Chapter 30: Living Test Subject.

Frostholm. 08:30 am.

Wind pushed through her hair, now painted matte-grey to hide its signature blue glow. The mayor of the capital had declared a full quarantine across the entire state, two days of lockdown, exactly as the Captain demanded.

The capital, Frostholm, was the economic heart of the nation. Thirty-five million people lived in its crowded streets, powering this giant city every day. The president didn't live here. His residence was on the opposite side of the country, in the political capital.
Maybe that's why he barely reacted to the war happening on the western border.

People here felt abandoned. The moment the next elections arrive, they're ready to tear him apart with their votes. He let the west burn for too long. Meanwhile, the east, closer to the political capital, was pampered. Metromania, the President's beloved city, received all the funding. New families thrived there like it was paradise.

Four days ago, the enemy seized Frostholm's main roads and trapped millions inside like hostages.
The city had enough resources to survive ten years, sure, but the problem wasn't food.
Families were split apart. Workers slept in cars outside the border, waiting to see their families again.

Every industrial zone was built outside Frostholm to keep pollution away from residents. Now every father, mother, worker… everyone was cut off from the people they loved.

Eight major entrances surrounded Frostholm. Each one was connected to the center by a highway.
And now, each entrance was guarded by an E-UNIT.

Dr. Nick's new weapons needed a real battlefield test. Since he managed to capture one Black Medic alive, he learned their weaknesses. The new prototypes were built exactly to exploit those weaknesses, designed to wipe entire armies of them.

05 was at base, regulating 03's aerial strikes. And high above the clouds, 03 circled the city, ready to assist any E-UNIT who needed her.
But the first to start the assault was 02.

She walked straight toward the enemy-occupied entrance, calm, confident, eyes glowing red, holding her two blue blades like they were extensions of her arms.

A loudspeaker cracked to life.
"This area is under siege. Step back immediately."

She didn't.
"I repeat, step back and return to your home. We will ensure your safety."

She kept walking.
"—This is your last warning! STEP OFF!"

She vanished.
"WHAT!?"

In the blink of an eye, she was already standing in front of their barricade, army, soldiers, Black Medics, all staring at her.

"Destruction Mode… initiated."

A red aura burst from her body, the same violent glow 07 once used, but stronger. Her body vibrated as the new batteries pushed Destruction Mode far beyond its old limits.

And then the rampage began.
She dashed toward the soldiers in wide, bouncing steps, like a red-eyed rabbit with murderous intent.

A storm of bullets rained toward her.
Old news.
A red shield expanded around her, thicker and stronger thanks to the upgraded energy system.

She twisted her blades.
Her visor slid open.
Necks were highlighted in bright red.

Sleek. Sleek.

The first two soldiers didn't even realize the blue blades had turned into energy swords. The cuts were so precise the heads fell before their bodies registered the attack.
She kept hopping between bullets, untouchable.

Sleeeek.
One long slice took four heads at once.

Sleek.
Legs disappeared. Bodies collapsed in shock and agony.

Sleek.
Five more down.

She tore through the line like paper, erasing the human force and leaving the robots in storage with no one to operate them on site.
The enemy rolled out juggernauts, heavy armor, LMGs, full plating.

RRRRRT!
Yellow tracers flooded the air.

Sleek. Sleek. Sleek.

She passed through them like wind. When they tried to turn, their upper halves slid off their legs.

She reached the main base. Ten armored trucks with turrets blocked her path.
She slowed down just to admire their desperation, and smirked.

She took one step back.
Confusion spread across the enemy lines.

"NOW!"

BANG. BANG. BANG.
Three amplified laser shots obliterated the trucks instantly. The chain reaction ignited the entire row.

"x7 combo!" 03 shouted in the comms.

02 answered, "Great shot, 03. Return to 06."

"Roger that!" 03 saluted from above.

The colonel finally stepped out, Colonel Kabaschta. Behind him, four rows of Black Medics, sixteen in total. Teleoperated from New Mer.

02 sighed.
"Please, no monologues. I'm not in the mood."

"Then let the robots talk. Group A014, neutralize her immediately!"

The robots charged.
She didn't move.

'Ghost Cloning, initiated.'
Sixteen illusion copies of herself burst into existence, each with the same red eyes.
It was Ghost Cloning.

"Making the world fair is my specialty, Colonel Kabaschta."

