The night was empty as the streets. There was no light from the lined street lamps along the
sidewalk. All that was was the comfort of the moon. The world was quiet in ambient and mind.
But one mind was restless.
Aka sat crouched by a gargoyle, mimicking its position, looking into the distance. The quiet was what he desired, but he knew it wouldn't last. The others had to return to the church eventually. They left to protect the border of their territory to make sure the grays wouldn't come. He hadn't sensed them for at least two hours since they left. He didn't worry about them yet, though. His long range sensory hadn't picked up the grays, only the rogues. But he tried to push them out, too.
He wasn't alone. 125 stayed with him. He thought 190 would have instead, but he left—and with 180. It added more worry. He imagined they would be fighting each other rather than the grays.
"Aka. Something on your mind?" 125 was behind him.
"Lots," he muttered.
"Something we should be wary of?"
"No."
"Then what brings you out here?"
"Watching. Thinking."
The Robo Ky near him buzzed a noise. "You are a mysterious Robo Ky."
A Robo Ky. It was rare that another Robo Ky called him that, even here where he was among allies. Although 180 refused him, even when he did defend him in battle. He had saved him several times, and yet, he refused him.
Aka still cared. He was a part of them after all, like it or not.
He was lucky to have 190 and 125.
"A mystery to everyone else, I think," Aka said. "Even to myself."
"Take it up with your creators," 125 said arrogantly.
Aka turned his head around. "How do you think I can do with that? I can't walk in for a visit."
125 put his hands on his hips. The tone in his voice now, the way he held himself. He was already beginning to push it, but Aka didn't care. Sometimes he did test them. Even on purpose.
"I know they don't want to see me again," Aka said. "Look what's happening. They and the Bureau want me dead. I'm an embarrassment."
"Aka. Shut up. We are all an embarrassment to them."
"How are you an embarrassment?"
125 put a hand to his chest. He looked rather regal now, pulling himself together again. "Look how different I am from the new models. They are prouder of them than I. It almost seems I am a prototype as well, as they call you."
Aka sneered at him. "That's nonsense."
125 tapped a foot on the ground. He stared at him for a while, then finally walked to him and squatted, "Aka." He backhanded him across his cheek. "Stop talking." He then stood and retreated. "Those clouds do not seem safe. You might want to get inside before it rains."
Aka looked at him then up to the sky. Rain clouds were drifting close.
Rain was his enemy, worse than the grays. Rain dampened his clothes and buried its way into exposed wiring and between joints. It made him weak. He knew he would be dead if he and the group ran into rain when the grays attacked. They always kept out of the streets on those days just for him.
"Right," he said but stayed where he sat.
The rage between them began to disappear when something came through. He listened, not in the air but from inside. His mouth dropped as it came through.
Aka snapped his head around. "125!"
125 was standing between the doorway with a hand on the door, and one foot inside. "What?" he snapped.
"I hear them. The new models. They're coming!"
"Are they in 180 and 190's direction?"
"I don't know. I'm getting my sword." He bolted for the inside of the church and grabbed the Savior's sword from the altar, as if it was a holy relic. In fact, it was to him and sometimes 180. These days, he let go of it completely. It was as if he had forgotten it belonged to his original leader.
He ran out of the church with 125 struggling to catch up.
There was no time to wait for him. The rogues were a mile away and the grays were advancing.
Come back, he sent. Come back.
He got no response. Could it be they were out of range? Or were they too focused on each other to notice?
Respond! The new models are out there! Come back, now!
Still nothing. It made him run faster. The wind that hit him gave no warning as 125's prediction came true. He didn't feel the sting of the rain when it hit his face. He didn't notice until he saw the sudden drops when the downpour began. His body reacted to it fast.
He fell to the ground on his chest, sliding on the new rain and old oiled pavement. He laid there a moment, only to let more rain fall on him.
His thoughts of 180 and 190 was stronger than his own, although, and stood. He started in a jog only to be brought down to a walk. His legs were already shaking. He had never been caught in a freak downpour like this before. But he didn't want to be stopped by it. 180 and 190 were out there and against who knew how many grays.
He ducked his head and forced his legs to keep moving, only for them to give in.
Aka!
The voice was faint but not the one he wanted.
While one his knees, 125 came to him and took him by the shoulder. He forced him to stand.
"Aka, get out of here," 125 snarled.
"And abandon the fight?"
"You are in no condition to fight. Abandon your mission!"
"No!"
125 shook his head and said, "There is a battle that calls me. Hide." He shoved him with Aka landing on his knees. "There will be three now."
He took off.
Aka watched him, shaking. His mind was screaming in frustration and fear. He wanted to shout into the others' but he was without words. He couldn't send and he couldn't get anything out of his mouth. He couldn't get 125 back. He couldn't stand and fight.
He couldn't help them.
He hung his head and wobbled to the side to the other side of the street where he stumbled up to one of the houses. He grabbed a hold of the door to stop himself and stood there to catch his bearings. He looked down the street again before he threw an elbow into the glass window and let himself in.
He stumbled into the dry house and dropped into a sit. He faced the open doorway, his sword at his side and watched the open. The only thing he could see was the streets and the rain.
