Vince Calloway's Arc

Chapter 5 of 3

Sable walked towards her Sedan at the gate. She was done. No cops, no graves, that was her line. Vince watched his ride to the border walk away with her. Then the ground shook. A shadow fell across the car. A giant rose from the scrap. It stood twice a man's height, built from robot legs and joints welded into a body. Rusted arms swung down. One fist came through the roof of Sable's sedan and folded it like paper. Glass burst across the dirt. Otto scuttled onto a heap, coffee can forgotten. "That's my build," he said fast. "Left rear joint, six-leg design, not ready for load like this." The titan's head turned. Two lens eyes glowed. “Too inquisitive," Otto was saying. "Was planning to secure the part myself once complete. Would walk to the tomb, take it, wake Her. Can't let you leave. Can't lose the trail." Vince backed against a wall of dead frames. His mind ran ahead of him. Otto wanted the part and knew the way to the tomb. Sable spun around. Her car was scrap. "That was my exit," she said. Her hands curled into fists. Z.E.R.O. raised its shotgun and fired. Buckshot cracked off the titan's chest. Sparks flew, but it kept coming. "This one will not shut down," Z.E.R.O. said. "That part is this one's." Faye moved to Vince's side, cop's eyes reading the machine. "Guns won't drop it," she said. "Look at the leg. The back one drags." Vince saw it. The rear joint stuttered with each step. Otto had said it kept failing. Vince acted before he could weigh it. He grabbed an iron rod from the scrap and ran low, under a swinging arm. "The back joint!" he shouted. "Hit the back joint!" Z.E.R.O. swung its aim. The shotgun roared into the failing knee. Faye threw her weight against the rod Vince jammed into the gap. Metal screamed. The joint tore loose. The titan lurched. Its bad leg buckled. It crashed into a stack of dead robots and went still, lens eyes fading to dark. Silence dropped over the yard. Oil dripped from Z.E.R.O.'s shotgun. Otto crept toward his fallen build, antennae twitching, already muttering about the joint that failed. Sable stared at her crushed car. Then she stared at Vince. "Rules are broke either way now," she said. "No cops. No car. But that thing was going to the tomb." She pulled her shades off. "So are you. And I've got no ride left to walk to." Vince felt the shift. His driver had nowhere else to go. "Then you drive," he said. "We find something in this yard with wheels." Sable looked at the miles of dead machines around them. "Fine," she said. "To the tomb. Once. Then I'm gone."