His jaw dropped.
"HOW THE— how do you know my name?!"

"Just a guess."

The 02s rushed the robots. She holstered her blades and went full fists.
One punch sent a robot flying into a wall so hard its parts rained down like metal confetti.
She didn't stop.

CLANG. CLANG. CLANG.

Hit after hit, no pauses. The head of the robot molded into the shape of the wall on one side and her fists on the other.
When she stepped away, the robot didn't even fall. It was stuck on the wall like a sticker.
Her clones played catch with the others, literally passing robot bodies between them until they burst into piles of parts.

The colonel fell to his knees.
A one-minute showcase was enough to destroy everything he believed could rule this capital.
"The reports didn't say anything about THIS. I've been lied to… What are you?"

02 stepped toward him, cold as metal.
"The wrong robot to mess with."
"You're under arrest. Please comply peacefully."


Caso, New Mer. 08:13 am.

It was a cloudy day in Caso, the farthest city from the capital of New Mer. It bordered Altea, and because its population was tiny, the government used it as both a spying outpost and a storage hub for every new military addition Wallmore created.

Wallmore stared at the glowing screen, searching for what went wrong.
The attack on Metromania had failed.
Four days of nonstop work, and he still had no answer for the iron fists of the E-UNITs.

Brightson quietly stepped inside Ethan Wallmore's office. Behind him was the Minister of Defense of New Mer, Ricardo. Both men stayed silent so they wouldn't break Wallmore's concentration.

But suddenly Wallmore stopped typing, then dropped his forehead onto the desk with a loud thud.

He finally realized the truth:
Nick wasn't superior because of talent.
He was superior because of attention to detail, and because he had been working on the E-UNIT program for two full years, enough time to refine every circuit properly.

Ricardo spoke first.
"You hit a wall, Mr. Wallmore?"

Wallmore slowly raised his head. The room was so dark his face couldn't be seen. He stood up, walked to the light switch, and flipped it.
Click.
The neon lights flickered to life.

And the two men finally saw what Ethan Wallmore had become.

At just twenty-eight years old, he looked ruined. The Black Medic project had consumed him like fire in dry grass. His eyes carried dark bags you could use for shopping; his skin was pale enough to blend into the wall; strands of hair fell like rain every time he moved.
He worked alone, unlike Metro Robotics, so every flaw, every shortcut, every downgrade showed in the final product.

The Black Medics were cheaper, weaker, and worse than the E-UNITs in every category.
But Wallmore had one more problem.

He turned his tired eyes toward the newcomers.
"Oh… it's you."
Formalities were gone. His brain barely ran at ten percent.

The minister and Brightson grabbed two chairs and sat across from him.

Brightson smirked.
"Good morning, Wallmore. You're looking great."

"You really love this joke, Mr. Brightson," Wallmore muttered.
He blinked. "Wait, morning already? I didn't sleep for two days!"

Ricardo smiled politely.
"You are a hard worker. But hard work needs results to be appreciated. The robots you built… failed against their models terribly."

Wallmore's red eyes flicked with irritation.
"With the budget you gave me, be grateful they even turn on. At Metro Robotics this amount is pocket change."

Ricardo's smile faded immediately.
"Our country doesn't have endless money. And even with that, we already squeezed our people dry."

Wallmore's frustration burst.
"Then going to war against a country superior in every aspect wasn't the smartest idea!"

"Are you mocking New Mer?" Ricardo snapped.

"Are you considering how much Altea has?" Wallmore shot back. "They can drop a billion on one project and abandon it the next day. You made me fight that with scraps."

"Wallmore. Boundaries. I'm your superior here."

"Then act like one!" Wallmore slammed the desk. "I begged you for months to raise the funding. You promised, never delivered. Then you launched the attacks without telling me. What did you gain? Broken robots that Nick now has access to. I bet he's already building a counter-weapon that can evaporate not just the robots, but the entire plan. Eighteen months of work, gone!"

The minister went silent.

He had wanted this war. He wanted New Mer to retaliate at least once against Altea.
But Alexander, Altea's military leader at that time, chose New Mer for a reason.

Brightson stepped in once the room calmed.

"Do you understand now, Mr. Ricardo? I warned you attacking early would put our plan at risk."
He leaned back. "But don't worry. In Altea we have a saying."

