Southwest Gate, Frostholm. 08:15 am.
07 stood at the southwest entrance of the city, facing the long highway. Her gloves glowed bright blue, and her eyes glowed even brighter.
Excitement, that was the only word that fit her right now. Fifty military vehicles blocked the road, forming a steel wall. She couldn't wait to smash through it.
"Come oooon, cap!" she groaned, tapping her foot aggressively, arms crossed. Her patience evaporated faster than Missile Facility did when 03 attacked it.
"Go."
One word from the captain.
That was all she needed.
07 launched herself forward like a rocket, kicking up dust as she sprinted toward the enemy base.
A soldier at the first checkpoint pointed toward the glowing blue blur rushing at them.
"What is that?"
"Is that the girl they warned us about?"
"I don't know, deploy the robot army just in—"
CLANG!
Too late.
Her fist was already buried in his face.
The gloves concentrated every bit of energy into a single devastating hit, combined with her insane sprint speed, the soldier never stood a chance. He flew across the highway and crashed straight into a parked civilian car, leaving blood everywhere.
The civilian inside screamed, covering his face as glass rained down. People stepped out of their cars, wide-eyed, watching the chaos unfold. They slowly turned to see the blue-gloved android girl, painted poorly in grey, standing in the middle of the road, smirking, bouncing in place like a kid.
"WOOOOHOOO! Thanks, Father!!"
The soldier next to her froze. A second ago, he was talking to that man. Now the man was a broken bag of bones. He turned, trembling, toward 07.
"What?" she asked flatly. "You gotta admit, that was awesome. Oh yeah, the mission!"
She clapped her gloves like a professional boxer preparing for round two.
"Time for some knockouts."
CLING!
Her uppercut smashed into the soldier's jaw, launching him skyward. Before he understood what happened, she was already above him, waiting.
He opened his eyes shakily, only to see her grin glowing against the sun.
"You're a good test subject."
CLANG!
Her double-fist hammer strike crushed his skull into his torso, erasing his neck completely and sending him shooting down like a meteor. The asphalt cracked on impact.
07 wiped the blood from her gloves and walked toward the base.
The base alarms screamed. They had seen what 07 could do. They deployed armored vehicles and a tank, saving their robots for last-resort. They prayed they wouldn't need them.
Rows of soldiers armed the trucks and moved out.
07 watched them pour in.
"Alright, is that all?"
She cracked her fists together and dashed forward.
The tank fired first. 07 didn't even change direction, her new energy core made her processor so fast she dodged before the cannon flash even faded.
She leaped over the shot effortlessly.
If a tank shell couldn't stop her… what could?
She landed gracefully, cracking the road beneath her feet. Then she lifted her head, Her eyes glowed bright red.
And she vanished.
A blue trail zigzagged wildly across the road. Soldiers opened fire, but to her the bullets crawled like snails. Dancing between them was training she received two years ago from speed master 02.
The friction of her speed burned the grey paint right off her armor, revealing the terrifying blue glow of the E-UNIT underneath.
Before they even processed it, 07 was standing in front of the tank.
CLANK!
Her overhand punch slammed into the tank with such force that the back end lifted into the air.
A 60-ton machine flew vertically.
The soldiers weren't fighting her.
They were getting bullied.
CLANG!
A kick sent the tank horizontally across the road. Thanks to its weight, it didn't reach the civilians, but they saw everything.
A little girl just sent a tank flying.
Frostholm had never witnessed an E-UNIT in action.
Now they understood why Metromania was "cleaned" in a single month.
07 turned toward the soldiers.
"Next."
The armored trucks advanced, not out of bravery, out of fear of their commanders. If a tank could be tossed like a toy, what about their fragile bodies?
07 dashed toward them. The soldiers inside hid, praying the impact alone might save their lives.
CRASH. CRASH. CRASH.
Trucks flew aside one after another.
Her fists glowed red from the repeated impacts, but she was having the time of her life.
Imagine smashing things in an anger room with a baseball bat.
07 was having that thrill times a hundred.
Some trucks even exploded after a single hit.
When the dust settled, 07 stood among the wreckage, back turned to the remaining soldiers. Without facing them, she spoke.
"So… is that all?"
The soldiers stared at her glowing red eyes. Their hope evaporated.
"Launch them! What are you waiting for?!" one screamed.
The sergeant grabbed the mic.
"A009, activate emergency mode!"
