NOTE 20

Judging from their structure, the cyborgs in front of here were more skeleton-like than the cyborg they had fought earlier. Their bodies were thin and streamlined, from their arms and legs to their faces and fingers. Every joint they had was clearly visible as if they were trying to show that their shape was something beautiful, something to be admire. But what caught her attention the most is the spine. It was attached like a cable to their head and connected, in the shape of letter u, to their nape. Every now and then, that spine gave off a bioluminescent glow as if it was alive.

One of the cyborgs spread his arms quickly and shot an invisible force towards her. She couldn’t see it but she could feel it. Relying on that instinct, she jumped to the right, away from Cakra who was still unconscious. In return, she threw her buckler at them only to be stopped by the force. But she learnt something.

Dianka could see the course of the fight. She could see that both she and the two cyborgs would be locked in the same dance. They would continue to attack her as long as she was alive, and defend when got attacked. Meanwhile, she would continue to search for any weakness in their defence and attack combinations.

Right now there were many ways she could think to test and find weakness in their defences. She could try by measuring the radius of the invisible force, perhaps its was only protecting them from the front. She could also use brute force, trying to break through their invisible force simply with all her might. Not the most efficient and safe, but at least she had that option.

She was confident that she could figure out their weakness. She just needed time, and luckily she had plenty of it. Plenty of time.

Time.

She immediately accessed one of the folders embedded in her Inch and activated the software within.

Suddenly a red colour appeared in her hair, like a fiery flame it slowly burning through the dark blue shade of her hair. She also realised that the liminal armour she wore was getting tighter and tighter to the point where she felt like it was trying to strangle her. But it’s all worth it, as she felt the new power flowing through her body. She felt that she could run three time faster, three time stronger, and three times more powerful than she normally did. And it wasn’t just her who realised that, but also the two cyborgs.

Upon seeing the change, the two cyborgs immediately attacked her in quick succession. But she easily dodged all the attacks and retaliated. In the blink of an eye, she was already in front of them, thrusting her spear into the neck on one of the cyborgs and severing the spine behind it.

Seeing his partner fall, the last cyborg immediately leaned against the door and put forth the invisible force in front of him. Unconcerned, Dianka walked over and knocked on the force wall as if it were a door.

“You know, there is someone who has the same power as you,” said Dianka. She jabbed her spear but it’s barely in. For a moment she could swear that she can sense relief from it and that make her smile. “I guess I overestimated you guys.”

With a gentle push, the spear penetrated the force wall and cut the cyborg right at the waist. And to cap it off, she pierced its head.

“And he’s much stronger than both of you combine.”

The two cyborgs were gone. Her form returned to normal after she switched off the software she was using. She then approached Cakra who was still unconscious and stuck inside the wall. With a slight flick of his head, he regained his consciousness.

“H-Huh? What happened?” asked Cakra. “Wait, why am I stuck on the wall!?”

“I’ll show you later but right now—”

“Right! Those two creepy looking cyborgs! Where are they!?”

Another flick of his head.

“Ouch! What are you doing!? Those cyborgs—”

“Don’t worry. They were gone.”

She pointed towards the two cyborgs on the ground. The strength left her body before she could utter another word. Fortunately, Cakra was there to catch Dianka’s limp body before it fell to the ground.

“O-Oi! Hang in there, Dianka!” said Cakra looking worried.

“It’s nothing. I’m just tired, that’s all.”

“Really?”

Dianka tried to nod but couldn’t. “Yes. But more importantly, you must shut down the factory’s core. Just leave me here for a moment.”

“But—”

“You will pass through here again when you want to go out. And it’s not like there is enemy left.”

Cakra looked at Dianka seriously. “Alright! But tell me what to do first!”

“It simple. You just need turn it off from the main console in there.”

“Just like that?”

“Yeah.”

“Okay! Wish me luck then!” Cakra took a deep breath after putting her down to the side of the door. He tried to enter the room but was rejected. “Right, the key! Do you have it?”

“On that one, I believe.”

Cakra quickly searched for card-like key from the body of one of the cyborgs. After he found it right next to its rib cage, he immediately entered the room.

“Alright! I’m connected to the main frame!” shouted Cakra.

“Good! Now turn it off!” replied Dianka.

“Turn it off!”

No more sound of machine or robot assembling automatons could be heard. No more welding sound or blazing furnaces. There is only silence that somehow feels surreal that coming from a massive factor that lost its voice.

[This is Bahyu! Dianka! Cakra, can you hear me!?]

“This is Dianka. I could hear you loud and clear, over.”

[Cakra here! Loud and clear!]

[W-Wait—you two!? Thank goodness I finally reach you guys!]

“It seems turning off the factory’s core helped eliminate the network interference.”

[Yes! It’s all good but—!]

Dianka looked at Cakra as he stepped out of the room. “Bahyu, I couldn’t hear you!”

“Another interference?” asked Cakra.

“Maybe.”

For a while they could only hear static. Sometimes they could also hear Bahyu’s voice again, but it was unintelligible. They waited a little longer until—

[This is Bahyu! I repeat! This is Bahyu!]

“We hear you Bahyu! Over!”

But there is no response back. But they could hear him.

[This is Bahyu! This is Bahyu!]

[For those who heard this message, please! Come and assist the southern point! They were going to be slaughtered!]

At that moment, both of their eyes were wide opened.