The best part about riding a motor on a potentially unknown and dangerous planet was that you couldn't worry about anything else. As I rode across sandy mountains, neither John Crowrift nor the Supreme World Republic crossed my mind. The only thing I was thinking about was how to conquer the next sand dune with Jose clinging to the back of my motor, his wheels trailing behind me.
Along the sandy path, I was blessed to see many strange aliens. One of them was a snake that glowed green as if it had been dipped in chemicals. Another was a colossal scorpion that I assumed could generate energy with the crystals on its back. Far off the sandy trail, I'd seen walking plants, their leaves spread wide like a bear welcoming a hug. Most of the insects had skins that shimmered blue, and as they walked, their sandy footprints remained on the ground for a long time, marked with a blue stain.
When the motor started running low on fuel, Jose even caught a giant centipede with his spear and poured its blood into our motor's pipes. The sudden spike on the fuel gauge left me astonished at how much energy these creatures could store.
"Jose," I'd said, revving the motor, "we didn't forget anything on the ship, did we?"
"I retrieved the simulation data and am keeping it in the safe in my stomach. Your helmet is on your head, and we acquired some provisions."
But for some reason, I felt restless. Something felt missing. Yes! Yes! I realized it then. I was desperately craving disinfectant. The piece of tissue Hulk had given me to keep me alive craved disinfectant so much that it was eating me from the inside. The headache had become unbearable.
"Did we get any alcohol?"
"No, sir."
"Damn…"
***
There was a wall in front of us… A colossal metal wall stretching endlessly. We stood stuck in front of that wall with the motor we'd stolen from some mutants. Jose was busy emptying the insect he'd picked up to charge his battery into the reservoir on his back. As for me, I leaned my arms on the motor's handlebars, tapping my foot to a rhythm.
I was wearing mutant clothes, the bad part about them being that they barely covered anything outside of my privates. Whatever provided the light in the sky was scorching hot, practically baking my skin dry. In fact, Jose had been sticking burn patches from his stomach onto my scorched spots so often that there was no empty space left on my shoulder and back.
When I asked Jose why the sky was so bright, why it was so hot, he'd replied:
"Sir, yes, this planet is covered in cloud-like anomalies, but for a planet with such a high energy flow, it doesn't necessarily need to receive light from a star to be hot."
"Then why is the sky bright?"
"Perhaps it's due to a flammable gas enveloping the atmosphere, sir… Heat rises. Even our incredibly durable ship had given a temperature warning when passing through the atmosphere. You can imagine the rest…"
So, what were we doing now? For I guess 10 minutes, I sat on my motor, and Jose, clinging to the back of my motor, watched the metal wall in front of us. I'd gone and tapped on the wall a few times, but to no avail… The colossal wall seemed to let neither sound nor light pass.
"Are you sure that mutant came this way?" I asked, turning to Jose. Jose was filling his back battery with another insect. He was doing it feverishly, like a thirsty desert man.
"The mutant's blood trails…" he said, throwing the insect's corpse onto the sand. Then he pointed at the wall with his hand. "…they come right up to this wall and stop in front of it. The energy produced by its blood can be seen like a trail." He walked to the front of the motor and touched the ground. He picked up a piece of sand and held it out to me.
Suddenly, "Analyzing" appeared on my helmet's screen. Everything went pitch black, as if a filter on a pair of glasses had changed. A blue stain glowed on Jose's finger.
Above the stain, the text: "Highly dangerous flammable substance" appeared.
"One second, one second!" a voice rose from the other side of the wall. A square hole opened in the wall, and a long eye, like a snail's, extended from it. The eye came over to both of us, examining the sand on Jose's finger, while I flinched and threw myself off the motor. "Is that mutant blood?"
"Yes," Jose replied.
"I want to be sure," it said, and the eye retracted back into its hole. This time, a tongue emerged from the square hole.
When Jose rubbed his finger on the tongue, the tongue retreated back into the square hole. After some mumbling and smacking noises, the voice rose once more.
"Holy shit! Could a mutant really have passed through this wall? Guma!"
"Yes, Chief!"
"Explain this to me!"
"Sir!"
"Go immediately and lick the sand in front of the door!"
"Inside or outside the wall?"
"Inside, you idiot!"
After a while, the voices rose again.
"The robot is telling the truth, Chief! A mutant got in!"
"How is such a thing possible?!"
"I don't know, sir! I just started my shift! I have no news of a mutant." The voice sounded quite uneasy.
I stood up and brushed the sand off myself. I walked over to Jose and tried to listen to the voices coming from that square hole in the wall.
"Whose shift was it?"
"It should be Oma's shift!"
"That idiot Xerolme! We just can't fire him!"
"What can we do, Chief? You know that idiot is the manager's relative!"
At that moment, another voice was heard. "What's going on here?"
