SYSTEM RESTART.
ESTABLISHING CONNECTION.
SYSTEM ONLINE.
RESTORING ACTIVE SCENARIO.
RESTORING ACTIVE CONFIGURATION.
UPLOADING ROOM CONFIGURATION.
ITEMS RESET.
UNIT ACTIVATION COMMENCING.
SPECIMEN COMMENCEMENT ACTIVATED.
SPAWNING.
ITERATION AD23-650C-76BE-D785 STARTUP . . .
With a deep inorganic beep only an unthinking machine could ever create a shift of movement shook an inanimate body hanging on the wall. From behind, the hidden mechanical arm that held up the heavy frame retracted away, forcing the body to idly descended to the floor - but not onto a crumpled mess on the floor; but instead, her seconds ago inactive legs took sudden action and slammed the heels to the floor, keeping her tumble from toppling over. Slowly, with purpose, she peeled her head up, and thus, her awakened mind now laid bearing into reality.
Before anything else, she analyzed her surroundings, and took in what she saw: The room she awakened in was small, enclosed with only the unnatural bulbs lighting this otherwise windowless room, and all around was everything white: the brick walls that entrapped her adventure, the tiles her boots clacked on, and of course; the armour plating on her 'sisters' that hung deactivated on the same rack she was over just moments ago.
Haydee Class 2C Model No. 3 5 12
This was her reference registration, her name, the only part about her that distinguished her from the rest of her kind that hung lifelessly on these duplicate inert walls. Identical to herself in every way; from the blank, smooth face that spun in a curve down her head, to her mechanised arms and torso, free to move in any and all directions while her fingers clenched in checking her operations are running correctly, all the way down to her synthetic legs, which heralded the only part of her that called be noted as organic looking.
Though scantily bare, and with a darkened tan, the thick thighs were no less powerful looking as underneath this layer of synthetic flesh was a manufactured array of powerful muscles that touted just how strong and dangerous her kind could be; even if the salacious nature was paired up alongside an equally bare rounded buttocks and the notable-yet-not-oversized bust in the front that indicated to which gender her design derived from.
But her reason for awakening by her lonesome was not to note how she was nothing more than a copy among many, and her time should not be used to just stand around idly, so without a second thought in place, Haydee swiftly made a gait forward towards the only exit, a basic touch door that will open on her command, and entered through, onto the next room.
Slowly, she sauntered in. She did not just simply pounce into the room akin to a marathon runner, but rather the gynoid ensured her steps were tepid as she entered the next area. Carefully, she studied her surroundings, turning to every corner that this square held while her systems configured, memorised, and observed the scope of this new room.
Like before, this room was bathed in an almost suspiciously pristine white, excluding the long conduits of stainless steel pipes and channels that ran up from the floor to the ceiling in noiseless existence. And same as before, this room held but one door to exit into a new unknown location. However, to her own mild attention, this door was not on the same level plane as she was, but rather it was stationed over on a ledge taller than she was, with upside down V's stationed right below the drop.
She would consider this idea mockery, to awaken and find the next way through blocked by an obstacle, if not for her being undeterred by it's puny size. Such a simple height bearing no reason for her to worry about; and so with given no more than a second glance to it, she simply walked straight up towards the ledge and made a jump, reaching straight up, placing her weight forward so she can calmly pull herself the ledge and to a standing position, facing straight to the door only a metre ahead.
So without letting anymore unnecessary time fly by, she walked through the door and entered her third room.
Stepping through, Haydee paused her movement as she observed what this new room bare for her. Same as previously, she noticed the ledge a distance away from her, with the same arrows pointing to where she would need to grab. However, this room was not repeat of former experiences, as the gynoid can plainly spot between her space and the other door was a large open pit who's end she could not spot from her position.
Even as she made a move forward, to take a better look downwards into the trench, there was no bottom for her to see in the abyss. And with no ease of searching downwards either, the machine calculated her options, picked through the most successful of choices, and without hesitation made her move.
Calmly, she retracted back a few steps, judging and measuring the distance from the end of her ledge to the other, noting the height difference between the two - the other side a bit lower than the side she had fitting on. So with the knowledge that one false move could lead to permanent deactivation, the robot ensured her calculations were as correct as possible as she readied herself into a running stance, and promptly charged straight forward; swinging her arms at her side as she closed the distance to the end - and jumped.
Over the open space her body leaped forward, clearing past the empty void below, for her body began to succumb to gravity's unyielding will and her mass began to plunge down. But fear was not something her sense allowed her to wilt towards so easily; as just before her body would feel and drop into the bottomless pit below her, she quickly burst her arms forward and caught the ledge with the strength of her arms, keeping her from falling into a permanent shutdown as she clung to the cliff edge.
With her body now safe from fatal damage, the robot did not give the below a second look as she pulled herself back up from the ledge, and headed forward to the next room.
Upon entering into the next area, Haydee noted the running theme with the previous two. More like the second room than the third, this fourth room's exit stood atop a high ledge she needed to climb upon to. However, as she paused and examined the room, taking in and inspecting all noteworthy marks, she noticed two very different notions this specific room gave to her:
Firstly; the ledge that blocked her way this time stood at a height even she had to admit was too daunting for herself. With it towering high above her head, even with a jump, the gynoid had to concede to the truth that even a more spry person would not be able to make a vault up like that. A simple ascend upwards was not a choice she was allowed to make now.
And secondly; from the side she noticed that behind a thick metal grating, sitting upon a shining pedestal, sat a conspicuous looking object all by it's lonesome. Obsidian in colour, and remaining unmoved by anything else, the machine could plainly see from behind this thick fencing was caged a backpack draped in black. The sight intrigued her, the gynoids curiosity plain to see as she tapped in chin in interest for what this bag may hold. Alas, life was not so easily beaten; because as the screen-pad affixed to the side told her, the grating door was locked shut, stated plainly by the closed white padlock digitised on the screen, and a simply touch of her singular finger on the screen did little more than cause to beep out negatively to the morose gynoid.
The solution was not here, that she could guess for, and without hesitation she calmly stepped away from the locked-away treasure and measured up to the ledge.
As she had correctly estimated, the height of the ledge was too far for her to climb up to. That is: that specific ledge. As in fact; there was a second ledge fastened by the other side of the wall, much shorter in length. . .
She understood the pathway now, and with a quick walk, Haydee climbed atop the first ledge before standing tall as she stayed up to where the second ridge was, and made a leap to the higher rim. Now, it was never lost on her that the way up could not be made on this side, as before she even made her path upwards she noticed the ceiling high grates locked onto the floor, blocking her chance of leverage up. They went along, but they paused in a space right by the other side of the wall, where she knew she could not jump up to.
With no other option left, the machine gently began to shimmy along the ridge, taking her moments along careful and precise; every step scrupulously planned, her whole body and mind ensuring that each shimmying step to the next would result in success over and over again until her designation was met. With seconds of side-climbing, the space the machine was tracking towards laid bare in front of her submerged frame, and without fail she pulled herself up and unhesitatingly brisked towards the next door, under the shadows of the square-holed grate.
Entering through, the robot found herself staring to the front of a wall. Like the others before, this room was bleached on every solid surface, the blinding white giving off an unnatural vibe that she associated with. Yet what with the past events having introduced her to, she sought to believe this room was almost a flip of the ceiling to floor with what the obstacle she was presented to beat was asking her to do: As it was not a high ascension that she was tasked to surpass, but instead the only way through was a small gap under the otherwise impasse of a wall.
At this point, she felt it almost comical there were still arrows pointing to where her direction was meant to head. Subtlety is not the name here, and though her experiences were still considerably minimal, she was past this development stage of understanding navigation, especially on a basic level. But that said, the gynoid knew better than to fain any conveniences of cautiousness, so as she ducked down to meet the low-level height of the manufactured hole, her legs digging up, ready to pounce away if needed, she studied ahead to observe the surroundings on the other side.
Only a door faced her way from behind the wall, and the only shadows sprouted by hidden objects came only in the form of meshed grates that acted to only darken the otherwise sterile room. With prudence in her mechanical heart, she made steps onward from her current position and trekked under the ducking. She didn't immediately stand back up, but rather, as her head peaked out, she made sure to do a double check of the layout she couldn't see before proceeding. With no danger in sight, Haydee promptly stood her body up back to her two legs, and thusly entered the next room.
