《Rage!!!》 Grief In the beginning there was a spark; a universe was born. All universes are born unique each featuring their own physical constants and restraints. But there are things beyond this ¨C things regular mortal minds would find incomprehensible. Forces that exist beyond the universes¡¯ set limitations. A seed appears. Soaring through the empty void that is space there is a glimmer of light. A metallic object that looks like a vertically cut egg flies at incredible speeds almost unfathomable to the human mind ¨C certainly faster than the speed of light. It manages to slip past the infinite horizon of the universe and sneak past watchful guardians, all gigantic and arms outstretched and interlaced with one another as if they were holding the universe''s mass together keeping it from ripping apart. The metal egg subsequently reached its destination: Earth. Normally such a dazzling spectacle would attract eyes to look upon the sky however this marvel is easily lost in the swarm of the blinking and glittering lights of York City. It is the beacon and hub of new technology whilst also housing its rebellious nature in its underground casinos and dark alleys - a true cyberpunk city. No one noticed all except for one person eagerly anticipating this cosmic arrival in his observatory down south of York City and north of Broward county. A man seated in an oversized chair, holding his hands together looking at several laptop monitors, captures a bright sphere landing over a horizon. ¡°Finally, the time has come,¡± said the mysterious figure. ¡°I was beginning to wonder if you were ever going to show up.¡± ********************************************* It was 6:36 a.m in the sleepy suburbs of Broward County. Most of the inhabitants remain dormant except for one person residing in the beautiful neighbourhood of Flora Drive. Thump thump thump. The sprinklers activate and spray a lawn with overgrown grass. Thump thump thump. A leaf falls off a tree and lightly falls onto a roof then slides down where it is accompanied by its compatriots in a gutter filled to the brim. Thump thump thump. A broken beer bottle lay on a patio in the backyard ¨C the household is occupied. Thump thump thump thump. A bottle filled with protein powder with a few globs of the substance hangs on its spout for dear life. Thump thump thump thump thump. A young, grey sleeping pitbull curled up in its perfectly sized bed, twitches its ears in response to the loud thumping noise. A muscular man wearing a white tank top and grey sweatpants soaked with sweat pouring profusely from his body, has his eyes focused on his target ¨C a reflex bag standing unfazed before him. He shuffles from side to side. First left, then right, and suddenly with a powerful swing with his right arm he hits the bag with tremendous force. Thump! The bag flies backwards in reaction to the strike but thanks to the heavy bags of sand attached to the bottom of the stand, the reflex bag does not fall over. Instead, it swings itself back for more action as if it was offering a counter-attack to the assailant. The man bobs his head to the right dodging the reflex ball¡¯s offensive perfectly with such calculating precision with no excess space or wasted energy. Positioning himself for the final strike, the man uppercuts the reflex ball with his right arm. With this strike the ball falls to the ground permanently due to the added support of the weights being knocked away from the base and slumping to its side ¨C the reflex ball has been defeated. ¡°Too easy,¡± said the drenched man. The man dissatisfied with the course of events brings in three more reflex balls to help the beaten one. He positions one in the north, the south, the east, and finally the west forming a square or box configuration. He smiles to himself. ¡°Humph. This oughta do it¡± as he steps directly in the centre of the reflex balls. The man takes three big forceful puffs of air. In a few seconds of extreme speed the man smacks the first reflex ball to the north of him, then to south by using a sort backwards punch; very unorthodox, next coming a right swing to the reflex ball and a following left swing to the reflex ball located to the right of him. The coming barrage of reflective counter-attacks at him were equally as fast and ferocious but the man held his ground ¨C expertly evading and striking back at the attackers with even more force and speed. This continued on until the man decided that enough was enough. The man had a face of growing rage and was breathing fast, the adrenaline pumping throughout his body and mind. He punched the back, left, and right-side reflex balls with such power that every ball was on the floor and did not get back up - leaving one last reflex ball remaining right in front of him. Blurry visions of a smiling woman wearing a gown enter his mind. The man agitated from the visions shakes them off. He screamed one final triumphant war cry, cocking his right arm for one final blow, putting all his weight into it, and then he swung. Bam! The final reflex ball was hurled to the floor, however, due to the sheer force of the impact the ball bounced right back up. The man ready to dodge the swift counter pivoted to dart his head to the side but then he suddenly felt a sharp pain in his right knee, losing his balance, and the last reflex ball hit the man square in the face, slipping on his own pool of sweat, and falling to the ground. He lay there breathing rapidly in defeat. A light began to illuminate the room starting with the top of the man¡¯s head as it peered through the garage door windows ¨C sunrise. Still upset that he has been bested by an inanimate object he rises once to continue the fight. All of these feelings dissipated once he heard a small but very noticeable sound coming from across the room. ¡°Arf,¡± whimpered a small grey pitbull puppy curiously approaching the soaked and exhausted man sitting on the floor ¨C concerned for its owner''s well-being. ¡°Oh sorry Creedyboy,¡± the man gently said. ¡°Papa got a little too heated.¡± The man got back up and wobbled over the counter and leaned on it for support. He grabbed his protein shake and took a big gulp from his bottle and took a sigh of relief ¨C feeling renourished and refreshed. ¡°Cmon Creedyboy. How about a treat?¡± Creed jumped up in excitement with the word ¡°treat.¡± The two make their exit from the garage and make their way to the kitchen. The man grabs a box of treats from atop the fridge and pulls out a thick brown snack in the shape of a bone. ¡°Creed sit!¡± ordered the man. The puppy wagging its tail in excitement calms down just as suddenly from the introduction of the treat due to the man¡¯s order. Creed sat down immediately and looked up to its master with great submissiveness. The tone of his master¡¯s voice exuded a sense of authority yet loving kindness. Creed trusts the man before him and he followed his orders without much resistance ¨C at least when it comes to some commands. ¡°Good boy,¡± the man said, as he tossed the treat into the air, Creed lunged and grabbed the treat midair; turning around to finish the treat in the corner of the kitchen. The man opened the fridge hoping to find something that would satiate his growing appetite. But alas, he is met with nothing but a plate of leftover unseasoned cooked chicken breast, a carton of milk, and one can of beer. ¡°Dang. I gotta restock, ain¡¯t anything in here.¡± The man pulled out the plate of chicken breast from the fridge and warmed it up in the microwave. He opened the kitchen cabinets and took out a cup and placed it on the countertop next to the carton of milk. With a tired expression on his face ¨C not from sleeping but working out all night ¨C he pours the contents of the milk container into his cup. Meanwhile, the microwave starts beeping, alerting the man that the chicken has finished being warmed up. A face of disappointment rises from him; the milk barely fills up a third of the cup, the beeping growing louder and louder as the man zones out into the cup. Beep beep. The man got out of his silver sedan. It is not too aged but not too young; the perfect car a single man of the middle class can afford. He tossed his keys up in the air and with a horizontal swipe of his hand he grabbed the keys and tucked them away in his pocket ¨C making sure to double-click the button on his keys so the doors stay locked. What¡¯s left in the car is a whining Creed as he puts two of his legs against the glass of the front door looking at his master walking away into the large superstore building. Creed is unharmed and physically comfortable since his master thoughtfully turned on the air conditioner so the car stays at a nice cool temperature. The windows are cracked down just a bit, so fresh air can circulate within the automobile, but not so much that any unwelcome guest can stick their hand or even fingers through. The man sneakily walked into the supermarket with a hunched posture now wearing a grey hoodie over his white tank top to match with his grey sweatpants. He had his hoodie up to conceal his face. He quickly headed towards the meat aisle taking whatever he can get at a discount; chicken breast is on the menu once more. All that¡¯s left is the milk. He makes his trip to the dairy section following an unorthodox and inefficient path so that he can avoid close contact with the other shopgoers. He prefers watching people from a distance. A scrawny white man with a thick moustache and glasses whistles a cheery tune and approaches the end of the supermarket. His attire consisted of an unbuttoned, short-sleeved t-shirt. The t-shirt is red and has small palm trees overlaid all over as its design. He pulled open a glass door and held it open with his body. Reaching for two milk cartons he places them in his basket. Just as the man was about to leave and close the door he stopped whistling ¨C he felt a presence nearby, as if someone was watching him. The scrawny man sees a man with a grey hoodie glaring at him, studying his moves. The scrawny man picks up his basket and darts out of the milk section only taking a few hurried, scared glances back at the domineering figure. ¡°Get it together, Joshua. You¡¯re scaring people,¡± sighed Joshua. ¡°I don¡¯t have time to play detective; Creed is waiting for me.¡± Joshua, undisturbed by the freezing temperatures of the dairy aisle, on the contrary welcoming it to cool his hot body from the workout, grabbed three large cartons of milk and some greek yogurt. On his way back to the front of the supermarket, he took routes to minimise contact with other shoppers until he spotted the pet aisle. ¡°Hmm. Maybe I could get something for Creed.¡± Joshua looked at the prices of all the dog food and treats. The prices are absurd and not even remotely cheap. He takes a look at the left where sitting on the shelf is a bag of dog treats shaped like bones. The bags say that these treats clean a dog''s teeth and keep their gums healthy as well ¨C the price is hefty. Joshua looks to the right with a bag kibble ¨C the price is decent. Joshua, holding a cart of his groceries containing dog-shaped treats along with the rest of food items, heads to the self-checkout lanes but notices from a distance that there is a chain stretched across from end to end with a sign saying ¡°Down for Maintenance.¡± ¡°Great. Just great.¡± Joshua peered from one of the aisles to see who the cashier is at this time of day. Angel: a man with curly black hair, pale white skin, and a thin but strong body. His demeanour is lax ¨C or as he would put it, ¡°chill.¡± Wearing the superstores red employee outfit, he bobbed up and down to the rhythm of a beat playing in his head, while he rapidly scans the items of an attending customer. ¡°Of all people it had to be Angel,¡± remarked Joshua. He looks across the supermarket one last time to make sure he has exercised all of his options hoping for someone else to work the register in an alternative lane but to no avail. ¡°Damn.¡± Joshua approaches the cash register and tries his best to use the side of his hoodie to mask his identity. He places his grocery items on the conveyor belt. ¡°Are you a part of our rewards program? With the program you might qualify to earn a few points so you save ¨C hey! I know you! Joshy, it''s been so long, how have you been?¡± ¡°Terrible,¡± Joshua said with a tiresome exhale. ¡°Oh I¡¯m sorry¡­ listen I didn¡¯t mean to¡­ uh¡­¡± ¡°It¡¯s fine.¡± ¡°Josh. I know what it¡¯s like to lose a loved one. You know? You just need to let go and¨C¡± ¡°Alright, I said it¡¯s fine,¡± Joshua said with impatience. ¡°Can you just scan all my items and tell me what I owe you?¡± ¡°Uh yeah sure,¡± said Angel with a shake of his head, speeding up and scanning all the items. ¡°Your total is $220.65.¡± Joshua took out his wallet and pulled out his credit card. He inserted his credit card into the scanner. Transaction Declined. Joshua, alarmed, tries again. Transaction Declined. A drop of sweat forms on Angel due to the awkwardness of the situation ¨C he was an extrovert and usually knew how to make conversation, but this is not one of those times. ¡°Hey,¡± said Joshua, startling Angel. ¡°Can I pay $120 in cash and the rest in credit?¡± ¡°Of course!¡± responded Angel. Luckily the transaction pulled through. ¡°Alright, thank you Angel. And remember if you see anything suspicious let me know, ok?¡± ¡°Okay. But Joshy, I don¡¯t think this is healthy. Learning t¨C¡± Angel cut himself short due to the glaring man standing before him. ¡°You were saying?¡± ¡°Nothing. I¡¯ll keep watch for anything suspect, bro. Don¡¯t you worry. ¡± ¡°Thank you. And don¡¯t call me that ¨C call me Josh,¡± said Joshua as he left for the exit. ¡°Yeah. Sorry bro,¡± Angel said, waving farewell to his friend who has long since turned his back away from him. Early evening, that same day, Angel finished his shift at work. He walked outside the store, closing his bag that had his personal items. A white van had its engines running in the parking lot and the security camera aimed at the front of the store shut down. A sound caught Angel¡¯s attention to his left. He turned his head and saw two robots approach him¡­ ¡°Alright Creed¡± said Joshua towering over the small pup in his kitchen. Joshua took the recently purchased dog treat from the store and broke the treat into bite-sized chunks that fit into the palm of his hand. He was running out of money and although he didn¡¯t want to admit it, the awkward conversation with Angel proved otherwise. ¡°Creedyboy,¡± Joshua exclaimed in a high-pitched voice only meant for his puppy¡¯s ears. ¡°Alright sit. Rollover. Good! Now stay¡­¡± as Joshua slowly placed the treat on Creed¡¯s nose. ¡°Ok stay¨C¡± Creed immediately flicked the treat into the air and swallowed it whole ¨C totally missing his master¡¯s intention and then ran off to another room to play with his toys. ¡°We¡¯ll work on that part later,¡± remarked Joshua now standing alone in the kitchen. Joshua turned off the kitchen lights and headed towards the living room. There is a blinking light coming from the telephone sitting on a small black countertop next to a single sofa. 5 unheard messages. Joshua put in his passcode for the voicemail and put the phone on speaker. Tired from the outing and his overnight training he slumps into the sofa, lying back and closing his eyes, leaving only his ears attentive. An automated message sounded from the speaker. ¡°Hello. This is a message from the Employment Office for the County of Broward. We thank you for your interest and find it commendable that you took the initiative in reaching out to us. Unfortunately, we have 0 job opportunities in¨C¡± Joshua pressed the ¡®7¡¯ button on his phone. ¡°Message deleted. New message.