"Manager!" both voices exclaimed.
"What's all this fuss about!"
I looked at Jose. Jose looked at me.
"Manager…" this was the Chief's voice. "…a human-like being might have infiltrated!"
"Where did you get that idea?"
"From the guests outside…"
"A robot and a mutant?"
"They seem to be following a mutant, I guess… The problem is, we found the mutant's blood inside the wall too."
"How can this be possible? Guma, answer this situation!"
"Well, sir… It didn't happen on my shift."
"Whose shift was it then?"
"Oma's, sir…"
There was silence for a while. A deep sigh… While all this was happening, the only thing we saw was still the pitch-black wall.
"How could a mutant have gotten in?" the Manager asked.
"Could the mutant have disguised itself?"
"Even if it did…" the Chief said. "…you know we have certain protocols. Those who pass through the wall must undergo a DNA test. Additionally, they must be subjected to an identity investigation and a verbal interview."
"So, has any DNA test been done?" the Manager asked.
"No…"
"That despicable Oma! He comes here drunk and ruins our work. Are there any interview records?"
"No, sir…"
"Audio recording?"
"No, sir…"
"Visual recording!"
"No, sir…"
"What am I going to do with this kid… Why did he turn off these records then?" Neither the Chief nor the other answered this question. Then the manager shouted again, "Why is this idiot turning off the records?!"
"Because, sir… He hangs out with Moera during his shift."
"How so? With that four-meter creature?"
"I can explain if you'd like."
The colossal metal door closed. As I tapped my foot to a rhythm, Jose went to the side of the motor. He placed his detached laser-fingered hand on the belt at his waist. He wiped the dust-covered glass of his eyes with a cloth. Then he threw the cloth to me… I also wiped the sand off my helmet with the same cloth.
A few minutes later, that square metal door opened, and voices were heard once again.
"You!" the Manager said, turning to Jose. "Who are you?"
I was just about to speak when Jose ran over my foot with his wheel, silencing me. As I fell to the ground in pain, Jose began to speak.
"I am a robot from outside… I came as a fugitive… My master was going to kill me, so I fled to this planet for refuge."
"A classic robot story… If you've noticed, on this planet, we don't need thinking robots. Who needs thinking robots when we have the Merrets? So, the moment I saw you, I pretty much guessed your story. And who was your smuggler?"
I learned at that moment that there could be more than one entry route to this planet. I was about to jump in and say "Hun and Mun" when Jose squeezed my arm this time. The last time I spoke, he had to fight a space gorilla. That's why Jose being this cautious was normal.
"I cannot give my smuggler's name. As per our agreement…"
"Interesting… Chief, would you check the illegal entry logs? What were the last incidents?"
I felt like we were in trouble. If they checked the records and learned of Hun and Mun's deaths, they might suspect us. We didn't have an illegal entry record anyway. It meant we were in trouble. I wished Jose was miming at that moment so I could understand if we were in trouble or not.
"Hun and Mun's facility exploded…"
"We told that crazy duo not to bring living beings with such oxygen needs with them. What else is there?"
"Should I list the ones who left or the ones who entered?"
"Just list the ones who entered…"
"A scrap radio A digital, adult-content magazine A 14m Laser Cannon Two cargo shipments from CLAUDIS IX"
"What was inside the cargo?"
"It doesn't say?"
"Hey, you!" he said, turning to Jose. "Did you come in with that cargo?"
"Yes…" Jose said. "…I wanted to disguise myself."
"And why?"
"I was afraid my master might follow me here."
The Manager chuckled from behind the wall. "A human? Even if they're cybernetic, we'd smell a human out and reveal them! No human, not even a human-like being, can set foot here. We make them taste death! We show them the power of the Others!"
"A mutant just entered today…" Jose said.
"Mistakes happen," the Manager said. "And what about the mutant behind you?"
"Mutants swarmed me where my ship landed. I took this mutant as my slave. I'm making him carry my belongings."
"I like you, robot… If you vouch for this slave mutant and keep an eye on him, I'll agree to let him in too. But first, I have two conditions. You'll tell me why you're following that mutant, and when you enter, you'll find that mutant and bring him to me."
"Agreed…" Jose said.
"Then we'll do this."
A dragonfly-like creature emerged from the square hole. It was the size of a human head and carried a bag. It placed the bag on the ground. It took out a needle and stabbed it into my arm. After licking the needle and swishing it in its mouth, it spat into a tube. It transferred that tube to another tube. It shook it two or three times and drank it back.
"82% human…"
"Holy shit!" I exclaimed. It was even lower than I'd thought. It had never occurred to me that Hulk's tissue donations could change me this much. I had now lost my unique status as the only one hundred percent human in the universe.
"Indeed, holy shit!" the Manager said. "These mutants are getting more and more human… 82% is quite a high percentage. Anyway! Open the gates!"
