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He was the bot that held me back the day my owner died.

At first, few days after humans leaving, I thought he was to regroup with his kind, but it happened he never left as he said his objective was to protect humans from the beast and help them until they were out world. Yet, since there was no human remaining, his objective was accomplished and no further order came to keep him busy, he stood still at the hall where we first met, looking outside as a black giant guarding the building’s entrance.

On the other hand, I had remained at home for what looked like months, just processing data and investigating the events that happened so far, storing archives from computers I found and pictures that could help me to reach a satisfactory answer for my question, afraid to go outside, where the only thing that waited me was a certain deactivation.

However, despite my efforts, I found nothing relevant.

The information I could gather form the building’s barely functioning network was contradictory and most of it was corrupted to a point it didn’t make any sense, or was just irrelevant to me. After a while, it seemed that my only option was to search for more in another place, further, outside, but how was I going to be able of do it if I didn’t even knew how to fight? I was a civilian, a company-bot, made for serve and entreating humans, not fighting wars! All I knew was to help my owner with his programs, experiments, robots and androids. I had never hold a gun before!

I felt like a fool when I saw him there; standing in front of me like he was as the most obvious answer to my problems.

Rampage-3.

If I was able to online his hibernating processor; I was going to be able to modify it so he could help me to go beyond the building entrance. Perhaps, even upgrade it into a 4th or 5th generation one, similar the one I had, so that he protected and helped me to gather more information to corroborate the one I already had and maybe, and only maybe, found the answer I craved to know.

The process, anyway, wasn’t easy. Rampage was an old mass-produced model built in record time to fight the beast before the country’s big factories closed down. I remember that when I opened his processing module for the very first time, I discovered he was an obsolete, energy consuming and very simple-minded killing beast, like any military grade bot, but not impossible to upgrade, it was just… it was a lot of work to do. It was a blessing I had plenty.

When he onlined with his upgrades running, I felt happy to see his movements where way more fluid and his fame response wasn’t affected at all. I was quite surprised me when he thanked me, though… I didn’t imagine he would be able to recall the memories before his upgrade.

Now he was free to do as he wished as I removed the old human codes that restricted him before from acting on his own, and, with time, he even developed his own conscience and personality to the point I can call him now what humans knew as “friend”.

-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-

I stood at the entrance to meet him when he finally arrived, covered in dry mud and a strange oily substance splattered across his armor.

“I couldn’t access, Seix. Life Eaters surround the building and I ran out of plasma ammo before I could even get closer.” He said appearing at the door. I should have expected that, the entrance was too narrow for somebody of his built. “Are you sure we can find useful information there? I am afraid I cannot keep wasting resources like this.”

“We had no alternative, CENTRAL is the IA-MXCY, she gathers all info distributed here and has independent energy sources, she may be still running and if we had to find a place to know how to stop this, it must be there.” I answered disappointed, to be honest.

We had explored almost the whole city without any significant finding and it was becoming more and more frustrating every day. CENTRAL was the last alternative and we didn’t want to go there in the beginning as we knew how dangerous it would be. “If those things are lurking the place, it’s because of something!”

“I understand…”he shook his helm. “ However, the beast had gathered there, and I was lucky I could escape in one piece. I saw many like me deactivated all over the place… and the remaining of humans and civilian grade bots too. It seems they had tried to seize the tower once and failed. It was a whole unit…” He paused a second, his helm held low, trying to keep his optic to mine. “Seix…”

“I need to know, Rampage…” I insisted, knowing this was stubborn and selfish of me, as I walked towards him, though I knew he was right. Between the two, he was the most reasonable one, to be sincere. “Why? Why they had created us? Why they left us behind? Why they gave us minds and feelings if they were to abandon us like this?”

“Why if they knew The Plan was to deactivate us at the end…” He completed the sentence, already knowing what I was going to say. “I know.”

I waited in silence. We had talked about it a lot in the past and he always patiently listened to me. He had read the information I gave him, the analysis I did, the recordings, everything, and was way aware of my constant questioning behavior, and in despite of all, he remained to my side, as bots like us were becoming scarce every day, and being together was our only option of survival.

The Plan… Humans didn’t even know if that would eliminate the beast, where it certainly would exterminate us. That’s why I keep trying to know more, to know if we could stop it.

I made a promise.

He made me promise.

“They don’t even know if it would work.” I finally said, taking a cloth from my storage compartment, cleaning the dark substance on my partner’s arms. This wasn’t the first time we had this conversation either. “They never found what those beasts were. The creatures killed and disabled weaponry faster than humans were able to fight them and for that reason they never discovered a real way to exterminate those beasts…”

“Seix please…” and he knew it.

“I told him I was going to survive. I can’t go back on my word!”

“SEIX.”His deep commanding voice made me twitch. I fell silent. “I know, I…” He waited a second. I knew this was hard for him to process, he wasn’t built for that, even if I upgraded him… It wasn’t the same… Or so I believed. “I’m going to think a way to make it, ok? I’m aware how important is this for you, but we can’t go there just like that. We need a plan, and it’ll have to wait, it’s almost night and we have to return, you know I’m not very efficient without sunlight...” He offered his arm to carry me. The night was falling, indeed and our shelter was some squares from there, an old gym big enough for Rampage to fit inside. Late hours were when the most savage beast became more active, and they were soon to awake.

He was right. I had to be patient. Learn to be patient.

Quietly, I climbed his frame and sat on his shoulder, looking how the sun fell in the horizon. Thinking, looking at the stars, wondering if humans thought in us as much as we did about them...

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