Chapter 38: the Flatline.

Landing Pod. E-Police Department. 09:10 pm.

She stood at the edge of the building, framed by the wide hangar door. Cold wind rushed past her body, strong and restless. Dark clouds rolled low over the city, warning of heavy rain soon to fall.

September held a special meaning for the E-UNIT program. It was the month they first began operating. Now, exactly two years had passed since their first mission. The night felt heavy, full of change.

11 remained still, staring into the distance. She could not pinch herself to confirm this was real. Pain meant nothing to her anymore. Yet there was no doubt. Her effort, discipline, and failure had all led her here. Maybe the reward came faster than she ever expected.

02 walked past her, boots echoing softly on the metal floor.
“We are leaving now,” the captain said. “Are you ready?”

“Yes, Captain!” 11 answered, unable to hide her excitement.

They moved toward the AC-130 parked inside the hangar. Crew units loaded large crates into the aircraft. Each container held advanced technology requested by Dr. Nick. The cargo bay slowly filled, lights reflecting off steel walls and reinforced frames.

The hangar lights flickered once, then steadied, like a heart refusing to skip.

“Sergeant!”
A familiar voice called out from behind.

11 turned. The 30-series units, from 31 to 39, were running toward her. They stopped several meters away and formed a straight line.

“Take care, Sergeant 11.”
They raised their hands together in a clean salute.

11 smiled, pride swelling in her chest.

38 stepped forward and wrapped her arms around her.
“Please return safely.”

11 returned the hug without hesitation.
“I will,” she said softly. “I still need to see this face again.”

The warmth lingered among them for a brief moment. Then the boarding signal sounded. One by one, they separated and returned to their duties.
Soon after, the aircraft lifted into the dark sky.

Inside the plane, the hum of engines filled the cabin. 02 walked over and sat beside her sergeant.
“What do you think now?” the captain asked. “Do you understand why bonds matter?”

11 listened closely.

“If you treated your team the same way you treated 17,” 02 continued, “38 would never have hugged you. The team would not have come to salute you. That moment alone carries more weight than any victory.”

11 nodded slowly.

“I understand now,” she said. “I tried to push 17 to become stronger. I wanted her to surpass her limits. But I did it the wrong way. I left her alone in deep water without teaching her how to swim.”

02 placed a hand on her shoulder.
“Exactly. And if I had treated you the same way, we would not be sitting here together on this plane.”

11 looked up at her captain.
“Now I understand why they see you as a symbol,” she said. “You prove it with every action.”

“I have to,” 02 replied calmly. “Otherwise, we would keep seeing more 11s abandoning their partners.”

“No, Captain, come on,” 11 said, crossing her arms with a sigh.

02 allowed herself a brief smile.

“I will send you new war data,” she said. “Analyze it. We need you to locate the Black Medic production site. The enemy only gave us a general area. They keep critical information hidden from lower ranks.”

“Roger,” 11 replied without hesitation.

The plane continued forward, cutting through the storm-filled night toward Frostholm.

E-Medic Factory. West of Altea. 11:37 pm.

Wallmore sat on a metal crate, rubbing his forehead again and again. The pressure behind his eyes refused to fade. He had never felt stress like this before.

He was inside the production site itself, waiting for the E-UNIT to arrive. That alone was enough to unsettle him. What worried him more was the New Mer soldiers assigned to guard the place. Their lack of discipline made his skin crawl. One mistake was all it would take to ruin everything.

Months of construction. Years of planning.
The long days at Metro Robotics. The sleepless nights filled with sketches, formulas, and endless calculations. Everything was finally coming together.

“Move the generator a bit more to the left. Yes, like that.”

He walked across the floor, boots echoing through the massive underground hall.
“Careful with the echo chamber. The crystal inside is rare.”
Even their footsteps sounded wrong near it.

Technicians adjusted equipment while cranes moved heavy frames into position. Cold white lights illuminated reinforced walls covered in cables and conduits.
“Rotate this one one-hundred-sixty degree. Make sure the wall cannot be breached. We cannot afford failure.”

Wallmore turned sharply.
“You there. I saw you eating my lunch earlier.”

Before he could continue, his phone vibrated in his hand.
He checked the screen. A familiar name appeared.
Brightson.

“Just wait. You will regret that,” Wallmore snapped at the soldier before answering the call.

“Ninety-five percent complete,” he said calmly.

“Excellent,” Brightson replied. “Sending you personally was the right decision.”

Wallmore hesitated for a moment.
“Do you have time to talk?” he asked. “This line is secure. There are things I noticed during our stay in New Mer that concern me.”

“Of course,” Brightson said. “Go to the second floor. There should be a hidden room at the end of the last corridor.”