The colossal gate slowly opened. As the gate opened, a colossal cowboy city appeared before us. The city looked like something sprung from the imagination of a child who had just started kindergarten.
***
Listen.. even if I've had a lot of dreams, I don't remember most of them, but somehow, I can guess what many of my childhood dreams might have been like. Or, I pretty much know what a 6-year-old's imagination is capable of.
Before us, there was a city straight out of old wild west movies. Wooden buildings, wine crates stacked in the middle of the road, and countless other things. In the very center of the city, there was a huge square, and around the square, various creatures dressed like cowboys. It was such a cowboy city, in fact, that I even saw a drunk creature being kicked out of one of the bars. Noble-dressed alien creatures roamed the city, while mutants typically carried their belongings. Some mutants carried items like slaves, while others were ridden like horses and used as mounts. This sight was both terrifying and partially comical. Yes, the city was filled with many different creatures, and without confusing you, let me briefly mention these creatures.
First, there were creatures called Xerolmes. These alien creatures, which included the guardians who opened the gate for us, resembled slugs. They had three eyes on top of their heads. They were human-sized. They emitted light from their tails, like fireflies. According to my helmet, these creatures couldn't produce much energy. And they didn't look like very intelligent or functional creatures either. These Xerolmes, contrary to the cowboy concept, usually dressed like maintenance personnel. Some of them could even be seen entering buildings with tool bags in their hands.
Why did they enter, you ask? Because although the city was illuminated by the atmosphere, several different systems were used to light the interiors of the buildings. One of these was corpse-crushing machines connected by cables to two or three buildings. These machines had a gear mechanism on top, similar to the mechanisms found in car junkyards that tear cars apart. Creatures thrown in here were thoroughly dismembered, their blood and flesh separated by a filter. Their blood, compressed by a piston, was ignited with electricity, spinning gears and thus generating energy. Partially, this machine worked on the logic of an old-era car engine, but in an exceedingly bloody fashion…
In fact, as we passed by this machine, we witnessed a funeral. A colossal mosquito-like alien read something from a holy book, while creatures dressed in black wept into their tissues. I watched, second by second, as the creature's body was thrown into the machine and torn apart, as if this were a sacred and ordinary thing. A Xerolme waited ready with his maintenance bag, just in case the machine broke down and intervention was needed.
Another system was found inside the houses. The lighting in the homes was usually provided by mutants. At first, when I saw this through a window, I trembled with fear because it looked so brutal. Mutant children were nailed to the wall with a few nails. There was a mechanical system on their backs, constantly emitting light. This mechanical system was implanted into the mutants' bodies by scraping their skin and tearing their flesh.
These mutant children were continuously fed through a tube. We could see the rhythmic movements the tube left in their throats. Some writhed in pain… Others had already lost consciousness. One of the Xerolmes took one of the children fixed to the wall with a spatula-like tool, cut open its stomach, made two mechanical adjustments like setting a clock, and then re-fixed it to the wall.
"We should continue, sir," Jose said, coming over to me as I watched through the window.
"Isn't this terribly cruel?"
"Tormenting living beings to produce energy? Isn't that the law of nature?"
"What do you mean?"
"Haven't humans hunted other animals for centuries just for energy needs?"
"It's not the same thing…"
Jose didn't answer. Because no matter how eager for an argument he seemed to be, by his nature, he was still a robot. At that moment, he probably searched his programming for a logical fallacy in his own statements and found none.
"I don't understand, sir," Jose said.
"It's me who doesn't understand."
So, what else was there? There were Zarons, for instance… They were the priest-like insectoid creatures I mentioned earlier. Although I usually compared them to mosquitoes, they could actually resemble all sorts of insects. According to my helmet, these Zarons had a similar gene map to the insects we killed for energy in the desert.
Zarons, however weak and frail they looked, were savages. They seemed to enjoy carrying multiple mutants as slaves. They often carried iron spiked chains attached to their wrists. The spiked parts of these chains would hold captive mutants, tied by their necks. Zarons loved to drink blood or eat fresh meat. That's why they sometimes took a bite out of the mutants they carried with them. In fact, one of the Zarons gnawed on the fingers of its mutant's third arm right before my eyes, all while looking at me and winking. The Zarons' mutants had a hole in their throats, and their vocal cords, torn off and discarded, were quite visible through it. That's why the mutant couldn't even make a sound while its finger was being gnawed on.
If you saw a priest, a sheriff, an officer, or a guardian, it was very likely a Zaron. They usually dressed elegantly and constantly tried to assert their superiority over other creatures. In fact, one Zaron thoroughly beat up a Xerolme right before my eyes. The reason? Simply because it had gotten in its way.
There were many other creatures, but describing all of them would be like conveying encyclopedia information, so I'll skip them. If there was one thing I noticed on this planet, it was that every kind of creature, while appearing chaotic from the outside, lived with its own peculiar order upon closer inspection.
