Das Klein street, block seven, Harkov City.

0200 hrs

A man in his late fifties stands near a window overlooking the street. His nicely trimmed beard and mustache are contrasted by his dreary eyes. A beep followed by what seems like morse code is heard in the hallway behind him. He turned his head, sighed, and proceeds to a bookcase to his left. He pulls out a book, and with a smile pulls a string sandwiched by a crack on the wall. He waited and patiently waited, as portions of the wall near a sofa to his right revealed a metal door with a revolving handle.

He cranked and pushed, revealing a passage made of cobblestone. He walked the descending stairs at a blatantly brisk pace, out-doing even youngsters with more vigor.

After five minutes he reached the bottom and faced another door. This time made of terracotta. The upper corner of the door had six pins. Arranged in two rows, three columns each. He reached for the first pin of the second row, the first column to the left.

The door opened sideways, revealing a facility of some sort. He walked straight and passed three doors before opening one to his left. He entered and confronted a man with large glasses to aid his sight.

"Stas, you called for me?" The man with the beard said.

"Hecker we have a problem." The man said in an absurdly calm manner.

"The programming for the Verloren (the lost) eight program, has shown fruit with an unfortunate drawback. It's becoming more destructive than expected." He added.

"How destructive? To be exact." Hecker replied.

"Imagine the destructive capability of an atom bomb!" Stas replied.

"It appeared that we made one for the Einzelgänger(loner) program instead of a Verloren." He added.

Hecker paused for a moment, touched his chin, and said: "What did the project manager think of this?"

"Him! The man went verrükt about it and told us to halt our operations!" Stas replied.

Hecker thought about it for a moment and with a sigh requested a demo. Stas protested against it, as it broke protocol.

"Stas, may I remind you of my place in this endeavor? Hecker spoke.

" Just send him a premade letter, you'll have my signature." He added.

Stas replied with a sigh, printed a file, Hecker signed and called for a member of his staff to deliver it to the manager no matter what.

He stood up and went to the testing area, where monstrosities from Korburg are caged and bound in cells.

In the middle of the room where the testing occurs lies a humanoid automaton, with a body frame bigger than most humans. From the outside one can see its power by the form of its body. Well armored and well balanced, it's the perfect killing machine.

From the only entrance came two men in exo-suits. Preparing the place for a demo by adding fortifications and enacting safety protocols. Then came the test subject, the biggest and most horrifying monster available. And came Verloren eight, dragged by the men in a cart.

In a matter of minutes, the stage was set. 'With only five fluorescent bulbs illuminating the place, it sure is weird that without such security I feel fine.' Hecker thought as he pondered whether to continue or not. But today could be the breaking point to this deadlock. He thought to himself thinking of the inevitable.

He closed his eyes for a moment, took a deep breath, and relaxed his mind. He looked down and saw his spiffy black coat, remarking in its detail and overall assets whilst looking at Stas' simple white lab coat.

He took another breath and thought: 'There's always a reason why they wore white, and we wore black.' And without further adieu, signaled the staff to commence the demonstration.

At first, the Verloren unit awakens from its slumber. And after a few clicks and clanks, manages to calibrate and coordinate its movements flawlessly. It looks up studying its observers, the blue glow of its eyes symbolizes its passive configuration. After a few minutes of staring, the automaton notices something; the cage containing the Lurker has opened.

The monster lets out a set of growls and clicks resembling that of a cricket, to its dismay none responded. It proceeds by moving slowly, its ears vigilant to the slightest sound.

The automaton stood still the whole time with its head turned towards the monster that stalks its position. It turned its head one last time towards the glass pane where the staff and two VIPs stood.

The blue light that filled its eyes disappeared. Now it glowed red!

And without a sound, it aimed its left hand at the monster. Its arm was big, to the point where one would claim it had too much armor for a point. Yet this is no armor, for out of a slit above the wrist came a rotating circular blade that pierced the monster's back. It flew from its arm to its target traveling at subsonic speeds.

Though no larger than a CD the lurker cried in utmost agony as its insides were ripped. And its blood spilling all over it. It went wild, slashing and attacking what it perceives to be its attacker. Fruitless, for it attacked thin air. Though its opponent is just 5 meters away behind it.

The automaton deployed a fixed blade in its right arm. Double-bladed with a pointy edge just the length of a short sword and three fingers across from a slit bigger than the one in the left arm. It ran and attacked the monster with a ferocity only a demon can possess. Slashing and stabbing as it went, targeting the torso, abdomen, and legs before steering clear. And with a leap slashed its spine to no avail. Its vertebrae were too hard to break.

Hecker looked amused at the ordeal, satisfied with the result of the project. He took a glance at his subordinates and went into shock for a second. His eyes opened wide in disbelief and snorted trying to hold himself from snickering at the terrified faces of the crew.

But the fight was far from over. The monster slowly stood up as the automaton inspected its arm for damages. With it facing backward and close enough for a hit, the inevitable happened. It slashed like a cat wildly at the figure in front of it.

It hits its mark and the automaton flew to the left, like a baseball struck by a bat. The automaton hits the floor and rolls as the monster tracks its prey looking for lust and sustenance.

But too little, too late. As the automaton regained its balance and unleashed a five-shot-burst of disks at its enemy. Hitting the leg, head, torso, and back legs. The monster screamed as blood bursts from where the blades hit their mark and the bones that were shattered or cut.

And once again the automaton charged, and with a single click brandished two blades: a fixed stiletto-like blade on the left from the slit, and the same one as before in the right.

