Chapter 35: Doubling Down.

Training Bay. Metromania. 08:10 am.

It was another warm morning in Metromania.
People walked the streets without worry, unaware of what existed beneath them, or how close danger truly was.

Since the creation of the E-UNITs two years ago, the city had changed. Metromania was now filled with abandoned buildings and sealed facilities. Every major E-UNIT operation exposed corruption, and many powerful figures lost their properties overnight. Some locations were resold. Many were simply left behind, hollow and forgotten.

Those forgotten places were no longer empty.

11 detected the control signal frequency and traced it with precision. Every signal originated from those vacant zones. That alone was alarming.

The real problem was location.
All of them were close to heavily populated districts.

Her team stood in formation inside the training bay. It was a massive hall, wide enough to simulate combat scenarios, with moving targets suspended across the room. Smaller chambers surrounded the bay, used for briefings and private discussions.

"We have confirmed the locations," 11 said. "The signals that controlled the robots in the sewage are coming from these areas."

She pointed at one of the units.
"32. Excellent work. Your speed in marking the signals helped accelerate the entire operation."

32 saluted sharply. "No problem, captain!"

11 lowered her voice slightly. "This confirms something important. We can evolve beyond our hardware limits."

She paused.
"Even I could not do that in the same body."

35 nodded. "We agree. We witnessed the captain and the original eight push far past their limits."

38 added with excitement, "06 and 07 lifted a one-ton machine by themselves. In the air."

36 joined in. "And we all saw the footage of 03 clearing an entire building with her LIBERTA-01. The rifle was modified, yes, but the engineer was shocked. He said it was never meant to release that much energy in a single shot."

11 felt the tension ease.
The team believed her.

"I know leaving 17 alone was not the safest decision," she said calmly. "But it was the correct one."

She allowed herself a small smile. For a moment, the cold image of a captain faded.
The 30-series smiled back. Their single day of training with her had shown a side of 11 most never saw.

Then her expression hardened again.
"Enough talk. Lives are at risk. We do not split up. As we saw, the enemy relies on overwhelming numbers. However, their units share the same flaws as a standard E-MEDIC."

She turned toward the entrance.
"That is why I called E-MEDIC 19."

The doors opened.
E-MEDIC 19 entered the bay.

The younger units immediately felt uneasy. Dr. Nick's preference was obvious. The MEDIC models were designed with a softer, more feminine appearance.

11 continued, unfazed. "E-MEDIC 19 has agreed to be our test subject. Since we cannot feel pain, and her primary brain is stored on the hospital server, we can test any tactic without permanent loss."

32 glanced sideways at her. "Captain… is there a reason you chose that number?"

11 shrugged without hesitation. "None at all. Bring your weapons. This is our greatest advantage."

She continued, "Father analyzed the enemy units. Their systems do not support weapon handling."

34 raised a hand. "Why not?"

"Cost reduction," 11 replied. "Ironically, the same decision was made two years ago. The original five had their weapon authorization removed to save money."

E-MEDIC 19 stood calmly in front of them.

"Please proceed as you wish," she said politely. "As the captain stated, bodies are replaceable." She turned slightly toward 11. "But memories must be preserved, captain."

38 leaned toward 32 and whispered, "I already hate her."

The firing range activated.
E-MEDIC 19 stood at the center. The 30-series and 11 raised their weapons and took aim.

11's red visor glowed brighter.
"Aim at different locations," she ordered. "We need to identify the vital points."

Laser sights activated.
Red dots covered E-MEDIC 19's body.
Pistols ready.

"NOW!" 11 shouted.

Ten shots fired at once.

The E-MEDIC collapsed immediately.
But 11 did not stop.
She kept firing.

Shot after shot. No hesitation. No pause.
Until.

Click.

The magazine emptied. Shells hit the floor in perfect rhythm.
"Captain?" 37 asked carefully.

11 lifted her head and turned as if nothing unusual had happened.
She lowered her weapon.

"Alright. Let's review the footage. I already have a theory about which shot destroyed her."
The room went silent.

Interrogation room. Airbase CA-03. Frostholm. 08:30 am.

"Where is it."
02's voice was cold. Absolute. Empty of emotion.
"I believe I asked you a question."

The man across the table refused to answer. His jaw was tight, but his eyes kept flicking toward the corners of the room, like he expected something to jump out.

"Your soldiers already broke," 02 continued. "They confirmed that a manufacturing facility exists on our land. They just do not know where."

03 leaned against the wall, eyes glowing faint red in the corner. Her voice sounded almost cheerful.
"And we made sure the information was accurate! We extracted everything we could!"

Her tone dropped instantly.
"They confirmed that their captain knows the exact location. So you should start talking, cap. Or your blood will be the one spilled."

