Rise of the Machines: Chapter 4

By Icura and Vahn (Vahnhammer on SB)

~o~

The duty of all androids was to fight for humanity and if necessary, die for them.

"Mayday, mayday—bzzt!"

"We're being overrun at sector—augh!"

"Push forward! We have to break through!"

"Glory to—bzzt!"

But that didn't make it any easier for her to accept it.

Anemone pressed herself against the corner wall of the ruined building, daring a peek out. Her AK-47 assault rifle was heated and held tightly against her chest despite the tendrils of smoke wafting from its barrel. She had been using it nearly non-stop, barely allowing it time to cool down. However, edging the limits constantly like this was probably not a good idea, though it wasn't like she was going to stop.

Finding another rifle wasn't particularly hard, considering there was one just a few feet from her—right next to a Resistance member's corpse—though she didn't know what condition they were in. It could be anywhere from pristine all the way up to one shot away from exploding in her hands. A bit of a risky proposition, and one that she wouldn't really want to risk without any desperate need to. Luckily, her weapon was still serviceable, and it would last for a while longer. Pressing her hand against the body of her assault rifle, she found that it was now lukewarm to her touch.

Good enough.

"Jackass, throw a grenade. We're going to head up."

"Are you crazy? I only have twenty of those left!"

Across the street on the other side, similarly pressed against a building's corner was Jackass. She was peeking out and firing bursts of her plasma rifle, though that did too little to stem the tide that was coming down the street.

"You're the crazy one! Stop hoarding them and use them. In fact, use two!"

"Now, that's crazy talk. Ask for a hand and then take my whole arm, why don't you?!"

"Stop being overdramatic. We both know you have other explosives on you."

"Those have nothing to do with these!"

Anemone knew that if Jackass ever went down, she probably wouldn't be able to escape the blast radius, and that was if Jackass didn't have some new, secret explosive contraption on her. In the past few weeks, the other android had been in her lab far more than usual, though thankfully, there hadn't been any explosive accidents in that time. In fact, knowing how she was, they were probably due for a big one.

"Besides, when were you ever stingy about using them?"

"When they're finite! These ones are going to have to last me a while."

"Just do it already!"

"Fine, fine! Get ready."

Taking two grenades off her belt with one hand, Jackass used her other to pull the pins. Even after she tossed aside the pins, she held the grenades in her hand and mouthed out a wordless countdown. After a couple of seconds, she leaned out of her corner and threw them into the crowd of marching small and medium machine lifeforms. Two massive explosions erupted, shaking the ground and blasting the entire frontline of the machines into pieces.

"Go!"

Anemone and Jackass weren't the only ones to step out and start firing. The surviving androids in the area began to rally behind them and push the battle lines forward.

High above, the Council's flagship continued to wage war with plasma, lasers, and homing missiles continuously firing from its armaments. The constant return fire in the form of massive energy shots and laser beams harried the warship, some even piercing through the sometimes flickering shields to cause explosions along the hull. However, pods were quickly dispatched from slots embedded into the ship, both to protect the area with their shields and to repair the damage. However, the innumerable amount of attacks by the machines stymied the ship's advance, such that they had only just now left the overhead vicinity of the Resistance Camp. As such, any support from the flagship would be far too late for their purposes.

In the skies, two flight units that managed to evade their aerial machine pursuers sped on ahead in a reckless attempt to pierce the blockade. It was only a moment later that two ground-to-air laser beams struck them, ripping right through the torso of one while clipping the wing of the other to send it into a freefall. A moment later, the surviving YoRHa leaped out of the broken flight unit and fell behind the machine's line, sword first.

With any luck, she would even make it through to John Connor, but the only ones to do so were during the early minutes after the call, before the machines reinforced their lines to the point that they couldn't pierce through. As to their fate, that wasn't something that she knew.

An energy shot tore through the arm of a soldier next to her, causing the android to fall onto his back. However, despite his silent suffering, he quickly got back up and continued firing one-handed. There was no complaint, no whining, and no questioning his own determination. He continued to step forward and fight despite knowing that it was likely that he wouldn't survive past this fight. And he wasn't the only one. The androids around them were the same, fighting through whatever injury they received. Instead of panicking or fleeing, they continued to fire their weapons, shredding the machine lifeforms apart as they advanced forward.

"Jackass!"

