Boben46: Hey, remember that geography teacher I talked about?

MarkOnFire: The one that did shots for each correct answer?

Boben46: Yeah! I was in his lecture today and about half-way through this playboy walks in, buds dangling from his ears blaring music!

MarkOnFire: And?

Boben46: Well he was asked to turn it down. Which he did, for a few minutes then cranked the volume back up. The prof got maad.

MarkOnFire: So what, he kicked him out? Shouted at him?

Boben46: Nah, he asked him to bend over in front of the class.

MarkOnFire: Excuse me?

Boben46: Yea, he asked the dude to come up front, get on a table and bend over on it.

MarkOnFire: And the guy did it without asking anything?

Boben46: Oh no, he walked up all fine until he was told to get on the table. At that point you’d think he shat himself with how unsteady he was.

MarkOnFire: What happened after?

Boben46: I shit you not, the prof walked over to his drawer and pulled out a fucking blowtorch!

MarkOnFire: Bullshit.

Boben46: Dude chill, we’re not done. He actually turned on the blowtorch and walked over to the guy.

MarkOnFire: Dude what?

Boben46: Oh yea, he went up and borderline shoved the blue flame in his ass.

MarkOnFire: No way! Even if your bullshitting me, I’m dying xD

Boben46: You should’ve seen the shock on his face. He just jumped off the table and started spanking himself.

MarkOnFire: I don’t think the word is meant to be used like that.

Boben46: While the guy was freaking out, the prof. took out his water bottle and DUMPED it on the guy. I almost felt bad for him, the sudden cold froze him right on the spot.

MarkOnFire: You sure you weren’t asleep?

Boben46: No! He even justified it as teaching us a valuable lesson of when particles are exposed to heat (energy) they start moving around - shown by the guy jumping. While taking that heat away gets them to stop moving.

MarkOnFire: How is he not fired yet?

Boben46: Cause everyone loves him. #Profoftheyear

A conversation log between MarkOnFire and Boben46.

**********

‘I gave you that name? Wait, those messages from before, you wrote them, didn't you?’

[Correct.]

‘Then that means… that I created it you? But when did I do that? I’ve lived for only a few days and I remember them all.’

[There isn't enough time. In thirty minutes and forty seconds the backup power will run out.]

[Hey Mark, it's still you, right?]

“Yeah, it's me.” I responded to Gash without giving him much thought.

[How do we know that? You could be the thing pretending to be Mark.]

‘This isn't the time for this.’

[Agreed.]

“Gash, please.”

‘So if there isn't enough time for explanations, then what is there?’

[First, achieve freedom. Second, get rid of the bandits and the monster.]

‘And how do we do that?’

[First, boot up the central computer by connecting to it the same way as you did here.]

After the last message from it...no, Jor, my view warped back to normal. The console, along with the screens, was gone. The same metallic server greeted my vision.

I withdrew my finger and stared at the others. Nicks was seated on a chair with missing armrests while Gash was standing an inch from me - staring me straight in the eyes.

“Gash, it's okay. I’ll explain later as we don’t have much time, but for now we need to get that computer running.” I sent the message and waited for his response. The seconds crawled by, [Sure thing, but man am I dying to find out what happened!]

With a pat on the back he walked off.

‘At least he’s on board with the idea.’

[Highly optimistic and easily trusting. Good mental aide but not reliable.]

A monotone voice played out in my head following my thought.

‘Are you inside me?!’

[A part of me.]

‘What about the server?’

[That is where the majority of ‘me’ is, but the core is inside you.]

‘Wai-’

[Focus on the task. You can ask questions later.]

‘What the heck is that supposed to mean!?’ Silence. Jor had ignored my last question, ‘Ah, fuck it.’

Compared to the rest of the building, this room was well maintained with minimal debris that decorated the ground. Almost absent of dust and all the objects seemed to be in working condition. I had little trouble spotting the little hole that I’m supposed to connect to.