Wallmore continued the phrase for him, voice low.
"Things will always go bad. You just need to be ready."

Brightson nodded. "Exactly, Wallmore. And we were ready."

The minister frowned.
"What do you mean?"

"We're not the only ones who lost a robot," Wallmore explained. "Remember the E-Medic model we stole to copy?"

Ricardo's eyes widened. "No… no way."

Brightson grinned. "Nick studied our models. And we studied his."

Wallmore tapped the desk.
"They probably share internals with their combat units. And in those internals—"

He looked up, eyes gleaming.
"We found one flaw. A single, tiny flaw."

He leaned back, exhausted but proud.
"And I've been working on one weapon secretly, for the past six months."

Brightson turned to Ricardo.
"Your strike-back is guaranteed now, Minister."


Metromania, downtown. 08:15 am.

11 walked down the sidewalk, and beside her marched 17, now with a proper head attached.
September was arriving, knocking on every door and promising cooler days.

People passing by waved warmly at the two android officers. Metromania trusted them now; the E-UNITs had erased crime from the streets like it never existed.

17 turned to her commander.
"Why did you order us to patrol in pairs? We work better alone. We can cover more of the city that way."

11 stopped her area scan, not something she did often.
"Think, 17. We just confirmed New Mer was smuggling advanced robots through the docks. What's stopping them from using other methods? What if they've been smuggling Black Medics for months without us noticing?"

17 paused, gears whirring as she processed it.
"Wait… you're right. We've been busy with crime in multiple cities. We shut down internal checkpoints and replaced them with human guards… and humans can be bought."

11 nodded.
"I ran the numbers. I even asked Father if we could hack their CPUs. He said there is no CPU to hack. They're teleoperated using a special frequency, like a smartphone waiting for a tap. They did it to save costs."

17's eyes widened.
"Saving costs… meaning—"

"Mass production," 11 finished. "If they used trucks to smuggle units inside the city and hid them for months, they could neutralize Metromania in a week. We would be outnumbered easily. And Father still hasn't upgraded our energy systems, the engineers here need him."

17 stared at her.
"So the scan you're doing is for that specific frequency?"

"Yes." 11's head kept sweeping side to side, never stopping. "I detected many signals, but only one stands out. Strong. Coming from underground."

"Then let's check it," 17 said immediately. "If the captain's team is slowing them down, that explains why the attack hasn't started yet."

"Good point. Let's jump."


Sewage treatment facility. 08:35 am.

They reached the sewage treatment facility in the north and reassigned their patrol zones to other E-UNITs. But the moment they stepped inside, something was wrong.

11 couldn't smell, but every sensor she had screamed that the place felt… empty.

17 looked around.
"Where are the workers?"

"No human life within a hundred meters. The facility is vacant," 11 confirmed.

17's tone shifted. "We're late. They used the sewage system."

"Let's find out."

The two androids descended into the massive tunnels beneath the city. The tunnels were enormous, meant to support Metromania and several neighboring towns for the next fifty years. A semi-truck could drive through them comfortably.

Their metallic steps echoed endlessly into the dark.
Faint red lights from their visors glowed on the walls.

"This will take forever," 17 muttered. "This system is bigger than the city."

"It was built to handle multiple cities," 11 answered. "And we have no human support. No maps, no workers, no guidance. We need to find the center ourselves."

"Why not use the PCs in the facility?"

"Password-protected. But my scan is helping. We're close."

They continued walking deeper into the darkness. Only their visors made it possible to navigate the pitch-black tunnels.
Then they reached the central chamber.

17 looked around.
"No lights, no movement… They've spread everywhere already."

11 stared down into the massive circular pit in the middle of the chamber, normally used to store floodwater temporarily.
Her eyes glowed brighter.
"Oh no…"

Forty bodies.
The entire staff of the sewage system, lying collapsed on the floor.

And beside them,
One hundred Black Medics stood perfectly still in formation, silent in the dark, waiting for the order that would doom Metromania.

17's voice cracked with horror.
"This is pure dystopia!"

"17! Call the nearest units," 11 ordered sharply.
Her visor flared bright red.
"We need to clear this out. NOW!"

A sound cut through the darkness, cold, synthetic, and loud. "E-UNITs detected! Engaging defense protocol."

Click. Click. Click.
One hundred pairs of red eyes ignited at once.