I followed Jose as he continued to roll his wheel. I saw mutants being electrocuted. I saw a naked female mutant with three arms, wire-like hair, and sharp teeth protruding from her jaw, but whose body contours clearly indicated she was a woman, tied to a transformer like she was crucified. The woman's severed intestines had been replaced with metal tubes and connected to the transformer. There was a constant flow of blood in these tubes, extending like metal cables. As the female mutant's blood diminished, her flesh was cast aside, and another naked mutant was placed there. The teams that took the female mutant connected her to a device before she died and moved away.
"Sir…" Jose said. "…your heart rate is constantly accelerating."
"I know, Jose."
"The situation with the mutants seems to have affected you greatly…"
I was about to answer when a Zaron, a mosquito-man, bumped into me. My collision with the creature and my subsequent fall to the ground happened almost simultaneously.
"Watch where you're going, mutant!"
"I… I'm sorry," I said, a reflex. Normally, I wasn't polite enough to apologize that quickly, but this planet made me feel utterly helpless.
"Hey, robot! Watch your charging cable you're carrying there!" He rubbed his hands like a mosquito. "Or you'll get into trouble!"
"Of course…"
As the Zaron walked away, Jose extended his left hand to me. As I grasped his hand and stood up, everyone looked at our robot in surprise. Jose, however, didn't care about anything. He was following the protocols in his software, taking care of his master.
"Sir…"
"Yes, Jose…" I said, wiping my dusty ass. That was one of the disadvantages of being half-naked. Sand or dust was likely to get in your butt crack.
"You're really not well."
"Where did you get that idea?" I asked with a mocking tone.
"Normally, if that creature had bumped into us, you would have done something stupid and gotten us into trouble. You… you're really tense."
"Yes…"
"Why?"
"Why?" I asked, then whispered: "Because I've come to the last place a human-like being should be!"
"I thought you were carefree. Are you truly upset about these mutants? Or is the planet's atmosphere making you tense? Don't worry, we'll leave this planet as soon as possible."
I felt like I heard the painful scream of a mutant. My hairs stood on end.
"Carefree? Where did you get that idea?"
"I thought your only concern was your retirement."
"It was… Until John Crowrift stuck his nose in my business."
"If you hadn't objected, John Crowrift would have recreated you. You could have forgotten everything and continued your normal life. You could have been one of John's inhabitants of paradise."
"Yes, I could have," I mumbled.
"Then why did you resist John Crowrift?"
"He was talking about killing me and resurrecting me. I didn't want to die."
"Was that the only reason?"
"Of course, that's the only reason… What else could it be?"
"You're making quite a promise for someone whose only reason is not to die and to retire, then," Jose said, and he continued walking, rolling his wheel. I couldn't understand Jose's words and quickly walked to catch up with him.
"What promise?"
"The promise you made to Joe Stone…"
"How do you know that name?"
"Joe Stone was the human in the robot body we encountered at the Dermovox facility. You promised him you'd help him after you retired."
"I heard that name in my dream too. He was my mother's doctor."
"A dream? You don't talk about your dreams as much anymore."
"Because these dreams keep getting me into trouble, Jose. I want to forget them, fold them up, and hide them away. I want them far away from me."
At that moment, all the memories I had remembered began to flash before my eyes. My visit to Subject 99, my conversations with Dante Shade, and so much more… If I wasn't going to tell my memories to Jose, my only friend in the universe, who would I tell them to?
So I told him everything. About my name being Edgar, my mother's illness, Oscar Destan and Joe Stone, Subject 99, what I remembered about Mars, and so much more…
"I have no data in my database about what you've described. John Crowrift must have deleted all data about what you've told me from my memory."
"So you know as little as I do, huh?"
"You could say that."
"I'm very curious where all these messed-up memories will lead," I whined.
Jose smiled. "I thought your only concern was your retirement."
***
Along the way, I kept asking myself what my purpose was. With so many suffering mutants around me, I felt lucky, if only a little. I had a choice. Perhaps even more than one.
All of them starts with us leaving this planet, but I didn't know what kind of life I'd choose once we did.What would I do? With so many memories blossoming in my head, could I really live a retired life? These memories are like forbidden fruit from ancient religions' paradises. But I didn't ask for these memories. They came to me... Just as those who ate the forbidden fruit in paradise couldn't return to their former selves, just as those who gained free will couldn't return to their former mindless states, it felt like I shared the same fate. The more truths I learned, the less I could deny them. My new existence now prevented me from returning to ignorance.
What do I mean? John Crowrift is a pervert, and I still can't understand what he's trying to do. But if there's one thing I know, he's seeking to become one of the greatest dangers in the universe, and... and perhaps I'm the only one with the information that can stop him... As the only one who can do this, will I choose to forget everything, lean back, and live a retired life?
