Metro Robotics HQ. Morning. 08:12 AM.
Shikimori ran.
At his age it was more of a desperate shuffle but he moved faster than he had in years. Five engineers and three scientists trailed behind him. Their lab coats flapped like white flags of surrender.
He burst into the security wing.
"Paul!"
Paul was the thirty-seven-year-old Security Manager. He looked up. Usually he was a man of steel confidence. Today he looked like a man who hadn't slept in a week. His eyes were red and rimmed with exhaustion.
Shikimori slammed his hands on the desk. He gasped for air."Report!"
Paul slowly uncrossed his arms.
"All the attackers disconnected four minutes after engaging. Only one survived. He is in our medical bay now."
Shikimori's face twisted. "I see. Wallmore was right."
One of the engineers spoke up. His voice trembled. "Any footage left?"
Paul turned his monitor. "Nothing. Just blue trails and shadows. You need to step up. Those robots are enjoying destroying your little toys."
Shikimori turned to his team of brains. The desperation in his voice was palpable."A week has passed! Our mechs are falling one by one. The military is pressing us for the units they already paid for!"
He pointed a shaking finger at the Lead Engineer Liam.
"We need to change course. Call Wallmore. Focus everything on the Prototype. I want it ready in a week. At most."
Liam saluted. His tone was forced and upbeat. "Yes sir!"He sprinted out. His team followed like panicked sheep.
Shikimori collapsed into a chair. He exhaled a breath that felt like his soul leaving his body.
"I need to call Kane."
The Black District. 08:33 AM.
That same morning Alfred Kane was walking through hell.
The Black District. Cracked asphalt. Half-dead streetlights. Buildings eaten by rust. It was a place where drug deals bloomed like weeds and silence was worth more than gold. It was the perfect hole for dirty business.
Kane was here to meet an old friend. Since starting his rebellion within the police force he needed leverage.
He needed a Human Hostage.
He had reviewed the bank footage a thousand times. He found only one flaw in the perfect E-UNITs. Lack of Human Reaction Control. They hesitated when civilians were at risk.
He arrived at a crumbling balcony overlooking the grey sea. Marcus was waiting. He was a gang leader with more scars than teeth."Kane! My friend! How are you!"
Kane smiled. It was a mask of warmth. He hugged the man. "Nothing much! You look good Marc."
Marcus laughed and pushed him back. "Cut the crap Kane. We are just surviving. You got a mission for us?"
Kane's face went serious.
"You know me Marc. Yes. A dangerous mission. But the reward is huge."
Marcus's eyes lit up. "Now we are talking! How much?"
Kane whispered. "Two hundred grand."
Marcus gasped. He leaned back against the railing."You are generous my friend! You got a deal! What is the demand?" He paused as his expression darkened. "Let me clarify though. I heard what happened to the other gangs. They reached the hospital so fast their souls are still on the street. This better not be a one-way ticket."
Kane grinned. It was a cold calculated smile.
"Do not worry friend. I have a plan you will like. No E-UNIT will touch you."
E-UNIT HQ. The New Meeting Room. 08:45 AM.
The morning sun barely reached through the thick glass walls of the new meeting room. It was a secure bunker shielded from unwanted ears. 02 stood at the head of the steel table.
"Thanks for coming to today's meeting."
03 interrupted immediately. "Seriously?"
01 crossed her arms with a sigh. "Drop the formalities Captain."
02 smiled slightly. "Alright then. Let us begin."
Her tone shifted. It became sharp and commanding.
"We all experienced ambushes yesterday. Coordinated attacks. Mechs from Metro Robotics. But their approach is changing. They are adapting." She looked at her sisters. "They are trying to isolate us. They have footage. They are learning."
Silence fell."But," 02 continued. "Their attempts failed instantly. Speed and Power are still on our side. However I believe these attacks were distractions."
She nodded to 01. "Please."
01 tapped her tablet. The wall screen flickered to life. Five towering silhouettes appeared. Prototypes. Multiple heads. Sleek angular designs. Not the clunky mechs they had fought before.
Dr. Nick blinked. He was half in awe."What the... It is so clean! Beautifully engineered. But that build needs massive funding!"
02 nodded. "Exactly. Money is not their problem. That factory we destroyed? Just a garage. Their real production is elsewhere."
01 changed the image. It showed a convoy of unmarked semi-trucks.
"We spotted transports moving crates to the city outskirts. The trucks belong to MIL Investments."
05 frowned. "Fredric Mil. The Mayor."
04 crossed her arms. "So they are working together. Fools."
Dr. Nick leaned back rubbing his forehead. "That is why I have been working my ass off. I need to finish the New E-UNITs."
03's eyes widened. "New sisters?!"
05 smirked. "Father never stops huh?"
Nick glared. "Can you not make that sound weird?"
"Anyway!" Nick cut in. "I need data to train them. It took a year to train you. I do not have a year. I need your combat data. Upload everything to the main server."
He looked at them seriously."If everything goes smoothly by this afternoon three brand-new E-UNITs will be operational. Treat them well."