Walking around in this new room, Haydee paused her steps when she noticed something odd in her sights. Down the corridor, in the middle of a tight hallway, bridged between a wall of stones and a meshing of grates that housed more pipes, the gynoid noticed a green-shaded light emitting from an opening of the brick barrier. Curious, though still cautious, she made tentative steps forward before halting and peering round the corner of this opening.
From the other side of this gap Haydee spotted the causation of this bright light; a camera fastened into the far side of the wall behind, brightening out it's light with neither noise nor movement, rather plainly instead staying where it was on the overtly-chalky layout with trying to make fear of any passerbys. Though innocuous it was, it didn't leave Haydee with an explanation for what it's purpose was deemed for here. If the other rooms were any indication, there was a problem here that needed to be solved, and herself to figure it out, but with the door standing proud on the other side of this stretch of hallway, her mechanical mind did not fully hold all the pieces to finish this puzzle-
It was then that a loud beep not only knocked her attentive nature back into her, chiding the machine to skittishly stand up straight, but also for her to watch as a heavy-duty grating slid out from the side of the rocked wall and blocked her access through. Standing tall and ready, the momentarily dazed machine processed all the sudden information that was thrusted upon her and tried to make sense of it all. Regaining her calm demeanour, she quickly observed and noted what had happened, and what the cause was. Quickly, she made important denotation in the change of colour of the camera's light, turning a bright green to a darker shade of red, which in turn led her to make the assumption that that device stern on the wall was not in fact a camera at all: but a searchlight.
Yet that assumption did little to change the fact her way through was still blocked, a truth she knew better than to fret over. Instead, Haydee did not make a move or frantic sprint to do something else, but rather, the silent machine made a few taps of her chin as she contemplated her next action.
She looked to the bright light, paying noteful attention to its pathway, then she pointed her sensors downwards, as she made more not of the shorter wall sandwiched between this side of the wall to the one nearest the door. But this was not all, her mindful headset knew better than to leave out any details, no matter how small, from the equation. So with a swivel around, Haydee looked back and saw the green slow-blink of a thin light up a small portion of the wall behind her. Before, as she first passed it, the screen had remained off, but now, with her pathway on lock-down, she saw the jade colour of the LEDs to be almost calling to her now. The oversized button, surging into her existence. . . she understood it all now.
With a brisk walk and press, her palm pushing the button back into the wall, she made no move to jump when that loud shrill of automated noise resounded once again, the deep beep being a signal for previous grievances becoming invalid, or to be better precise, for new attempts to be made.
And looking back confirmed her beliefs; the way had been cleared, but the searchlight was still operable, albeit with its light turned back to a shade of emerald. Though she lacked a mouth, she never felt a need to speak aloud what her mind was thinking of, her actions did the talking; a term represented well at this moment when the machine, having walked right up to the area of green shading, ducked down on her knees and crawled forward. Keeping her head down, she slowly stepped her way underneath the cover from the light, ensuring none of her body hit the sensors until she was past the light out of its range. And then, and only then, did she promptly stand herself back up onto her muscular legs and look forward to the door, unblocked by any barrier.
With a small brush of dust off of her thighs, she promptly took to the next room.
How peculiar.
This was the first thought that swam through her mind as she observed this room. Now it wasn't due to a difference in color - this room just as clean as the ones before - nor was it down to the layout being dangerous or confusion - it was a usual, if simplistic room - but what did gain her intrigue was the square pillar sitting centre of this place - or to be better precise, what was on top of this cubed table.
Taking a hold of it in her precise fingertips; she inspected the small object with her hidden political sensors. Flat and rectangular, and obviously mechanical, the white digital key shining on the screen was self-evident for what this item's purpose was; made even more overt with the other door of this room locked behind a mesh prison, with the only possible way of gaining passage was via the screen on it's left side, highlighting a symbolical closed padlock on its display.
Now, by all accounts the machine would have used the keycard to unlock the door and continue moving, a simple step one and step two for her to complete with a nada of a hitch, ploughing forward without a thought for delay. . . if she were somebody else, that is.
But she remembers, thinks, and asses. Her model and make was not meant for purely simplistic tasks nor basic reasoning; she could understand, acknowledge, and quiz of the simplest detail. And for right now, most importantly could she discern risks and the benefits that may suffice if she prevails in searching for them.
So with her mind made up, the logically-minded Haydee did not in fact make steps towards this locked entryway, but instead did her feet clank on the floor as they turned away and returned to the previous rooms.
Crawling by the searchlight, underneath the wall, Haydee's minimal walk back to previous rooms was met with not even a second of pause until her boots clunked onto the floor of room of her fourth adventuring. The only moment that gave her reasons to halt and think was her feet standing right over the edge of the ledge.
She still remembered, still perceived and calculated, and with a quick examination, was able to determine the best course of actions to not befall to a hazard. She knew better than to take the easy route, no matter how boring it may look, and calmly did she turn her back to edge before she carefully shimmied her body down. She grasped at the ledge when she hung her weight off the side before she dropped down in full, hitting the floors with her boots, before turning and holding her focus on that locked door her mind never forgot.
She looked at the door pad up and down before taking a look at the keycard she believed in, holding it out in her fingertips. As she made a repeat observation at the pad, she noticed the inlet at the top of the device. . . a port! Piecing it all together, she inserted the card, and watched as the screen's background colour changed to a shade of light green; and thus, gently did she press onto the screen, and take a step back as she admired the closed gate pull away and allow her access to grab a hold of the backpack she so quickly snatched from the pillar. Without even a second to spare the gynoid quickly rummaged through the bag, searching inside with fever until her fingers stirred upon something. With no time to spare did she immediately take a hold of the hidden in shadows item and brought it out to the open light, to reveal-
Another white keycard.
She felt neither surprised nor dissatisfied by this revelation. In truth, she rather expected this outcome to occur, and with one final look at the pad revealed her own keycard was nowhere to be seen, having been swallowed up by the seemingly-starving device. She didn't need to try anything more to it, fully getting the one-time system implemented here, and so did she feel it best not to waste any more time thinking this over: because with a quick spin and twirl of her hands the backpack was neatly slapped onto her back and fastened on, held in place for her to utilise when needed.
A short feeling of pride ran through as she looked it down, liking how the black complimented her white body, before she aimed her head back up to the door as her logical mind reminded her of what she needed to be doing.
And that was to not be here. That was back to that room she quickly rejoined.
With the keycard inserted, and the door open for her, she walked her body in to, as always, observe her surroundings before she made any move.
To her mild amusement, this room was anything but quiet. With heaving whirls, in the centre of this room a treadmill of huge size spun with monumental strength, parallel to the same direction she needed to be going, with its endpoint continuously spinning for the adjacent door situated on a ledge. Though the darker grey of the treadmill did help to bring some, if a little, splash into this otherwise overly-bleached place, what her optical sensors focused were not the treadmill alone, but the long stretch of a deep chasm that separated her side from the door.
She could tell, quite easily, that there was no need for her to even try to jump for the rim, as such an attempt was folly to the reality of what will happen. There was more here she needed to figure out. She paused and stood, looking around the room. She cocked her hip to the side, hand to her chin as she watched the treadmills, looked at the layout, taking it all in and observing before she made her move. Standing by the back of the door, Haydee carefully made sure her assumption was completely correct; she strongly knew that even a little miscalculation could lead to unalterable results. So before she made a dash, she readied herself into a running position - and like a missile did she rocket forward.
With the force of her legs propenalling her forward, mixed with the velocity of the treadmill, her body zoomed without a hint of slowing down - a matter not comparable to even seconds - and with one final plant of her boot right on the edge of the treadmill's end she leapt, flinging her whole mass over the wide gap as not even gravity could take an immediately hold on her catapulted frame.
But even when it swiftly did, her momentum was already thrown far, and just a mere two seconds from when she first leapt forward, her body slammed into the ledge while her hands gripped hard into the surface. She would not yield to the crash, her hands would not drop her, and so with her mind unfazed by the jolt as she quickly pulled herself up, and marched forward to enter the next room.
