Mason found that he could not breathe.
He had never seen anything like the creature before him. Metallic and gleaming, but it had fur, and seemed to be breathing. The creatures back, or if it was even a back Mason didn't know, was opened up, revealing a crimson orb just floating inside, bathing the grass in its light.
The thing had a visor, or maybe it was its face. It was black, but like charcoal. It had bumps, little but still noticeable from where Mason was standing, and along the rim was a thin strip of metal. Along the sides of the visor were two protrusions, blue and black metal making up the framework.
It had a slim body. So slim in fact that it would seem malnourished, if not for the fact that its midsection was completely metallic. Mason took a step backwards in shock as a thin beam of light appeared on the black visor, flashing symbols.
They appeared slightly different each time, like a language. It steadily grows more in shape, before suddenly snapping into English. It read, "Percentage: One. Recharge necessary."
Mason took a deep breath, calming himself down. Whatever that thing was, it was out of battery. At least, from what Mason could infer. He fully stepped into the small clearing, brushing away some of the long strands of grass around him. He was completely enveloped by the red light.
As he stepped closer, intrigued, he felt a sharp pain in his neck: it was cold, yet hot. Stabbing yet blunt. He quickly shot his arms around his neck, choking.
And then it faded, but he noticed something. He felt every gust of wind, every prick of the small bits of degraded grass hitting him. Every small whistle of wind despite not hearing anything before, he could taste the air around him, and what was once a deep crimson red was now lighter. In fact, the world around him seemed to grow lighter, like it was turning day.
Mason took a step back, not wanting to get closer. What should he do? He could run to the road and hope to flag someone down if they are going down that road, but it would be unlikely that anyone would be going...
Tugging at his shirt, mason decided to go and get his friends. There was no way that he could find anyone else there, especially at that time. He felt every footstep as he ran back to the house, felt every sting as his paws slammed against the barren dirt and rocks.
He could hear everything. Even from outside the house, he could hear the faint sound of rustling sheets, and the loud snoring of Axel. He could smell the rancid mold emanating from underneath the porch, and he could taste the dust in the air.
He wondered what the red light did to him.
He hastily fiddled with the door, wrenching the entrance open and quickly rushed to the kitchen, "Wake up!" He yelled, startling even himself as it was much louder than he could go before. It held force behind it, and instantly woke up Axel.
He stared at him blearily, rubbing his eyes, "What's up?" He asked tiredly, throwing off the bed covers. Marissa was soon woken up by Axel, who hit her against her stomach and instantly woke her up, angry.
"You son of a b-" Axel hit her stomach once again, which caused her to hold it tenderly and not speak, glaring at him.
"I... I found something." Mason told them, his voice gusty and without air, like he had just ran two marathons without any water. He could energy draining from him, and he could barely feel anything, his body numb.
Axel shrugged, using the nearby table to prop himself up from the ground, "Cool, I guess, like a feral snake egg or something?" Marissa got up as well, but still had her eyes trained on the back of Axel's head.
"No, someone." Mason told them, quickly rushing back out of the kitchen. Axel, intrigued by what he said, quickly followed suite. Marissa sighed, suing her claws to pick up one of the blanket covers, throwing it over her back and cuddled against it, and then walked out.
Mason lead them through the pathway, and right up to the bench. Axel was wide awake now, sharing the same level of energy that Mason seemed to have, but Marissa disliked waking up, mostly because it took her forever to actually get fully awake, so she just walked along behind them, stifling a yawn.
She quickly woke up, however, when she heard Axel gasp. She swiftly walked over to where they were, huddled around a small enclosure emanating a red light. She quickly gained curiosity, shifting the blanket so that she was holding it rather than having it draped over her shoulder.
She then felt the heat impact her, like a thousand tiny needles poking her on every small piece of skin. She growled lowly, withdrawing from the group to stand back. She wondered why Axel nor Mason could feel it.
"It's got to be some sort of experiment... Just look at those legs! Cyborg or some artificial intelligence, something!" Axel noted, kneeling besides the creature. The heat was tremendous, but he wanted to know what it was, and that was burning far hotter than anything there.
"You think so?" Mason asked like a small child, even having the same wondrous tone to his voice. It was meant to be more meaningful, but Axel took it as sarcastic, giving Mason a weak punch to the shoulder, a smile beginning to creep onto his face.