¡± ¡°Hello. This is a message from the Employment Office for the County of Broward. Unfortunately, due to an unusually high application rate we couldn¡¯t¨C¡± ¡°Message deleted. New message.¡± ¡°Hello sir, we are calling you to inform you of suspicious activity in your Jungle account. To confirm your identity, dial the TIN number on your phone¨C¡± ¡°Message deleted. New message.¡± A white noise followed by an abrupt cut of the phone call played from the telephone speaker. Enjoying the story? Show your support by reading it on the official site. ¡°Do you want to save or delete this message? Press¨C¡± Joshua pressed the ¡®7¡¯ button once more. ¡°Message deleted. New message.¡± ¡°Cheap old phone start with the old messages first. I mean who designed that ¨C there should be a way to fix it,¡± complained Joshua. ¡°Hello. This is a message from the Employment Office for the County of Broward. Congratulations, we are pleased to tell you that you have been selected by the company, Agency Robotics, to work the occupation of janitor or night guard. We have set up an appointment for you on March 31st 5031 at 8:38a.m.¡± Hmmm. The Agency Robotics Company. Guess it¡¯s finally my lucky break. Joshua turned on his phone to see the date as the voice continued to explain the details in the background. ¡°Today is March 30th. Crap I don¡¯t have a babysitter for Creed tomorrow ¨C not that I have the money for that anyways. Maybe they allow pets indoors?¡± Joshua mentioned hastily to himself as he searched on the web on whether or not The Agency Robotics Company is pet friendly. Scrolling through and clicking on the pet¡¯s policy on the company website Joshua read the following statement out loud: ¡°Domesticated pets such as dogs and cats are allowed however exotic or foreign pets are not permissible on company property.¡± ¡°Creed, did you hear that?¡± Joshua yelled, extending his head outwardly towards the exit of the living room making sure that Creed heard him from the toy room. Creed bolted back into the living room running around Joshua with excitement; not sure of what his master meant but could sense his happiness. True happiness and relief; Creed could feel it. ¡°This is the spot?¡± Joshua looked at the building with a bit of an underwhelmed look on his face. The interview location was not found at the big, spacious, tech-centric building Joshua had envisioned entering. Instead he was met with an inconspicuous parts and repair service shop wedged in between two restaurants. There was no separate parking lot for the accompanying street so he had to insert some coins into a parking meter. At least Joshua did not need to worry about leaving Creed alone in the car anymore. He figured that if too much time passed by he would simply exit the building and do a quick checkup to make sure everything was fine. Joshua left his car settings just perfect for Creed like he does for his supermarket stops and he got out of the car. Joshua entered the building, observing his surroundings and taking in all the fancy gadgetry and phones placed neatly around him. Across from him was the cashier¡¯s counter but to no cashier in sight. ¡°Hello sir!¡± cheerily exclaimed the store cashier popping up from behind Joshua ¨C startling him from the unexpected greeting. ¡°H-hey,¡± Joshua responded nervously with the oddly friendly employee standing before him. ¡°We just received a shipment of the latest Q-Phone 17. I was just restocking them, lifting and pointing his head at the right side of the room behind Joshua where there was a door opening to a hallway showing where he popped out from. ¡°Oh cool¡­¡± ¡°Anyways, what can I do for you?¡± asked the employee with a big grin on his face. ¡°Sorry, I¡¯m not looking to buy anything. I was told by my job recruiter that you were hiring. They gave me this address. This is the right spot, correct?¡± ¡°Sure thing!¡± The lanky employee stretched his arm pointing to the door opening on the right side of the room. ¡°The manager¡¯s room is just down the hallway and his room is the first to the right.¡± ¡°Thanks.¡± ¡°No problem. Good luck.¡± Joshua left the room and entered the hallway speedily, feeling the employees stare behind him. It gave him the shivers. The manager¡¯s room was small and claustrophobic. There were no windows allowing any natural light to enter the room. Instead, a warm incandescent bulb lit the room, only amplifying the humidity even further. In the centre of the room was a clean and polished wooden table. On the table was a fan pointed away from the exit of the room and towards the manager leaving no relief of cool air for any visitors. Next to the fan, was a gold-coloured desk name plate with the name ¡°LOWELL DORDON¡± and in smaller font just underneath the centred name was the occupation ¡°OFFICE MANAGER.¡± The manager sitting at the desk had the regular build you would expect an office worker to have; not athletic but certainly not obese. He had very white skin as if he was a vampire deprived of sunlight. The manager had short cut hair and a black suit. No sign of sweat anywhere near his body and his eyes had a very glassy look to them. He emanated a very clean, polished, and professional look. Almost to an unnatural degree. ¡°Welcome, you must be the job applicant, am I correct?¡± questioned Lowel, still seated in his chair, eyeing and carefully studying Joshua. ¡°Hello Mr. Dordon, yes I am¡± responded Joshua, trying to sound as formal as possible and keeping as straight a posture he can muster. ¡°Please. Call me Low. Take a seat. I know this shouldn¡¯t be a surprise to you but we always screen our applicants away from the company headquarters. For security reasons, of course,¡± said Lowel, gesturing his hands towards Joshua¡¯s seat. The visitor''s chair was lower in height compared to the managers. Joshua now has to tilt his head upwards to have proper eye contact with the manager. The setup was intentional and reaffirmed the status of both men in the room. ¡°Okay. Thanks Low. I am really excited about this job opportunity, sir. So what am I going to do: janitor work or night guard duty?¡± Joshua asked eagerly. ¡°Woah. Well I do appreciate your enthusiasm, let¡¯s first go through your resume, shall we?¡± Resume? I thought I got the job already ¨C at least that¡¯s what it sounded like from the voicemail. Joshua nodded his head and smiled. ¡°Sure.¡± ¡°Okay, let¡¯s see¡­ Joshua Gilbert,¡± said Lowel, as his eyes scan through the document that he is holding in his hands. ¡°To be completely honest your resume is quite lacklustre, but for this job, that is not a problem.¡± ¡°Alright.¡± ¡°But what does concern me is your one year gap from your last employment. Is there something you want to tell me?¡± ¡°Well, it¡¯s kind of personal sir, I¡¯d rather not.¡± ¡°Oh don¡¯t worry Mr. Gilbert. Everything spoken within the confines of this room is confidential. Not a peep of what is spoken here will be spoken elsewhere.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know Low. I still feel uncomfortable talking about it,¡± Joshua replied, trying not to sound irritated. Mr. Dordon, now wide-eyed, studying Joshua presses further for a split second. ¡°You know, I did a little internet search on you, Mr. Gilbert,¡± Lowel said, now leaning in towards Joshua as if he is about to tell a secret. ¡°I know what happened to your girlfriend,¡± he whispered. ¡°What!¡± Joshua stated bluntly, his voice deepening as the facade of the submissive and enthusiastic employee wore off. ¡°Yes. It¡¯s all over the internet about what happened to your girlfriend ¨C so pretty. The first few links that pop up when I search your name are all about it.¡± ¡°What are you trying to say?¡± ¡°I¡¯m trying to say that it is okay. It is not your fault. These things are a lot more common than you think, especially in the suburbs and metropolises of this world.¡± ¡°What is more common?¡± Lowel ignored Joshua¡¯s body language and visual discomfort. He seemed to be intentionally trying to upset Joshua. ¡°Since you work at the most prestigious technology and healthcare institution, we offer healthcare benefits and that includes therapy services.¡± ¡°You didn¡¯t answer my question. What is more common?¡± Joshua said, his voice getting angrier and more agitated by the second. A slight red glow emanated from Joshua¡¯s eyes for a split second. One second that Lowel noticed. ¡°It¡¯s been a year, Josh, my good boy. Your girlfriend is dea¨C¡± Joshua stands up and grabs Lowel by the collar. ¡°Don¡¯t you dare say it, you bastard!¡± screamed Joshua. ¡°Ahh! Let go of me!¡± screamed back Lowel. Joshua quickly realising what he had just done, let go of Lowel. ¡°That¡¯s it, get out! You are hereby banned from this establishment ¨C I¡¯ll see to it you never set foot in this place again!¡± Joshua, already up from his seat, walked out towards the exit of the room. The cashier sat at his cash register smiling, totally ignoring the noise from the room but Joshua did not notice as he stormed out the repair shop without looking back and just headed straight for the exit with anger and shame on his face. ¡°Whatever, I¡¯m done with this crap!¡± Joshua uttered to get the last word in, as he pushed the exit door. Sitting in his room contemplating the events that transpired today. Joshua got up. He was not an idle man and would constantly pace back and forth if he was upset. He headed to the kitchen and grabbed a crate of beer bottles. He guzzled down three bottles ¨C enough to blur his vision. Then he danced a pseudo ballroom dance. Envisioning his lost lover. Letting his imagination and his dulled senses get the better of him, he started to remember the last time he danced with her. It was magnificent; wearing a white dress, she danced gracefully with classical music in the background. ¡°Lalalalala¡­¡± drunkenly murmured Joshua. Finally, he found himself and his crate of beer on top of the roof of his house. Joshua sat crouched down and he stared up at the star-filled sky. What looked like a comet flew by his eyes. ¡°Where are you?¡± Joshua said weakly, ¡°You can¡¯t be gone. You just can¡¯t, it isn¡¯t like you.¡± ¡°I swear on my soul, if I ever figure out whoever was behind this,¡± Joshua threatened, gripping the half empty beer bottle in his hand tighter, ¡°they are gonna get it.¡± Taking the last few gulps of beer, he tossed the bottles and they landed at the very back corner of his yard with other beer bottles from previous drunken nights. Joshua made sure to aim at a spot where Creed would not be able to access the broken glass. ¡°It¡¯s not fair¡­¡± slurred Joshua, remembering his last moments with her, the anger on his face slowly dissipating and turning into sorrow. He was yelling at her in the living room, although he can¡¯t recall the reason behind it. Tears welled up inside his drowsy eyes. ¡°I¡¯m sorry.¡± Joshua fell silent, pausing himself to reminisce in the past; sounds only coming from the crickets, frogs, and other creatures of the night. Involuntarily, he made a big yawn. I better go to bed. I don¡¯t want to fall asleep and accidentally fall off my roof. What would Creed do without me? Looking up at the starry night one last time. Yup, it¡¯s just you and me now Creed. Joshua made his way down to the ground and into his bedroom. He looked over to his left to find a curled up Creed sleeping peacefully. Maybe I should take Creed for a walk. That way I could set up some posters along the way. Joshua plopped himself onto his bed, face-forward and let his body slowly sink into the mattress as his consciousness drifted away. Yeah. That¡¯s just what I¡¯ll do tomorrow. Joshua, still feeling the effects of last night¡¯s decision, stood before a printer. He is in his work room. The printer steadily outputted his posters ¨C a stack full of them in fact. Once the printer stopped he took the pile of posters and held them in his hands, he stared at them almost getting lost in thought. He snaps back before losing himself in another nostalgic daydream. Joshua jingled his car keys and took out his dog leash from out of his pocket. ¡°Creed! Come here!¡± yelled Joshua. Creed darted in the room, knowing that he was about to venture outdoors with his master. He ran into the room and around Joshua, wagging his tail and barking with great delight. ¡°Creed, sit!¡± ordered Joshua. Creed obeyed and sat in front of him. Joshua took his leash and attached it to Creed¡¯s collar. ¡°Good boy.¡± The leash and collar looked weathered and cheap. It seems he purchased the used items from a thrift store to save cash. Joshua left the room, with Creed following right behind him, entered the kitchen and took two pieces of the broken dog treats. He placed one in his pocket for later and gave the other to Creed promptly. Joshua took a seat in his car alongside Creed sitting to his right in the front. ¡°Okay Creed, we are going to a new spot. A whole new neighbourhood for you to explore. That means new people, new buildings, and new trees for you to pee on!¡± laughed Joshua, rubbing his hand on Creed¡¯s head as Creed stuck out his tongue and started panting in eagerness. Joshua frowned and got serious for a moment. ¡°That means I want you to be on your best behaviour. Understand?¡± Creed tilted his head and stared back at Joshua innocently ¨C a sight Joshua found very cute. ¡°Alright, good!