It struck its chest, faster than the eye could see with its weapon mounted in the left arm. And in a split second cut its right leg clean from the thigh with its right. And without further adieu, retracts the short blade before stabbing it with the stiletto in the cranium and decapitating it with a disk launched from its right arm. It was flawless, it cut through the bone without much effort. The monster fell down in a moment.

But the carnage was far from over. Like a wild beast caught in a net, the automaton immediately started thrusting its blades and pulling out pieces of the monster in a gory manner. Flesh, bone, and organs were pulled out with seemingly no real motivation other than it just wanted to.

The doors burst open and then came the project manager, Dr. Alaric Gomez. "Halt, stop it, shut it down!" He said screaming at the terrified crew and Hecker himself. The crew nearly complied as they were almost on the verge of ending the freak show.

''Hush! I'm not done watching yet. And get me a binocular!" Hecker commanded. One of the crew handed him one from a nearby drawer. The lowly crewman almost dropped it in fear as he glanced at the sight of spilling blood, dismembered body parts, and a ferocity none has ever seen.

Hecker used the binocular and noticed something. 'The disks?' He thought. "So that's why it's so busy. Just like a dog its priority is to fetch the bone! Haha." He remarked.

"What!" The entire crew sans Hecker exclaimed in unison. "Here Alaric, see for yourself!" Hecker said as he motioned the project manager to use the binoculars. And without a doubt saw the same scene Hecker saw moments ago: Retrieval of discharged projectiles or the disk-shaped blades. "I can't believe it!" He remarked. "Where's the chief programmer?" He asked.

"Uh, sir! Dima is currently asleep at the moment. He spent the entire night troubleshooting for the bugs or glitches of V-8 (Verloren eight)." One of the crew replied feebly, clearly he still hasn't recovered yet.

"Bless him, and do take note of this event and the necessary changes so he'll know what to do by" Alaric quipped before being interrupted by Hecker.

"That won't be necessary at all!" Hecker spoke. "This is perfect! In just five minutes, it retrieved all the projectiles it sent!" He spoke in a delighted tone.

After a moment of silence, Alaric replied: "Are you crazy!" As his face curled in confusion. "No, I'm not, this is better than V-1, V-3, or even V-5." He said strongly emphasizing the previous failures. "And I want a thousand of these produced by the end of the month." He said proudly.

"You'll bankrupt the entire nation with just six hundred of these sir!" Alaric replied shaking. "This program costs more than the E (Einzelgänger) program, sir! He reaffirmed.

"Blast it! Just twenty of the entire series then! And I want seven of them to be U-8's." Hecker demanded. "Of all the variants, why that monster?" Stas replied.

Hecker sighed and thought: 'Bloody foreigners, they never knew this place didn't they.'

"Stas, have you ever faced or killed a lurker before? He asked.

"No sir, I haven't. I spent my entire time here in the labs." The man with the glasses replied.

" Oh really? Because I have knocked thirty of them to be exact! And did you think I was proud of it? The answer is no! Because I lamented my shortcomings as a human." He spoke with annoyance in his tone.

"Too slow, too inaccurate, too insensitive, and too easily scared of little things. Every morning I wake from a dream that is a mockery of a past event. An operation went sour, I had to fend off two Lurkers and nearly lost my life. But now, I found one that wouldn't fear death itself." Hecker recalled as he took a deep breath.

"But may I ask? Why are things getting urgent Hecker? Why all of a sudden?" Stas said, now having gained his cool.

Hecker sighed and retrieves a folded piece of paper from his coat. He handed it to Stas as Alaric rushed in for a view. As they lowered the Paper after reading, terror-filled their tired eyes.

"Open the doors, I intend to meet him personally," Hecker commanded.

" No! Are you mad, he's still in combat mode!" Stas cried.

"And so will he be as he fights alongside our forces!" He replied. "Just open it! Schneller!" He commanded with utmost urgency.

The doors opened and came the bearded man himself as he approached the automaton, as it polishes its blades and obsessively cleans it. The automaton stood and resumed a hostile stance as a click escaped from the man's boot.

Its red glowing eyes faltered and in its place came blue. It straightened its body and gave the man a military salute. The man said 'at ease' and came closer. The Automaton relaxed its posture, and after the man stopped in a distance he spoke: "Marshall Hecker von Volga, it's a pleasure to meet you!"

"Privyet V-8, the pleasure is mine. Say, I'm impressed you're the most impressive of your line so far!" He quipped.

" Thank you, though I highly disagree. I am barely flexible enough and incapable to improvise new moves as needed." The automaton said, mustering all the emotions and feelings in its speech.

"Humility at its finest, you impress me more." The Marshall replied with a smile. " Anyway this city will be enveloped by a trainfuck! In the next five months. I intend to commission a squad comprised of seven units from your line, and I want you as the commander of this special unit." He spoke.

"Thank you, sir, although is the language really necessary?" The automaton asked.

"For a robot, I find you oddly human enough. And yes it, for this city will be! Anyway, I shall have the necessary programming, embedded at once." He said calmly.

He looked at the automaton and beheld its intricate details. It appeared like a medieval knight, with plate armor and an open Sallet for a helmet and a death mask for a face. Its mask had a slit for an eye, a nose, and no mouth. He reminisced his time in Ventura, reading those ancient almanacs and manuscripts from ancient earth. And this looked like it escaped from one.

"Say V-8, would you like a code name? With seven of you around, it would troublesome to refer to you with only numbers, wouldn't it? The man toyed his beard as he said.

"If you wish sir." Came a short reply.

In a thick German accent, he said: "What do you think about Winters (Vinters)?"

"Vinters sir? I'll consider it an honor sir." Came a proud reply.

Hecker smiled and said: "Mr. Kempf would be so happy."

"Wait? Who's Kempf?"