The roof of a camp exploded, revealing 80 combat robots.
They scanned the area instantly.
"E-UNIT detected."
They jumped her at once, stacking over her like a swarm of metal bees.
The soldiers sighed in relief.
They thought the monster was finally neutralized.
But then…
A red aura erupted from the center.
07 began rising slowly, dragging the robots with her as they clung desperately.
CLANG!
A robot flew into a building.
CLANK!
Another smashed into the ground.
CLING!
Two collided in midair, scattering parts everywhere.
CLANG!
The sergeant collapsed to the ground sitting.
"No… not possible…"
His soldiers followed. Their morale shattered on the spot.
CLINK! CLANG! CLING! CLANK!
One by one, the robots were shredded.
The cowboy android punched like a possessed boxer, her body a blur, her hits too fast to see.
"We don't stand a chance," a soldier whispered.
"There wasn't a chance to begin with," another replied.
"We doomed our country by touching this monster…" someone muttered, dropping his helmet.
The sergeant didn't even try to be strong.
"I just hope they never send these things to our territory. The higher-ups really messed up this time."
"They could delete our country at any moment… they just don't bother. Are we that weak?"
One soldier stood up with trembling legs.
"Call the other siege points! Tell them to step back! We have to save our brothers!"
"I already tried," the sergeant said quietly. "No response."
"They sacrificed us…"
The soldier dropped to his knees.
07 landed in front of the group, oil dripping off her arms, tilting her head like she didn't understand why they were so scared.
"Do you get it now?" she said. "They sent you to an undeserved hell."
They lowered their heads and threw their weapons at her feet.
Sewage Tunnels, Metromania. 08:35 am.
17 and 11 froze.
All one hundred robots activated at once, responding instantly to their presence.
That alone showed how carefully this trap was planned.
17 whispered into the comms, her eyes glowing as every robot turned toward her, floating, silent, waiting.
"To all available units in the city…"
She slowly turned her head toward 11 and forced a smile.
"Please help us."
VEOOOOM.
Thrusters roared to life, shattering the silence of the tunnels. The sewage system turned into a full-speed race track.
11 and 17 dashed through the tunnels at insane speed, the air being cut, walls blurring past them.
Behind them, one hundred robots followed relentlessly.
They were fast.
Too fast.
The E-Medic module was never designed for combat, it was built for one thing only: speed. Transporting injured soldiers to hospitals in seconds.
And Wallmore had poured every possible budget point for the copies into that purpose.
It showed.
The robots were gaining.
11 yelled so 17 could hear her over the roar.
"We need to land and use ground super-speed! We're at a disadvantage in the air!"
"In your dreams, cap!" 17 shouted back. "I am NOT touching human waste!"
"Is THIS really the time to act like a queen?!" 11 snapped.
"As Father said, we're still girls!" 17 replied while being chased by a mechanical army. "And girls have standards!"
11's eyes flared red.
"I'm using it anyway."
She landed gracefully.
"WAIT—! I was joking!" 17 panicked and followed, her feet splashing into the wet floor.
"Please take the lead! I don't have scanners like you!"
"I always take the lead, 17. But you need more self-dependency."
11 grinned. Her body glowed blue.
"NOW!"
She launched herself forward, leading 17 into full ground-speed the moment the robots reached them. The tunnels became pure darkness, there was nothing to see anyway.
17 followed blindly, trusting 11 with her life.
The robots were left behind instantly.
17 laughed, fake adrenaline flooding her system.
"TAKE THAT, FALSE COPIES! WE ARE DR. NICK'S CREATION! HAHAHA!"
Suddenly,
11 took a sharp turn.
No warning.
No signal.
One moment 17 was following her light,
The next, she was alone.
"What…?"
She kept running, hoping to catch sight of 11's glow again.
Nothing.
"Captain?" she called through the comms. "Where are you?"
Only static answered.
She had gone deeper. Much deeper.
The tunnel sloped downward sharply, growing darker, narrower. Her systems screamed warnings, but she didn't stop.
She had to get out.
Then,
CRASH!
She slammed straight into a wall. The sound of high-grade alloy folding like paper echoed through the pipes.
The impact was brutal.
Her blue light barely illuminated anything. The lack of sensors, her biggest weakness, was fatal here.
She collapsed instantly, systems failing one by one.
Cameras flickered. HUD glitched violently.
She tried to move.
Nothing responded.
Her arm dragged weakly across the floor, fingers grasping at nothing.
