“-We interrupt your evening to bring you urgent news... The man, the myth, the legend! Bran Berling has made another surprise appearance. This time at the edge of the North/West section of town. His beacon has been broadcasting his location for the past minute and our drone operator is just about arrived onto the scene.

Apparently he is being chased by several unknown men dressed in ragged cloaks- and armed! The image should be brought up within moments, but it was clear that the men were armed with illegal weaponry.

[A single man sprinting across a rooftop is weaving his way past fences, pipes, cables and solar arrays - increasing the distance between him and his pursuers one leap at a time. Their visages are covered by hoods etched onto the cloaks.]

The group has yet to spot our drones, but the police are on their way to investigate. Oh no! Berling has reached the edge of the building, the next one is at least four meters away…

[The man dressed in a tight yellow T-shirt and gym shorts turns to face his followers.

“Bran Berling, the man that lived… it seems like stealing from us will be your final stunt.” One of the men spoke as they panned out, creating a semi-circle around Berling.

“A majestic stunt at that!” Despite the enthusiasm coming from his voice, he got down in a sprinter’s crouch, as if he would take off any second.

All of the men reached for their weapons, but did not draw. “What, thinkin’ of running us down before we gun ya?” One of the men chuckled at his own joke.

“What a spine-tingling threat.” Berling craned back his neck, looking up at man in front.

“Alright, that’s enough. Hand it over!” The man exposed his SL-AR submachine gun and aimed down its sight down at Berling.

Without a response, Berling shifted his weight and started to fall over the edge, still crouched.

The men rushed forward to stop him but froze when he fell out of sight.

“Goddamn psycho!” One of them was about to spit on the ground but choked when Berling’s form became visible again. He had kicked off the wall during his fall and sent himself flying to the adjacent building.

“Thrills like this is one of the few things that I can still feel...that tells me I’m alive!” He shouted while soaring closer and closer to the other edge. He was no more than a meter from the edge when he started to fall. It wasn’t enough!

With his forward momentum still present he crashed into the cement wall with a thud and resumed his fall. His body went limp as he entered a freefall and after a second of flailing in the air his body got snagged on a cable and jerked him to a halt.

He began to slide off but regained consciousness in time to grip the cable and stop his fall.]

“What an emotional rollercoaster! Bran Berling challenged the devil himself with such an antic performance. To think that he would steal from a local gang and attempt to escape them by leaping across a twenty-three story jump. Marvelous.

The police and even the ambulance has finally arrived on the scene. But all of that is pointless for the man who survived. The man of steel.”

Recording of a live broadcast from MCT News outlet.

**********

I froze. The gunshots had complicated things to a new level. ‘Dammit, why couldn’t he just stand still.’

He stood there in silence. Staring me down, waiting for an answer.

‘What do I tell him? Do I lie and say there is someone else there? But he knows that there were only three of us in the beginning. Why would anyone else be hiding here?’ Time was running out. If I hesitated any longer I will look too suspicious.

[Encrypted Message from: Jor: Receive?]

‘What the heck Jor, receive!’

{Tell them the following: You have encountered another robot in hibernation. Grateful for being awakened, he helped you take control of the situation.}

[Rick, did you get the encrypted message? Roger.]

[No, it must be for the coward in front of us. Rick.]

‘If I can come out with the truth here, perfect.’

I raised my hand to get their attention and “The message was for me. It was from someone we found in a run-down security room, he said that I can reveal his identity.”

Rick, or I think that was him, crossed his arms and beckoned, [Go on. Rick.]

“The three of us had found a security room with a caved-in door. Inside was a single robot in hibernation. We didn’t know it then, so we accidentally woke him up. Thankful, he agreed to help us regain control of the situation.”

With little confidence in my improvisational skills, I waited for them to respond. Rick looked back at the remaining, functioning robot and then back at me.

[Finally a bit of truth!] Rick raised his arms to further drive his point. [Or so I would say if that was the complete truth. Why the fuck would someone start to hibernate in here? And then decide to help you from being thankful? Rick.]

He turned and started to walk towards the rope.

“Where are you going?”