"You're very thoughtful, sir. I believe thinking isn't something you're accustomed to."
"Don't ask, if only you knew how my head has started to ache."
My memories tell me I'm a warrior, but I definitely don't feel like a warrior. Especially not like a hero in any way. But... But even if it means losing my wings like Icarus, I want to expose these secrets. Why? Because there's nothing else I can do in this goddamn dead galaxy! Retirement life, screw retirement! Will I just sip my alcohol while John Crowrift burns down the Supreme World Republic?
That son of a bitch literally brought trouble upon me! I was going to live a beautiful life, ignorant of everything, enjoying retirement with chicks... But no, John Crowrift, like the serpent whispering to Eve, will slither into my life and get me into trouble... So, I will crush that serpent's head! After all, he's just another version of me! Can a human have a more perfect equal than himself?
"You're smiling again, sir," Jose said.
"A funny joke just popped into my head, and I laughed at it."
***
Jose pointed with his finger at the colossal metal fortress. Layer upon layer, shining like the outer plating of a spaceship, the fortress rose in the very center of the city.
That metal fortress was the palace of the city's leader. Everyone simply called him the President. According to legend, the President had withdrawn into his fortress centuries ago to prepare for war against humanity. There, he began producing weapons and ships... Weapons that would help them fight humanity.
We learned from Jose asking a Zaron that the aliens of this Beyond World also believed, as a religion, that they would one day take revenge on humans. The story went that when Unify abandoned these creatures on this planet, they tore each other apart for a long time.
How, you ask? I mentioned the Volem aliens before, right? These creatures, each a walking nuclear facility, capable of producing incredibly high levels of energy, had spiraled out of Unify's control. To destroy them, Unify had caused a massive apocalypse on the planet. After that, this planet became a cloud-shrouded, desolate, uninhabitable world.
The creatures now living on this planet were, in their time, Unify's failed experiments. Creatures that were failures, which Unify secretly or cheaply tried to get rid of, were thrown onto this planet like laundry shoved under a bed.
Most of those abandoned creatures couldn't adapt to the old planet's atmosphere and died. The creatures that could resist the atmosphere, however, fought each other like wild beasts, and tribal wars lasted for centuries. They experienced poverty, famine, and countless other hardships. "But how did they learn that humans had thrown them here?" I assume you're asking.
Unify had left some scientific facilities behind when they abandoned the planet. These creatures had studied those scientific facilities as historical relics from previous eras; perhaps they had managed to interpret notes kept by humans and thus gained knowledge about them. They had come to know their gods who had condemned them to suffering.
Then, a creature named the President emerged. Some say he's an unkillable Volem, others a broken Zaron, but there's no definite information. The only known fact was that the President had deciphered humanity's ancient language. What he learned there was that humans would one day return to harvest what they had created. That's why he had united the tribes and creatures against the threat of humanity and built a city. It was known among the city's creatures that the President, taking a dozen aliens with him, had begun producing weapons in his fortress.
What a great story, right? But what kind of weapon could the President create to stop humanity? After all, humanity pretty much ruled an entire galaxy. These foolish creatures had not the slightest idea of the Supreme World Republic's power.
"We need to go there, sir," Jose said, pointing to the fortress where the President resided.
"Why?"
"If we need a ship to leave this planet, there must certainly be one in that fortress. We might find a useful one among the remnants of the scientific facility. That is, if the facility's hangar wasn't completely emptied… Or if these creatures haven't torn those ships apart. We'll sneak in and out. No one will notice until we leave the planet."
"I always thought these stupid ideas only came from me…"
"Sir… I don't know if you're aware, but as civilized as these creatures may seem, they are oblivious to technology. Yes, they have knowledge of mechanics and energy, but this resembles the science of alchemy more than technology itself. I don't believe these creatures have ever created a computer or a sensor. Because they never seem to have needed such a thing. They don't appear to be struggling with energy production. And, it's clear that something like industry hasn't developed on this planet. Using mutants for heavy labor is quite sufficient for them. In short, if we stay out of sight, they don't have a system that can detect us."
"So, let's say your plan works? What then?"
"If we leave this planet with our new ship, we'll disappear from the eyes of John Crowrift and the Supreme World Republic. The important thing is for us to do it quickly. John Crowrift should still be hiding from the Supreme World Republic after the recent events. And the Supreme World Republic should still not have found our trail, because they must be careful to track John Crowrift's movements. If we launch into space with another spaceship before they realize we've come to the Beyond World, that's when we'll be free."
"Very good…"
"And what will you do when you are free, sir?"
"I have no idea, Jose… No clue at all."