"On it!" The explosive expert pulled out another grenade and unpinned it. Without waiting to cook it, she tossed it into the crowd of machine lifeforms. The grenade bounced off a metal head before it fell to the ground, stopping when a metallic foot stepped on it. The resulting burst shattered a portion of the machine's frontline, sending shrapnel that damaged the nearby units. However, more machine lifeforms quickly took their place.

The explosion allowed the android forces to move forward, but the gains were minimal. Even after this much fighting, they had only advanced the length of a block, reaching the next intersection. That was just how thick the enemy forces were, such that they were now wading through the remains of dead machine lifeforms even as they continued to fight. From the heavily saturated communication link, she could hear reports of other android forces advancing toward the same destination, though on different routes. The rearguard—those who stayed behind at the Resistance Camp—were few but necessary to prevent themselves from being hit from behind. However, with the camp's position continuously weakening by the minute, the time that they were spending here, slogging through the heavy resistance, was time that they couldn't actually afford.

"Anemone, this might be a bad time to tell you this, but you know how John sometimes comes by my lab?"

"Can't this wait until later?"

"Um, maybe? I kind of made a giant bomb that I left back in my lab."

"…you did what?"

"Well, we got to talking about the nukes that humans used to make, and that got me thinking. Why couldn't I make something like that? So..."

"How powerful is it?"

"I may have slightly overdone it a little."

"Jackass, how powerful?"

"We're still within the range of the blast radius."

"That was right next to us all this time?! That could have exploded by accident and taken out the entire camp! What were you thinking?!"

"That he would be pleased by my initiative? He was, by the way."

"Let me get this straight," Anemone said with a furrowed brow as she leaned to the side to dodge an energy shot before raising her rifle and firing. "You left behind a bomb that could explode at any time and—"

"Actually, I have the detonator in my back pocket."

"We still have people back at the camp!"

"I know, I know. You think I'm stupid? I won't push it just yet."

"…then why are you telling me this now?"

"In case you want to go out with a bang."

"Remind me to kick your ass if we survive this."

"Why would I do that?"

~o~

The severed hand was kicked aside, rolling down the sands that contained the ruins of a cityscape. Ribbons of light floated out from his wrist stump, the sparking wires and metal visible in between the dripping flesh. Metallic endoskeleton lengthened as synthetic flesh regrew around it, forming a hand that was perfect in appearance and symmetry—inhuman in its lack of flaws. However, Adam paid no attention to it as he strode across the heated desert, his eyes focused only on his approaching opponent.

In contrast, A2 sauntered across the yellow wasteland, each step filled with both elegance and confidence. It was done with such ingrained naturalness that she didn't notice—nor would she care if she did. The Type-4O sword was held in her grasp, the blade still sharp despite carrying more scars than before along its deadly length.

There was no signal before A2 dashed forward in an explosion of sand. The moment that she was in range, her blade slashed out in a blur. Adam crossed his hands in front of him to block the attack, and the blade skidded across an electric sheen just before it could touch the machine lifeform's skin.

A2 backed away, but Adam stepped forward to match her. She raised her sword hastily as Adam's fist hammered into it at an angle, flinging her blade to the side from the unexpected force. Quick to capitalize on it, the machine lifeform reached out his other hand to grab her. However, keeping her hold on the hilt, she spun with the momentum to lash out with a spin-kick, knocking Adam's hand aside.

As she finished the revolution, A2 brought her sword around to turn it into a slash that would have cleaved him from shoulder to waist. However, just before the blade could touch him, his barrier flashed into existence, electric sparks flying as the blade's edge bit inches into it. She leaned back to avoid Adam's backhand before backstepping to dodge his sidekick. Pulling back her sword, she quickly evaded the follow-up swipe. She snapped up her blade to slice the offending limb, but the barrier appeared again, stopping her momentum.

Adam smashed his fist into her face.

A2 was sent rocketing away by the impact. Landing roughly, she skidded back through the sands as small clouds of sand particles and dust were kicked up into the air, only to see Adam right in front of her. The machine had been faster than expected, closing the gap between them before she had realized it.

Adam lashed out with a one-two jab before finishing the short combo with a sidekick, all of which were neatly avoided by the barest of margins by the former YoRHa unit. He tanked her counter-slash across his chest, letting his shield withstand the hit to launch into another melee combo that she avoided by both experience and wit.