Throughout this whole endeavour, or sorts, Haydee kept letting her mind blink on repeat by how lifeless this palace was. She didn't bother to wonder too hard on the thoughts over where any human workers may be; after all, the situations she had just been through since waking up were not something she'd believe to trust in any random stranger, so she never once second-guessed the reason no organic bodies had been seen. However, what did give her cause for concern was the lack of machine bodies also. Besides herself, the only others she had found were deactivated on the wall, and there was no sight of even the smallest and simplest autonomous vacuum cleaners here to ensure this area is kept as sparkly clean as it is.
If she could speak, one would a low rumble sound out of her mechanical throat as she made some contemplative thought of this place, a verbal noise suggesting her mind was washed with deep and worrisome thoughts.
But; that was not for before or here, and whatever questions she was holding did not appear to hold any important meaning. So as a response, Haydee quietly tucked those thoughts away to the back of her mind before she stared up to the next obstacle this room had thrown at her.
Though there was some solace in having this room noticeably more silent - or maybe, all things considered, perhaps less now - what didn't give her grand ease was the layout of the platforms she had to cross: Positioned high above a deep chasm, a set of four platforms ran from the other side of this long room to the other, them being the only route there was to move forward. Though that itself seemed like a dauntless effort, that was not what gave her pause to feel worried.
The platforms were arranged in a pattern of a long one starting from her door, then a short one after a gap, repeating with a longer one than a short one again, until the last edge was for the door on the far side. The problem she could see, however, was that the distance between the long and short on her side was so far it meant there was no way she would have the momentum needed to cross that gap when she jumped from the shorter one - made even more especially worrisome by the fact the short platform was raised high enough for the need to climb it, and thus lose all momentum.
If only there was a way to keep her momentum going. . .
With a hand to her chin, the gynoid took a good luck at the gaps, the distance between the platforms, and then to herself; holding out her legs for her to examine, gauge, and determine. With a nod to only herself, Haydee silently walked to the edge of the door, turned around, and readied her body into a sprinting position.
And with just one single silent second of solace before an action was made, she moved. With an unstoppable rush forward, hands darting by her sides, she moved with the ferocity of a cheetah when she took a short leap forward and jumped to the long platform without problem and kept moving. For the curt seconds she had, her optical sensors were permanently locked onto the shorter platform, as if she was biting back it's stare to her, while her body tensed for the inevitable: closer it came, the platform roaring up to her:
Then she jumped.
Right at the end was when she left it for her legs to kick away and propel her body forward, her heels taking a final slam onto the long ledge before her body bounced and made a soar to the next platform. Her body fell, but her timing did not as she quickly made a successful grab at the ledge.
Yet her body did not stop now. Haydee did not allow herself to do so; as instead, with all the power how mechanical muscles could grant, she pushed the momentum she had going on not forward, but upwards, and by using her hands she flipped her whole body over her head; twisting herself around the bend of the platform, and kicking her legs forward she bent the them so they pointed to the terrace. All this with the grace of a swan, the technique of a ballet dancer, but the power of a soldier, combining together in such a calculated way she felt no more heed to continue her hold on the ledge, as with the momentum enduring without delay her curved top half strained, pulled back up to join her legs, just before her boots clanked right down onto the terrace.
And when they did, did they not even for a second give time to halt, to allow her to straighten out, but only to keep on moving. Her feet didn't stay onto the short ridge for even a second as already did she push herself forward and jumped, her head just coming over her waistline to see forward, her body flinging forward once again as they correctly landed themselves onto the next platform, the second longer one, and she just kept on going.
She did not flinch at the prospect of doing that again, with the second short platform quickly heading her way, but instead she made an absolute copy of previous; a jump, a grab, and a spin of her momentum, and thus her body curved around to the top of the ledge. And like a copy again, her body jumped at the last moment and launched her figure over the gap and to the final ledge for her; the other-side door.
Unfazed by what she had to do, she nonchalantly walked up to the next door and continued forward.
What was it that she said before; about her seeing no other machines in this place, no other Haydee's and such, and thus she didn't feel the need to be so introspective for it?
Well, a quiet step into the next room tangled her wires with reconsideration about such contemplation.
Because, to her own shock, and fear, did the model quickly encounter that on the tiled floor, not far from below herself, were the lying, unflinching bodies of two of her kind - completely wrecked. And she knew this, not by checking over the bodies, but by seeing their decapitated heads lying in a pool of their own off-white artificial blood.
Upon seeing this disturbing sight, Haydee instantly froze any notion to even twitch a finger as she carefully studied for the cause of what predicament had befallen them. Only her head made an attempt to move about, to allow her hidden optical organs to search and observe every detail, no matter how minuscule, so she could deduce the root of this circumstance.
And within but a few seconds later did her sights manage to determine the cause of these two grizzly ends. As upon the walls of the hallway she had to cross, she could see two long slits at neck height to herself, breaching out from the enclosing stone. It was from then, that she determined, not only what the danger obstacle she knew she had now met was, but also that if she were not as careful as she was built to be, she would end up becoming part of a trio with these fallen.
Without delay, Haydee calmly crouched down to the floor as her body became sandwiched between the two dead bodies, momentarily ensuring her height had been lowered enough, before her legs carried her forward as she moved. Clunks of her boots resounded with each step, as they trekked past the fallen, and within only a moment did her own noises become drowned out by the sudden sounds of impeding murder.
From in front, breaching out from both slits like Death's own scythe split between halves, did a massive pair of buzz-saw's roar to life as they instantly rode their way down to where her position with indiscreet reason. She sought to believe fear did not strike her, not even when those massive saws thundered past her crouched position, their roars like the call of extinction, and she could tell instantly she'd had no chance to escape if she hadn't taken the warning of her previous kind, her neck would have been cut through with the consistency of paper had she not ducked under like she was doing now.
Seeing that she had inexplicable paused her crawl, calmly did she resume her move forward as on her hands and knees her body trekked on forward, refusing to be bothered by the saw continuously zipping back and forth over her head until, for what felt like a few minutes too long, could she stand up, out of range from the buzz-saw's killing range as she made a hasty move to the door.
Not once glancing back at the bodies of her fallen kind.
Before she had even taken a look into the next room, she already felt prepared for what she assumed was the inevitable. If the past experience has taught her anything, it's that these obstacles did not come in just one simple variation.
And one step in confirmed these speculations as true when Haydee immediately spotted from her attentive focus another lying body of her kind cut apart on the ground, body parts flown askew, while she quickly saw more slits coming out from the borders. But not from the walls this, but instead the openings breached out from under her own feet. No doubt, where the hazard lies, and a far more painful end for her if she even thinks to try and crouch this time.
No, the way forward was not done straight, but above, the only safe way for her to cross without risking death. Yet by how, however, was an entirely different answer to be found. With the walls encumbered on either side, she could not simply sidestep these blades. . . by maybe it wasn't the blades she needed to sidestep then.
She knew the were the answer would be found! Calculating the angle, trajectory, and speed needed to jump over while also adding the estimated size and scale of the blades, the path forward became so clear to her it was as if beaming lights were guiding her way.
So without fear, Haydee calmly backed up to the door, reading her legs, before she sprinted forward. Within a second, those fast cutting saws buzzed to life as they appeared from above the floor, wasting no time from their first appearance to immediately shoot forward to cut apart any unlucky victim that happened to stay in its warpath. Luck was not something Haydee preferred to use, however, as her aim was not aimed for the blades, but the wall; and quickly, before those saws could so much as scratch her plates, she jumped up to the wall - and kept running. Her boots hit the bricks and they kept on tapping, keeping her momentum onward to the side as those blades just cut through nothing while she danced above them, mocking their failed attempt to cut her down, before she quickly jumped her feet back to the floor below her; not even needing to see those blade reach their end without having taking a body this time, as her focus was no squarely aimed on her end, where the door was awaiting her opening.
Gladly welcoming the patience of the inanimate barrier, she stepped in.
Upon entering through, Haydee began to feel much less grateful for the door that allowing her access in; as this hallway she now stepped in was far less welcoming than even what the previous rooms prided themselves as. Up and down, ceiling and floor, she could see slits spreading out along both vertical sides, more than just two this time. Multiple cleavages of the sides littered the way, so patterned that for every floor saw that preyed slumped tot he ground, a ceiling blade raised up high took the next space before another floor blade would cut past her. Worse still then that, the space between each side was fairly thin, so a simple focus on only one length of slit was impossible without letting Death's cold grasp hold her.
