It was not that Miss Pauling could not trust her mercenaries to find Gray before he found them but...
Miss Pauling could not trust her mercenaries to find Gray before he found them.
"We're just what, ten people? Ten people, against a whole army of robots. Tireless robots, that can hunt us for days on end. I'm not trying to undermine your skills or anything guys, but really. Just really. Think about it." The eight mercenaries, along with Miss Pauling and Bidwell had since left the burning Mann Co headquarters with their new weaponry and were headed to any old factory to get suited up again. She utterly refused to let them walk into battle in clothing that looked very much like it was bought from a garage sale - their Medic was wearing a T-shirt and pants, for crying out loud. If they were walking to their deaths, she at least wanted some form of dignity.
"I'm really sorry, Frau, but ve are trying to be optimistic here, ja? And you aren't quite helping. I mean, ve are probably valking straight to our graves, but no need to be constantly reminded." Bidwell led them straight to one of the nearest common factories, which had only been half a mile away. It was completely dark inside, though from the outside, it was a large grey block of cement, with few windows to provide anyone inside with air. Not that Mann Co ever thought their workers needed it, of course.
The path leading right up to the factory was just plain dirt that looked a little different from the rest of the earthy tones all around. It was a path that had clearly been walked on by any before, tiny sprouts of grass refusing to grow on the compacted soil, thin fractures in the hot dirt running across the path. The factory stood equally as stark as the Mann Co Headquarters had against the too-bright Australian sky, seeming like nothing but a big blob of grey that shouldn't have been there. The only thing setting it apart from one of Gray's robot factories was the giant Mann Co sign stamped right on the front of the building
"What's the plan again? Go inside, get suited up and get out? But where exactly would we go next?" Engineer took a moment to pull off his scratched hardhat and wipe the sweat collecting on his forehead. Texas had been hot, but it was nothing compared to Australia.
"That's pretty much it. We'll track down Gray after you all get suited up. Or we can actually hunker down somewhere, and wait for him to find us." Miss Pauling as somewhat relieved to see the factory, pushing aside the heavy doors to let herself and the mercenaries in.
"I dunno lass, I rather go find the bloody bastard and give him what he deserves."
"An ice pick in the head?"
"I like the way ye think, boyo."
The factory was unlit and not functional. Scrap metal, unfinished weapons, and piles of finished weaponry lay around on conveyor belts that had seemed to gone out of operation a considerable amount of time ago. A not-so-thin layer of dust had settled over everything.
Miss Pauling ignored the metal and weaponry of the finished and unfinished variety, heading straight for her target. On the second floor, was a massive room full of sewing machines, red fabric, and coatracks of finished uniforms.
"Holy hell…" Axel breathed. "That's a lot of uniforms for eighteen men."
Miss Pauling refused to make eye contact. "Aha, yeah… eighteen." She quickly noticed her slip and tried to cover up. "You won't believe how many uniforms you guys go through a year. It's enough for a few hundred men."
Axel was highly suspicious, but decided not to prod further. It didn't sound like business that he wanted to know.
"Anyway guys, get suited up, and we'll get out of here. Oh, and Pyro? Burn the old clothes when you're all done." She turned around to let the men sift through the clothes for a uniform that fit their classes and themselves, that wasn't too old or shabby. Makina and Medibot resigned themselves to picking up a new Medigun for Medibot on the weapons floor, Bidwell deciding to follow.
Her phone began to ring. She picked up, despite not knowing the number. "Hello?"
No one responded. She could hear a light breathing that lasted a few seconds, then the caller hung up. She stared at the phone, confused. "Who could have called?" The caller ID was not a number she recognised from anywhere, and she didn't have her computer to track it. She hoped whoever had called had just been a prank caller or an accidental call.
When she turned around, most of her mercenaries had gotten into their uniforms. It felt a little relieving to see them once more, looking so familiar. It was almost as if they were all just back in Teufort. Just a dusty, dark, clothes-filled Teufort.
Axel pulled on a rubber mask, strapping on the steaming, horned skull mask that he had kept clipped to his belt. Just like that, a sensible, charming man had turned back into a mumbling, murderous arsonist. For familiarity sake, he also had a red wizard hat on, just like his usual.
Medic side-eyed the hat, shaking his head. "I don't know vhy you vear zhat zhing, Herr Pyro." Pyro only replied with a thumbs up, pointing to the pale blue coat the doctor donned.