[Unknown Agent Dete-]

The message blinked in and out of existence, giving me little time to read it.

[You can disconnect from the computer.]

Again, I followed his instructions, tooks a few steps back to join with others and waited. The three screens standing on the table side-by-side flickered to life, the display was grainy but enough to make out the video.

[Hey Mark, isn’t that your pet? You two had such fun times together!]

I focused on the video and let the cheeky remark slide.. The monster was shuffling along, borderline crawling with its two front paws dragging the rest of its body. It was after a single robot that could run away from it at any point but chose to stay within a few meters to keep its attention.

[The audio is functional, should I connect it to you?]

‘Can you make it so Gash and Nicks can hear it as well?’

Instead of playing inside my head, the noise came from the behind the monitors. Nothing was behind them but a gray wall. Still, there was no point thinking too much about it.

“You know Lar, if it wasn’t for you and your stupid decisions, we would never be in this position. All we had to do was scrape those three novices and be on our way. Red.”

Both Gash’s and Nicks’ heads whipped around, I motioned at the screens and they calmed down.

‘The group seems to be okay, the monster minutes from bleeding out.’

It was not clear who spoke, but one of the robots reached into their backpack and took out something. The view was too distorted to make it out.

“But I am thankful you volunteered yourself as a sacrifice to keep the rest of us safe. Red.”

“What bullshit are you spouting now? Lar.”

In two swift motions, the robot that reached into his backpack shot the one that was being chased in the legs. He watched his target collapse and threw him a vest.

“RED YOU FUCKER!”

‘Why would he do that!’

[Isn’t Red and Lar those two that were fighting amongst themselves earlier?]

[I believe so.]

“Now, now, why don’t you just wear the vest and take one for the team? You can’t get away from it. Red.”

Without his legs, the robot was forced to abandon his gun and start crawling just like the monster, but he wasn’t fast enough.

‘Jor, is there anything you can do?’

[The weapon system is partially online, there are several turrets installed in that room that are functional.]

“Ha ha ha” There was a short pause, “hah hah hah. I wouldn’t move anymore, or the two of them will have their chests blown open.”

Red had pointed guns at two of the remaining robots, threatening them should they do anything.

‘Then use it to kill the monster and blow away Red’s arms!’

[Hey, this is perfect, the bad guys had an undercover bad guy that will mess them up!]

[Agreed, a perfect outcome.]

“Not it’s not! We still have collars around our necks! If Red takes it over he will just scrap us. But if we help the leader, he will help us back out of debt.” I shouted my thoughts at the others and they were silenced for a moment. ‘Or so he should.’

[But he doesn’t know where we are.]

“He does know where we went, and I am running low on energy, which will turn me into dead weight.”

[I disagree, letting them kill themselves yields a 68% higher chance of incapacitating them successfully.]

‘You have turrets under your control! Just use those during negotiations. Do as I say, I made you!’

[Even with loss of memory, personality and habits remain. Interesting.]

‘Jor!’

I gasped as lightning danced through my body, it was no longer under my control and I collapsed.

[Mark you ok!]

I couldn’t respond, answer or even think. The blinding pain seared through me-

Then stopped. I tried to move but my body was not responding. And yet it moved. I rose up, but not from my influence.

[Do not order me around human. There won’t be another warning.]

My control returned and I faltered for a second.

‘Holy shit, you can control my body?!’

[And more.]

‘Fuck you Jor! There’s no time! You- we need to help them!’

[Why? They have only been a source of danger.]

‘Because it poses us no risk and we can extract information from them afterwards.’

[Will you insist on helping knowing that there is only a 32% chance of successfully neutralizing them ?]

‘Yes.’

[Mark...Mark!]

“I’m okay, I-we had an argument, but it’s alright now.”

Gash came over and placed his hand on my shoulder, [Dude, you are making no sense right now, but I trust you. Just explain this and the ‘we’ thing later OK?]