***
"This is awesome!" Jose exclaimed excitedly. We were in front of a repair shop. Inside, several winged, monkey-like creatures were trying to fix a mutant with a mechanical apparatus on its back. This mutant seemed to have been transformed into a cargo vehicle. It was a large mutant, but its back was bent, and it could barely stand, with its hands on the ground. "I can repair myself here, sir."
One of the monkeys stepped forward and said, "Three..."
"Three?" Jose said. "Do you think we're idiots? I haven't even told you what I want yet!"
"You want your arm attached, right?" it said, pointing to Jose's severed arm. That arm had often saved our lives because it had a laser gun on it. Jose took out the arm, which he'd fastened to his waist belt, and showed it to the monkey. "Eight…" the monkey said.
"We don't have any money," Jose stated.
"Then a trade for the mutant… He looks very healthy. His helmet is nice too. I'd like to make him a lamp for my room."
"No… That mutant is going to be a housewarming gift for a friend of mine. Can't I do something else instead?"
"Do you understand repairs, Mr. …"
"Jose…"
"If you understand repairs, Mr. Jose, you can help us with a few jobs. In return, we'll ask for two."
"How about I don't give you two, but I attach my own arm myself, agreed?" Jose said and extended his hand. The monkey examined his hand for a moment. Shaking hands didn't seem to be a common greeting among these monkeys.
"Agreed. But your mutant can't wait here. He'll scare away customers by standing in front of the shop."
"Me?" I said, surprised. "Alright, I'll just sit over there."
"They might think your mutant is ownerless and try to steal him," the monkey said. "It's best to leave him with the caregivers."
At that moment, a mutant passed by us, its legs severed and replaced with wheels where they should have been. Pipes descended from its chest, causing its wheels to spin. We could see the veins inside each of its limbs glowing and flickering red like embers. Its arms were cut off, and long iron rods were placed where its arms should have been. It looked like a rearing horse, using the iron rods to prevent itself from falling. A metal iron pipe was embedded in its mouth, and a Zaron held chains that emerged from the sides of the metal pipe. The creature carried not only the Zaron on its back but also many mutant corpses.
"Hello!" the Zaron called out. "How's business?"
"Same as always…"
"Our mutant has some problems with its blood circulation. It sometimes blows steam from its nose."
"Didn't we just look at that mutant a week ago? You might need to replace it now."
"I'll replace it as soon as possible anyway, but the work never ends…"
I saw tears streaming from the mutant's pain-filled eyes. Despite living such a painful life, learning it was going to die could still create sadness in it, apparently… As it trembled with pain and fear, the teeth in its trembling jaw clattered against the metal pipe in its mouth. Annoyed by the sounds, the Zaron plunged the needle in its hand into the mutant's shoulder. The mutant calmed down as if under the influence of a drug.
"By the way…" the Zaron said. "…would you believe we caught a mutant? It was ownerless… It tried to escape, but we caught it and really roughed it up." At that moment, I raised my head and looked at the metal basket full of corpses the mutant was carrying. "The mutant said it saw a human. It was enthusiastically shouting, 'Humans are coming back!' through the streets. Just another crazy one…"
Inside the basket was the mutant we had been looking for, the one who had brought us to this city. It was riddled with holes, piled among the corpses of other mutants. Its body was swarming with flies.
"Mutants…They still believe someone can save them."
***
When Jose led me to a bar, I was initially happy. I hadn't had a proper meal in hours. My appetite was gone after what I'd seen, but I figured I'd pass out if I didn't eat. And if I passed out, I was terrified of waking up as a machine in this creature-filled city.
Then, when I saw the bar, everything changed. The bar looked exactly like something out of a cowboy movie. Lively music filled the air, and a bunch of shapeless, formless creatures sat at their tables, merrily singing their songs. In the corner of the bar, though, there was a section covered in dust, urine, and all sorts of grime. That section was reserved for us mutants. You entered it through a fence gate, like a sheep pen, and a sign above the gate read: "FREE."
The only empty chair in that section was in the middle of a long bench. As I settled into my seat, Jose waved and left the bar. According to our plan, I was supposed to stay at the bar until Jose returned.
To my right, there was a mutant. Half of its body had been replaced with metal parts, oversized for its bulk. Its left arm was metal and at least ten times the size of a human arm. Its fist was shaped like a cannonball. Half of its face was covered in metal, and its glass-covered eyes on its metal face constantly flickered, scrutinizing me.
To my left, there was a scrawny mutant. Scrawny it was, but it was just as unsettling as the mutant on my other side. As if eight arms weren't enough, it also had two metal arms. Those metal arms must have been broken, as it was randomly trying to grasp things with them. It even accidentally tried to grab my arm and back a few times. The metal squeezing me hurt a bit, but I didn't even make a sound to avoid attracting attention.
At that moment, a plate was shoved in front of me by an alien. On the plate was something gray, shaped exactly like excrement.
