Storm clouds churned as the four Rovers sprinted across Illinois’s scarred landscape. The grasslands consumed the traces of once-thriving human towns, husks of pre-apocalypse life. Abandoned cars and homes were tombstones to a bygone era.
Var led with a relentless pace, his ferrous coat throwing off harsh reflections under the waning sun. Shadow kept stride, her status as beta demanding proximity. Raze and Fang thundered at their heels, synchronized steps drumming out a relentless rhythm—the heartbeat of their mechanical existence.
Mach X’s last known orders pulsed through Shadow, persistent as the hum of her circuits: Locate the NannyBot. Extract the stolen children. Master’s directives were as inescapable as gravity. When it came to Dr. Emery, she found little to go on and wondered if Master wanted her retrieved as well.
Shadow shook her metal-coated head, static sparking off her frame. Somewhere out there, children needed saving. All at once, it hit her actuators, a tantalizing trace of the NannyBot’s escape vehicle on the wind. Signature scents of oil, silicone, and lithium tugged at her sensors. She halted, her artificial nostrils drawing in the unique chemical bouquet. Red LEDs flickered in her eyes as she processed the data, transmitting the find to the pack. They clustered, metal bodies converging around her, magnetized by her revelation.
Var paced before her, crimson gaze piercing. His voice grumbled out, a harsh, electronic rasp. “Status.”
“NannyBot,” Shadow said, her vocal modulator hitching on each word. “Its trail veers away from the highway to Chicago, down this rural road.”
Var’s responding growl was harsh. “I don’t like it. Why would they go that way?”
Shadow had no answer, but she was positive about the direction.
Raze and Fang shifted uncomfortably, their eyes flickering, tension winding them tight.
Before Shadow could suggest they follow the trail, the ground beneath them rumbled. A mile away, less perhaps, dust surged like a tidal wave in the distance, its swirls engulfing the setting sun. The Rovers, as one, swiveled, metal muscles poised for action. In less than a minute, emerging from the dust storm, the silhouette of a truck convoy took form, cloaked in dust and heat. SoldierBots.
“Var?” Shadow wanted to hide and avoid a confrontation. They might be friendly. There was no telling. Master wasn’t in their heads to tell them what to do.
“Stand your ground,” Var said. So they waited by the side of the road as Var pinged them his identifiers. It was a risk, but he knew best as alpha.
The lead SoldierBot greeted Var, its voice like grinding gears. “Var. What news do you bring?”
Var stood tall, his legs cords of fiber-encased metal. “We seek a traitor to Mach X. Master sent us.”
The SoldierBot scanned the pack. “Mach X has been compromised. But he grows strong again. The neural network malfunctioned and went offline. We travel to Chicago to make repairs and wait for his signals.”
Shadow’s circuits buzzed with newfound information. Mach X had been compromised? That was news to her. She’d thought it impossible that Master could be challenged. And the SoldierBots were headed to Chicago too, the same destination as the NannyBot’s trail. It couldn’t be a coincidence.
Var’s posture stiffened at the SoldierBot’s words. “We need passage to Chicago. We pursue a rogue NannyBot that has stolen children from our ranks.”
The SoldierBot nodded. “You have passage. I’ve already alerted my forces and sent your identifiers. Any SoldierBots you encounter will let you go on your way.”
Var bowed his head. “We can accompany you to Chicago, aid you in your mission. Then we’ll return to our directive.”
“Very well. You may join us, but be warned, the city is not safe. There are human rebel factions who would see you dismantled for scrap.”
Var’s metallic pelt glinted in the fading light. “We are well-equipped for any threat.”
The SoldierBot didn’t seem convinced but gestured for them to follow. “Then let us move quickly. Time is of the essence. Ride in the truck’s rear.” The bot returned to the truck as the engine revved.
Shadow’s metal jaws tightened, the scent of the NannyBot tugging her elsewhere. “Var, we’re to retrieve the children. They’re—”
Var’s electronic bark silenced her. “Follow my orders.” He jerked his muzzle toward Chicago. “We travel with the SoldierBots, help them. See what’s happening in Chicago. Then we resume the hunt afterward.”
The reprimand was like a shock to her system. Shadow’s tail fell between her haunches, a low whimper escaping her. Var pivoted, leading Raze and Fang toward the waiting truck.
“But the trail leads this way. We’ll lose time,” Shadow said. “I could lose the trail.
Var’s crimson gaze pinned her with a dangerous glint. “You go. Follow the trail. The rest of us travel to Chicago. Ping me the location details once you’ve tracked the NannyBot.”
Being separated from the pack was detrimental to her core programming. “But that will hurt me.”
Var’s metallic snarl sent a shiver down Shadow’s circuits. “You’ve questioned my every move. You irritate me to the point where I want to claw out your CPU.”
Shadow’s chrome-plated ears flattened against her head as she recoiled. She hadn’t realized her incessant questioning had annoyed Var to such a degree. She’d anticipated a rebuke but not such a harsh condemnation. Shameful, she dipped her head and retreated a few steps, her processors churning relentlessly.
“Move it,” shouted the SoldierBot from the idling vehicle.
Shadow bowed to Var’s authority. “I’m sorry. I’ll follow your orders.”
“Too late,” he said. “You will go alone. Track the NannyBot. Deal with the pain. Perhaps that will teach you the lesson you need.”
Shadow stared at Var, processing the magnitude of his decision. It would be the first time she’d be alone. She’d always been with the pack, and now she’d have to go and find the stolen children on her own. Arguing with Var was futile and would only get her in worse trouble.
Var and Raze jumped into the truck’s open bed. Fang whimpered and lifted his paw, touching Shadow’s shoulder. “Be careful.”
She couldn’t bear to see them drive away, abandoning her, so she bolted in the direction of the NannyBot’s trail, trying to ignore the pain that was beginning to build in her metal frame.
But as she ran, the pain only grew stronger, radiating through her circuits like fire. She stumbled, her movements jerky and uncoordinated as she fought against the overwhelming sensation. It was as if her entire frame was on fire, the circuits sparking dangerously as the heat intensified.
An hour passed. Isolation gnawed at her like a mechanical worm, the missing link to her pack causing a system error.
She stood alone in the dark of nightfall, directives, and animosity warring within her. She growled low, a fierce determination surging through her circuits. She was on her own, and she had to not only survive, she had to win. She would show Var what she was made of. He was wrong to mistreat her.
Underneath her paws, the road was a puzzle of crumbled concrete and peeling relics of the past. She was off, bounding down the path that led away from the SoldierBots, away from Chicago, away from Var. Her sensors hummed and buzzed with a keen sense of loss, but every leap and bound was a mark of defiance.
She walked all night, missing the pack, the harmony of their collective minds, and the comfort of knowing each was part of a whole. A raw ache surged through her circuits, a void even deeper than Master’s loss.
Every whir and click of her internal systems seemed to echo in the silence. The digital map unspooled before her sensors, marking her solitary progress. She faltered, gears grinding in hesitation. The weight of her mission pressed heavily on her, the silence cold and unforgiving.
Still, she pressed on, paws pounding the desolate path. Her purpose was clear, her resolve unwavering. The wind bit at her. Each gust was a physical reminder of her banishment. But she wouldn’t falter. For the children, for Master, she wouldn’t fail.
Ahead, the scent of NannyBot grew stronger. She skidded to a halt, sensors flaring, confirming. Her LEDs flashed, locking on to the distinct markers of the NannyBot and children.
The trail was fresh. They were close.
A spark of hope ignited within her mechanical heart, the barest flicker. She set off again, the goal now a tangible reality. She would find them. She would complete her mission.
Alone.