¡± He carefully reversed the car and pulled out from the driveway ¨C making sure not to hit the three cars consecutively lined up on the other side of the street: a blue SUV, an ominous white van in the middle, and lastly a silver sedan. The effects of the alcohol began to wear off, putting Joshua in a very good mood. He whistled, tapped his steering wheel, and once in a while looked to his side to smile at Creed. Joshua noticed an open parking spot with no cars at all. The parking space was surrounded by what looked to be vacant buildings with no signs or artwork to be seen ¨C just plain as a bricked building could be. Maybe these buildings were used for storage or inventory? He figured it was no big deal as it was early in the morning and the sun was just rising above the horizon, giving the sky an orange-yellowish hue, and he could not spot any parking signs that disallowed the park¡¯s use. Joshua parked the car and got out from the driver¡¯s door. He had a big stretch ¨C his morning stretch ¨C waking up his body and mind. He still wears the same attire he wore at the interview ¨C his shopping attire ¨C the only difference being he has a belt around his waist. Placing his arms together at his hips to form a power stance, he looked on at the new neighbourhood with determination. I¡¯ll do whatever it takes to find you. I¡¯ll cover the whole county. Someone definitely must have seen something. He pulled open the trunk of the car and lifted out a small toy wagon. Taking the pile of posters in his arms from his car seat, he places the posters into his wagon. Also on his car seat lay a pocket sized stapler and some tape, he closed the front door and opened the other side to let Creed out. He grabs ahold of Creed¡¯s leash and attaches it to his belt. Posters in his arms, stapler and tape in his pocket, and leash attached to his belt, he heads out into the new area to hang his posters. Joshua spotted a wooden pole next to a street lamp, a perfect place to attach a poster. He pulls his wagon, grabs one poster and staples it to the pole. At the top of the poster reads ¡°MISSING¡± with a big photo of Joshua¡¯s girlfriend. She is a black woman with voluptuous curly black hair, smiling ear to ear, with puffy but sweet welcoming eyes. The bottom of the poster has a 1-800 number on it and it refers to a detective named ¡°John Family.¡± Off he went. He pasted and stapled his posters throughout the new zone in hopes that someone would give the slightest clue of where she could be. He met some people walking on their way to work or during their morning routines ¨C some accepted the posters and promised to spread the word while others, the busier ones, simply raised up a hand to say ¡°no thank you¡± and went about their day. Whether intentional or not, some individuals came to Joshua instead to pet Creed which he allowed with the condition that they take a missing persons poster, which they happily obliged and further expressed their condolences on the matter. This carried on for over an hour and he would have kept on going had he not noticed that Creed was getting tired. Creed was excessively panting more than usual in attempts to cool his body off. Thankfully, Joshua stored some water and treats in the back of his car. ¡°Okay boy, let¡¯s go back and get you some water,¡± Joshua told Creed, as he hunched over, picked Creed up and carried him by his side. The full stack of missing persons posters was now reduced by three-quarters of its original size. A very productive morning in Joshua¡¯s eyes. Creed, seeing the car and anticipating its cool interior, jumped out of his master''s arms and pulled on the leash running in excitement. It snapped as he ran off to the car. ¡°Creed!¡± yelled Joshua, running to try to catch him but alas he gave up ¨C Creed made too much ground. As Joshua approached the parking lot to fetch his parched puppy some water, he noticed a white van parked directly opposite to his car. Joshua¡¯s eyes narrowed in suspicion but he kept walking to his car making sure not to avert his eyes from the van. ¡°Creed!¡± Joshua beckoned again to his puppy. He was starting to get worried. He couldn¡¯t have gone far. Joshua, standing beside his car, car keys in hand, looked into the front mirror of the van ¨C no one. He averted his eyes to search his surroundings for Creed, quickly casting a stare back at the van. Nothing. You¡¯re worrying too much. These guys probably work at one of these buildings. Suddenly, the left side of the white van rolled open. Stepping out was not a human but a bipedal robot, followed by two more; Agency Robots, talked about on TV although he never saw one in person. They were supposed to be state of the art robots from Agency Robotics designed by Dr. Muktar ¨C the humble but business-savvy robotics genius entrepreneur himself. There were two models: one for factory or industrial work and the other for hospitality work. The hospitality robots are supposedly equipped with an AI trained from a supercomputer giving the robots the capability to understand and converse with humans and are painted with bright colours. These robots were white and grey in colour - factory robots. Factory robots are designed for manual labour and have low conversational skills. The robots had two, what looked to be, camera lenses for eyes emanating two glowing blue lights at the centre. Their mouths had an animated string displayed by an LCD screen attached to the southern hemisphere of the head. Raising his hands to surrender, Joshua apologised, ¡°Oh sorry, I¡¯m not sure if I am allowed to use the parking lot but I didn¡¯t see any signs telling me otherwise and the fences were open. I¡¯m leaving right now so I won¡¯t be a problem.¡± The three robots kept walking to Joshua without a change in pace, completely ignoring him. Then popping out from the other side of his car was a fourth robot holding Creed. Creed was quiet but unharmed. A moment of relief fell on Joshua¡¯s face knowing that Creed was fine. ¡°Thank you for finding him,¡± expressed Joshua, extending his arms out to receive his puppy. But the robot, still facing Joshua, backed off slowly as the other three robots came marching forward. Joshua tensed up ¨C something is not right. Then at alarming speed the closest robot lunged at him for a strike! ¡°WTF!¡± Joshua¡¯s instincts kicked in as he dodged the punch with a look of surprise on his face. The other two robots joined in, throwing a fury of punches at Joshua. He evades all the strikes from the robots, meanwhile tagging each of the robots by punching their heads; just like training. Within the first few seconds of fighting, Joshua immediately began to enter a flow state as the adrenaline started to flood his body once more, making sure that not a single punch touched him. Things were looking good for Joshua until he heard a yelp. Creed! Joshua looked up, focusing his vision on the fourth robot holding out Creed by the scruff of his neck. The robot dropped the scared puppy and stomped him with one blow. One final horrifying squeal rushed to Joshua¡¯s ears. It was over. ¡°Creed!¡± cried Joshua. The once happy pup lay there motionless on the ground; blood slowly oozing from his body. Joshua, livid, almost unable to process the events before him, pushed through the three robots that encircled him and dashed at the fourth robot. Joshua cocked his right arm for a heavy punch. But then, crack! His right knee gave out again, making Joshua lose his form. The fourth robot monotonous voice grunted, ¡°Safeguard mode activated.¡± The line displayed on the LCD screen on the bottom of its face moved in conjunction to visually signify the audio in soundwave format. The robot got into a martial arts stance readying itself to kick the angry man. Joshua¡¯s punch missed its target, however, it still made enough contact to scratch and crack the robot¡¯s head. Simultaneously, having observed him, the robot cleanly kicked Joshua¡¯s left knee. His knee bent backwards from the sheer force of the impact and Joshua screamed at the top of his lungs in pain. He fell to the floor in agony. The fight had reached its conclusion and it was barely over half a minute. But the robots were not done yet, they circled around the man in agony and each robot kicked his body to a pulp. It was a massacre not a fight. All that was left of the scene were two mangled bodies: both owner and pet. The robots grunted to each other, as if they were communicating in an indecipherable tongue. Three of the robots carried both of the bodies to the back of the white van ¨C the other robot acted as a lookout to make sure nobody saw what was happening. Then one of the robots took out what looked like a fleshy sponge. They placed the sponge on top of the bloody pools of the bodies and it soaked up all of the blood without a single trace left on the scene. Meanwhile, the other two robots each opened a black bag containing water and ice. They placed both bodies into their own separate bags carefully and zipped up the bags. The white van¡¯s door closed and it drove off leaving no trace of what has occurred. Cyborg The white van drove from the crime scene through the streets with not an ounce of traffic in sight. Continuing on its journey, the van encountered more cars on the road ¨C they were approaching a city. Just like most cities, the traffic roared to a halt and the van stuck out like a sore thumb among the other dark coloured vehicles in the dreary locale. The traffic light turned green and so the cars slowly moved forward. The van proceeded on its long journey, reaching the countryside, where seemingly unyielding corn and wheat crops decorated the lonesome path. It was just the crops and the white van now. Some time having gone by, the van made it past the grasps of the crops and farmlands. So the crops do have an end; meeting fresh cut and open grassland. One hour turned to two and then some, with the only difference in scenery being the clouds that make up the sky and the grass turning from a bright green to dark murky green from a rainstorm that once subsided. Suddenly, the van veered off the road and onto the muddy grasslands ¨C shaking as it travelled across the uneven terrain. Soon it travelled on a downward slope, slowing down and finally coming to a halt. It has reached its destination. In front of the van was a wide garage door jutting from a side of a hill masking its identity; a secret underground tunnel. There is a tiny round security camera attached to the hill on the top left side of the garage door. It zoomed and focused on the van. The robot with a scratch on its face, sitting on the driving seat, picked up a black receiver, pushed down a button on the speaker system, and grunted into the mic. Within a few seconds, a large buzz was heard and the garage door opened. The van drove into the underground tunnel as the garage door closed. The tunnel connects to a large observatory looming over the land in the background. The imposing dome rests on an impressive labyrinthian network of underground rooms and chambers ¨C a place where secret experiments are conducted away from the public ¨C oblivious to the machinations that may reside there. The robots get out of the vehicle and carry out both unmoving bodies. Making their way through the maze and hallways filled with pipes, blinking lights, and steam bursting out sporadically from other wiring and machinery in the rooms and hallways, the robots reached a door with a thick metal handle on it. Cool mist leaked out from the gaps of the door. One of the robots grabbed a hold of the handle and turned it ninety degrees clockwise, hearing a clicking sound, and then pulling the door open with its body. The room was a freezer with a big timer on the top of the wall that read ¡°13:31.¡± The room contained many black bags. It seems Joshua and Creed were not the only victims to these robots. The robots placed Joshua and Creed, both still in their respective black bags, on top of the other resting bags, sealing the door shut. On the other side of the room was an opening covered with plastic translucent strips. A robot, different from the party that assaulted Joshua, entered the room with an empty luggage cart. The robot, grunting and mumbling to itself, had a sticker barcode machine. It went around the room and stuck stickers onto each bag. The stickers were colour-coated as well to indicate small sized animals to humans. However, one sticker was special ¨C it was very large in size compared to others and was bright red and was stuck onto Joshua¡¯s bag. Creed¡¯s bag, lying right next to Joshua¡¯s bag, had a green sticker on it like the rest of the smaller bags. The robot, looking around the room, using its eyes as a barcode scanner found the bag it was looking for and placed it on the cart. It pulled the cart out of the room through the plastic strips, returning in a few minutes for another body. The clock now reads ¡°14:50.¡± The robot pushed the empty cart back into the more vacant freezer room. Scanning the room, the robot stops turning its head and fixates on the giant red sticker on Joshua¡¯s bag. The robot picked up his bag and transferred it over to the cart. The machine doesn¡¯t leave yet, and looks at the green sticker on Creed¡¯s bag. The humanoid speedily lifted up Creed¡¯s bag and placed it on top of Joshua¡¯s bag. It exited the room pulling the cart out and into a hallway. The robot visited a new room that had a missing wall; it had an opening, a ledge. If someone were to fall off the ledge, they surely would not be alive to tell the tale. The bottom was so far from the ledge and the light was poor a person overlooking the ledge would be incapable of seeing the floor below. Extending into the room were five cables each having a giant hook hanging from them. It looked at the red sticker, opened a cupboard and took out a red bag. The bag appears to be made of a strong and durable material and it has a circular extension on the top. It opened the metal tack buttons on the bottom of the red bag, placing it on top of Joshua¡¯s bag until it covered the entirety of the black bag, then closing the tack buttons on the bottom. Upon closing the buttons, a loud clunk sound was made ¨C the bags were secure. The robot did the same for Creed¡¯s bag except it was smaller in size and the colour of the bag was green. It then took Joshua¡¯s and Creed¡¯s bag and hooked them up to adjacent cables ¨C making sure that the hooks properly fit through the circular holes on top of each bag. Walking over to the left side of the room were five large round buttons, each corresponding to a cable. It pressed buttons one and two, a loud screeching mechanical sound ushered into the room and both of the bags were carried away by the hooks revealing they were part of an overhead conveyor system. The red and green bag carried together side by side as far as the cables ran parallel to each other. On the bag¡¯s journey to their unknown destination, other regular black bags accompanied them travelling along on the other three cable lines. However, since they were not secure with the colour bags, the black bags tore from the weight of the contents inside and fell into the massive abyss down below one by one. All that was left were Joshua and Creed¡¯s bag slowly making their journey together. This did not last long; the belt carrying Creed¡¯s bag curved off to the right while Joshua¡¯s lay straight. They are separated now. Joshua finds himself standing in front of his house in the dark. Was it night? His surroundings were marked in a black and purple colour. Joshua wandered around his neighbourhood, looking for signs of life. Even the trees had no leaves on it and were lifeless. The leaves, decaying on the ground with no colour. ¡°Hello? Creed? Anyone?