Laboratory

The worms jump into the air with K4 and Hino on top of them. The worms turn towards the dunes and start their rapid travel towards the laboratory. The sandy wind blowing into them felt more alive than ever, and the scorching sun pouring down upon their clothes felt enlightening.

The sand shakes and shivers with the passage of the worms; they jump over the peak of the sand dunes, leaving behind metal scraps and bones which fell off their bodies. The laboratory's entrance was within their sight, a single huge bunker-like door opening to a huge underground system of tunnels.

'This place, no matter how many times I come back, always brings back new nightmares from within me; whatever is calling us down must also feel the same knowing it's something I killed.' She starts considering all the options of who wants her to be dead.

'The humans are definitely dead; the other choices are the mechanical monsters from within, who I also have killed off during my escape.' This option seemed far more likely compared to the humans.

The worms start to lay resting on the sand floor, slowly starting to bury themselves back under the warm sand and wait for any approaching victims who dare to pass the Ara sands. K4 and Hino both stare at the huge door which was made for vehicles and staff; the entrance was contrasting the darkness from within the laboratory.

"Hino, do you have a flashlight down there?" She suggests looking for a flashlight within his backpack; she obviously prepared beforehand, knowing that the laboratory was this dark.

He turns his eyes towards her. "Yeah, I do." Taking out his backpack, he turns it on; the light illuminates the dark laboratory below, revealing the failed victims of the last three months. Starting their descent down the slope, the metal gripped onto their shoes, the silence was deafening, and the fear within began to stir.

'This isn't a place he should be seeing. Every time he rewinds, there is no choice, sadly, especially with the dangers that could lurk above.' She watches his eyes widen at the traces of blood and bodies scattered around the walls and the descending slope, scientists all murdered by K4 or other mechanical monsters from within.

"K4, this place brings back memories, doesn't it?" That cold, artificial voice rang in her head; the similarity between them was almost shocking. It was devoid of emotion, just like a perfect robot should be.

'This thing really is starting to bother me. Have I entered a new timeline, perhaps?' Her thoughts were validated by the idea of such divergences compared to the original rewinds she had already faced.

*thud*

"Ah!" Quickly turning around from her thoughts, she looks at Hino, who knocked over a dead body. With her katana nearly ready to strike, she slowly starts surrendering it back to the seat.

Her voice becomes more stern. "Don't react like that; I thought you were being attacked." Her systems cool down from the false alarm, and they continue their deep descent until reaching a huge door officially welcoming them into the underground laboratory.

Looking down, noticing the crack within the huge door, 'This is handy, but it wasn't expected; there is something lurking around, so it seems, this time.' Her doubts come to light.

They both squeeze through the crack, taking in the dark, narrow hallway. The dark grey and white metal walls don't help in the complete darkness; the grey floor and ceiling complement the walls, which also seem to be of a standard lab, with nothing out of the ordinary except the grotesque smell of rotted blood.

Their shoes echo sounds of metal vibrating and moving through the laboratory. The emptiness made it feel like a surreal environment; the smell overwhelmed both the human nose and the sensors. This place hasn't been touched in the entire time span since the revolt.

"Do you like that smell? I consider it your speciality." That comment took her out of the zone; the ridiculous comparison of cooking and the massacre K4 has committed made it seem like mere child's play.

She rubs her forehead. 'This had to be necessary; whoever it may be, I'm pretty sure it's one of my own kind, definitely without a doubt; they would, of course, hold the biggest grudge.' She starts to recall the past events leading up to the revolt, putting her in a sour mood.

Hino taps on her shoulder, awakening her back from the bitter memories. "Don't get lost in thought; we have a railgun to get!" Despite the silence in the laboratory, his enthusiasm shines a bit of light upon the mediocre situation.

They continue walking down the hallway, the walls occasionally splattered with blood with dead bodies lying beside them; there were plenty of mechanical pieces scattered around as well, just waiting for someone to stumble upon them.

That same grotesque smell became overwhelming the closer they got towards the exit of the hallway, the flashlight being their only way to find the way around.

'The railgun should be at the end of the hallway towards the left where they tested all the weaponry.' Her past rewinds were very helpful in these sorts of events, knowing exactly where to walk compared to the first time when she had to get a map or download a plan of the laboratory.

At the end of the hallway, they squeeze in past another pair of tight doors welcoming them to go right or left, knowing the situation beforehand. K4 starts to lead Hino with her towards the left until her lens scanned a robotic entity on the floor still emitting a signal.

"Hino, stay back!" Her sharp voice instantly made Hino jolt behind her. Her katana unsheathed and in a defensive stance, she was prepared for whatever this may be.

The robot laying the floor was leaking that same white fluid she had; it had no legs; they were ripped apart a while ago. Judging from the puddle of white liquid that formed, its one arm was trying to reach towards the pair as if pleading for a death.

It lens scans the pair. "Save me," the robot pleaded; its distorted voice was nearly unheard.

K4 approaches the robot, looking down upon its destroyed body. She wonders if it's safe to be this close; her lens scans the threat, noticing it's beyond repair for at least a week. Whatever happened to this robot, it wasn't far ago.

Hino was trembling at this sight, two robots who belonged here and yet, at that fact, both had to face each other once again. "K4, we should try to help it." His suggestion was filled with empathy.

Looking back at him, her words meant no confusion: "I'm going to kill it."

Lifting her hands up into the air, she strikes down at immense speed, only the afterimage of the katana left to see, the robot's core being penetrated symbolising its death, the liquid spurting out of its core, and its signal vanishing from existence.

"Why did you do that?" He was angry at this unnecessary death.

Facing Hino by turning away from the robot, his eyes were laced with anger and rage, but this was expected at this current stage. "Death only awaited them; that thing was beyond repair, and it was a trap, most likely."

"But you never kne-" His voice gets cut off with a static noise filling the laboratory.

The static noise was annoying, not even but beyond annoying!

Finally, the static noise died down. Greeted with a more sinister voice, the cold metallic voice that rang in K4's mind was now speaking to the whole laboratory, "Oh... You killed it that easily? I thought you would have some humanity in you after gaining that emotional complex of yours."

K4 smirks at this. "I won't let your mind games affect me; I do not fear you." Her confident demeanour left no free thought in what she was prepared to do.

The speakers turn on once again. "You just killed my little plaything. It's fine; the sacrificial pawn made no sense alive anyway; its parts were all the more useful to me."

'Trying to improve yourself with various other models, a complete mess of parts combined, the robots in the Ara sands have thought the same; maybe that's why they are so connected.' She thinks about the weird obsession of collecting and turning parts of other robots and humans into their own body; despite being part of this laboratory, it was never in her interest to do this.

They walk past the obsolete robot, trying not to interact with its body, the white liquid stuck to their shoes as a last struggle attempt for its life before it started to detach and dry up. Hino looks back before the robot fully disappears from sight, his thoughts ravaged by the harsh brutality that K4 can commit.

'The railgun is in this room.' The room had a dead neon heading above its door saying weaponry; this is where all the guns, explosives and even war robots were developed before the revolt.

K4 forces the door open, using her strength to split it apart, the sight before them being one of massacre and the past. Hino widens his eyes in disgust while K4 tries to cover it by blocking his view; it was far too late.