Marissa gulped, tugging at the bright blue cotton of her shirt. Just being around the light caused her some discomfort, "Can we hurry this up? I don't think we should be touching it!"
Axel waved her off, his eyes bright and brimming with exploration. He started to go closer, squatting down as he walked around the thing. Mason held back, starting to feel the same effects as before, more amplified. He could swear he could hear Marissa's and Axel's heartbeats.
He withdrew as well, standing right next to Marissa as Axel laid the tall grass and folded it, letting them view the entire thing fully. A sharp thud resounded around the area as the things back closed shut firmly, causing Axel to jump in surprise.
The black visor then burned a bright red color, showing a bar of green on both sides of the oval visor. Axel stared at it for a second, before quickly glancing at Mason and Marissa, "Can we... Can we bring it back to the house?" He asked.
Mason looked at him strangely, and Marissa commented rather nicely, "Excuse me, why the Hell would we take it back! Look at those claws! Look at the fur! Do you all not see the blood?" Marissa asked.
Now that she had mentioned it, Mason did notice the blood splatters around the arms and metallic hips of the thing. He felt a bit more apprehensive of the thing now, but he was even more curious than anything, same with Axel.
"Well... Let's take it back and see if anything happens, hmm?" Mason asked, still slightly worried about what could happen but curious nonetheless. It was something new, and he felt something inside him filling whatever was missing. It was a good feeling, adventure and new things.
Axel shrugged, beginning to haul the creature over his shoulder, his legs buckling underneath the weight, "A lil help here please?" Mason quickly rushed to help him with carrying the thing, him taking the right side, and Axel taking the left.
Marissa stood watch, a shiny gleam of distrust in her eyes. Whatever she felt emanate from that thing, it greatly upset her.
It took nearly nineteen minutes to haul that thing back to the front porch of the house, and by the time they got into the kitchen, Mason and Axel's legs were just about to give out. Marissa shut the door behind them and turned on the few lights that remained off.
"So" Mason began, peering over the kitchen counter and staring at the thing, "What now?"
"Well, it was your guys' decision to bring it here. I ain't taking responsibility when it kills both of you." Marissa stated plainly, sipping on her bottled water. Axel glared sharply at her, but quickly returned his attention to the thing.
Axel rubbed his hands together, kicking up his paws against the dusty kitchen table, "Well, I'd say that this thing is a cyborg of sorts. Can we at least agree to that?" Marissa and Mason nodded.
"Wel-"Marissa stopped dead in her tracks, her eyes staring blankly forward as she heard the hiss of hydraulics, and the clicking of servors. Mason and Axel both stared forward as well, not wanting to turn their heads.
Marissa slowly moved her head towards the creature, fear etched into their very being.
The limbs of whatever it was slowly swiveled in their sockets, as if detachable. Steam hissed out of every pore, and the blank black visor suddenly grew colorful, gaining life and an expression. White and green lights suddenly shot onto the face, mimicking a blank expression.
Even more hisses and puffs of steam filled the air as it's metallic legs pivoted, drilling into the body and grinding to a halt. A sweet and quite trill exited its body, the visor splitting open and growing sharp, jagged teeth like constructs to form as more steam exited from the mouth, a slimy wet tongue exiting as if it hadn't done that in years.
Mason kept his ground, standing right next to Axel as Marissa cautiously grabbed her pocket knife, not that she thought it'd do anything. The things visor lit up as it closed, a pure green light mimicking an eye appearing on the face-like screen.
The creature then slowly lowered itself from the table, unsteady yet still calm. Once it's paws touched the ground, a tremor ran through its body, a warm crimson red flashing against the black visor, apparently telling it something.
Marissa had whimpered as it had touched the ground, and it quickly noticed their presence.
It titled it's head and waved.
________________________________________________________________________________
Hmmm, how curious...
Heya! Thank you for reading'! I haven't updated this book lately because of something happening, but I am pleased to say that I'm back!
I will say that this one is rather shorter than most other chapters in this book, but I assure you, that it'll get really intresting, really fast, and you'll find out why this is catogorized as an action book.
But no spoilers!
~ Candle