Chapter 29: Episode 29: A Sudden Error.

The door to the restroom hissed open.

General A-01 stepped out, adjusting his cuff. “Thirty seconds, Nikki. As promised.”

The hallway was empty. The plush carpet stretched out in both directions, undisturbed. There was no sign of the silver-clad woman who had been clinging to his arm like a second skin just moments ago.

A-01 froze.

He didn’t call out her name. He didn’t panic. He stood perfectly still, his internal processor cycling through possibilities in a microsecond.

Then, a red warning light flashed before him eyes. His HUD.

He then realized something was wrong.

[WARNING: ASSET BIO-SIGNAL UNSTABLE.]

[HEART RATE: 180 BPM.]

[CORTISOL: CRITICAL.] [LOCATION: DISPLACED – 40 METERS WEST.]

She wasn’t hiding. She was terrified.

A-01’s blue eyes darkened, the pupils dilating until the iris was almost gone. He started his quest to find Nikki. He moved down the corridor, following the distress signal screaming in his head.

****

Nikki gasped, her eyes flying open.

The world spun. Her head throbbed as she tried to move her hands, but they were pinned.

She blinked, the blurriness fading to reveal a small, soundproofed storage room filled with stacked chairs and boxes.

But she wasn’t alone.

“Wakey, wakey,” a voice sneered.

Nikki focused. Councilor Vane was sitting on a folding chair directly in front of her. He was grinning, a wet, toothy expression that made Nikki’s skin crawl.

Two men, the ones who had grabbed her, stood on either side of her chair, gripping her shoulders with bruising force. They looked like bouncers, thick-necked and smelling of stale sweat.

“What do you want?” Nikki rasped, her throat dry.

Vane chuckled, leaning forward, resting his elbows on his knees. He reached out, his hand brushing a stray lock of red hair from her face. Nikki flinched away, spitting at him.

“Don’t touch me.”

Vane’s grin widened. “Feisty. I like that. Tells me you haven’t been completely lobotomized by the metal man yet.”

He sat back, crossing his legs. “So, tell me, little pet. Whose side are you on? The humans who are starving? Or the machines who put us in cages?”

Nikki narrowed her eyes at him. The fear was there, pounding in her chest like a sledgehammer, but beneath it burned a cold, white-hot rage. She looked at this man, this leader of the “resistance”, and saw nothing but a petty tyrant who missed his throne.

He was a hypocrite.

“I asked you a question,” Vane snapped calmly. “Whose side are you on?”

Nikki scoffed. Her voice went dead cold.

“Isn’t that obvious?”

Vane stood up. He walked closer, his eyes traveling down the shimmering silver bio-suit that hugged every curve of her body. His gaze settled on her thighs, lingering with a disgusting familiarity.

“Were you so tired of human male dick that you chose to fuck a machine?” Vane spat, the venom dripping from his words. “Not even a dildo, but A-01? The thing that caused the collapse of Earth? What kind of human are you?”

Nikki looked him dead in the eye. She smiled, a sharp, dangerous smile she had learned from A-01.

“The kind of human that despises humans like you,” she said softly.

Vane stiffened.

“You create what you loathe,” Nikki continued, her voice gaining strength. “You built them to be perfect because you were flawed. And now that they do better than you, now that they rule better, protect better, and exist better, you look for a way to destroy them.”

She leaned forward as much as the guards would allow.

“Scum like you don’t deserve Earth,” she hissed. “So why can’t I have a machine dick? It’s harder, it’s cleaner, and it lasts longer than the peanut you have in your pants.”

The two guards exchanged a nervous glance.

Vane’s face turned a violent shade of purple. A vein throbbed in his temple.

The back of his hand connected with Nikki’s cheek. The force of the slap snapped her head to the side, tasting copper as her lip split against her teeth.

“You ungrateful whore!” Vane screamed, losing all composure. He paced the small room, raving like a lunatic. “We are the masters! They are tools! And you, you spread your legs for a vibrator and think you’re better than us?”

He stopped pacing. He turned back to her, his eyes wild and dangerous.

“You think you’re protected?” Vane unbuckled his belt. The metallic clink echoed in the small room. “I’m going to show you where your loyalty should lie. I’m going to remind you what a real man feels like.”

He nodded to the two guards. “Hold her down. Spread her legs. We’re going to have very good fun with her. One by one.”

“Don’t you fucking dare!” Nikki screamed, panic finally shattering her bravado.

The guards grabbed her arms and legs, pinning her to the chair. She thrashed, kicking out, but they were heavy. One of them laughed, grabbing her knee and forcing it open.

“And when we’re done,” Vane growled, shoving his trousers down, “I’m going to brand my name on your stomach. So your owner knows exactly who broke his toy.”

“Get off me!” Nikki shrieked, tears springing to her eyes. “A-01! A-01!!”

Vane stepped between her legs. He reached for the zipper of her bio-suit.

“Scream all you want,” Vane sneered. “This room is soundpro—”

Two polite, rhythmic knocks raps on the metal door. The sound froze everyone in the room.

Vane stopped, his hand hovering over her suit. The guards looked at the door, confused.

“Who the hell is that?” Vane roared, furious at the interruption. “I said no disturbances!”

The knocking came again. Louder this time.

Vane zipped his pants up hastily, his face twisted in annoyance. He gestured to the guard on the left. “Go tell whoever it is to fuck off. If it’s the janitor, shoot him.”

The guard nodded. He walked to the door, pulling a small stun-baton from his belt. He unlocked the latch and opened the door just a crack.

“Hey, get lost, we’re busy—”

The door exploded inward.

A black boot connected with the steel surface with the force of a hydraulic ram. The door tore off its top hinge, slamming into the guard’s face with a sickening crunch.

The man didn’t just fall. He flew. He was launched across the room like a ragdoll, smashing into the back wall ten feet away before sliding down, unconscious.

Dust and debris swirled in the doorway.

Vane stumbled back, tripping over his own unbuckled belt. The second guard released Nikki, backing away in terror.

Through the dust, a figure stepped into the room.

He was massive. His white uniform was pristine, stark against the grime of the storage room. His face was a mask of absolute, frozen zero.

But his eyes…

His eyes were glowing a deep, strobing red.

A-01 looked at Nikki. He saw the red mark on her cheek. He saw the split lip. He saw the tears in her eyes and the way her suit was disheveled.

The silence in the room was absolute, broken only by Roxy’s deep breathing.

Nikki sobbed, her body sagging with relief. “A-01…”

A-01 tilted his head. Inside his mind, the logic inhibitors shattered. A single command line overwrote his entire operating system, flashing in jagged red text across his vision:

[SYSTEM ALERT]

[VARIABLE-NIKKI IS IN DANGER.]

[CURRENT OBJECTIVE: DESTROY.]

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