So without making a move, Haydee already looked around for visual clues. More of the older models littered the floor, yet more than a simple pair of them this time, as many of which had been cut up so badly she figured even she could not find the original owner of this sawed off limbs. Yet it was from these dead units she found a hint to the pattern; one dead unit had a gaping opening on the top of her otherwise pristine head nearby one of the ceiling slits, while another had an entire leg ripped away on the other side by a floor inlet.
She did the maths here, getting the layout needed for her to progress without losing a hand or two, estimating the lay of the land before she calmly made a move forward, stepping onward as she made her way to the end of one particular deathly fissure - particular in that estimation was computed; in that her first true step forward was met with a battalion of spinning saws slamming out from the cracks. Raging forth like a barrage of inferno's, the whirling deaths burst forward as Haydee watched them move - undeterred by her head being adjacent between two of the ceilings blades, buzzing right past her with a distance so close Haydee was appreciated she did not have ears for them to try and lop off.
Yet the danger did not fall there, as challenging her from the other end of this thin crevice was another blade that came barrelling towards her way in a beeline - and she had no wall to jump over this time. Instead, Haydee's notion was not to run back, but to charge forward as well, her legs denying the idea to make a run away as she'd rather run headfirst into this fatal danger.
Course, it was all for telegraphed reasons.
Because as soon as the saw came in close, Haydee made a predetermined dive and side step to her right, dodging the saw with ease as the revolving ripper rolled right past where she was but a second ago, continuing its march of extinction without so much as a glance back, and the gynoid resumed her sprint.
Now her focus waned from the approaching saw, she let her attention be on the blade that jutted out from above, the one that had already passed her before the dive. With the speed of these saws it took not even a moment for it to reach its end, and for it to make a return trip back down her way. This had been planned in accord, and as the giant blade was already making its way down to her, she jumped to the side again, narrowly avoiding the cut as it swam right past. And again, when the clearway was safe, she dodged to the side to avoid the ambushing blade trying to cut her from out of her vision as it slashed past her weave.
She was already past the halfway point, but the speed of the saws still out matched her own, and the ahead sets were already making a return move. She knew exactly how to accomplish her goal, refusing to make a move other than forward until, at the latest moment, the saw finally passed her.
She dodged near-instantly, lurching her body forward into a roll to throw her body along the floor and out of the ceilings blades range. She could hear it coming, hear the approaching bringer of death roar from above her neck, but this did not deter her body from using all its strength to careen her bodies momentum past the end of the slit and have her body careen across the floor, just as that saw came to its own predetermined end.
Quickly, her feet slid onto the pearly ground while she pushed her body upwards, coming from a roll into a stand without delay on her part, letting her quickly take a second to know she was safe from the blades range, before she silently moved onto the nearby door, and finally escaped from this cut-throat room.
Well. . . this was not the most satisfying sight.
Though not completely so, a quick look unwound any daunting thoughts she had more of those saws to deal with, not a single slit poked out from the bleach-washed ground, walls, and ceiling. However, a stronger stare of observational intent bellied the hopeful thoughts of an easier traversal through this region. From not too far off, the gynoid saw not one, but two doors leading to an exit out of here; and though, it might first seem for that she held strong interest for the branching off of this otherwise linear path, what gave the machine forceful digression for a cheerful mood was the fact they were separated behind a caged door - one she could see was clearly not operational enough for her to traverse past.
Glinting off sparks from its broken opening switch, and the frame shaking and vibrating thanks to the efforts of a broken shifting system, it was evident to her that there was not any conceivable way that this route was realistically plausible for herself. However, with that truth shown, it presented a major problem of her having no visible other route to branch off of. She had made sure to observe and memorise every room she had been through, and her memory refreshed the notion that there was no other pathway in all the rooms she had passed, so she denied any thought of backtracking for no reason. . . especially if it meant going past those saws again.
No, she refused to just give up when she barely just started, nor would she cave in to second guessing her own assumptions so quickly. She had to think, had to question, had to look around. . . and as she looked around the room, she believed she may have found the solution she needed.
From off her right side to the wall, stuck to ground level, was an old ventilation passage that stood innocuously by the side. With a trail of her head, she noticed, through the holed openings of the grates that stuck to the bottom of the wall, the flow of the vent passed not just right by the broken door-side, and looked to keep going as well. It wasn't particularly small either, as her estimations calculated that with its width and height; it was designed to be opened enough for one maintenance human to climb through: or maybe, perhaps one Haydee to slip through inside.
Wasting no time, Haydee immediately walked up to the ventilation gate, and with one pull up of her leg, slammed her boot down hard into the metal and crumpled the opposing metal gate with the strength of her thick leg. It must be by some miracle, that for all the high-end value this entire place seemed to hold with keeping itself looking immaculate; it really didn't seem that bothered by letting these metal gate's rust to oblivion.
Whatever to her, this place could keep which parts it liked pristine and maintained mattered in no way to her progress. It could bake to dust for all she cared to think, as the only thing her mind focused over was ducking down to the height of the vent, and with her legs carrying her, she shimmered alongside the pipes as her body crawled to the next room.
From inside the vents she was but a shadow, the only light that hit her frame came in the form of patterned railings that shone on her metallic frame. Invisible to the outside world, or at least, silent and catlike enough for her to remain undetected inside here, she quietly stalked through the tight passage. But even with the duct as dark as it were, what didn't take her interest was the beeline ventilation that she so crawled through, but rather the outside area she could only partly see through; a truth she formally retained as glad, as her reason to search the area did not arise from any form of innocent curiosity.
For when she was just a few steps inside this room, her sensors picked up on movement coming from beyond the vent: of clanking, of metal on tiles walking forward in planned motion. Almost immediately when those noises bounced off the solid walls and winded into her head did her tentative steps start to slow as she observed out to what she could see. With the railings as they were, backed up by the body of thick pipes going up to the ceiling, of what little she could see of the outside filled both with interest and caution. From between the cylinders she could see bodies of black and white march around in patterned steps, their shape too varied and obscure for her to get a read onto what she was facing. And though she had no reason to immediately feel discretion for the unknown, she did feel a lingering consternation coming through her while she continued to stare ever longer. . .
If she could feel claustrophobia, she may very well be feeling it right about now. Knocking her sense away from the unidentifiable place, she sought it better to lay her focus back to the safety of this passage and continued to tred onward, making sure to leave what she tried to see at the back of her mind as she came to the opening vent of this room, and exited out.
With a surprisingly swift kick from her crouched position, the withered metal gate of the vent slammed forward and bounced off the adjacent wall before being quickly dumped onto the hard floor. From up on the now opened vent could be seen a shadowed leg of tan colour peer out with its lovely length, idly leaning out before retracting back in. In only seconds later did the appendage return to lean out the small passageway; and this time bringing it's twin out, just before the rest of Haydee's body crawled backwards from the enclosed space to dangle off the edge, all before she daintily dropped down and landed graciously on the floor starting with her heel clicking the tiles - while also mildly hoping they were not any cobwebs clinging to her frame.
A quick search around confirmed her suspicions that this room was not in the region as the one she just passed. A look around from inside the shadows of this tightened walk-space she noticed not only the other open vent on the other side of this hallway, but also the unlocked door at the father end, separated by the layout of mesh grates that came around on her side. With only an end on the nearest side, Haydee gently stepped forward, into the shadowed squares of the mesh gratings that quickly covered her frame to let her sight peer outwards - and immediately upon inspection outward did her body jumped backwards to behind the cover of the wall.
If one were to look, they would say that Haydee had suddenly become scared and frightened; as if she had just come across her most natural of phobias. And while such a call should be considered a stretch, in truth, she did come across a sight that gave her understandable reasoning to hide away, and to only look out from she was sure the danger did not see her before she saw it. Peering out, she ensured only her head leaned out from the cover of the wall as the mesh shadows fell on her curved head, when she picked out, and quickly established a rundown of what her sensors first picked up on.