02 slammed her hand against the metal table.
"WHERE IS THE FUC*ING FACILITY, KAYO!"

Kayo barked out a broken laugh, half rage, half fear.
"On my body, you freaks. Fu*k you and this cursed country. Fu*k whoever created these monsters. Who in their right mind makes soldiers that look like young girls?"

02's hand snapped to his collar and lifted him just enough to choke the arrogance out of his posture.
"Do not," she said slowly, "ever bring him into this."

"OR WHAT, FREAK? GO SEE A THERAPIST. YOU LOST YOUR MIND!"

02 let him drop back into the chair.
Her eyes narrowed.
"03. Disable the room."

"Roger."
03 raised her pistol and fired once at each camera.

Pop. Pop. Pop.
The lenses died. The blinking red dots above the corners vanished.

"Disable HUD recording too," 02 said.

03 tapped her temple and answered flatly, "Done."

Kayo swallowed.
"You're committing a war crime," he muttered.

03 tilted her head.
"You just realized that?"

The side door opened. 03 came back in dragging a soldier, alive.

His hands were bound behind his back. A strip of tape covered his mouth. His uniform was damp with sweat, and his breathing sounded wrong, fast and shallow.

03 shoved him down on his knees beside Kayo's chair.

Kayo's face twitched.
"Marcus…"

The soldier's eyes widened when he recognized the voice. He tried to speak through the tape, panic shaking his whole frame.

03 smiled brightly.
"Aww! He knows you."

Then she put a hand on his shoulder and leaned down to whisper, loud enough for Kayo to hear.
"Don't worry. Your captain is strong. He won't break."

Kayo's breathing turned uneven.
"Leave him out of this," he said, voice cracking just a little.

02 leaned forward.
"Why?"

Kayo flinched. "Because he didn't—"

"Because he is yours," 02 finished for him, calm and surgical. "Like my sisters are mine."
She stood up and walked behind Marcus, slow enough that Kayo could feel every second.

02 rested two fingers under Marcus's chin and tilted his head slightly to the side, exposing the neck.

03's smile vanished.
She drew her blade with a soft hiss.
Not swinging. Not posing. Just ready.

Kayo's eyes went wide.
"Stop," he whispered.

02's voice stayed flat.
"You have two choices. You can protect him… or protect your pride."

Kayo shook his head violently.
"This is insane—"

02 leaned closer, and for the first time there was heat under the calm.
"You brought robots into our cities. You brought war into civilian streets. You used hostages. You used jammers. You used my sisters like targets."

She nodded once at 03.

03 pressed the blade closer, not cutting, just letting the heat kiss the skin.
Marcus made a muffled sound through the tape.

Kayo broke.
"OKAY!" Kayo shouted. "I GIVE UP! JUST PUT THE BLADE DOWN!"

03 withdrew the blade from Marcus's neck immediately. No cut. No theatrics.

02 didn't relax.
"Talk," she said.

Kayo swallowed hard, eyes flicking between 02 and Marcus.
"You're asking the wrong question," he rasped. "You think this is about a facility. About robots. About smuggling."

02's gaze sharpened. "It is."

"No," Kayo snapped, then flinched at his own tone. "It's about permission."
He leaned forward, voice dropping.

"You didn't lose Frostholm because we were geniuses. You didn't get pushed back because your army was weak."

03 tilted her head. "Then why?"

Kayo's lips trembled.
"Because someone in your own country wanted you to bleed," he whispered.

Silence hit the room.
02's fingers tightened on the table edge. "Name."

Kayo hesitated. Marcus shifted on his knees, eyes wide, listening like his life depended on every syllable.

Kayo forced the words out anyway.
"Henry Vegas."

03's expression flickered, just a frame of surprise, then went cold again.

Kayo rushed on before fear could stop him.

"He wants robots for war. That's the whole game. He let your military lose on purpose, held back units, delayed deployments, 'misplaced' resources, cut response windows. Every time you could've crushed us early, your side hesitated."

He laughed bitterly.
"Not because they couldn't act. Because they were told not to."

02's voice was flat. Dangerous.
"Prove it."

Kayo shook his head violently.

"You think I can bring you a signed confession? You think traitors send receipts?" His eyes darted up. "But I heard it. I was in the channels. I saw the orders change mid-operation. I saw the corridors open. We didn't break your capital."

His voice cracked.
"We were invited close enough to scare the country."

03 leaned closer, eyes glowing.
"And why?"

Kayo looked at her like she was the one asking a stupid question.
"So people would beg for a stronger military." He swallowed. "So they'd beg to take your kind. So they'd put the leash on your creator and call it 'national security.'"

02 didn't blink.
"And you expect me to believe you."

Kayo's eyes filled with tears, not from sadness, panic.
"I don't care what you believe. I care that you stop pretending this war is clean. Your enemy isn't only New Mer."