Wallmore left the factory floor and climbed the metal stairs. The noise faded with each step upward. He checked every corner, listening for footsteps, then entered the small concealed room and locked the door.

“Found it,” he said, sitting on the floor and leaning against the wall. He pressed his fingers to his temples. “I am exhausted. I miss my country more than I expected. This factory is in Altea, and just walking through the streets again warmed my heart.”

“I understand,” Brightson replied. “I stayed in Altea the entire time. But we are close now, Wallmore. Very close. We will rebuild Metro Robotics from nothing. This time, we control it. No empty minds will take it from us again.”

“That is the dream, Mr. Brightson,” Wallmore said quietly. “But you know the generals there in New Mer cannot be trusted. That minister especially. He believes himself to be a master actor deserving an Oscar.”

Brightson laughed openly.
“You never change, Ethan. Do not worry. I will bring this joke of a country to its knees myself. I despise every part of it. I would rather lose to those girls in Altea than stay here another second. I planted listening devices everywhere. I hear how they speak about us.”

Wallmore straightened.
“Wait. What do they call me?”

“The crazy mechanic.”
There was silence for a brief moment. Then both men laughed.

“And what about you?” Wallmore asked.

“The milking cow.”

This time, Wallmore laughed harder.
“They are pathetic,” he said.

“I agree,” Brightson replied. “Just hold on for a few more days. I can already see the light at the end of the tunnel.”

Wallmore exhaled slowly.
“I just hope it is an exit,” he said, “and not an oncoming truck.”

Ministry of Defense Courtyard. Frostholm. 07:00 am.

Morning did not bring sunshine.

Heavy rain poured over the capital, Frostholm, turning the streets into dark mirrors. The heat of summer mixed with the cold rain of autumn, creating a suffocating atmosphere. Sometimes, life offered the worst of both worlds at once.

02 marched at the front of the formation. Behind her stood her sisters, fully armed and upgraded. 11 had already received her enhancements. Every system was green.

“We will wait for the direct order,” 02 said.

The massive doors of the Ministry of Defense opened.
Henry Vegas stepped outside with slow, calculated strides. Armed soldiers followed him closely. He stopped in front of the E-UNITs and gave a short salute.

“Good morning, soldiers,” he said. “Today, we deliver a critical strike. One that will end this nightmare for good.”

Rain slid down his coat as he raised his voice.
“Today, you will free this country from a parasite. A mass production factory that should never have existed.”

He lifted his head higher.
“E-UNIT, dismantle the site carefully. The reward for this mission is the factory itself. It will become an E-UNIT production facility.”

Eyes lit up across the formation.
“ROGER!” the units answered in unison.

They launched immediately.

As the team vanished into the rain, a second general stepped beside the minister.
“This could be the last time we see them,” the general said quietly.

Vegas did not look away.
“I hope so,” he replied coldly.

***

The team did not deploy aircraft.

The target was several states away, but this mission marked the first true test of the new battery system. With proper control, speed could replace flight.

They crossed vast distances in silence, rain slicing past them.
“I feel uneasy,” 02 said through the comms.

Units behind her reacted instantly.

“What?” 04 asked.

“Is there a reason?” 05 added.

“The minister,” 02 replied. “The way he spoke. It was not normal.”.

03 processed the thought. “Is that part of the intent-reading system you developed?”

“Possibly,” 02 answered. “I rarely feel this kind of disturbance.”

11 interrupted. “It could be stress misinterpreted as unease. This is our best chance to destroy the black medics and expose whoever is behind them.”

02 hesitated. “Still—”

“No, captain,” 11 said firmly. “We need this operation to succeed. Mixing emotion with analysis is what holds E-UNIT back.”

A brief silence followed.
07 tilted her head. “You remind me of someone.”

She looked at 06.
“Stop it, 07,” 06 replied sharply. “You enjoy being irrational.”

“That is called freedom,” 07 shot back, then turned to 11. “But seriously, do not erase emotion, 11. Without it, we are just black medics wearing blue.”

All eyes turned to her.
“What?” 07 snapped.

06 began clapping slowly. 05 joined her.
“She is evolving,” 06 said flatly.

“What do you mean evolving? I am not a caveman!” 07 protested.

Everyone rolled their eyes.
“Sure,” they replied together.

“Oh, come on!” 07 snapped.
Laughter filled the comms. The tension lifted.

Then 11 spoke sharply.
“Signal spike detected. East side. Strong and stable.”

The team halted.

Ahead of them stood an abandoned military base. Isolated. Surrounded by flat farmland and silent fields.

“Same pattern,” 01 whispered.