From beyond the metal grating, in an open space distanced metres apart from wall-to-wall, the gynoid spotted a lone figure standing up straight - and one that made her synthetic muscles tense up from the sight. Unlike her feminine designed frame, the machine that her hidden eyes spotted that stood in placidity - so far - from beyond the grating contained not an inch of humanoid origin on itself: unlike her shapely legs, this robot's limbs were purely mechanical in figure, sharp, bitter to the floor it stood upon. It held no fingers in either of its hand; with them both ending in blunt, almost hammer-like points. Even when compared to her own head, which held at least some form of human-like style, this one's 'head' consisted of nothing more than two red lenses jutting out from a rounded end sandwiched between it's bulky shoulders.
Now, Haydee was not made to hold transgressions to a machine she had never met based purely on how much, or in this case, how little humanoid-shape it heralded. A sharp and rough design did not state the offensiveness a figure's actions would take, that was a truth she knew already. However, what gave her reasoning to this concealed caution was not strongly based on the stationary robot itself - but the fallen body of another Haydee model lying beside the robot's feet. It's body cold, she could sense and with how she was sprawled out, the cause of her death was not simple remote deactivation.
No, even without saying a word from either side, Haydee knew an enemy when she saw one; and she knew above all it would be suicide to assume fair grievances on this robot with all the facts laid out to her. She needed to get past, but to how and where was not bluntly clear to her: now, she could make a dive forward and reach the door on the far end, but she couldn't tell how fast, agile, and implacable this machine would be when it has spotted her presence, as she could see it's lenses were pointed between herself and the door. There was also the option to run around and reach the door from behind the robots back, but again, she knew that sounded a possible dangerous action, especially with it being so near her. She could not stand to fight the machine either, with no weapons at her disposal, unless she thinks to use the backpack as a battering sack she believed she could not hope to take it on one-on-one.
She knew what her only safe option was for now, and though she did not care to liken the idea of being stuck in a cramped location with only very minor movement, she knew that thoughts of comfort were heavily outweighed by the truth of safety and health, and as such, she silently moved to the other vent parallel to the one she came out of, jumped up to grab the ledge, and swiftly scurried inside, where she calmly made her through.
With ease, Haydee spun her body around in the vent and crawled out backwards, dropping down without harm or discouragement following her, and with a quick clockwise spin of her heels she proceeded forward into this room with observant eyes. She felt a sense of serenity when she knew there were no enemies lurking here, though for a different check, there were no doors for her to proceed through either; at least none she could see from where she was standing.
A stretch of passage branched off to the left of this otherwise rectangular room, yet the way through was not so easily passable. There was a gap placed between this side, and the next, and while that alone did not give her fret, what did was the hanging black crate held up by chains blocking her access. Strung up right in the middle of the hole, it blocked her way over, with no chance for her to go either over or underneath it, and unless she found a way to cut those chains, as interesting they looked to be, she could not hope to move past.
But with that as it is, it left her with lingering thoughts over what to do now. Her only option out of here was barred, and the only other thing of particular notice here was the set of locked black crates lined up against the wall, sitting up to the wall stack over each other, as they reached up to the ceiling. . . but not all of the stacks reached all the way up. Some of the stacks only went two boxes up, compared to some that went up to four. And above, with where she was standing she noticed a small, almost negligible part of the wall could not be seen from where she was standing. . .
She could not hope to hold absolute certainty, but without a clear goal in sight, she sought it right to, as unlikely it may seen, to go out of her way and check her suspicions. She made sure to keep her focus onto the hidden area when she walked forward, as even when she jumped and climbed, her head was actively pointed to the directions of the shadows, swerving forward with the force of her ascend it allowed her perfect space to stand upright on the crates and looked to the back of the walls, where she spotted-
An open vent. If she were a human, she would smile at the sight reminding her how bright she was. But she was not, she was a machine, one that acted with automatic purpose, and so with unthinking movement she slid into the vent and crawled forward.
With a jump up, Haydee stood up from the vent to take a peak before she fully ventured to a standing position into this new place. This room did not herald any hidden danger, at least, none she could see, but instead the room she crawled to set out to be a true stretch of length when compared to the previous rooms she had entered. From afar on the distant wall, Haydee could see the indentation for a latch, yet one she could also tell was also firmly locked shut, if the fact it was over a deep gap was any indication. However, before that, centred between the sidewalls did a panel and button stand by themselves conspicuously so.
Both curious and attentive to the details, the gynoid stood before the panel and button, and with a single press of the big button, did Haydee take a step back and watch, with heavily inquisitive insight, the panel spin around and presented to her something she instantly knew she would find quite useful in her endeavours.
It was a gun. A pistol. Clean, sleek, and would have been called majestic if not for the raw strength she could sense dwelled within this gun. A black laced handle over a pristine white cover, fed forward by the long, near ten-inch barrel, it almost melted her hands as she could feel the strength coursing throughout this gun, and as she let a single lone finger slide up and down the barrel's length -
A heavy buzzing noise caught her off guard as Haydee jumped from her focus over the firearm and instead whiskered around to watch as five sudden jolts peaked out from the other side, nearby the closed latch. They did not give her cause to continue feeling dismay, however, as she quickly realised it was not a threat of five she was looking towards, but a set of five metal circle plates, all coloured the paint of crimson as they stayed still where they were. All the same colour as the twenty-odd lights that lit up above the latch in a digital display.
Getting a sense of understanding within her, Haydee looked back down to the pistol still held in her grasp as she examined its existence, to then look back at the panel, where lined up were three matching sets of filled magazines, all for her, she deemed. No longer denying her quicker motions Haydee swiftly grabbed a magazine from the slot and reloaded her firearm, clicking the barrel ready before she took a firm stance for herself; body crouched, weapon primed forward, and with a pulled of her right hands index finger, her pistol discharged: cascading a bullet forward as it's forward arc had it slam onto the jutted out piece of old metal, knocking it down as it yielded to the force of her gun.
Followed by the distinctive shrill of a buzz that came right after. Peering her sights away from the slide of the gun, the curious gynoid steered her focus off from where her target once stood and instead to the wall, where she noticed the once complete set of twenty perfectly lined symbols where no longer aligned in synchronised colour; as now the farthest light on her left side was now sporting an emerald green glow.
She didn't even have to be told what this meant; because without hesitation, Haydee began firing off more of her rounds. Four more bullets fired, four more buzzes, and four more targets shot down, not a single bullet wasted as swiftly after all five of the targets where incapacitated.
Without delay, that heavy buzzing noise repeated that same loud call, as the slots for the target receded back into the floor. To her mild intrigue; five more of the targets popped up from the floor, ceiling and walls. However, she quickly discerned this was no basic repeat of the previous wave of targets, as now, these five were stationed farther away than the first lot. Distanced or not, Haydee did give any form of hesitation as she lined up her pistol, and fired. One by one, the first three fell, even with her target being much shorter, she sought no heed to waste time with thoughts of malarkey, quickly aiming up her firearm to a fourth peeking out from the wall and. . . missed.
With a cock of her head Haydee looked off from her gun to stare at the target she was sure she fired at. But nope, her shot did not land where she intended it to, as instead of hitting metal it landed hard on the caked up white walls farthest away. Taking a second to think, Haydee calmly refocused her sights onto the same target, calculated where she went wrong, and smoothly reclaimed just a smudge before letting off a new round, one that did actually hit the target.
Feeling a sense of honest satisfaction run through, Haydee made a turn for the final target. Whatever it was that dislodged her aim was swiftly taken care of, nothing more than minor miscalculation, an ideal she held with blunt truth as she knew her next target would not miss as she readied her firearm and -
Click.
With a blank stare, or better stated, more so than the usual, Haydee drew her attention away from the red-painted circle to examine her pistol with a confused glance. A jam - no, a simple case of running dry. Deciding not to think any stretch degree of her final shot being wasted, Haydee smoothly loosened the magazine in the weapon, letting it drop unceremoniously on the floor while her head reached around and grabbed the second magazine on the rack, priming it immediately as she just as quickly reclaimed her sights. Aiming true, she fired the last shot into the target, hearing the curt buzz being followed up by the colour change of red to green on the display. Then to follow, another more deeper and elongated buzz before a new panel came down for her to observe.
