Reunification (4 page)

Just as I reached the middle of the alley,
something jumped down from the roofs nearby and landed in mine
path. I skidded to a halt, almost tripping over a discarded beer
bottle on the street, and righted myself as I looked upon the
newcomer, who stood up to his full height.

No; not 'his,' but 'its.' The figure
standing before me was a machine; not one of those J series robots,
but a completely different kind of robot I could not identify.
'Twas humanoid, but whereas the J bots had at least a semblance of
a human face, this thing had no facial features at all. Its face
was as blank as a canvas, which made it resemble Falnoth the Old
God, which was so uncanny that it made me shiver in my clothes.

Yet that would not have deterred me from
going around it, if only the robot had not drawn a long, silvery
sword—with blinking lights running along its flat—from its waist.
It drew the sword with the same expertise as the Knights of Se-Dela
drew theirs, which made me wonder if this bot had somehow been
trained in the way of the Knights.

Whilst the robot drew its weapon, the
sounds of the parade grew fainter and fainter, which told me that I
had no time to waste if I wanted to reunite with mine sister in
time.

Thus, I pointed at the machine and said,
with as much authority as I could muster, “Foul clicker, get out of
mine way. I do not have time to waste talking with a pitiful
machine like yourself.”

“
Talking?” said the
robot, its voice as metallic as the sword it carried. “I am not
here to talk.”

My eyes darted to the blade it held, which
looked even sharper than the blades used by the Knights. “So ye
wish to fight me. Is that it?”

The robot raised its sword until its tip
was pointed at me, like the arrow of an archer. “How could you have
ever guessed? I can see that you are an intellectual of the highest
order. I wonder if your intellect matches your skill in
combat.”

“
I did not know that
robots were capable of such biting sarcasm,” I said. “But it
matters not, because even if ye wish to fight me, I still have more
important matters to attend to.”

“
Not unless I challenge
you to a duel,” sad the robot, its sword never wavering in front of
my face, “which, according to the Knight's Code, means you must
accept, if I am not mistaken.”

I looked down at mine clothes. I had not
brought my sword or any other weapon with me when I came to Xeeo
today, mostly because I had not expected to get into a duel with a
faceless machine. 'Twas a decision I started to regret with great
sorrow, despite knowing Xeeonite laws preventing Delanian citizens
from bringing weapons with them through the Portals.

So I looked up at the clicker again and
responded, “I must decline this offer for the moment, machine,
because I am unarmed. If ye are such an expert on the Knight's
Code, ye would know that no Knight of Se-Dela can challenge an
unarmed foe unless he is willing to offer that unarmed foe one of
his own weapons.”

“
Good thing I'm not a
Knight of Se-Dela, then,” said the robot. “I only made that offer
to see if you would be naïve enough to accept it.”

“
It matters not whether
or not ye were serious,” I said. I pointed at the bot sharply. “Who
are ye and why do ye stand in mine way like a rock wall? 'Tis an
annoyance, which is all ye bots are.”

“
My name and identity
are unimportant,” said the robot. “I was given one mission, and one
mission only: To keep you from reaching the Annual Unification Day
Parade. Any way I can.”

The robot charged at me, sword swinging
before it as wildly as the claws of an angry big cat. The clicker
moved faster than any machine should have been able to, but I was
able to jump out of the way to avoid its attack.

Or would have been, if the robot had not
come to an abrupt halt and slashed its sword toward me in the
direction I had jumped to avoid it. The blade was coming at me too
fast, like a wasp flying in the air, and I tried to step back to
avoid it.

But, whilst I avoided getting my gut cut
open, the sword blade did indeed cut through my shirt and skin.
'Twas nothing more than a flesh wound, perhaps, but the pain was as
real and burning as any, making me curse as I clutched my bleeding
stomach, which began to stain mine clothes.

Yet I was afforded no time to focus on
that problem, for the robot was upon me again, mine blood coating
its blade, and raised its sword to strike once more. I staggered
back, trying to stay out of its reach, but the bot kept advancing,
its faceless plate preventing me from seeing what it was thinking.
Perhaps that was not necessary; I already knew what this monster
wanted, which was hardly a great mystery at this point.