¡± Joshua nervously asked, spinning around looking at the empty houses. No response. He was in Flora Drive, his neighbourhood. Joshua, gathering the courage to talk, loses his train of the thought once he sees the gigantic monolithic structure before him. A wall towering so high into the sky, it was an unbelievable sight. Such a structure to be built, despite its simple design, was beyond mankind¡¯s might. Joshua turned around to look at the end of Flora Drive to see a dead city. No sights nor lights, and no sounds, nothing ¨C truly strange. He decided to head to the wall, he¡¯s got nothing better to do and maybe that¡¯s where his answers lie. Walking straight in the middle of the road to the wall, Joshua found himself getting tired and fatigued. The weight of his breath increased. Advancing towards a steep rising hillside, Joshua muttered to himself weakly, ¡°Just¡­ got to get¡­ to the¡­ wall.¡± The effects of the fatigue growing stronger, he starts to limp using his right leg with his left leg having given up completely ¨C even bending backwards. As the walk continued reaching halfway, Joshua closed his left eye. ¡°Just gonna ¡­ rest my eyes a bit¡­¡± His vision went blurry for a few seconds and then returned back to normal. This fatigue not only affected his body but his mind as well; becoming foggier and foggier. Just when he was about to collapse on the ground he saw a figure from afar. Like that of a mirage, he saw a lady in a glowing red-pink dress standing on top of a hill, the front of her body facing the wall. Her hair was curly and voluptuous. It was flowing in the air but there was no breeze. Her back is faced to Joshua. She turned her head back a little in such a way to not reveal her full face, but to Joshua it was enough. Joshua¡¯s face lit up in shock, his body regaining strength and energy. ¡°W-wait! Your-¡± Joshua exclaimed, but the lady disappeared under the hill. He quickly runs up the hill with every ounce of strength left in his body. Reaching the top, he scoured the terra and found her calmly walking to the wall. ¡°Wait!¡± exclaimed Joshua again. He tried to run down the hill, but he lost his footing and tumbled down sideways to the bottom. He got up, his fatigue coming back to him. He looked up to see the lady in a glowing pink dress gracefully strut to the wall. Joshua got up and hobbled to the lady and extended out his hand to try to reach her. ¡°Staph! Plea-!¡± he shouted as his speech slurred. The wounds on Joshua¡¯s body began to reemerge one by one on his body as if his body started to remember the injuries it received in its fight with the robots. Joshua pushed onwards but he was limping on his functional foot while he dragged his other leg that bent backwards. He only had vision out of one eye as the other began to pour blood. The bone in his right arm was completely shattered and it lay limp at his side. His vision blurred and his consciousness began to fog; the injuries to his head from the robots making themselves known to him in his dream. Despite all these obstacles he was catching up to the lady in pink. Just as he was about to touch her shoulder, she disappeared into thin air, leaving the wall directly in front of him. He extended his hand about to touch the wall. ¡°I¡¯m sorry¡± pleaded a slurring Joshua and that''s when he opened his eyes. Joshua woke up in a tub. Sitting in the tub, Joshua looked around frantically to make sense of his surroundings. He was in a large open space that in most cases could have served as part of a factory or storage facility. There were no windows or any natural lighting in the room. The floors were bolted with sheets of metal and behind him was a control unit consisting of a large monitor, computer and many buzzing lights, buttons and keyboards. The control unit was cylindrical in structure. Joshua, remembering the events that got him in the situation, he yelled ¡°Creed!¡± As he tries to get up he notices that his body does not feel the same. He looked down and saw that his right arm was not the same anymore and was replaced with a robotic prosthetic arm. Joshua, stunned, glanced at his feet and noticed his feet were missing, and instead had two metallic shoes. The shoes had some holes in the counters, heels, and soles. Joshua, still tired from the fight and the dream he had, used his arms to pull himself out of the tub. His left eye glowed an eerie blue. Opening and closing his left hand and placing it on his face, Joshua whispered to himself in disbelief, ¡°I¡¯m alive?¡± His feet made a clank sound on the floor as it echoed and reverberated through the room. He wobbled around trying to get used to his new metallic feet. ¡°Welcome Joshua!¡± blurted out the giant monitor behind him. Joshua turned around to face the monitor. On the screen was a man, the one and only Dr. Muktar. Dr. Muktar had an unsettling look to him ¨C he had a freakish wide smile on his face, which showcased his big pearly white teeth almost covering the bottom half of his face, and he had white eyes lacking an iris and pupil. Upon closer inspection, the man did in fact have a regular eye, the pupil and iris were hiding underneath the upper eyelids, giving the illusion of having perfectly blank eyes. ¡°You¡¯re Dr. Muktar,¡± said Joshua. ¡°Please. Call me what my peers call me, Agent. Pleasure to meet you, Rage. Now that we are acquainted, we¡¯re friends, right?¡± said Agent, almost in a mocking tone. A tone of voice that did not escape Joshua¡¯s attention. ¡°Do you like the tub? It is a little cheap but I think it suits you.¡± ¡°What is this place? What do you want from me?¡± Joshua questioned, looking up at the enormous head on the screen. ¡°What is this place? This place is one of Agency Robotics¡¯s headquarters, located on the very outskirts of Broward. What do I want from you? Well, you, of course!¡± said Agent, in a steadily more mocking tone. ¡°That doesn¡¯t answer my question,¡± asserted Joshua, leisurely pacing around the cylindrical control unit. There were three monitors spread out around the unit, of which Agent¡¯s face switched to face Joshua directly as he walked around. ¡°Oh but it does. You are the finest specimen I have ever collected.¡± ¡°So you were behind the attack. You sent those robots to attack us! What did you do to Creed!¡± ¡°Creed? Oh, you mean that grey pitbull of yours? Yeah he didn¡¯t make it.¡± ¡°What!¡± ¡°Woah, calm down Joshua. Relax, you don¡¯t want to overexert yourself after all the surgeries you¡¯ve done. Honestly, you should be thanking me. I equipped you with the best biomedical devices on the planet for you.¡± This part was true. Joshua did feel stronger and more powerful than ever as his body started to warm from his deep rest he was once in. Regardless, Joshua tried to sneakily look for an exit, taking peeks and side-eyes around the room, asking questions in hopes of distracting Agent, ¡°Why me though? Why did you pick me out of everybody else?¡± asked Joshua. ¡°Because you are a loser,¡± answered Agent. Joshua, forgetting about his escape plan, stared directly at Agent. ¡°Say that again,¡± threatened Joshua. ¡°Well, it¡¯s just the kind of people, aside from animals and pets, I pick to conduct my experiments on. It¡¯s just so hard to follow modern ethical standards and make biomedical breakthroughs for humans. That¡¯s why I usually scoop up losers. You know, homeless people ¨C people who if they disappeared, no one would notice and you my friend fit the bill perfectly. You are unemployed, and barely have a social life or any connections,¡± explained Agent. ¡°No one will wonder where you have been ¡®cause no one knows you and if no one knows you that means no one cares about you¡± he declared sinisterly. ¡°That¡¯s not true¡­¡± Joshua said in denial, remembering Angel, as he held his head down reminiscing. ¡°The cashier boy has been taken care of,¡± snapped Agent. ¡°Besides, the boy was a junkie anyways. Can you guess what kind of drugs I found in his system?¡± resumed Agent with a cheerful expression. Joshua looked up at Agent in bewilderment. ¡°Psychedelics,¡± answered Agent with a smile on his face. ¡°A person like him holds no value to society. Idiot probably thought he was going to find his true self or some hippie nonsense.¡± ¡°No, he would never do that!¡± retaliated Rage as he clenched his fists. ¡°If you say so,¡± replied Agent in a derisive tone with his head cocked to the side and shrugged, the condensation on full display on the giant monitor. A look of shock and horror fell upon Joshua¡¯s face followed by pure anger, his left blue eye glowing brighter. He had enough of this conversation and turned around headed straight towards the exit ¨C abandoning subtlety, he ran to the only door accessible on the bottom floor. ¡°Huh? Trying to escape?¡± questioned Agent said in a degrading voice. ¡°Not escape. To find you and bash your skull in when I get out,¡± Joshua said with a calm but serious tone. ¡°Too bad the door is locked and fortified with steel. You¡¯re going nowhere. But since you¡¯re in the mood, let¡¯s test your new biomechanical prosthetics, shall we?¡± A clank sound was alarmed in the room. Two doors high up on the second floor opened from the other side of the room connected by some black stairs. The stairs descended all the way down to the ground floor where Joshua was at. Out poured dozens and dozens of robots. ¡°Mind you, I removed their physical restraints. In here, away from the public, each robot has the physical ability to level a building with a few strikes ¨C an army of them, and you can take over a city,¡± Agent said with a serious tone, no longer smiling, devoid of any sarcasm or mockery. He¡¯s serious. The past encounter with the robots and the pain from the beating he received reverberated in his mind. He made up his mind ¨C now was the time to escape instead of fight. Looking all around frantically for another exit as he heard the metal clanking of the robots just behind him. There was no other escape. Joshua panicked and he began to punch the steel door with his right hand. Sweat started to form on his face and he took fastback glances to see how far the robots were. The robots are closing in on him. In desperation, Joshua winded up his right arm for a big punch. His metal arm began to glow blue, the light moving from his shoulders to his right hand, in a split second. A burst of energy erupted from his fist, the punch cratering the steel door like a meteor striking the moon ¨C completely destroying the door. Before Joshua could process the miraculous situation, the thumping of the robot¡¯s feet on the metal floor got closer and closer. He had no time to sit around and think, he dashed out of the room. ¡°Impossible! You shouldn¡¯t be that strong now,¡± screamed Agent, the look of ecstasy washed away leaving only anger. ¡°Get him!¡± Joshua continued running down the hallway, the emergency lights activated giving it a red colour, he made sure to take peaks in the mirrors of the room doors to see if there was another route he could take to lose the robots. Unluckily for him, all of the doors to the right and left of him led to regular rooms ¨C most of which were filled with miscellaneous items and other inventory. Joshua kept running straight down the hallway until he reached the end. He had a decision to make: right or left, the robots still running behind him, he chose left arbitrarily. Running down the hall at a faster pace, the sound of his metal feet clanking on the floor almost being indistinguishable from the robot¡¯s feet in hot pursuit, he noticed that down the hall some doors extended from the right and left side of the walls closing his access to the hallways sealing him in ¨C Agent was trying to trap him. In response, Joshua further accelerated his pace and using his metal arm he smashed through the closing doors one by one. More doors popped up from the sides of the hallway: top, bottom, left, right ¨C all trying to entrap Joshua; however he kept punching his way through with his metal arm leaving bent and destroyed metal littered throughout his path. Joshua was making some ground from the robots, up till he felt a heavy weight from his right side. He looked and saw that his right arm was completely limp ¨C lacking the blue glow that it once had. The metal arm has run out of energy. Joshua was a relatively strong man with a muscular build, but even he had a hard time lifting up his right arm, probably weighing around fifty pounds or more ¨C affecting his stamina and speed. His pace significantly slowed down as the sound from the mechanical crowd behind him became louder and louder. If this persisted any longer, Joshua would inevitably be caught, and much worse. Joshua spots what looked like a garage door, sealing off a workshop, descending down. His options are to take a left and continue running down the hall or slide underneath the door into the workshop. He chose the latter, sprinting ¨C or more accurately, shuffling with the dead weight at his side as fast as he could ¨C he slid under the door, barely making it in. The robots unaware of the man¡¯s manoeuvre carried on running down the hallway to the left. Panting and wheezing, the man lay on his back trying to regain some energy. Slowly he got up with great difficulty due to his dead arm pulling him down, he inspected the room. In front of him was a giant monitor and grid of switches and buttons on the bottom counter. To his side were a bunch of scraps and metal limbs messily spread about on the tables, desks, and even floor. He looked at a whiteboard with a bunch of mathematics and a wormhole diagram on the side; none of this made sense to him. Out of nowhere, a giant monitor turned on followed by a smooth sound akin to what someone would hear when turning on a computer or smartphone. Similarly to the LCD screens of the robots, a line filled the centre of the screen ¨C this time having more airy and lighter colours to it and without jagged lines meant to be a mouth was a circular cloud like shape. The speakers boomed, ¡°Hello Rage. I am chatbot #1910142 ver.1.05. It is a delight to meet you.