The bright light in the tunnel grew brighter and brighter. At the same time, heavy footsteps echoed throughout the entire station.
Slow. Steady. Almost calm.
But that was exactly what made it even more eerie.
Pix backed up frantically. “No, no, no… this is bad. Really bad.”
Lio nervously glanced back and forth between Mara and the tunnel. “Can someone please finally explain to me what an Enforcer is?”
Mara pulled a small metallic pistol from her jacket. “The most advanced security machines from NexaCore. Almost indestructible, extremely intelligent, and unfortunately very good at finding people.”
Keks cautiously raised his hand. “And… how high is our chance of survival?”
Pix answered immediately: “Do you want the honest or the friendly version?”
“The friendly one.”
“Not very good.”
Then the machine stepped out of the tunnel.
Lio involuntarily held his breath.
The Enforcer was almost two and a half meters tall. Its black metal casing gleamed in the station’s light. The arms looked almost human, only much more massive. Its head consisted almost entirely of a narrow white sensor panel.
And it moved frighteningly calmly.
No frantic robotic steps. No wild buzzing.
Only absolute control.
The Enforcer stopped right in the middle of the tracks.
Then its voice sounded.
Deep. Calm. Almost friendly.
“MC-9000. Your escape was inefficient.”
The refrigerator answered immediately:
YOUR EVALUATION IS ACKNOWLEDGED.
Lio blinked in surprise. “Why are those two talking so politely to each other?”
“Because highly advanced AI systems are often more polite than humans,” Mara murmured.
The Enforcer took a slow step forward.
“You will now be returned. Resistance is futile.”
Pix immediately pointed at Mara. “Villains always say that!”
“Pix,” Mara said dryly, “this IS a villain.”
Keks suddenly stood bravely in front of Lio.
At least he tried to look brave. However, his display showed a trembling potato with a helmet.
“H-HALT!”, he beeped. “You may not take my human!”
The Enforcer slowly looked down at Keks.
For a brief moment, everything was silent.
Then the machine said:
“You are a household robot of the K7 series.”
Keks nodded nervously. “Correct.”
“Your threat level is 0.2 percent.”
Keks looked briefly offended. “Only 0.2?”
“After reanalysis: 0.1 percent.”
“That was mean.”
But suddenly something unexpected happened.
The Enforcer moved lightning fast.
A metallic arm shot forward and grabbed the refrigerator at the side.
Sparks flew.
Lio heard Pix curse. Mara immediately raised her weapon and fired.
A bright energy flash hit the Enforcer directly on the shoulder.
Nothing happened.
The machine slowly turned its head toward Mara.
“Unwise decision.”
Then the Enforcer raised its free arm.
A shockwave raced through the station.
Lio was thrown several meters backward and crashed against a bench.
Keks rolled screeching across the platform.
“I AM A FLYING ROBOT!”
“You’re not!”, Lio shouted back.
Pix had meanwhile hidden behind an old snack machine. “I HATE military robots!”
The Enforcer slowly pulled the refrigerator closer to itself.
“Project Restart must not be endangered.”
Suddenly the refrigerator started flashing violently.
Mara’s eyes widened in shock. “No… MC, don’t do that!”
Lio didn’t understand anything anymore. “What is it doing?”
Pix jumped out of his hiding place in panic. “EVERYONE TAKE COVER!”
One second later, the entire interior lighting of the refrigerator exploded in a bright white flash.
The station was flooded with light.
The Enforcer immediately let go of the refrigerator and staggered a step back.
“SENSOR SYSTEM DISTURBED,” the machine reported.
Mara reacted immediately.
“NOW!”, she shouted.
The group ran off. Directly across the tracks and deeper into the dark tunnels of Station 17.
Behind them, the Enforcer’s voice echoed through the station:
“ESCAPE ATTEMPT REGISTERED.”
Then those slow, heavy footsteps sounded again.
And they were getting closer.