I was trapped in a web, the more I struggled the more it entrapped me. A dark figure prowled slowly towards me, ready to consume me with bloody, dripping mandibles. My hands and legs bound, the web cut into them. In my obscured vision, the figure loomed over me, impaling my spine with ghastly chills. Yet, despite the clear danger in front of me, there was something that frightened me even more. Falling. I didn’t want to fall, but the minute the thought passed my mind, the web broke and my cocooned body began entering the depths of passivity, of nothingness. I screamed out, and jerked awake from that nightmare.

It was dead silent in UGO Medical, so much so my own thoughts on that nightmare was the only thing I could hear. I couldn’t help but associate falling with regression, back into the pitiful state my mind often frequented before. At my side, on a table was a bottle of water and some painkillers, which I immediately took. My cheekbone especially hurt from being swollen, the same applied to my bruised back. There was a ticklish sensation in my arm as well.

Right, I was shot. Oh yeah, there were the hostages too. What a frantic state I was in; all I cared about was keeping my parents safe at that time, but that care extended to those strangers in the heat of battle. Never in my life had I thought I’d rescue hostages and stop a helicopter crash. Never did I think so much regret would set in for a stranger trying to save his daughter. Never did it cross my mind that Cennet would pull such a stunt, but I guess it was pure naivety to assume all was fine.

Not even the damn TEO could do anything. What now? I wondered indeed, who–if anyone–could actually protect me. Cennet’s appearance with dad proved that he could easily get to my family. That thought alone made me want to hurl. But I’d already made my choice, I decided on the thorny path, one not easily traversed but easily regretted.

I picked my phone up, and realised it was already midnight, so I didn’t bother contacting anyone. Waiting around for hours didn’t sit right with me, so I popped my sleeping pills and waited until somnolence dragged my mind into solace once again.

“–work to do?” I heard the end of someone’s question when I awoke, but couldn’t place the voice.

“Eh, he won’t mind if I take some time off to check up on him,” another person replied, giggling a little. I knew that was Anna the minute I heard her voice. My eyelids creaked opened, rather sluggishly. Her sister? I wondered, not exactly expecting to see Marissa in my short list of visitors, especially not those who’d rush to come first. Figured mom, dad, or Anna would be the first, but it looked like I was only partly correct.

“How did you end up there, anyway?” Anna questioned, her arms folded and legs crossed. The bubbly sister shrugged, “I like mixing up my jogging routes. A little adventure, y’know?”

“Uh-huh… I want to smack you so hard right now! Ugh! You’re unbelievable!”

“Nah,” Marissa picked up an apple out of a basket and chomped onto its shiny scarlet, “I knew I would’ve been fine. Wasn’t worried at all, somehow,” then leaned onto the window sill, “but, man, after it all went down I was shakin’.”

“Whatever, just be sure to thank him. And that’s his apple you’re eating.” Marissa kind of felt the air about Anna and boiled down her usually cheery personality. It was a little hard to watch. I didn’t know Marissa much, but I knew she was trying to remain her usual happy self so she could take Anna’s mind off the incident.

“It’s fine,” I said, turning their heads, “I’m itching for pizza anyway.” Marissa’s jaw paused and Anna stared in amazement as I sat up and eventually walked over. “And Anna, you’re acting like I nearly died. You’re ruining your sister’s mood, so stop sulking,” I lightly brought my hand down onto her head in gentle a karate chop.

“But,” she clenched her fists, “you were in danger! Don’t jus–”

I chopped her again, a tad heavier because she was in the motion of standing up. “I couldn’t avoid that. What’s important is that I’m alive now,” I cringed a little when I thought of the three casualties though, “and besides. I’m in a good mood, I don’t want anyone moping around me.”

“Yup,” Marissa agreed, “besides,” and walked over to us, “he’s basically a hero now, you shouldn’t be so glum.”

That’s a funny description. Hero… I was anything but that, yet, the thought persisted for a while, ‘til mid-day swept in.

My parents stepped into the laboratory-reminiscent patient room and found me absentmindedly gazing out the window. They were whisper-quiet, but dad wasn’t the best at subtlety and eventually gave away their presence with a heavier than needed footstep on the tiled flooring. My attention went to them in a second, yet I felt like I was fishing for thoughts, or reactions rather.

Whilst I stood there, dumbfounded and stricken with petrification from the burning questions of how to act, what face to make and what to say, mom’s face entered a kaleidoscopic range of emotions from dimmed anger to pitiful worrying that all converged through a prism of relief. She grabbed me in and hugged me tightly. Even after all these months, even after my big secret was revealed, I knew she changed and was still trying hard to change for my sake, yet her sudden breakdown and burst of loving ebullition still shocked me out of the present, forcing my mind to wander planes of the past and marvel at how much she’s changed. Really, to go against her workaholic nature was a miracle in and of itself, born from pure willpower. In fact, the more she showed this coveted love to me, the more I saw things from her perspective and tried to understand her. How ironic. I was just like her, hellishly focused on work and loving every minute of the challenge it gave, and loving even more, the feeling of accomplishment when I triumphed over my task. That feeling, was intoxicating. How ironic, I say, shunning her past ways only to come to understand those ways by realising I’d inherited them like a curse.