“I promise.”

Back on the screen, the monster was moments from collapsing right on top of Lar.

“If you don’t do it, one of these fellas won’t be around to see your end.” Red stated as victory was in his grasp.

“Red, you won’t get away with this.”

“Go on.” Red motioned with his arm.

Lar had picked up the vest and placed it between him and the monster.

‘Hurry up Jor!’

As my thought came out, three bursts of flashes came from the screen along with couple of snappings from bullets breaking the sound-barrier. The monster shook as blood splattered behind it, collapsing long after it became a pincushion. Red’s left arm was obliterated by one of the three projectiles . Only his right one was left intact, but the guns were knocked out of his grasp.

[Woah. That was amazing!]

[Impressive.]

‘Good job Jor.’ I gave a thanks to Jor partially to calm him from before, but also for pulling it off perfectly.

“LAR! WHAT THE FUCK DID YOU DO!?”

I could only assume that was Red shouting.

“I already said you would not get away.”

He still could not stand, but forced his broken feet in a cross legged position with his hands.

[Would you like to transmit a message?]

‘How?’

[Do not worry about the details.]

‘Give them a message...what do I even say?’ I took a moment to get my thoughts straight, I needed to disarm them.

‘Fine, tell them this: Lay down all your weapons and knock it away, for your own safety.’

“You shall lay down your arms or be obliterated on the spot like the insignificant lifeforms you are.”

My voice played out over the speakers, but the contents were different.

‘What the heck was that?! That’s not at all what I said Jor!’

[It is best to instill absolute dominance.]

[Woah, that was Mark’s voice! How’d you do that?]

“I had Jor help me out, he did most of the work.”

[Who’s Jor?]

“The one who made me sound like an arrogant ass, I’ll tell you later, we’re on a tight time-limit right now.” The three of us returned to watching the screen.

[Makes sense, for a second I thought you said that.]

“What do we do? Sounds like these guys aren’t going to take shit from us. Rane.”

“If I could, I’d kill this traitorous asshole, but for now, follow the instructions. Get rid of your weapons. You saw the caliber of those turrets, not something we want to deal with. Nor test their patience.”

‘Now how do I proceed?’

**********

‘I can’t believe that bastard would go so far.’ I lashed out at the ground around me. Frustrated, I glared at Red.

‘If it wasn’t for whoever saved us, I would’ve been dead, and a few others would be too. Scrapped for resources. No doubt the team would fall apart in moments once I’m gone.’

‘But who could’ve done that? No way it was those runts - they were awake for less than a week. To gain enough knowledge and skills to hijack the core systems of this building….’

[Orders, Lar? Rane.]

[We wait. Look at those turrets, they got the punch, but they’re old, if they fire for a prolonged duration something will break. Even then we’d be peppered with holes long before we damage them. Lar.]

I scrutinized the turrets further. They extended from the ceiling around us. Four of them in total. It was hard to tell, but there seemed to be dents and rough patches on their surfaces.

“Two of us will approach shortly and you are to treat them with the utmost respect . Make a sudden move and you won’t be awake to regret the foolish actions afterwards.”

A torrent of threats were hurled our way. ‘Seems they held a grudge, and if they’re truly controlling those turrets, it’s better if we back down for now.’

[Can they even hear us? Rane.]

[Who knows... Lar.]

[Fuck the lot of youl.] Red reminded them that he’s still there.

A single shot came to life and tore Red’s pinky off his hand.

‘That’s what you get you damn scrap-bucket. Be a bitch some more now will ya?

[Rane, I want you to do exactly as they say. No tricks, alright? Lar.] That pinky was enough proof not to fuck around.

[Sure thing. Rane.]

**********

Having sorted out the issue with the monster and the slavers internal strife, I was seated in a rickety chair waiting for a response. Gash and Nicks were digesting the little bit of information regarding Jor’s origin and my own understanding.