This time, though a repeat of five more, the targets were not spaced so distant apart like the previous two waves. Instead, this quintet of red circles were all connected to a star-shaped base of metal hung that extended out the floor. Not seeing it do anything much else, Haydee simply moved up her firearm, and with a pull of the trigger a freshly inserted bullet shot straight forward and blasted into the target without fear, and quickly moving on, she reclaimed her sights on the next target - which suddenly swung out of her sights just as soon as her pistol fired. A little caught off guard, Haydee stood her ground and kept fixation on the sudden jolt of movement before she fired again, only to repeat her miss.
Refusing to lose her cool to a few scraps of ruby-glossed metal, Haydee refused to make another move until she could see where her problems stemmed from. Concentrating on her targets, she watched them swing around like a pendulum as the forces of mass and gravity were the causes of her missed shots. Yes, she knew the cause of her failures now, her body reacting to only where the shots are, not where they will be when they fired, and instantly seeing her problems in present detail, the gynoid acted accordingly, using her assumptions and estimations as her eyes kept track of just one target, before firing it off, seeing it clip the metal without fail this time.
Two down, then three, four, and finally, lining up her shot without zero vacillation, one bullet was all she needed to take down the final target as that resounding ping of clattering steel sand like a chorus to her mechanical ears. With a stare up, Haydee took a grand look at the now fifteen glowing green lights up on the display screen, not even bothering to make a twitch of movement when the deep buzz resounded out into the room, only tearing her eyes away to see what the final set of five were to throw at her.
To her own intrigue, the five that followed did not affirm to just one style or placement, but instead they came as a mixture of the previous tries. One circle remained seated nearby her, while another stayed a more distance apart, with a third even going as far back to the wall as possible. The last two were hung up high, and for more than one similarity with the star, the last two were stuck together on a bar, no doubt would they swing as soon as one is shot. The mixture did not faze only, as her only delayed response was a roll of her shoulder before she raised up her pistol and took aim, then pulled.
With a joyous ping her first she made contact, not of any of the lone targets, but one of the bars, letting the bar swung and fall while her logic dedicated her to hit the difficult ones first. She wasted no time in observing the bar as it swung, not believing to rush her efforts if she never truly needed to, and with her estimations on point, released another shot, and took down the second target. Moving on was not an issue, as she already knew her magazine had been spent and replaced it flawlessly, and within a matter of seconds after, did the rest of the targets fall, like clockwork, every tick was not followed by a tock but instead a simple clang of metallic compliance.
For a moment after, the room fell silent, almost deathly, Haydee lowered down her pistol to take a careful look at her results, but that got quickly yet welcomingly inspired by the deeper buzz that spoke outwards. To her mild interest; that buzz was followed by the call of three more the same, as a moment after did a walkway spring out from her side and become a bridge for her to walk across. Getting the message with clear intent, the gynoid lowered her gun as she took a stroll forwards and down the walkway, stepping towards the latch, and as if acting in tandem, did it open and reveal itself to her when she was but steps away.
She didn't even need to stand right before the opening to see what was presented to her. As slung down with obsidian straps that would fit her form nicely Haydee could see in plain artificial light that her take from this was a nicely cleaned gun holster for her to take. Wasting no time like the present, Haydee smoothly wrapped the straps around her leg and pulled it tightly, before inserting her handgun into the hold so she could take a better look at it in full. Daintily, she twisted her leg around on the heel, getting a better look at the holster with different angles as she rather admired the look. When she finally looked away, she was ready to take a move on, now that she has a re-framed idea of how to proceed, but her body paused itself as she sharply noticed something amiss about this hole in the wall. Looking at it, she idly wondered why this holster was left on its lonesome, considering, if her estimations were right, the small indent on the other side of the base was meant to house something else.
Shaking her head, she plainly left that thought to the back of her mind, seeing she had no present belief she could answer it, because now with a rebuffed sense of strength, Haydee moseyed her body up the promenade and back down the vent, as she ventured forth into the previous room.
With a careful drop down from the boxes, Haydee made the swift turn around - not onto the next vent, but to the branching off of this room, as she hurried up to meet that hanging crate that obstructed her path. Unchanged from when she last saw its presence, said crate no longer scored itself as an obstacle in Haydee's mind now, but rather, nothing more than a minor altercation she would finally the echoes of the crash ascended up to her level, such a noise filling her both with accomplishment, and fear for just how deep a hole it went. It was for that she was thankful she made sure to never let herself drop down into any abyss she needed to bypass.
Now with the way unblocked for, the gynoid was ready to make the logical step forward and a jump over the gap to face that A.I. hazard. . . if, it wasn't for something eating at the back of her mind. Silently, the machine peeled her attention away from the front as her head slowly twisted around to behind herself, were she spotted a certain item she had only managed to take a glance at upon reentering to this particular room. Turning sharply around, the curious robot stride was no longer aimed for the door just a distance from across the gap, but now onto the singular crate sitting up close to a corner nearby the shorter vent; where sitting atop the static box was something of silent existence. Picking it up, Haydee quickly saw that it was neither a key nor a weapon that was housed almost out of her perception, but there, with its pocket size, inert actions and text-only display, she knew this basic device to be a Digital Entry.
Now with her curiosity even more gained, her interest in such a device being left here when there was no-one but her kind to ever see its existence, Haydee sheathed away her pistol to let her free hand touch the scroll bar, holding the device aloft; and she began to read through:
Journal entry, 2-20-2186.
I just barely passed that last exam. Caleb, thought he was so cool, dumped out my backpack and I lost most of my notes. I managed to wing it, but I would have done a lot better if that meathead hadn't done that. Hate that guy. I don't know why he targets me of all people, there're plenty of people more "nerdy" and weak than me.
Anyways, I'm undertaking a new project to have something to do and keep my mind focused. I decided it was time to try building my own robot, and put what I learned to the test. And not a small, animal-based one. I'm making a humanoid one. Go big or go home, right?
I am drafting the plans and doing designs. Not sure yet exactly what I will aim for. I know humanoid. Maybe female? Everyone always talks about making one, but why not? Be nice to have someone to talk to, who doesn't laugh at my stutter, or snicker and make fun of the "runty nerdling".
It will take a while to design, but I think it's doable. Heck, I wasn't first in my Robotics class for nothing.
Journal entry, 3-2-2186.
Have I mentioned I hate Caleb? That bacterium accosted me with a bunch of his friends and this time threw my backpack into the river. Thank god I didn't have my laptop in it that time, but everything else was a loss. I wish he'd go play in traffic. He's definitely dumb enough.
Anyways, I finished the designs for the robot. I had to work with what I can get, and the servos I can get and afford are a little on the large side, so she'll have to be scaled up accordingly. If my calculations are correct, she will be around 6'4" or so. A little on the tall side, but, you know what? I like it. Nothing wrong with a tall lady. I will start sourcing the parts I need tomorrow. I already have some basic steel for the skeleton.
Journal entry, 3-3-2186.
I will never know why Caleb is so nasty. Today, when I went to get the parts I needed, I saw him kicking dirt on, and even spitting on a homeless guy. And he and his buddies laughed. I gave the guy what money I had, if nothing else, to set a bit right that asshat, Caleb set wrong.
So, I couldn't afford all the parts I needed, but I can always wait to buy more.
I am excited to start building the robot, and am already working out what I will need to do for the programming and AI. That, though, I can do any time I want, and at home, without creeps like Caleb pestering me.
And last night, I was reading, and I had an idea hit me like a bolt out of the blue! I know what to call the robot: Hadie. I'll name her Hadie."
It was only after she had finished reading did she realise her hands were shaking; her free hand bawled having balled into a fist before she could even register what she was doing. Only after when the final word was read did she feel her body was innately tensing up so hard. She could not tell why that is so suddenly, her sensors picking up no presence she could perceive as a threat, nor any immediate feeling of anxiousness she should be feeling to justify her body's reactions. Confused, but not startled, Haydee calmly set the device down before she relaxed her body, all the while having her mind wander over what she had been reading.
Despite direct answers stating the entries were the cause of her body's apprehension, she herself could not find the correlation for what this journal had spoken to her about. She did not know the people named in these paragraphs, so how could she guess of who it was this was written about, yet even still, her curiosity had not been fully satiated, as her head kept asking the repeating question of what those journals had to do with herself, or even this place in its entirety.
