36. Robots

"They've gone completely berserk!" Keiko gaped.

The Siblings' machine slaves were, indeed, quite beyond control. Their many varieties—the wheeled and horned Rollers, the fluttering golden Buzzes, the ever-stretching tendrils, and innumerable others—were working on the castle walls, but some had also begun shifting their attention to any moving target, be it a human, another robot, or simply rolling debris… the contraptions that had tormented the human encampment for years on the leash of the true threat would never be salvaged.

"I'm calling a retreat," Margarita said. "Those robots aren't about to start negotiating with us." She held up a gun, shooting down any machine that continued to pursue her fleeing troops—including her love, Anthony—back to higher ground.

Margarita did a head count. "Okay… is anybody missing?"

"Where's my dad?" Kira said quietly.

Anthony inhaled. "Kira, I—"

"HEY DOWN THERE!"

Kyland stepped out from behind an outcropping of rock, his eyes glassy and a cylindrical device clutched in one fist.

"Oh, damn," Margarita said, lifting her gun again. "You gonna make me waste valuable bullets on another human, Kyland?"

"I doubt you'll be wanting that," Kyland said. "I've re-rigged all our atomic weapons back at the base, see?"

"Atomic weapons?" Anthony cried. "There were no—"

Kyland waved a hand. "Eh, I kept 'em secret for when we needed them."

Anthony's face darkened. "Um, how about the moment we discovered the Siblings?"

"Sure, sure," Kyland said slowly. "I've set them up right now to these coordinates. When my thumb leaves this pressure-sensitive button, we all blow up."

He pointed to them. "So… shooting at me… not a good idea."

"He's thought this out," Margarita said with a sneer. "What are your demands, Kyland?"

"I don't know," Kyland said. "I'd have to think about it."

"You gonna wait for the Siblings to descend on our little gathering?" Margarita said.

"Should we move ourselves elsewhere?" Keiko whispered.

"Wouldn't make a difference," Margarita muttered back. "Assuming there are weapons. We can't afford to find out either way, though."

Kyland laughed, pleased at the power he had obtained—until nine tiny figures leapt straight at the hand holding the detonator.

"Hold his thumb down!" 9 bellowed from Kyland's wrist. 8 followed the directions, wrapping his entire body along the back of his hand.

"We've got to disable this thing," 9 said. "5—"

"On it…" the tinkerer replied, setting his face in a determined scowl.

5 slipped himself into Kyland's hand and started re-wiring the device. "And—it's done."

"Well done, 5," 9 said.

Margarita nodded to three soldiers. "Glover, Landau, Tatasciore—take him."

"Kira," Anthony muttered. "Your dad… Hollywood got him."

Kira blinked. "Got… got him? He's dead?"

Anthony nodded. Kira desperately tried to stifle her flood of tears.

As they sat near the edge of the camp, a bot emerged from its concealment in the bushes and jumped right on the nearest target—Kira.

It was shaped like a spinning top with a point as sharp as a knife, with four equally-pointy legs emerging from its four corners. It drilled itself deeply into Kira's side.

"No!" Ray shrieked. "No, Kira!"

He tackled her, wrestling with the sticking machine as it bored itself into Kira's flesh, spilling her blood into the dust.

Ray used the only item available to him—his father's backpack, filled with his books and papers—and began whacking the machine with it, finally dislodging it from Kira. He didn't stop there, crushing the beast to death with incredible force.

Kyland evaded the three soldiers who were after him, but he was nearly surrounded, and nine stitchpunks were doing their utmost to hamper his progress.

Then a reptilian head rose from the earth itself, and Kyland quickly stopped moving.

"My God…" he muttered. "Hollywood, you never fail to make others quake in your presence."

"It's what I do," Hollywood said simply. "Keeps the sacrifices intimidated…"

"Sacrifices?" Kyland said. "No, no… I'm on your side!"

"Damn straight," Hollywood said. He bit Kyland's skull cleanly in half, deeply inhaling the darkness that leaked from him. "Ah, darkness goes down good," he said. He dodged as the tiniest fragment of light emerged, but this one also searched him out unerringly. But no one could claim surprise at Kyland's immense darkness—unlike his absorption of Frederick, Hollywood came out of this encounter better than he had entered.

The stitchpunks leapt off of Kyland's body as it collapsed.

"Kira!" 7 called, pointing.

"No," 9 whispered. "God, no…"

"Stitchpunks!" Hollywood bellowed. "Seek me out when you've vanquished my Siblings. You see, they don't matter." He tapped the sapphire set in his throat. "You'd do well to witness the truth."

Hollywood stretched his wings. His wingspan was scarcely more than his body length, but somehow he launched himself into unpowered flight, straight up into the clouds.

9 paused in his running towards Kira, looking up to observe the dragon's flight. His eyes snapped back to Kira's wound almost immediately. "Too much going on…" he murmured.

In a few seconds, he was proven quite right. Anthony was tending to Kira's wound, but it was viciously opened. 7 stepped back, realizing something surprising about the injury.

Beneath Kira's skin was clearly flesh and blood, but beyond that, her ribcage was made not of bone, but gilded wood. And beyond the ribs, instead of a heart and lungs, were twirling and turning gears moving in harmony, like clockwork.

"Kira…" Ray breathed, horrified.

Kira looked hopelessly around her. "What am I?" she asked.