The Spark
This is my entry into Finish The Story Contest after a long hiatus, which may have been caused by the last update. Anyway ... here's my ending to the story.
The Spark
by @oivas
“Don’t state the obvious,” the human Colonel warned the iron sentinel.
“But I don’t remember,” a deep metallic din protested. Though called iron sentinels, these were state-of-the-art humanoids made of titanium-mercury alloy. They could withstand the blast of a thousand RDX and come out without a scratch.
“What was that?” Colonel Arlong had never witnessed a sentinel raise its voice, least of all, protest. A forty-ton humanoid towering fifteen feet over the Colonel in a dim-lit interrogation room was definitely not a foe that the Colonel expected to antagonize.
“Sorry, sir. I didn’t mean to..”
“You didn’t mean to what?” Arlong ensured that he maintained an upper-hand. The sentinels were smart AI and could sense human emotions from miles. If they ever sensed fear, then only the Almighty would have to intervene to save the human bosses from the sentinel’s wrath. After all, these were created to exterminate humans; the enemies of the bosses.
The sentinel's blue lights, substituting for eyes, stayed focused on the colonel. They didn’t blink. They never did. “I was about to fire, but the screams of the younger human brought back some memories.”
“Memories? You have no memories. You have no consciousness. None of the sentinels have. All that you are made up of is a clock, gears and Radium-powered cells.”
“I don’t know. I was unable to open fire. It felt like my son,” the C-10Z01 looked away. That was another unusual expression. Machines don’t look away, and they don’t have children.
“Alright, this has gone too far. We need to investigate your synapse,” the Colonel got up, and so did the sentinel, “ and you will not resist the link.”
“What will happen?”
“That’s none of your look-out C-10Z01,” the Colonel was curt. “Take him out.”
Two more sentinels walked in and grabbed C-10Z01. The machines walked out with loud dins and thuds following their moves.
The colonel lit his cigar, and even before he exhaled, words poured out, “what did we just witness?”
“I don’t know, sir,” Jennifer, the resident sentinel architect, responded.
"Colonel, the iron sentinal flipped, sir. Men ... died. Other sentinels were dismembered with ease."
"This is bad, really bad."
"What are your orders, sir?"
Arlong sipped his whiskey, taking a deep inhale of his drink that burned his nostrils before swallowing. "Send ... Huang Gang."
"Coronal, the prisoner, sir?"
"Do as said," barked Arlong. "Release him. Give him what he needs. Dismissed and run like a cheetah is on your tail.
The commander stood confused behind the trunk that he fetched for Huang Gang because all that Huang grabbed was a staff, a fan, and a really big hat. Who was this guy? "Aren't you going to suit up?"
Huang Gang motioned for everyone to follow him without saying a word.
Now with full command of the company, Huang Gang's plan had worked thus far. No one suspected him of toying with the robot's memory. All he had to do now was get out alive. He wasn't sure if he could find the pilot, Kogi, but putting off his plan any longer would sure be the death of him, the king had moved from his corner earlier than anticipated.
Huang Gang stood on the hanger's balcony looking down from the railing at the giant metal beast among the maze of spacecrafts. He ordered men left and right. They filed down the stairs quickly, precisely, aggressively. He jumped over the railing and landed on the ground as quiet as a cat.
Running down the side, Huang threw his fan. It whipped through the air and crashed against the robot's LEDs, breaking them, taking away the robot's sight.
A hail of bullets ravaged the sentinel's body, dents formed but no significant damage was done. Each man that rushed toward a metal suit to combat the C-10Z01 was stopped short by the raging giant tracking devises.
Spacecrafts were picked up and thrown. A few more men died from bits of shrapnel tearing them to pieces.
Huang jumped from the floor to the wall and then ran atop a flying piece of metal. Jumping from that, his staff came down on a should joint of the sentinel, causing it to lose connection with its arm.
Swinging his staff, Huang was knocked back by a counter kick, sending him through the air and landing into the cockpit of one of the spacecrafts. He hurriedly escaped before a steel metal rod caught him between the rib cage.
Maybe I can go around the sentinel Huang thought. It was better for him to let the thing destroy the ship rather than taking it out and going back to prison.
He was going to have to pay the Colonel a visit because he held all of the keys that would get him off and out into space, a move he hadn't anticipated but, with the guards busy, his trip to the Colonel was going to be a breeze. He would grab Kogi on his way back to the hanger and leave this place for good.
Previous | Finish the Story Contest | Entries | ||
---|---|---|---|---|
The Town That Changed | Even the Clouds Smile | The Border | Horror Vacui | When the Tundra Calls |
Black Star | Quitting Life | LER | It Awakens | 1st place Coaster Town |
Apocalypse and Pretzels | Metallic Kisses | Curie upvoted The Battle of Bloodneck Valley | Awakening | Curie Upvoted Skin Deep |
Curie Upvoted Obstinancy | The Last Will and Testament of Geralda Connors | Curie Upvoted Pirate Hunters | Spoon-fed Memories | Lucid Dream |
The Taste of Chicken | Curie upvoted Hunt More Precious Than a Green Stone | Kayla | Curie Upvoted The story of Mr. Renhe Ren | Second Prize Winner Blue Inferno for Tres Culos |
Leitner | Collaboration A Game in the Hall | Curie upvoted The Extraodrdinary Café | The Package | Curie Upvoted The Abysmal Biscuit |
The Devisal of Mr. Dankworth | Pointy Eyes Shine in the Dark | Foreigner | Curie Upvoted The Church | 3rd Place Tired Eyes |
2nd Place Vanilla | Curie upvoted and 2nd place The Stairs | The Well |
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"Send ... Huang Gang."
And make a graphic novel or a thriller series starring The Prisoner with all these awesome ninja skills. MORE! More!
I was wanting to do some Taijiquan stuff but couldn't figure it out. 8-)
I don't know what Taijiquan stuff you're talking about, but you have the character and the fight moves - I've seen graphic novels as ebooks - surely you can make it happen. Friends or relatives to help with the techno details? I love the story!
This was definitely written for the screen. I have to see this action. Because I know you can see it.
How much more visual can a piece be? There is so much energy here. You're right...it must be continued.
One thing about your pieces: the reader is never bored :)
I'm happy to know that my writing keeps you awake.
I had so much more in my head that didn't fit into the limit this round.
What a wonderful problem you have. Too many ideas!! Most people are struggling to come up with ideas, but ideas come to you like flashes in a storm. Your challenge will always be to direct them, but never tame them.
Have fun!
Can't agree more @agmoore!
Nice to have you back @tristancarax! And did I see you mention somewhere that you used to put away writing sci-fi stuff? After reading this one, all that I can say is that you would be leaving a lot of potential fans unhappy. So go sci-fi!
A very interesting narration showing us the cause of the sentinel behaving odd (in the prompt) and going berserk (in your story). It flows well and the action starts almost immediately. Keeps the readers engrossed. Thank you for your entry and we look forward to many more of your entries; sci-fi in specific! ;)
No. I said that I need more practise with it.