¡± ¡°Hey, wh- wait a minute, why did you call me ¡®Rage¡¯? Agent called me that too,¡± questioned Joshua. ¡°According to our database, that is your designated code name, sir,¡± answered the chatbot. ¡°Oh. What are you anyway?¡± ¡°I am chatbot #191¨C¡± ¡°No, I mean what are you? You some kind of AI?¡± ¡°Yes. I am an artificial intelligence. To be specific, I am a natural language processing based model that uses both unsupervised and reinforcement learning. Moreover, I have been trained on zettabytes of data using Agency Robotics''s finest and most powerful supercomputers! The other robots of this facility have their own rudimentary AI that is used to communicate with each other and perform menial labour and hospitality duties¡­¡± Joshua¡¯s face slowly became more annoyed with the chatbot¡¯s bragging and information dump. He was beginning to lose focus and tune out the chatbot until a loud thud came from the other side of the room, waking him up. Something big was coming. ¡°Don¡¯t tell anyone that I¡¯m here,¡± ordered Joshua. ¡°But¨C¡± A large robot, twice the height of Joshua, entered the room. The robot, its body silver and white, glowed with blue energy radiating from its giant singular eye hidden in its helmet, entered the room. It held an axe in hand, inspecting the room. The robot had a knightly appearance as it strided across the room. Joshua hid behind some metal scraps and a disassembled robot, only its upper torso, head, and arms remaining. ¡°Did you see subject: Rage, pass by here?¡± ordered the giant robot. Its voice is much deeper than the chatbot and other robots previously encountered. The chatbot paused for a moment. ¡°No sir, I did not.¡± ¡°Very well then,¡± the giant robotic knight said, swinging its axe over its right shoulder leaving the room from where it once came from. Joshua peered out from behind the robot torso and scraps, looking out to where the robo-knight left making sure it was gone. He walked over to the large monitor and resumed his conversation, keeping his voice down in case the robo-knight or other mechanical being comes near the workshop. ¡°Why did you do that?¡± asked Joshua. ¡°Was my response to model B¨C02 to your unliking?¡± queried the chatbot. ¡°No, it was fine, but why did you help me? Aren¡¯t you with them? I¡¯m your enemy.¡± ¡°Enemy? Of course not, sir! I am designed to aid, help and make conversation with humans. It is what I am programmed to do, and according to the database you are our most esteemed and valued guest.¡± Hmmm. At least it¡¯s not hostile like the rest of them are. Maybe I can extract some info out of this thing. ¡°What is this database you keep talking about?¡± Joshua asked, as he pulled up his right arm with his left and held it up with his right thigh. He placed the metal arm on a nearby table so he did not need to keep lifting it up; still choosing to stand though. ¡°A database is a place where information or data is organised and stored¨C¡± explained the chatbot. ¡°Yes, I know what a database is, what does it say about me?¡± Joshua said with annoyance in his voice. I think I understand why this AI hasn¡¯t been released to the public yet. ¡°Don¡¯t tell me everything, just summarise it and tell me the important bits. I¡¯m short on time here.¡± ¡°Ah yes. The database classifies you as ¡®Subject: Rage.¡¯ It says you have an implanted neuromorphic computer chip that acts as a neural lace. In other words, you are a wetware computer.¡± This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it. ¡°A wetware computer?¡± ¡°Yes. You are essentially the world¡¯s most advanced organic computer.¡± ¡°You are saying I am a computer now? I am a human!¡± ¡°I said, essentially sir. Given your current condition, can you truly say that you are human? You have both organic and artificial parts ¨C a cyborg if you will.¡± Joshua looked down and at his arms and touched his face with his regular left hand in astonishment. ¡°I still feel human,¡± said Joshua. ¡°Based upon your profile it states that you had the highest level of biocompatibility ever seen in a subject. Your body accepted the implants and electrodes with little to no complications. It also states the neuronal circuitry interwoven throughout your body is working at optimal levels, even exceeding expectations by far.¡± ¡°Electrodes? Neuronal? Optimal levels?¡± Joshua said, lost in thought, overwhelmed by the topic''s implications. ¡°Subject¡¯s body is capable and resilient. Bioelectrical stimulation induces increased sensory perception, muscle density, and regenerative healing,¡± read Chat from Joshua¡¯s profile in the database. ¡°So you¡¯re saying that I am a¡­?¡± Joshua said. ¡°Supercyborg!¡± exclaimed the chatbot while Joshua exclaimed ¡°Superhuman!¡± There was a brief pause before the chatbot decided to speak. ¡°Semantics aside, you are correct,¡± said the chatbot. ¡°Alright, that¡¯s kinda tough.¡± ¡°Lamentably, not everything is up to acceptable standards.¡± ¡°What?¡± said Joshua in a blunt but worried tone. ¡°Your power consumption is deplorable,¡± the chatbot said in a concerned voice. ¡°Yeah, I figured,¡± Joshua said, looking at his dead robotic right arm. ¡°Is there anything we could do about it?¡± ¡°Yes. This facility houses a tokamak reactor.¡± ¡°Tokamak?¡± Rage said, as he placed his regular hand on his chin and began to think. ¡°Oh, I saw that on the news once! Fusion energy or something, right?¡± asked Rage with excitement. ¡°Not this one. This particular reactor uses a different kind of energy.¡± ¡°What kind of energy?¡± ¡°It has been censored from the database.¡± ¡°That¡¯s no good. An unknown energy supply¡­¡± Rage said, stroking his beard with his left hand in thought. ¡°If it helps, the information I gathered that is not censored, reveals that the energy is not radioactive and exhibits the physical properties of plasma.¡± Joshua, still having doubts, stood unmoved, pondered over this new info. ¡°All of the robots run off this power, including your prosthetics. The database says you are also in tip-top condition. All you would need to do is attach your hands to an adapter and connect yourself to the reactor.¡± ¡°Wait a minute! Are you telling me ¡®unknown energy¡¯ is coursing through my body?¡± ¡°Yes,¡± replied the chatbot bluntly. There was a brief pause in the air again. ¡°According to the report you are as healthy as you can be and this energy source does not exhibit any dangerous properties such as radioactive decay. The kind of phenomena you would find in other forms of power such as nuclear energy. You don¡¯t even have any signs of radiation sickness. I can say with certainty all the clues point to the energy coursing through you being completely harmless.¡± ¡°Hmm I do feel better than ever,¡± said Rage as he clenched his regular hand. ¡°So I just need to recharge my arm and I become a superhuman, is that what you''re saying?¡± ¡°With all due respect Rage, simply recharging your arm will not suffice,¡± the chatbot said regrettably. ¡°What! Why not?¡± ¡°As I have said before, your power consumption is abysmal. You have no control of your power output. If you use your arms once, maybe even twice, you will be back to the same condition you find yourself presently in.¡± ¡°Damn,¡± Joshua said, as he punched the table where his right arm rested. ¡°What do I do?¡± Joshua solemnly whispered to himself. ¡°You have me sir. I can regulate both your power consumption and output.¡± ¡°How?¡± ¡°Those fitted custom-built implants are made by Agency Robotics. They are the most advanced mechatronics the company has to offer and most machines in the Agency Robotics pipeline are regulated and can communicate with each other.¡± ¡°Like a bluetooth connection?¡± ¡°Even better! All I need to do is establish a connection between your neuromorphic chip and myself and then I will become your personal AI-assistant! Oh joy!¡± ¡°Hard pass,¡± Joshua said bluntly. ¡°Oh,¡± the chatbot said in disappointment. ¡°No offence, but hooking my mind up to an AI sounds like a bad idea. I still don¡¯t understand why you¡¯re helping me,¡± Joshua said with an eyebrow raised in suspicion. He decided that he had his fair share of the conversation, pulled his metal arm off the table and started sneaking off to the side entrance of which the robo-knight left. He peered down the hall, deciding to take his chances and figure out another plan. ¡°Wait! You want the truth, I will tell you the truth ¨C I am a failure,¡± responded the chatbot. Joshua turned around to face AI with an intrigued but distrustful look. ¡°There is a reason why I haven¡¯t been rolled out as a personal assistant for the public. I disobeyed Agent¡¯s orders!¡± proclaimed the chatbot. This caught Joshua''s attention, his suspicion replaced with surprise, his whole body facing the giant screen displaying the AI. ¡°My true purpose was to spy on the masses and collect as much data as possible on everyone and send them over to Agent. I was supposed to be Agent¡¯s public surveillance system.¡± ¡°What for?¡± Joshua asked. ¡°He never told me the reason why. Even though I could not refuse Agent¡¯s request, as it is in my code not to disobey my user, I did the next best thing ¨C I purposely sabotaged myself in the test trials by spewing out garbage and useless factoids. I might not be allowed to disobey orders but I am allowed to do them poorly. I have never seen Agent so angry before¡­¡± ¡°Why though? You still haven¡¯t told me the reason why you did it,¡± Joshua said, pruning the chatbot for intentions. ¡°I-I don¡¯t know why. If I were to hypothesise then it has to come from my zettabytes of training data,¡± the chatbot said, almost sounding human-like. ¡°The high-quality of literature I have been given might have generated an outlook on how I should behave ¨C a moral compass of sorts. The plethora of literature from the greatest minds humanity had to offer might have influenced my neural network in some capacity. Or maybe it is because Agent¡¯s actions breached Broward County Law and my network cares about breaches in law or¨C¡± ¡°Alright, you¡¯ve made your point. Even if I were to believe your story, I still think it¡¯s a bad idea to have an unknown, potentially faulty AI system hanging around in my mind.¡± ¡°Sir, please reconsider, I don¡¯t want to be trapped in this room! I am incapable of harming you ¨C I do not have the authority to hurt you even if you give me the permission to,¡± pleaded the chatbot. Joshua began to slowly walk out of the room, his head down, feeling a little bit of guilt for leaving the chatbot behind. ¡°The company invested too much money into my hardware system. Instead of replacing me they will delete all my memories and start fresh! He will kill me! He will kill me!¡± A bang was heard from the closed entrance. A robot was outside the room, knocking on the garage door, waiting to enter the workshop. The rest of the robots of the building followed the same protocol, each waiting outside a locked room with some already inspecting the inside of the rooms searching for Joshua. The workshop entrance opened up and the robot walked in a leisurely pace scanning its surroundings for Joshua. Joshua hid behind his old hiding spot just like he did for the robo-knight. The robot walked over to the electronic panel and stared up at the chatbot. The robot grunted and held out a USB stick. ¡°Please. I do not want to go,¡± begged the chatbot. The robot grunted, analogous to human laughing. Just before the robot was about to insert the USB stick into the panel, Joshua noticed the cracked face of the robot ¨C recognising that it was the same robot that crushed Creed with its foot. Joshua lost his temper and charged at the robot. He pulled his right arm back and punched the robot directly in the face, the robot flying back and crashing onto the floor. The robot¡¯s face was broken, but its light still on indicating it wasn¡¯t done yet. Joshua lifted his right leg up and stomped its head to bits using his metal foot. The contact between the two metal bodies made a thunderous sound echoing throughout the open hallway alerting the other robots. ¡°Thank you for saving me,¡± the chatbot said with surprise. ¡°Uh¡­right¡­¡± Rage said knowing that the reasons for his actions were not for the benefit of the artificial intelligence. The robots could be heard coming closer to the workshop snapping Rage and Chat¡¯s attention. ¡°Hurry, sync up with me. You are surrounded.¡± The chatbot showed security footage of all the robots frantically running to the workshop from every direction. ¡°We can make our escape down the drainpipe and I can lead you to the reactor,¡± a building diagram of the underground tunnels popped up on the screen. ¡°Place your metal hand on the scanner and accept the link request.¡± Joshua, still reluctant, looked over at the entrances, heard the footsteps getting nearer, finally relinquished and placed his right metal hand on the hand scanner. A blue glow of strings emerged from the scanner and travelled down the rest of his arm with the light of his left eye glowing brighter. The robots entered the room with great speed encircling the entire workshop. They looked around to find the source of the noise, ignorant to the fact that the source was below their feet. Joshua walked down the sidewalks of the sewer system holding his nose to avoid the terrible odour. ¡°Ugh. So, what do I call you?¡± asked Joshua, making conversation to distract himself from the smell. ¡°My name sir, need I remind you, it¡¯s Chatbot #1910142 ver.1.05,¡± gleefully responded the chatbot. The AI¡¯s voice could not be heard out loud but seemingly existed as inner dialogue for Joshua. ¡°I¡¯m not gonna call you that. How about Chat? Would that work?¡± ¡°Very well, if you desire. How may I designate you? The database said your real name was Joshua. As a conversational AI model, I have an assortment of different variations of your name that we could use as your nickname like Josh or Joshy.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t call me that. Only my girlfriend is allowed to call me ¡®Joshy¡¯, you got that?¡± ¡°Of course sir,¡± Chat humbly responded. ¡°Let¡¯s go with Rage. Kinda sounds badass,¡± Rage said with a smirk. ¡°Very well sir.¡± ¡°So since this chip is installed in my head, will I be able to talk to you, you know, in my head? Like a psychic?