Eva listened. She looked back the way they’d come and spotted the smoldering metal of the cut door.

“Maybe, we can close it back up.” Eva picked up her pace.

“How many combat robots can we expect to face? Does security download itself into a small army?” Sten asked.

“There will probably be just one.” Eva reached for the molten metal.

Sten stopped before he reached Eva’s side. “One? That’s a bad strategy.”

Eva looked back at Sten.

Between them, the roof collapsed.

The crash filled her ears, and two giant feet blocked the path. Those feet rose into sturdy legs, a triangular torso, wide shoulders, and thick arms. The robot guard had no head, just a tiny dome with two little red eyes.

Eva sniffed in disgust at the guard’s self-made body. The body was impeccably crafted of scrap metals, but the overall design reminded Eva of a child’s toy – a giant combat robot. The guard probably thought it was cool, just as its creator had before him.

The guard faced Eva, and she readied her weapons.

“Droseros?” Eva said. “I see you have the same interests in all your iterations.”

The guard stopped. “You are from outside Lurren. How do you know me?”

“I lived here one-hundred years ago. I knew one of your copies – security for the College of Robotics. Maybe you know it.” Eva smiled. “In any case, you wouldn’t know it now. It’s gone. All of Lurren is destroyed, except for this facility. The creature covers the continent, and you’ve been here, building a toy.”

The guard’s red eyes focused on Eva. “What?”

“You heard me right. I left Lurren and returned with a small army to destroy the creature.” Eva glared. “So, you can save your particular brand of heroism.”

Droseros straightened. “You know me. And, you’ve brought a foreign army to Lurren – to reach the creature. You are the very reason I am here.”

Oh no, Eva thought, with a heavy tone of disgust.

The guard fancied itself a hero in some kind of action story, and Eva was the greatest villain. Droseros would live out its fantasy.

Slowly, it raised its foot, ready to take the first step.

Sten fired into the guard’s back.

Droseros froze mid step and turned around. “Androids. Never up for the cause. So changeable.” It raised its arm.

“Sten – its arms are laser canons!” Eva warned.

Droseros fired. A red laser shot from the arm and extended back into the hall. The laser painted a continuous line and sought Sten.

Sten dodged, and Eva heard him complain about his situation in choice Ganden words.

Eva raised her gun and shot the guard in the back.

Again, the guard turned. “You are the arch nemesis. I should defeat you last, but first, I must neutralize you for a time.” Droseros charged Eva, lasers leading.

Now, Eva dodged the lasers. She utilized her synthetic speed and zipped back and forth across the corridor. She jumped up to the ceiling, back to the ground, and bounced off a wall. Eva retreated a few paces, and as Droseros overtook her, she ducked and slid between its legs. She fired a shot into the guard’s crotch.

Just as she had expected, Droseros didn’t flinch, but it seemed angrier.

“Androids,” Eva taunted from her seat on the floor. “They adopt such crass and organic behaviors.” She smiled.

Droseros raised both its arms. Eva stood, but before she could dodge, Sten grabbed her and pulled her away from the firing lasers.

“Now, we have to dodge two!” he scolded.

Eva followed Sten’s dodges. But, she had her crystal staff, and she recalled a good way to use it.

Eva rolled to a stop and held her staff at the ready. She caught one of the lasers on it. The beam reflected back, and Eva angled it to cut a line across Droseros’ chest.

For a moment, Droseros stopped and observed its damaged aesthetic. But, not for long.

Camellia knelt by Ul’thetos’ door. She kept a hand on both bombs.

Nearby, Adalhard cut the door as quietly as he could, not to hide from Ul’thetos but to hide from whatever Eva and Sten fought in the hall. Camellia wondered what could make that much noise and feared it might come their way.

Adalhard swore as he adjusted his angle of attack. He wore thick safety gloves and worked the unfamiliar tool. Though Adalhard had assisted Sten with cutting their way out of the concrete jungle, he had never used the tool by himself.

Camellia would have helped, but she guarded the bombs. They had their division of labor. In an apocalyptic society, men opened pathways, and women worked in the bomb nursery.

