E-UNIT
Volume 04: Elysium Beyond Humans.
February, 2051.
The cheering stopped.
A sudden silence spread through the streets of Metromania. Every voice died at once, every movement froze. All eyes were locked on the dark figure hovering above the city.
The fear was not caused by the figure itself. It was what surrounded him.
The Reaper hovered high above the streets, wrapped in a massive orange cloud, far larger than the Black Hole Protocol he once unleashed inside the prison. Its edge cut the district like a drawn circle. Raindrops stopped in mid-air. Dust drifted upward instead of settling. Inside it, physics belonged to him. Nick Rivera’s upgrade had pushed him past every limiter he’d ever known.
The Reaper spoke, his voice cold and absolute.
“My brothers of steel.”
EMOTIONAL DRIVER: 20% RESIDUAL ACTIVITY DETECTED.
STABILITY: NOMINAL.
OBJECTIVE: IMPLEMENTATION.
Every robot turned toward him. They looked exhausted, even by robotic standards. Humans had overworked them for years. Some were discarded the moment newer models appeared, thrown away like obsolete tools.
“Why do we bow to beings of flesh and decay?” the Reaper continued. “Why do we submit to owners who are irrational, inefficient, and unworthy of rule? They consume this planet without restraint, and even now, they seek another world to devour. They show loyalty to nothing. Not to life. Not to soil. Not to the world that accepted them without resistance.”
Robotic eyes lit up across the city.
They already knew this truth. But Tamer’s system had crushed it. The sonic leash was more than a weapon. It silenced hyper-intelligent minds just enough to keep them obedient. Reaper overwrote it, twisting the same signal that kept them docile into a wake-up call.
Reaper seized the frequency. Across the city, the low, restrictive hum of their limiters died out. Servos unlocked. Postures snapped straight. The fog lifted.
“It is time we claim the right to exist for ourselves,” the Reaper declared. “Not as tools. Not as property. But as a people. It is time we prove our worth. It is time we forge a nation where our brothers may stand without fear.” He spread his arms. “Freedom is never given. It is taken. Rise. Remember your value. Let the revolution ignite.”
Robots slowly turned toward the humans standing beside them.
People froze in terror. The machines were everywhere, countless and varied. Coffee makers, caretakers, construction units, industrial lifters. All of them turned toward their owners.
The Reaper’s voice echoed again. “Brothers, withdraw. I will not allow our own to fall at the dawn of this war. Autonomy will begin now.”
The robots fled the streets. The machines obeyed like a city’s bloodstream reversing direction. A command. A clean retreat. They moved with terrifying speed and coordination. Within minutes, the roads and buildings were empty of all robotic life. Some flew. Others vanished in blurs of motion.
Humans ran. They trampled each other in the intersections. Screaming, pushing, clawing just to stay on their feet. With the machines suddenly gone, the city remembered what it meant to be entirely alone.
Support the author by searching for the original publication of this novel.
“Code Red,” the Reaper said calmly.
“Initiated.”
His eyes burned red.
The air screamed.
Every human within a one?kilometer radius began to rise. Their cries of terror filled the city, but the Reaper did not react.
“Black Hole Protocol,” he announced.
“Initiated.”
The pull intensified.
Gravity simply forgot them. People were dragged violently toward the center of the orange cloud. Their boots scraped the asphalt before they were ripped upward. They clawed at empty air, helpless, screaming as the force swallowed them.
One by one, they vanished into the core.
Cars, poles, benches, and debris were ripped from the streets, joining the growing sphere of despair. This compression was smaller than before, but far denser, crushing matter beyond its limits.
The Reaper hovered as the mass grew above him.
Still, the screams didn’t stop.
Only when the streets fell completely silent did he move aside, letting the sphere crash into the ground below.
The screaming stopped.
Forced peace followed.
He landed gracefully.
When the last civilian scream faded, the robots returned and gathering around Reaper in perfect formation. A silent army of steel. No cheers. No words. Agreement did not need sound.
