Jolen swore. “Indigo Reign? I thought that was a myth!”
“We have to get treated! Let’s get moving!” said Ryan.
Veidan shook his head, “We’re not going anywhere, we can’t risk contaminating anyone else.”
“Didn’t Nexarien Decora have a cure for it?” asked Jolen.
That’s the android Rennin forgot. He mentally slapped his forehead for forgetting. Nexarien Decora, the CryoZaiyon Medtech unit, an advanced field surgeon specialising in android repairs in the battlefield. They didn’t initially build android medics, but humans with any understanding of android systems were too valuable to risk losing in battle.
Veidan shook his head again. “He was working on one, we just said there was a cure to ease people’s minds while the Geneva Convention discussed banning the Indigo Reign weapon.”
“It’s a bioweapon! Should be open and shut,” said Ryan.
“There’s been some discussion over whether bioweapons designed to affect androids can really be considered inhumane,” Veidan said, twitching involuntarily. He took a steadying breath. “I think I’d best go over here a little, this will be quite unpleasant to witness but I ask you not to shoot me, no matter what happens,” he said, taking a few steps away before his left leg shuddered slightly and he fell to his knees.
“Fuck this and fuck you, Veidan, you can do whatever you want but I’m out of—” a bullet from Veidan’s gun hit the former survivor right between the eyes.
“Indigo Reign does not go further than here,” the android said in the same calm and gentle voice, but his free hand was trembling constantly now. “Do I need to kill all of you?” he asked to the stunned remainder of the group, a total of five people. Even Rennin is shocked.
“Easy, lieutenant,” said Jolen. “If it’s contagious, then we can’t risk anyone else getting it, right guys?” he looked around and the others were all nodding, more out of fear of Veidan than agreement.
Veidan seemed to be placated and dropped his sidearm on the ground as his hands began to shake more violently. “You-y-y-you should probably seal your audio,” his eyes screwed shut and his sudden screech of agony echoed all around them, making them jump.
No one had ever heard an android scream. Veidan looked up with something very human in his eyes. His neon-green irises were shot through with spokes of purple. “Decora believes it takes about an hour to affect full-orga. I wouldn’t waste it,” he clenched his fists and with another grunt of pain he hoisted himself upright and took a shaky step away from the group. After only one more stride he simply fell over taking gasping breaths. The muscles on his bare arms were tensed so tightly they were both shaking uncontrollably. Then he started screaming.
Rennin had never heard pain through an android larynx and was disgustedly aware that the sound doesn’t waver or break as it would through a human voice box. He found himself almost stumbling away from Veidan by reflex.
He sealed his audio, the unbridled cries ceased immediately leaving him isolated with only his own ragged breaths inside his helmet. He was contaminated too, they all were, and he was dreading what was coming. If it was anything like Veidan, it would be horrendous. The other four were obviously talking amongst themselves, and by their body language they were starting to panic. Veidan was starting to thrash.
Rennin couldn’t suppress a whimper while he turned away from the lieutenant to face the rest of the woods. They looked so deceptively serene. He forces himself to focus on the woodland rather than what’s going on behind him. Something slapped his shoulder and he turned around, ready to batter whatever it was to pieces only to find it was Jolen. He was talking and tapping his helmet. Rennin switched the helmet-to-helmet channel on, making sure to leave external audio off.
“What?” he half spat at Jolen.
“What do you mean ‘what’? What the fuck are we going to do?”
Rennin looks to the giant Wolf-droid Urildur. It is sitting silently near to Veidan, watching him. Rennin felt like his stomach was missing completely. He looked to Jolen then back to Urildur. “I think that giant metal dog actually likes him.”
“Rennin, are you alright?”
Rennin’s eyes show a kind of madness. “Do you think machines like… feel?”
“What? No. They’re metal. Fake.”
“Is your external audio on?”
“No.”
“Then listen to him scream for a sec. If that happens to a machine what’s going to happen to us?” Rennin’s breath was coming in ragged gasps.
“We’re going to leave him here and get help, before we get… you know,” Jolen said glancing at Veidan.
Rennin laughed, “You think so, huh? Veidan once took a few prisoners with Urildur sitting just as he is now and he only told them they weren’t to move. They did, and Urildur killed them. Veidan didn’t order him to, but that tin pup did anyway. Same applies here.”
“Bullshit, Farrow,” said Ryan walking over to them. “I’m going to get help, you can rot here, for all I care, and I hope you do. You coming, Jolen?”
Jolen kept his gaze fixed on Rennin’s deadly serious expression. “No, I’m staying.”
Ryan scoffed. “Suit yourself,” and with that, he and the two others started making their way into the woods. Soon they were out of sight, yet Urildur remained still.
“I guess it doesn’t kill its own, after all,” said Jolen.
“Wait,” is all Rennin said. For a few moments longer there was nothing. Then Urildur suddenly raised one of its gigantic paws and fired three shots from guns concealed within its knuckles. Rennin couldn’t hear the shots but he felt the vibrations in his chest like a drum beat.
Jolen was speechless for a short while before an expletive left his lips. “Glad I stayed.”
Rennin felt a slight tingling in his spine and looked at Veidan seeing a tendon in his arm snap and wriggle up to bulge in his shoulder. “I’m not sure I am.”
What began as a tingle escalated quickly. Within an hour Rennin never knew such pain. It felt as if every fibre of his being was being stripped away. At first it was a tingle, then heat, then pins and needles that really felt like real pins and needles until finally he was awash with pain.
It was so intense and overwhelming he’d chewed part of his own tongue off and thrown up all over himself while he was rolling on the ground. He’d gone blind but whether from his body’s shock or whether he had his eyes shut tight, he didn’t know but he was trapped in a whiteout. He could sometimes hear Jolen shrieking and begging someone, or something, to make it all stop.
Jolen was struck down first and during his last moments of lucidity he told Rennin to shoot him, but he couldn’t do it. He could dump a man out the airlock, or four for that matter, but not a friend.
At the time, Rennin was sure they would be all right. Androids had transponders, after all, someone knew they were there. All those thoughts were lost now. He couldn’t think at all.
Every now and then he’d feel something so strongly he’d hear himself scream. He knew he’d broken something because his muscles just kept tightening like living rigour mortis. Eventually he felt several things snap. In the end, all he could do was sob, though it may just have been convulsions. The white faded to black and then there was nothing.
At some indeterminate time later, Rennin managed to peel one of his crusted eyes open to see white. That same terrible white. Something inside him died. He started sobbing almost instantly, and heard some kind of machine beeping that started slow but hastened quickly. Someone said something panicked. Something didn’t work. He felt needles prod him. He made some animalistic squeal and tried to flinch away, but couldn’t move. The pins and needles began to burn up his spine again and his body awoke, aflame with pain. It felt like thousands of hot needles were being rammed into him, each one worse than the one before until they felt like impaling spikes. He couldn’t take it anymore, not another moment. He managed to cry out for whoever was there to end his pain.