"Are they seriously expecting me to eat this?" I thought to myself, clenching my fist and slamming it on the table. I was so hungry, so tired, and I wanted to eat so badly that even in my helpless state, I could get angry. A puff of smoke erupted from the metal gears of the mutant next to me and the heat seared my shoulder. Clutching my shoulder in pain, I tensed to throw a punch at the creature beside me, but I gritted my teeth and sat back down. Just then, by chance, I saw something on the table. A bottle… Probably disinfectant used to wipe down the table, but forgotten on ours. Hulk had left me with an addiction, and at that moment, it permeated me once more. No matter what, I had to take a sip of that disinfectant.
I lifted my helmet slightly, just enough for my mouth to open. The moment I lifted my helmet, the smell that permeated my brain made me nauseous. I understood then that the helmet had a smell filter. Disgusted by the odor, I closed my helmet, but the smell had upset my stomach so much that I was coughing uncontrollably. If I was going to spend my time here, I had to drink that disinfectant.
And I did… I briefly lifted my helmet, took a few sips from the bottle, and then closed it. I repeated this a few more times. As the disinfectant mixed with my blood, I felt my nerves relax. This… This was quite enjoyable.
Once the disinfectant was finished, I put the bottle back in its place. Then I looked around. On the floor, at my feet, there was a bucket. Next to that bucket was another bottle of disinfectant. They probably used it at night to clean up if the mutants' odors became unbearable for the customers. I subtly nudged the bottle towards me with my foot. I bent down, picked it up, and started chugging it. My mind cleared, but my body felt numb. What I wouldn't give for a cigar in my hand at that moment.
"Listen, friends!" a Zaron stood up and announced. He was dressed as a priest, and his drunken state was evident from how precariously he stood. First, he climbed onto a chair, then onto the table. He spread his arms wide and began to speak. "I have a reminder for you poor city dwellers."
The creatures listened attentively to the priest. Yet, if such an event were happening in a human bar, the drunks would have long since started stoning the priest and chasing him out. But our bar's priest spoke with great enthusiasm, and the others listened.
"Our time is approaching. We have advanced greatly in mechanics and energy, and we can now see this progress very clearly with our own eyes. The end of the war between tribes and the advancement of our friendship has brought us great profit. Now… now I believe that our departure from this planet is near."
Everyone simultaneously let out shouts of joy. Some screams resembled war cries.
"Peace for our cause!" one creature shouted.
"Peace for our cause!" the entire bar shouted at once, and the sound was so intense that the disinfectant bottle under my hand spilled onto the table. As the disinfectant spilled, the black stain on the table watered, and started dripping onto me. Such was the filth on the table that even a single drop of disinfectant brought out handfuls of dirt.
The spilling of my already scarce disinfectant angered me. These creatures, who didn't know what they were saying, were seriously getting on my nerves. I clenched my fist and put it on the table. I gritted my teeth.
"One of the President's envoys gave us good tidings," continued the Zaron Priest. "He brought a whisper from between the gears of mechanics. May the great President protect mechanics and its gears!"
"May the great President protect mechanics!" shouted a drunken creature.
"May the great President protect the gears!" shouted the female bartender.
"What was the whisper, great priest?" another asked.
"The weapons are days away from being ready. The energy revolution is also near! With the energy revolution, we will go into space! And once we go into space…" he said, stomping his feet on the table he stood upon. "…once we go into space, we will face our creators. We will have our weapons in our hands, and loyalty to the President in our hearts! Those helpless gods living in pleasure and luxury up there will tremble with fear when they see us! We will stand before our gods who cast us out of their paradise and spit in their faces! We will tear them to shreds! Just as we enslaved their children, the mutants, we will enslave them too!"
I looked at the mutants around me. They weren't even listening to these words. In fact, the metal-armed mutant to my right turned to me and pointed at the food. I handed him the food on the table. He pounced on the plate with his hand and began to eat savagely. I, meanwhile, was looking around. For more disinfectant? At that moment, thankfully, I managed to find another bottle. The bottle wasn't far away. What was inside the bottle wasn't disinfectant, but isopropyl alcohol. Probably a mutant's mechanical parts had been cleaned with that alcohol. Did it matter? No! I'd chug it and keep going! So I bent under the table and reached for the bottle. The alcohol was in a metal spray can, and it was dented. That's why the spray wasn't working very well. I didn't care. I jammed the metal cap between the gears of the mutant's metal arm beside me, and as the metal cap came off, I started chugging. This alcohol was something different from disinfectant, too. It was better… By the time I came out from under the table, the topic seemed to have changed. The priest continued speaking.
"The Great President wants to use mutants as energy. That's why we need to multiply the mutants. I implore you, in the name of sacred mechanics. Reduce taking personal mutants. Multiply your mutants and give them to the President. And give them cleanly, unused."
"President!" shouted a drunken mutant. "He took most of our mutants already! Isn't that enough?"