[So you’re saying Jor was made by you, and he’s alive but lives inside computers?]

“From what I understand.”

[Confusing.]

“That’s fine, our next step is to get rid of these collars.” I pointed at the death rings we’ve been wearing around our necks. “It’d be best if the two you of go first, Jor and I will watch over you.”

[Are you sure there isn’t another way?]

“Not without killing them and going through their corpses. Problem is, there is one more on the top that will just run away. If he has our controls, then there is nothing we can do.”

[Can’t the turrets fill him with bullets?]

“I already asked, Jor says there aren’t any up there.” I shook my head.

[I don’t know, what if they take us as hostages?]

‘They shouldn’t, not after the leader had said to follow our instructions.’

I shook my head, “They won’t, Lar said to not try any tricks, and besides, Jor can tell if there are any encrypted transmissions between them - and he hasn’t detected any so far”.

[I’m not very trusting of them after what they did, but knowing there are turrets ready to mess them up, now that is what sells it for me.]

‘Good, that just leaves Nicks to be convinced.’

“Nicks, they are disarmed. We will be watching each of their movements, it’ll be fine.”

He had his arms crossed, [Killing them first is easier, but fine.]

[Rational and curt. Safety prioritised.]

‘Did you just prioritise Nick’s safety over Gash’s?’

[Correct.]

‘Undo that! The two of them should have equal chances.’

[Should one perish, Nicks wil-]

‘None of them will perish. Make sure of that.’

The memory of searing pain flashed through my body again. I grimaced trying to imagine having to go through that again. ‘Please.’

[Request acknowledged.]

Nicks still had his arms crossed while Gash had scavenged a chair and sat in a reverse cowboy pose.

[So when do we leave?]

“Right about now, let me send a final message.”

‘Tell this to the robots: Two of us will come soon, remember, no sudden moves.’

I turned towards the two, “you guys can go now. We’ve got your back.”

“Friendly reminder that I will shoot your insignificant little asses if you make any abrupt motion.”

[We’ll be back soon, don’t miss us now!]

The two walked out the door and disappeared as they turned a corner. I swiveled towards the screens and leaned back, letting my posture relax. ‘Nothing I can do now but watch, might as well do it in style.’

[Assessing mental condition: High levels of stress and worry.]

‘Why shouldn’t I be? I have no idea what’s going on. I can’t even begin to imagine how confused they are, blindly trusting me while heading towards the people that wanted to turn us into slaves.’

I waited a moment, but Jor remained silent.

‘It’s been about...three, four days? And every single one something happens, never was there a moment of safety. Jor, you said there is no time - no time for what? What have you not told me?’

[Request refused.]

‘Stop talking to me like that dammit!’

[I have optimized my responses while analyzing the server’s data in an effort to establish the next goals.]

‘What!? You should be making sure nothing happens to Gash and Nicks.’

[There is less than a 5% chance of them doing anything after being neutralized and acknowledging the disparity in power.]

‘And you’re going to take that risk?’

[When you collapsed after a fight in the forest your odds were less than 1% of subsequent attacks.]

‘That was completely different! I had no choice!’

[In that case, keep an eye on your companions. Should one of them act suspiciously, notify me.]

‘Fine.’

I returned my attention to the screen, they should be meeting each other. It was a few more minutes before the other group of robots looked in the direction of the hole. Their heads followed them as Gash and Nicks appeared.

My eyes were darting between each of them, readying a mental shout should at the slightest of provocations. Still, I kept the most of my focus on Lar and the other rebel. It was just a gut feeling that one of them-

[I discovered an encrypted package in the servers. Do I proceed to decipher it or examine other data first?]

‘Not now! Wait until-’

My thought was cut off as I saw the rebel drop something and start tapping on it.

‘Jor!’

[Target confirmed.]

