Chapter Nine:
The Central Grid. A twenty-story metallic structure housing all of the city's energy. No humans guarding or occupying the building. The Central Grid is self-aware with twenty-one layers of security encryption. If a hacker were to break the first twenty encryptions, the last would prove the most difficult. There was never a concern or threat that could get to the top and bring it all down. Not until today.
"You need to get angry," the other Dorian said. "Think about your leg."
"Excuse me?" Keenex pressed against a metallic column with his gun poised before him. "Shouldn't you focus on the vans heading this way?"
"I am."
"With what? You don't have a gun."
"Let me worry about that and not about you."
"Don't worry about me, Dor… Don't."
"You need to stop them not slow them down."
"Are you asking me to kill them?"
"Yes. I am."
"Then, you are a true machine."
"They're here, detective."
Three white and yellow vans sped up to the Central Grid. Two stopped right in front of the main entrance. The last flew around back, disappearing from sight. The doors flew open, and bullets thundered through the air, missing Keenex by an inch. They knew that he was there. They knew exactly where he was, and he ducked for cover. As he did, the other Dorian took off.
"Damn it," Keenex muttered under his breath. "I am so not going to die today," and he returned fire.
There were twelve men total. Only three dropped. The rest descended upon Keenex, and he was just out of ammo. He pressed his back against the metallic column, wiping the sweat from his brow, and knowing that this might be the last bullet. But as he turned and fired, his would-be assassins were now battling with five Dorians.
As the dust settled, Kennex dropped his now empty gun to the ground. Only two Dorians remained. The rest were all dead. Sirens filled the air. Back-up was coming after all, but more gunfire erupted within.
"Go," the two other Dorians said in sync. "We'll hold off the police."
"Don't kill them."
"We'll try," the other Dorians stated. "Go," and Keenex ran inside.
The glass doors hardly slid behind him when a miniature drone appeared. A red light flashed, and a laser beam sliced through his leg, revealing the robotic limb beneath. It hardly scratched the surface, but now it aimed for his head. And there was nowhere for him to run or hide.
An explosion was heard. Keenex opened one eye to see the dead drone lying at his feet. He looked upward at the spiral balcony to see a Dorian staring back at him. He nodded, but the other just took off. And he followed, ready to find Anna and Hera.
Anna and Hera had entered the building through the back entrance. There were five men surrounding them. Anna used a control pad to activate the security elevator, and they stepped inside, heading to the twentieth floor.
"There's twenty-one security encryptions," Anna explained, "but only twenty floors."
"Why's that?"
"To ensure that nothing gets in and disrupts the system. The designers never counted on one real flaw."
"Which is," Hera asked.
"You."
The elevator doors opened. Dorians appeared, grabbing the men, and hurling them out into the corridor. They proceeded to attack them, and one turned toward Anna and Hera. But Anna got the elevator doors closed just in time.
"Damn it!" They began to descend below. "Where the hell did they come from?" Hera merely pushed the red 20 button, and they began to rise up once more. "What are you doing? We can't fight all those androids."
"You forget whose standing next to you."
The elevator doors opened once more. The Dorians were gone, or so it appeared. Anna ready her gun and stepped outside. Hera followed, and then there they were, storming toward them. And just as they got within a breath's reach, Hera clapped her hands, throwing them backward with a sonic boom, and they flew out the window and down to the ground.
"This way," and Anna stepped over her now dead men.
"Doesn't it bother you?"
"What?"
"That your men are dead?"
"I told you, Lil… Hera. They were ready to die for the cause. Are you?"
A metallic door hummed at the end of the corridor. Hera moved past Anna. Such energy. It was intoxicating, pulling her toward it like honey, and she forgot about the woman trying to keep up beside her. But Hera was already at the door, and with her power, she drained the security locks dry. The door popped open like a lid on a jar, and Hera walked inside, right into the blue, electrified core. She stretched out her fingers, being struck by a million blue lightning bolts, and Anna took a step back.
A moment later, she was down. Keenex was on top of her. They were face to face. Neither one spoke. Fear, anger, and maybe a little lust mixed into the silence, and then they turned toward Hera, who now focused on them.
"What did you do," Keenex yelled at Anna.
"You're too late, John."
Hera's eyes flashed orange. Her skin darkened. Her body began to pulse with energy. A symbol formed across her forehead, a symbol that Keenex and Anna both recognized.
"Oh my god," Anna said. "John, I didn't know. I didn't know. You have to stop her." She now clung to him desperately. "Please. You have to stop her."
Keenex responded, moving swiftly toward Hera. A blue lightning bolt lashed out at his robotic leg, and he fell forward. His leg was dead. He struggled onto one foot, trying to still get to her, and then a small shockwave struck him, sending him flying back into Anna.
Dorian, his Dorian stepped into sight. He looked down at the unconscious Keenex and Anna. He turned toward Hera, who now watched him intently. He moved quickly toward her as a million blue lightning bolts struck him. He struggled to reach her. He was almost there, but then all that energy consumed him. And he fell at her feet, twitching, and she watched him, hoping that this would be his end. And then a bullet hit home.
Hera flew backward. The energy stopped. A lightning bolt flashed outward, and the symbol faded from her forehead. But her eyes remained orange, and she studied the blood pouring from her side. She looked up to see someone familiar standing before her.
"Lily, stop it," Nigel roared. "Enough, damn it! Enough! You are going to kill everyone."
"No. No, I wasn't," she whispered.
"You're a bomb, Lily. Your father made you into a bomb."
"Doc?"
Dorian jumped to his feet and grabbed her. He spun past Nigel, holding Hera tightly to his chest. He flew out the window, crashing to the ground, and a huge explosion followed, waking John from his daze. And as debris and smoke fell outside, so did Nigel.
"Doc?" John moved toward him, helping him to the ground. He examined the man now in his arms and realized that a lightning bolt had zapped through his chest. "It's okay. I'll get some help." Nigel grabbed his arm instead. "I'll get some help."
"She needs to die, detective. If she doesn't, she'll kill us all. It's not her fault, but she was made this way. And it has to be done. Dorian has to do it. I created him, in case this ever happened, and he has to be the one to do it." He gripped Keenex's arm tighter. "When it's over, he'll… He'll come back to you," and he fell silent in Keenex's embrace.
"Doc?" Anna now stood before John with tears in her eyes. "Doc?"
Outside, a huge crater is seen. There is no sign of Dorian or Hera. The other Dorians that survived are now gathering around, climbing down into the hole. The cops, the military descended upon the smoky scene.