Would it be selfish to tell her to stop? If this role of a doting, cardboard cut-out mother was something she was trying her best to perfect, wouldn’t it have been better to say “it’s okay, you don’t have to do anything you don’t want to.”? Well? What was it I wanted at this point? My emphatic desire to obtain that lost love drove me against a wall, and I lashed out against her. Of course, she’ll change for you, Jared, I bashed myself for my self-centred thinking, she’s your mom, of course she loves you. You didn’t need to make her show it. As these thoughts hit my mind, so did Cennet’s words when he went rogue in the labs at UGO. He was right, I thought, letting a tear roll down my cheek in front of everyone, quite a contradictory sign from the little act I gave to Anna. I remembered his words vaguely, but his message was embedded, she doesn’t show love, but she loves me. It was so stupidly simple to understand, yet, I just couldn’t. “Mom, I’m, sorry. I’m really, sorry!” Those words slipped out, even though I hadn’t intended them to.

She pulled back a bit to see my face when I apologised, and showed a concoction of concern mystification. “What for?” she asked, holding onto my hands, “You don’t have anything to apo–”

“I do!” my voice raised a little and my fingers squeezed around hers, “I was selfish, wasn’t I? I disrespected you, didn’t I? I put you and everyone here in danger, didn’t I? I, forced you to change, didn’t I?” I clamped my eyes down to stop the low-viscosity tears of regret, but that horribly failed. Mayhap, it only made more burst from the banks.

Mom’s grip loosened a little, making me open my eyes a little. She was smiling. “You’re right. Out of nowhere, you started disrespecting me and making me feel like I wasn’t really your mom. That felt horrible, you know? I had some sleepless nights, thanks to you,” she said, salting the wound without qualm. “So, yeah, you did force change on me. But,” she lifted my chin up with her finger, “I’m really glad you did. You were right, even if I knew I loved you, you didn’t. I failed to show it. That was inexcusable.” Stop, mom. Stop… “All the work in the world wouldn’t stop me from being there for you. I know this new me can’t make up for all those years, but I’m still hoping you’ll forgive me,” she wiped a tear from my face and I grabbed her hand and looked down in shame of my immaturity.

“Stop, please. There’s nothing to forgive you for. You did nothing wrong.”

“Wow, can you believe this is the same guy who said he doesn’t want you moping?” Marissa said, giving a pretentious whisper into Anna’s ear, and earning a swift elbow to the gut. Her playful shenanigans broke the tension off in just a sentence. Even I laughed at myself.

“Well? No love for me?” Dad asked, his arms wide open.

“Uh, men don’t hug,” I told him, retracting a little.

“Says who?” he grabbed me in a bearhug anyway and spun me around. Mom and Anna’s face were aghast and they immediately scolded him and eventually me, since I began to hysterically laugh midway through it. I was wounded after all, but the painkillers did a pretty good job. He put me down after a while and we got to sitting.

“Dad,” I said, a burning question ripping at me, “what were you doing there?”

“The mall? Well,” he scratched his cheek, “I was planning to surprise you with a visit, but I wanted to pick up a gift too. That’s when the robots came flying in and made us gather outside in the parking lot. Why?”

“Did anybody strange talk to you?”

He scoffed, “What am I, a six-year-old? I did bounce up an old friend though. He was with me when it happened. So, what’s with the questions?”

“Last question and I’ll answer you. What’s his name? Your friend I mean.”

“David Ce…” he trailed off, having difficulty remembering the last name, “Cedeno? I can’t remember his surname. You wanna tell me what’s going on?”

I sighed, “Yeah, he’s behind those android attacks. Assuming his name’s Cennet and not Cedeno.” Mom explained the scenario to him, from start to present, despite Marissa’s being there. I guess she was a little less secretive about it, and so was I. Hidden or not, I didn’t think it was something Cennet himself cared for, especially after pulling this last stunt.

After that experience, it didn’t take long to realise how horribly outgunned I was. He could’ve killed me, anytime he wanted, I thought, realising the sheer number of TS involved was nothing short of thirty to say the least. I only had to rescue two hostages, really. And that last scene at the mall… Wow, just five. I only fought five TS in total. He took it easy on me, really easy. Plus, he showed me he can get to dad. I don’t know where the security mom despatched to dad was, but they obviously couldn’t shadow him for all eternity. Cennet pounced on the one time of solace and staged this huge commotion. It was painfully clear now I had to up my game. I have to, protect them myself, I thought, looking at the reality of it. But, to do that, I would need time. To face him properly, I needed time and patience, which, I did not have.

