"Alright. So what do I do? Just fling magic at it?!" Alizra asked as she circled the three-inch soldier.
"Try to destroy it, and it will go on the defensive. The entire point of this is to let me give the AI real combat data now, so it can figure out how to defend better in the future," I explained, and then ordered everyone that was now gathered in my office to come to the warehouse before asking. "I will be having the other join right away if you don't mind?"
"What? You are inviting the rest of your family to watch me as a circus act?!" Alizra demanded, standing up straight and ignoring the nano-soldier.
"No, they will be trying after you, but it would be good for you to meet everyone. If our families are going to merge, then this is important. I also want you to work with Kilna and the lady that I am going to kidnap tonight," I explained, and Alizra crossed her arms.
"You know that I got her sibling killed, right? I needed a job done, and I had no one that could do it, so I sent the best I had. Not really a good story to tell her sister, but this world requires hard choices to keep things moving. As for the other woman, I will assume that you are talking about the woman that I mentioned that works for Keith Kaido?" She asked, and I nodded.
"I need a name and exact coordinates to where she is being held. I also need names of anyone else that can help us with the Mindless," I said, and Alizra growled and then shot a blast of fire at the nano-soldier.
The first made it start to melt, but a metal hand from the wall came out to stop the flame. as it did, the nano-soldier pulled metal from the wall and upgraded itself. At the same time, everyone nano-soldier I controlled absorbed metal from the surrounding area, making the same changes. When it was done, the nano-soldier had a shield built into its chest and arm.
"Impressive," Alizra said before dispelling the flame with a wave of her hand, "but I can do better."
She began to channel more energy from the air around us, causing an entire wall panel to come loose as she formed energy in her hands. She started to spin it faster and faster, sending bolts of electricity darting out toward the nano-soldier. The soldier shimmered for a moment before being engulfed by a mass of lightning that lit up the warehouse briefly.
When the lightning disappeared, Alizra looked over at me with a small smirk. "Well? How did I do?" She asked, and I raised an eyebrow as the nano-soldier reformed, now having metal armor covering its entire body and wings protruding from both sides of it.
"I would say that you passed," I said, impressed, before looking up at the other family members that had gathered to watch. "Ladies, gentlemen, thank you for coming. Now, let's get into formation! I want each of you to take turns with our new guards. Kilna, I would like for you to work out here with Alizra on the Mindless for now," I said, but Kilna put up a hand, and I groaned.
"I don't think that would be a good idea, sir. Alizra and I are not on...the best of terms," Kilna said, and Alizra snorted.
"Trust me, if anyone deserves to get hurt out here, it's going to be you," She quipped before turning back to me, her eyes begging for permission.
I sighed, standing in between them both as I crossed my arms. "Fine, but no killing each other. You will have to make do with sparring and learning how to control the Mindless," I said sternly, and Alizra nodded. Then I said one more thing.
"Also, try not to overdo it. This is still new technology, and I am trying to let them adaptively upgrade. Try to give them as much data to work with, but be careful." I said, and then looked at Kilna, who nodded before shifting into a wolf.
Alizra smirked and sighed before summoning a staff in her hand and getting ready to join the fight. "This is going to be fun," She murmured, and I couldn't help but feel proud of my creation. If it could survive this, then maybe we had a chance against Ned and his thugs.
I was surprised at seeing Kilna shift into another form. I could change my shape, but that was because I was a machine. Kilna was human, and we couldn't do that where I was from. As I watched, Fawna came over to stand beside me. Something seemed to be on her mind.
"I can't help but be concerned," She said with concern in her voice. I put a metallic hand on her shoulder and squeezed lightly.
"Everything will be alright," I said, trying to reassure her. "You don't need to worry about this anymore."
She looked up at me with a grateful smile and nodded before turning back to watch Kilna and Alizra fight against the nano-soldiers. "I wish it was that easy, but it feels like the world is starting to turn in on us."
"You are not wrong, but things are going to have to get worse before they get better. We know that Thomas and the other Order members are going to be coming today or tomorrow. I think things are only going to get worse from here until I can get rid of Ned and Keith," I said, but Fawna shook her head.
"I was just about to put this into the magic box, but I will tell you personally. We just received word that Aquaking has sent a small army of ten thousand soldiers, and they have just crossed over into Wisteria," Fawna said.
"Oh, that is just rich. How many days until they are here?" I asked, my mind starting to whirl up.
"Five days."