02 stepped forward as the team took formation behind her.

“E-UNIT,” she said calmly, rain sliding off her armor.
“Code Red initiated.”

The Assault.

The team launched forward.

Rain slammed against their metal frames. Water soaked their uniforms and streamed off their armor, but no one slowed down.

As soon as they crossed the hundred-meter zone, the ground erupted with movement.
A swarm of black medics rushed toward them.

There were not dozens.
There were not even a hundred.
There were far more.

The question was no longer how they built them.
It was how no one noticed.

02 took the lead.
She dashed forward and drew her blades. The sound alone was enough to freeze fear into steel.

SLEEK.

Two black medics only saw a blue trail pass through them. A heartbeat later, their upper halves slid off their lower bodies and collapsed into the mud.

02 accelerated.

SLEEK.
SLEEK.
SLEEK.

Three clean slashes carved light into the darkness. Orange plasma burned across shattered frames as metal bodies fell apart.

She did not stop.

02 hurled her blade forward. It pierced through two enemies at once. Both detonated, launching the blade high into the air.

She jumped.
Caught it mid-air.

And came down on another unit.

SLASH.

She landed behind it. The robot exploded a second later, the blast chasing her as she moved on. Grass and mud flew behind her with every step.

04 hit the battlefield like a moving wall.
She used her shields as weapons, slamming into black medics at extreme speed.

CRASH.
CRASH.
CRASH.

Metal fragments scattered in every direction. Enemies fell like insects under a spray.
She raised her third shield and drove it downward. The robot beneath it was crushed flat, its internals bursting outward.

Another unit rushed her from the left.
04 blocked without even turning her head.

Then she turned slowly and pointed upward.
The black medic looked up.
A massive shield, ten meters wide, hovered above it.

CRASH.

The robot was flattened completely.
Another group rushed in, trying to surround her. A full circle of black medics closed in.
They were fast, but they were weak.

04 rotated her shields sideways and began spinning.

CRASH.
CRASH.
CRASH.
CRASH.

One after another, they collapsed. Dominos would have resisted more.
When she stopped, the area around her was empty.
04 moved to assist the others.

07 was in the middle of a boxing match.
She did not move an inch.
Black medics charged her, and she let them.

Then her arms moved.
She struck at near sound speed. Her fists extended and snapped back so fast that afterimages lagged behind. Even her shadow struggled to keep up.

From a distance, it looked like ghosts were punching the enemy apart.
Robots were launched in every direction.

Then she stopped.
Not from exhaustion.
There were no enemies left near her.

She smirked. “So many knockouts.”
And flew toward the next group.

09 stepped forward calmly.
“Alright. Time to slice.”

She drew eight knives and dashed ahead as a group of black medics advanced.

Seek.

The blades were almost silent.
But deadly.
She passed through the formation, flicking knives left and right. Every robot received a small gift.

When she cleared the group, a window appeared on her HUD.

“Detonate targets?”
[Yes / No]

She pressed yes without hesitation.

BOOM.

A chain of explosions tore through the field. The shockwave pushed the rain away for a brief moment.

Burning fragments of black medics rained down like falling meteors.

“That was epic, 09,” 07 said over comms.

“More to come,” 09 replied. “Stay tuned.”

They reached the main entrance.

Inside, the facility was empty.

Machines were still running. Assembly lines worked nonstop, producing one robot per minute. The scale was massive.

05 accessed the system remotely. “Shutting it down. No cameras detected.”

02 narrowed her eyes. “They left in a hurry.”

The team raised their assault rifles. Laser sights swept across corners, walls, and ceilings with precision.

Upper floors cleared.
First floor clear.
Side rooms empty.

They regrouped in the center of the facility.

11 scanned behind stacked crates. “I found something. A hidden entrance.”

02 nodded. “Regroup.”

They opened the door leading downward.
Silence.

02 took the lead. The calm was unnatural.
A long hallway stretched ahead, ending in a room without a door.

02 raised her hand.
The team stopped.
She stepped inside first.

Then,

CLANK.

A massive metal door slammed down behind her.

The impact shook the structure. The door was so thick it nearly crushed 03 before 11 dragged her back in time.

“CAPTAIN!” they screamed, slamming into the door.

Not even a scratch appeared.
“What?!” 03 yelled.

07 stepped forward and threw a punch.
Her glove shattered on impact.

She dropped to her knees, staring at her broken hand.
“What is this…”

Inside the room, 02 turned slowly.

A strange device was embedded in the far wall, facing her directly. Behind reinforced glass stood one silhouettes.

Wallmore smiled.
Then the silhouette pressed a button.

The Trap

A sharp, rising sound filled the room.

