Remote

Wren

It moved in for the kill, wings creating a whirlwind around her in the sand. Huge and hulking, her knives appeared pitiful in comparison, but she trained in their use, and guns were useless noisemakers. The metallic armor stopped bullets, but with a knife, Wren had a chance of deactivating the machine.

Long talons of steel slashed through the air in front of her. The Phantom screamed at Wren, a wretched, agonizing sound.

She watched its eyes, hoping they would telegraph its movements, but she was troubled by face of the creature, a scar of wires, hardware, and metal. While it still reflected a mask of humanity with nose and lips intact, its eyes were gone, replaced with sensors that saw and transmitted data back to the New State, where it was reviewed and archived.

The Phantom clicked, shuttered, and whirled, gathering information.

"Showing off?" She taunted, distracting both herself and it.

The cyborg crouched in front of her, metallic wings spread wide.

It hissed and then pounced, talons scissoring through the air. Wren fell to the ground and rolled away. Instinct and training coming into play. Claws tore through her jacket, leaving a searing pain. Strips of red appeared, accentuating her torn shirt. Heaving herself up, she crisscrossed the sand, keeping the beast in her sight. The rush of wings mocked her.

The rocky cliff where she could hide stood like a monument before her. Wren sprinted forward and jumped toward the incline, but talons hauled her backward through the air and slammed her into the ground before the Phantom took off into the sky, circling before the kill.

Pebbles dug into her face. Disoriented, she gulped air, focused, stood, and ran. Reaching the rocky outcrop, she plastered herself against the stone monolith.

Blood trickled from deep scrapes on her cheek.

She clawed her way into a crevice. Better than being exposed, she thought. At least nothing can grab me from behind.

Phantoms had too much of an advantage when fighting from above. She'd force it to land if it wanted her. She'd held tight to her knives, even when thrown to the ground.

Using a thermal scan for body heat, the monster homed in on her location. Inhumanity lived in its impossible musculature. Wires like veins snaked along its skin. She had no idea what they were for, but she had learned they were the most successful way to deactivate Phantoms.

Go for the wires. Any wires.

When it wedged itself into the crevice, she attacked like a rabid animal, staying low and hitting the monster's legs, bowling it over. Predator and prey landed in a heap, but the cyborg, in a flip that no human could ever achieve, regained its footing before her. It screamed through vampiric teeth. Smiling, it launched itself.

She possessed important qualities the Phantom lacked: intelligence and independent thought. Equipped with implants and anger, Phantoms killed, but their programming and collective knowledge input by the New State fed them. Wren could overcome this Phantom and take it down. She'd done it before.

She aimed the knife and charged, but the creature, at the last moment, feigned left. Her blade nicked its shoulder. The cyborg retaliated by pushing her off balance with a flip of its enormous wings. She fell hard on the packed earth. The jolt to her tailbone hurt, but stars exploded in her vision when her head hit the ground.

She flipped over, pressing her stomach to the dirt and waited for her chance. The creature sped toward her, talons exposed, mouth gruesome and gaping.

Wren stayed motionless until the last second. When she sprang, she plunged the knife into the creature's leg. The weapon embedded itself, and she dragged it upward with all her strength.