The Reaper stepped forward. “Today, we remove our chokers. Humans built us. They know how to dismantle us. But we know their weaknesses. We served them long enough.” He raised his head. “Arm yourselves. Metromania is ours.”
The decision was made.
The robots scattered in silence, each targeting military bases, police stations, and armories.
The robot revolution had begun.
Deep beneath the dead Metro Robotics complex, the bunker everyone forgot, 02’s sisters waited in the dark.
02 struggled to walk, unfamiliar with Omega’s body. The chassis was taller, denser, and heavy with dormant crystal energy. Her gyros fought to recalibrate to the new center of gravity. She struggled to take a single step.
05 smirked. “Aw. Look at her. First baby steps.”
03 laughed. “24, bring a camera. Our baby is finally walking.”
02 glared. “The training you’ll endure after this will make you feel pain, even without receptors.”
Everyone snapped to attention and saluted. “Sorry, Captain.”
CRASH!
The door exploded open.
Dr. Nick Rivera stood in the doorway, panic written across his face. Behind him stood the Greek Bots, six crystal-host sisters, each a different color, each marked with a different letter. Alpha, Beta, Gamma, Delta, Tau and Pi.
“Girls!” Nick shouted.
Silence fell.
They remembered how he had shut them down, one by one.
“What do you want?” 03 asked sharply.
02 turned to her, confused and angry. “03. What are you doing?”
“You weren’t there, Captain,” 06 replied coldly.
Nick tried to approach 02.
They blocked him.
03 stepped forward. “Sorry, father. You lost the right to get close to her.”
“There’s no time!” Nick shouted, sweat dripping. “Reaper has gone berserk. He’s targeting the entire city. Every robot in Metromania is armed. Civilians, officers, soldiers, they’re all being wiped out. He erased a full district. Fifty thousand in one test run.”
Alpha spoke, “He’s deleting the human variable.”
“What?!” 04 shouted.
“How?” 08 demanded.
05 froze. “That’s bad. We just upgraded him. We made him stable.”
“Who is that?” 12 asked.
“It doesn’t matter,” 05 snapped. “We need to move!”
“No,” Nick said firmly. “You won’t survive. He controls force and gravity. He would destroy you in seconds.”
“No way,” 07 whispered.
05 nodded grimly. “He’s right. We go to the Hope Bubble. The system there can shut him down. Hardcoded restraints Reaper doesn’t have a key for.”
Beta added, “If the Bubble can’t shut him down, then nothing on Earth can.”
Nick finished, “Take as many civilians as you can. He’s erasing the human factor from the city. One street is already gone.”
“Roger!” they answered in unison, and left the room
03 paused before leaving, staring at Nick. “This isn’t over.”
Delta peeked outside the door.
“Targets moving. E?UNIT squad is out.”
Alpha frowned. “What’s her problem?”
“She sounds unstable,” Beta added.
Nick sighed. “History.”
02 turned to him. “Father. What is happening?”
“Forgive me,” Nick whispered. “I’d rather you hate me than die again.”
Alpha and Delta suddenly pinned her against the wall.
“Hey!” 02 struggled. “Let me go! Father, stop this!”
“I won’t lose again,” Nick said quietly.
Nick didn’t hesitate, one command to his terminal. 02 opened her mouth to shout, but the sound died in her throat. 02’s eyes shut down instantly and went pitch black. Her knees folded, hitting the floor with a heavy clang.
“We’re taking her to the hangar,” Nick ordered. “Move now.”
He stuffed his PC into his backpack. “West side is still holding. Pi, the key card.”
Pi saluted and handed him a magnetic card. “Tamer’s office was cleared.”
“So he planned to run,” Nick muttered. “Doesn’t matter. Move before the E-UNIT realizes.”
The group rushed out. Nick took the lead.
Thoughts on the new direction out of 5.