But that was not a question she could find the answer to right here, at least, so with an understanding of no other reason to stay rooted, Haydee took a swift turn and turned down the short corridor, making a easy jump over the gap before she made a ninety degree spin on her heels, spying the door that leads to the threat-holding room. So coolly, did she whip out her pistol before she made a headway, and exited back into that room with combative resolve.
The Walker saw her enter as soon as her first boot clicked the tile floor, the gynoid walking inside without a hint of fear on her body. As she expected, the machine reacted instantly to her presence, and made a stride towards her with clear violent intent.
But she was ready, her reflex and conflict programming kicking in, and with her firearm brandished into the open air did she pull up the aim and aligned her shots towards the robot's most obvious weak spot; it's head. Her finger pulled on the trigger, and thus, did she let unleash her one-woman assault: First shot smashed into the machine's head, yet it barely made it flinch. Unmoved, she fired again, hitting what should be considered its face with vicious resolution. Again, the machine did not budge an inch as it continued its march of murderous ideals, but instead the machine raised up its arm with clear killing eagerness, aloft over its shoulder and ready to slam it down now that it was in striking distance and ready to kill.
And then the third bullet came.
Like a dark cloud of mechanical rain, the showers of sparks that came bathed against Haydee's body until most of the now-destroyed machine buckled over backwards. A trio of shots was all it took for its head to cave in and expose the fragile wires within, letting her see how fully machine it was until its weight fell full down to the floor, and collapsed in a helpless heap. It took a few seconds after for her body to relax, the threat abolished, and with her firearm no longer needed for immediate use, she calmly holstered the weapon away. Peering her eyes off the freshly-made corpse, instead the gynoid took a look down to the certainly older dead body lying limp on the floor also.
She felt no remorse for her ceased existence, nor did she care to think too hard on for how it was killed so simply. It was an older model she surpassed in most conceivable ways, so she held no doubt as to why, like many others, she was killed so callously. But even with such apathetic thoughts taking over the operating gynoid mind, she did not at all see her as completely useless. Bending down to her level, the gynoid let her fingers trace around the deceased form and body, scraping against her sides until her fingers could pick at one thing, and thusly pulled it out. As she suspected, there was a reason why the holster was left to one side, as it very much did share it's space with another item: A White Keycard.
She had to admit; if this machine went through the same hurdles and hoops she herself travesered, then she mustn't have been as poor in quality as she might have first expected. Still, this machine's life may have ended here, but that should never mean she'd have to, and tucking the card inside her backpack, the living one stepped past the corpse's body and promptly exited through the other door.
She knew beforehand that she'd have to be wary of what may lay in this room.
Though she could not see, she could hear them; the sound of metal clanking continuously over tiles in repeated fashions. From moments of only minutes ago, she could only think and dread the otherwise unknown, but now, having faced a being of potentially similar description, she now knew predominantly what she may expect when she first stepped foot a in.
That said, she still felt a sense of relief upon seeing her sights were not directly met with the reflected vision of a doubled pair of red-lined lenses staring back at her with intent to deactivate permanently, but instead the only obstruction the gynoid met was the towering face of a ledge blocking her immediate passage. However, even such a small sense of relief was overburdened as she looked around where she stood unmoved: It was not holes in the floor that made gaps, but instead the floor was itself acting to be the gap in this otherwise bottomless floor. No doubt, even with such space between where her walkway was, and the walls on either side, the abyss below held no sight of an end.
She could tell that she would not have much space to maneuver here, even with what little she could see over the edge, her success would rely on her placement over movement. Still, even with that said, this room wasn't completely downhearted with what she was presented with. As a simple turn of her head let her spy the very well-deserved full clip sitting on it's lonesome atop a nearby crate. Obviously, Haydee smoothly took the magazine from the stand and replaced her old clip with this fresh one, keeping the older magazine in her backpack for later use before she refocused her sights back to forward.
Not in the least bit afraid of the daunting height before, Haydee made a quick jump upwards to the ledge as she grabbed onto the side to ensure she was secure; for she did not immediately make an attempt to pull herself up from the side, but rather, the only part of her that came up was the slowly ascending top her head, gingerly keeping her presence as shrouded as she could so she could scope out what made her muscles so tense from her venture earlier.
So felt neither any surprise, nor cheer, when she finally looked in full detail to what was making those noises. The robots, same in design as the previous fought automation, but now they were two of them cluttering her walkway. And unlike the preceding robot, these two were not standing still and awaiting a reason to move, but rather they were marching in tandem to the beat of their footsteps, in perfect symmetry to one another. Enclosed in a cage that wrapped all around their footpath, the pair marched around in the square that led to her only exit out of here. Seeing this obstacle, she calmly brought her head back down to be safe before she gave into deep thought.
There was always the possibility to fight; she had the weapon, had the ammo, and had the range to give her an advantage. But, she also knew the drawbacks to this; she knew as soon as she let herself known by one, the other would follow en-suite without any flinch or hesitation. And more, with the caging going both around the edges of the ledge and making a hole for in between the sides, she would not get good access to shoot and defeat them if she tried to kill.
However: whoever said she ever needed to kill them at all?
Because she already knew the path to choose; and so with careful, and silent, pulls, the gynoid began her shimmy around.
With tepid hands her body kept low as she turned the corner of the ledge and made a silent leeway to the approaching square. With every move the sounds of alarming clicks of metal hitting the floor came all the more louder, all the more threatening. She could feel the vibrations of when each foot slammed into tile from the touches of her precise fingers bouncing into her contact sensors, each walk like the beat of a war drum heralding the march of any army. But dire a sound or not, this did not budge Haydee even the slightest from trying any other way. Even when her body was shimming alongside the pathways of the Walkers, her frame below just a foot from their own position, she refuses to feel the creeping grain of fear try and pull her down into the darkness that is the abyss.
Every few seconds they came, walking past her slower form and leaving but the remnants of a shadow to peer over her otherwise silent existence, and though each time they did it repeated a motion she would be found, she would not bow to anxiety as she moved forth with a sense of purpose she knew she had to find.
Moments may have felt like minutes, but to the calculating Haydee the time spent meant little if there was nothing to fear losing to. She didn't not speed up, or slow down her pace to any second; even when she made a final turn that signalled her shimmy was no longer in the presence of the caged square, she felt no desire to celebrate such a rudimentary task. It was only when her presence was out of the antagonistic machine's range did she feel it right to finally pull herself up from the ledge and stand up straight. Every moment she did she did so slowly, guardedly, checking that her presence had not at all been seen by the pair of enemies that were still continuing their everlasting traipse.
Even when she finally stood her ground, she still looked to watch if they at all noticed her position. Yet as always, did the two stay in their symmetrical march, and only after a good number of securing seconds did she feel safe to turn her back to them and march herself down the last end of the walkway, meeting up with the door that led her out and exiting through without delay.
Standing on the other side of the broken door gave Haydee only the barest of thoughts for reflection. Looking back through the grated fencing she mildly took herself to seeing herself being stood on the other side, surveying through with mild indignation over her route being blocked off by that broken appliance.
Though, upon taking out the keycard to be inserted into the other door's locking pad, she did notice how she likely wouldn't have gotten both that, and by extent, her now crucial firearm, without having to find a different access. So at least, she sought to conclude it wasn't an entire waste of her time.
Even as she strode through and entered the next room, her mind still trailed over to those thoughts. She only paused her steps to ensure the way was clear, and to her most moderate of thoughts, noticed this looked to be the most clearless of rooms she had yet to enter.
The room was nothing more than a stretch of open hallway, with no enemies, traps, or deep abyss to ruin her otherwise basic march. Not even a simple puzzle she needed to solve, the only force she needed to overcome was the distance she had to roam. And thus, with a moderate stride, Haydee trudged on forward.
With the length as it was, it gave Haydee, if even just a little, time for rumination about what she had to traverse past. Deep pits, piercing saws and other machinations she saw that held no ulterior motive other than to seek her personal annihilation. This all made her think and wonder to what purpose they were. Most likely, she computed they were but a test for her; but a test for what? There was no voice guiding her, nor any text or written analogue explaining the situation for her. Was her purpose for activation by chance, or was their accidental bug in the programming that caused her arousal to happen? Was her purpose to forever be just a limp on the wall like the rest of her kind she saw beside her?
