ROBERT

"I found you, you fuckers."

The seeds were harmless but he didn't have time to grow them. He was being followed.

For a planet conquered by a large fat man with a metal-happy grudge against anything organic, the Great Forest had been mysteriously untouched. At least for the time being.

All he had needed was one leaf, but getting that leaf had been one heavy ordeal. He couldn't pick it up with any of his tools, not without disintegrating them to the touch. His final option was to pick one out the hard way. The plant didn't react as quickly to skin as it did to metal. He knew that he would have some time.

It had practically melted his palms down to the skeleton, but he had what he needed. And he had done it without her.

Breezy.

He grinded it into powder right there in the forest, working quickly, pouring Chuck's liquid solution over the leaf and grinding it with stone into the bowl in the dirt, his eyes burning. By midday, he had six toxide grenades ready for use. He put them into his back and came back home, to Robotropolis.

Wind, from the west. Sonic's body twitched from the gunshot. The bloody third eye in his forehead followed me out.

Rendezvous was at the prison. There was a secret entrance on the north side. Digits 07734 and a steel panel slides open. The catwalk had finally been built, although they were probably going to nix the whole thing and build an elevator. Above the fifth story was where I was supposed to meet Snively.

"Welcome, Robert."

The top level looked like it was going to be another cell. Already, worker 'bots were placing prisoners inside.

"Please, have a seat," he said.

I sat down in the metal chair across from him. He nose reached halfway across the oak desk between us. He cleared his throat.

"You have something in your…" He was pointing to his forehead.

I reached up, running a palm through my hair. I came back with a small streak of Sonic's coagulating blood. "Sorry."

"No, no, this is good news. You appear to have completed your assignment."

I nodded and didn't mention how well it really had worked out.

"I am impressed. You really are amazing. Me, I wasn't sure if you were going to pull through, and granted, we almost did your job for you, but let's face it, the freedom fighters have a knack for saving each other at the last minute."

He picked up a hardbound novel on his desk, showing me the cover. A faded picture of a bird trying to feed out of a yellow traffic light. I couldn't read the title.

"Victory Tastes Yellow. Ever read it?" He flipped it open, thumbing through the pages. "I found it in one of the Knothole apartments. There's a shortage of books around here, so I figured, what the hell." He chuckled. "I sincerely hope it isn't more of that anti-war tripe the Mobians usually write. You wouldn't believe how popular that subject is."

We sat in silence for a few moments as he skimmed through the book. Eventually, he closed it and leaned back in his chair.

"What to do with you…"

I heard a large door close behind me. I looked over my shoulder and saw all of the worker 'bots exiting. They had finished with the cell.

"About time." Snively stood up. "Come with me for a moment. You will enjoy this."

He put an arm around my shoulders and led me to the newly completed cell, with prisoners already occupying it. A white gas spilled out from the ceiling.

"Inducing consciousness." We watched as the prisoners began to move. "The others downstairs will be asleep until tomorrow morning." The prisoners stood to their feet and…

"Children."

"Mmhmm." He patted my shoulder. "Warfare is a strange beast, wouldn't you say? When we first conceived of this little operation, a thought occurred to us: What about the children? What do we do with them once we have them in our grasp?" Larger valves in the ceiling opened wide, spilling water. The cell began filling up fast. "We debated it for a long time, until finally, we decided." It reached the children's knees. They started to panic. "No more fooling around. Children are how civilizations live on. They're tougher than you'd think. They always find some way of surviving. Well, we wouldn't make the same mistake twice."

I looked at Snively, the smile on his face. He was serious.

"We figured, if we are monsters, then so be it."

The water rose higher and higher. Some of the older kids tried to keep the younger ones afloat. They looked at us like they could see us.

"This is more benevolent than the alternative. I'm sure the freedom fighters would have wanted it this way."

The entire cell soon filled up to the top. All of the children drowned. Snively was still squeezing my shoulders, trying to get a reaction out of me, but I couldn't move. I didn't know how I felt.

When I could move again, I was alone, still watching the bodies of the children float around the tank. The gun was still in my hand. I ran out of there as fast as I could.

Robotropolis felt empty. Nothing moved except for the ground ahead of me. I went back to Chuck's. Sonic's body was still there. At Chuck's feet, there was the crowbar I used to smash his processor. His electronic equipment still smoking from the timed EMP grenade.

I didn't feel like my work was done. There was more to do… more… in the Great Forest.

Knothole.

"Time to go."

I didn't make it very far, just to the outskirts of Robotropolis. I managed to stop myself.

I understood, but… did I really have to do it?

Could I defy my own programming?

Did Snively know this was going to happen? Or did I fool him?

The gun… It had worked on Sonic. Would it work on me?

Robert fingered the bullet hole in the side of his head, but he was afraid to go too deep. He didn't want to push it further inside.

Easily.

He was back at Chuck's. He had taken everything he needed outside. The metal extendable ladder, the toxide grenades, a hard copy of the planet that NICOLE had shown him. He made sure he wasn't forgetting anything.

He tore the curtain down from the bed. He looked down at Sonic's corpse. "You'll want to see this."

He chucked the curtain outside, leaving the front door cracked open. He sat down at the worktable, in front of NICOLE's deactivated shell.

"I know what I am, darling. I know the truth." Why he could put a bullet through the eyes of a SWATbot fifty yards away. Why he could run without getting tired. Why he never ate. Why he never slept.

He dipped the entire length of his right arm into the nearby can of kerosene. He waited two seconds, then pulled it back out. He knocked it over and the rest of it spilled out onto the floor. It spread like a pool of blood.

Robert picked up the welding torch and pointed it at his arm.

"Sick."

He pulled the trigger and flames engulfed his limb. He stood to his feet, holding his arm away from his face, hair burning like fuses down to his skin. The worktable went up like a flag of surrender.

He backed away from the fire, still holding his arm out. He waited, still hoping that it would hurt, sooner or later. Molten skin dripped onto his feet.

Nothing. The flames were moving up to his shoulder and he didn't feel anything other than the heat.

"Sick."

Robert went outside and wrapped his burning arm in the red curtain, smothering the flames. When he was sure it was out, he slowly pulled the curtain away. He saw the fingers first. Blackened metal. He flexed and they clicked and groaned. He marveled at how convincing the skin had been.

He waited longer.

Chuck's house was burning down, igniting the pile of trash and metal it was hidden under. Robert gathered his things and watched. It was starting to rain. The last of the legacy of Mobotropolis disappeared before his eyes.

"If we are monsters, so be it."