The second everyone had gotten into uniforms, names disappeared, and they began to address each other by class again, It was a whole transformation that had taken place, so simply by wearing a uniform.
"I'll admit, the uniform never felt this comfortable," Engineer said, looking down at his overalls that sat over a red polo shirt. "Didn't think I'd ever miss it."
Pyro nudged Engineer, gesturing to someone else across the room. Everyone fell silent, watching Spy wander over to the side of the room where blue clothes took dominance. He picked around the piles of clothes, and when he found what he seemingly wanted, bent down to pick up a simple blue shirt. The assassin said nothing, and neither did anyone else. Among all the blue, he was just a spot of red, like blood oozing out of a fresh gunshot wound. After a moment more of staring at the shirt, he let it fall from his hands and back onto the pile, retreating from the sea of blue clothes.
Miss Pauling decided to break the silence. "If you guys are done, we can go downstairs and get the robots and Bidwell." A dash of something that felt a little like hope fluttered within her, seeing her mercenaries almost as good as new. Fresh (albeit a little crumpled) uniforms, new, expensive weaponry (that now put her into several trillions of dollars of debt), it filled her with a little bit of hope.
They filed down the stairs and back to the weapons floor, finding Makina, Medibot and Bidwell also fully geared. Medibot was clutching the Medigun in his hands tightly, the hose connected to the medpack attached to his back.
Everyone stared at each other, an odd sense of familiar unfamiliarity washing over everyone. Spy frowned, adjusting his suit jacket. "Does anyone hear that?"
"Hear vhat?"
"A low whistle. Almost like a…. rocket."
A loud explosion rocked the building, the walls and floor shaking violently as a rocket slammed into the side of the building and exploded. A second and a third followed suit, throwing the factory into flames that licked at the walls and began to creep towards the insides of the factory.
"Move!" Spy yelled, thrusting the mercenaries into action. Explosions left ears ringing, the floor shaking, as rockets continued to fire at the building. The old factory walls began to crack and heave under the flames and explosions, not wanting to hold itself up.
Miss Pauling ran straight for the open doors, gasping as Medic grabbed her and pulled her aside as a rocket slammed into the wall, bursting it into flames.
The once dim factory was now alight with orange, casting a cruelly eerie glow on everything. Little bits of the ceiling began to peel and crumble, pattering onto the floor below.
"Pyro!" Miss Pauling called. "Can't you get rid of this with your powers or something?"
Pyro was desperately airblasting the flames, but they crawled back too easily. "Nhh! Ahh chhn hhnly chhntrhll iht, nhht rhhmhhve iht!" Miss Pauling only grasped half of those words, but pyro's desperate hand gestures told her no. "Jhhst rhnn thrhhgh thh fllhhmes!"
"Are you mad? Run through the flames?" Engineer retorted. The fire was starting to get bigger, the only thing keeping it under slight control being the flamethrower in Pyro's hands.
"Ghh! Bhfhhre iht ghhts bigghr!" He blasted some of the flames out, shoving Miss Pauling forward. "Ghht hht!"
All at once they ran through the flames. The heat made her sweat, her ears were still ringing, and everything seemed to be in slow motion as she made straight for the open metal doors. Rockets stopped coming, but the factory was crumbling right on top of them. Miss Pauling threw herself out of the doors and into safety. Nonetheless she scrambled further away from the crumbling building, glasses falling off her face.
The building had quickly reduced into flaming rubble, dust and dirt flying up into the air in a thick cloud as debris crashed to the floor. Miss Pauling remained on the floor for awhile, trying to catch her breath, before frantically looking around to make sure Bidwell and the mercenaries were safe.
She let herself flop to the ground in relief as she counted the mercenaries, finding everyone out of the destroyed factory. For the most part everyone looked okay, watching the burning mass of concrete in front of them.
Medic hauled Miss Pauling to her feet, quickly looking her over to make sure she was okay. "Ve should get out of here. Whoever vas shooting at us knows ve're here. Ve should move before zhe dust settles."
The team began to run back to the Mann Co. They could grab a plane and flee and… Demoman glanced behind him, eye widening at the sight of someone chasing them. Any features were indistinguishable, but Demoman could tell whoever it was seemed pretty determined on catching up.
"Aye, lads? Ye might wanna hurry up and get the plane started." Bidwell had redirected from the plane and to a luxury car, big enough to hold Saxton Hale himself, but not eight mercenaries and two secretaries.
