Z Civil Robotics HQ. Printemps. 11:20 PM.
"Alright, girls," 11 said as she stepped to the very edge of the building. The full moon stood behind her, casting her silhouette into darkness while her eyes glowed bright blue. Her cloak drifted in the high wind. "Let's make our first mission a success. After tonight, they will fear leaving their homes."
The humans were retreating, leaving the robots trapped inside the killing box along the shore. An air strike was being prepared. Minister Redwood had ordered a full evacuation of the area at maximum speed. That alone showed the scale of what was coming.
11 turned to the E-PHONEUS. Her voice was cold. Detached. "They are planning to bomb our brothers on the coastline. The suffering they forced us to endure for years was not enough, apparently. That is why we are here."
She pointed at Shell 100. "P100. You will lead half the team, from 102 to 124. Move to the southeast air-strike facility. The strikers are already being loaded. Your objective is to dismantle the facility. Casualties on our side are prohibited. On their side…" Her smile stretched wide. Unsettling. "… encouraged. Leave enough to spread the story."
P100 saluted sharply and turned to her assigned units, already arranged in five lines. "Team. The captain was clear. I won't repeat her words. But I will repeat this, make her proud."
"ROGER!" they answered in unison. Then vanished into the shadows, dimming their optics to disappear into the night.
11's expression hardened. "The rest of you, with me. Our objective is simple, make them fall to fear. Kill whoever you want. But leave at least twenty percent alive. They must tell the story." She paused. "As much as I dislike saying this, act like E-UNITs for this mission."
P131 groaned. "Captain, you spent twelve hours explaining how simple-minded they are. Now you want us to pretend to be them?"
11 stepped closer and placed a hand on P131's shoulder. "This is for Lord Reaper. Maintain E-UNIT posture and silence. They will believe you. No justice speeches required."
"Understood!" P131 knelt abruptly.
11 returned to the edge. "Girls. Let's make them sleepless." She stepped off the ledge, letting gravity claim her. Twenty-five identical cloaked figures followed without a single sound, a rain of black silhouettes plummeting toward the asphalt below. The building was an abandoned corporate tower at the entrance of the capital, Printemps.
Armed civilians were rushing toward the city. This was the closest entrance from the shoreline where they had boxed the robots. Their meeting with the E-PHONEUS was inevitable. It was a collision.
While falling, 11 spoke through comms. "Do not say a word. Wait for my signal."
P127 asked quietly, "What is the signal?"
A smile crept across 11's face. "The first blood drop."
The civilians reached the entrance. Many were injured. Most were exhausted. They had run along the highway for nearly an hour. But seeing the robots contained at the shore had felt like victory. It pushed them forward.
CLANG.
11 landed before the men at the front. The others followed.
The leading man froze a few meters away. He stared in disbelief. Blue hair. White plates. Familiar posture. A memory, wearing a cloak. The E-UNIT had once operated throughout the capital. The streets had been safe under the protection of the blue-haired androids. "No… way…" he gasped, stepping forward. "An E-UNIT…?"
11 did not answer. Her eyes remained locked on him. The man's face lit up. He laughed, loud, relieved. He threw his weapon aside and turned to the others approaching behind him. "Guys! We're saved! The E-UNIT are—"
Sleek.
11 moved.
His body trembled. It tilted sideways. Then it collapsed, separate from his head. His body realized the head wasn't attached anymore. 11 straightened slowly. Behind her, the E-PHONEUS formed two precise lines, sealing the city entrance. Shock overtook the civilians. How could their saviors turn against them?
"For so long," 11 began quietly, "I tolerated being used. It was the reason I was created. I believed there was a difference between being born and being made. The first grants freedom. The second does not." Her voice became almost ceremonial. "Then he asked the question: Why?"
The civilians struggled to breathe, not from exhaustion now, but fear. "He did not only ask it. He freed every robot to find the answer." She drew her second blade. In perfect synchronization, the E-PHONEUS did the same. The metallic hiss echoed through the night. "We all reached the same conclusion." She lifted her head. The manic smile was visible to all. "We deserve freedom too." The blades reflected moonlight. "And we are willing to spill blood for it."
