Chapter 11: Rebecca's Communication
The brief flash of relief from escaping the Slashers had vanished completely, replaced by a profound unease. They were not just hiding; they were scoped by an unknown, advanced technology.
They had fled from the teeth of a wolf pack only to find they had stumbled into a highly automated, hostile territory, and they were now the subjects of its surveillance system. This derelict town was no simple refuge; it was a fortress, and they were the trespassers who had tripped its alarms.
The unknown, hanging over them like a blade, kept them frozen in place.
Time dripped by in agonizing, absolute silence. The watcher on the roof made no move, but the pressure of its silent observation was almost enough to make Pilar break. He neurotically checked his empty ammo box, then uselessly rummaged through his toolkit for anything that could possibly be used as a weapon.
Rebecca leaned against the wall, her mind racing.
Make a run for it? They had just seen the thing's speed and precision. Bolting from the door was suicide.
Hide? It had clearly already found them. So why hadn't it attacked? Was it waiting for instructions? Or was it... assessing them?
An absurd, almost instinctive thought suddenly sparked in her brain—communication.
Maybe… maybe it could understand?
It seemed so advanced, not like the low-grade, simple-logic auto-drones she was used to. The idea was so insane she almost dismissed it. But, trapped as they were, it was better than just waiting to be flatlined.
Taking a deep breath to steady her hammering heart, Rebecca carefully crawled back to the hole in the wall.
The pale skull was still there, as if welded to the roof's edge, its red optic-lights still aimed unwavering in their direction.
She summoned every ounce of courage she had. Slowly, making her movements as non-threatening as possible, she raised one hand, stuck it just slightly out of the hole, and gave a clumsy, tentative wave.
"Hey… Hey! Over there… Mr. Skull?" Her voice was dry and cracked with tension, sounding absurdly loud in the dead silence. "Uh… hello?"
Beside her, Pilar nearly jumped out of his skin. He grabbed her pant leg, his eyes wide behind his goggles as he hissed, "Rebecca! What the fuck are you doing?! Are you insane?!"
But Rebecca ignored him, her entire focus locked on the skull.
The instant she had waved and spoken, she saw it—the crimson light in the skull's sockets seemed to flicker, as if minutely… adjusting its focus.
Its absolute stillness was broken. It was a micro-expression, but it was a definite sign that it had received her signal. This made her even more nervous, but she pressed on, forcing the words out.
"We… we mean no harm!" she yelled, trying to make her voice sound friendly, even though she was terrified. "Really! We're just a couple of unlucky gonks who got chased by those bastards. We just hid in here by accident!
"We'll leave! Right now! We'll just... go! We won't touch any of your stuff! I swear!"
Her words echoed in the empty, strangely sterile-smelling street, sounding lonely and foolish. The absurdity of explaining herself to a machine that had just efficiently exterminated an entire ganger squad almost made her want to laugh, but the feeling was choked by ice-cold fear.
The servo-skull gave no further response.
It didn't attack. It didn't leave. It gave no sign of understanding. It just continued to "watch" her with its cold, red optical sensors. The steady light felt as if it could pierce the wall and land directly on her face, analyzing her expression, her micro-movements, her vocal stress.
Rebecca's hand was still frozen in the air, her wave slowing to a halt, leaving it hanging awkwardly. The muscles in her face ached from the forced, stiff smile.
Inside, her mind was screaming.
(God, what am I doing? Talking to a tin can? It zeroed those guys without blinking—if it even had eyelids! It's definitely calculating how to flatline us both right now! Laser to the head? Or the throat? Oh shit, did that emitter on its side just move? Is it aiming at me? We're dead, we're dead, we're dead... Pilar, I'm sorry, I think I just got us zeroed...)
Her internal monologue was a cascade of desperate panic, but on the outside, she held the pained, awkward expression of "goodwill" as she slowly, so slowly, retracted her arm.
Time seemed to congeal again. Every second was a judgment.
Then, just as Rebecca felt she was about to suffocate, the servo-skull did something completely unexpected.
Its metal jaw moved, just slightly, almost imperceptibly. It clicked open and shut once.
No sound came from it, but the motion was clear.
Immediately after, the crimson light in its sockets changed frequency, flashed rapidly a few times, and then returned to its steady, ominous glow.
Then, the entire skull slowly, smoothly, moved backward about half a meter. It was still watching, but the subtle retreat, the jaw-click, and the flash of light… it felt like a response.
A non-verbal, mechanical, but definite response, as if to say: "Message received. Maintain position. Await further instruction."
Rebecca stared, her mouth open. She couldn't process it.
What… what did that mean?
She scrambled back from the hole and looked at Pilar, who looked just as baffled.
"It… it moved, right?" Pilar stammered. "It didn't shoot you?"
"It… I think it… 'answered'?" Rebecca's voice was filled with a dazed confusion, the terror momentarily replaced by profound bewilderment. "It moved back a little… and did a thing with its chin… and the lights flashed…"
The two stared at each other, completely unable to comprehend this mechanical behavior that was so far outside their experience.
But, for now, it seemed their awkward attempt at diplomacy had not resulted in immediate annihilation.
They were still trapped. Still being watched. But the taut string of immediate death seemed to have loosened, just a little.
Now, their only hope rested on the skull's master, who was still on his way back.
What, or who, were they waiting for?