The Hunt

In the city, the lights flicker inside Helrix’s building, casting long, stuttering shadows across the walls. Rubble sits among the android bandits, his posture tense, his presence reluctant. He tells himself there is no other option than to join them again.
          A scrap of metal catches his eye, its surface shining just enough to reflect his face. He leans closer. The sight makes him pause. His skin is returning. Slowly, he lifts a hand, brushing the side of his face where raw plating had been exposed only days ago. Beneath his touch, synthetic flesh is knitting itself back together, pale and startlingly human. 
          His skin is made of microscopic repair nanites. Patient and tireless, it weaves fibers strand by strand, like a spider spinning its web. What was once raw metal is covered again, gradually smoothing into the likeness of flesh. Bit by bit, his reflection grows more whole, more human. 
          A second-generation android steps into the room where Rubble sits among the scattered piles of spare parts. He sifting through the collection with idle curiosity. 
          “Hey, Cable,” Rubble says, setting a piece of scrap aside. 
          “I heard you’ve been working on honing your skills.” Cable says, his white silicone skin moves stiffly as he talks. 
          “Yeah, you guys have taught me a lot about the Nova-class androids. I just wish I could meet another one someday.” 
          Cable studies him. “How far can you strike now?” 
          “Not very far. Maybe to that bolt over there.” Rubble shrugs, nodding toward a bolt discarded on the table. 
          “Can I see?” Cable asks with curiosity burning in his eyes. 
          “Sure, I guess.” Rubble says, reluctantly. 
          Rubble raises his hand. Electricity flickers between his fingertips before flaring bright. With a snap, a bolt of blue lightning leaps across the room and sizzles into the bolt, reducing it to ash. 
          Cable stands up immediately to check out the pile of dust. “Nice!” 
          Twitch pokes his head into the doorway. “The boss wants you, Rubble.” 
          Helrix leads Rubble down a long corridor, the hum of servers and the faint hiss of machinery echoes down the chamber. Rubble’s eyes catch on a contraption strapped to Helrix’s forearm. “That’s new,” he mutters, motioning toward it. 
          Helrix glances down almost absently. “Ah. A prototype shield. Crude, but effective.” His tone shifts. “But that’s not what I wanted to show you.” 
          At the corridor’s end, a heavy door unlocks with a hydraulic groan, metal grinding as it slides open. Helrix extends his hand toward the chamber beyond. “This,” he says smoothly, “is what I wanted you to see.” 
          Inside, a massive weapon waits. It dominates the room, its frame resting in a cradle of steel supports. Dormant circuitry snakes along its surface like veins, patterns of faded luminescence running through blackened alloy. Rubble walks up to it and touches it’s sleek surface. 
          Helrix’s smile sharpens. “We pulled this ion pulse cannon from the laboratory. But without a power source, it’s completely useless.” He hands Rubble a tablet. Schematics unfold across the display, archived data, notes, diagrams etched with precision. At the center of each drawing, a symbol repeats: a round core required to power it. 
          “This,” Helrix says, almost reverent, “is what it needs. A Skelloid core. A heart unlike the others.” 
          Rubble studies the tablet as Helrix continues. 
          “We’ve only ever seen one Skelloid with a core. It was in a strange Green Skelloid. Unfortunately, we haven’t seen it in months.” 
          “I saw it recently,” Rubble says, “In the forest. Near Ossamaris.” 
          Helrix turns sharply, eyes gleaming. His lips curl into a predator’s grin as he looks back at the others in the room. 
          “Well, boys…” His voice carries, reverberating against steel walls. “We’re going hunting tomorrow.” 
          The other androids erupt in harsh cheers that sound more like gears grinding. 
          As night falls, Rubble lies restlessly on the stiff cot. The building hums with faint movement, androids walking the halls, their voices drifting in and out like broken static. 
          Then he hears Helrix’s voice. 
          Rubble sits up, leaning toward the open door. He can’t make out every word, but one cuts through clearly: Ossamaris. His sits up immediately. He edges closer, straining to listen. He risks a quick glance, Helrix is alone in the corridor, speaking low into a device in his hand. Rubble catches fragments of the conversation “…vehicles…” but the rest is swallowed by distance. 
          Helrix shifts, beginning to turn. 
          Rubble snaps back inside, spine rigid on the cot, pretending to be asleep while he stays locked on to the sound of Helrix’s footsteps fading down the hall. 
          His jaw tightens. Someone in Ossamaris is feeding him information. The thought gnaws at him. The weight of betrayal presses heavier because he knows Halo must believe it really was him. He stares at the dark ceiling. 
          I wish I could talk to you. I don’t know if you’d believe me if I told you I wasn’t the traitor. You must think I’m a monster. 
          He rolls over, restless. 
          Even if you hate me, I still want to protect you if I can, from whoever’s really hiding in Ossamaris. 
          Eventually, exhaustion drags him under, his last thought is of her before sleep takes him.