"The jets aren't fueled! Get into the car and let's get out of here!" With some pushing and shoving, the mercenaries squeezed into the too-small car, Bidwell slamming down on the accelerator before their pursuer, whoever it was, caught up.
Everyone in the car relaxed a little as it sped away, Mann Co and the burning factory shrinking behind them. "At least that's outta the wa-" Something pinged against the side of the car, Engineer poking his head out of the window to see their pursuer still giving chase in a second car. A hand stuck out of the driver's side window, a shotgun pointed at the black car speeding ahead.
"Ah spoke too soon, didn't I?" Engineer's face fell, a scowl forming as Pyro shifted himself to the side of the car, pushing the door open. "Pyro! What are you-" Pyro shoved his flamethrower into Engineer's hands.
"Pssh iht bhhck thh mhh whhn I'hmm ohn thh rhhf." He stuck his upper body out of the car, gripping onto the roof, and swinging himself up. There was a clank, and Engineer only let out a breath he hadn't realised he'd been holding until Pyro's hand reached down for the flamethrower. The weapon disappeared onto the roof of the speeding car.
Pyro steadied himself, feeling the force of the wind against him. If he was not careful, he would take a tumble straight off the car. Keeping his weight balanced to counter the car's movement, he let out short spurts of flames to keep their attacker back.
The dirt road under them changed to smooth asphalt, and they sped onto a highway into a small town.
Miss Pauling looked back at her mercenaries, panicking when she didn't see Pyro. Muffled shouting coming from the roof of the car gave her little relief. She turned her stare to Bidwell, who had a frown etched into his thin brows, eyes locked onto the road.
Pyro most certainly noticed two police cars they sped by. Immediately the cops jumped into action, the pursuer's car dropping behind and disappearing. Now one chaser had turned into two cop cars with sirens wailing.
"Whht!" Pyro banged on the car roof with a hand, lowering his flamethrower. It was too risky to get back into the car now, but he was certain what he was doing was illegal, and so was his weapon.
Medibot rolled down the window on his side to look out. The number of cop cars had tripled, sirens wailing in a wordless attempt to get the speeding car to stop. "Oh... zhey're not very friendly are zhey?" Another bullet whizzed by his head, and he retreated into the car.
"Ach, zhey're shooting us too?" Medic growled. "Bidwell, keep driving." He pushed his way to the door as well, kicking open the door and swinging onto the roof with ease.
"Mhhdic!" Pyro was surprised to see the doctor join him on the roof. A bullet missed them by an inch.
"Zhis car isn't going to last long at zhe rate zhey're shooting." He cast a shield faced at the cops. For a moment they slowed, stunned by the fizzling blue shield that had sprung from nowhere, but picking up speed once the initial shock was gone.
Inside the car, Bidwell continued to push the car to its maximum, tires skidding on the road at turns. In the distance ahead, pinpricks of red and blue light flashed. His eyes widened in horror. It was a formidable barrier of police cars, preventing them from going further.
"Drive right through them," Makina suggested.
"The car we're in will blow first. I can't, I have to stop." Bidwell turned to look at Miss Pauling's frantic face. "I'm sorry."
The car skidded to a halt as it got dangerously near to the barrier, throwing both mercenaries on the roof off and forward. Miss Pauling gasped in horror as she saw both of them tumble off the car and onto the ground in front of the car, herself yanking open the door and squeezing out.
Police officers of varying threat had surrounded them, all holding guns. Two officers had guns pointed directly at the mercenaries on the ground, a third one stopping Miss Pauling from checking on them with an assault rifle directed at her chest.
"Get out of the car!" A particularly thin officer yelled, throwing open the car door and threateningly pointing his rifle at those inside.
"Aye, aye, no need ta yell lad." Demoman got out with a grumble, his cool disposition unnerving some of the less jaded officers.
They were surrounded now, with no visible way of escape that wouldn't involve sacrificing one or two of them. Surveying the officers, Spy realised a lot of them were eager to fire their weapons, but yet all seemed relatively easy to stab of he could get behind them. He itched to unleash the hidden blade within his sleeve.
"Hands in the air!" The same officer ordered. Initial hesitation had him firing at the ground, too close to Miss Pauling's feet for comfort. "I said hands in the air! Now!" Reluctantly, they raised their hands, all eyes diverting to a simple white car as the door opened.
Makina's gears whirred with anger as Gray came face to face with him, the smaller man's face plastered with exaggerated disappointment. He clicked his tongue.