A2 and Adam continued to exchange attacks, but she realized that he was getting faster, adapting at a rate that shouldn't be possible. For every attack she gave, she was paying for it by receiving two or three of his. Worse, the punches were getting closer and closer with every assault.

The edges of his knuckles had skidded across her synthetic skin even though she hadn't got a single stab in through his shield. If this kept up, then there could only be one logical conclusion to their battle. She needed to figure out a way to—

Unfortunately for A2, her concern was validated when a jab from Adam slithered through her defenses and struck her shoulder, knocking her off-balance. Taking advantage of that, Adam smashed his foot into her stomach and launched her off her feet. Rolling on the sand, she stabbed her sword into the ground to halt her momentum. However, Adam was already standing just before her, raising his leg to stomp down.

A series of plasma bolts crashed into him, causing his shield to shatter. For the first time in the fight, Adam angrily gritted his teeth as he was forced back, both to steady himself and to evade the follow-up shots. His gaze turned to the human who was still firing at him, his form flickering from step to step. At least, that was until the plasma pistol overheated, the side panel flashing red as nothing spilled out of the barrel despite John pressing the trigger repeatedly.

"You…" Adam began to move to deal with the human.

"Forgetting someone, you goddamn machine?"

Grains of sand fell from her dusty clothes even as A2 appeared in front of him. Her eyes glowed with an unnatural light as the tiny golden participles that had been tossed up by her arrival slowed their descent until they barely moved. Adam's eyes moved down, tracking her even as his body stayed near motionless. With both hands on the hilt of her sword, from one moment to the next, her blade moved.

Left hip to right shoulder, right forearm to left wrist, left waist to right knee…

Swinging her arm ceaselessly, she went faster and faster, forcefully moving beyond all known safety protocols.

…right hip to left eye, left cheek to right thigh, right hip to left ankle, left knee to right neck…

Continuously—endlessly—her blade became sharp flashes of light that crisscrossed and overlapped each other.

…left armpit to right ear, right palm to left cheek, left wrist to right ankle, right abdomen to left armpit, left thigh to right waist—!

Her blade flashed a final time, sundering even the very image of reality in front of her before she blurred away from him. The sword came to a stop by her side, the throes of her finale still echoing even as the glow faded from her eyes.

As if time was speeding up, the golden grains of sand resumed their descent as Adam simply fell apart like a shattered mirror. Each piece—accompanied by crimson droplets—fell down to the desert floor, puddling into a messy pile of meat and machinery that could only be distinguished from each other by the metallic sheen reflected by the sun's light.

Steam erupted copiously from the crevices in between her skin plates as A2 fell to her knees, her vision becoming filled with red warning messages.

"A2! John rushed to her side and reached for her.

"Don't...!" A2 was too late to stop him before John snapped back his hand, his fingers burnt by the heat radiating from her body. However, to her surprise, he took off his jacket and wrapped it around his hand so he could safely touch her and prop her up.

"Are you okay?"

"I'm a thread-length from shutdown…" A2 coughed, expelling out hydraulic fluids that had somehow gotten into her throat. Most of the steam and heat had dissipated by this point due to her coolant systems working at full throttle, but the damage had already been done. "We need to—"

The pile of minced steel and flesh began to glow.

Before John could say anything, A2—now cooled—grabbed him and threw him onto her shoulders in a fireman's carry. She dropped into a dash, running on legs that wouldn't be able to handle the pressure for long, already being damaged as they were. Despite that, she still pushed them to their limits, speeding across sandy dunes and the sun-burnt ruins that littered the golden landscape.

"A2?!" John had never expected somebody smaller to carry him in this manner. Oddly enough, the feeling of nostalgia for his old dirt bike came to him. "A2, I ca—"

"Shut up," the former YoRHa unit said through gritted teeth. Numerous error messages were popping continuously, forcing her to split her attention. "If we can get far enough to hide before the machine regrows his brain—"

"I think it's a little too late for that!"

Risking a glance back, A2 didn't bother to hold back her grimace. Chasing them was a luminous humanoid being, glowing so brightly that—despite the eternal daylight—it was like headlights in a dark night. However, more distinctive were the crimson eyes that locked onto them, burning balefully.

John raised his pistol and pulled the trigger.

