“Ever thought about shaving?”

Charlie ignored the words. Or, was that the name when his mind hadn't even processed them? The eyes screamed, an air of high tones was washing over his skin, and there was nothing that made sense for him. He had prepared for this very moment for so many nights, full-eyed thinking about exactly what he would do.

Could he run? Not a chance. Could he fight? Perhaps. It depended on the figure. Could he bargain, giving some of what he had on him? That was the only strategy that Charlie had ever thought of being possible. Exploiting the scarcity of the working class, making it all an incentive that included money. People would fall to that desire. Charlie wished he could be sure of it.

His pulse was rising dangerously high. Very high. Extremely high. Two hundred beats a minute was underestimating it all, his brain having sent out enough adrenaline to cause what could only be called a direct attack on every vital organ. Charlie felt the lungs force air out of his lungs, as he began to shake. His knees gave out in under a second.

The spine was beginning to tense together, nearly causing his enhancement to run wild. If that happened, Charlie would more than likely fall to the ground permanently. The man was forced to very violently take his head back to relax a part of his back muscles, lest it would all end up very badly.

“Oh, that really did scare you, huh?” the officer said, helping Charlie from falling to the ground. He was unbalanced, and the help was more than a little helpful. “I should have expected as much, I suppose. Not every day you meet somebody as handsome as me out here.”

Charlie’s eyes honed in on the officer helping to hold him up. The governmental figure was in an awkward position, putting their force on the back leg. If done in a controlled manner, there was a decent chance of being able to break the officer’s knee, bending it the wrong way back. While not the greatest of plans, it would allow for a short-term escape, before leading on to a larger chase. Death was the only way to make the problem go away for longer.

The act of murder was a soft topic, not something that the man wanted to think about often. Yet… if it was needed, if Charlie had to do it for the group’s survival, then he could cope with it for a little-

Wait. Something was wrong here. Something was very wrong.

“Your skin,” Charlie said, his voice low in mild bafflement. “It’s blue.”

“Really? I hadn't noticed. I do wonder how that happened, oh geez,” the officer said, looking at its own hand in mock surprise. Actually… What was the gender of the officer? Charlie had no real way to tell from the face, not being surprised with the answer no matter what side it ended upon. “Maybe it was the morning shave? Oh no, wait. I have ever shaved! Guess it must be yet another symptom of being an automation. What can you do?”

Now identified as an automation, the officer put it hands up to shrug, stopping the help with balancing. Charlie nearly fell to the ground, only able to stop due to his arms coming out at the last moment. Good thing that was so, since the rocks had not looked too well-made for his face.

An automation. Charlie had heard about those. He’d even read a few articles when he found some physical copies of them. They were robots, designed to take over the role of standard officers within the next two years. The first batches had already been released, but… Charlie had never expected to see one so close to the border. And certainly not one so… full of personality. What was going on exactly?

“Now,” the automation said, looking down on the large man. Its warm smile and kind eyes made Charlie’s skin crawl, knowing the power behind those skin limbs. It could rip him apart, crush his bones, and pop his head before he even knew it was coming. While most were made for general functions, others had been made for combat. And there was no way to know which was which, without first engaging them. “You seem to be over that mild panic attack of yours. Really am sorry for that, if I turn out to be the cause. If not, that must have been some lucky timing, right? Me catching you before anything could happen… I just love the premise. I'm sure Cass is gonna love it!”

Cass? A human officer most likely. Another possible target that needed to be taken out. That is if Charlie could figure out how to eliminate the automation beforehand. He knew it needed to be done as the first thing, lest it would be able to prepare any offence at all. They had nowhere near the needed equipment to withstand such a thing.

The automation stretched its arm out towards Charlie. The man’s immediate response was to flinch away, scared it might be a strike. But… It was only an open palm. It was an invitation for help to get up from the ground.

“Yeah… I’m over it,” Charlie said, taking the hand offered. There was no real struggle perceived, as the heavy man put all his weight behind getting up as fast as possible. The automation likely weighed more than him. Any thoughts about elimination fleeted away quickly. “I am sorry for any trouble I might have made.”

“No need to worry, sir. Only doing my job, just like I'm supposed to do,” the automation said, waving away any concerns that might have appeared to be there. Charlie certainly tried to look grateful even if his tired face could do very little in that department. “And don't worry about that reaction of yours either. It happens all the time.”

Comforting to hear, in a way. That he didn't stand out, Charlie meant. If his reaction was unique in any way, it would mean that more attention would fall on him.

“I don't think I got your name, actually,” the automation then decided to say, spoiling any plans about the large man being able to quickly getaway. “And that face of yours isn't that familiar with me. Or, well, it isn't familiar with the local database. Nobody that lives here has that face of yours.”