Whilst I tried to avoid getting hacked to
pieces like fresh meat under a butcher's knife, the electric music
blaring from the parade, along with the cheers of so many different
peoples and species watching it, grew fainter and fainter with each
passing second. How much time the Old Gods had given me before the
parade ended entirely, I knew not; therefore, it was imperative
that I end this conflict quickly.

I nearly tripped over something and
glanced down to see it was a metal trash can lid, lying in the
street as though discarded like it was itself trash. I quickly
picked it up and held it before me in the same manner I would hold
a shield of the Knights of Se-Dela, though I was fully aware of the
futility of this action, particularly with mine still-bleeding
gut.

“
Reduced to using a
trash can lid for a shield,” said the robot, shaking its head as it
drew closer to me. “How pathetic.”

I still backed up until I hit something
solid and metal. I had backed into one of the buildings which
formed this alley, but before I could do anything, the robot swung
its sword at my head again.

I ducked immediately. The robot's sword
collided with the wall, sending sparks that bit at the back of my
neck. The impact of the blade against the wall caused the sword to
fly out of the robot's hand. The robot looked over its shoulder,
watching its sword fly away through the air like a bird flying for
freedom, whilst I took advantage of this opportunity and charged at
the robot behind mine makeshift shield.

Yet 'tis not as successful as an attack as
I hoped, for when the lid crashed into the robot's body, the robot
held its ground and did not so much as budge one inch from its
current position. Amazed by this, I forgot to dodge the robot's
incoming fist.

Oh! How it hurt to be hit in the face by
this machine's fist! Stars flashed in mine eyes, while my jaw felt
like powdered mush in my mouth as I staggered to the side, still
clinging to the trash can lid in my hands. Hot blood trickled down
the side of mine face, rolling down from my temple, though I had no
time to deal with that at the moment.

I shook my head and recovered in time to
see the robot advancing on me again, although it had not bothered
to retrieve its sword. But I highly doubted that the machine needed
any sort of weapon to kill me; indeed, a weapon likely would have
gotten in the way of its mission. Its hands alone looked strong
enough to break my neck like the neck of a chicken.

By now, the sounds of the parade had grown
perilously faint indeed. Deep in my heart, I feared that Kiriah had
already left, returned to wherever she lives in this damn city, but
still I clung to the hope that she had not yet left, that today
would indeed be the day I reunited with her.

Whilst I was a brave Knight of Se-Dela, I
knew I was no match for this mechanical monstrosity. It would keep
going no matter what, even if I did mine best to beat it; 'twas one
of the worst qualities of Xeeonite clickers, doubling also as one
of their best. 'Twas only so long I could go before my wounds
caught up to me and forced me to give up.

Nonetheless, I hurled my makeshift shield
at the machine. It did not bother to so much as duck; instead, it
knocked the spinning lid out of the air with one hand, causing the
lid to crash onto the pavement under our feet.

Though I barely paid attention to that,
because the second I had thrown mine makeshift shield, I turned and
ran, ran as fast as I could, down the alleyway toward the street
where the parade was being celebrated. Perhaps a foolish attempt,
for I was still bleeding and in pain, but I was too desperate to
care at this point.

I heard the quick, light steps of the
robot behind me, coming after me as swiftly as a swift hunting cat.
I did not even look back, for I feared that looking back would only
result in my end coming that much more quickly.

But then I heard something flying through
the air behind me and I tripped. I fell on my face, hitting my head
against the pavement and making my head bleed even more. A quick
glance at mine feet showed me that they were bound together by a
metal chain that was attached to the robot's hand.

The fiend! It caught me with its chain,
but I did not have time to free myself, even as I rolled onto my
back. For the robot was upon me once more, raising its sword above
me, ready to hack away at my flesh with it. The sun shined off the
robot's face plate, reflecting so brightly that I had to squint to
protect mine orbs from being damaged forever.