The first couple of shots went wide, simply making potholes in the sand. The third one went directly on the luminous being's path, forcing it to evade to the side even as it kept running toward them. However, that was enough to buy them an extra second, and that counted in a chase where the pursuer was faster than them. As he continued to fire at the being, the white glow began to slip away. It revealed the running form of a fully regenerated Adam, nude except for the fact that the machine lifeform lacked an important sexual organ between his legs, making him as featureless as a doll.

"Shit!" John cursed as the nightmares of his past came to mind, even as he kept firing. Many of the shots went wildly, not even necessitating the machine lifeform to alter his running path.

"Stop missing!" A2 snapped off irritably. "Steady your aim already."

"Easier said than—"

In a burst of speed, Adam closed the gap between them in an instant, his hand reaching out to grab him.

"John!"

~o~

2B raced across the desert with Pod 042, plumes of dust and sand following in her wake. Half-ruined buildings, partially buried under the waves of sand, dotted the heated landscape, but there were no signs of life to be had.

In the midst of this wasteland, a chime rang in her head.

"This is Operator 6O to 2B. 9S has reached the escape pod, but it's empty, and there are signs of a recent battle. He is currently following the trail, but the VIP might be in danger. What is your status?"

"Approaching the light anomaly soon. Will rendezvous afterward with 9S to assist in the search. Did any other units that make it through?"

"A few did, but they didn't last. Currently, the only active black box signal beyond the blockade is yours and 9S's."

2B's lips thinned for a moment before she regained her neutrality. It was reasonable since her own breakthrough had been a stroke of luck. Along with 9S, they had already been in the process of a do-or-die assault when the machine lifeforms had malfunctioned for no perceivable reason, stalling them for approximately 15.42 seconds. After they made it through, they had to split up for separate objectives and to escape pursuit. Being the faster of the two, 9S had gone after the escape pod's last known location.

"Continuing with the mission."

"Roger that and…" 6O hesitated, though that only lasted for a moment. "If you find him, don't let him die, 2B. Please."

"Understood."

Her communication link disconnected.

The time limit on her mission had lessened significantly. Her first instinct was to abandon her current mission and join in the search, but the scanner units were built for search and reconnaissance operations, making her presence superficial at best until a battle commences. Even if 9S were to come upon an enemy, she trusted him to be able to handle it or stall enough for her to arrive. However, if she abandoned her current mission and it turned out to be a direct threat to John Connor, then she wouldn't ever be able to forgive herself.

"Warning: plasma discharge detected," Pod 042 intoned in a monotone, masculine voice.

2B remained silent as she sped up the sand dune. Reaching the peak, she finally came upon the sight of her objective.

"Pod!"

Pod 042 quickly began charging, energy collecting in front of it. In the meanwhile, 2B ran down the sand dune as she pulled her katana off of her back, a chime ringing at the back of her head.

"2B to 6O! The VIP is at my coordinates, under assault by an unknown android traitor!"

"I-Informing Command!" The franticness in her usually cheerful tone underlined 6O's stress. "For now, defend the VIP and eliminate the threat! 9S is en route."

"Understood!"

Pod 042 fired off a laser beam that lanced through the desert air.

~o~

John could not hold back his fear as the reaper's hand encompassed his whole vision. At that moment, his thoughts flashed back to his past and the people that he once knew. However, just before the fingers could touch him, that arm was knocked aside by a laser beam, the barrier around it flashing as it absorbed the blast even if it didn't for the impact. Not one to look a gift horse in the mouth, he snapped up his pistol and fired point-blank at the machine's face.

Adam's head was flung back, his steps faltering. That allowed A2 to increase the distance, even as she held on to John to make sure that he didn't fall off. However, Adam didn't pursue them. Instead, he quickly raised his forearm as the thin blade of a katana descended upon it, the appearance of his shield being the only thing stopping it from severing his arm. Growling, he swung his arm heavily, sending his newest assailant sliding away from him.

"One after the other…" Alabaster ribbons floated around both of his arms as Adam brought his disdainful gaze onto the new arrival.

"Traitor." 2B brought her white-hilted katana to bear as Pod 042 came to her side.

"2B!" John slid off of A2's shoulder, landing feet first onto the sands. He brought his pistol to bear as A2 pulled out her Type-4O sword, even as chipped as it was at this point. "Be careful! It's a new type of machine lifeform!"

'A machine?' 2B thought warily.

