6
« on: November 29, 2009, 10:27:32 pm »
First part of a short story im writing... hope someone likes it.
---
"Tell me again, why are we in a desert?" A humming, monotone voice asked.
"Because." I answered "The last guy we talked to told us there was a village this way. Maybe someone knows Durzek."
"Yeah, I’m sure. It’s not like we haven’t been looking for this guy for years. Anyway, If a weird guy like you came up to me and asked if I knew an imaginary ‘Durzek’ I’d say anything to get him out of my face, too." The monotone voice rebutted.
I looked towards the owner of the ominous voice. It was my only companion, Wilson, an odd floating chrome skull with three eyes and a dangling spine full of gadgets and tools. Although he was technically a robot, his personality was transferred from his former self.
"Yeah, I’m the weird one." I said. "Anyway, it’s the best we’ve got and I know Durzek is out there, somewhere.."
"Well.." Wilson stopped "Hey, wait."
"What, do you see something?" I asked
Wilson’s third eye made a mechanical noise, like the zoom on a camera and the pupil opened and closed, focusing on a far away object.
"Yeah." Wilson answered "It’s a jeep, filled with people. They’re coming this way. Some of them have guns."
"Hm." I said, contemplating "How many?"
"Four. Jeep looks old too, but they definitely see us, one of them has binoculars."
We stood now, waiting for the jeep. I was gripping my sword firmly. I had been in enough fights to know what was going to happen next. I squinted into the horizon and sure enough I saw a spec speeding towards, with a trail of dust behind it. The noon sun was directly above us and there was nothing but dirt and cracked earth for miles. The air was still and it was as if the whole world had fell silent in anticipation.
A minute passed and the spec grew larger. I could hear the sound of an ancient gasoline motor breaking the silence. It came closer and closer until, finally, it skidded to a stand still 15 feet away from us.
"Hey!" A rough voice barked from the passenger riding shotgun "What are you robots doing out here?"
"We are looking for a village, we are just passing through." I said, calmly
"This aint no place for you. I suggest you turn around and go the way you came from." He said, showing his gun for effect.
"Im sorry." I said "I cannot turn around."
"Then I think we’ve got a problem." He said, lowering his Uzi towards my head and aiming for a shot "This is your last chance."
I paused, looking him in the eyes. He looked angry and seemed threatened by my boldness. I stood, defiant, until my ultra sensitive hearing caught a stray sound in the stillness. The software that controlled my body sensed danger and slowed down the world around me to a sudden crawl. I heard the noise more distinctly and it was unmistakeable. The man pulled the trigger on his gun and I heard the gentle click of a lever making contact with a bullet, then the explosion of the bullet ripping through the barrel of his gun.
With lightning fast reflexes I unsheathed my sword, jumped forward and slashed my blade through the air, slicing through his wrist and narrowly avoiding the speeding bullet. His hand and the Uzi fell to the ground with a thud. His eyes lit up with fear and he struggled to speak. He wanted to scream, but he barked an order before mending his bloodied stump.
"G..Go! Drive! TAKE HIM OUT!" he yelled
The jeep propelled forward and the two passengers in the back began to unload bullets in my direction. The world slowed around me, again and my software perfectly predicted the paths of each projectile. The bullets crawled passed me and I easily dodged every bullet, swiftly pursuing after the jeep. The gunmen, amazed at my agility, took a second to reload and began to dump more bullets at me. I evaded them again, speeding after the racing jeep. I threw my sword at the driver and it pierced through his chest. He screamed for a moment and slumped, steering the jeep into a wild fishtail.
The jeep turned to my direction and I jumped inside, landing between the two passengers in the back. My metal hands grabbed their throats before they could fire and I crushed their necks like play-dough. I grabbed my sword in time to see the man whose hand was missing jab his Uzi into my chest and fire. Bullets seared through my body until the clip was empty. The man flashed a wicked smile, before I took my sword from the limp driver and beheaded him. I jumped out of the jeep, falling to my knees in pain. The jeep continued rolling wildly far off into the distance.
Although I had only a few essential organs, I could feel the vital functions of my body screeching to a halt. My power was draining fast and my visual display showed a picture of a green man with a bright red chest, indicating the source of the damage. I looked at my injury and saw several small holes innocently peaking through my abdomen. Sparks arced inside of the holes and the world began to fade in and out. "System compromised. Shutting down in 5. 4. 3. 2. 1." Were the last words I saw flicker onto my visual display. I blacked out.
-
An hour later I was laying flat, on my back. I opened my eyes and saw Wilson hovering over me. His many arrangements of tools were working on my body, inserting wires and soldering here and there. My visual display showed a perfectly green man, indicated no damage to my body. I looked down at my chest and saw Wilson had replaced the many holes with nearly perfect replacements. He stopped his operation and hovered back a little.
"All done." He said "How do you feel?"
"Im alright" I said, standing up "Powers pretty low, but I’ll be okay."
"You know.." Wilson said "I wouldn’t have mind going back. That beach we went to wasn’t so bad."
I laughed and answered plainly "Come on. Let’s see what they’re protecting."
We trekked through he desert again, with little sign of life or civilization. Every half mile there would be the odd cactus or animal bones. Above us a vulture circled, probably waiting for us to die. We traveled on and on until the sun was halfway to setting.
In the distance I spotted a row of small houses, made of scraps. There were metallic figures moving to and fro and between us and the village there stood two robotic guards. We approached with caution.
"Halt!" One of the robots commanded, motioning us to stop. "What is your business here?"
"We mean you no harm. We are looking for someone." I answered
I examined the guards closer and noticed they were pretty ancient robots. They had to have been one of the first models ever made which meant, like Wilson, their thoughts and personality came from a once human being. It wasn’t until very recently that robots were capable of original thought without human integration.
"We will take you to our coordinator, you may ask him what you will." The robot eyed my sword and gestured toward it "You’ll have to give us your sword. The coordinator is frail, you will not need it."
I looked at Wilson and then towards the guard. "I’ll give you my sword, but the skull stays with me." I said and the guard nodded in agreement.
I unsheathed my sword and offered it to the guard. He thanked me and motioned me to follow.