"C-c-c-cap-p-tain…"
Her voice fragmented.
Then,
SYSTEM SHUTDOWN INITIATED.
Silence.
A faint emergency signal echoed through the pipes.
11 burst out of the tunnel.
Light, real light, hit her visor as she reached the surface.
The E-UNITs assigned to Metromania were already there, shields raised, formations tight.
"Captain!" they greeted her.
But the moment passed quickly.
12 stepped forward immediately.
"Where is 17?"
11 slowed to a stop. Her fans hissed loudly from continuous super-speed use.
"What?"
19 raised her voice.
"CAPTAIN, WHERE IS 17?! She asked for help!"
11 turned her head back toward the dark tunnel entrance.
"I left her at an intersection," she said calmly. "She'll catch up."
Cold. Detached.
12 stepped closer, anger shaking her voice.
"You know she's a Model B, right?! She's built for precision aiming, not navigation! She has no sensors! These tunnels extend over 100 kilometers!"
14 joined in.
"They go vertical too. Without guidance, anyone would be lost!"
"Let's not exaggerate," 11 replied flatly.
"She'll be fine."
A pause.
"…Unless the hundred robots find her first."
Silence hit the team like a punch.
"WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU?!" 16 yelled, her voice echoing across nearby buildings.
"Is she glitched?" 12 whispered to 20, pointing at 11.
Then,
BEEP.
A sharp emergency signal burst through every channel.
Dr. Nick's failsafe.
If an E-UNIT was forced into shutdown by severe damage, all nearby units would receive an immediate retrieval alert. That was the case for the new E-UNITs only.
Every head snapped toward the tunnel.
"…17?" 12 whispered, staring into the pitch-black sewage entrance.
North Gate, Frostholm. 08:30 am.
04 landed on the road.
She lifted her head, facing a much smaller force compared to the checkpoints 02 and 07 had already cleared.
Good.
She wanted to test something.
Her father's latest upgrade.
For the first time, her shields could be used offensively.
This northern entrance was the farthest from the city center. Fewer buildings. Fewer civilians nearby.
But the highway ahead was packed, families, cars, people trapped, waiting to be freed.
"Father wants to test these new weapons," she said calmly, starting to walk toward the checkpoint.
"Hm… does that make us the test subjects in this little banter?"
The enemy answered immediately.
Gunfire erupted.
But the first shield was already deployed.
A massive red rectangular energy shield appeared in front of her, wide enough to cover a car sideways. Its surface shimmered with dense hexagonal patterns. The edges themselves were made of smaller hexagonal shapes, so compact they appeared smooth from a distance.
The shield wasn't even connected to her body.
04 kept walking.
The bullets didn't bounce off.
They froze.
Suspended mid-air inside the shield, trapped like insects in amber. The energy density was so extreme it stopped them completely.
And that was just one shield.
The upgrade gave her three.
She activated a voice memo.
"Shield testing notes," she said calmly. "Bullet stoppage distance appears inconsistent. Some rounds halt instantly. Others penetrate slightly before stopping. This could cause instability in prolonged engagements."
Soldiers screamed and kept firing, shooting for their lives.
Heavy trucks with mounted turrets rolled out of the base and locked onto her.
RRRRRRRT!
04 activated the second shield, which deployed automatically in front of the first.
The two primary shields could not be freely positioned.
Only the third one could.
She studied the first shield closely as she walked, narrowing her glowing blue eyes, calculating impact vectors in real time.
To the enemy, it was horrifying.
A black silhouette walking calmly toward them.
Two red shields.
Cold blue eyes.
Like death doing field research.
The second shield was even denser, built for heavy impacts. Every bullet shattered harmlessly against it.
Soldiers began to tremble. Hands shaking. Fingers barely able to pull triggers.
Truck drivers fought the urge to reverse at full speed.
Bullets were useless.
And bullets were all they had.
Until,
Ten rocket launchers were raised.
Their last resort.
04 was already at the edge of the checkpoint.
She didn't flinch.
If anything, she looked disappointed there weren't more.
03's voice came through the comms.
"Need help? Air force is standing by."
04 chuckled.
"They need your help more than anything."
She glanced upward.
"How did it go with 06?"
The rockets launched.
Ten warheads screamed toward her shields…
…and stopped.
They didn't explode.
They were stuck.
Rocket warheads required physical contact to detonate. The energy field acted like a thick gel, slowing the warheads to a stop without triggering the impact fuses.