05 asked a question. "Why not use our worldview for their personality base?"
Nick shook his head. "Because that would just make clones. I like how different you all are. Different personalities mean adaptability."
03 giggled. "He likes our personalities huh?"
Nick sighed. "I swear to god I will wipe your memory."
East Coast High School. The Strike. 09:50 AM.
02 stayed behind after the meeting. She was digging through the logs.
Someone had messed with the patrol schedule. What she found was worse than a glitch.It was a Strike.
The human police force had walked off the job. No warning. The city was running on minimum coverage.
She keyed her comms. "This is the Captain. The police went off work. Today will be a charged day."
"Okay Captain!"
They split into patrol patterns.An hour passed. Then the radio exploded.
03 screamed and sounded breathless. "Armed attack on East Coast High School! Students are held hostage!"
02's jaw tightened. "How convenient."
She issued commands like a conductor. "05 meet me there. Do not engage until we regroup."
02 didn't run. She used the Light Lane.
She became a streak of blue light cutting through the city's arteries. It was an impossibility for ordinary men. She arrived in minutes.
03 and 05 were waiting. 03 reported fast.
"Status is bad. Twelve hostiles. Ten holding a classroom. Two on the football field with hostages. They demand we evacuate the city. They claim they are 'Anti-Robot Pro-Human' and hate having robots on top of their heads."
02's voice dripped with disbelief. "If they have one! Pro-Human? While holding children at gunpoint?"
05 checked the thermal cams. "We can move quietly. Hallways are empty."
02 mapped the plan. "05 hold the north classrooms. 03 hunt the field targets. I will take the rest inside."
They moved with quiet precision. Each step was a calculated thread of speed and restraint. This was their first hostage situation since the bank attack. The team had been built for street control and offensive assaults not hostage negotiation and surgical extractions.
Human backup was scarce today. The police protest made that clear. That lack of force would be a problem for most teams.
For E-UNIT it was a challenge. The exact kind they had been engineered to face.
Communications stayed tight. No heroics. No lone charges. They would not trade lives for bravado.
Outside the city's hum continued. Buses. Distant horns. A skyline that had no idea how close a scream could be to becoming a call for war.
Inside the school twelve armed men waited. They counted on fear and confusion to hold them like a shield.
E-UNIT readied themselves. The first moment would be decisive. The second would be irreversible. And none of them liked surprises.
They moved in. Silent. Precise. Together.
05 slipped through the back doors. No security slowed her down. She moved like she already expected it.
"They should be amateurs or simply ordered in a rush. No one would take hostages and have zero security."
High School's West Side. 09:55 AM.
02 threaded into one of the empty classrooms. She could hear the girls crying in the next room. One attacker shouted. Sharp and ugly.
"This is the fifth time! I AM TELLING YOU TO SHUT UP BITCH!"
02's eyes flared red.
On the rooftop across the street 03 settled into position. The two men at the field were spaced far apart. A one-shot two-kill would be sweet but the distance made it tricky.
03's voice over the comm was flat and focused. "That is sad... but at least I can deal with two."
02 spoke on the channel. "Wait for my mark to attack. Attack at the same time so they can not alert each other."
Inside the classroom one attacker muttered. "How come they are not here yet?"
From the next room a man answered smugly on his radio. "Maybe boss overestimated them."
02 moved like a shadow. The students were sharp enough to act natural. They started clamoring to cover her footsteps.
"We want food!""My hair is a mess!"
"Where is Jimi?""My battery died!"
The attacker was looking at the window waiting on the E-UNIT. He snapped and turned only to meet 02 standing there.
"How many times have I told you..." he snarled.
He never finished.
She kicked him between the legs. He collapsed while cursing. The classroom echoed with adolescent "Ooohs" like a chorus.
02 grabbed his hair and hauled him upward. He grinned which was a fatal mistake. She slammed him into the ceiling with a soft mechanical grace then let him fall. Bones hit the floor with a brutal crunch everyone heard.
His teammate came standing in the doorway. "What was..."
Before he finished a flying robot girl appeared in the doorway like a blade. She kicked him into the hallway wall then shoved him back into the classroom with a series of sharp angry hits. A fist here. Another there breaking him apart. He fell unconscious. He was a mess of limbs and dull pain.
The kids' faces shifted from fear to stunned relief.
She went to the next classroom. 02 moved like water. Her eyes were cold but there was no signal of attackers.
Then she saw it. One of them had a girl held at gunpoint. He stood up from one of the desks. The other two closed the door behind her.
"Well. End of the trip for you Captain. Good try though! I really did not expect you to come in that fast. I guess boss was right after all."The man with the hostage sneered.
02's voice was ice. "Why are you doing this? And I mean the real reason."
He laughed. "You think I will tell you the details in a chit-chat like villains in cartoons?! You are really a young girl after all!"
02 clicked her tongue and smiled. It was slow and dangerous.
"You guys never understand the difference in power between us."