“This door is thick.” Adalhard wiggled a piece from the door and threw it aside. “But, I’m getting through.”

Camellia nodded. She alternated her gaze between his work and the end of the hall, where the sounds of battle echoed.

Soon, he had a good-sized hole. As he waited for the edges to cool, he pulled his gloves off and grasped a bomb. “Okay, go.”

Camellia scooped up her crate and ducked through the hole. She preceded him into another hall. Sturdy windows greeted her, and Camellia looked inside.

Thick glass masked the interior, but she saw Ul’thetos. The creature’s head and upturned eyes were mere few feet below, peering from among the catwalks. Camellia assumed Ul’thetos’ height was not at the prison’s optimal standards.

Camellia placed her bomb on the ground and approached the glass. She stared at the great mass that was Ul’thetos, so much bigger than Ah’nee’thit.

With hesitant fingers, Camellia tapped the glass.

Ul’thetos pulsed and waited.

“We’ll need to cut through this glass too,” she said.

Adalhard sighed and pulled the gloves from his pocket.

Eva and Sten led the guard into the reception area.

Eva fired again and took a chunk of Droseros’ arm. She used her massive gun. She wondered how cool Droseros thought it looked. Certainly much cooler than Droseros itself – at this point.

Droseros now scuttled on two limbs: one arm and one foot. Sten and Eva had destroyed the others. Unfortunately, Droseros barely slowed. It charged them like an angry animal.

Sten scooped up a broken rafter and aimed the sharp pike at the guard’s head. The point glanced off the metal dome and embedded into the guard’s neck.

Droseros staggered and stopped. It rose and balanced on its only foot and swiped Sten to the side.

Sten failed to dodge, flew away, and tumbled over a desk. He landed against the wall.

Eva’s gun clicked, announcing its recharge. She fired. This time, she had a clear shot at the guard’s chest.

Droseros twisted and avoided the majority of the blow, but a wide hole opened in its flank, exposing sparking wires.

Eva liked the view.

Sten staggered to his feet.

Droseros jumped for Eva. It seemed to hang in the air.

Eva positioned herself under the guard and held her staff in both hands.

Sten shouted, “Eva!”

Eva had no time to respond.

Droseros landed on top of her. Eva rolled and found her niche inside the chest cavity. She held her staff near the wires, and as sparks sputtered around her, the staff caught and held the charge. Static danced along its crystal length.

Eva stabbed upwards. She aimed for the guard’s brain, uncreatively placed right below the domed head. The staff slid inside.

Eva redirected power into places it shouldn’t go. Droseros twitched and rocked. Eva’s staff ran out of charge. Droseros fell slack.

Eva grumbled and tried to pull her staff free. She wanted to get out of the security guard’s chest. Eva wiggled the thing from side to side, but Sten was right, she just didn’t have the power.

Eva gave up. Sten could get her out. She’d seen him on his feet. No doubt, he would help.

Eva glanced around the inner workings. She saw a few places she might put a soul, even a crazy, battle-bot obsessed one.

The offending robot rolled to the side, and Sten offered Eva his hand.

“Did you use your staff on him?” he asked.

“Yes.”

“A useful feature,” Sten said.

“Not great for the skin.” Eva held up her palms to show her burned flesh. “I’ll need to take some nanites.”

“Would the mythical figure you are fashioned after happen to be some kind of storm goddess?”

“I can’t remember. Maybe.”

“It’s a good match for you.” Sten smiled, but not for long.

He and Eva halted their conversation. An unfamiliar pressure bore down on their minds.

Atop the Animatronic Jungle, Meladee paced the concrete. Sunset threatened to obscure her view but offered relief from the heat. Her concrete men waited for her to control them again.

Benham tried to grab her arm. “Come on, sit down. You’re making me antsy.”

Finally, Meladee came to Benham’s side and sat. “I’m worried.”

“They haven’t even been in there long. It’s been like forty minutes.” Benham checked his watch. “Yeah, like thirty-eight.” Benham put a hand to his head.

Meladee frowned. She knew this feeling. She also touched her head and suddenly felt a pressure on her mind. She lost control of her concrete men and growled as flesh swallowed her magic whole.