MEXØ Prime's Arc

Chapter 2 of 2

The doors clicked shut on every floor. MEXØ Prime stood at the command console, watching the strange signal crawl through the building. Prime's glowing green hands slapped the screen. Nothing answered. The controls were locked. Prime tried a voice command, then a manual override. Both failed. "It kicked me out of my own home," Prime said. The three drones spun in tight circles above, obeying orders Prime had never given. Robo pressed against Prime's leg, ears flat. His pink tongue was gone. "We're stuck? Really stuck?" He scratched at the sealed door with one fluffy paw. It didn't budge. Down in the yard, the frost-covered tree creature turned its head. Its blue eyes fixed on the window. Prime felt cold, even inside. "The signal came through the network," Prime said. "So the network is the way out." Prime knelt and pried open a floor panel near the console. Wires glowed underneath. The signal traveled these wires to reach the door locks. If Prime could cut the right one, the locks would lose their new master. But which wire? Prime traced the pulsing green light with a finger. One cable throbbed harder than the rest, feeding straight into the door controls. "That one," Prime said. Robo whimpered. "What if it's the wrong one?" "Then the doors stay shut and it wins." Prime gripped the cable. The drones dove suddenly, driven by the signal, aiming for Prime's hands. Robo barked and leaped, snapping his plush jaws at the lead drone. He knocked it off course. "Go, go, do it!" Robo yelled, tumbling across the floor. Prime yanked the cable free. Sparks jumped. The console screamed, then went dark. Every green light in the building flickered. For one long second, nothing moved. Then the locks thumped, all at once. Sealed doors slid open on every floor. The drones dropped from the air and clattered to the ground, dead and silent. Robo scrambled up and shook himself. "You did it! The doors!" He raced through the open doorway and back, tail whipping. Prime stood slowly, breathing hard. The trap was broken. They could move again. But the dark console gave Prime no camera feeds, no controls, no drones. Cutting the wire had killed the whole system, not just the invader. Prime looked at the three fallen drones on the floor. They had been part of the squad. Now they lay still. Worse, the front door of the headquarters now hung wide open at the bottom of the building. Prime crossed to the window and looked down. The yard was empty. The frost-covered tree creature was gone. Prime scanned the dark stairwell below. Wet footprints, rimmed with ice, marked the bottom steps. The thing wasn't in the yard anymore. It was inside, climbing, and Prime had no cameras left to find it.