He could do nothing but wait.
And so he did, listening to the frequencies in the dark. He listened in the distance, the only side he could sense this far and this thick were the grays. The others must be too far away to detect.
He bared down tight, forcing himself to stay put. The only good that came out of this waiting was that he was beginning to dry. But it would take hours for him to fully dry. And he wasn't willing to wait that long.
By the time complete silence went through his hard drive, he stood. Something was wrong. There wasn't supposed to be silence when Robo Kys were about.
He stood up on wobbly legs and went out the door, limping. There were a few times he nearly fell but he regained himself each time.
He went down the street, onward, to wander aimlessly. He was uncertain which way 125 went and the silence only made it worse. All he could do was wander until he could hear them and find them.
Then he heard them. One.
Aka hurried his steps. He followed it until he came across the gruesome aftermath of the battle of the three. He stopped dead in his tracks at the sight of it. They were all grays, several in pieces. It was like walking through a small scrapheap. He wondered how many they fought. And was it still going on? He couldn't sense any grays. Perhaps the rogues were making sure they were all gone and more weren't coming back.
He walked through the bodies, stepping carefully, making sure he wouldn't fall or wake one of them. He kicked a few and balanced himself the best he could. His legs were still unstable.
"Hello? Anyone here?"
He couldn't send out. There was no one to send out to. And with that conclusion, he thought he would be wasting his time here. So he stepped ahead, and when he did, he kicked something up from the parts and bodies. He looked down by his boot and saw a red gauntlet-wrapped glove. His brow curled. He brushed some parts away from it and uncovered a red shoulder and blonde hair.
He jumped and gasped. It was one of the rogues. 180. He knew it.
He threw himself to the ground and pulled parts away from the body, throwing them wildly aside until he unveiled the head and shoulder of 180 indeed. One half of his face was broken, exposing the gray guts under the shell.
Aka froze, but like a child, he was not convinced it was serious.
"180. Wake up." He began pounding on his shoulder. "Wake up!"
It was pointless. He was gone.
He turned away, gasping over and over. His chest was heaving.
He was crying, unacceptable for a robot, especially for a Robo Ky. He had done it when the Savior had been destroyed and thought he wouldn't do it again. But he was wrong. Now was another episode of emotion. Crying like this was blinding and he always tried to hide it from the others. But he had no control of it.
He crawled across the scraps with them shifting under him.
He continued with these noises, the breaking of him, then he jostled to a stop. He stopped by a gape between two grays. He saw the head of a rogue. It was alone, its body lost somewhere under the grays.
He grabbed it and looked down on it. He couldn't tell which one it belonged to, but it didn't matter. Not anymore. He held it close to him and ducked his head.
Something inside him broke.
The streets glowed in a cold shimmer after the sudden hard downpour. The dark clouds began to move off into the west now, leaving the city wet and stunned, although the after-scent was refreshing. He always loved the scent of the rain, even in the city. Out in the fields and wilds, it was much stronger. There were times he wanted to run away from his duties and the city to breathe fresh air.
But this was not the time for daydreams. There was a suspicious call from the area. He heard it after he came to the reported area. When he came, he heard bangs and cracking noises in the distance like fireworks, but he saw no show of lights in the damp sky.
Soaked from the rain, he followed the source as it went quiet. Whoever reported the noises was right: something was wrong. No one had to be a police officer to know that.
When the noises stopped, he moved further down the street, picking up the pace. His ears were locked on it and kept tracking it like any dog of war and cop would, looking through the maze of streets until he came upon an odd sight.
There were bodies laying on the ground, masses of them. Ky's heart jumped when he first saw the scene, then as he moved closer, he noticed they weren't bodies of men but broken and fallen robots.
They were the kind he had met months ago.
As he looked through them, he saw a figure in the mass. Squinting, he stepped through the bodies, closer to the figure, who was dressed in red. He was crouched and held something close to his chest.
The man turned his head to him and stared at him with steely-blue eyes once they met. They were not the eyes of the robot he met long ago. Once timid and afraid, they were now hateful, distant and spooky.
"Aka?"
The robot set whatever he was holding aside and rose.
"Aka? What happened here?"
The robot didn't speak, only stood there, staring blankly. He looked about his feet then looked at him again.
Ky took a few steps closer then stopped. He wasn't going to move any closer. He wasn't sure what kind of changes he went through as time went by. An aggression could have matured out here in the streets.
"Ky Kiske," he said. "I never thought I would see you again. It's funny how your past follows you." He grinned as he shivered lightly.
This was not the Aka he last saw. He was different. He looked different. He spoke different. He behaved different. Had it been a trick after all?
"Kiske, I want you to do something for me, something you should have done a long time ago." He bent down and picked up a clone of his own sword. He held it at his side as he walked towards him, stumbling a bit.
"Kill me!"
He lunged at him.
There was silence. A pleasant silence. He laid there in the silence, in the darkness. He thought this was finally it.
He was comfortable in this place. It began to feel familiar.
Something stirred nearby. He listened as it clambered and shifted and moved towards him. He stayed still a moment then finally opened his eyes. He saw darkness, then a familiar face.
"Oh, 190, there you are."