"What a shame, you know? I was looking forward to working with you all. A peaceful agreement, just help me finish my project and then I'd stop waging war on you." He wandered to Pyro and Medic, both of which had been forced to their feet and back to their friends. "I honestly thought you mercenaries were a little more hard-headed then to listen to two broken robots. Is that was Miss Pauling teaches you?"
Silence fell over the group. Gray continued to walk around, clicking his tongue. "Well, I still have my project to finish. Of course... I really don't need all of you. Just one." He sauntered up to Medibot, who really wished he was elsewhere. "Just one."
Gray's gaze shifted to Makina, who, despite firearms pointed at him, moved to stand between Gray and Medibot. "You'll have to get through me, asshole."
"You? Oh please, you break my heart."
"You don't have one."
In one swift movement Gray pulled out a small remote, clicked a button, and the light from Makina's eyes died, any whirr of processors going quiet. His head drooped, and he stopped talking. The robot remained standing, but had been shut off. Medibot stared in horror, feeling vulnerable without his friend to protect him and talk for him.
Gray smiled at Medibot, before looking back at the circle of officers. "Take them away. Feel free to have a little fun, but don't kill them. I might need one or a few of them, in case this one doesn't talk." He clicked the remote again and Medibot shut down as well, Gray pulling the inactive bot along like a child while the officers shoved the mercenaries into police cars, them unsuccessfully wriggling and wrestling to lunge at Gray.
...
When Medibot was turned on again, he was greeted with shockingly familiar surroundings. He was back at the factory.
So much for escaping.
All that work, all that effort trying to run away, to escape from this madman, was reduced to nothing. He was in Gray's office, the old man sitting at his desk going through paperwork.
"Ah, hello there, 208. Good to see you. How are you?" Medibot hated Gray for calling him his number, and maintained a stony silence. Resentment for this man grew within him, and for the first time, he felt hatred. It felt pretty good.
Gray got up from his seat, stepping over dried blood that had refused to get out of the carpet. He looked down at dismay at the stain, clicking his tongue. "See, you also did this to my carpet. Couldn't save him, could you?" Medibot urged to wrap his hands around his neck and strangle him, but the security cameras would alert every other robot in the building. Looking behind, there were two Heavybots standing at the door, watching him closely. He would just have to play along for now.
"I know we're not exactly off to a good start here, but I'd like to show you my project nonetheless, seeing as how you're a pretty big part of it yourself. Walk with me." Gray passed Medibot and out of the doors. Medibot was reluctant to follow, but the Heavybots rounded on him and shoved him out, giving him no choice but to follow the old man.
...
"Hhy, Ehhngie. Thhry thhrn hhm ohn."
"What?"
"Thhrn hhm ohn."
"I zhink Herr Pyro means to turn zhe robot on."
"Oh."
Engineer reached a foot out and flip Makina over. The robot didn't respond to the rough movement. Scooting forward, Engineer turned around, leaning backwards to try fiddle with the switch panel with his hands cuffed behind his back. After several unsuccessful flicks, he got the right switch and Makina began to power up again.
The officers had thrown them into Gray's jail at his command and left them cuffed where they were now in the presence of several idle Heavybots that would beat them around when they felt like it. None of the mercenaries were without some fresh cuts and bruises.
Makina stared hard at the mercenaries around him. "Where's Medibot." The question came out flat, the robot clearly unhappy about where he was and what he assumed Gray had done.
"Gray took him. We don't know where he is, but I assume it's somewhere in this building." Spy leaned against the far wall, away from everyone else. Quietly he was cutting out of his restraints with his hidden blade that had surprisingly not been confiscated. How long it would take for a knife to cut through handcuffs, he didn't know.
"The hell would Gray want with him?" Makina asked. He was frustrated, very frustrated. One of the Heavybots got out of idle mode, beating a fist against a palm as it looked around for its next target. Its eyes settled on Pyro. Oh boy.
...
"So you see, you know I'm an ambitious man. I try to further humanity's development with the use of robots. Why send real men with families to war, when we can send robots? Endless robots, with no family, no feelings, no pain? Of course, I've only been in the robot manufacturing business for awhile, so things aren't flawless."
Gray blabbered on and on as he walked, seemingly lost in his own words. Medibot followed behind, hardly listening, and fully aware of the Heavybots still following, occasionally pushing him when he slowed down and keep distance from Gray. Gray stopped in front of a pair of heavy sliding doors, placing his palm on a scanner.