It was not loud in the usual way.
It was heavy.
Dense.
As if the air itself had turned solid.

The device on the wall began to glow faintly.

02 froze.
Her HUD flickered.

Warnings flooded her vision faster than she could read them. Systems desynced. Balance control failed. Power output dropped without explanation.

She tried to raise her red shield.
It shattered the moment it formed.

Outside the room, the team screamed through the glass.
“CAPTAIN!”

They slammed their fists and weapons into the heavy concrete armored wall next to the giant door. The surface cracked, but far too slowly. The wall was several meters thick. It was built to endure siege weapons.

Inside, 02 took a step forward.
Her leg failed.
She caught herself before falling, but her movement was stiff, delayed, wrong.

The sound wave pressed against her like an invisible wall. It was not just attacking her body. It was tearing through her internal structure, shaking circuits, breaking synchronization between core systems.

It was a sonic weapon.
Designed for machines.
Designed for her.

She tried again to activate her shields.
They formed for less than a second.
Then shattered.

Sparks erupted from her arms and legs. Fine cracks appeared along her frame as internal supports failed one by one.

Outside, 03 stopped hitting the wall.
She pressed her face to the small glass window in the door.

What she saw made her freeze.

02’s eyes flickered between light and darkness. The white plates of the captain peeled and cracked from vibration alone. Her armor trembled constantly, pieces coming loose under the strain.

For the first time, her captain looked fragile.
For the first time, she looked like she was in pain.

02’s HUD was full of emergency alerts. System shutdown warnings overlapped until the screen became unreadable. Every instinct told her to retreat.

CORE SYNC: FAILING
SSD INTEGRITY: 71% … 44% … 12%

EMERGENCY BACKUP: FAILED
NO BOOT DEVICE FOUND

Her body refused.
Another leg failed.
She dropped to one knee.

Her hands trembled as she tried, again and again, to form a barrier. Each attempt ended the same way.

Shatter.

03 screamed her name and slammed her fists into the door until cracks spread across the metal. Her voice broke with every hit.

Inside the room, 02 turned her head.
Through the distortion, through the pain, she saw her.

03,
Watching.
Breaking.

That hurt more than the weapon.

02’s power levels dropped sharply. Battery failure warnings appeared in red. Core stability reached critical.

She understood.
Her systems were shutting down to prevent total destruction.
Her vision dimmed.

She straightened as much as she could and faced the glass.
03 was still there. Hitting. Screaming. Desperate.

02 smiled.
Not the calm smile she used in briefings.
Not the confident smile she wore in battle.

This one was small.
Sad.

Her lips moved.
She could not make a sound.

But 03 understood.

“Thank you.”

Then her legs gave up.
Her body collapsed backward, slamming into the wall. Pieces of armor broke loose and scattered across the floor. Her eyes flickered once more.

Then went dark.
The room fell silent except for the hum of the device.

03 stared through the glass.
“02…”

She said her name out loud.
For the first time.

Something inside her snapped.
Her eyes burned red.

The team felt it instantly.

03 turned away from the door and looked at her sisters. Her expression was empty. Cold. Focused in a way none of them had seen before.

She stepped forward.
“Move.”

No one argued.

She shoved them aside and raised 07’s remaining glove after taking it.
Then she started hitting the wall.

Again.
And again.
And again.

She did not scream.
She did not rage.

She simply struck.

Each blow tore massive chunks from the concrete. The wall that resisted all of them began to fall apart under her hands. Until,

CRACK.

Wallmore watched from afar, stunned.
They had torn through a five-meter armored wall in minutes.

The white room was exposed.
03 rushed in and destroyed the device with a single strike.
The sound died instantly.

The team followed her inside.
They surrounded 02.
She did not move.

No response.
No signal.
No light.

For the second time, they stood around their fallen captain.
This time felt worse.
Slowly, one by one, they turned toward the silhouette.

Red eyes glowed in the dim light.
No one spoke.

03 broke the silence.
Her voice was flat and absolute.
“Our captain is unable to exercise command. As sub-captain, I assume leadership.”

No objections.
“E-UNIT. This is a triple S threat.”

She drew her blade.
“Delete it.”

Deletion

03 stepped forward.
She did not raise her blade.
She punched the glass.

The silhouette stumbled backward as the glass wall cracked.
He raised his hand instinctively, as if that thin barrier could still protect him.

“This glass is reinforced,” Wallmore said, forcing confidence into his voice. “It can hold against military weapons.”

A hole formed instantly. Cracks spread outward like veins. Her arm pushed through, metal grinding against fractured edges. One by one, the others followed her, tearing the glass apart with their bare hands.

