VIII

Percy did not need any more stress. He was barely fifteen, and already he was losing sleep and growing gray hairs. At least, he believed he was, because with everything on his plate…

"You okay?" Annabeth asked, sliding onto the bench beside him.

"Yeah…" he groaned. He couldn't help but be glad that the Hunters had left. They usually caused fights in Camp, and breaking them up weren't easy at all. However, it didn't help that Nico had disappeared. After that little explosion, he had ran away, and nobody saw him again. They tried to track him with both magic and technology, but all attempts were proven fruitless.

Then Percy recalled what they had overheard on that cruise ship when they passed Luke. He was planning to destroy Camp. If that was going to happen, they would have to be prepared.

Still thinking, Percy excused himself and headed towards Cabin Nine.

Charles Beckondorf was the head counselor of Cabin Nine, and he's the best tinkerer there was in Camp. He could make just about anything, no matter how wild it might seem to be.

As usual, Percy found the Dark-skinned Hunted hunched over some complicated gadget. Sensing him, he turned and smiled as a greeting.

"Hey, Beckondorf," Percy greeted back.

Beckondorf placed the thing he was working on onto the worktable in front of him and stood. He led Percy to one corner of the room.

"So I've been experimenting on some new ideas," he introduced, gesturing at a crate of metal gadgets, most of which Percy couldn't recognize. "Of course, there's the usual in here: gas bombs, grenades, normal and enhanced weapons… but I've gotten some new ideas. For example, here's one," he picked something up from the heap of metal. It was a round disc with a few small buttons on the sides, color coded by several different-colored stickers. "This is kind of like a spying and tracking device. It's voice-commanded, and you just have to say the name of a place, loud and clear, and it will show you. Like this." Beckondorf demonstrated, holding the disc in front of him and saying, "The Eiffel Tower!", pronouncing each syllable crisply. On the smooth surface of the bronze disc, an image rippled into focus. It was the Eiffel Tower. People toured around the building, taking pictures, strolling about.

"Whoa." Percy was impressed. "It certainly makes things easier."

"It can track people as well," Beckondorf informed him. "Except you have to say the person's name, age, and blood type. Why blood type? I have no idea." Then, he proceeded to explain the little buttons on the disc's sides.

Percy nodded. He tried to remember everything Beckondorf said so he could report to Chiron afterwards, but all the information was getting a little overwhelming.

"Now, there's one more thing I'd like to show you." Beckondorf placed the disc back into the crate and took out something else. It was a little metal sphere that seemed to be made of hundreds and millions of thin strips of metal overlapping each other to form a sturdy ball. On the top of the sphere was a small line that reminded Percy of a bomb.

As if reading his mind, Beckondorf said, "It's similar to a bomb. More like a grenade, to be more specific, except it's much more dangerous. After you pull this little thing here out," he pointed at the short line, "the sphere will explode in approximately three seconds, so you have to move fast, throw quickly. It's not like a normal grenade, though."

Percy nodded once more. Of course it wouldn't be. Why else would Beckondorf be showing this to him?

"When the sphere explodes, instead of fire and smoke and shards of metal, the metal strips will unravel, and attack."

"I see," Percy said thoughtfully, even though questions were floating around in his head. What if the tendrils attacked you instead of the enemy?

He was about to voice his question when Beckondorf spoke, "Also, don't worry, the tendrils will always attack your enemies. It's programmed that way."

"Programmed that way." Percy was even more impressed. It must've taken forever to make it, programming and all the other stuff he'll never understand.

"Yes," Beckondork confirmed. He held up the sphere, as if going to demonstrate its power. "Like this." And he pulled off the line.

For a second, Percy was frozen. His mind was unable to register what had happened. He was only able to watch as the sphere dropped to the ground and Beckondorf backed away.

One… Two… Three.

The sphere exploded. Tendrils of thin, deadly blades cut through the air with a shrill whistling sound, and Percy could only thanks to his trained instincts when he found that his body had acted on its own accord, pulling out his sword and defending himself.

There were approximately five tendrils in all, but each seemed infinitely long. Even though he cut them in half- which was easy considering how thin they were- they continued to grow, swiping through the air towards him. The tendrils might be flimsy, but they weren't blunt. They were still blades, and soon, Percy had small cuts all over him. Luckily for him, the sphere finally unraveled completely, revealing a tiny core the size of his thumbnail, and the shortened strips of metal fell limp to the ground, no longer able to do anything.

Percy was surrounded by strips of thin blades, and he was cautious as he stepped out, mind still reeling. What had happened? Beckondorf had disappeared after throwing the sphere at him. Percy frowned slightly, and could feel his mind slumping in exhaustion. The situation was getting more and more out of hand.

He was just about to head towards the Big House to report to Chiron when the screaming began.