03 replied casually.
"A few shots here and there. Couldn't use full sniper output, residential zone."
04 nodded.
"I understand. I'd like to test more things too, but the mission requires a clean finish."
The soldiers' captain stared in disbelief.
Nothing worked.
Nothing.
He turned back, screaming at his men, veins bulging.
"LAUNCH THEM NOW! ALL OF THEM! SHE'S A MANIAC, WE HAVE NO CHANCE!"
The camp gates opened.
Twenty black medic robots flew out, landing in formation.
Not many.
But disciplined.
03 crossed her arms.
"Exactly. You always want to experiment, but efficiency wins. The captain's predictions are flawless… but sometimes we need to add our own touch."
04 laughed loudly.
"Even when you're angry at her, you compliment her. You really like her."
She paused.
"Oh. They're coming. One second."
The robots charged.
04 placed the second shield vertically between them. They slammed into it repeatedly, metal fists pounding nonstop.
The barrier didn't move.
04 smiled.
"Look up."
They did.
A horizontal red shield hovered above them.
The third one.
The free-moving shield.
"03," 04 said sweetly. "This one's for you."
Her smile twisted. Acting like 03.
"I like iron jam."
CRASH!
The shield dropped.
The robots tried to push it upward, but the force was overwhelming.
Energy didn't resist.
It dominated.
The asphalt beneath them cracked.
04 tilted her head, mimicking 03's mannerisms.
"Ooh! You're strong!" she said cheerfully.
Then her tone went flat.
"But this joke ends here."
She raised her hand.
The robots looked up.
They knew.
She clenched her fist.
The shield pressed harder.
CRAAAASH!
BOOM!
Their internals exploded outward. Oil, metal, and parts painted the road.
The force exceeded 500,000 newtons.
While the previously stuck rockets exploding.
04 carefully stopped the shield just before it touched the road itself.
03's eyes rolled.
"I am NOT that crazy. And seriously, iron jam?"
04 laughed.
"You're worse. Facing you isn't physical, it's psychological horror."
"Respect your superior," 03 snapped.
The soldiers collapsed to the ground.
They imagined themselves under that shield.
One threw his rifle away, laughing hysterically.
"Iron jam… haha—"
He grabbed his friend's shoulder and screamed.
"WHAT ABOUT FLESH JAM?! WE'RE NEXT!!"
04 was already facing them.
Cold voice. Mimicking 03.
"That's a good idea."
Then cheerful again.
"More jam for me!"
The soldiers froze.
Then slowly stood up like they were trying to not wake a bear…
…and ran.
Nearly two hundred soldiers fleeing from a little girl.
"Okay, stop," 03 begged, half-laughing. "Drop the act. And where are they even running?"
"Instinct," 04 replied.
She snapped her fingers.
CLICK.
A red shield acted as a wall between the soldiers and the entrance of the highway. Since they were surrounded by old factories' walls, they have…
"…No way to run," 04 whispered.
03 shook with excitement.
"Crush them! Crush them! CRUSH THEM!"
04 teased her.
"Do you hear yourself? Haha, Anything for my sub-captain."
She ran. Shield in front.
Begging filled the air.
"Please!"
"I have a family!"
"I'm still young!"
04 didn't slow down.
Cold voice again.
"Then you should've thought twice before stepping into my house."
"STOP IT! I GET IT!" 03 screamed through the comms.
04 ran faster.
Clang. Clang. Clang.
Metal steps echoed like a horror film.
"We're dead!"
"God help us!"
Faster.
Clang. Clang. Clang.
"Yes!" 03 shouted, recording her HUD.
SPLAT!
No screams followed.
They died instantly.
The impact threw 04 onto her back. Even she couldn't fully absorb the collision force of two shields and human bodies.
She stood slowly.
Blood dripped from the walls.
The road was no longer gray.
It was red.
She deactivated the shields. The blood fell freely.
03 landed beside her, clapping.
"Now that was fun!"
04 smirked sideways. Continuing the 03-opera acting.
"Now that's a sandwich."
"Drop that joke," 03 warned, raising her fist. "Or you're next."
04 laughed and pushed her hand away.
"These weapons are incredible. Father did this in such little time, it amazes me."
"02 said development took ten months," 03 replied. "They needed the energy upgrade. Father said these would drain our old batteries in an hour."
"I see," 04 said.
"Let's report back. I want to know how the others did."