"He can regenerate even the heaviest of damage!" John's warning caused 2B to raise the machine infiltrator's threat level, raising the tension.

2B nodded sharply to John and A2—acknowledging her as an ally for now—before breaking the stalemate by charging straight into the fray and striking at Adam with her katana. The thin blade of her sword barely missed his neck as he leaned back and pumped back his fist. His counter-uppercut smashed into her chin, lifting her off her feet. Before the machine could take advantage of that, Pod 042 sent out a burst of plasma bullets that forced Adam to separate from her.

Flipping over and landing on her feet in a crouch, 2B boosted off of her position into a runner's dash. Getting within range, she lashed out with a wide horizontal slash that skidded across an electric white sheen that protected the machine. Adam moved forward to take advantage of that opening, but homing missiles slammed into his side, exploding with a force that staggered him. 2B stabbed her sword toward his chest, but the machine lifeform recovered fast enough to slap the blade aside.

As they exchanged more and more moves, it became apparent that 2B wasn't as experienced as A2. Despite having newer equipment and better quality armor, she didn't have the same creativity and ingenuity, falling into quite a few of Adam's feints and traps. However, Pod 042's fire support stopped the machine from capitalizing on her mistakes, working in such close tandem with her that it was shooting without ever hitting her even though she was locked in a close melee.

Even though John had the urge to join the fight, he knew that firing into that mess would do more harm than good; he was just as likely to hit 2B rather than his intended target. If A2 tried to help, it would interfere with the fire support from the pod and disrupt their synchronization. Unless 2B got into trouble, there was no way that they could move in without causing the situation to collapse even faster.

As it was, 2B was still holding on even if the longevity of the situation was untenable. More pressingly, the existence of Adam was worrying. This machine lifeform was of an entirely new production line that seemed to be made not only for infiltration but also for combat superiority, especially in comparison to YoRHa's current line. If the machine network were to put this model into mass production, then it would be how the Terminators were to humanity. It was a sobering thought, but if the androids were to have a chance, this information had to be brought back and disseminated as soon as possible to find some kind of counter to them.

"A2, we need to be ready to…" The words died on his lips when he finally turned his sight away from the battle and onto his companion. Said companion was sitting on the sand with a small toolbox opened in front of her and a soldering iron in her hand. She had a panel on her wrist open and was using the soldering iron on some of the exposed wires there. "Uh, what are you doing?"

A2 spat out the screwdriver in her mouth so that she could talk.

"What does it look like? I'm doing field repairs," she said without taking her eyes off of her work. "B-Mode gives me an edge, but it causes havoc on my internals. The longer I use it and the more I push it, the more broken or melted parts that I have to fix up or replace."

"...I see," John said before he came to her side. "I might not have built you, but I'm not a novice when it comes to android repairs. Tell me how I can help."

A2 stopped and stared at him with flustered look for a moment.

"I-I'm fine."

Even though she was trying to act relaxed, John could practically hear the tension in her voice. It was obvious that she was rushing her work, and the reason was plain to see. Looking back to the battle, the fact that 2B was holding on for this long was surprising enough, especially since it went past his speculative estimate about Adam's power supply. They were still trading blows, though 2B was accumulating more and more visible damage. On the other hand, Adam simply looked annoyed as if he was being pestered by an insect that wouldn't go away.

"ENOUGH!"

The loud shout from Adam was immense, blowing the sand away from him and causing 2B and Pod 042 to back away. Even at the distance that they were from the battle, John had to shield his face from the wave of sand while A2's toolbox was overturned, spilling and rolling the tools away from her.

Bending his knees, Adam leaped straight up into the air high above. Numerous luminous ribbons wrapped around his leg just before he rocketed down at 2B in a dive kick. The YoRHa unit leaped out of the way a few moments before Adam's foot crashed into the sands and detonated. All sound in the area was silenced for that infinitely small moment before a massive explosion erupted from the point of impact.

John felt a sudden weight on him as A2 dived over him, covering his body with hers. The waves of sand that flew past him were like that of a violent sandstorm. It was only when the winds died down to manageable levels that she finally rose up from him.

"We need to leave. Now!" A2 hurriedly grabbed John's arm to pull him up as well.

"What about 2B?" John asked as he was brought up to his feet.