Percy spun around, and was met by billowing mist. He immediately recognized it as the gas from the gas bombs. Through the gas were dark silhouettes of people stumbling around. Many people stumbled from the gray substance, coughing, eyes watering.

What was happening?

People were shouting in alarm, panicking.

The gas began to clear, and through the haze, Percy saw two glowing red dots. They moved with a faraway silhouette, like eyes. Eyes of those robots Cabin Nine often created. Bright, constant, controlled…

Must be a monster, Percy thought immediately. A monster has breached their Camp defenses and invaded Camp.

However, as the mist dissipated and the 'monster' came into view, Percy realized that he was wrong. Very, very wrong.

The two glowing red eyes did not belong to a haywire robot or a mechanic monster sent by the Titans.

They belonged to Beckondorf.

Beckondorf was a cyborg. And he has gone haywire.

το κυνήγι

Percy didn't know what to do. Should he attack Beckondorf? Try to disable him- maybe even kill him? It was difficult to decide.

"Percy!" somebody shouted his name, and Percy turned to see Annabeth with a determined expression on her face. She pointed at Beckondorf, nodded, and charged.

Percy had no choice but to follow.

It was Annabeth, he reassured himself. Annabeth always has a plan. Just go with the flow.

"Knock him out," Annabeth commanded him when they got close enough to communicate normally.

"How?" Percy wanted to ask. Beckondorf looked pretty dangerous right now, with all the dangerous weapons around him, but Annabeth was already gone.

Shrugging, Percy ran towards Beckondorf, who, at that moment, hurled something him. He managed to dodge it, but the resulting explosion behind him blew him off his feet and shot him forward several meters. Percy landed painfully on his back, his breath knocked out of his lungs.

Beckondorf loomed over him with a spear in his hand. It seems as if he had taken all the weapons in the weapon crate. He positioned the spear over Percy's heart, hands steady, expression blank, eyes glowing with discord.

Then suddenly, Annabeth appeared behind him, slashing her dagger towards his arm. But when it cut through his skin, she was met by a clang of metal.

The blonde girl blinked, seeming vaguely surprised, before Beckondorf swung his arm to one side, knocking Ananbeth several meters down the hill, where she rolled before stopping. She didn't move.

Once again, Beckondorf angled the spear over Percy, but during the time Beckondorf was fending off Annabeth, he had caught his breath once more, and rolled away before the cyborg could react.

Percy leapt back before attacking, each time met by the metal under Beckondorf's skin. How do you kill a cyborg? No one had ever told him before. He had heard of them before, but had never actually encountered one before now.

Beckondorf threw one of the tendril bombs at him, and with the flat of his sword, Percy hit it the best he could- baseball style- before the bomb exploded. Tendrils erupted in the air, and shot towards every direction, since it did not seem to have a focused enemy group. Percy cut off a few legs, then attacked Beckondorf again.

At that moment, he heard Annabeth shout, her voice hoarse, "The stomach, Percy! The stomach is weak!"

The stomach. All he had to do was slice open the stomach.

Easier said than done.

Percy continued to fight, doing the best he could to disarm the cyborg. He was tiring quickly, unlike Beckondorf, and he knew he had to get this over as quickly as he could if he wanted to win this battle.

From the distance, Annabeth hurled her dagger with all her strength and her sharp accuracy. Beckondorf didn't notice the knife until it knocked into his temple. It did not pierce through him or damage him much, but it distracted him.

And that was all Percy needed.

With one mighty swipe, using both hands and all his force, Percy cut a path through Beckondorf's stomach.

The cyborg jarred, before the top half of his body toppled back, ripping his torso apart.

Wires sparked. There was a hiss of smoke. Fire flared, then shut off.

Beckondorf's body fell to one side, and all was still once more.

After a few moments, Percy gingerly made his way to Beckondorf's body, cautious and ready. Annabeth was right behind him.

They checked his injury, they tugged on the wires. He didn't react.

"Oh my gods," somebody yelped behind him. A crowd was beginning to form. Muttering filled the air.

Then someone shouted, "Silena! Get Silena!"

Yes, Percy agreed silently. Silena was Beckondorf's girlfriend: she had to know something.

A few kids from Cabin Nine were examining Beckondorf's remains with trembling horror. Their counselor was a cyborg, and they had never known.

Then, there was a shout.

"Silena!"

Heads turned as a girl from Cabin Ten- Silena's cabin- stumbled out from her cabin and ran up the hill.

"Silena!" she was shouting. "Silena is gone! Her possessions, everything…" she trailed into a sob.

Percy felt numb. Frozen. The situation was getting out of hand. It was too insane.

First Luke, then Beckondorf, and now… Silena has disappeared. The same way Luke did.

Silena has betrayed them.

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