She began to walk toward the window. She was calm as a storm."You always think bullets make you unstoppable. You always want one thing. Control and a law-free life."
She looked out at the sea of faces and the empty corridors beyond.
"I mean do you have a phone? Did you see how we cleared most of our enemies from the face of this earth? I guess you did not see 03 in her maniac mode yet."
The man's face hardened. "Are you mocking me?"
02's grin widened.
"Mikael really thinks highly of his kind. He thought if he released footage of us fighting maybe fools like you would flip and think 'Oh that is dangerous! Let us stop crime!' Right?"
He snapped. "Are you mocking me?!"
02's voice dropped to something colder than winter."He thought maybe crime would drop by scaring idiots like you. But no." Her tone cracked like ice. "You came here doing a terrorist act. How dumb can you be? You are fighting a machine designed to stop you! Why does no one learn from history? Same mistake again and again."
The man tried to gulp a response. "Uhhh... please calm down. Nothing..."
02 kept the same scary voice. "I was past that the moment I heard hostage."
She keyed the comms. "03. Hit the king."
The guy shouted. "Are you nuts! What are you blabbering about?"
Then came the impact.
The window shattered as 03's round punched clean through the man's skull and into the far wall. He collapsed like a demolished tower.Two men in the back stood frozen. Shock ripped through them.
02 snapped into motion. She opened her shields and charged into the hallway destroying the door like tissue paper.
She murmured. Casual and small. "Yesss."
She kicked one attacker into the air. An elbow slammed him into the hallway wall. The other tried to get up. 02 grabbed his vest. He was taller but she was precise. She hauled him down to eye level.
"You really thought you were slick huh."
She tried the slang she had heard online but the man only stared.
"Never mind."
She tossed him aside. With a single crack from a calibrated kick to the gut she shredded his spine from behind. He folded and twitched. The strength in her kicks was not human.
The North Wing. 09:55 AM.
The north side of the school was quiet. Too quiet.
05 crouched behind a corner. She watched the first classroom through a cracked window. A mischievous grin spread across her face.
She whispered to herself. "Alright... let us make them dance."
Suddenly her voice echoed through the hall like a terrified student.05 yelled with feigned fear. "No! Leave me alone! Let me leave!! What are you doing!?"
Four out of the five attackers inside froze and came out.
"What the hell was that?" asked the first attacker."You got someone with you?" the second asked.
"Not me.""Must be Mark in the last classroom. Let us check it out!"
They stormed toward the far end of the corridor. The distance and thick walls kept the last guard Mark completely unaware.
Mark screamed in confusion. "You idiots! Why did you leave the classrooms without cover?!"
The second attacker replied. "We heard a scream!"
Mark spat. "You morons use your damn radios! What scream..."
He stopped. His eyes widened.
05 stood right behind him.
"What the...?!"
She vanished.
Mark was furious. "She is just fast you dumbasses..."
Her boot slammed into his spine. The impact cracked bone. Blood flew from his mouth as his body folded against the wall. He didn't even have time to scream again.Then she disappeared once more.
The fourth attacker looked around in confusion. "What hap..."
A blur flashed. A fist to the face drove him into the wall skull-first.
The last three screamed in panic.
05 stepped out. Her expression was unreadable."I hate unnecessary noise."
She made sure no kids were behind them. She thrust her shield forward sending the three men crashing into the hallway.
In one motion she pulled out her twin pistols.
Three soft puffs of air were the only sounds. Three perfect headshots.Silence.
Football Field. 09:57 AM.
Outside 03 knelt on a nearby rooftop. Her scope was already fixed on the last two gunmen at the football pitch. Her breath was steady. Her pulse was almost mechanical.
02 spoke in her ear. "03 take down the king."
She turned to the classroom her captain was in. Target locked. Hostage at gunpoint. One window. One chance.
03 adjusted her silencer in a flick. Wind and angle were calculated in a microsecond.
Pew.
The rifle recoiled gently against her shoulder.
The round tore through glass and skull. The man collapsed instantly. Inside 02 moved like lightning slamming through the wall to finish off the rest.
03 turned her rifle toward the pitch. The two men were close. Perfect alignment.
03 whispered. "Two kills one shot. Finally."Pew.
She fired again.
The bullet passed through the first man and struck the second. Both bodies dropped cleanly.Then her breath stopped.
Among the group of hostages one man stood up. He raised a gun at a terrified student.
He wasn't a hostage. 03's eyes widened. She screamed with pure panic in her voice.
"NO!!"
A flash tore through the sky. 02 burst from a shattered window firing mid-air.The man dropped before his finger even reached the trigger.
02 spoke in a calm tone. "Target compromised."
03's rifle lowered slowly. She exhaled as her knees hit the concrete.
"Thank you Captain..." she said quietly.
She turned her head. A man in pajamas was standing in the window across the street holding a coffee mug. He waved awkwardly.03 blinked. She waved back.
"Just another day in Metromania I guess..."
She switched her comms back on.
"Targets cleared. Students secured. Reporting in."