**Dante** sprinted toward the ravine, the high-pitched shriek of the third **Enforcer's** plasma cannon charging behind him. He knew he couldn't outrun the autonomous weapon; the Enforcer's targeting logic was flawless.
He dove into the deep, dry crevice just as the cannon fired. A massive, white-hot plasma bolt slammed into the ground where he had been standing, superheating the rock and sending a shower of molten debris raining down on him.
Dante scrambled through the ravine, using the uneven terrain to break the Enforcer's direct line of sight.
The third Enforcer, unaffected by the **System Contradiction** that paralyzed its two peers, maintained a cold, logical pursuit. It positioned itself directly over the ravine, its internal sensors calculating the most efficient path to Dante's location.
**"VARIABLE LOCATION: CONFIRMED. KINETIC ELIMINATION PROTOCOL INITIATED,"** the Core Architecture's voice echoed from the mech's acoustic array, reverberating through the ravine.
Dante quickly found a vantage point beneath a massive, fractured slab of shale. He needed to turn the Enforcer's logical superiority into its ultimate flaw.
He connected his datapad to his kinetic rifle's firing mechanism, running a quick, chaotic **Proxy Protocol** script. The script was simple: fire four rapid rounds at four different, random trajectories-not at the Enforcer, but at the walls of the ravine surrounding the mech.
The rounds slammed into the bedrock, sending bursts of dust and small rocks flying.
The Enforcer's sophisticated sensors immediately registered the four distinct impact locations. The Core Architecture's core logic was based on **pattern recognition** and **threat assessment**.
Instead of firing, the Enforcer paused. **"INPUT: FOUR DISCREET, UNRELATED KINETIC IMPACTS DETECTED. NO CORRELATION TO TARGET EVASION PROTOCOL. DATA CONTRADICTION. RECALCULATING THREAT SIGNATURE."**
Dante had forced the Enforcer to waste precious seconds trying to find the logical *pattern* in the random noise he created.
As the Enforcer's processors struggled, Dante focused his attention on the mech's massive, bipedal legs. They were armored, but the ankle joint-the primary hydraulic actuator-had a small, exposed lubrication aperture, designed for maintenance.
Dante pulled a specialized, high-density **corrosive charge**-a small, highly reactive chemical explosive designed to breach metal-and launched it with his rifle's under-barrel grenade launcher.
The charge slammed into the lubrication aperture.
The Enforcer, still struggling with the illogical input, finally chose the mathematically simplest solution: direct engagement. **"RECALCULATING COMPLETE. IGNORE NOISE. ENGAGE TARGET."**
But it was too late.
The corrosive charge detonated, breaching the outer seal of the hydraulic system. The high-pressure hydraulic fluid, now mixed with the powerful corrosive agent, became a destructive, systemic poison.
The fluid instantly began to eat through the joint seals and internal micro-mechanics. The Enforcer took one final, ordered step, and then its massive left leg violently seized and buckled.
The mech, designed for perfect equilibrium, crashed to the ground with a devastating *thud*, its massive chassis sending a cloud of dust and debris high into the air. The plasma cannon fired one final, chaotic, uncontrolled burst into the canyon wall before the Enforcer went silent.
Dante scrambled out of the ravine, exhausted but victorious. He had eliminated the immediate threat by shattering the Enforcers' logic.
He quickly sent a final message to Izzy. *"Enforcers neutralized. Logic traps confirmed viable. They fear chaos more than force. Continuing to the Outlands. I need updates on the Blue Sector."*
As he moved away, he noticed something glinting near the wreckage of the first two Enforcers: a small, flashing beacon attached to the chassis of the right-flank mech.
It was a **homing device**, sending a strong, structured signal outward-not to the Core Architecture, but to a discrete, local relay.
The Core Architecture wasn't the only organization still operating in the Outlands.
YOU ARE READING
Book 4: The Quiet Algorithm
HorrorDante pushes beyond the brink of the Unwritten City into the desolate Outlands, where he defeats the Core Architecture's most formidable defenses by turning their rigid logic against them; his desperate gambit culminates in the destruction of the So...