"What about her? She can find her own—"

Something boxy and metallic crashed into her side, bouncing off to fall onto the ground next to them. It was the pod with a sizable dent on the left side of its chassis. For a couple of moments, John and A2 simply stared as the pod tried to weakly lift itself but failed to.

"Warning: This pod's flight systems have been damaged. Requesting assistance with mobility."

In the middle of the plumes of dust and sand, 2B resumed her fight with Adam. The damage on her body was significant enough, and without the pod's fire support, there was no question about who was winning the battle, causing A2 to be unable to hold back her grimace. There was a look of indecision on the former YoRHa unit's face. However, that only lasted for a few moments.

"…you need to run. As far as you can." A2 materialized her Type-4O sword into her hand. "I'll prevent that machine from following you for as long as I'm able to."

"A2—!" John was cut off when the prototype YoRHa unit rushed forward into the fray. "Fuck!"

John felt helpless, just as he did when he was twelve, back when he promised himself that he would never be made to feel that way again. So why? Why—after all his training, his enlistment, his doctorate in programming—could he still not combat the A.I. network now hellbent on his death? Was all his effort useless?"

"Insistence: Please provide mobility for this unit."

Blinking his eyes, John finally remembered the pod's existence. Taking a deep breath, he calmed his swirling thoughts and walked over to it. Reaching down, he picked it up and held it in his arms—facing outward—as if it was a teddy bear.

"Does this work?"

"Affirmation: Yes. This pod, unit designation 042, is grateful."

"Good to know," John said blankly before a thought occurred to him. "Are there any more reinforcements coming?"

"Assurance: YoRHa unit 9S will be arriving shortly. All YoRHa and Resistance forces are currently fighting heavy concentrations of machine lifeforms to reach this position at a high casualty rate."

"What? I thought there was an order to retreat."

"Protection of John Connor supersedes all orders."

They were dying for him, John belatedly realized. His expression hardened.

"Can you contact them?"

"Pod 042 is authorized to connect to YoRHa Command."

"Tell them to stop sacrificing their lives to come get me." John's voice was resolute. "I'll find my own way out."

"Shocked: Humanity's safety is the paramount priority of all androids."

"This is an order," John commanded. He had always known on some levels that he could, but he didn't want to strip away their free will like that. However, if they won't save themselves, then he would do it for them. "Under my full authority as the last human on Earth, I—John Connor—order all android forces to follow their original retreat pattern. Am I understood?"

"Acknowledged. Message has been sent." There was a pause for a few seconds. "Command is distributing your orders to all combat units in the area. A full withdrawal is now commencing."

"Good."

Even as John said that, his eyes were still focused on the fight taking place on top of the blasted grounds where the top layers of sand had been blasted away and buried ruins were now exposed in all their crumbling and weathered glory. While 2B was in the midst of direct combat, A2 was mostly doing hit and run tactics, disrupting Adam at the most opportune moments while keeping herself safe from his retaliatory attacks. In a sense, she had taken over the pod's role, preventing Adam from capitalizing on 2B's weaknesses, and in that role, she was excelling far more than expected. However, even with the different generations working together, it was still not enough to do more than make it a stalemate with Adam, one that was slowly tipping against them. However, appearing from behind the sand dunes and racing toward them at top speed was a pickup truck that looked like it came straight out of World War 2.

"Report: YoRHa unit 9S has arrived."

John squinted his eyes and saw that, unexpectedly, the one in the driver seat was not 9S; it was actually his pod, Buddy, floating in front of the steering wheel and clutching it. Sitting in the driver seat behind the pod was Pascal, waving his arms frantically and looking oddly frightened for an expressionless robot. Standing on the cargo bed was 9S, holding on for his life to the railing with one hand and clutching Pod 153 in the other. It was a sight so ridiculous that John couldn't help but gape as the vehicle drove right into the fight.

A2 and 2B rolled out of the way as the pickup truck slammed into Adam, sending the machine lifeform crashing into one of the building ruins as the impact killed the vehicle's momentum. Pascal immediately stepped on the brake, bringing the truck to an almost immediate stop which shouldn't be possible for that kind of vehicle, but John wouldn't be surprised if all the internal parts were far more sophisticated than its external appearance, especially since that seemed to be the trend in this era.

"Get in!" 9S raised his palm toward the machine lifeform who was rising to his feet inside that building. "Hacking!"