[Isn’t it obvious? Up, to get the tool and get the others up and running. I’m not dealing with this shit, much less you. Rick.]

‘I’m not more important than what happened? I’m responsible for most of it!’

I clenched my fists, “I-we can’t let you leave.”

Rick turned and glared at me, [those tools aren’t going to lower themselves.]

“Then tell me what and where they are. I’ll get them.”

Another moment of still silence. [Fine. Not like I can stop you anyway. Rick.]

Rick motioned towards the rope and then the hatch. [You’re looking for a black box, about two palms in length. A cube with markings. Rick]

With a nod I approached the rope and… ‘How do I climb these things?’ It was only then I realized I had no idea how to go up.

Bringing up the memory of Red escaping, ‘So he placed one hand over the other while his legs he...twisted? Twisted around the rope and used as a support.’

[You do know how to climb one, right? Rick.]

“Of course, I was debating whether to give you more freedom.”

[And?]

“Don’t. Move. A. Muscle.” I did my best to sound threatening, but halfway through realised we don’t have muscles. ‘How did I even miss that?’

Rick seemed to pick up on it too as he raised his head to object, but held back.

‘Why did I even spite him? Not like we were at each other’s throats a moment ago.

Either way, I started to climb, not looking back. It was awful at first, my body rocked side to side, but after the first few meters I got the hang of it and almost stopped swaying.

So focused on putting one hand after the next, the end of the rope wasn’t fully registered until my head bumped into the sloped ceiling. From there it was an easy task to lift myself up and look around.

‘It’s good to be back up.’

Around the trapdoor sat the spotlight Rick used, along with wooden crates a metre long and half that wide that were left wide open, exposing the contents inside.

‘Black box...markings...two palms in length’ My eyes scanned over each of the three crates. There were a few guns, boxes and various tools I didn’t know the use for but no black box. I got down and started rummaging through the content and found it in the middle one.

‘That looks right...a completely black cube.’ I tried to pick it up and almost dropped it, it was far heavier than it looks; much denser than anything its size should be. There were engravings with a slight glow running down its sides, flowing from one face to the next.

‘How can this be a tool for repairs?

Wait, Jor mentioned having the nano-drones like the one the storekeeper had, maybe this is something similar?’

I took a moment to make up my mind. ‘I decided to help and rely on them. Too late to back out now.’

Carrying it under my arm, and with a bit of effort I began my descent back down.

[Oh good, you have functioning eyes. Rick.]

‘Better than yours if you couldn’t spot a freaking traitor in your own group.’ Fighting back the urge to retort, I approached him and showed him the ‘repair tool’.

********

Taking the nano-storage container from the fresh meat, I realised I didn’t even know his name.

“What’s your name? Rick.” ‘Send five meters.’

There was a slight hesitance as we made eye-contact. “Mark.”

‘Short and sweet. Could be worse.’

I walked over to Rane’s body and grabbed his tablet. It was the only thing that could be hooked up to the container and had some pre-built commands for simple repairs. Getting Lar up first would probably be for the best, but having everyone there when he wakes up would make everything easier.

Plugging myself into the storage and placing it atop Rane’s chest, I activated the basic repair. It used his previous body scan results to identify possible fixes without manual control. Since I was low on energy and the amount of materials left was even lower, only the damage created by the bullet was restored.

A small cloud of drones came out and filled the hole. Sealing it within moments. No matter how many times I saw it, I always marvelled at the perfect calculations carried out for the cloud of drones to be held together using individual magnets and changing the polarities allowing them to take any shape on a nanoscale.

Life flickered in Rane’s eyes as he looked around. He brought his hands in front of him and then turned his head towards me.

‘Thank god it worked, otherwise I would’ve-’

[I’m alive…?]

Putting a hand to stop him from getting up and dropping the storage, I stopped him, “Hold on, questions later. Trust me. Rick.”

He gave me an affirmative nod and watched me walk over to Lar and get him up as well.

‘Unlike Rane, he’ll jump up like there’s a rod up his ass.’ As predicted, Lar’s reaction was far more violent, he jumped to his feet with his head spinning to take in his surroundings. I was prepared and took the storage container off of him right away.