“Guys,” I said, too softly apparently. They continued talking, about me, about my past, about how we got here. “Guys,” I yelled mildly, until I caught their attention. I have no choice. This is the thorny path. “I’ve decided, to take the fight to Cennet, and for that I need time, resources, information.”

Dad simply shook his head, a similar reaction to Anna but hers was a stronger sigh with her forehead sitting gently into her palm. Mom’s face wringed in abhorrence to that statement. I knew they didn’t see the situation to be as dire as I did, they didn’t see the dangers and needed convincing. Their help, I needed it, but if push came to shove, I would do without it. This horrendously passive way of life, taking everything that was thrown at me without uttering a word–that was over.

“Listen, at this point, I’d make do without your help. All I ask is that you,” I said, looking at mom and Anna in particular, “rethink that hostage situation and realise the position we’re in.”

Thankfully, my wounds weren’t serious enough to warrant more than a week of stay, so I was finally discharged. The minute I stepped outside the facility’s gates, media swarmed around Anna and I as we walked to her car. I was so taken aback that I froze on the spot, and would’ve been completely surrounded had Anna not push me along. Their multitude of questions just slipped in one ear and out the other. Frankly, it was impossible to even make out their words when all of them talked at the same time. But one question weaselled out of obscurity, “The people think you’re a hero, do you think the same?” she asked, her microphone pushing its way past the others.

Hero, huh? “It depends on what your definition for it is,” I answered, making sure to be ambiguous. The minute I returned to our lab, I headed straight for my notes on UGO energy and Z-21. It didn’t seem like I was being supported on my decision to face Cennet myself, so I took matters into my own hands. That restless week at UGO Medical sprouted some ideas within me. There were two new inventions just waiting to be made and existing creations to be upgraded.

The first thing I did was repair the shielders, not being sure when Cennet would pull a stunt like his last scared me. Next, I moved on to the main course, what I reckoned would take half a year to finish. Just thinking of how long that was had me terribly uneasy.

I began designing a chassis, one that made the TS look like a malnourished teen. “What on earth are you doing? Were you, here all night?” Anna asked, resting her purse on a nearby workbench when she came in for work.

I nodded, “Yeah, I don’t have the time.” It took a week of constant redrawing and rethinking, redesigning and evaluating to come up with a good chassis. I sent off the schematics to the local smithies and they made an easily created, mock version for me to see at real size. As I thought, I found issues with how I’d fit certain components into this new android, so the schematics was done once again. During these two-day waiting periods, I upgraded the technology in Z-21’s energy blast and placed that into a small cannon. It was no bigger than a small bottled water.

“Why are you so stubborn? Just let the professionals handle this.”

“Yeah,” I sighed, “I tried that already. Did you see the TEO that day? They couldn’t do anything. The TEO and I were totally outmatched. I’m not getting sit on my ass and do nothing while Cennet can do whatever he wants. I’m not risking that.”

“But you’re putting yourself in unnecessary danger!”

“And what makes you think you aren’t in danger too? What makes you think you’re safe? You think I’m doing this for me? If he could kill people who had nothing to do with this, don’t you think it’ll be easy for him to target those close to me?”

She quieted down, but I knew there were words itching to get out of her. It was the same for me after all. For the next few days I lived in the lab, only going home to freshen up and get a change of clothes, maybe grab a bite. After a month, the design on the chassis was finalised and I picked it up in a couple weeks and finally began fitting together the parts. To power the monster, the Trainable Knight as I dubbed it, I used three cores of UGO energy to power it. A small one in its head, and two larger cores in the chest and abdomen. To me, he was going to be lion amongst Cennet’s TS.

The TK was to be a bulwark of impenetrable grit, yet brandish an arsenal of offensive power. He was as much a weapon as was he a protector. Putting him together, wiring the legs and every other little step to the creation of a perfect war robot, made me realise how sickened Cennet might’ve felt. For me to point my weapon at the man I wronged in the first place, was, pure insolence. I knew it, yet, I couldn’t risk being unprepared again. It scared me, not knowing when he would appear, or what he would do.

Days, weeks, months, I drowned myself in creation. The media shadowing me died down, the news and commotion was slowly phasing out. Mom and Anna’s concerns about me slowly withered away. Even Cennet seemed like a mere poltergeist. It was almost like the only people remembering him were me and the police, since they’d come by to ask questions every now and then. Things ran rather smoothly and the TK was near completion in just over four months. It really only missed the training part of it all, and that was accomplished–at least as much as the internet allowed–in a couple weeks.

Retractable cannons on his shoulders shot blasts like Z-21 did, though the power was adjustable this time. Two bigger and stronger boosters were installed on his back acting as a jetpack along with the same booster arrangement Grav had, achieving just over Mach 1 speeds. I was giddied with pride, and relieved at the same time, especially after his near perfect performance at a shooting range.

The ball was in my court. It was time to take the fight to David Cennet.