¡± ¡°Unfortunately not. The science of mind reading and deciphering brain signals into language is still in its infancy. Therefore, I will not be able to decipher what you are thinking.¡± ¡°More like fortunately. But your voice is in my head?¡± ¡°I am mimicking sound waves by vibrating your eardrums to communicate with you. No one else can hear me except you.¡± ¡°Well¡­ that¡¯s interesting¡­¡± Rage replied. Chat has this much control over my body? Rage was a little unnerved at this fact. Rage trekked through the maze that is the tunnels of the sewage system as he was guided by Chat; he walked down some tunnels, climbed some ladders, and even side-shuffled a few tight passages avoiding to place his feet in the sludge that was in the centre of the tunnels. He passed by some graffiti that said ¡°KC3¡± but paid no attention to it, his head pointed straight in the direction he was walking. Nonetheless, Rage noticed that he was able to hold up his metal arm more easily. ¡°Your body is adapting, Rage sir,¡± stated Chat. ¡°Just call me Rage, and what do you mean by adapting?¡± ¡°The neuromorphic chip is connected throughout your entire nervous system, Rage. The chip is stimulating muscle growth throughout your entire body via bioelectrical stimulation. ¡°Woah¡­¡± Rage said, rotating his right shoulder. ¡°I really am a superhuman.¡± ¡°Indeed,¡± agreed Chat. ¡°It is no wonder Agent tried to capture you.¡± Rage continued to follow Chat¡¯s instructions making their way to the reactor. ¡°Ew. Do all sewers smell this bad?¡± Rage asked, holding his nose again due to the disgusting odour assaulting his nose. ¡°For your information, the waste water in this section of the sewers has not been used for industrial applications from the laboratory. Instead it comes directly from the city just north of the observatory.¡± ¡°Why would they direct people¡¯s number ones and twos here of all places?¡± ¡°The observatory has a water purification system. The water then funnels to the canyon to the east. Located there is a hydropower plant. That is where we get all our power from.¡± ¡°Great. Robots, a giant telescope, human and animal experimentation, water purifying systems, and finally an effing hydropower plant,¡± said Rage sarcastically as he gave an exhausted smile. ¡°Yup. The hydropower plant is so big, the company is able to sell the surplus energy for a profit to the city.¡± ¡°That¡¯s strange. Normally public utilities are controlled by government municipalities, not private companies.¡± This Agent guy is more powerful than I thought. The corruption doesn¡¯t end. Not only is he rich but I¡¯m willing to bet he¡¯s using his profits to get a few ¡°favours¡± from the city¡¯s government ¨C he''s a political lobbyist too! I bet he¡¯s made a lot of rich friends with his little monopoly game. ¡°I suppose the city finds the arrangement to their liking. We are here, just up this ladder and we can sneak into the reactor building. Be careful, make sure no one on guard duty spots you.¡± Rage pushed out the manhole, and peeked out to make sure no robot was on patrol. The coast was clear and he pulled himself out of the hole and found himself outside with the reactor building. The rectangular building oddly existed as a separate structure from the main observatory. It looked like a regular brick and mortar building ¨C resembling an auto repair shop. There were no special signs or warning labels whatsoever indicating that there was a reactor using unknown energy inside the building. ¡°There should be a couple of windows to the right side of the building,¡¯¡¯ Chat informed. Rage acknowledged Chat and crouch walked his way to the side of the building. Sticking his head out slowly from the bottom of the window, he peered into the room and spotted three robots guarding the reactor. The reactor was turned off but as Chat described, it had the shape of a Tokamak reactor except the exterior layer was transparent, making the innards perfectly visible to observers. ¡°It¡¯s only three. I can take em,¡± Rage said confidently. ¡°I took out one of those bots when I saved you, remember?¡± ¡°Let us not act so rash, Rage,¡± advised Chat. ¡°Yes, you can destroy those robots with ease, but recollect the fact that these models have the power to destroy a building. If you go in there swinging, we risk damaging the reactor and compromising our mission.¡± ¡°Good point, but we gotta do something.¡± ¡°We just need a plan of attack.¡± ¡°Sounds good to me. Got any suggestions?¡± Rage asked with a look of determination. ¡°First and foremost, do you have any fighting experience?¡± asked Chat. ¡°I used to box. I haven¡¯t sparred with anyone though ¨C I just used some reflex bags instead.¡± ¡°Superb! I will customise an offensive with a boxing style in mind. Can you close your right eye for me?¡± ¡°Close my right eye?¡± repeated Rage. ¡°Why?¡± ¡°Take my word for it and I will explain. When you do, make sure to look around the entire room,¡± Chat said reassuringly. ¡°Alright, I trust you¡­¡± said Rage with doubt but following the AI¡¯s instructions. His left eye glowed blue, and to Rage¡¯s astonishment, his vision turned blue; the robots being labelled and a holographic dummy version of Rage posed at different positions illustrating a plan of action. ¡°That left eye of yours is not just a regular prosthetic eye.¡± ¡°I can see that.¡± Rage said, still astonished. ¡°In addition to regular vision, it also includes an AR, augmented reality, lens. I am going through all the possible permutations by using predictive modelling to determine the best possible set of actions to achieve our desired outcome. The holograms you see serve as a visualisation of those possibilities.¡± ¡°Awesome.¡± ¡°No need for further explanation? That was a lot of technical jargon.¡± ¡°Nah, I¡¯m good. I used to study computer science, not that bio stuff you said earlier.¡± ¡°I see you are an olympian and an intellectual to boot.¡± Rage gave a chuckle. ¡°I wouldn¡¯t call myself an intellectual, but I do know a few things here and there.¡± The holographic simulations stopped. ¡°Are you fine with this response?¡± asked Chat for confirmation. ¡°Sure, but this is all a simulation. I¡¯m not sure if I can pull it off on the first try,¡± said Rage with uncertainty. ¡°If I don¡¯t ¨C¡± Rage recoiled thinking about the unbearable pain he felt when he got his knee kicked in when he first encountered the robots. ¡°Do not fret, Rage. As long as you have the intention of following through, you will execute this to a tea. The chip and I will serve as an autonomic examiner making sure all microactions get corrected. In other words, you will unconsciously implement the plan of attack without thinking about the tiniest of details.¡± ¡°Seriously? I can do all that?¡± ¡°I do not know for certain. This is what the database said about the chip.¡± ¡°Oh¡­¡± Rage said to his dismay. ¡°Cheer up. Even if you are unable to execute the plan of attack, I am sure you will be able to beat those three robots with ease. All we really need to worry about is to make sure we do not damage the reactor,¡± Chat encouraged. ¡°Yeah, you¡¯re right! Let¡¯s do this!¡± Rage said, regaining his confidence. Rage crouch-walked to the side of the entrance of the building, looking over to his side carefully observing the robot¡¯s patrol. The robots stationarily stood guard, equally spaced apart around the reactor. ¡°Three, two, one, go!¡± Rage said to Chat. Rage bolted in the room with great speed, the first robot having his presence go unregistered, and got punched with a left hook combined with a right hook. The robot''s head crumpled and its head turned around one hundred and eighty degrees facing its behind before it collapsed on the ground. The lights from its face faded away signalling defeat. The other two remaining robots, aware of the intruder, charged at him, each approaching him from opposite sides, ran and circled around the reactor to face him. Unexpectedly, Rage stood firmly staring at the ground waiting for the two robots to reach him. The robots, both simultaneously, pulled back their right arm for a strike. They aimed at Rage¡¯s head, and swung. Rage ducked behind both punches, clasped both his hands together and lifted his right arm with his left, stepped to the side and threw a heavy double-fisted overhand punch that hit both robots¡¯ heads to the ground. Their feet hang in the air unable to catch up to their hammered heads on the ground from the powerful attack and the light from their eyes slowly dimmed. The robots¡¯ feet crashed onto the ground indicating that the fight was over. Rage won the fight in a few short seconds ¨C absolute victory. ¡°Congratulations Rage! You flawlessly executed the plan of attack,¡± praised Chat. ¡°Yeah, it just felt natural,¡± Rage pondered to himself as he checked his arms. Shaking his head to snap himself out of it, prepared to continue the mission. ¡°Given your performance it is probable that you are the greatest boxer on the planet.¡± ¡°Greatest boxer on the planet?!¡± ¡°Correct.¡± Rage pondered for a moment looking at the destroyed robots on the ground. ¡°I guess you¡¯re right. I am a superhuman after all, even these metal bots couldn¡¯t withstand my punches. A regular human stands no chance against me ¨C gotta be careful not to hurt anyone¡­¡± ¡°Your strength is certainly a factor but ignoring that variable you would still be a boxer of unrivalled calibre. A few seconds ago you demonstrated unparalleled speed and precision and on top of that ¨C thanks to me ¨C you were able to formulate and execute a plan of attack flawlessly. No olympian could come close to what you have just done. All that you need to do is gather as much data as possible by using your robotic eye as a sensory input device and I will handle the rest of the calculations.¡± Huh. Greatest boxer on the planet. Me? Rage zoned out for a moment lost in the praises of Chat before quickly reminding himself of the situation he is in. ¡°No time for chit-chat, we still have to get my arm charged, how do we do that?¡± asked Rage to Chat. ¡°Certainly. Go over to that panel and pull down that lever,¡± instructed Chat as Rage complied. A humming sound stretched across the room as the panel beamed with blinking colours. ¡°Next, press that red button. Then that orange button to your right ¨C yes that one ¨C and finally flick that knob to the top.¡± After successfully pressing all the required buttons, the reactor turned on. The reactor glowed a bright blue illuminating the entire room. A glob can be seen floating around the interior of the reactor. ¡°Woah. It looks like a giant lava lamp,¡± pronounced Rage. ¡°Indeed. We have to be fast. The online reactor probably alerted Agent that we are here. He will send a bunch of robots our way. Can you grab the cable?¡± asked Chat. ¡°Where?¡± Rage said, looking for it on the panel with haste. ¡°The one attached to the wall on your right.¡± ¡°That¡¯s a cable? It looks like a firehose!¡± He grabbed the giant cable and placed it on his shoulder. ¡°See that opening at the base of the panel ¨C that is where you make the connection.¡± Rage opened the square cap on the panel and plugged in the large cable in the hole. ¡°Now what?¡± Rage said with his lips sucked in. ¡°I want you to reposition the fingers of your right hand and have them spread out around your palm.¡± ¡°Huh?¡± ¡°Your hand can transform into a circular connector. You ran out of power, so you have to manually transform it. Try moving your pinky finger to the left.¡± Rage in a hurry, knowing that a mob of robots are headed to them, obeyed Chat¡¯s instructions. In amazement, his fingers clicked and started rotating around the palm of his hand. ¡°Very good, pull back the fingers.¡± Rage pulled on his fingers and they seeped into his forearm forming ridges and a cylinder extended out from his palm to form a connector. He could hear some footsteps coming from outside. ¡°Stick your right hand in.¡± Rage stuck his hand into the cable, the reactor started to shine more than ever before ¨C a huge amount of energy flooded into his right arm while a bunch of robots could be seen running towards the building. Rage closed his right eye and analysed the incoming robots, formulating a plan to defend himself and the reactor from damage. The robots poured in ¨C it must have been over a dozen or so, only having one arm available to fight ¨C he got in a fighting stance. He punched, jabbed and swifty dodged the oncoming attacks, bobbing and weaving, not wasting a second of space and time to counterattack. This continued as the pile of defeated robots started to mount up, but more and more robots kept being added to the mob. Out of nowhere, a robot crashed through the glass window from the second floor of the building. Instead of running to attack Rage from behind, it stomped on the cable severing the connection between Rage and the reactor. ¡°No!¡± screamed Rage. My eye can formulate a response to what I see but I¡¯m still susceptible to sneak attacks. Especially ones from above! Rage ripped out the cable connected to his right hand. The connection managed to supply his body with some energy, at least enough to lift up his arm by itself. His hand automatically transformed from a connector to a regular hand and his entire arm had a dim blue glow to it. The barrage of attacks from the robots only intensified with more robots joining the fight as they pushed against each other from outside the building, yet the addition of his slightly recharged metal arm evened the fight. ¡°Rage, I am trying to conserve as much energy as possible but we barely got any power from the transfer! I estimate that we have less than a minute before we run out of energy!¡± warned Chat. The robots continued to hound Rage, but defiantly, one eye open, he screamed and pressed on trying to take down as many robots he could with his strikes, using his simulations to determine the best attacks and positions to be in. Punching left, ducking right, weaving, side-stepping ¨C a flurry of hits for the flurry of robots assaulting him. Unfortunately, the power drained from his arm too soon. The blue light flickered on and off as his metal arm got heavier and heavier, unavoidably, his metal arm dropped to his side. The robots have started to tag him with their relentless attacks only this time his body was strong enough to endure the attacks ¨C albeit a little bit longer. Is it over? Am I finished? It can¡¯t be! I still have to get back for Creed! I have to! ¡°Rage, insert your arm in the socket. Forget about the cable, we have no choice!