Chapter 11:

Wrecking Ball (2)

Cybernetic Dreaming or The Allure of Overcoming Humanity


Jonathan's eyes snapped open.

His heart was in a fist, as if an invisible hand was squeezing it tightly. He let out air as the pressure eased, and that attracted the attention of the people standing near him.

He was startled, but he shouldn't have been startled.

Because those people were his friends.

Jamie, Mary. Roxy.

All of them. They were fine and... he was back in the real world. He had beaten Max, though he didn't quite know how. He was free.

Looking around, Max was nowhere to be found.

It was as if he had truly disappeared from this world without a trace.

There was no time to celebrate, though.

He realized that quickly, though not as quickly as he should have, because he had just regained consciousness.

In other words, the robots (who weren't robots at all) had gotten going again.

Max had had time to give one last command before he died, or perhaps his death itself had been the trigger for his awakening, and they had never had any chance at all to get out of this ghost town without having the robots descend upon them.

"What do we do? "Roxy asked. Her voice was shaking, and no wonder.

Jamie stepped forward. Her staff, the explosions.... That made him remember... the gun that was still in his hand.

"Get away," Jonathan ordered her hoarsely.

She gasped, but stepped back.

Steadying his trembling grip, he grabbed the gun with both hands. Pointing it toward the building he' d come out of not long ago. Toward the wave of robots approaching them.

They were people.

No, they had been people. They weren't anymore. So there was nothing wrong with that.

And even if there was some of them left in there, they had no way to bring it to the surface. In any case, Jonathan wasn't going to die for "being a good person".

He would kill them all if he had to. But they would get out of this place.

Jonathan pulled the trigger.

That white wave of energy shot out, once again.

This time he was prepared for whatever he might witness. Or so he thought. But he was wrong.

That wave, with its overwhelming force, sowed a path of destruction.

Robots, only they weren't robots, flew through the air in pieces. Arms and legs, guts and bones everywhere. With a great jolt, the building in which they had taken shelter came crashing down.

The cloud of dust it raised almost completely covered the debris.

Even though the results obviously favored him and his family, his heart constricted all the same. Even though it would be the only reason he would get out of this in the end, if they got out at all...

Jonathan thought that something with power like that shouldn't exist in this world.

Jonathan thought that it was no wonder that the government now wanted their heads on a pike. But that the real root of the problem were the sons of bitches who had designed a weapon like this. What had they been thinking?

What the fuck had they been thinking? His hands were shaking even harder now, and it wasn't entirely to do with how weak he was, after all that had happened.

Even though such a display of power would make anyone's heart tremble, this had only just begun.

"There are still so many left!" one of them shouted. Couldn't say which one.

Jonathan couldn't hear well, between the explosion and the ringing in his ears. Like nests of angry wasps.

As if there was something inside him, waiting to get out.

Were the robots not finished yet?

It didn't matter, he could still fire. Jonathan fired the second shot.

Its effects were as horrible and spectacular as the effects of the first shot. Only this time it took more houses with it.

Houses where no one lived anymore. Houses that no human being would ever set foot in again.

Once, perhaps, this settlement would have been full of life. But someone or something had come to steal it, and now there was no trace of it. Only shadows.

The thought brought tears to his eyes.

That guy... Max had made him an offer. Surely only in appearance. He was the kind of bastard who wouldn't take no for an answer.

I'll give you the rest you deserve, Jonathan thought.

And he pulled the trigger for the third time. Shaking the whole world.

Shaking the whole world, indeed. And he was pulling the strings with which it was moved. It gave him the impression that he had the world in his hands.

His hair stood on end; his skin crawled with goose bumps.

It had been a passing thought, but it wasn't so far from the truth. Yes. Of course, the government had every reason to want their heads on a pike, after they'd had something like that stolen from them.

Such a small weapon, a weapon like any other, that is, that could fit in their hands.

And yet it could change the fate of the whole world. As for his own destiny, the only one that interested him at this very moment....

Despite the destruction sown, there were simply too many "robots".

"Unbelievable " Roxy said, sighing.

Yet there were still dozens and dozens of enemies coming for them. To tear them apart. But that was all right, wasn't it? As he had thought before, he simply had to shoot and shoot until there were none left.

And if some managed to get close enough to them that Jonathan couldn't shoot, fearing they would get hurt badly, then they could personally take care of the survivors.

If he had known how easy this would be, he would have had his hand on the gun from the first moment.

Jonathan pulled the trigger one more time....

And nothing happened.

Jonathan couldn't believe it, so he pulled the trigger again and again, hoping that the gun was just stuck or something. Again and again, without stopping.

To no avail.

To no avail.

Are you kidding? A few shots and then nothing?

"We have to go."

Yeah, definitely. Jonathan tried to stand up. That he did. Staying on his feet was another story.

His family caught him before he could hit the ground, though. Then they carried him. Between the three of them. Running... towards what?

The Pistol was empty. Or something like that. He couldn't use it, in any case.

If it was so limited, he could forget about thoughts that its power could change the fate of the world. And, more importantly, that it could change their fates.

The miserable fate of being torn apart like cattle by things that were no longer human beings.

The robot army, though severely diminished, still outnumbered them by far. And they would eventually be outnumbered.

They couldn't win the fight. Not on open ground.

But they couldn't run away either, could they? Not on foot. They wouldn't get very far, in any case, before they got their hands on them. And teeth.

The army of humans who were now like straw dolls were still incessantly advancing towards them. Running like hell, without stopping, but completely silent. As always.

They wouldn't make a sound even when they filled their stomachs with their entrails.

Shit, is there really nothing we can do at this point? Is it really all over since we decided to detour and come in here?

No, no, since the car broke down?

Jonathan should have realized, but with all these experiences and near-death moments, his brain had been on overload.

Realized what?

Well, that if losing their vehicle had changed anything for the worse, they simply had to get another one.

They threw him in the back seat, then Mary sat with him. Roxy and Jamie went in front, and Jamie got in the driver's seat to hotwire the vehicle.

"You have to hurry," Mary said.

"I know!"

Jamie succeeded. It didn't even take long.

She started the car, which had had more than enough time to get the battery up to one hundred percent, without anyone using it.

Just then...

A body slammed into the windshield, cracking it under his weight. Mary was quick, however. Before it could do any more damage, she threw a knife between his eyebrows, knocking him down like a bird in flight.

They passed over him, crushing him under the wheels.

He had probably survived that, but it didn't matter. They could leave this dead town and not become one of their countless victims.

Back then, Jonathan thought they could put it all behind them. That their biggest problem could become the government wanting them dead, and that it would be known everywhere by now that there was a price on their heads, something that seemed easier for him to handle and all.

Ah, how deluded he had been. How deluded.

That was just the beginning.

Lucianael
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