She scanned the remaining arms for weakness. Finding one at the joint bearing the chainsaw, she fired twice into the rubber-covered hinge. Black fluid erupted from the point and the arm lost power. The chainsaw dropped onto the truck's roof, still running, and began digging down into the metal.
Dana cursed and charged forward, ducking under the pincer to roll up against the driver's side door. The pincer nipped at her clothes, but she was just out of reach lying beside the truck. A shower of sparks poured down from the chainsaw, burning pinholes in her already ravaged jacket.
The pincer pulled back and she tried to get up, but fell back to the ground when it attacked her again. The sharp pincers clacked at the air above, straining to reach her. She scanned the arm for a camera. There had to be some explanation for the arm knowing where to snap while the truck's body blocked the robot head's line of sight.
It was the robot moth clinging to the side of the truck, the lens of its eye staring at her. Its wings buzzed to life when she saw it. Her gun popped and pieces sprayed the air.
Immediately the pincer retracted and Dana stood to peek over the truck's hood. The robot was moving around slowly, uncertain. Dana yanked on the door handle. Jammed. Sparks waterfalled into the cab where the chainsaw had breached the roof, and was now sinking into the cab on a direct path into the back of Devin's skull.
When Alice stood up, the AI bound her feet and lashed her arms, fixing her in place, while other tendrils rose to surround her, each baring a different instrument. Some of the tools she recognized, optics, audio receivers, and more sinister devices, scalpels and bone-cutting saws.
All her life Alice had deconstructed computer programs; now one was disassembling her. In the distance Chien continued fending off the attacking tendrils, trying to fight his way back to her, but the AI easily pushed him farther away. She wondered if he understood the AI was simply toying with him like a lab rat.
A tentacle with an optical lens, resembling a camera loomed in to peer at her, lens spinning as it adjusted focus. A sonar dish also closed in, expectant. Another tendril reared up directly in front of her face. It hovered there for a moment, its tip not baring any tools, only a pod. Then the pod split, revealing a spinning saw. It whirred between her eyes menacingly for a long moment.
Alice screamed as it rushed forward.
The robot smashed the pincer through the truck's hood deep into the engine block. The impact jolted the chainsaw and it slipped further into the cab, hovering mere inches from the back of Devin's neck.
Dana slapped in another clip and picked off calculated shots at anything resembling a weak spot in the chain saw. An exposed wire here, a joint there, a fluid tank, praying she did not force the saw down further into the cab and into Devin's head.
One round blasted off a chunk of the chainsaw's shielding and she took the opening. Squeezing the trigger rapidly, she unloaded the clip into the chainsaw's casing. Fire erupted across the truck's roof, but, mercifully, the blade jammed with a screech.
The robot was too preoccupied with the pickup truck to notice her. The chassis rolled back and the robot paused to chew off one of its arms imbedded in the mangled vehicle's front end with its pincers. The other arms dangled in their sockets and the legs jerked with broken servos and gears missing teeth.
Dana waited until the truck rolled a safe distance from the robot before approaching the driver's side door. A trickle of blood curled down Devin's face from where his forehead split the windshield. She was weighing the risks of pulling him out of the truck and causing further injury, when he let out a slow, painful moan and lifted his head, half-shut eyes unfocused and disoriented.
Dana put a steadying hand on his shoulder and noticed a shallow, bloody gash in the back of his neck from the chainsaw, "Don't move Devin. You need to stay immobile."
"No," Devin gasped and sat up, only to fall back into the driver's seat and roll his eyes over to Dana, his pupils were dilated. "I'm fine. We have to get back to Alice and..." he swallowed and trailed off for a moment, "...Chien. They're in danger."
"Just sit tight," Dana explained gently, "Wait for medical assistance."
"No!" Devin shouted and winced at the sound of his own voice, he slapped her hand away clumsily and started climbing out the window.
"Dammit Devin!" Dana scorned. "At least let me help you."
She reached in and scooped her arms under Devin's to pull him out of the truck.
Tendrils circled Chien like hungry sharks. He stopped firing the sector editor some time ago. He was too tired to fight anymore, and it was hopeless to continue this game.
Despite the fear, he marveled at how real it all felt. The AI's Virtual World generated sensations he thought impossible in VR. The Sensory Deprivation Chamber only projected this world, but it felt like he was actually standing here, elegant proof of the AI's understanding of the human brain.
Inexplicably, Chien's thoughts became jumbled and confused. The dementia passed as quickly as it manifested, but frightened him to the bone. It was like his mind was not his. Alien thoughts filled his head, making associations between concepts his rational mind was incapable of. Senses alternated. He smelled purple, tasted itchiness, and heard bitter all at once. The AI was fragmenting his mind.
Another wave of mental chaos hit him, lasting longer than the previous. He could not allow his mind's dissemination. What the AI might learn from pulling apart his thought processes would make it even more adept at defeating the human race. Chien understood his responsibility, prevent the enemy from decrypting his human brain.
The AI was convincing his mind he was trapped on the computer, now he had to convince it of something else. Chien closed his eyes and offered up a quick prayer for Alice's safety. He put the sector editor to his head and deleted himself with a pull of its trigger.
Alice worked to steady her breathing as the blade spun centimeters from her face. Her pulse raced and her body trembled, but it moved no closer. The sonar dish and optical devices danced around her, competing for position. The tendrils binding her arms applied pressure at points in her wrists, gauging her reactions.
The blade stopped whirling and the tendril snapped shut. Another tendril emerged to hover at her right. Two silver prongs extended from the tip and Alice struggled to get away as electric bolts danced between them.
It touched her upper arm and she shrieked. The limb fizzled into digitized static. Severed nerves howled protest through the rest of her torso.
It was over. The tendril retracted. She gulped air, trying to retain consciousness. If she passed out, she may never wake up.
"I feel dizzy," Devin mumbled as Dana dragged him to his feet.
"You have a concussion," Dana said, "You should have put on the damn seatbelt."
Screeching metal drew Dana's attention to the robot. It was chewing through the trapped leg with its remaining pincer. The last bit of metal severed and the robot fell backwards onto the street, where it struggled to rise again on its remaining leg. Dana watched for a few moments, making sure it was no longer a threat before carrying Devin back to the building.
The stairwell was completely trashed. Climbing it with Devin in his current state was impossible. She had to find another way.
As she stumbled into the building, the security guard previously detaining Devin caught her arm coming out, "The building's structural integrity's been compromised."
"We'll take our chances," Dana replied, looking up at the human brick wall. "There are people trapped inside, we have to get them out. You're going to help."
The guard paused briefly before taking Devin up into his arms. He followed Dana through the building to the stairwell on the building's far side. Dana surveyed the trail of destruction along the way, which ended abruptly in a large hole in the ceiling. Dana looked up to the next floor through the crumbled plaster, frayed wires, and torn steel girders. This was where the robot climbed up a level.