MEXØ Prime's Arc

Chapter 1 of 2

MEXØ Prime pushed open the front door of the four-story headquarters and stepped into the dark. Green light strips flickered on along the walls. Prime wanted one thing more than anything: a real squad, humans and robots and drones building great things side by side. But right now the squad was small. Just Prime, a plush robot-dog named Robo, and three drones humming overhead. The big adventure was over. The HQ was empty. Prime had to make it feel like home. Robo bounced past on four fluffy paws, his neon-green crown logo glowing on his chest. His pink tongue hung out. "We made it! Can we play now? Please?" He skidded across the black floor and crashed into a wall. He looked up, grinning, unhurt. Prime laughed and pointed a glowing green hand at the stairs. "Deal. But we check every floor first." The drones spread out, scanning. Prime climbed. The first floor held command screens, still dark. The second floor had racing chairs and giant monitors. Prime slapped a wall panel. The whole gaming floor woke up. Screens lit green. Speakers thumped. Robo howled with joy and jumped into a chair. They climbed higher. On the third floor, Prime found the MEXØ command center. One console blinked, waiting. Prime pressed a palm to the scanner. The system booted, showing camera feeds of every room. Everything looked safe. "Good," Prime said. "Now we can breathe." The top floor was cozy. Soft couches, warm lamps, a window across the whole wall. The three drones settled into a charging dock like tired birds. Robo curled against Prime's leg and yawned. For the first time, the HQ felt alive. Prime rested a hand on Robo's fluffy head. "This is the start," Prime said quietly. "We build the squad from here." Then the lights changed. Every green strip in the building flared white, then blazed a deep, unfamiliar green. It was not the HQ's usual color. It pulsed like a heartbeat. The command console upstairs screamed an alert. Prime ran to the wall screen. A signal was climbing the building's own network, floor by floor, taking control as it went. Robo pressed against Prime, ears flat. "That's not us, right? Tell me that's not us." "It's not us," Prime said. The drones lifted off the dock, spinning, confused, following commands Prime hadn't given. On the big window, the outside world glowed too. Far below, snow-crusted branches shifted in the strange light. Something tall stood in the yard, frost-laced and watching, its blue eyes bright. A living tree, wrapped in winter, staring up at them. The signal wasn't a message. It was a door, and someone had just opened it inside Prime's own home. The HQ locks clicked shut, one floor at a time, sealing them in. Prime's green eyes narrowed. The squad had a home now. And already, something wanted it.