8 Chapter 7

-Meanwhile, inside of the manufacturing factory.-

"Come on, I told you a thousand times that I can't just remake it!" A man had exasperated.

He was tied to a chair with some sort of thick, black wire. He wore a white lab coat, a set of glasses, had a white bushy beard, wore black jeans and a blue buttoned shirt.

A Martain was standing in front of him. His skin was completely purple, and his clothes were black, with no stripes standing out. "Listen here, M, what do you need to create it? We can provide it."

M just rolled his eyes. "Things that you probably can't obtain, Arlun."

The martian sighed. "Like?"

"Oh... Most metals that were needed were usually centered in the Earth's inner layers, but the robots have... extracted all of them."

"And where did those 'materials' go?"

"They... built spaceships with those metals. All of which you destroyed. And the ones you didn't destroy fell apart on their own after the Slesium breakout."

The Martain slammed one of the machines. "Dammit!" He shouted.

"But-"

Arlun immediately turned back to M. "But what?"

"I have a similar structure to yours. It just... doesn't work well. It needs materials from Venus. If you can provide them, I'll be able to power you both here and on Earth."

"Oh... I see." Arlun said, regaining his composure. "We'll send an expedition to Venus right now, and the materials should be with you in the matter of a few days."

"I can wait." M nonchalantly replied, seemingly not caring.

Only a few seconds passed, before the deafening sounds of thrusters overtook the place. It wasn't long until the thrusters sounded to be leaving further, before eventually disappearing.

Arlun exchanged looks with M, visibly looking confused. "What was that?! All forces, head outside and figure out what happened!" Arlun exclaimed, looking quite anxious.

A few figures appeared from all around M, they were heavily shaded, barely even visible. They all raced to the exit, running at inhumane speeds.

"Your ship got stolen," M replied, not exactly amused or confused. It felt like he had expected this.

"Stolen?! But who could've? There's no one here besides you and that robot we terminated!" Arlun shouted.

"Looks like you didn't terminate him well enough." M had said with a slight grin. "If I were to predict where he's going next, it'll be to Mars. To steal your energy source." M's prediction was completely false, and he knew it. It wasn't obvious if he wanted to mislead the Martians or if he had another plan.

"But.. There are over half a million people up there, how foolish of them!" Arlun commented. He pulled out a small, rectangular device. He touched the surface of it with his scaly fingers. Suddenly, the device fell to the floor, displaying a large hologram of another Martian.

The hologram spoke up. "Yes sir? Have you called? What's the emergency?"

Arlun nodded. "Yes. I called. Prepare your forces, a spaceship is heading towards you, it has a robotic intruder. Shoot him down as soon as you see him. I'll send you the ship's code."

The hologram nodded. "Got it, Sir. We'll burn the robot to ashes." The hologram then shrunk back into the small device, which Arlun later leant down to pick up. He turned back to M. "Your robot friend will die now. You're coming with me back to your underground tower. You'll redesign the spherical machine you have there to work with Slesium."

M cocked an eyebrow. "Slesium? Yeah... that won't wor-"

"Well, you'll make it work." Arlun interrupted.

"Then what? Why do you really want to take over Earth? It's clearly just... not going to work out for you."

"You don't get it, M, our people are... sick." Arlun had informed.

"Sick? Mars sickness?" M sarcastically asked.

"No, not Mars sickness..." Arlun sighed. "We're sick of what you did to us, M. We're sick of having to breathe carbon dioxide, we're sick of the constant evolving we had gone through... just... look at us... is this what you visioned when you sent us up there?" Arlun stepped closer to M, pointing at his own face.

M slowly shook his head. His expression clearly showed regret. "No... no it isn't. It... may be my fault for... allowing you to become like so but.... it's equally yours." M had informed with confidence.

"Equally ours? Why? Because you were the one who thought it was a good idea to let our bodies instantly adapt to whatever happened up there? We lost our hair days after we were sent just so the dust wouldn't stick to us. We lost our regular skin and got... scales instead. Just look at me... How much of a human do I resemble?!" Arlun barked

"You... your ancestors refused to use our aid and... declared their independence. You were just starting to evolve and we wanted to help. They figured it was better to just... not acknowledge us."

"Yeah- and my ancestors also immortalized you in our history... they immortalized you for what you did to us. Your name is uttered everyday of the week M. Everyone hates you up ther-"

"Oh shut up, Arlun. I risked my life to save you morons and this is what I get? I was being tracked by the government and agencies because your ancestors decided to turn away from us. I was told it's my fault for creating a potential threat to Earth! And then?! I had to hide in a lab, contain myself in an inefficient substance to keep me alive and now... I'm this... An old, weak man who can barely throw a punch. I hope you and your ancestors are happy."

Arlun let out a deep sigh. He looked down, unable to gather words for an argument. He walked over to M's chair, pulling out the same rectangular device from his pocket. He tapped it twice, and the wires that held M to the chair retracted into a small capsule. "We're still building the Slesium energy source." He said as he gestured for M to follow. "Don't try anything, there are a few invisible soldiers watching you."

M nodded. He didn't know if he should believe Arlun or not, it could be a lie, but he's not too sure. Maybe he really is being watched. "Okay. I need a sample of the Slesium from the tower. Be a doll and get it for me, yes?"

Arlun shook his head. "No, I won't 'be a doll' and get it for yo-" A beeping noise interrupted Arlun. He tapped a small earbud in his left ear, keeping quiet for a few seconds. "Okay, send a request for the Martian colony to chase the ship. We'll follow them to Venus."

Arlun turned back to M. "Well, your friend seems to have changed his course. He's heading to Venus now. We'll be chasing him, though."

"I wouldn't recommend that, but you do your thing. Now, if you really want this energy source, go get a sample of the Slesium."

Arlun raised his eyebrows, staring at M.

"Is there a problem? You can't get a substance that is literally everywhere?"

"No... The Slesium isn't the problem... Its just the fact that you're this incredibly compliant to my orders... it's offsetting."

"Oh, I see. I don't have anything to lose. Besides, I'm nearing the end of my life, I think with how the Earth has become, I won't be able to keep up. I might have an estimate of three days or so. That's probably when I die from dehydration."

"Huh... And how long would it take for you to finish the structure?"

"If we use the machines here, it would take three days." M said, a grin wearing his face.