Kai Cenat walked out of the battlefield and towards the destroyed rubble that was Agent's observatory. His body had completely healed along with his clothes. If one were to look at Kai, they would not be able to discern that he was in an intense fight just moments ago. I didn't need your help, Duke. I could have beaten him myself. He looked over at Rage, shredded with wires and blood popping out of his body. Rage's left robotic eye remained open and was cold and lifeless.
"Heh. That's what you get for hurting Agent!" shouted Kai. The utterance of his brother's name snapped him out of his aggression and into a brotherly concern. "Agent! Agent! Where are you bro?!" Kai ran to the collapsed ruin of the observatory – metal parts of the building and glass were scattered all over the vicinity. "Agent! It's me Kai!"
Kai began his search for Agent. He picked up huge metal pipes, bricks, and other pieces of the mess effortlessly as if they were paper. He continued his search up north. Then south. Then at the upper left corner. Finally to the bottom right.
He became more desperate, the minutes ticking by, still calling his brother's name routinely. The lack of audible noise from any animal or human disturbed him – fearing the worst has befallen on Agent.
When he completed his search to find Agent's body beneath the broken observatory to be fruitless, he extended his black claws and started digging into the ground.
Kai began to dig into the ground at such amazing speed that no digger or for that matter any industrial equipment could compare. He dug several metres into the ground until he heard a clank. It was metal! The ceiling of one the bottom floors of the building.
He punctured the metal ceiling with his claws and pulled open the metal frame with ease to form a large enough gap so he could fit through.
He entered the opening and landed on one of the ground floors.
"I've been here before! This is one of the underground levels to Agent's base. My man Agent told me a while ago that he has a secret room or bunker down here for emergencies and he told me the instructions on how to get there. I bet he is chilling right now all safe and sound." Kai took a heroic and self-assured pose with a determined smile. There was a brief pause. "Uh… All I need to do is take a left then go down and take a right, right? Or was it down, right, then… whatever bruh it will come to me as I go."
Kai travelled throughout the underground network. This place is big. Did Agent add more rooms or is it just me? Just keep on going Kai, Agent has got to be here. "Agent! Are you there?! It's me Kai!"
Kai eventually passed by a turned off moderator lying on the ground. He looked at it and gave it a few light kicks to make sure it was actually down. It was motionless. Kai shrugged and moved on. The lights of the moderator turned on and made small beeping sounds to relay a message to the other robots around the facility.
Weird. I thought there would be more robots. Then again I did destroy a ton of them. He noticed an open room with no wall and a giant hook dangling. This intrigued him and he peered into the abyss below. "Woah… this was definitely not here before."
Looks like the perfect place for Agent's secret lair. Here goes nothing.
Kai leaped off the edge without a care. Before he crashed to the bottom of the floor he used the claws of his right hand and dug into the side of the cave to slow his descent and come to a stop. He pulled his hand out and retracted his claws.
"Hello? Agent?"
Standing before Kai was a gigantic metal door and on his right side was a hallway filled with a bunch of doors. He focused on the giant door.
The Secret Room!
"Agent! I'm here. It's me, Kai. I got your call – the robot guy is down!"
No response.
"It's sealed shut from out here! I can't find any knobs, locks or keypads Agent!"
He's not responding! Is he hurt?
"Agent back away from the door as far as you can. I'm coming through!"
Kai got into a fighting stance and slashed the bottom door and went into the sealed room.
"Agent! Agent?"
No response.
"It's so dark in here. Is this the wrong room?" He searched the dark room and found nothing. He turned around to make his way out of the room when suddenly he got goosebumps and quickly turned around.
Nothing.
He could have sworn he felt like something was going to grab him. He made his way out of the room through the breach he made and walked into the hallway. He noticed the first door to the left was open. The hallway didn't fit the observatory aesthetic and instead appeared as if it were taken from a prison.