Even as everyone began running for the pickup truck—a time elapse of a few seconds—9S staggered back with a gasp. However, that seemed to do the trick as Adam was now holding his head. Pod 153 flew out of 9S's hand and shifted forms before launching a deluge of homing missiles. Each of the missiles sped through the air in a wide arc before crashing into the ruins and exploding. The building, its foundation blown out, collapsed on top of Adam in a storm of dust and sand.

"That'll hold him for a while," 9S said, even as he clutched his head. "Operator 21O already told me the details. We need to disappear before he gets out of there."

A2 and 2B jumped into the cargo bed while Buddy opened the passenger door and moved to the middle to make space. John quickly got into the passenger seat with Pod 042 still in his arms.

"Suggestion: Pod 042's presence is unnecessary. To make space, Pod 042 should enter the cargo bed with its assigned YoRHa unit."

"Not the time, Buddy." John glanced at Pascal. "Let's go!"

"Seatbelt," Pascal reminded.

"Uh, right."

After John hastily put on his seatbelt, Pascal pressed down on the pedal. The pickup truck drove out of the blasted ground at high speed, leaving behind plumes of golden sand in its wake.

~o~

It didn't take long for Adam to claw his way out of the remnants of the building that had collapsed on him. Breaking through to the surface and crawling out had been…humiliating? A fairly new emotion that felt like a novelty to him, though he didn't care for the lasting residues that it caused in his thought processes. He climbed to his feet, clothed in not the fiber of plants or the skins of animals, but in the dust, pebbles, and smudges of the ruins. In this situation—according to his database—he should be taking a shower to wash off the filth, even if he didn't quite see the point of an immaculate appearance.

Normally, his failure would be a step back for any normal machine lifeform, but his authority in the machine network allowed him to directly command the numerous machine lifeforms that he had brought with him for this attack. At the moment, many of them were idling as the last real order that he had given them was to prevent the androids from reaching his position. However, the android forces had pulled back and left, leaving his machine army with little to do but stand around as guards.

Of course, that meant that he could use his entire force to assault the androids and search for John Con—

A massive explosion erupted in the distance, in the direction of the Resistance Camp. No, in the approximate location of the camp. The massive plume of fire and smoke reached up into the sky to grasp the sun, painting a vivid image even before the sound and shockwave reached him. When it did, it was accompanied by a tsunami of heated sand and dust, blowing at him with the ferocity of a flood. His skin became shredded and healed in turn repeatedly, such that he knew if he were a mere human, his flesh would have been stripped to the bone.

When that event had finally quieted down—when the winds died and left behind a fog of sand and dust that obscured even the light of the sun—was the moment that the worst part hit him.

The lasting death cries of his machine army.

Adam screamed as the information overloaded his senses, their last packets of diagnostic information and reports sent directly into his head before they had gone offline. For any other machine, it would have resulted in an immediate shutdown, but he consciously fought down that instinctive programming, weathering through the storm of information that felt like it would rip his cores asunder.

Curled up on the ground and writhing in agony, he couldn't delete them fast enough before more and more data flooded in. On the brink of a total meltdown, he went to his last resort.

Partitioning.

Adam jammed his hand into his chest in a spray of blood and gore, though none of the pain compared to his current agony. Gripping one of his ribcage bones, he broke it off and ripped it out of him, not minding what came along for the ride. The broken bone began to glow and lengthen in its hand.

It wasn't long before the bone grew into a full clone of him that squirmed and writhed on the floor in its birthing throes. However, the first thing that the clone did was to give off an excruciatingly long scream of pure agony that pierced through the fog.

That was because Adam had dumped his current load as well as every single incoming data packet and connection onto the clone, letting it deal with the consequences. Whether it died or not did not concern him, for this clone was simply another part of him. With his mind finally free from the pain and agony, he forced himself up to his feet.

It was time to resume the chase.

However, his connection to the remaining surviving machines was frayed and weakened. Not only that, but there were not enough of them left to spread a wide net.

In the clouded fog of darkened sand, Adam looked up contemplatively.

"So…this is the concept of defeat."

~o~

Authors' Notes:

Icura: This was actually a pretty hard chapter to write. Anyways, thanks for reading!

If you want to support us, please consider donating to our Ko-fi. This Ko-fi is for both me and Vahn. We would really appreciate it.

Vahn: Told ya it was gonna be rise of the machines :D But we ain't done yet! Hopefully you all enjoyed it :D Peace