Oliver felt a sharp, heavy twist in his chest. It was not the alien coin. It was his human heart. "She is destroying herself," Oliver whispered. Oliver looked at the giant bone ship. Corrupted Captain Iris was standing on the enemy deck, directing the monsters. Oliver made a decision. It was not a cold, logical decision. It was a purely human one. "Miller. Vega," Oliver commanded smoothly. His metallic voice cut through the noise of the guns. "Hold the front ramp. Do not let them board the Ark.""Where are you going, Commander?!" Miller yelled over the gunfire. "I am securing the rear guard," Oliver said. Oliver turned his back on the enemy warship. He sprinted down the length of the silver Ark. He moved with terrifying, robotic speed. He reached the back of the Ark. The first civilian barge was connected by a thick steel cable. Oliver leaped over the rushing black water. He landed heavily on the deck of the first barge. The silver dome protected the boat from the fog, but som

The blinding white light slowly faded. The dark underground river rushed forward, carrying the metal boats away. Commander Oliver stood at the very edge of the rusted metal boat. He stared into the darkness behind him. On the distant stone platform, the bright flash of light died down. Lira was still there. Her glowing silver body was blocking Corrupted Iris’s burning red sword. The red blade hissed loudly against a shield of pure white magic. Iris pushed hard, but Lira did not fall. But Iris was not the only danger. Behind the platform, the massive black tunnel was completely filled with monsters. The vanguard of the Wraithborn army rushed forward. Thousands of giant Stone Golems and invisible Shadow-Stalkers poured out of the dark. They screamed. They crawled over each other. They reached out their sharp claws toward the glowing ghost. Oliver gripped the metal railing of the boat. His black Wraithborn arm pulsed with furious, dark energy. He bent his knees. He prepared to jump

The glowing blue water of the underground sea bubbled violently. At the bottom of the deep, crystal-lined cavern, millions of ancient silver tubes hissed open. Pale, four-armed creatures swam upward. Their eyes were sewn shut with thick black thread, but they moved with terrifying, deadly purpose. They held ancient, glowing weapons in their many hands. The planetary purge army was awake, and it was coming to clean the world of all life.Commander Oliver stood at the front of the silver Ark. He did not panic. His human left eye and his burning red right eye watched the water. "Raise the anchors," Oliver commanded. His metallic voice cut cleanly through the quiet, glowing cavern. "Start the engines. Maximum thrust. We are leaving."Sergeant Miller broke out of his shocked trance. He yelled at the rebel soldiers. "You heard the Commander! Pull the chains! Move!"The heavy iron anchors were dragged up from the water. The old diesel engines

Oliver’s metal hand grabbed the heavy pistol. He crushed the steel gun into flat, useless scrap metal before the bullet could fire. Miller collapsed into Oliver’s chest, weeping openly. "Make it stop, Commander! Please, cut the voices out of my head!"Oliver grabbed Miller by the shoulders and laid him gently on the deck. Oliver looked around the ship. Everyone was bleeding. Everyone was going insane. Elise, his mother, lay curled on the floor, holding her ears and rocking back and forth. Captain Iris was unconscious, shaking violently from a terrible nightmare. Billy the hacker was violently smashing his cracked tablet against his own forehead. Oliver stepped forward and grabbed Billy’s wrist, stopping the boy from hurting himself. Oliver knew he could not fight the giant silver robot while his army was destroying itself. He had to stop the psychic attack. "The interference travels through the ambient magic," Oliver analyzed quietly to himself. His voice was a cold, steady hum.

The endless black void rushed past Commander Oliver. He stood on the shoulder of the dying giant robot as it fell deeper into the dark. Far below him, the floating silver city shaped like a giant brain watched with a billion red eyes. The alien coin inside Oliver's chest pulsed. It whispered cold, perfect secrets directly into his fully metallic mind. He did not feel fear. He did not feel wonder. He only saw the exact path back to his squad.Oliver bent his heavy metal knees. He pushed his dark magic into his boots and jumped. He launched himself off the falling robot. He flew across the empty black space like a dark missile. He sailed through the smoky air and crashed heavily onto the deck of the silver Ark. The heavy impact shook the ship. The human soldiers raised their guns in a panic. Oliver slowly stood up. The thick smoke cleared. Sergeant Miller, Billy the hacker, and General Vega stared at him. Their we