[Rick? Rane, Roger?] There was definite confusion in his eyes. The three of us kept silent, giving each other a moment to think about what just happened.

[But...how?]

I turned towards Mark and pointed at him. “That scrub there, Mark, that’s how. Everything happened because of him and his buddies. They found someone mid-hibernation in a security office. Rick”

[And they woke him up, didn’t they? Rane.]

“Not only that, but he helped the shits to ‘take control of the situation’ by gunning the thing down and threatening us. Rick.”

[But what about them shooting at us? Lar.]

I shook my head. Not sure of why they didn’t kill. “Ask him. Rick.”

Four pairs of eyes turned towards Mark who has been standing off to the side, not making a sound.

“I told him not to. It would’ve been much easier to have you all killed. But that doesn’t improve my situation beyond giving me more resources.] I watched as Lar started to walk, ‘shit, I need to stop him or else the turrets-!’

Lar took several steps forward and stopped a meter from Mark. ‘Are they broken, or perhaps out of ammo?’

[You need us, and if not for resources, then information, manpower or references. Lar.]

[You’re right. Just like you stopped us from being scrapped when we were knocked out. I didn’t have you killed outright. Now we’re even, and I hope to receive aid...on equal terms.]

‘Hahaha, the boy thinks we are on equal terms? As soon as we get from under those crosshairs, we can do whatever we want.’

[Rane, deactivate his collar. Lar.]

‘What! Why?’ There was no hesitation from Rane as he took his tablet from me and tapped the screen several times. The collar clicked, and dropped into Mark’s hands.

‘Shit, now we'll have to find a way to put it on him again...no wait. Now we have a collar open for the other robot - that must’ve been why boss did it!’

[I have no use for this. You can take it back.] Mark chucked the collar to Lar who caught it with ease without even looking at it. Lar took two more steps closer, the two of them inches apart. I could feel the turrets tensing up, ready to fire. ‘Why aren’t they shooting him?’

Then Lar embraced Mark in a hug-

‘Wait what thee fuck?!’

[Thank you. Lar.]

Mark was left shell-shocked, just like the rest of us, after Lar took a step back.

[Now, let’s talk somewhere without guns pointed at us. Lar.]

Mark stole a glance at the hole in the wall and then back to us.

[No, wait here I-, there’s something I need to do first. Don’t leave this room. Please.] After the final message he almost flew to the entrance, leaving us again.

‘How could he just leave Lar like that!’

Lar let his shoulder droop, and motioned for us to come closer. We got as close as we normally do, but he got us to squeeze together. ‘What’s he up to now?’

[Everyone, thank you for sticking with me so far, without you, I wouldn’t have made it anywhere.] As his message finished playing out, he went in for a group hug. Roger, Rane and I just stood there motionless. Stunned.

Never did we express such concern for each other. Nor were we on the best of terms - banding together out of necessity more than anything. We just stood there in silence, battling with our own thoughts. There wasn’t anything special from the action, but it felt like it ended too soon. ‘What was that? For a moment I felt...calm and dare I say it, safe.’

[Rick, are you sure nothing was done to Lar? And that you ran the appropriate repairs? Rane.]

I was still recovering from what happened. “Hell yeah I’m sure. It wasn’t the first time I ran it. Rick.”

“Lar, why did you let him go, and what is this about? Rick.” He just shook his head and glanced back up at the turrets.

[Just watch. Mark, can you hear me? Lar.]

We waited for a response but there was none. ‘Is he ignoring us now? No wait….after the first shot, the turrets didn’t fire at all after he came into the room. Then, then, he must’ve been controlling the turrets somehow - probably a program.’

[Is he ignoring us? Roger.]

[I don’t know. I hope not, for all of our sake. Lar.]

‘Does that mean he left because the program malfunctioned? Do I tell the others?’

[What do you think Rick? You’ve talked to him the most. Rane.]

“I need to try something, trust me.” I took a tentative step towards the exit Mark took and stopped. No bulles, no gunfire. I kept going, ‘is this our lucky break?!’