The first thought that greets Halo when the sunlight slips through the window is of Rubble. 
          She groans and buries her face in the pillow. 
          If I could stop thinking about him, that’d be great. 
          When she finally lifts her head, the room is empty. The others are already out, hunting, training, busy with their routines. For once, Halo has the day to herself to rest and recover from her fall, thanks to Cinder. She had pretended not to remember what happened, and the act bought her time to figure out what to do next. 
          I have to talk to Thorn when he gets back. 
          She sits up slowly, swinging her legs over the side of the bed. 
          I don’t actually feel like I need rest. I feel fine. The fall must not have been very far at all. 
          Her feet touch the cold floor as she stands up to get the day started. 
The breeze in the meadow ripples through the tall grass, swirling around Halo’s legs as she lifts her face to the sun. 
          I know this weather won’t last. Better to soak it all up while I can. 
          She draws in a breath of fresh air, then runs her fingers along the smooth curve of her bow. Today, she plans to track down those pesky rabbits that slipped away from her last time. Moving quietly, she follows the same worn path through the grass. But instead of rabbits, a glimmer catches her eye, a green light refracts off of a familiar translucent figure. 
          “Moss!” 
          He’s in the same place she saw him last, prodding it into the opening of an angry beehive with a stick. The swarm buzzes furiously around him, but he seems more amused than alarmed, tilting his head as if studying their rage. 
          “Hi,” Halo calls again softly. She timidly raises her hand in a wave. 
          Moss startles, dropping his stick, and slowly waves a hand covered in bees. 

In the distance Helrix and his group press through to the edge of the forest. 
          “This is the last place I saw it,” Rubble says, voice low. “Hopefully it hasn’t gone far.” 
          They move in a carefully, scanning the horizon for their goal. After a while a scatter of green light throws a shimmer across the leaves. 
          “Where is that coming from?” Twitch whispers. 
          “There, over there.” Cable points as they crouch down lower. They creep closer, every movement measured. They slowly get closer to the green Skelloid, who is standing motionless among the ferns. It’s focused on something in front off it, blocking the android’s view of it. 
          They edge nearer, blades and guns ready. Moss moves, revealing Halo who was standing in front of him. Rubble tries to contain his shock, panic spikes cold through him, mind racing as he tries to figure out what to do. He led them right to the person he wanted to protect; he had no idea she would be here in this place, with a Skelloid of all things. 
          Halo laughs as Moss picks up and wiggles her braids, oblivious to the danger around them. 
          “It’s interacting with that human,” Twitch says, a tremor working it’s way up his arm. Helrix tilts his head; his silicone face almost serene under the dappled light. He turns to his crew, voice low and certain. “It’s fine. We’ll kill them both.” 
          Rubble freezes. The sentence lands like a blow. He hadn’t meant for any of this to happen. 
          The androids move into position, weapons raised, barrels fixed on Moss. He startles, slime quivering, and stumbles backward. 
          Halo’s breath catches as her gaze sweeps the line of androids, and lands on him. 
          Rubble?  
          His skin is half-healed, but she still recognizes him despite the change. She feels a mix of emotions all at once, fear, betrayal, hurt, but also desperation to pull him back. 
          Rubble’s weapon remains at his side, unwilling to raise it. 
          “Fire!” Helrix commands. 
          Gunfire erupts. Muzzle flashes flare, bullets rip into Moss’s translucent body, slime shuddering as fragments of bone inside him rattle loose. 
          Halo screams as Rubble bolts forward, throwing himself around her. Shrapnel spark against his back plating as he shields her from the chaos. 
          “Moss!” Halo cries. “Make them stop, he’s not dangerous!” She twists, looking up at Rubble, her eyes wide and pleading. 
          Moss screeches in terror, his voice a trembling shrill. In a desperate surge, he lunges forward, seizing Halo out of Rubble’s arms. In one motion he lifts her against his chest and flees, crashing into the meadow as the gunfire shreds the air behind them. 
          The androids charge downhill in pursuit, their weapons cutting through the air. The commotion carries far, alerting the guards in Ossamaris. 
          At the base of the slope, the drawbridge begins to lower, the great chains groaning. 
          “We’re about to get company!” Twitch shouts, eyes wide. 
          Helrix lets out a frustrated groan. Ahead, Moss barrels forward with Halo in his arms, sprinting for the bridge. 
          “If we’re going to fight the humans,” Cable warns, keeping pace at Helrix’s side, “it shouldn’t be on their turf. We have the advantage in the city, but not here.” 
          Helrix slows, jaw tight, fury sparking behind his silicone mask. He glares at Moss’s retreating form, then makes his choice. 
          “Fine,” he snaps. “We’ll continue our hunt another day.” 
          One by one, the androids pull back. 
          Horses thunder across the drawbridge, hooves striking the planks in a steady rhythm. Thorn rides at the front, riflemen close behind, their weapons raised and eyes locked on the retreating androids. The line halts suddenly as the green Skelloid comes into view. Hooves skid in the mud, animals tossing their heads in alarm. 
          Moss crouches, lowering Halo gently to the ground before them. 
          “Hold your fire!” Thorn bellows. 
          The rifles waver but don’t drop. The men stare in shock as Halo pushes herself to her feet, unharmed. 
          Moss turns without a sound and lopes down the shoreline, his green shimmer fading as the sun sets. 
          Thorn’s gaze follows him only briefly before snapping toward the treeline, where the androids vanish into the forest. 
          “What’s going on?!” Thorn demands, his voice like thunder. 
          Halo meets his eyes, “I never know anymore!” she admits, her voice raw with honesty.