Rip was running at a break-neck pace, carrying Thebes the whole way; there was no way she could outrun these monsters so dragging her along was her best chance at survival (and his best chance of getting paid). He let off a wild blast from his NG-57. It was a lucky shot. It hit the nearest one leaving a scorch mark square in the chest, but it didn’t seem to phase the thing one bit. “Damnit!” he screamed. “Thebes, I don’t suppose you have any idea what these fraggers are!”
“Um, shit, lemmie think a minute,” Thebes was at a loss for words, which wasn’t a good sign. She was always happy to brag about all the stuff she knew about. With every passing second, Rip grew more unnerved. Thebes could identify just about every creepy, crawly D-Bee or supernatural being that walked the earth and she had never seen these, whatever kind of spidery things they were.
“Maybe they’re automated guardians,” Thebes conjectured as Rip let off another blast from his gun more out of blind hope than anything else. It had the same result as before.
“Wait a second. Now you’re guessing?” Rip roared in fury as he looked back to see the two spider-like creatures were gaining fast. He was hot-footing it to the tunnel, but he wasn’t sure he was going to make it. “I thought you were supposed to be some great know-it-all rogue scholar.”
“There’s a reason I’m a scholar, juice-for-brains. I haven’t learned everything yet!”
Rip let off another blast as he trod harder and harder towards the tunnel. It was his only hope. These things were clearly out of his league. They were way too big, and his ion guns were just tickling them. His mind flirted with the idea of leaving Thebes behind, but even that would probably distract only one of them, and even if it worked, he wouldn’t get paid. He had an idea, but he would have to get inside the tunnel first.
One thing was certain, it did seem like Thebes’ guess was right. As he glanced over his shoulder for another blast, he got the distinct feeling that they looked robotic in some way. Perhaps it was the way they were shaped, or the way their legs moved, but it just wasn’t organic. He could also swear he saw some kind of long tubes protruding from their chests which he presumed to be cannons of some sort. That brought him to a new realization—if they did have guns, they hadn’t used them yet, meaning the robots may have been ordered to capture and not kill. He wasn’t sure if that made him feel better or worse.
The tunnel was getting closer. He could already see the faint drafts of air that outlined it within the extent of his thermal vision. The last time he had turned around to catch sight of the ‘bots the metal wall was out of view. Closer now. The ‘bots felt like they were on his heels. With every foot step he could feel the pounding of their metal legs get closer and closer. He knew they were ‘bots for certain now. He could hear the grinding of gears, the whirling of internal belts, the faint scent of electricity in the air. He could almost feel the wind in their steps. He stopped worrying about turning to shoot and focused all his energy on making that last final sprint for the tunnel. He engaged in a mental exercise he had learned up north from another juicer to instill a false sense of terror, even though these creatures didn’t really horrify him. This induced his bio-comp to increase his adrenaline, giving him a slight increase in speed. It wasn’t much, and he would pay for it later, but it might just be enough to get to the tunnel in time.
When he could see the tunnel within a few leaps and strides he quickly performed the following maneuvers. First, he tossed his NG-57 inside as far up the tunnel as it would go. Then he ripped the top half of his grenade belt off, telling Thebes to hold on to the two parts, five grenades on each side. As he made his first stride he slid one finger and a thumb into each grenade pin. On his second stride, he yanked the pins out. On the third stride he chucked the top half of his grenade belt down towards the exit then kept running like hell up the tunnel, stopping only briefly to grab his gun. A few moments later a great tremor shook the tunnel as the grenades exploded, throwing rock and dust violently about and tossing Rip and Thebes to the ground. Then all was quiet.
“Um, shit, lemmie think a minute,” Thebes was at a loss for words, which wasn’t a good sign. She was always happy to brag about all the stuff she knew about. With every passing second, Rip grew more unnerved. Thebes could identify just about every creepy, crawly D-Bee or supernatural being that walked the earth and she had never seen these, whatever kind of spidery things they were.
“Maybe they’re automated guardians,” Thebes conjectured as Rip let off another blast from his gun more out of blind hope than anything else. It had the same result as before.
“Wait a second. Now you’re guessing?” Rip roared in fury as he looked back to see the two spider-like creatures were gaining fast. He was hot-footing it to the tunnel, but he wasn’t sure he was going to make it. “I thought you were supposed to be some great know-it-all rogue scholar.”
“There’s a reason I’m a scholar, juice-for-brains. I haven’t learned everything yet!”
Rip let off another blast as he trod harder and harder towards the tunnel. It was his only hope. These things were clearly out of his league. They were way too big, and his ion guns were just tickling them. His mind flirted with the idea of leaving Thebes behind, but even that would probably distract only one of them, and even if it worked, he wouldn’t get paid. He had an idea, but he would have to get inside the tunnel first.
One thing was certain, it did seem like Thebes’ guess was right. As he glanced over his shoulder for another blast, he got the distinct feeling that they looked robotic in some way. Perhaps it was the way they were shaped, or the way their legs moved, but it just wasn’t organic. He could also swear he saw some kind of long tubes protruding from their chests which he presumed to be cannons of some sort. That brought him to a new realization—if they did have guns, they hadn’t used them yet, meaning the robots may have been ordered to capture and not kill. He wasn’t sure if that made him feel better or worse.
The tunnel was getting closer. He could already see the faint drafts of air that outlined it within the extent of his thermal vision. The last time he had turned around to catch sight of the ‘bots the metal wall was out of view. Closer now. The ‘bots felt like they were on his heels. With every foot step he could feel the pounding of their metal legs get closer and closer. He knew they were ‘bots for certain now. He could hear the grinding of gears, the whirling of internal belts, the faint scent of electricity in the air. He could almost feel the wind in their steps. He stopped worrying about turning to shoot and focused all his energy on making that last final sprint for the tunnel. He engaged in a mental exercise he had learned up north from another juicer to instill a false sense of terror, even though these creatures didn’t really horrify him. This induced his bio-comp to increase his adrenaline, giving him a slight increase in speed. It wasn’t much, and he would pay for it later, but it might just be enough to get to the tunnel in time.
When he could see the tunnel within a few leaps and strides he quickly performed the following maneuvers. First, he tossed his NG-57 inside as far up the tunnel as it would go. Then he ripped the top half of his grenade belt off, telling Thebes to hold on to the two parts, five grenades on each side. As he made his first stride he slid one finger and a thumb into each grenade pin. On his second stride, he yanked the pins out. On the third stride he chucked the top half of his grenade belt down towards the exit then kept running like hell up the tunnel, stopping only briefly to grab his gun. A few moments later a great tremor shook the tunnel as the grenades exploded, throwing rock and dust violently about and tossing Rip and Thebes to the ground. Then all was quiet.
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