barn. 

"I'm not real, they don't care about me! Be quiet!" Lox brings the wrench down again when suddenly it clicks- Seto burned it. He runs back to the pile of discarded tools and begins digging around. The host takes another step towards the house. He finds a precision blowtorch, hopes for the best, and turns around. 

As soon as the flames touch the black liquid, she goes up in flames. 

From the porch, True watches Lox light up the fog with a human bonfire. 

... 

It took an hour to clean out all the splatter from Lox's joints. The whole time, Lox stared ahead, and True didn't speak. Partway through, Seto poked his head in to say good morning, but quickly paled and left the room. By the end of it all, there was a pile of filthy rags a foot tall, but Lox was clean. Lox was so still that, had the light on his headset not been green, True might have thought he had powered off. 

"That was stupid of you," True says finally. He gives a half smile, but there's no real positivity in his voice. Lox simply stares ahead. 

"You're real, you know." 

Silence. 

"I know you're just trying to protect us. At least take an umbrella next time?" 

The light switches to red, and Lox slumps back against the wall.