He glanced at Marcus, then back at 02.
"You want the facility location? Fine. But understand this first: even if you burn every robot we built, Vegas will just point at the ashes and say 'See? We need more.'"

02 stepped closer. Her voice lowered.
"If this is true… then he picked the wrong country to play politics in."

Kayo flinched.

03 pulled the tape back over Marcus's mouth and yanked him upright.
"Captain," 03 said to 02 quietly, "we verify this first."

02 nodded once. Then she looked back at Kayo.
"Now," she said, "start talking again."

5th July Park. Frostholm. 10:53 pm.

It was a fresh evening.

The stars were clear, scattered across the sky like quiet lights, painting a view worth stopping for. September had been harsh this year, heavy with heat and tension, but the night sky remained untouched. No matter how bad things became, it always waited above.

Dr. Nick sat alone in a park near the heart of the capital. Glass towers surrounded the area, their lights reflecting against polished streets. Every city in Altea was a forest of concrete and steel. Smaller towns were either abandoned or too limited to truly live in.

Nick had been thinking for three hours.
Thinking about power.
Thinking about how to take it back.

The new alliance between William Redwood and Henry Vegas was something he had not anticipated. A variable outside his calculations. And he would not allow people he placed himself to rise above him.

Nick valued his creations deeply.

He had allowed them to roam free, to kill anyone deemed necessary, simply because there was something in their eyes. A certainty. A quiet conviction that told him they believed they were right.

"Still stuck in your usual daydreams, Nick?"
A familiar voice echoed through the empty park.

Nick looked up.

Jacob Marine stood a few steps away. The second-in-command of the national police, directly under Mikael. He had witnessed the E-UNIT project from its earliest drafts to its role as the country's shield.

"Nightdreams would be more accurate," Nick replied, letting out a light laugh.

"The nerd correcting people again," Jacob said, smiling. "You really never changed."

Jacob had once been the police chief of Metromania, before Kane. His work had been so effective that Mikael personally brought him into headquarters. He had known Nick since childhood.

"Be thankful," Nick replied calmly. "I prefer someone correcting me. Running predictions without purpose is exhausting."

He shifted slightly on the bench as Jacob sat beside him.

"I love the capital," Jacob said, looking around. "But Metromania has its own kind of magic. Every street holds memories I cannot replace."

"I agree," Nick nodded. "The fresh air coming from the Aqua Frost Mountains is—"

Jacob burst into laughter, his voice echoing across the empty park. At this hour, no one else was around.
"You really cannot stop yourself from turning everything scientific," he said, wiping tears from his eyes. "Fresh air. You are something else, Doc."

Nick smiled faintly.
"My pleasure. But I hope we can still laugh like this after the execution."

Jacob's expression hardened.
"What execution?"

"The plan," Nick said sharply. "Nobody interferes with my creations. Nobody forces their logic onto me. I refuse to become a tool for someone else's control."

He stood up and looked toward the star-filled sky.

"My goal has always been the same. A safe, perfect future for humanity. Everything I planned will happen. No opposing opinion will be tolerated. Anyone who stands against the best version of humanity is either an enemy, or someone seeking control over free lives."

Jacob stood slowly.
"What are you talking about, Nick?"

"Oh. Right," Nick said calmly. "I assume Mikael has not told you about the Hope Bubble project yet. I will schedule a meeting with both of you tomorrow."

He sat back down.
"In short, so I do not sound insane, the E-UNIT is only a test. A prototype for what comes next."

Jacob straightened instantly.
"No way. I heard Mikael mention something like this."

"Transforming an entire country takes time," Nick continued. "It may even surpass my lifespan. But the project will continue without me."

He turned toward Jacob.
"Project G-Bots will be our final solution. To current problems. And future ones."

Jacob nodded slowly.
"And I will stand with you, Nick. I never imagined those blue androids hid so much beneath the surface."

"Thank you," Nick said quietly. "But they are not the only ones hiding things. Redwood is planning a rebellion. I can feel war approaching."

"Good thing you are on our side," Jacob replied. "Facing a mind like yours would be catastrophic."

Nick clenched his fist.
"And I will prove that."

"Prove what?"
Mikael's voice cut in.

He approached them from the path, hands in his coat pockets.

"Perfect timing," Jacob said, smiling.

"Too perfect," Nick replied with a smirk. "How much did you hear?"

Mikael laughed.
"From the moment you opened your mouth, Doc." He looked at Jacob. "So he is with us."

Jacob nodded.
"Always was."

Mikael crossed his arms.
"Then are we executing Bug?"

"Of course," Nick replied calmly. "Tomorrow, we show everyone why we removed the former Minister of Defense."

He smiled faintly.
"And why the current one will follow."