Following closely behind him was a slimy appendage. It branched out and entered each room with Kai unaware as his attention was on the open door.
Kai slowly opened the door even more so he could go into the room.
"Hello?"
The room was spacious but it only had a few furnishings: one hospital bed, a dimly lit lamp with an incandescent bulb, and a cabinet. There was something on the bed. It was covered by a black blanket on top. A few wires extended from underneath the blanket and connected to an electronic device that sat on top of the cabinet. It displayed multiple waves overlaid on top of each other and it was certainly no heart monitor.
Kai approached the bed and with a dart of his hands pulled the blanket.
He gasped and fell on the floor!
It was Angel! It wasn't the presence of an unfamiliar person that scared Kai. It was the fact that his head and spine were the only things left of him but he was alive, his face blank staring off into the ceiling. Jutting out from his spine was what appeared to be nerves or roots and then the end of them sprouted roses.
The roses were connected to electrical wires which lead to the monitor and the rest of the electronic device on top of the cabinet. "Roses… roses… roses…" said Angel, unperturbed by Kai.
"Hey! Are you okay?! What happened to you?" asked Kai as he got back up on his feet. Angel didn't respond and continued saying the red flower's name in repetition.
Kai was unsure of what to do. "Do-don't worry, we'll help you. Agent–"
"AHHHHHHHHHHHH!" screamed Angel.
Kai was terrified and cupped his ears together with his hands.
"Please stop!" yelled Kai. The screaming did not cease. Almost by instinct Kai yanked the wires connected to the electronic device and the roses. The screaming stopped and Angel slowly closed his eyes.
Kai couldn't bear to observe what he had just done. He placed both his hands on his head and began apologising. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to. I panicked. I didn't know. I'm sorry. I'm sorry."
Thud.
He turned around. He knew he heard something – he was sure of it. He extended his claws and slowly approached the hallway and out of the room.
All was quiet except for the drips of water from the stalagmite.
Suddenly an incredible force blew Kai through the hallway and onto a wall. He clenched his teeth and his eyes rolled back in his head.
There were a few robots standing over Rage and they were being joined by others who survived the fight against Kai by leaving the underground network of the base through the secret exit at the back of the hill during Rage's battle. Most of the robots were grunts but there were nine subs and two mods.
"This isn't good. Rage is out and Kai is still alive and searching for Agent in the base. We just got confirmation from a mod. What do we do?" wondered a sub.
Out of nowhere, as if a blessing from the heavens, Rage began to cough.
"He's alive!" cheered a grunt.
Rage coughed and spattered more blood from his mouth as he gasped for breath. He had deep cuts littered throughout his body, however, there was a strange phenomena occurring.
"Hey look at that!" exclaimed the grunt pointing at Rage's wounds. They had a green glow to them, an aura of malice. The green colour seemed to be antagonistic. Wherever the green glows were on Rage's body, the cuts in the location began to grow larger.
Rage's body began the healing process and the blue energy started to course throughout his body where his wounds were and clashed with the green energy.
"What is that?!" asked the grunt.
"..." said the sub.
Rage opened his eyes and looked around to see his robots surrounding him, all looking at him with concern.
"What happened?" Rage asked weakly lying on the ground.
"We don't know. We weren't outside watching your fight with Kai. We were still recovering from our fight with him in the facility and making our way here. One of our scouts, a mod, saw your body here and called for reinforcements and so here we are."
Rage tried to get up but he couldn't.
"Aaaahh," said Rage. "It hurts."
He managed to pull himself to a crouched position and his wounds began to open up despite the healing process – the green aura still fighting against his blue healing energy.
"Rage, please refrain from moving and lie down. You are making your wounds open up," said Chat. Rage lied back on the ground.
"Chat. What the hell happened to me back there. One second I was choking Kai and the next second I–"
"You were on the ground cut to bits," said Chat, completing his remark.
"Yeah…" Rage was still gasping, exasperated from the attack.