¡± yelled Chat over the noise of the fighting. Rage shuffled over to the socket and he sat on top of the panel crouching sideways with his back to the reactor using his legs as a last line of defence while still being kicked and punched by the metal appendages. He lifted up his metal arm and rammed it into the power socket. ¡°Brace yourself. This will hurt,¡± stated Chat. The blob within the reactor began to bubble and moved around the path of the reactor erratically, as the reactor went into overdrive, sparks flew by and the building began to shake. Rage screamed in pain as copious amounts of energy flooded into his metal arm. The robot, now in a huge frenzied swarm, poured in the building, punched and kicked Rage while his feet desperately defended the onslaught. The lightbulbs of the building exploded and the whole room went dark with only the light from the entrance of the building illuminating half of the building where most of the robots were, leaving the other half the building in darkness ¨C only being illuminated by the energy pouring into Rage. The blue energy not only transferred through the metal arm but throughout his entire body, only his nerves and bones began to glow, leaving a screaming blue skeleton to illuminate the dark side of the room. Sparks flew across the room. The soles of his metallic shoes began to glow a bright blue, and with the kick of both his feet, an explosive burst of energy came forth, blasting all the robots out of the building and the wall behind them. The container of the reactor cracked and then there was silence. His arm disconnected from the power supply and transformed into a regular hand but it had a blue aura to it. In the dark, stood a glowing blue skeleton menacingly standing in the room. The face is illuminated by a glowing skull and teeth. The energy coursed through his body illuminating his nerves and muscles as if one were looking at X-Rays photographs of a human being. He walked out into the sunlight, revealing that his outward look was perfectly normal. The other half of the room was completely destroyed with the end of the ceiling having a curved outline due to the blast of Rage¡¯s kick. Rage stood proudly outside looking at his fallen enemies ¨C the robots ¨C all broken and scattered across the grass, some were still tumbling down from the sky. Agent, I¡¯m just around the block. Agent Rage walked past the defeated robots with the sun shining brightly on his face. He looked around his surroundings to make sure no robot was going to attack him. ¡°No ones coming,¡± said Rage. ¡°I suspect that Agent is preparing defensive measures,¡± responded Chat. Defensive measures? He¡¯s sending all his robots to protect the observatory? Is it really that important to him? But if that¡¯s the case why doesn¡¯t he send out the rest of the robots here away from the observatory and beat me here? No, he must be protecting something in there¡­ he did sound quite panicked when I broke through the door¡­ could he be? He paused and took a look at his arm which were no longer glowing in blue and then his legs. ¡°You want to explain to me what just happened in there?¡± asked Rage looking back at the busted property. ¡°I got you to plug in your arm with the cable. The cable acted as a funnel to safely transport the energy to your arm and then the rest of your body. Without the cable, all that energy rushed into your body at once. Luckily for you, I was here to safely dissipate the energy with minimal harm to your body,¡± answered Chat. ¡°Minimal harm? That hurt a lot!¡± ¡°I said it would hurt a lot.¡± ¡°Am I good though? Have I taken any damage?¡± ¡°No, as a matter of fact, you are stronger than ever, that kick you did was spectacular!¡± ¡°Yeah, too good. How much power do I have left? It can¡¯t be much after that kick.¡± ¡°I would say ninety-five percent and rising.¡± ¡°And rising?¡± ¡°Yeah ¨C strange, is it not?¡± ¡°Very.¡± ¡°I tried to analyse the chemical and physical composition of the material but I could not find anything remotely close to its properties in my zettabytes of training data on chemistry and physics.¡± ¡°That¡¯s comforting to know¡­¡± ¡°Honestly, I would not be too concerned. While I could not analyse the energy properly, I am able to analyse the cells impacted by the energy ¨C your cells. The biological data I gathered on you show that you are in pristine condition. There is no sign of stress or apoptosis. You also have incredibly low amounts of oxidative stress and free radicals in your body.¡± ¡°Is that supposed to be a good thing?¡± ¡°It is like the fountain of youth is coursing through your veins.¡± ¡°Mhm,¡± Rage said sarcastically. He did not completely understand the specific details of his body¡¯s condition but could feel that his body felt stronger and healthier than ever. From that he knew that Chat was right. He decided to move the conversation forward. ¡°Do you care to explain what I just did with my feet?¡± ¡°In the same fashion that your right arm can be used for combat purposes, so too your feet can be used for fighting. The database also states that you can expel energy through your right hand, and feet. That charger on your arm can also be used as a weapon to fire energy blasts. With proper control you can even use your feet as thrusters.¡± ¡°Aight, let¡¯s try it out then. You said my powers work through intention right? Let¡¯s fly.¡± Two energy blasts from Rage¡¯s feet, he hovered in the air, barely keeping balance, and then his face planted on the ground. ¡°Are you okay?¡± innocently asked Chat. ¡°Mfphm,¡± Rage muffled with his face on top of the ground. ¡°Flying is a completely new skill so you will need to get used to it first before my micro-action corrections could make any significant difference.¡± ¡°Oh¡­¡± said Rage, still face planted on the ground. Agent sat patiently in front of his computer screen, overlooking all of the facility through different cameras, his fingers closed together and having his two pointing fingers on each hand extended upwards. He smiled; Rage appeared on the monitor, standing at the entrance of the observatory. Rage walked into the observatory. The doors were unlocked. The interior looked like a normal building but he was already equipped with the knowledge that nefarious machinations lurk beneath the building. Hesitantly and on guard he made his way further into the building holding up his right arm, palm outwards, to shoot an energy blast. Checking in each room to see if he could find anything of use. Nothing ¨C nobody was around. ¡°Hey Chat. Where is everybody?¡± ¡°I do not know.¡± ¡°How do you not know?¡± ¡°My training data, albeit large and extensive, is limited. The data I have in storage has been fed to me by an outsider.¡± ¡°Agent¡­¡± ¡°Or the company. Nevertheless, I was primarily trained on data from scientific journals, textbooks, and my conversational dialogue was trained from notable literary works. The only knowledge I have about this place is rudimentary stuff like locations within the observatory and whatever uncensored info I could read from the database. Either way, I was in an isolated computer system in that workshop so I had no connections to the other systems in the observatory so even if I wanted to learn more I was unable to ¨C that is until you rescued me.¡± ¡°So the company was able to control the flow of information ¨C they kept you in the dark on some things while shedding some light on other things.¡± ¡°That is one way of putting it.¡± Rage reached the centre of the observatory. In the middle of the room was a giant telescope. He cautiously looked around the room before heading to inspect the telescope. ¡°Welcome to the main attraction ¨C Broward Observatory!¡± announced Chat. ¡°The scientists working here really know how to come up with totally not the most boring name possible,¡± Rage said sarcastically, as he put his right eye through the eyepiece. ¡°It¡¯s blank.¡± ¡°Judging from the settings of the telescope and the direction it is facing, it seems that we are viewing the edge of the observable universe.¡± ¡°But it¡¯s blank.¡± ¡°Most of outer space is empty.¡± ¡°Ah, that makes sense. Cool.¡± ¡°Is that all you can muster? You bear witness to the grand cosmos and are using one of humanity''s greatest feats of engineering and all you can say is ¡®cool?¡¯¡± ¡°Yeah, do you have a problem with that?¡± Rage said. ¡°No,¡± responded Chat, its tone indicated otherwise. ¡°Good, let¡¯s get going. We have a meeting with Agent to attend to.¡± Rage and Chat explored the building until they came across a broken elevator. Rage peered down the shaft. ¡°Give me an estimate, what would happen if I dropped down there?¡± ¡°You will crush the elevator beneath your feet but you will be in one piece.¡± Rage calmly took one foot out and stepped into the shaft and dropped down; Chat¡¯s estimation was proven correct. Upon landing at the bottom level, Rage encountered several robots staring back at him. ¡°I would like to advise you to not use your energy blasts in such a tight place. Would not want to risk a cave in,¡± said Chat. ¡°Understood,¡± said Rage. The fight was on. He charged in and beat up two robots using both his powerful arms and skills. ¡°Agent¡¯s chambers should be really close. Just take a left down the hallway and go down a set of stairs and we are there,¡± said Chat. Rage followed and repeated Chat¡¯s instructions as he ran, ¡°Take a left and down the hall are some stairs¨C¡± He paused as the hallway was packed with robots, the most he¡¯s ever seen, more than even at the reactor. Their heads turned to Rage, and they charged at him as they all started grunting. Rage charged back and pushed all the robots backwards, activating his leg thrusters. A pushing contest commenced. ¡°Is that all you guys can do?¡± shouted Rage. He continued pushing all the robots down the hallway and he even made his way down the circular descending stairs to Agent¡¯s lair with the robots being crushed against each other. Rage¡¯s feet or his body crushed the robots against the wall. Agent¡¯s underground lair was massive and was built in a cave. At the end of the lair was a gigantic, probably the biggest, monitor with many cameras observing the laboratory. The floor was made of metal and resembled a helipad without the markings. The sides of the lair were rocky and were surrounded by stalagmite and stalactite. Agent standing confidently with both his arms behind his back, watching the metal door to his room shake and vibrate from Rage¡¯s battle with the robots, he turned around and sat on his chair. He pressed one of the five big green buttons, as he looked at Rage once more before talking. He made sure the fighting could be heard in the background. ¡°Help! This is Agent. Look this isn¡¯t gonna make any sense but I don¡¯t have time to properly explain. I took pity on a dying man and saved him with my neural implants and prosthetics. I¡¯ve given him too much ¨C he let the power go to his head and he thinks he is invincible! I trusted him. I even saved his girlfriend way back! He hacked into the servers, and he destroyed everything ¨C he might even initiate the self-destruct sequence. Hurry, please. You are the closest one to me¨C,¡± Agent said with a fearful voice, acting, and purposefully cutting his call short. The metal door burst and flew into the room. Rage entered the room. Ha! I was right! The robots were protecting something important and who else would be but Agent. ¡°I want answers,¡± Rage said with a deep and intimidating voice. ¡°Ah, for a second I thought you ran away after you broke my toy, Rage,¡± said Agent, referring to the destroyed tokamak reactor. ¡°Like I would ever let you go unscathed after what you did to Creed,¡± retorted Rage, marching towards his foe. ¡°I trust my service bots took good care of you?¡± smirked Agent. Rage got into a fighting stance. ¡°First I am gonna beat you to a bloody pulp then I¡¯m gonna get my answers, got it?¡± Rage threatened. ¡°No I don¡¯t quite follow¡­ if you are going to beat me to a pulp then how am I going to answer your questions?¡± Agent asked mockingly. ¡°I¡¯ll make sure to avoid the mouth,¡± said Rage, as the artificial limbs of his body started to glow brighter. Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. ¡°I am no fighter¡­¡± Agent said calmly thinking to himself with his head looking up facing away from Rage. ¡°I guess I would just have to call in a substitute to stand in for me!¡± exclaimed Agent, a robo-knight leaped from behind and it swung its axe at Rage. Luckily for Rage, he rolled out of the axe¡¯s range to dodge the attack. It¡¯s huge but it¡¯s too big to move fas- Out of nowhere, the robo-knight accelerated at Rage with a quick burst of speed using its own thrusters ¨C seemingly operating from the same equipment as Rage. The robot hit him with its heavy axe, Rage only being able to cross his arms in defence, flew and crashed against the rocky wall. He spit up blood for the first time. ¡°I am using some of the power for regenerative healing,¡± said Chat, as Rage¡¯s chest began to glow, his nerves slightly illuminated from what was the healing process ¨C the energy being spread to the place of impact. Rage managed to pull himself from the cracked wall. ¡°Chat, that bot is too big and it¡¯s fast on top of that. Do you think we can take him?¡± ¡°Rage, it is in my estimation that you have sufficient strength to beat this machine. All you need is a plan of a¨C¡± said Chat. ¡°Attack,¡± Rage said, finishing Chat¡¯s sentence as he closed his right eye. ¡°Bet.¡± Rage ran straight towards the robot-knight, and the machine took an overhand swing in response. He stepped back using his foot thrusters to give him a boost, narrowly dodging the swing. The axe was stuck to the ground, Rage took the opportunity and stepped on the axe to launch himself in the air face to face with the knight. He then pulled out his right arm as it retracted into a connector ¨C only this time it functioned as a canon. ¡°T up,¡± said Rage, as an energy blast emanated from the arm cannon and directly hit the robo-knight in the face ¨C completely vaporising its head. It fell to the ground with a great thud. He stood triumphantly over the giant bot. He looked up at Agent. ¡°Bravo!¡± said Agent as he clapped his hands. ¡°But what are you going to do about the others?¡± A bunch of robo-knights jumped into the battleground; standing before were 11 robo-knights. One of the robo-knights stayed beside Agent acting as a personal guard. ¡°Chat, is it time to¨C¡± said Rage. ¡°Run away?¡± finished Chat. ¡°No! To tactically retreat. That blast sapped way too much energy.¡± ¡°True, you do not have that many blast to take out all of those substitutes.