Fervently, she shook her head, in the hopes it would loosen away that lingering feeling of self-deprecation her wandering mind was starting to cluster. Such ideas felt meaningless for her to assemble without necessary importations. So quickly deciding not to let those concerns affect her any longer, Haydee sped up her walk to carry her smoother forward and head out to the door, in hopes she would find some, any, distractions from these strangely overbearing concerns.
Stepping forth, it didn't take her long to reach an, albiet minor, impasse. The hallway she walked down she quite clearly saw ended with either a march left or right, if she hoped to continue her unspoken trail. Looking to her right, she saw only a simplistic door at the end, with the only indication of difference was the bright, white cross over a red background hanging over its head. But looking left, what nearly made her jump was the absolute size of the door stationed in close proximity on this side. Even from a distance, it's sheer magnitude left her speechless, figuratively speaking, as she seized up the sheer scope of this exit. Looking a good fifteen feet high and thirty odd wide, it practically towered over her not-so-fragile frame like it had no business, yet still, Haydee still felt drawn to it, an inclination made real as her feet had already seemed to have made the decision for her.
When she finally stood before the impressive sized opening, she couldn't help but think how much bigger it looked up close. Not threatening to the usually rational machine, but it did give her rise to think and wonder for what it's purpose was, and better yet, how to open such a magnificent beast.
Course, prying it open wasn't a particularly bright idea, she didn't want to try and think of how she would look pushing with all her strength into the immovable object, so instead she searched around for what may be the key to this locked opening. There was no card reader anywhere around this door, and the only other presence she could see was the blank display screen on stuck to the thick closed gateway. However, what didn't pass her eyesight was the large pad sitting well flat on the floor; with a black and yellow border signifying its presence on the otherwise camouflaged background.
Seeming to get an understanding for its purpose, Haydee stepped on, feeling her weight shifting the mechanisms below, before fully letting her body stand all over the pad without delay; and quickly hearing the strong buzzing of noise rupture to her hidden ears she faced the immediate door:
It didn't open. Not even an inch did the huge entryway that barred her way through so much as shrug at her appearance on the pad, as if indignant for her attempt. Yet before her mind could trace itself to the thought it disapproved of her being the one to open itself up. . . or maybe, it just simply had stopped working altogether, she did notice the display panel blink awake.
It did not blink to her a string of words explaining why the door did not budge, but instead, what the display flashed to her was actually a simplistic portrait of what appeared to be two unidentifiable figures holding hands as they stood side-by-side, with both standing above an underline.
For a manner of seconds Haydee tapped the tip of her chin in deep thought as she tried to fully understand what the symbols shown meant, and though many ideas and solutions came into her mind, she knew all of them meant little if she couldn't get past the door from where she stood. For this, she knew the only viable, and obvious, option for her to take was a swift turn around and a straight beeline down to the other path.
So stepping off, Haydee, like a clockwork mechanism spun on her heels and made her body down to the second door, eyeing that white cross symbol with strong focus before she entered through the door.
Though she did not know what to expect when making a few steps in, she definitely never expected this place to look as cluttered as it were.
Existing all around her, caring little for the gynoid that stared back, were various fixed appliances and human creations. Of chairs and tables, of old devices that never used the resource of electricity to be utilised, of old papers strung about the floor as if no one had the intention to not make this place look so. . . .abandoned.
That word managed to quench the positive thought of her finding the lives of others here, because the more she looked at this reception of a room, the more she sought just how run down it all was. The only electric devices she saw that still was running was the old lights keeping this place from falling into darkness, as all others; from the screen on the wall, to the computer desktop on the table, all were caked in a layer of dust suggesting time immemorial was the ideal that forcibly hugged this place.
None of the non-electrical devices seemed to grab her attention, as she sought no reason to gain weight with the snatch of some half-chewed pencil, empty glass bottle, of as she picked it up, misplaced glasses not on the head of some person who needed them so as not to slam face-first into a post. Putting it down, Haydee scanned the area around her while she took tentative steps, making her way past the chairs and table as she looked for more.
Yet the only other part she found to be of important interest was the singular open hallway leading out of this forsaken place, letting her know her time in here was no longer needed. A shame, she silently read to herself, because as lifeless as this place was deemed, she felt an inkling of intrigue run through her, as if she wished to stay even just a moment longer. But she could not, she believed to be true, so without wanting delay Haydee began her stride into the corridor, taking careful steps as she took in this place.
In vast rows of unending-seeming sight this hall stretched out with parallel doors of all the same design. One be one, facing each other in perfect symmetry, this self-stated endless corridor felt overbearing to the machine as she eyed it all up. Quickly, though, she realised this overbearing shadow or dread held little discouragement when the panels beside each door shone silent red. At least she felt a relief to some degree of her not having to search each and every one of the hidden rooms for the right answer to her dilemma, yet all the same, that meant she will not find the solution so easily.
As such, she kept on walking, past all the locked doors and glows of red against her tanned skin, she refused to be admonished by the possible thoughts of finding naught but emptiness. No matter how many she passed, how many stayed blocking her search, she would not yield to impatience. Even when she saw the end of this hall approach herself, the curt wall coming into her plain view, she refused to give up until all she felt sure all her options had been checked off; no matter how little of a chance she had to solve her problem here. . .
And like a miracle, down the hall, at the farthest end she needed to reach, did the gynoid spot a peculiar green glow come from just one panel among the seemingly hundreds. Without hesitation did her pace pick up a smidgen, her stride accelerating by a minor yet noticeable amount as her body quickly hurried over to the final room. When she stood up to the front of the door, facing the unlocked gateway with a sense of vaunt respite, she let her right wander over and hover a finger right up to the keypad; getting closer, ready to open and hope her expectations were fulfilled -
Then she heard a crash. Within inches of pressing onto the touch screen her finger wavered and paused as the Haydee picked up the sounds of sudden ruinous movement coming from behind this unlocked door. Carefully, Haydee froze her motions, and listened deeply for the sounds of anything more coming from within the room she sought to believe would help her reclaim her confidence in getting through this place. She could not hear anything more, as even the wild bang that sounded from inside this cage of identical holding was largely muffled to an existent, and anything even the slightest bit quiet would not be heard so readily by even herself.
So drawing the hand back, the Haydee's body stayed still for all but her pair of hands; with her left one now rearing up to the keypad, her dominant arm carefully peeled upwards her handgun and pointed the barrel out forward, hovering over her angle arm as her body became securely tense. She was not going to take any chances; letting down her guard could spell easy disaster, especially considering the kinds of hazards she had to endure.
So with firm patience, the machine armed her firearm with fixated devotion while her other hand hovered over that malachite-shining pad, a singular finger propping forward so as to open it when she was completely ready to face whatever was behind this door.
Her finger gave but a twitch onto the touchscreen.
And without delay it opened.
Immediately, Haydee sprang into action! Stiffening her legs, the gynoid had her left leg take a step back, so as to be ready for an evasion of any kind, and her finger twisted around the trigger, bracing for any inevitable notion the trigger needed to be pulled with righteous resolve. All this came together, just for her to quickly study the surroundings that now lied bare for her:
The room was small, not tight, but a compact square box would be a decent name to call this. It was not filled with all sorts of random junk like the bigger room before her had, but instead, the devises inside looked to actually be active. Sitting centred in the middle was a gurney, of the simplest yet efficient kind, and strapped around the trolley she could see a number of heightened machines, beeping and clicking, all to which her possessed artificial memory quickly understood as vital-monitoring machines.
But most importantly, most intriguing, and most shocking of all, was that huddled in the corner, looking so small and pale, shivering in just a plain shirt and light blue boxers, and staring to her through the shaggy brown hair with pin-pricked hazel eyes -
Was there a living human.
What's this? No Hope You Enjoyed?
Well, I only say that when the fic has been finished, and before you inquire so with hopeful breath; yes: this will indeed be a multi-chapter story.
So stick around, cause a lot more is going to come.
Special thanks, as always, to CelfwrDderwydd, both for making this lovely cover art, but also being the OG creator and thinker for this story for you all to hopefully (though unquestionably) enjoy.