Double trouble

Instead of running away when he had the chance, Kevin had jumped towards the danger. The surface was a hellish landscape controlled by the Prime Android's metal minions. Neither the scientists nor the resistance fighter would be able to come to Kevin's aid over here.

The Reaver moved as silently as a shadow and quickly sneaked up behind Kevin, its raised stinger ready to deliver a fatal strike. Back at school, when Kevin had first confronted death, he had chosen to die fighting, and even this time, he refused to turn his back on his attacker.

"I'm not afraid of you!" Kevin screamed, slowly turning around.

Two glowing red eyes stared at Kevin and he stared back, defiant. This wasn't a hopeless attempt at delaying the inevitable, but a last throw of the die to change his fate. He was analyzing the Reaver's stance and trying to anticipate where the next strike would come from. If he could dodge the fatal blow, he would still have a final shot at taking the machine down. All he needed to do was buy time so that his laser rifle could recharge.

The Reaver was an autonomous attack robot, which meant that it wasn't directly controlled by a higher machine or android. Though it didn't possess human-level intelligence, it wasn't as dumb as the XL11 robots. Its controlling AI had a deep learning function which allowed it to assimilate all combat data on the move and identify common fighting patterns of its opponents.

An ordinary attack robot would simply follow orders from a control hub and fight every opponent in exactly the same manner, completely disregarding their strengths and weaknesses. The Reaver, however, had already recorded Kevin's fighting style. It knew which weapons he had used previously and how he responded to its attacks.

As Kevin stood motionless, staring at the terrifying monstrosity in front of him, he heard his AI beeping once again.

// Auto-targeting Laser Rifle recharged!

Aim to fire. //

The notification was like music to Kevin's ears. This was just what he needed. His laser rifle's charged blast was the only thing powerful enough to damage the Reaver's body. Now that it was recharged, he was ready to turn the tables. The Reaver, however, had other plans.

"Activate Auto-targeting Laser Rifle!"

Before Kevin's right arm could construct the laser rifle, the Reaver grabbed hold of him. This time, its pincer didn't clamp down on his waist but instead locked onto his arm, preventing him from assembling his weapon.

Kevin realized what had happened and he desperately tried to wrench himself free. The Reaver pulled him up by his arm and brought him close to its mouth. The two miniguns pointed at his head, and slowly the barrels started spinning into motion.

In a last-ditch attempt to save himself, Kevin opened the armor flap on his left arm to shield his head. However, his chest was completely exposed. There was no way his exoskeleton could take automatic machine-gun fire at such close range.

Dangling by his right arm, Kevin tried to swing sideways to avoid the gunfire, but the miniguns tracked his movements and adjusted their angle to get a perfect target lock. In the very next second, both guns fired up at once, pelting Kevin with a shower of bullets. Just as he'd expected, the guns targeted his head. Fortunately, the titanium flap on his arm shielded him from the projectiles.

The Reaver simply raised Kevin a bit higher and aimed for his chest this time. A blistering hail of bullets shredded his t-shirt, obliterating his artificial skin. The metal plates on his chest bore the full brunt of the machine-gun fire. His exoskeleton was about to be turned into scrap metal, when suddenly the guns overheated and stopped firing.

Kevin seized this opportunity and tried to wrench free from the Reaver's grasp, but it tightened its grip even further. The Reaver didn't wait for its guns to cool down. Instead it switched to its signature weapon: the curved stinger attached to its tail.

Just as it was about to deliver the fatal blow, a cluster of loud explosions lit up the Reaver, causing it to stumble backward and release Kevin from its grip.

"What the hell?"

Kevin looked up and saw a couple of neon green hoverbikes zooming across the sky, their riders blasting Technopop and cursing wildly, perhaps at the Reaver or perhaps at him. It became clear to him that those two were the ones responsible for those explosions that took out the Reaver's eyes.

Several questions rose in Kevin's mind. Who were those two? Why did they help him out? And how could they roam the surface so freely without any fear?

Only one thing was certain: those two weren't from Subcity since no one over there had permission to visit the surface.

For now, the Reaver's targeting sensors had been disabled and it had no vision of its surroundings. It thrashed around erratically, smashing the artificial palm trees lining the road, but it had no idea where Kevin was standing.

Though Kevin's body had been badly damaged, his internal circuits and chipsets were all intact. The artificial hybrid respirator and blood diffuser were still keeping his brain functional, and his turbo cooling pump was running at max efficiency. He could move all his limbs, and his artificial sense organs were also unharmed.

Thanking his lucky stars, Kevin hobbled away to safety and took a much longer route through one of the side alleys. The timer he had set before leaving Subcity had already run out a few minutes ago and he had no intention of pushing his luck.

Mustering all his strength, Kevin focused on the road before him and slowly made his way back to the secret hatch which connected Subcity to the surface.

// Exoskeleton severely damaged!

Exoskeleton integrity: 50%.

Suggest immediate repairs! //

Without paying any heed to the annoying messages from his AI, Kevin entered the code on the keypad and opened the hatch. Making sure there weren't any machines nearby, he climbed inside and slowly made his way down the ladder.

// Motor functions compromised!

Seek immediate medical attention! //

"Ah, fuck!" Kevin tried to hold on to the ladder as his legs slipped from its rungs. He fell from a height of several meters and landed on his face.

Cassandra was standing just outside the sewage tunnel. She rushed inside upon hearing the dull clamor. Her eyes widened as she saw Kevin's busted-up body lying motionless on the ground.

"Kevin! What the hell happened to you?"

Supporting himself with the help of his arms, Kevin slowly stood back up and turned to her. "I ran into a Reaver," he replied, covering the dents on his chest plates.