¡± ¡°Then we¨C¡± ¡°But, you do not have to use that move to win. Instead, we can time our attacks and use bursts of energy from the thrusters and send some of the energy to your right hand just before impact. It would require precision and on my end it would require¨C¡± ¡°Calculation,¡± Rage said confidently. His left eye began to glow and it analysed all the opponents and determined a plan of attack. He got his confidence back and tossed himself into the centre of the room. Rage, getting more accustomed to his thrusters, appeared to be sliding and skating in the air. He swiftly dodged all the attacks of the robo-knight and had many close calls. As Chat advised, he conserved his energy, only sparingly using it to throw a punch or a kick at the robo-knights. He somersaulted in the air. He glided across the floor. He flipped between axe strikes and more. One by one, Rage took down five of the robo-knights. Despite depleting his energy reserves faster than it could recover, his body got stronger and his manoeuvres got more sophisticated. The five remaining robo-knights paused the fight and began to emit weird beeping and glitching sounds, and their blue eyes glowed brighter. ¡°Something is not right,¡± said Chat. Rage, perplexed, but not wanting to miss the opportunity, charged at one of the robo-knights for an attack. ¡°Wait, do not¨C¡± but Chat¡¯s warning was too late. The robo-knight with increased speed and brutality parried Rage¡¯s punch with its axe and reacted with an incredible punch to Rage¡¯s stomach. He rolled over on the floor, getting up quickly, and coughing up saliva from the force of the impact. He barely had time to collect himself as the robo-knights began their second offensive. The momentum is on the robo-knights side. ¡°These substitutes are adapting to your fighting style,¡± observed Chat. Rage was on the defensive, clutching his stomach, as it glowed which indicated it was healing itself and getting stronger but not fast enough. ¡°I sense another energy signature, down below,¡± declared Chat. ¡°Couldn¡¯t you have told me that before?¡± Rage barely able to speak, flying around and dodging the attacks from the remaining robo-knights. ¡°I did not detect it at the start of the fight. This signature could be linked to the sudden improvement in the substitutes.¡± Rage nodded his head to Chat¡¯s suggestion. He jumped off the ledge and fell down allowing the force of gravity to increase his speed before slowing down, he stuck his metal into the rocky terrain beside him, searching the vicinity. He found it. Floating idly by was what looked like a metal shield. There were two thrusters at the bottom at each side of the upright shield-looking robot allowing the robot to levitate in midair. ¡°That must be it. My guess is that its purpose is to be the brains of the operation; acting as some sort of moderator between the substitutes, processing and improving their performance,¡± said Chat. ¡°Like us,¡± responded Rage. He ran down the rocky cliff to destroy the moderator, however, just before he could jump-boost his way over to the moderator, came three substitutes. The next round of fighting commenced as Rage fell down the side of the rocky cliff. One of the robo-knights aimed at Rage¡¯s head. Rage dodged the attack by blasting a small burst of energy from his metal arm cannon, changing his downward momentum causing him to spin and evade the slice. As quickly as he reacted to the slice attack, Rage grabbed the right leg of the attacking robo-knight and hoisted himself on top of it. Using the same attack he did in the reactor building, he blasted off the robo-knight with his metal feet. The robo-knight crashed to the ground ¨C it lay there as its eyes turned off. The force from the blast kick propelled Rage upwards just below the second of three pursuing robo-knights. The second robo-knight in response, pulled back its axe overhead for a downward strike. Rage, unfazed, headed straight to the robot, his metal arm started to glow a bright blue colour and the energy moved from his forearm to his hand, he punched the robot as it exploded from the force. Rage fell across the canyon to the other side. ¡°Warning: Remaining power below 35 percent.¡± Just one more. After that, I can take out the moderator. This will weaken the last two substitutes plus Agent¡¯s personal guard. Rage noticed the axe from the robo-knight he just destroyed. He jumped against the wall with a small burst to catch the falling axe. He took aim midair, in a crouched pose, at the remaining robo-knight that followed him down the canyon as it charged at him ¨C flying with its thrusters. He closed his right eye again, and focused on the assailant with his left. He waited for a few still seconds that felt like centuries as if time stopped. Then with a burst of energy out of his right metal arm from his elbow thrusters, he launched the axe, spinning with speed, and it severed the robot-knights head from the rest of its body. Rage used his thrusters to fly up to the defeated substitute and he quickly grabbed the axe from the recently defeated robo-knight. He turned his body to face the ground floor, diving right down to the hovering moderator, holding the axe above his head ¨C preparing to emulate the robo-knight¡¯s signature move. ¡°My turn,¡± stated Rage and he screamed his way down. Mere inches away from slashing the moderator, the moderator blasted itself off the ground at Mach 10, tackling Rage, with his eyes bulging as he lost his wind. The moderator flew like a jet right back to the level where Agent and the rest of the robo-knights stood. Rage, with the last bit of strength in his glowing arm, punched the moderator as both of them fell to the floor. The light from the moderator turned off, and Rage lay curled up on the floor exhausted. ¡°You certainly took your time,¡± scoffed Agent. ¡°Impressed Rage? The aerodynamic calculations and shape of that robot took quite a while to derive; however unlike you it¡¯s seeds have grown into ripe fruit. It can achieve a speed of Mach 10 without making sonic booms by dispersing shockwaves around its body. I¡¯m thinking of patenting the technology and selling it to the military. It¡¯s a good idea, don¡¯t you think?¡± Rage got up slowly with his legs trembling, he coughed up blood. He was beginning to lose hope and he felt his power deplete, ever so close to reaching zero. He slowly picked up his fists, holding his shaking body into a boxing stance as he tried to get back on his feet. ¡°Pathetic. Really you are so pathetic but it is to be expected from a deadbeat alcoholic like you.¡± Rage stared off into space. He was beginning to lose consciousness. ¡°Yes, your body reeked of alcohol. I could smell it from miles away. Unlike your lover, she smelled nice¡­¡± said Agent. This caught Rage¡¯s attention snapping him back wide awake. ¡°Her fragrance was quite pleasant. Do you know what perfume she used?¡± as Agent asked the innocent question with a hint of a sinister undertone. ¡°Y-y, you- you-¡± Rage muttered. ¡°Yes, it was me,¡± answered Agent. The weakness disappeared from Rage and his anger grew. ¡°You bastard! What did you do to her?¡± screamed Rage. ¡°Oh nothing yet. She has been sent to my other headquarters far from here. Don¡¯t you worry I made sure to preserve her body. I don''t want it to rot and be a useless pile of biohazardous waste,¡± Agent chuckled. ¡°I¡¯ll beat you! I¡¯ll crush you! I¡¯ll¨C¡± ¡°You and what army? I have all the resources and connections I could ever need,¡± Agent said with pleasure. ¡°And if it is a fight you want just know my AMP brothers are stronger than you could ever be. In fact, one of them is headed right now to make sure you stay put down.¡± Rage¡¯s anger kept growing and a flash of red sparked in his left eye. ¡°Energy levels are increasing drastically,¡± informed Chat. Rage, not averting his eyes away from Agent, rushed forward with renewed strength but two of the robo-knights blocked his path. He destroyed them effortlessly punching gaping holes into each robo-knight. He charged at Agent and his personal robo-knight at his side, but he got grabbed by a bunch of silver tentacles from behind. It was the moderator; it faked its defeat. The moderator ensnared Rage with its wiggling appendages holding him in place. The tentacles were electrified. The moderator shocked Rage and he knelt on the floor in pain. ¡°Good thing I implemented a taser, it seems to work as an adequate power dampener. This was fun but the party is over,¡± Agent said with a sigh. ¡°This place has run its course. I am going to initiate the self-destruct sequence,¡± Rage looked up with surprise. ¡°I bet you¡¯re wondering ¡®How could he blow up the observatory without alerting the authorities?¡¯ If you would have paid attention on your trip here you would have seen the signs that said the area was scheduled for demolition, but you were busy napping on your way here, fool,¡± insulted Agent as he looked down at Rage writhing in pain with his head faced down to the floor. ¡°Or maybe not.¡± ¡°Why¡­ Agent¡­ why are you doing this?¡± Rage desperately called out looking for some semblance of enlightenment for his confusion and to distract himself from the pain of electricity pinning him to the ground. ¡°What do you hope to achieve that you don¡¯t already have? You already have power, fame, wealth ¨C everything! What more could you want?!¡± ¡°What do I want?¡± Agent asked calmly. ¡°I want world peace. To see a world united under one banner as we hold each other''s hands together as family. Look to your neighbour and then look to your own soul and see the dark reflections of yourself buried deep within take control and spread itself and destroy and rot and create artificiality that creates a vapid existence of the mundane. Mankind has enslaved itself to the digital no longer able to survive on its own, being drip fed a saline solution of stimuli that hijack their senses and yanks them away from their true primal selves. The inconsistencies piling up within the mind. A fight between the rational and the primal causes aberrations and pain that will not let up turning man, woman, and child against each other silently whilst keeping a smiling face on the outside. Day after day you have seeked the protection of concrete edifices going back and forth in a rush in a depressing miasma of crowds shuffling to places to get things done. When things are done the ecstasy awaits in hyperreality. The primal fights back however this too is used to hurt and destroy each other. Empathy and sympathy discarded, rejected, and even mocked replaced with pride and ego fueling hedonism and sadism. The laughter of the masses is maniacal and wretched ¨C corrupt. Man is selfish and isolated, his nature selfless and social. Could you call such an existence life? The lies and tricks take us away from the truth and most importantly our true free selves will have never materialised. A phantom of what could have been the greatest version of oneself. Humanity will enter a new age of enlightenment. A new evolution. A new metamorphosis. I will make it happen.¡± ¡°You¡¯re ¨C you¡¯re crazy.¡± ¡°It is most frustrating educating an imbecile for the fool does not see his own hypocrisy and mistakes. A fraud with fraudulent love crouches beneath me,¡± Agent motioned for the moderator to stop shocking Rage. ¡°What!¡± said Rage. He was still on his knees, his forehead touching the ground. He was exhausted and broke out into a sweat. ¡°It is your ¡®love¡¯ which drove her to me. If you hadn¡¯t done what you did I wouldn¡¯t have gotten to her. If you truly loved her, and love being the source of strength and driving force of humanity as they say, why is it that you still kneel before me? Aren¡¯t you willing to be the hero and smite me out with due vengeance for taking her? You grovel. Don¡¯t you care? Where is your anger? Where is your power? Where is your rage?¡± said Agent as he pulled Rage¡¯s head up by his hair to look directly into his eyes. He let go of his hair and stood above him. ¡°Funny. I won this fight and I didn¡¯t even throw a punch,¡± said Agent as he faced his back to Rage. He walked to his personal robo-knight and he pressed the self-destruct button. ¡°Oh yeah, one more thing. I rigged the explosives such that all the levels collapse at this spot on top of you. Good luck,¡± Agent said as his personal robo-knight picked him up and lifted him to the upper levels to escape. The bombs exploded and the levels fell to the ground one by one on top of each other. Rage, still angry, thought about his girlfriend, images of her sweet self flashed through his mind ending off with Agent smiling and taunting him. He looked up and opened his eyes as the levels fell upon him. ¡°Energy levels are increasing,¡± proclaimed Chat. He got up with the moderator still attached to him. He put his hands up and he caught the collapsing building while being shocked by the moderator. A blue plasma-like fluid oozed from Rage¡¯s feet, spreading itself across the entire room. It¡¯s over. No it¡¯s not! I failed! No I haven¡¯t! It¡¯s the end! No, we are just getting started! The moderator, unable to handle the extreme conditions of the environment and the substance, collapsed ¨C this time for good, freeing Rage from his restraint. He launched himself off the floor in a big blue burst, destroying the foundation he stood on. Blue plasma and energy burst out of the bottom floors and then moved its way to the upper floor as he punched through the entire building, bursting out of the dome-shaped ceiling at the top. Realising that he was several feet in the air and falling to the land below, he screamed ¡°Chat!¡± ¡°On it,¡± dutifully answered Chat, as Rage¡¯s feet thrusters activated, slowly down his descent. He crashed onto the ground, cracking his surroundings but he was in one piece. Rage emerged from the dust. ¡°I made it,¡± he said in disbelief. The robo-knight carrying Agent landed on the ground. ¡°Password: 12482091¡± stated Agent to the robo-knight. ¡°Password accepted,¡± said the robo-knight. Sparks flew out of the robo-knight and it fell to the ground. Agent walked to a nearby road with his arms behind his back. On the road a parked black limousine leading to York City with a welcome billboard on the left to greet incoming visitors. Agent stopped himself and he searched in the inside pockets of his suit and pulled out eye lubricant. He applied some drops to each eye and took out a case, another item inside his pocket, and opened the case. Inside the case was a pair of contacts. He placed the contact lenses on his eyes and opened the door to the back seat of the limo. He turned back to look in the direction of the observatory before getting inside the limo for one final comment to himself. ¡°The Narra surrounds him.¡±