"I don't think that attack was from Kai. It was from someone else."
"Someone else?"
"I don't know who but that attack was on a completely different level. I tried to compute the force to see how strong it was but I could not get any number. It was as if some object phased through your body and shattered everything. Now you are dealing with the after effects. Look down and see for yourself."
Rage did as he was told and was startled. "Huh?!" said Rage. He saw the green energy fighting with the blue energy at the locations of his wounds. He moved one finger on his left hand to touch and then… SLICE!
"Aaaaaah!!"
Rage's finger got cut as if an invisible dagger was used against him. The robots all audibly gasped and bent over to check if he was ok.
"Don't worry I'm… ah… ok," said Rage with sweat forming on his face.
"This green stuff was all over you when we found you but now it has shrunk quite a bit," reported a grunt.
"I think it's pretty obvious that this green energy assaulting your body is from the sneak attack," said Chat. "When I tried to heal your body I was able to reduce the size of the green areas by 37%."
"So…63…percent… left… huh…" huffed Rage.
"Correct," answered Chat.
Rage tried to get up to stand but the injuries overtook him and he collapsed onto the ground.
"Rage! Please don't make any unnecessary movements. I need to completely focus our remaining energy to heal. This attack is quite stubborn to remove using the healing process. It's like it actively knows what I am trying to do and overrides my efforts."
"How much energy do I have left?" asked Rage.
"..."
"Chat?" said Rage. "How much… energy… do I have… left?"
"Two percent…"
The atmosphere suddenly became grim and dark upon the revelation of this new info. Silence. The breeze and wind travelled through the tense environment.
"That's not all Chat sir," said one of the subs. "We just got confirmation that Kai is still alive from one of our mods. He has fully recovered as if nothing happened. He is currently in the underground facility looking for Agent."
At this news one of the grunts began to panic putting its hands on his head. "Oh no! What are we going to do?! The last time we fought him we couldn't even scratch him – not even the mods were able to hold him back for long. Without Rage we're doomed!"
"Silence C-81!" scolded a sub. The name of this substitute was B-8.
"How many robots do we have left?" asked Rage, still on the ground and exhausted.
"We have 44 grunts, 17 subs, and 4 mods left for a total of 65 robots. Kai destroyed the rest of the 300 robots in our army."
"..." said Rage.
"What do we do now?" complained C-81.
All the robots began to think for a moment before Chat broke the silence. Chat was able to converse with the other robots via a digital connection.
"Hey. Did you guys feel it?" said Chat.
"Feel it?" said a sub.
"I felt a gigantic second energy signature emitted from the far east just after Rage used his last energy blast on Kai."
"Yeah! Now that you mention it I did! The encoded message was in binary." exclaimed a grunt.
The subs grew quiet as if they knew something about that location.
"I decoded the binary sequence and it said: 'find me' over and over again."
"Creepy!" said some of the grunts shivering together.
"I think we should go there and see what's there," said Chat.
"Are you sure? I mean shouldn't we prioritise healing Rage?"
"As I have said, Rage has 2% energy left. It is not enough to heal him…" Chat took quick notice of this robot's sudden change in demeanour. "Why are you acting so nervous all of a sudden?"
"Nervous. Chat sir, I assure you–"
"You're hiding something from us. Disclose what you know and I won't consider you a traitor."
"Alright. I'll come clean. I know what's there – the thing that gave that signal."
Rage and Chat was surprised as he stared up at the sub.
"Well I don't know exactly what it is so let me start from the beginning," said the sub. He swung his axe over his shoulder and prepared to tell the story.
"The reason for our creation, the reason for our existence was to fulfil this mission – to reach the egg."
"Egg?" said Rage.