"…So you see, I've created some new prototypes. And I didn't want just any random person coming in and trying to steal them and use them, so I also installed a code…"
The doors slid open with a shhk! and Medibot could already see. At the end of a pristine marble hallway, were two shining robots. They looked like any other Pyrobot and Medibot, but they were bigger, made of quality materials, and probably had a lot of hidden functions Medibot didn't quite want to know. Completely new. Gray took Medibot right up to them.
"…the code changes every thirty seconds, so even if someone were to steal them, they wouldn't be able to use them or activate them unless they stole you too."
"Vait, vhat?" Medibot couldn't keep the question.
Gray shook his head. "You weren't listening, were you? I said, there's a code linked to these two that is needed to activate them, and it changes every thirty seconds. The code is also linked to your serial number, and only you know the code. I need it."
"I… I'm not giving it to you." If Gray wanted to use it to activate the two prototypes and go on a rampage, well, he was going to have to force it out of him.
Gray frowned. "You know, I made you initially just to be 358's 'personal assistant'. I made you with all your little quirks, and one of them includes following orders, in case you forgot. It was initially so you would oblige to any thing 358 requested within reason, but I figure it'd be good if I needed you to hold the code for me, and provide it when I asked. Give. Me. The. Code."
Medibot stayed adamantly silent, glaring at Gray. Gray returned the glare for awhile, before relenting.
"Alright, that's fine. If you won't give me the code, and I can't force it out of you, we'll just call a friend of yours to help, shall we?"
He gestured to one of the Heavybots, whispering something to it. It nodded and turned, leaving the room. Gray's eyes settled on Medibot again, a smile forming on his lips. "I'm sure your friend will be very helpful."
It wasn't too long before the Heavbot returned, dragging Pyro with him. The RED had refused to go along and simply become dead weight, letting the Heavybot struggle to keep walking without having to drop and readjust its grip. It threw Pyro forward onto the ground, not giving time for him to recover before grabbing his arm and yanking him up so that he was on his knees, both hands held up by the Heavybots and exposing his body.
Gray reached into his coat pocket and pulled out a switchblade. "Hello, Mr. Bigarsky. Fancy seeing you again." Pyro mumbled a 'fuck you' through his mask, already tired from the beating earlier.
"We're going to play a game, okay Medibot? Every time you don't answer me and give me the code, I'll stab your friend here. I'm sure he wouldn't mind one or two or ten more battle scars." Pyro became a little more alert, but refused to say anything that would seem weak. Gray stared at Medibot evenly, the latter's gaze flicking between Pyro and Gray. "So, Medibot," Gray said, running a wrinkly finger along the blade, "What's the code?"
What did Makina say when he was angry? Ah, yes. "Go fuck yourself."
Gray sighed, stepping towards Pyro. With a swift move, he plunged the blade into his torso. Pyro made a muffled yelp of pain that he tried to cut off quickly so Gray wouldn't get the satisfaction, but pain seared through him like electricity, forcing him to tense up.
Gray turned back to look at Medibot. "I can do this all day. You've got a lot of friends, so even if I kill one, there's more." His tone was even and nonchalant, and silently he enjoyed the pained, muffles wheezes coming from Pyro. "If you give me the code, I'll let him go now."
Medibot's gaze flickered to Pyro, hoping to get some indication of what to do. He wasn't a leader, he was a follower. He was scared to make his own decisions. Pyro looked up, slowly shaking his head. "Nhh…"
Medibot stayed silent.
With a flick of his wrist, Gray twisted the knife upwards, forcing a pained whine out from Pyro. A steady pool of blood was starting to form on the white marble floor.
"You know, Medibot. People aren't replaceable like robots are. If he dies… he dies." Gray pulled the knife from Pyro, who sank forward on the grasp of the Heavybots, eyesight turning blurry and head feeling lighter with every drop of blood that left him. Very lightly, Gray stroked the knife against Pyro's neck. He stared at Medibot, waiting for an answer, pressing the knife a little harder against Pyro's neck for every second Medibot stayed quiet.
"Q4DK9C-F6R3PL."
Gray smiled. He got what he wanted. As promised, he removed the knife, completely ignoring Pyro. "Thank you. See, that wasn't so hard, was it? Take the Pyro away. I don't care if he lives or dies anymore." The Heavybots nodded, grabbing Pyro and hauling him out of the room, leaving a thin trail of blood in his wake.