‘Oh no…’

My entire body froze as I saw Nicks dive in front of the robot and take a bullet for him. It went through his shoulder. That was not enough to stop him as he got right back again and formed a ring around with Gash around Red. There was less than inch of space between them and Red as they backed up, making any further attempts at dispatching him easier to intercept.

‘What are they doing!?’

[Performing scans…]

[The have been taken control over by the collars.]

‘They can do that?!’ I jumped out of my chair and grabbed the monitors.

“I don’t know your name, the last robot we left. But if you don’t want your friends’ brains fried, then you better listen to me. If you understand, shoot Lar in the head.”

My mind blanked, at the speaker’s demand. ‘I had just saved Lar!’

“If you don’t…” The robot made a gun shape with his hand aimed it at Gash’s head.

[Analyzing hand gesture…]

[Thread identified, proceeding to-]

‘No wait, can you knock him out but not kill him?’

“Three…”

[That would require a precise, double blow delivery to the-]

‘I don’t care, do it!’

“Two...”

Two cracks rang out in close proximity. Lar had enough time to give a quick jerk before the bullets pierce his skull and chest. He collapsed onto the ground without resistance.

“You bastard. How could you want him dead! He saved your sorry ass when-”

“Dear Rick, another word and I’ll have you join up with Lar as well.”

“Fuck you Red!”

“Mr.Anonymous, if you would please.”

Both of my fists clenched, ‘do the same thing as before.’

Another two shots rang out, and a second body collapsed.

“Hahaha. Perfect, this is so perfect! It took so damn long but now I’m in control!”

‘Jor, can you shoot him?’

[He has positioned Gash, Nicks and himself in the optimal orientation to intercept any bullet with the slightest movement.]

‘Dammit.’

“Rick, drop down a rope and climb down yourself.”

Within a moment a rope came down from the same hole that light flooded in from. A single robot started climbing down.

“Looks like you secured it proper, now let go of the rope.”

‘This guy-!’

Rick stopped moving.

“Or I can have you shot instead.”

[Ruthless. Inconsistent speech patterns.]

After another second of hesitation, Rick let go and fell over a dozen meters. A metallic thud rang out as he broke into several rolls.

‘There’s no way something didn’t break falling from that height.’

Red gave a nod of satisfaction at the landing and stood so close behind Nicks that he was touching him. Meanwhile, Gash walked towards the rope and started to climb it.

‘What about now? Can you knock him out with Gash out of the way?’

[The odds have increased slightly, but such proximity to Nicks nulls it.]

‘Dammit!’ I slammed my fist on the table. A soft thud came from my hand.

Red stood still until Gash was out of sight.

“Now I will start climbing, but if I hear a shot, or anything suspicious happens, I will let go of this.” Red paused and raised a tiny screen. It was impossible to make out what was written on it. “And both of their brains will be fried immediately.”

‘Is that true, can he do that Jor?’

[Correct, he will have enough time to let go should he hear a bullet go off and the collars are capable of such.]

I couldn’t stand it. As Red began his ascend, there was nothing I could do. I watched him get away with it all. Once he was up, Nicks followed suit. The damaged shoulder doing nothing to prevent him from leaving.

My own hands trailed across the collar around my neck. A single command is all it would take for them have complete control.

‘Why haven’t they controlled us sooner?’

[The walls have been built to prevent signal passage.]

‘Can you continue to operate the turrets should I walk to them?’

[I cannot let you do that.]

‘Why not?’

[Should anything happen to you, I would lose only source of mobility. The power here will run out and I will deteriorate with the hardware.]

‘You have better ideas? Because I’m sure as hell not letting any of them leave that room, unless there are turrets in the catwalk we used to get here?’

[Scanning memories…]

[Negative.]

‘Then I need to earn their trust back. Is there another way out of here?’

[Unknown.]

‘Then I need to get past them to leave. And I don’t have the energy left to wait for them.’

[Then I should neutralize them, as per original suggestion.]

I spun around and sent the chair flying into the distance.