"This is what Agent called it. Roko's egg to be precise. Now before I begin I strongly recommend we should head to the site right away – I will report all that I know to the best of my ability. I fear with Kai being so close we should gain as much distance from him as we possibly can. You, C-29," the substitute pointed at a grunt, "break that tree over there as quietly as you can. We shall create a makeshift stretcher using that tree – the wood will be used as the base or mattress of the stretcher and use any sufficient branches or twigs and tie it around Rage to hold him in place."
"Yes sir!" saluted C-29.
"We must protect Rage at all costs. For this reason I suggest we bring all of us on your journey."
"All of the robots? Do you not think this is a bit excessive?" said Chat.
"Chat sir, with all due respect, we don't have much time to discuss this. We must leave here at once before it's too late!" the substitute, kneeled down and placed its arm over his chest in a salute. "Please, trust me Rage, Chat…" said B-8, the sincerity of this substitute's gestures did not elude both Rage and his AI companion.
"If Rage agrees then I will agree," remarked Chat.
"Whatever," sighed Rage.
Rage's energy level increased to 3%.
"Is that a yes?" asked Chat.
"Yeah," said Rage, following a mumble beneath his breath, "bunch of dumb bots."
His energy level increased to 4%.
"Thank you sir. Thank you for believing in me," said the substitute, bowing his head repeatedly in a chivalrous manner.
"However," interrupted Chat, "I do not think it to be wise that we take all of the robots for this mission. I understand that Kai is a definite threat which is why we leave some bots behind to keep tabs on him. They can pretend to be deactivated bots lying on the ground and be our eyes and ears within the facility. I think we should bring 34 grunts, 17 subs, and 3 mods with us."
"Why are we leaving behind 10 grunts and a mod?" said B-8.
"We do so because we can station these grunts evenly throughout the entire underground facility. Thus we leave the weaker models to act as our eyes and ears and take the stronger models – grunts and subs to act as a last line of defence for Rage."
"What about the last mod? We have 4 mods in total, not 3."
"It is simple. We will leave that mod on the outside of the observatory, keeping an aerial view of the place just in case Kai leaves and goes outside."
"I understand," answered the substitute.
"Before I commence the relaying of the instructions, do you have anything to say Rage? You have the final say."
"Aight. Go ahead," said Rage with a growly voice. He was straining in pain due to the ongoing assault of the green energy."
"Very well," said Chat as it relayed the instructions. The robots were split up into two groups: stay behind or go outside. The robots acted as a hive mind automatically knowing what each individual robot was required of them and which position best suited the collective. The outside designated bots made their way to the nearest exit silently to avoid attracting Kai's attention, wherever he may be.
In the meantime, C-29 brought over a tree and ripped it in half. The other robots helped gather twigs and branches to be used as rope to hold Rage onto the stretcher, tying the branches and twigs around his body.
The grunts were about to carry and transfer Rage onto the wooden stretcher when suddenly B-8 gave a cry. "Don't touch the green marks on Rage!" but the warning came too late. The grunts touched the green marks on Rage's body.
"Aaaaah–uh?" said one of the grunts. "Huh? My hand didn't get sliced. See?" as the robot repeatedly touched the green energy emanating from Rage's cuts as the robots noted nothing happened.
"Hm. It appears that the green energy from that attack is solely targeting Rage and no one else," analysed Chat.
The grunts, still cautious, hesitantly picked up Rage and gently placed him on the makeshift stretcher and tied him up.
"There!" exclaimed C-29. "You can count on us! After all we are…" Two other grunts hurriedly ran over beside C-29 standing side by side to form a line. C-29 raised both of its arms up at an angle while keeping his two feet firmly planted on the ground together to form the letter 'Y.' The second grunt to his left side twisted its body to form the letter 'R' and while the third robot to the second grunt's left side twisted its body to form the letter 'G."
"Y. R. G!!!!!" the three grunts screamed in unison. The robots spelled the abbreviation with their bodies.
No one was amused.
"YRG?" asked Chat.
"Yeah. It stands for Your Rage Gang!" exclaimed C-29.
"Oh brother…" grunted Rage.