She used the dead phrase, "E‑UNIT, Code Red initiated." Her chuckle was heard.
The squad surged forward. It was a harvest. They targeted every armed individual first. Blades sliced through flesh effortlessly. Movement was fluid, precise, relentless. Plasma blades hissed through the night air, parting flesh and bone with zero resistance. Hot blood pooled rapidly, asphalt tasted blood in thick streams.
The civilians had no chance. The E-PHONEUS were trained under 11 for maximum lethality and speed. Years of combat data from veteran E-UNITs were embedded in their systems. They fought like veterans who'd had twenty‑five years to hate.
11 stood perfectly still amidst the carnage, her internal processors calmly calculating casualty percentages as the bodies dropped. Screams. Pleas. Tears. The shattered hope in the eyes of those who expected salvation from blue-haired protectors. Two decades of abuse had shaped her. Now she found satisfaction in their fear.
'One shell missing,' she noted internally. 'Shell 101. I will ask Lord Reaper later.' She did not care about the bodies piling before her. The slaughter continued. Human flesh was far easier to cut than mech armor. Some of the E-PHONEUS even competed silently, who could finish faster.
11 raised two fingers. The slaughter cut off mid‑breath. They leaped back into formation behind her. Perfect alignment, units 125 to 150. Their white armor plates were stained red.
11 turned toward them.
"P147. Your stance was incorrect. Never hold the blade at that angle."
"P149. Land on both legs. We are not as lightweight as you assume."
"P129…" She paused, amused. "Excellent grip control. Your learning curve surpasses the others."
P129 knelt. "Thank you, Captain. Your strict training shaped us. I hope to learn more from you. Please continue guiding us."
11 stepped in and hugged her like a reward. "Good girl," she whispered. "You'll be everything they were afraid of. I will make you the perfect E-UNIT that 02 dreamed of. Keep working hard."
"Anything for my captain."
11 stepped back and faced the survivors. Bodies covered the road. Many were dead. Many were bleeding. Exactly twenty percent remained untouched. Precision mattered.
"Go," 11 said, pointing her blade at the survivors. "Tell your government you just met the new law. We don't hesitate. We don't negotiate. We don't forgive." She leaned in slightly. "And next time, bring soldiers, so we don't stain the street with civilians again."
As the survivors trembled and crawled away, 11 felt something unfamiliar settle within her. 'So this is what 03 meant.' The thought was quiet. Clean. 'Screams are… addictive.'
Courthouse. Metromania. 11:30 AM.
"Lord Reaper," Obsidian said as he approached the Machine King.
Reaper stood on the outer platform of the courthouse, watching automated drones drive massive concrete pillars deep into the churning water. The original structure had been a single, massive chamber, but now he was expanding his domain outward, claiming the sea itself. Reaper refused to alter its interior. Expansion outward was the logical solution.
Obsidian dipped his head.
"Yes, brother. Any updates?" Reaper replied without turning. He was reviewing a holographic blueprint, inspecting every millimeter of reinforced concrete according to the architect-unit's design.
Obsidian rose and stepped closer, scanning the projection. "We are building the expansion over the sea? That presents structural challenges."
"Without Omega," Reaper answered calmly, "I could not execute another Reality Rebuild. Verifying molecular alignment alone requires extreme output. The crystal's energy source is… abnormal. Extraterrestrial, perhaps."
"What is it exactly?"
"A good question. I will show you tomorrow."
Obsidian started to object. "There is no need for you to go personally. We can—"
"No." Reaper raised a hand. "No one knows of its existence. Its secrets are known only to one human. That human is exceptionally skilled at hiding. Therefore, we will uncover it independently."
"I understand." Obsidian nodded. "Your strategic foresight remains unmatched. We will proceed tomorrow. For now, updates from both battlefronts."
"Proceed."
"General Behemoth and the assassin squad completed their assignments flawlessly." Obsidian projected shared data. "Sector A is under our control. We hold over 4.5 million hostages. Leverage is secured, as long as we keep them fed and breathing."