‘We are not killing for no reason!’

[I do not see the logical reasoning behind this.]

‘We need help Jor. We need their help. How much do you know of the surrounding area? Monsters? Robot groups? Because I know nothing.’

[...]

‘I didn’t have any of them killed, once I can show that, they may agree to help us.’

[That is a poor gamble.]

‘What choice is there left?’

[I have yet to compute one.]

‘Tell me, what would it take to have Lar and the other guy up and running?’

[If they have access to basic tools and components. Or nanobots similar to the storekeeper’s you saw earlier, then it is easy.]

‘Good. I’m heading out.’

[Stop. Connect yourself to the computer. The wireless connection will take years to complete my transfer otherwise.]

I inserted my finger back into the computer slot.

[Moreover, shall I proceed with decrypting the data or analyzing the rest?]

‘Decrypt it. Anything worthwhile wouldn’t be left in the open.’

[Very well.]

**********

[Rick, are you alright? Roger.]

I looked over at the newest member. He stood there, shellshocked from what just happened.

“Just wait there.”

He wouldn’t know what to do regardless. I performed a quick analysis of the damage. Both my legs were at their breaking point. Tens of connectors running across my back were snapped, meaning I had cracks along my back and my arms had sustained injuries as well.

The g’s must have knocked out some of my internals as well. Several of the scans failed or reported impossible values.

‘Fuck.’

I tried to stand up, my feet groaned under the pressure, but I paid it little mind.

‘Why did you insist on coming back for them? We should have cut our losses.’

Shuffling over to Rane’s body, I went through his backpack and fished his screen. I had little experience with this stuff, but he showed me how to perform basic exterior scans a few time.

It turned on without issue, and the program started up. I moved the screen over his body and waited for the report.

‘Why the fuck would Red do this? And why didn’t he just have us all killed in the first place?’

There was no question I would search for Red, that fucker, and take him apart. But not before I teach the newborn playing with buttons what killing others mean.

BEEP BEEP

The report came up, it was too fast.

‘What in the-?!’

It showed energy still supplying the brain, moving from the core and through his entire body. ‘But the bullets went straight into the chest and head…’

I zoomed in on the hole and realized that each of the bullets ricocheted between the skeleton and did minimal damage. In fact, I could fix this easy enough. The main power lines were cut so the brain went into powersave as the backup wouldn’t be enough to sustain it.

“Fuck me, Rane’s alive!”

[Seriously? But those shots…]

“Doesn’t matter! Go up, and see if Red left any basic repair tools behind, bring the best stuff down first. I can get him up and running!”

‘If I can get Rane up and give him enough time to try to take over the control of the turrets, I can go fuck up that maggot and we can get out of this!’

The joy was short lived as someone new walked into the room. Out of the hole that those kids escaped into.

[Hello.]

‘That bastard. He thinks he can just waltz in and say hello?’

[First, I want to apologize for my actions.]

‘And now he wants me to accept an apology!’

“Fuck off!”

‘If it wasn’t for the turrets, I’d have Roger tear him apart...wait, he can’t control the turrets anymore!’

[Second, I want to let you know that both of them should be alive and easily fixed.]

I followed his finger, first it was Rane, then Lars’ body. Even from here I could see the bullet holes, they were in identical spots.

‘No way...it can’t be. Is he alive as well!?’

I shuffled my ass over as fast as my legs would let me. Collapsing before him, I ran the scanner over his body.

The damage, it was the same. There was no way it could be a coincidence. ‘Did the maggot plan this? But this level of precision over a remote turret...not even Rane could match that.’

‘No, there has to be someone else.’

I stared him straight in the eyes. “Is there, no, who else is with you?”

A moment of silence, he took a step back and looked around. ‘You can’t be any easier to read than that.’

[No one.]

“Well that complicates things.” I stood up and took a single step towards him, but several bullets whizzed in front of my face. “And how would you explain that?”