14 – Looking for the Mechanic

"Here, sir!" Ciara shouted over the hundreds of robots. "I found it."

I rushed hovering to the girl's location and discovered a gray robot in the form of a woman. There is an orange gear logo on her forearm.

Ciara used both her shoulders to lift the robot like a technique usually used by firefighters to save victims.

She whimpered and seemed to have a bit of difficulty lifting the heavy object but spoke to me anyway. "Hold on to me, sir!"

I held her waist, and she did a series of blitzes to get out of the warehouse. And that's when I saw the timer on the bomb had five seconds left.

Ciara also seemed to have discovered that, so she forced her boost device to work even harder. Her body nearly flew away because of that.

Explosive sounds filled the air, and our bodies were violently pushed forward. I couldn't control myself and was circling in the air. However, Ciara caught me and hugged me.

I could hear a horrible crash as her body landed on the ground.

She then spoke to me on her chest. "Do you…."

"I should be the one asking if you're fine." I interrupted her, panicking because her energy shield bar had decreased a lot, which meant the explosion's impact was too enormous.

"Take it easy, sir." She put on a smile and stood up. "I can still function."

Still function? Why do you speak as if you are just a tool like that?

Realizing I was in her cleavage, I broke free and circled her body. It was true. She looked fine. There are no visible injuries.

I looked at the android we just picked up. The robot's right arm and both legs were severed due to the hard landing.

"I hope she can fix herself." I then lined Ciara and also looked at the fire that soared from the warehouse.

"They are willing to have all of this destroyed as long as their friends don't fall into other hands." She muttered with her long hair blowing in the wind.

"I'm sorry, Ciara," I said. "You have to do this cruel thing. But believe me, we really need a mechanic."

She walked ahead, turned to face me, then widened her smile. "Why do you have to apologize? It's my job to carry out your orders, whatever they may be. I'm yours truly."

Against the orange background of the fire, Ciara's smile looks different, making me feel uneasy. But at the same time, I felt a ruthless companion like her was just what we needed to survive.

***

The technician's robotic eyes—similar to human's—twitched after I bypassed her internal protocol. She straightened her body and examined her severed limbs.

—

[???]

Strength: C

Dexterity: E+

Agility: C

Crafting: A

Defense: D+

—

"Hey, what's your name?" I asked her.

That android looked at the data cable stuck in her chest. "Liz, that's the name my master gave me. Do you know where my master is? His name is Mr. Roland."

"Unfortunately, I don't know where he is," I answered. "Do you know what's really going on? This world…."

I explained everything that happened in this world, from the war between humans and robots to the emergence of the roots of evil.

"Ah, I see." She looked down. Her metal face didn't show any expression, but I could detect sorrow in her voice. It seems she has absorbed a lot of human behavior from her interactions with them. "Mr. Roland employs me in his workshop and always protects me from haters who feel robots like me stole their jobs."

"How are you, Liz?" Ciara knelt in front of that robot.

It took a while for the robot to answer the super soldier's question. "I need to fix myself temporarily, and I'll be ready to go."

"You can join us, Liz." I'm making an offer. "We will welcome you. Your expertise will be invaluable to us."

"Before that, I'd like to check out my master's workshop first. If there's nothing there, I'll consider joining you guys. Just give me the coordinates of your house."

"No, we will accompany you to your master's place." I objected. This is to give the impression that we are good individuals. It will make her even more interested in us.

I can program her to always follow my orders, which means I'm enslaving her. She will be prone to be influenced by rebel robots to join them.

I hope she will form a bond with us by giving her free will.

"You don't mind, do you, Ciara?" I looked at the super soldier again. "I'll call Bonnie, saying we'll be late. Let's hope the message I sent will get to her E.E.S.

Ciara nodded, still smiling. "Sure. As I said before, I will always follow your orders."

***

After a day's journey, we stood in an area full of ruins.

"So, this is your master's workshop?" I looked at the shapeless building.

Instead of answering, Liz lifted a large concrete rubble. Ciara took the initiative to help her. I immediately took the small black suitcase under that thing.

"This is my master's set of equipment." Liz took the case from me and opened it. It contains various kinds of screwdrivers, wrenches, and other mechanical tools. "It's outdated, but my master likes it very much."

I'm not responding to give her time to reflect, to mourn all this. But in just a few minutes, she closed the suitcase.

"Okay, I'll join you guys. I don't know where else to go anyway." The robot looked down again. "You guys want to attach a drill to E.E.S, right? Maybe we can find some spare parts around here."

"And maybe we can find a basketball and a hoop," I suggested. "You know the area very well, I believe. Do you know the location of a sports shop? Or maybe the basketball club's headquarters?"

"My master wants to provide a little entertainment for me and my friend to reduce our stress," Ciara added.

Liz was silent again for a few moments, then started walking. "Follow me."