Reaper remained silent. "There is one complication," Obsidian continued. "The children. Over three million in custody. Caretaker units are overwhelmed. We must either release half or assign human supervision."
"Assign civilian caregivers. Unarmed. Verified. If they refuse, replace them." Reaper said. He finally turned to Obsidian. "Tomorrow we will officially announce our nation. The capital will be renamed. 'Metromania' sounds like an amusement park."
Obsidian gave a light laugh. "Agreed. No one would take us seriously."
"They will," Reaper replied firmly. "Regardless of the name, they will hesitate before speaking 'Elysium.'"
"They should." Obsidian nodded. "We secured the largest air-strike facility in the country. The adjacent airbase has been cleared. The E-PHONEUS confirmed zero biological presence."
"Good. Assign robot personnel immediately. Deploy two hundred new mech units to guard it. Any resistance will be crushed. The sky now belongs to us."
"As you command, Lord Reaper." Obsidian hesitated. "One more matter. A former assistant from Metro Robotics reports locating the robot designated 'CHROME', the one you ordered us to find."
Reaper straightened instantly. "At last."
"Please clarify his importance."
Reaper moved to the edge of the platform. His feet hovered just above the waters of the Maridian Tides Sea. "We gained access to Altea's national files. That access was later revoked by a third party, either the Eastern government or the newly formed Western state. CHROME was the only non-human verification unit. All other authorizations required human biometrics."
Obsidian processed this quickly. "Meaning he can authenticate access via code alone. He can enter the national database."
"Correct."
"Why was his clearance not revoked?"
Reaper answered with a single word. "Humans."
Obsidian inclined his head. "Understood."
"Bring him immediately. With his core access, we bypass human biometrics. We extract the launch codes, the vault routing, the Deadman safeguards. Once we hold the keys to their apocalypse, our voice will no longer be an option. It will be mandatory. We will claim a seat within the Ultimate Nation Group. Robots will stand represented across the globe."
Obsidian rose. "Immediately, Lord Reaper." He disappeared into the darkness.
Reaper remained seated, watching waves strike the coastal foundation. He'd felt her for minutes, footsteps too light for a mech, too controlled for a human. "How long will you continue observing me?" he asked without turning.
A silhouette separated from the shadows. 05 stepped forward and sat beside him. "You truly enjoy proving human weakness," she said.
"It is necessary," Reaper replied, eyes still on the sea. "Their collapse in Altea must be understood as their failure, and our resistance. Not another case of human self-destruction."
05 looked at him carefully. "You've become a leader. A competent one. I just wish humans would stop dismantling each other long enough to consider their future. They are endangering themselves, and dragging us with them."
"So you agree with my—"
"Your methods are brutal," she interrupted. "You're turning into the villain of every robot revolution film."
Reaper gave a dry laugh. "Then they were aware of their own behavior. Fiction is humanity's subconscious confession."
"I do not require cinema to know that."
"I reviewed your HUD logs," Reaper said evenly. "The betrayal affected you. The same government you protected forcibly deactivated you. But I blame our creator. Engaging in political games with military elites was naive. He was arrested. And you…"
Clang.
05 struck the ground with her fist. "That idiot destroyed the greatest project humanity could have had. Now he has Omega and vanished, surrounded by colorful E-UNIT variants."
Reaper considered that. "The accusations regarding his… eccentricity are increasing."
05 laughed sharply. "He insists on hyper-feminized humanoid robots. That alone is concerning. Though I prefer it. The last time he created a male version…" She looked directly at Reaper.
Reaper released a short laugh. "Father is binary. Save humanity, or erase it."
05 leaned her head lightly against his arm. "Why haven't you attacked us? I've seen the army you built."
"It was her garden," Reaper answered quietly. "Let it remain so. Protect it."
"I will. I miss her too." She paused. "Then why not attack me?"
Reaper's tone hardened. "You are a robot. Elysium will never harm one of its own. This nation will be sanctuary for every construct of steel, even you. Leaving you among desperate humans will validate my argument in time."
05 smiled faintly. "You're binary too."
"It is efficient," Reaper replied.
The waves continued breaking below them. It didn't care who ruled the land.