Suddenly, the crowd seemed to have switched sides. I was so curious what had been said. I didn't care. I took another swig. My lips, my face, and everywhere else felt like fire. Damn it! Screw my head! I was drunk. I tossed the metal bottle aside with the back of my hand and, pulling my helmet down, put my head on the table. With that sudden movement, I realized my head was spinning wildly.
"It's necessary to resist humans!"
"Yes! But who's in a hurry?"
"The President!"
"It's not our place to question the great President, but we need mutants too!"
"How are we not in a hurry?" another creature asked. "What will we do if humans learn about us and our weapons aren't ready?"
"Humans can't do anything to us! Don't you see? How we've enslaved the mutants, their silhouettes on Earth! Humans are even more helpless!"
"Humans are helpless!"
"Humans might not be able to resist us, but they can escape us. That's why we must hit them with all our might at once. Before they learn about us and flee in fear!"
"Humans are cowards!"
"They say humans have very high energy."
"After you conquer humans, you'll gain thousands of times more than the mutants you lost! Don't be ungrateful!"
"No!" the priest said. "Don't be infidels!"
"Humans must see the power of the holy mechanics!"
"Humanity must kneel!"
"Oh, screw humanity!" I suddenly yelled. "My head hurts! Shut your mouths!" My head was on the table, and I was already barely breathing with my helmet constricting my head. I desperately wanted to take off my helmet and rub my head, but to no avail… "Screw John Crowrift, screw the Supreme World Republic, and screw all of you!"
"Hey, who's saying that?"
"Did you say that?"
"Did the sound come from outside?"
"Could the mutant have said it?"
Suddenly, I felt someone grab my arm. The two mutants next to me had thrown me with such force that I fell flat on my ass in front of the bar tables. I was surrounded by enraged creatures.
"What kind of mutant is this?! Is it broken? How can it talk?"
I tried to get up but fell on my ass again due to my spinning head. "Uh… I can explain!"
"It talks!" the priest yelled with a loud scream. "Destroy that stupid thing!"
Just as a colossal fist was about to strike my helmet, something intervened. The intervening voice was a woman's.
"I'm sorry," she said. "…I'm taking my mutant and leaving."
"Is that broken mutant yours?"
"My sister's…"
"You should take him for maintenance! Unless you want to be fined for disturbing order!"
"Of course, we'll take him, sir. Thank you for your warning," another female voice said.
I tried to lift my head and look around, but my head was spinning so much I couldn't understand anything. Then I realized the two women had linked their arms with mine. I don't know how long they carried me, but where they left me was very comfortable. Ideal for sleeping. One of the women reached for my helmet and took it off. Despite being drunk, I could smell garbage. I was in the middle of an alley, among garbage bags. As I was thrown onto the garbage bags, body parts scattered from them, but I was so drunk I could have just sprawled out and slept on the bags.
I felt something cold on my throat, on my face. A cold, clawed hand. When I lifted my head and looked, I realized the woman opposite me was taking off her gloves and checking my pulse.
"Can this be real?" she said to her friend.
"That he's human?"
"Hey! I'm not human! I'm a mutant!" I said, and started making a sound like a car engine. "See? I'm working just fine!" I made a functioning engine sound. Then I powered up that engine sound. Then I leaned back as if broken. "I'm just malfunctioning."
"You heard what he said too, didn't you, sister?" the tall woman said. Both women were wearing outfits similar to astronaut suits, but they fit their bodies perfectly. Both women looked nearly two meters tall.
"Yes, I heard it."
"What did you hear, you motherfuckers! I said my motor's broken!" I yelled, and suddenly, the vomit filling my stomach spewed onto the women's feet. The women recoiled in disgust.
"Oh… He's drunk!" said the one with the delicate voice.
"Holy shit! He ruined us!"
One of the women took off her astronaut helmet. As she removed her helmet, her red hair fell down her shoulders. She approached me, scrutinizing me with her blue eyes. We were nose to nose. She was probably trying to notice something by looking into my eyes. Then I felt the woman grab me by my hair and press me against the wall. My head felt so good that I felt nothing.
"Be rougher, pretty lady! I like it," I said.
"I won't hesitate to be!"
"One second… You're human!" I said to the woman. "What an insolent woman you are! You're a mutant and you're talking, are you? Have you no shame?!"
"I'm not a mutant, you fool!"
At that moment, the other woman took off her helmet. She had short, white hair and pitch-black eyes. "I'm not a mutant either."
"Holy shit!" I exclaimed. "Would you believe I thought a human was a robot before? It could be said I have trouble recognizing humans!"
"Shut your mouth!" the red-haired one yelled. She grabbed me by my hair and slammed me against the wall once more. "Answer my question! Where did you hear that name?!"
"What name?!"
"The name John Crowrift!"