Gray turned back to the prototypes, keying in the code Medibot had given him. There was a tense moment of silence as the robots processed the code, before a soft ping told them it was accepted. They began to start up.
With the whirr of new processors starting up for the first time, it gave Medibot time to do one of two things. Run, or go forward and rip the Australium pack out of Gray's back while it was turned.
Medibot found himself rolling towards Gray. He let hatred and anger fuel him on, despite something inside also telling him to turn and run while he still could. Kill him. Kill him kill him kill him now. Do it, you coward! Refusing to allow himself to think about the consequences anymore, Medibot reached forward, grabbing onto the Australium pack, and yanking it right off.
The golden liquid sprayed out of tubes, electricity sparking and popping and smoke starting to form. Gray collapsed to the floor, screaming in pain as Australium drained from his system and spilled onto the floor.
Medibot felt a rush of glee at the sight. Along with the golden Australium, blood also mixed in, creating a weird, coppery liquid on the floor.
"You… idiot…" Gray wheezed, clutching at his chest with fingers that were quickly turning bony and his skin greying even more than it previously was. The dark eye circles returned worse than ever, and his face looked deathly hollow. The Australium had made him look younger for someone who was a few hundred something years old, and now that it was gone, the effects of age were back in full swing.
"Ha… ha… you don't know what you've done…" Gray wheezed. Behind him, both bots were starting to turn fully active. Medibot began to back up. He would relish his first kill later. "You're smarter than I thought… but Gray Industries isn't dead…. ha…"
Medibot fled the room.
...
Medic could tell something was wrong when the Heavybots threw Pyro back into the cell. In the dimness he couldn't see the blood, but Pyro didn't get up, or say anything. He remained limp on the floor, a rattled wheezing softly coming from under the mask.
Medic crawled over. In the time the Heavybots had left, Spy had freed himself and all of the other mercenaries of their handcuffs.
"Pyro! Herr Pyro, vhat happened?" Pyro let out a barely audible answer accompanied by wheezing. It didn't take long for Medic to find the wound. "Mein Gott…"
Pyro coughed, his body shaking. His breath was uneven and shallow, eyes barely open under the mask. Medic was getting frantic. He needed to see the extent of the wound, but with Pyro's suit...
"Wait, what happened?" Engineer came up, lighting brushing his hand against Pyro, who was barely moving.
"I don't know. I can't see zhe extent of zhe vound so… I hope zhis is enough." Letting his hands glow a soft aura of blue, he rolled Pyro onto his back and gently placed a hand against where most of the blood came from, where he guessed the wound was. Pyro's soft gasp of pain made him wince, but after a minute or two, Pyro's breath evened out and slowed a little.
Medic relaxed a little, seeing the improvements. "Herr Pyro? Are you alright?"
"Hrng…."
"Well, is he alive?" Spy stood over them, watching the scene with mild interest. "If he is, then get him up. We still need to break out, in case none of you have noticed."
"He's fine, but he vill be tired. Unfortunately I cannot replace lost blood. His body vill have to do zhat itself." Medic crossed his legs neatly, keeping watch over Pyro who still hadn't moved from his spot on the cold floor.
Spy scowled. "We are not waiting around for him to return to his normal state. The sooner we get out, the sooner we-" He froze as a shadow shifted along the wall, relaxing when he saw Medibot return, holding a severed hand.
"Is Pyro okay? Please tell me he's okay, I can't have someone else die on my account," Medibot said, fumbling with the hand to press it against the unlock scanner. The hand was awfully bony, and he threw it away as soon as the scanner accepted it and the cell unlocked.
"Come on Herr, let's go." Medic slid Pyro's arm over his shoulder, hauling the arsonist to his feet. Pyro stumbled a little, trying to regain balance through blurry eyes and a foggy mind. "He's alright, a little tired is all. Vhere's Gray?"
"Oh… I killed him." Medibot turned quiet, unsure if he felt proud of himself for murdering the man who had caused him so much trouble, or guilty. Makina patted him on the shoulder.
"Nice work, Doc. Now, let's get our weapons and get out."
...
Olivia watched through the cameras. Her eyes were locked on the one screen that showed the prototype room. The two robots were now gone, her father's body still there in a pool of blood mixed with Australium, but she felt no sadness. Her father's company was now hers. She was free to rule it how she would.
And she would rule it without mercy. Those mercenaries were going to die one way or another.
