Annihilators

Call of Death

Lance was relaxing in his hotel room by himself. Lance's nerves weren't on edge at the moment.
Out of everyone in the group, he and Ronald were the ones who were the most apprehensive.
They both knew that at any moment they and their friends could be attacked by an army of robots.
Even with them being in a populated area, the chances of them not being attacked again were slim.
If their pursuers were able to determine their location, then they would be able to find them very soon.
What made it worst was that these machines weren't human soldiers, they were better.
They had no sense of empathy, or malice to blind their judgment. They were only codes, nothing more nothing less.
They'd follow their commanders orders to the tooth, and let themselves be destroyed if it meant carrying out their duties.
That's what scared Lance the most; he knew that power could win a battle, but strategy is the strongest power.
Conviction overall was what won wars; that's what they were at right now- war.
The best way to beat an enemy was being stronger than them in any way possible.
Lance understood that they could put up a strong fight, but none of them were trained soldiers or warriors.
All of them together, even with Drakon; they couldn't possibly take on an endless horde of robots. Not at the level of strength their at now. At the very moment they were still drained from their last battle.
Power alone wouldn't do it, they needed something greater.
Lance knew that they'd have to be willing to put everything on the line if they'd want to be free.
Even if the robots followed orders with no question; no machine could outmatch a human's fortitude.
Lance then came to the conclusion that he would risk anything for everyone to stay safe.
Even if he has to put his life on the line, whether that be dying or spending the rest of his life captured, he'd do it to save the people around him.
At that moment, he became determined to become stronger and prepare for the fight that's sure to come.
A knock came on his door, that startled him a bit.
He wasn't expecting anyone to come, and Ronald already had a key to the room.
Lance stood up out of his bed in a very cautious manner, not knowing what to expect.
He didn't think the robots could make it into the hotel unnoticed, or even be bold (or dumb) enough to knock on his door.
But after all he'd seen, he didn't put anything past him anymore.
He inched closer to the door, being very cautious. After a few more steps, he carefully leaned against the door to look through the peephole.
It was Emerald.
He opened the door for once he let his guard down.

"Hi, Lance", she greeted, with a wide smile.

Her smile made Lance very flustered sometimes, but he managed to greet her back, "Hey Emerald, what are you doing up here?".

She put her hands behind her back and said, "Nothing much, I just thought it'd be cool if maybe you and I could hang out".

Lance's heart-beat started to pick up in his chest. He'd admired her the entire time that they'd be around each other since the escape, and now she wanted to spend time with him.
He was so stunned at her words, he didn't realize that he didn't give her a proper response.

"I mean... we don't have to", Emerald said, in an embarrassed tone.

He brought himself back to reality saying, "My bad, I was lost in thought. You can come in if you want to".

Lance stepped to the side, and let Emerald walk into his room. He let her sit on his bed, and he laid on it right next to her. He turned on the television so that they could watch cartoons while they hung out.
Lance wasn't nervous about having her around him, but he was a bit stiff.
There were two things that he wanted to do since that morning; he wanted to be free from his pursuers for good, and he wanted to spend time with Emerald.
Now that he was around her, he didn't know what to do. He hadn't planned for the moment they did get to spend time together. He thought he could make the first advance, and by then he'd probably have something planned out.
Now that she came towards him first, he hadn't a clue on what to say. He didn't want to talk about anything too personal, but he also wanted to get to know her better.
Lance didn't want them to just sit in the room with only the television playing.
He desperately wanted to think of something.

"Lance?", Emerald called out to him.

"What's up", he said back to her.

"What was it like for you.... being trapped in that place?", she asked him.

Lance had been trying not to think about his experience there, but with Emerald asking him about it, all he could do was just spill his emotions.

"It was the most perplexing moment of my life. At every minute I asked myself 'Why am I here?', 'What did I do to deserve this?'. I felt as if every horrendous thing I'd done in my life was coming back to haunt me. Every lie I told, every fight I started, every curse I yelled out; all coming back to bite me back", Lance confessed. "For the first time, I was scared and alone".

"You're not alone anymore", Emerald said while touching his hand.

She gave him a look that made him feel at ease. He didn't know if it was a power she had developed, or if it was just her.
Whatever it was, Lance liked it. More than that he needed it at the moment.
They sat in his bed talking for hours on end; not even focusing on the television playing in the background.
Soon, Emerald was lying in the bed next to Lance. They were both on their sides looking into each other's eyes as the other person spoke.
They spoke about the experiments, their individual dreams, their interests, and about who they were before they were captured.

"What about your parents?", Emerald asked Lance.

That question threw Lance for a loop; it was seldom he ever mentioned his parents. He wasn't always comfortable with discussing his parental situation. But he didn't want to ruin the moment he was sharing with Emerald, and he didn't want her to feel shit out.

"I never knew my real parents actually, Ronald's mother adopted me when I was a baby. She was the only mother I knew; she was good to me. But she died recently.... that's been really hard", Lance felt a wave a pressure release from his chest.

That was the first time in so long that he discussed his mother's death.

"She raised a beautiful young man", she said, as she touched his face. "I'm glad you shaved by the way".

She smiled at him and he smiled back saying, "Thank-you, and I may let it grow out again, you never know".

The two shared a short laugh with one another, and after the laugh came silence.
They just looked at each other, just being drawn in by their eyes.
The stare then turned into a kiss, as they both laid in the bed.
All of the tension and stress Lance had been feeling for the past few months had washed away. All of his anger and cautiousness had disappeared as-well.
He didn't care for anything else, except for letting his moment with Emerald last.
She stroked the side of his face as they kissed, and she pulled herself closer to him.
They both pulled away, and the wrapped themselves in each other's arms.
They had been through so much; it felt nice to be at ease for once.
Then there was a knock on the door.

"Aw man!", Lance exclaimed. "Give me one second".

Emerald made a pouty face at him as he got up to go answer the door.
He quickly got up and opened the door. On the other side was a hotel worker.

"Yes, Mr. Knight, there's a person on the phone who wishes to speak with you", the worker stated.

The worker handed him the phone, and Lance put it to his ear.
Lance didn't care about who it was at the moment, he just wanted to lie down next to Emerald again.
But once he heard the voice on the phone, every horrific feeling that he had felt before came rushing back into his system.

"Meet me at the Chief Technology Center in Silicon Valley, we have business to discuss", the voice on the other line said.