MECHANICAL MENACE PART II

After the death bots invade Surrealton, the crew gets a very chilling message.

II. KATRINA

“So you built that thing?” I pointed at the creepy spider looking thing that latched onto Prince's back.

“Yeah, call him Backpack.” Prince smiled.

“Call him creepy.” Fleana huddled in a corner. She hates spiders.

“Seriously.” I crossed my arms. “That's like me naming you 'boy'. What does it do?”

“Well, it's basically a computer that can move.” Prince explained.

“Wow.” Marion said sarcastically.

“That's really creative Spikes.” I joined.

“Hey, be nice! Look.” Prince held out his books, and the robot shoved them into its hole. “See. It still holds my books.”

“How do you know it didn't eat them?” I snarked.

“You know what, Tropical?!”

“What?!”

The four of us started bickering with each other until my mother, literally, thundered upstairs.

“Kat it's time for dinner.” She called.

“Coming mom!” I answered, and then jabbed my find at my friends. “We'll finish this later.”

“Wait.” Fleana shrugged. “What were we arguing about?”

“I�"have completely forgotten.”

A woman's scream erupted from upstairs.

I sighed. “You think it's those killer robots again?”

“Yeah, that robot thing is getting outta hand.” Marion replied.

Just as he said that, a little red spider-like bot crawled in front of us and hissed as if we had killed its father or something. It's bitter request for revenge ended when Fleana stepped on it.

“These things are like rats!” She exasperated.

“Good thing you're afraid of spiders and not rats, huh?” Prince smirked.

“Hey, I wouldn’t have much of a problem if you would stop making them.”

“First of all, I didn't make these. Backpack was just inspired from them.”

“Okay, now you're crossing the threshold into mad science and you're violating copyright laws.” Marion said.

“Hey, whoever made these things didn't claim 'em so I think I am protected from the law. Plus, he/she has death bots so you think he/she would settle for fining me instead.”

“I don't know man. People do crazy things for money now.”

“Will you hurry up!” My sister's voice boomed. “I'm tired of shooting these determinator like things down just to get to you! Are you hungry or not? Put your paintbrush down and let's go!”

“She thinks I'm painting.” I almost chuckled since I finished my portrait hours ago. If only she knew what I really did down here...it mostly amounts to me being a battery honestly. Not really a big deal so I never told her about the lair.

I climbed the stairs to the lobby. As usual, it looked like a bomb had gone off. I noticed the doorman peeking up from his desk. One of those spider bots crawled onto his desk and hissed at him, causing him to shriek.

I blasted the bot. “So that was you! Did those things hit you below the belt?”

His face grew red. I guess he didn't appreciate the joke. “Will one of you freaks do something about this?!”

“Like what?”

“Well, you have those powers--”

“Traits.”

“Whatever. They do things. So do something. Go out and--” He had to duck as a piece of the ceiling collapsed.

“Destroy them?” I finished.

“Yes!”

I massaged my temples. “Sir, I don't think it's that simple. Even if I could destroy these bots, it won't stop whoever from making more. Plus, you should already know that whenever me or my friends get involved things only get worse. This time we're leaving it to the police.”

“The most absolutely brilliant thing I wanted to hear from you.” Mom fluttered her eyes at me. I hate it when she could just appear out of nowhere without me ever noticing. I noticed a little blue orb nestled between her arms.

I pointed at the object. “What's that?”

Mom held up the orb. “Well, honey we have a bit of a problem. This is a message sphere, and it's, um, it's for you and the other three.”

“Where did it come from? Who sent it?”

“I found it in the mail. As for who sent it, your guess is as good as mine.”

I peered at the orb as it gleamed in the sunlight, courtesy of a big hole in the wall. I did not have a good feeling from this.

“So, how do you turn it on?” Fleana asked her mother.

Cloud peered closer at the orb. “Sweetie if I knew the answer to that we would be viewing what is on this thing right now. The least the sender could've done besides writing these death threats was mention how to activate this blasted thing.”

“Here let me see it.” Caroline took the orb and twisted the top. An image of an ugly face that seemed to be vaguely human sprang to life in my living room.

Matthew rolled his eyes at his brother, Prince, Fleana, and me. “Alright, who is this guy?”

“How should I know?” I sneered.

“Well, he�"it�"looks like he/it sent it to you, so I figured it's like connected to ya.”

“Matthew I've never seen this�"whatever it is�"in my life before.” Prince told him.

Matthew snorted. “If you say so.”

The creepy robot guy widened his eyes. “It's a pleasure to see you all intact--”

“How does he know that?” Prince wondered.

“Shh!” Cloud chirped.

“...that gives me the pleasure of killing you all myself. Especially you four�"Katrina, Marion, Prince, Fleana. I bet you're all at home tucked away in your beds waiting for mommy and daddy to wish you sweet dreams, but there's no escaping from my nightmare. It won't be like last time. You see even BioticAbiotics have biological faults, but me? I'm pure metal baby. Better kiss mommy and daddy goodbye because you'll never see them again.”

The image blinked out of existence.

Susan veered her gaze at the four of us. “You guys sure you've never seen this dude before?”

“Yep. Not ringing a bell.” Her sister said cheerfully.

“Really, because he seems really intent on killing you.” Caroline pondered.

“So does Coach Vector.” Prince said.

“Well, when he does it, he's got a good excuse of you failing simulations.” Aurora examined the orb. “Son this is kinda serious.”

“Great some cyborg wants to kill us now. What else--” Marion’s eyes widened. “I'm not finishing that sentence.”

“Too late.” Prince nodded at his backpack. “Turns out Backpack don't do hot chocolate.”

Fleana sighed. “Typical.”

Author's Note

If you like what you've read, check out book one and two on Amazon by Xavier McDougle.