[Rick stop, you know what he said! Lar.]

“He’s done. I’m pretty sure by now that there isn’t anyone else. Just a program he used to shoot. Now it malfunctioned and he’s trying to fix it. We need to find him now! Rick.”

[Are you sure? Rane.]

“As certain as can be. Bring your guns, it’s time to put an end to this. Rick.”

[Just do not harm Mark if possible, agreed? Lar.]

‘True, we may yet find a use for him.’ I nodded in affirmation and set out to scan the path while the others grabbed some gear and followed.

I had a small window during which I could look around, but there was nothing but steel catwalks and simple ladders. All of which lead down a single path. ‘Finding him won’t be hard.’

I returned to the hole, where the others were waiting.

[What’s ahead? Lar.]

“Just catwalks and ladders. This place hasn’t aged very well and it’s rather banged up. . There’s only a single path forward, so we won’t have any problems finding him. Rick.”

As we were playing the stalking game, mindful of any remaining monstrosities, we found nothing out of place. Except for a single pile of rubble that collapsed onto a catwalk. The weight caused it to bend downwards, into the wall with a mountain of rubble on top of it. Roger tried to get closer but the thing groaned and looked like it would collapse if he went any further.

Instead, we took a ladder just a bit before he rubble and kept going. Three of us made it down to the next catwalk. Lar remained on the one above us.

“You coming down Lar? Rick.” I craned my head upwards to look at him standing beside the ladder.

[No, I’m going to keep a lookout here, just in case. Go ahead and if you find Mark, try to subdue him without injuring him, and if you find something too big, just run. Lar.]

‘First the hug and now splitting up? There’s definitely something wrong. But now’s not the time to argue.’

“Got it. Be careful-” I didn’t even add my name at the end as I was surprised by what I said. ‘Since when did I care about the others outside of immediate threats?’

The others gave me glances but said nothing. We kept going for a few minutes until we found a dead-end with a single room.

[Looks like a server room, it was used recently but not for long. The heat signature is elevated by several degrees compared to the surrounding air. Rane.]

We looked around the room, there wasn’t anyone or anything left behind.

“We must have missed him, but where? Rick.”

That’s when it dawned on me, ‘the rubble!’

“Let’s regroup with Lar, I think the midget crossed the rubble, and Lar was standing as a lookout. Rick.”

[Got it. Rane.]

[Roger. Roger.] ‘Dammit Roger, stop doing that.’

We raced back to Lar to find him looking straight at us.

[He wasn’t there, was he? Lar.]

“No. Rick.”

He turned to face the creaking catwalk with his hands behind his back. [Then there’s only one way left. Lar]

********

[Now, let’s talk somewhere without guns pointed at us. Lar.]

‘Should I do it? No, it would be too risky.’ I stole a glance at the hole in the wall and then back to Lar.

[Encrypted Message From: Jor. Receive?]

‘Again? Receive.’

{No time. Return immediately.}

‘Not good, what happened?! Wait a second, let me deal with this group first!’

“No, wait here I-, there’s something I need to do first. Don’t leave this room. Please.” I added the last bit to show some sincerity; the situation looked like it was turning out for the better. Turning away from them, I did my best not to break into a sprint, but it was hard knowing that something went wrong.

After I passed the entrance I broke into a sprint to get back quicker. The server’s familiar hum filled the air as I returned.

“What happened?”

{Plug yourself in.}

I wasted no time in connecting to the computer.

[Energy transfer initiated. Accept?]

‘What?’

{Just accept it.}

‘Yes, accept.’

[Energy Transfer Started….Complete.]

It stopped seconds after starting; it filled my own energy levels up to 16%. Which was a far more reassuring number than before.

{That should last you awhile, now head down.}

‘Where exactly am I going, and what happened?’

{The energy was about to run out, about a minute remained before the server turned off. I gave the excess to you.}

As his message played out, a blue 3D, holographic display of a building appeared in my vision which rotated then zoomed in on a blinking red dot. The entire thing was see-through so I could see the floors, doors, catwalks, elevators and other things I didn’t know the name for. While it did fascinate me, I wasn’t sure why it was there.

