IV: A Twist of Fate

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"Hey, you two, get ready." Brand whispered as he pressed my manual override switch on.

"What's going on" I quietly asked. It was still pitch-dark...midnight maybe?

"Something dangerous is nearby" Brand pushed Kyrin's switch, and she flashed on, droning out"user manu"

"Shh" he whispered to her. "Go wake up Diane and the others..."

"Immediately" she droned, this time much more quietly, as she set out from our shelter.

"Any idea what it could be" I asked.

"Not sure..." he whispered back. I think we're surrounded by Boomas..." he quickly added, before handing me my "cane" and helping me up. "Let's get outside."

Once up, I began looking around with my regular life-scan sensors. "I don't see anything unusual..."

"I still feel something's not right" he warned me, as he drew out his Calibur. "Try your LV2 IR sensors."

I flipped them on, continuing to pick up no heat signatures, no signs of life. "There's still nothing..."

"...can't take twenty steps from our camp without hearing a growl in the distance..."

"It could be farther off" I suggested.

"What's going on..." Diane mumbled as she staggered toward us, still looking half-asleep. "Something not right..."

"I think there's something nearing our camp" he stated. He then he suddenly turned, to the south. "Turn on your sensors again..."

"They're still on" I replied. "I can't...wait..." I stopped, as I watched something red draw among the trees. "There's something now...one, maybe two..."

"Are they moving to the inland or seaward"

"Seaward...why"

"Crap..." he muttered quietly, and then explained. "I've seen this only twice before, but it's always the same...if a group of Boomas find a target overnight, they gather a pack, and strike as an organized group, about an hour before dawn..."

"What" Diane whispered. "That's not possible..."

"That's what I thought...but these creatures are not as dumb as we'd like to believe..." He turned to where the beasts were detected. They're fanning out, using the trees or staying buried to block IR and disguise their heartbeats..."

"So how many are there" Diane asked as she let her VISK materialize in her hands. "Will they be a threat"

"I can barely detect five now to the south, by the edge of the forest..."

"Alright, here's the plan..."

"rrrRRRRAAWWWRRRN"

"Too late" he shouted suddenly, startling us in the process. "Fire, fire" He turned as the Calibur in his hands flowed into existence, its yellowish blade loosing a heated glow. We quickly turned outwards, and I watched an unbelievable number of Boomas flash onto the IR sensors in my display.

"rrRRRAAARGH"

"rRRrrrRRrraagghhh..."

"Where are they" Diane shrieked, as she began shooting blindly into the trees, over my shoulder. I dropped onto a crate in our Android shelter, drew out my rifle, and loaded a magazine. "I can't see them"

Oh, crap, I thought to myself, as the IR sensor flared up in red. "There's a huge wave coming from the south"

"North attack approaching" Kyrin shouted, as loud as her drone-like voice could manage. "About 23 north"

"At least 25 south" I replied. Which meant that the main attack...

I didn't have a chance to finish that thought. Something just then had hit the tree upon which we braced our shelter, and its roof, partly supported by metal, came crashing down on Diane and myself. I saw her scream...

As I slowly re-oriented myself after the cave-in, I could see my JUSTY buried in a pile of rubble in front of me. I turned to the side, where Diane was struggling to free herself from the mess of leaves and a plate that was smashing the butt-end of her VISK...

And then, a stampede of Boomas rushed in from behind us, stomping all over us, and I rolled to the side, where I bumped into a crate. I cursed...and then a big something hit me.

I blacked out.

-

ffzzzttt...

ffzzZZZZztt...tt.

..beep...beep-beep...

...init...

...init...in-initializing...

...ializing...

...running diagnostic checks...

SYSTEM.INI
SENSORV6.INI
BASICMOV.INI
SELFCHK.INI
BASICCMP.INI
SELFRPR.INI
SYSTEM2.INI
EMOTIOV2.EXE
SPEECH.EXE

Loading all basic data...

Loading hand movement/dexterity checks...

Loading user-friendly interface...using Safe mode...

"Welcome."

-

As I watched my internal display screen flash, and then as I became conscious that I was booting up, I bolted awake.

What the hell is happening...? I had to ask myself. I hadn't seen that message in almostfifteen years...since I was re-booted in that alley...

As I began to look around, I found myself almost quite literally disassembled, and finding I was almost unable to move, I tried moving my eyes, and saw a most familiar and friendly face.

"H-..h...hhe..ey..." my voice crackled out. Oh no...what exactly happened to me...

Brand was doing something to my chestplate...probably repairing my body...where...I was completely disoriented...

"...whe...fzz...whr..." I managed. My speech system...what happened?

He sharply turned to me. "Keep it down." He sounded so different...so...demanding...he never sounded like this before.

A moment of silence ensued. As I continued to look at my surroundings, I wondered...wondered about so many things.

Was this the same camp we fought at?

What exactly happened to me...was I crushed or something?

Where is everyone...I don't see anyone else...

"Look, I know you're confused..." he started, but as his face turned grim, I realized there was far more than just "something" wrong...

He waited a moment, and I just looked into his eyes, trying to understand...

"I'll talk to you, but only if you promise not to talk back." He looked dead serious. I did my best to acknowledge by "blinking" my eyelights several times.

"Good." He let a moment pass before he turned to the ruin of a camp. "Remember the Boomas" he asked suddenly, if rather softly. "They tore the place up...you were lucky to survive."

So I was still here...in the same place...good, I thought.

"You're probably wondering where everyone else is." I blinked again. "With the exception of yourself, me, and by some miracle your Mag...they're all gone...dead, or at least everyone except Kyrin. They broke her up into hundreds of pieces..." he said, holding his head down. "You survived...probably because they whopped you in the head, and figured you were done. The rest of us weren't so lucky."

I silently smiled for a moment...my Mag was alive...

But, as I looked again, I saw Brand's face...his cheeks, scarred, terribly...must be new ones...and he wasn't moving his left leg at all, although he was sitting down...but I found it unusual because he'd always shake his left leg when he sat...

"If I can get you fixed up, we'll need to find a new place to survive...the Boomas have been coming back, although in smaller numbers. I can just turn you off and cover you up, but they almost caught me twice..."

I tried to blink my eyes differently, to show my confusion at the last statement. Coming around again? How long have I been here?

"It's been almost two weeks now" he replied, as if reading my mind. "They've come back at least four times...probably more when I'm out doing stuff."

I tried to just let all this new information sink in. What exactly happened...? Everyone, dead? How could this be...we fended off the Hildebears with almost no trouble...and now this...

"I'm going to turn you off for a bit. See you soon..." he said softly as he shut me down again.

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