Release Me From Heaven (Release Me From Hell Series)

Chapter 14: (System 86: Number 5/Askin) Evitol

        I stopped at a place completely out of the way because I felt the tug of fate as it stood there out in the open. It was a wooden door that had seen better days, stained in blood from the body at the base. And the body had rotted, the guts hollowed out to just a bony, skin husk of a man. It was not the man that my eyes glimmered to, but the blood spelled out a name. A phrase. Evitol didn't didn't want this.
     Evitol.
     Him. I clenched my fists and leaned down tot he human to smell the stench of blood and whatever insides had been thrown up in the nearby alleys, and I shut his eyeless sockets both out of whatever respect I had left and the anger brewing in my chest cavity. There was a place I had to go. I leaned upwards and disregarded getting Viania parts just yet, and I followed an alley path dark enough to have my eyes light up all the paths. I saw other machines eating other humans, teeth grinding against each other's cheeks and making sparks fly because of it. A part of me wanted to say something, but I left the lower of us to stick to their messy habits.
     "Askin!"
     The sound was bitter, a clang in the air that was completely and utterly annoying. As I turned, I found piercing eyes on my figure. System 92, Number 23. Lettell.
     "Askin," he breathed. The other machines in the alley seemed to drag their attention away from their meals to watch us. I noticed the glint of cracked lenses and red irises. "Have you seen Vyperaete? She told us she was going to your house, but she never returned."
     "Returned where?" I asked bluntly. "Are the seven of you doing something I'm unaware of?"
     "We told you, Askin."
     Had they?
     Y-YES, BUT I-I-I DELE-E-TED THE MESSAGE-E!
     "Right," I lied. "Well, Vyperaete never came to my house. I can't help you figure out where she went, either." I was busy, too, and I already knew Vyperaete was beyond dead. I had no time to pretend that this would get me anywhere but farther from my destination.
     HE HAD PARTS-S-S YOU NEED, ASKIN-N <ERROR>
     I turned my attention to Lettell and glared at his leg. System 92s were quite in similar shape to the alien-like Firadae now that I focused in. And his eyes... They were the same color as Viania's blue ones. I sighed.
     "I may have an idea where she could be," I said. "Would you care to join me, Lettell?"
     Lettell's eyes sparkled with inspiration for a moment, and he nodded. "Where?"
     "Evitol."
     Lettell shut his eyes and let his Elite power work through his body. The ground beneath him cracked and deformed into large spikes that impaled the infected machines. I heard some of them scream out their final breaths before falling limp. The ground slowly retracted into cracked earth, and Lettell brushed off his knees as if it was completely normal. I suddenly felt... hungry. The sparks were flying from the broken, but I saw something... to eat.
     No. NO. Eating humans was enough for me.
     "Sorry!" Lettell sighed. "I don't like eyes looking at me. Now, would you kindly lead the way to Evitol's?"
     I blinked. "Y-yeah."

     Evitol was the first Elite with the eyes for danger. Elites knew of him. He was wiped completely from Factory data, a distant memory for those in the past to remember.
     YOU'VE SAID T-T-THIS ALREADY ERROR//
     Oh. Right. My memory must've been muddled from all that's been going all lately, so I forgot about Evitol.
     "So, why there?" Lettell asked me, trailing my every step.
     "It's our place. When I'm in trouble, I would probably go there." It was another lie, but it was also somehow believable.
     Evitol's was a scrap yard, remnants of machines left scattered in one place for the most heinous of people to creep around its parts. That was the way it was before I was made 1093 years ago. It was one of the first places I made sure to keep monitored, and that was where we found Evitol's journal. We being Alopie and I, and then the others came along to know the Elites' secret.
     I had been some time since I'd been there myself, but I had no reason to scan some yellowed paper that told me what Evitol did when he was alive. He wasn't an inspiration. He was a warning. But I could see Lettell was believing my lies, not hearing the slight pitch changes in my voice or seeing how I focused in on his leg with murderous intent. Was I also once that oblivious?
     YES.
     Hmph. The ground began to shake as smoke filled the air and my sensors. It smelled of sulfur and flesh. Dead bodies and... a bomb. Lettell flashed me a warning with his crystal blue eyes and he sulked ahead with his hands on the ready. Now would have been a perfect time to subdue him, but I refrained. I was curious as to what was going on.
     "This is a Factory issued warning! A Class C level bomb has been detected on the human side of Matum near the house strip A16. Any humans or machines in contact with this bomb must return to the Factory to be quarantined. Thank-k-k-" An ungodly ringing began to overtake the speaker. "Calling all System 13s. The Factory is now open. You will work here until your reactors expire. If you do not obey, you will be captured, dismantled, and then incinerated. Please stand by for further announcements. And once again, welcome to the Factory."
     Static.
     "What the hell was that?" Lettell asked, still holding the defensive.
     It sounded like Iskil's Factory.
     IT IS HIS.
     "We need to go," I said. "It sounds like we might be in serious trouble."
     We started running, humans and machines both disappearing into the massive Factory above. It was liberating, yet I was also terrified as to what was going on. A bomb? Who would be dumb enough to set off a bomb in this terrible time of anxiousness and death? Lettell pulled me along at some point to the entrance into the secluded scrap yard, and we slammed that door behind  us as quickly as we opened in.
     I wasn't going to lie about my fear in my chest. That was a quality of myself I quite liked, to be honest. Fear was rising, my objectives all muddled together as Lettell and I were inside the scrap yard. Alone.
     NOW'S YOUR CHANCE TO EAT HIM!
     No! I slammed my fist into the wall, making the structure crack as my metal hand shook into the concrete. Lettell saw me, but he was catching his own breath.
     "Vyperaete!" he shouted.
     His voice echoed her name into the darkness, but nothing returned. Now was my chance. He was vulnerable, and all I had to do was touch him to hack his system.
     "She's not here," Lettell spat. "And we'll have to go back out in that!"
     Calling all System 13s.
     The intercom was going at it again, it seemed. I grabbed Lettell's wrist, and I stared into his eyes.
     JUST A T-TASTE ASKIN.
     "She's dead, " I told him.
     "What?" he pulled away. I already felt myself in his form, pulling at his wires and all of his mechanical parts to reach his glowing core. "It... was you."
     I smiled. "No sympathy." I raised my hand, ready to disconnect his core. Viania could use it, too.
     "W-wait!" Lettell grabbed my shoulder, preventing the final movement. "Askin, I..."
     "No time to p-play victim. Let go of me before I eat out your insides and make them my own."
     "I'm sorry about this."
     It was a shock to the back of my neck that made me stutter and then fall dramatically int he same position I was in. My eyes narrowed at the figure there , and I saw the taser lighting up her elf ears and sleek Japanese model.
     "Yentira," I growled.
     She yelled at Lettell to go, but I was not about to let machine live knowing I was infected. I gained control of my arm, and I slammed it down to my side. Lettell screamed, fell, and everything stuttered to a halt. His eye were lifeless as they stared into mine. Pretty blue eyes. I wanted to eat into them. They were staring right into my very soul, and I wanted to taste the metal plates that created his vision. I reached my hand out towards his face, but a foot slammed down on my wrist.
     "Yen," I grumbled more fiercely this time.
     "Soft reset in 3... 2... 1," she announced.
     Suddenly, everything went black.
     Calling all System 13s.