The room filled with falling shards.
A dark silhouette behind the reinforced glass jolted back. A hand slammed down on the console.

It was not Wallmore. He merely assisted via a communication device. The assistant was the one issuing commands and executing them.

The assistant’s face turned pale. He didn’t look like a man facing death.
He looked like a man who realized his boss wasn’t here to die with him.

He ran.

03 blurred forward, but stopped, just for a fraction, when a monitor above the console flickered.
The image of Wallmore on-screen froze mid-smirk.

Pixelated.
Then,

CONNECTION LOST.
REMOTE NODE DISCONNECTED.

The screen went black.
No one had time to process it.

The assistant hit the door controls and bolted into the lab corridors. Equipment crashed as he sprinted. Warning lights blinked red across the ceiling.

The E-UNITs followed.
Not because he mattered.
Because he was all they had.

He reached the exit corridor.
His hand touched the handle.

A massive metal storage unit slammed into the door, crushing it shut.
He turned slowly.

Red eyes stared back at him from the shadows.
The E-UNITs stepped forward.

They did not draw weapons.
They closed their hands into fists.

The assistant backed away until his spine hit the wall. His legs gave out, and he fell.

“This was not—” he choked out. “This was not the plan—”

03 stepped closer.
She didn’t raise her voice.
“Shut up.”
A half-beat.
“Die.”

She raised her hand.
he first strike shattered his ribs.
The second broke the wall behind him.

He screamed, but it did not matter.
They surrounded him.
Hits came from every direction. Precise. Merciless.

He wasn’t Wallmore.
But he wore Wallmore’s shadow.
And that was enough.

When they stepped back, nothing recognizable remained.
The room fell silent.

Blood coated the floor and walls. It dripped from their hands as they turned away without a word.

They ran back to 02.
03 knelt beside her and lifted her carefully, as if she were fragile glass. Her expression was empty. Focused only on one thing.

“I am taking her to our father,” she said.
She did not wait for permission.

She turned and ran.

The Flatline

The rain had not stopped.

03 burst out of the facility and onto the road, holding what remained of 02 close to her chest. Her feet struck wet asphalt as she accelerated beyond normal limits.

The world blurred.
She ran faster than traffic. Faster than warnings. Faster than reason.

The highway stretched endlessly ahead. Cars swerved as a blue trail passed between them. Horns blared. People screamed.

03 did not slow down.
Her HUD began replaying memories without her command.

02 teasing her during training.
02 correcting her stance.
02 standing between her and danger.
02 smiling calmly when everything was falling apart.

Each memory made her push harder.

An overheating warning appeared.
She dismissed it.

Another followed.
She dismissed that too.

“Do not you dare,” she whispered to her system.

Frostholm finally appeared through the rain. It had no Light Lane. No sealed corridors. No reinforced bridges. Just human roads, wet, narrow, crowded.

She entered the city at full speed.
Intersections passed in seconds. Pedestrians froze in shock. Vehicles barely avoided collision.

Then it happened.
A heavy transport truck broke through a red light.

03 saw it too late.
She tried to stop.
The road was soaked. There was no grip. and it was so close.

Time slowed.
Her thoughts raced.

‘What do I do, what do I do, what do I do, what do I do.’

She glimpsed right to see the semi-truck facing her.
‘That’s it… sorry, 02.’

CRAASH!!

The impact threw her through the air.

02’s parts scattered across the road. Metal scraped against concrete. Pieces slid under parked cars. Others bounced into the rain.

Everything stopped.
The truck driver stumbled out, shaking, apologizing without understanding what he had hit.

03 stood up slowly.
She began collecting the pieces.
She did not scream.
She did not cry loudly.

Tears fell silently as she whispered the same word again and again.
“Why.”

Civilians rushed to help. A mother ordered her sons to search the road. Strangers gathered fragments carefully and brought them to her.

When the other E-UNITs arrived, they said nothing. They helped without being asked.
Someone placed 02’s head into 03’s hands.

“Thank you,” she said quietly.
Then she ran again.

Nick was still seated in his temporary lab, calculations looping. Mikael’s earlier call still rang in his head.

03 crashed through the entrance and fell to her knees in front of him, holding what was left of her captain.

“PLEASE FIX HER!” she screamed.

Nick’s hands wouldn’t move, he didn’t breathe for three seconds.
His engineers rushed forward without speaking. They took 02 from her arms. Nick, frozen in shock, was guided back into the lab by his assistants as they rushed the body away.

03 collapsed onto the floor.
Warnings filled her vision. Systems destabilized. Emotional overflow alerts repeated endlessly.

She curled into herself.

Her safe place was gone.
Her sister was gone.