Thinking quickly, Rennin bolts back up the corridor to Del’s room and enters. The lights flicker on automatically yet the android remains powered down. He grabs the grenade launcher from the weapons rack and steps back into the corridor, briefly wishing he had some sunglasses to pull off the complete Terminator look.
He launches three grenades up the corridor towards the armoured door. When they detonate, his obstruction is completely obliterated. He looks back into the room to see Del’s head is up, facing him. A rush of goosebumps cover Rennin’s body in a brief wave.
“Hey, big fella.”
Rennin runs up to the blasted door and looks in. There’s a rigged obstacle course but no one inside, no one living at least. There’s a significant hole in the floor and the gunfire is louder from below but still not very close.
He lugs the grenade launcher over to the hole, looking down to see the floor below at about a five-metre plunge. He drops down, crashing to the floor relying on his strengthened bones to hold their own against gravity. His bones do just fine but his muscles and tendons twang with sharp pain causing him to fall on his stomach. He struggles to his feet, limping slightly. A few steps away, he finds himself in another test chamber.
More blood.
Following the cloying trail, he is lead through a blown out side door. He goes up an identical corridor to the floor above, muttering and swearing enough to turn Satan’s face white when he realises he’s been led back to the same stairwell he started in.
Down we go.
He can’t hear the gunfire anymore but whoever is shooting must have chased whatever it is down there. It’s the only possible place left to look.
Rennin gets to Base Level 5, the lowest in the lab and also the largest. He runs through the white corridors, checking every room he comes across but finds no living people. Guards, scientists and test subjects are all dead, either shot, crushed or burned. The blood is still red so he takes that to mean he must be very close. His body shudders with goosebumps again and he looks behind to see that Del has followed him.
The great android crouches near him, completely still. Rennin asks him what he’s doing but Del makes no visible effort to respond. Rennin looks around his position but can’t decide on a direction. “Del, can you hear the firefight?”
Del doesn’t respond.
“Nod if you can hear me.”
Del nods.
“Okay, can you lead me there? Nod for yes, shake for no.”
Del nods.
“Alright good,” says Rennin.
Del doesn’t move.
Rennin waits for a few painstaking moments then leans closer to Del with a frustrated expression. “Any time, pal.”
Del remains still.
Rennin is getting agitated but remembers that machines need to be told—to the letter—what to do sometimes. For fucks sake. “Take me to the fight.”
Del gets up immediately and jogs up the left corridor.
The blind android hurries around several corners, down another flight of stairs, and to a level that has no visible indicators that it is even there. Not that Rennin’s surprised.
They enter a rather narrow corridor. The door at the far end is open, revealing a large round room. As they approach and their view widens before them, six pillars seem to circle the room, becoming the major focus.
Del runs in first with Rennin following, guns in hand. They wander into a maelstrom of fire from both sides of the room. Rennin takes cover, peeking out to see Caufmann and Drake crouched behind a pillar halfway across the room with the soldier laying down an intense amount of suppressive fire.
Behind the pillar closest to him is Mia Saker, desperately trying to stop the bleeding from a gaping hole in her leg. To the right he sees Isfeohrad, the Prototype, hiding behind a pillar blasting back. Rennin’s assessment of the room takes less than a second, but that is enough for Isfeohrad to take a pot shot at him. The bullet grazes his arm but he makes it to Mia’s pillar. “What the hell is going on?”
“Half the security squads were dead before we realised anything was wrong,” says Mia through gritted teeth. She is sweating profusely from the pain.
“Loading!” calls Drake and Caufmann opens fire with his handgun.
“What is this room?”
“How should I know? We followed it,” she says, nodding at Isfeohrad. The hands covering her wound are shaking. There’s a lot of blood.
“Stay still for a sec,” says Rennin taking his belt off and looking towards Del. He’s still standing in the doorway, facing everything and nothing. Rennin guesses Isfeohrad isn’t taking a shot at him until it has to. Del hasn’t done anything yet, so it would appear the prototype sees no sense in provoking an eight-foot android.
“Rennin! It’s coming at you!” yells Drake.
Rennin pictures in his mind which pillar is closest and judges where Isfeohrad would be if it is coming straight at him. He hugs the pillar, reaching around with his shooting arm and empties his clip, firing blind. He hears a surprised grunt as at least one of the bullets finds its mark. Drake starts shooting again and Rennin risks a quick glance out to see Isfeohrad back at the other pillar. “Yeah, you remember that gun, don’t you?”
“Farrow, help me up. I’m going to fill that fuck so full of lead it won’t be able to move,” says Mia, beginning to slur from shock.
Rennin wraps his belt around Mia’s injured leg above the thigh and tightens it very hard. She grunts in pain but accepts it. “You need treatment. Stay here and don’t shoot, you’re just as likely to hit us as it,” he says reloading Killjoy.
He risks another glance around the pillar. A green laser dot from Isfeohrad’s direction is aimed at Drake and Caufmann. He has just enough time to register that in the android military, green is for grenade. There’s a clinking sound a split second before an explosion behind their cover from the android’s shot. The grenade missed both of them but the concussive force in such a small area is enough to throw Drake out of cover rendering him unconscious. Caufmann was closer and took more of the blast, most of his coat is scorched and his skin is torn from shrapnel. Rennin is mystified at the amount of smoke Caufmann’s body seems to be emanating.
Isfeohrad is very quick. It’s over to Caufmann in an instant, slamming its knee into his head, driving him into the wall. Rennin is out of cover and running over to help, Killjoy looking for a target, a perfect shot to take it out for good. Rennin slows to take aim but Isfeohrad has a hand outstretched his direction. The gesture looks like it’s saying ‘come no further’ but a sudden blast of energy erupts, surging at Rennin. He didn’t know they could do that.
It hits him square in the chest throwing him off his feet and into the wall, hard. He hears more than two ribs snap on impact and falls limply to the ground badly winded. He manages to get to his hands and knees and coughs some blood onto the floor, “Del,” he half spits. The android faces towards him but doesn’t respond.
Prototype and Caufmann are locked at each other’s throats, each gritting their teeth. The progenitor takes a swing. Caufmann ducks and shoves Isfeohrad away with both hands. The mist from Caufmann’s wounds is filling the room making it hard to see. Caufmann’s eyes stand out like some kind of spectre in haze.
Isfeohrad looks Caufmann over regarding his steaming blood. “You’re not human, but you don’t show up on my scanners as android. What are you?”