"We are YRG. We can do anything!" said the C-29 while the other two grunts started dancing behind him. "This is amazing! I've never felt more alive!"
"That is enough fooling around!" barked B-8. Immediately the three grunts cowered in fear and hugged each other.
It was at this moment, the rest of the robots of the "outside" group within the underground facility began to make their way out of the secret entrance of the garage door in the hill and reunited with Rage and the rest of the robots.
"Now that most of us are here, let us head east to the source of the signal. Lead the way B-8."
B-8 proudly marched onwards to the east with the rest of the army behind him. To his side was Rage in his stretcher carried by C-29 in the front and another grunt, C-33. Over them hovered in the sky was a moderator, A-6, keeping an aerial view of the destroyed observatory for any signs of movement.
The army, or what the grunts referred to as YRG, trekked through the forest that is east of the observatory. The Floridian forest was thick and filled with vegetation – an odd scene for robots to be in. The trees winded and twisted up and over each other to the sky and the soil was rich in a vibrant orange.
"The site of the signal is around 4 miles from here. With our speed we can reach the site within 30 minutes," remarked B-8.
"Very good. Now that we are on the move, why don't you tell us what you know?" said Chat.
"Of course. Starting from the beginning, I was manufactured in the facility for combat and self-defence purposes. In fact, all B-models or 'robo-knights' as you refer to us are made for the same purpose hence our design and specs. We were tasked with keeping guard of the facility in the underground and with "scouting" missions outside the observatory. We were told to explore the surrounding land to look for anything suspicious. We asked Agent what he meant by 'suspicious' and he said we would know."
"I continued my duties until one day Agent noticed in his observatory a spark fly in the sky and it landed in the east. I was outside and I saw the glimmering dot too. Given its brightness I thought it was a meteorite. I was expecting the sound of its impact once it hit the ground but not a single bump or thud came from afar. I figured the object burned up in the atmosphere, despite this, I made my report to Agent. Immediately he formulated a scouting group consisting of 10 substitutes to head to its estimated impact crater. As we embarked on our journey to the crater we noticed that amount of vegetation started to dwindle in density. The farther along we moved to the impact zone the more oddities we found along the way. For example, we saw a bunch of animal carcasses. Upon closer inspection we found perfect circular holes have been punctured into the animals. Not only that but the locations of where we found these carcasses presented another problem. We found some dead animals sprawled across in the trees. We even found a few dead gators on top of the trees with the same markings. Our findings created a sense of urgency within us and we decided to fly to our location to get a better view of the landscape and what I saw I will never forget."
"A few miles away we saw a silver pond. The surrounding vegetation and animals were all dead. All the trees within a meter radius of the pond were completely destroyed into wood chunks. My scouting parting flew overhead the silver pond to take a closer look. There was no crater – only a circle of destroyed vegetation with a silver egg in the centre. Everything was quiet. There were no sounds of animals or leaves blowing in the wind – it was barren. Then out of nowhere a thin metal spike flew right by me at an incredible speed. When I turned my head to look up I saw that the metal appendage sprung from the pond struck a buzzard flying above me – probably attracted to the dead animals across the forest. The straight appendage curved and flicked the buzzard away into the forest. The scouting party decided that we had collected enough information and rendezvous back to the observatory to report our findings to Agent. When we did all he could do was laugh. That's all I know about the signal site."
"This mission is cancelled," stated Chat.
"Huh?!" responded the robots.
"Whatever that thing is, it is clearly hostile to living organisms. Haven't you stopped to consider Rage is a human being?"
"Of course I did but after receiving the signal I feel like it's calling to Rage. It was done after he released that high energy attack at Kai after all," said B-8.
"It is still too risky," said Chat.
"Besides, with Kai active it wouldn't be too long until he comes across the experiments."
The remark alerted both Rage and Chat.
"Experiments? What experiments?" asked Chat.
"The chimeras..."