But I was not about to let this clicker
kill me. I kicked out with mine feet, striking its own and knocking
the machine to the ground. As it fell, it dropped its sword, which
clanged against the pavement next to me, loud in mine ears.

Yet I did not hesitate. Instead, I reached
over and grabbed the sword, wrapping my fingers around the blade as
tightly as I could, and then tried to raise the sword.

'Twas almost too heavy for me to lift, but
I was strong and I raised it nonetheless. Sitting up, I swung the
sword at the chain around my ankles, snapping it effortlessly and
allowing me to scramble back to mine feet as the robot rolled away
from me. It jumped back to its feet and held its hands before it in
a fighting stance, like it had been trained by a professional
fighter of the highest caliber.

“
Run, machine,” I said,
holding the sword in both hands, though it was hard to maintain
such a posture due to my bleeding gut. “Or I will use your own
blade against ye.”

The robot jerked one of its hands toward
me, like it was pushing air at me. 'Twas a puzzling gesture, but
then the sword flew out of my hands back toward the robot. The
blade landed on its outstretched hand, and as soon as it did, the
robot closed its fingers around the handle and held it in both
hands like how it had before.

“
Magnetism,” said the
robot, no doubt in response to my confused expression. “Very useful
for when I lose my weapon like that.”

“
'Tis like the magic of
Dela,” I said. “Are ye certain ye are no wizard in
disguise?”

“
It's not magic, but
science,” said the robot. “Though I suppose that's to be expected
from you Delanians, who couldn't tell the difference between the
two even if it slapped you in the face.”

The pain in my abdomen burned, causing me
to grab my stomach. It was not a conscious reaction; I was simply
reacting on instinct to the pain which harmed me.

This turned out to be a mistake, however,
because the robot charged at me again. It jumped into the air,
swinging its sword wildly, while I staggered out of its path.

Luckily, I managed to avoid the sword;
however, when the robot landed, it swung the remaining chains
hanging from its hand at my face. The metal chain struck me in the
face, a hard, sharp blow that sent me staggering to the side. I
almost tripped over my feet again, but caught myself before I could
do so.

Yet I had little time to recover, because
the robot was coming at me again. I backed up as quickly as I
could, because there was no hope in the two worlds that I could
possibly win this fight.

“
Technically, I don't
have to kill you,” said the robot, its metallic voice as menacing
as ever. “Just keep you from getting to the parade. Nonetheless, I
can tell you will be a bigger threat in the future if you're
allowed to live. Killing you is the only way to deal with you
permanently.”

“
But the J bots will
find mine body,” I said, walking backwards as fast as I could,
holding mine hands over my bleeding wound to stem the flow as best
as I could. “Murder is illegal in Xeeo and Dela. They will
eventually track my murder back to ye, and then ye will be dealt
with like any other criminal.”

“
A naïve thought,” said
the robot, shaking its head. “Haven't you wondered why no J bots
have yet to intervene, despite our fight not being in the center of
Xeeon? If you understood the answer to that, you would understand
why you're going to die today.”

The answer did come to mind immediately,
but 'twas so horrible that I dared not utter it. Nor did I need to;
the robot raised its blade again, and this time, I knew there was
not a thing I could do to stop or avoid it.

Yet before the swordsrobot could bring its
blade down on my head and end my life, it froze like the ice
sculptures of the Winterlands. At first I thought it was some kind
of trick, one final ploy to make me give up in despair, but then
the robot collapsed onto the street, its sword clanging against the
pavement beside it.

What in the names of the Old Gods was
this? Was this divine intervention? Was I—

“
Hey, Rii!” shouted a
feminine, shrill voice I had not heard before. “Stop standing
around like an idiot and get over here!”

I looked around in shock, trying to locate
the source of that voice, when I noticed a young woman—Rathonian,
based on her large, apelike frame and the antennas sticking out of
her head, though truth be told, I did not know my Xeeonite species
as well as I should have—standing at the other end of the alley,
gesturing for me to come toward her. In her other hand, she held
some kind of small device, but what it did, I could not tell from
this distance.