A drop of sweat began developing on his back, and Charlie was glad that his body still shook from the prior experience. For he would not have been able to hide his stress coming up, for it was too great to do anything about.

“John Martin. It's John Martin,” Charlie responded, just choosing the most common name he could think of. Over a million people in the country had it, making it virtually impossible for the automation to-

“Nope. Never heard of you,” the automation stated after looking forward with a dazed look for a second. It had… don't say that it had just- “Not a single person in the country with that name has your face.”

“Are you sure? I am pretty sure I'm in the country right now,” Charlie said with a smile on reflex, not finding it all that funny. It was simple stress over the situation that made him act in such a way, and he fully understood how bad it was.

Even if the joke was in bad taste, and was most definitely not funny in any way, the automation seemed to have judged it as the greatest work of comedic art in the last decade, allowing Charlie to be the audience to a back-breaking bark of laughter. Without lungs to stop the mechanical entity, there were no restrictions on the length. With the power put into it, no human would have been able to keep up for more than a second or two, yet the automation continued for over five.

“Good to know it's not all of you blood-bags that lack a sense of humour,” the automation said, before seeming to try and get its act back together, fluttering with its eyes for a second, as if a few years needed to come out. Charlie saw none of the sorts. Was it just imitating the humans, with no real product coming out of the actions? Did the laughter cause the wind to come out of its mouth, or would dust not be moved from the sound? Questions were in full effect. “But… I think we both know why you’re here.”

Any sense of security that had been formed shattered instantly. Thoughts about escape came right back, and Charlie repositioned his feet for the event that he needed to run. While he would need an alternate source to get water from, it would be okay to leave the buckets behind. However… The automation was quick to put its hands up, stopping any future actions from the large man. Not to mean that he stopped entirely, still ready to run at a moment's notice.

“And I don't want that information of mine to scare you in any way. It's understandable. I would try to run away from war as well,” the automation continued. Charlie furrowed his brows together, before realising just what was going on. A miracle. “You’re not the first we’ve had, and you won't be the last. From the buckets, I have to guess you’ve set up a tent or something nearby. Maybe for your family. I won't ask. If there were any hints towards you bringing in kids illegally, it would require me to take action. However… I see no kids around here, so things should be fine.”

Charlie nodded quickly, the twitching in his neck not faked in any way. His muscles were quite literally having a mild spasm. It caused a minor amount of pain, but there was no care for that. He just needed to make sure that the automation could see his understanding of the situation. From the kind smile, he could only hope he was right.

“You’re quite the lucky bastard, having me be the one to check up on you. If Cass wanted to check this place herself, I wouldn't really be sure what- Oh!” the automation suddenly exclaimed, hitting itself on the head. “I forgot! Or, no, I don't forget. You just distracted me so much that my current priority shifted over by too high a margin. Damn instructional manuals. No reason to trust their systems.”

The automation made a small kick into the dirt along the river. A good chunk of it was blasted into the water, making a wave of bubbles appear. Charlie knew just how much power was needed for such a display, and the construct had done it casually. He felt dread when it turned its eyes on him again.

“Have you seen a body on the last day? Around the river, more specifically,” the automation asked, still sounding more cheerful than it should have. It sounded happy about it.

“Can't say I have,” Charlie said, eying the officer warily. Maybe it was his tired mind, but his body was starting to react negatively to the massive force of power before him. It wanted to run. “Deers, yes, but no human ones.”

“I didn't really specify it to be human but thank you for pointing out that detail for me,” the automation said. It looked into the water depth, going so far as to take a few steps into the river. Charlie could barely see a meter down, but the automation seemed to still find it utterly fascinating. “Not like you sound like you’re lying, though, so nothing I can blame you for. Not that you would deserve anyway. I actually think before I cast judgement on others, you know, much unlike others in my department. Would do well to take a few classes on professional relationships and how to keep them stable.”

Charlie couldn't understand exactly what he was talking about but did nothing to question it. There was nothing he wanted to know more than what he needed to do to escape from the automations gaze.

“I suppose there was nothing worthwhile here either,” the automation said. It looked over at him again. “Do you need help with those buckets? I could help you get them some of the ways.”

“No thank you,” Charlie said, rejecting the offer immediately.

“Should have guessed,” the automation, making a popping noise with its lips. “Well… I guess I’ll see you another day. If you ever get the idea to get into the police station, just ask for Jules and I’ll come running!”

Then it ran along, leaving Charlie with no idea what to do. He stared where it ran towards for a full minute. After that, he realised it wasn't coming back.

“Jules, huh? I guess I’ll thank you for being a bit too oblivious.”

Then he went back with the water, feeling lying down once he got back. His legs still shook too much for comfort.