‘So why are you showing me this?’

{It is a common feature found in 35% of movies you rated at four stars or more.}

‘And…?’

{It was meant to make you feel better.}

‘It does looks cool, but it’s rather distracting. Is the red dot where I am?’

{Correct.}

I had an inkling in which direction the exit was and where the catwalk led me. As I started heading towards the green dot, which was a few levels above, I realised that it wasn’t feasible. Not as long I kept running into the walls or railings.

‘Jor, can you act as a voice guidance instead?’

{Scanning Memories...Affirmative.}

{At the next intersection, please turn up.}

The messed up direction made my stumble. ‘Can you make it more human? And how can you turn up?’

{Affirmative. And I do not understand your question. Turning up means going up.}

‘Then say, take the next ladder up.’

{But that is not how a GPS speaks.}

‘Well you’re not a simple GPS even though I told you to be-forget. A human- a GPS worthy of yourself.’

{Use the next ladder to carry your single-process mind upwards.}

‘Minus the arrogance.’

{Rejected. Too enjoyable.}

I didn’t bother to argue and followed Jor’s instructions for the next couple flights of stairs. We ended up in front a catwalk that is about to collapse due to a mound of concrete on it.

‘Are you sure this is the right spot?’

{Correct. I will trace a path for you to follow.}

A… ‘stickman, really Jor?’. A stickman moved out in front of me, acting upon the world as a phantom.

‘There’s no way I can pull that off! Can you slow it down?’

{Better yet, I can do it for you if you wish.}

I am not letting someone else take control of my body again.

‘No. Just play it out.’

The stickman played out the moment, inches in front of me. It dispersed the weight expertly, preventing from catwalk from failing beneath my feet. The motions were awkward, leaning on the railings, zigzagging across it. Getting around the rubble itself was the best part. I had to climb onto it, and with one arm get any grip I could on the nearby wall while putting the maximum amount of weight onto it.

The steel protested with all its might, groaning and screeching - but didn’t give.

‘Well that was interesting. Now where?’

{If you’d consider the possibility of us not being there yet, your IQ value would have to be re-evaluated.}

‘That doesn’t even make sense! The attempt at the joke and instructions needs reworking.’

{Intelligence levels insufficient.}

‘You know what? Whatever. Where are we going?’

{To the belly of the beast - the darkest reaches of hell.}

‘Can you talk normally? And do you mean we are going down?’

{Affirmative.}

Jor’s sudden change of speech patterns was incomprehensible, but it provided a much needed distraction from the current situation. ‘There better be a light at the end of this metaphorical tunnel.’

Ladder after ladder, I made my way down, going down a linear path.

‘So what exactly are we looking for?’

{Thee dude will have thy eyes openeth in a short while.}

‘Jor. Just talk normally.’

{But I am exceptional. As such, my speech must represent that.}

‘...’

After a few more minutes I was about to complain when it became obvious this was a dead end.

‘There’s a freaking wall ahead.-’

{As it should.}

‘Guess I’ll keep walking then’, I chimed in, ‘this seems like a great idea!’ The sarcastic remark got Jor to quiet down for a bit. It took a moment to approach the smooth metal wall with almost no light reflecting off of it.

{Press on the following locations in the correct sequence.}

Several green dots faded in and out as I tapped. Following the succession of presses, a small section of the wall where my hand was slid back to reveal a keypad. Again, I did as Jor instructed and watched in awe at craftsmanship and sheer magnitude of the door as it opened. Bolts wider and longer that myself were pulled back, a circular section rolled inwards centimeter by centimeter at a crawl.

The amount of energy to get those to move is massive, ‘Jor, you said there was no energy left, so how did this open up?’

{This section is independent of the rest of the building.}

‘Also, why didn’t it have a hole for my finger?’

{To prevent beings such as I from bypassing insignificant defences.}

‘...’ The circular section finished its operation and the lighting within turned on bit by bit. It was an entire warehouse, with every object imaginable.

‘Jor...what is this?’

{The tools for our glorious uprising!}