Machine Story

Rescue Count

David awoke in a forest-like area. The place had an eerie feel to it, but he dusted himself off before exploring the area on his own. He wandered the area for what felt like hours, finding nothing until he saw a figure in the distance of a cliff. He walked closer towards the figure and slowly he could recognize the silhouette of the person standing far off, Siri.

His legs moved as fast as they could but as he was about six feet from her, the ground became unstable and began to crumble apart. He began falling down into oblivion, unable to reach his friend.

Once the fall was over, he somehow managed to survive. He picked himself up again, hoping to find a way back up but when he looked into the sky, the atmosphere had changed. Suddenly, the area was a barren wasteland filled with destruction all around. What he saw was the armies of the Metadross overwhelming the Earth and wiping all life in their path.

David couldn’t believe what he was seeing, he tried to escape the horror but as he attempted to flee, a sky-scanner appeared above him. The unit alerted a mass of Metadross that swarmed to his location. He did his best to defend himself but as the Colossal Metadross unit fired its cannon, David’s body froze and he got caught in the blast.

Upon impact, David woke up from his nightmare, sweating profusely. He put his hands over his face to confirm that he was alive and no longer in a dream. After taking a deep breath, his heart rate lowered a bit as he slowly regained his composure.

“You know you really should stop falling asleep. It leaves you completely defenseless and ineffective.” David jumped up on the defense as the voice startled him. His eyes searched around to find the person who spoke those words and he found a familiar cloaked character sitting on a rock, Rice.

“What is with people nabbing other people away to random locations? Can’t you just ask like a normal person?” David yelled in frustration. Rice scratched his chin while thinking about what David asked, “That’s not a bad idea, but how else would I be able to evaluate your reaction without surprising you?” David conceded, realizing there was no way he would win this conversation.

“So what do you want with me this time?” David asked. “Is that how you show respect to someone who has saved your life several times?” David wasn’t sure what he was talking about. He could only count one time when Rice had actually helped him, and that was back in the Diamond Enclave.

“How many times have you ‘saved’ me,” directing his question to Rice. Slowly, he stuck out his right hand and showed four fingers to indicate the answer. David asked him to prove it. “I see you can recall one of the events so let me help jog your memory. Think back to what happened in the desert.”

David remembers that he was about to use all the power he had against Sibleon but before he could, he felt something latch onto his back causing him to lose consciousness. As David looked back at Rice, he held up the device that he threw on his back. “If I hadn’t done it back there, you would have suffered fatal injuries beyond repair and your A.I. would have most definitely been lost forever.

“So that’s two, what about the third time?” David questioned. Rice took one of the pebbles in his hand and suddenly threw it right at David’s face. Thankfully, David’s reaction was quick enough that he was able to catch it before it struck his forehead. Right as he caught the stone, he suddenly flashed back to the tavern when he fell asleep. “The noise at the window, you threw the rock to alert me of the assassins!”

“Now you remembered all the times I have helped you, well done.” After he finished his sentence, David continued, “But wait, you said you helped me four times, when was the last one.” Rice took a few steps forward before answering him, “Right now.”

David was extremely confused, he couldn’t understand what he needed saving. “The Metadross have arrived, they will begin their attack on the city within the hour.” Upon hearing the news from Rice, David grabbed him by the cloak. “Why did you drag me out here! We need to go back there and save…”

In just a split second, Rice reversed the situation by knocking David’s arms aside, sweeping his feet and having him locked to the ground. David struggled with everything he had but he could not break free. He realized the more he fought back the tighter the grip got, to the point where David had to concede and listen to what Rice had to say.

“I know how you feel, you want to save your friends and the people of Corrinth but right now you would cause more harm to them. I’m sure you realized after your encounter with Sibleon that he has the ability to manipulate anything with Metadross metal on it. That’s how he has been able to control some of the humans and used them to fight as his pawn. You were immune to this effect when you had your A.I. back in the desert. However, after the events that transpired, your A.I. is currently non-operational. If Sibleon found out, he would take control of you and there would be no one else that could stop him.”

David took some time to collect his thoughts before speaking again. “So what do I do now? I can’t just sit here while the city is attacked by those mechanical beasts.” Rice walked up closer before telling him, “You need to wake up your A.I.”

Again David was confused, “Uh I don’t think that’s possible. I lost my A.I. back in the Sahana Desert. I have tried to call her but nothing.” Rice’s expression didn’t change as if he knew exactly what happened. “She isn’t gone, she still lives within your systems. You just need to find a way to awaken her.”

Hearing that gave David some hope as he sprang back up and immediately asked Rice to explain how to get Siri back. “I’m afraid that is something I can’t help you with, but I will pray that you find out soon as you are about to have an unwanted visitor coming.”

In the distance, David could hear footsteps that didn’t sound human. He held his first up ready to defend himself. As the figure came out into the clear, David breathed a huge sigh of relief seeing one of his friends, Roop. “Phew, Roop you really had me going there, I thought you were an enemy…”

As he was about to finish his sentence, one of the chains in Roop’s hand latched out just missing David’s face. David was caught completely by surprise, he thought Roop had mistaken him for an enemy but then he got a clear look in his eyes. His eyes looked similar to when he was being possessed by Sibleon. “Oh no, he has control of Roop again, which means he must be in the city.”