NXY-0

CHAPTER 7

The soldiers marched closer.

White armor gleaming against the orange dust. Six of them. Maybe more. They moved in perfect formation, their boots crunching against the rusted metal.

I flexed my new arm. The joints moved smoothly, silently.

"How do we do this?" I asked.

Dr. REN-9 looked at me. "We don't fight them head-on. We use the terrain. The ruins. We make them come to us."

"Then what?"

"Then we survive."

She moved quickly, ducking behind a collapsed wall. I followed her, Nyx-0 close behind.

The soldiers stopped at the edge of the ruins. Their commander raised a device, scanning the area.

"Anomaly detected," he said. "The creature is nearby."

I pressed myself against the wall. My heart pounded.

"Wait," Dr. REN-9 whispered. "Wait for them to spread out."

The soldiers split into pairs. Two went left. Two went right. Two came straight toward us.

"Now," she said.

I moved. Fast. Faster than I'd ever moved. My new arm responded instantly, propelling me forward.

The first soldier didn't see me coming. I hit him low, driving my shoulder into his chest. He went down hard.

The second soldier raised his weapon. I grabbed it with my metal hand and crushed the barrel. The metal bent like paper.

He stared at me, eyes wide.

"What are you?" he whispered.

I didn't answer. I hit him in the face with my metal fist.

He went down.

Nyx-0 moved past me, faster than before, taking down two more soldiers with a single pounce. Its wolf form was powerful and precise.

The remaining soldiers raised their weapons. Dr. REN-9 appeared behind them, pressing a device against their armor. They froze, electricity crackling over their bodies.

Then they dropped.

Silence.

I stood there, breathing hard, my new arm humming with energy.

"That was different," Nyx-0 said.

"I know."

"You're actually useful now."

"Don't sound so surprised."

The commander was still alive. He lay on the ground, his armor cracked and sparking.

I knelt beside him. "Who sent you?"

"Zero-One," he said. "The Weaver. He wants the creature."

"Why?"

"He didn't say. He just said to bring it back. Alive."

I looked at Dr. REN-9. She nodded.

"Take his coms," she said. "We can use them."

I pulled the communication device from his belt.

"What are you going to do to me?" he asked.

"Let you go," I said. "But you're going to tell Zero-One something first."

"What?"

I leaned closer. "Tell him I'm coming for him. Tell him Nexus's friend is coming."

The commander stared at me.

I stood up. "Let's go."

---

We moved through the ruins, away from the fallen soldiers.

"We can't stay here," Dr. REN-9 said. "They'll send more."

"Where do we go?"

"There's another safe house. Farther east. But it'll take days to reach."

"I can make it."

She looked at my arm. "You've changed. More machine now."

"It's what I needed."

"You might be right."

We walked in silence for a while. The Bone Yard stretched around us, endless and gray. Nyx-0 ran ahead, scanning for threats.

"Tell me about Nexus," I said. "What he was like."

Dr. REN-9 was quiet for a moment. Then she said, "He was determined. Stubborn. He never gave up."

"Sound familiar?"

"It does."

"Did you know him well?"

She looked at me. "I recruited him. Into the Resistance. I saw something in him."

"What?"

"A refusal to accept the world the way it was. A need to find the truth."

I looked at my wrist. At the watch. "He was like that. Always asking questions."

"Yes. That's why the District took him."

I felt something tighten in my chest.

"Tell me about him," I said. "Something real."

She thought for a moment. "He used to hum. When he was working. When he was thinking. Always the same tune."

"What tune?"

"I don't know the name. But it was old. From before the war."

I tried to remember. A tune. A hum. Something familiar.

I couldn't.

"One day," I said. "I'll remember."

"Yes," she said. "One day."

---

We stopped at a collapsed structure. Dr. REN-9 checked her devices.

"We'll rest here for the night," she said. "I need to recharge the equipment."

I sat down. My body ached, but my new arm felt stronger than before.

Nyx-0 appeared beside me.

"You did well today," it said.

"Thanks."

"Don't let it go to your head."

"I won't."

"I'm serious."

"I know."

We sat in silence for a moment.

"Tell me something," I said. "Something about the war."

Nyx-0 was quiet. Then it said, "The war was brutal. Millions died. Beasts ravaged the world. But the truth was worse."

"Worse how?"

"The District started it. They caused the explosion. They killed the First Humans."

I felt cold. "Why?"

"Control. Power. Fear. The usual reasons."

"And now?"

"Now they're afraid. Afraid of the truth coming out. Afraid of people like you."

I looked at my palm. 2 YEARS, 34 DAYS, 12 HOURS.

"I don't have much time," I said.

"Then don't waste it," Nyx-0 said. "Sleep. Rest. Tomorrow we fight."

I lay down on the cold metal and closed my eyes.

I dreamed of Nexus.

He was sitting next to me. Young. Dark hair. Laughing. He said something I couldn't hear.

I reached for him.

He faded.

I woke up with tears on my face.