Chapter 51 #2
The soldiers opened fire, their shots coming a fraction of a second after the gearhead’s. There was a high, sharp pang, and Chester swayed. Northside fell a moment later, with thin wisps of smoke curling out of the countless holes in him.
The three gearheads who stood behind him swiftly dropped their weapons and raised their empty hands.
To her shock, Lara realized they’d also fired upon their leader.
She recognized one of them, a synth with his exposed metal arm painted blue.
Cobalt. He’d been guarding the bot district gate alongside Northside when Lara first went there.
The crowds murmured as the soldiers stepped forward to collect the discarded firearms.
Lara pressed a shaky hand against Chester’s back. “You okay?”
He glanced at her over his shoulder. “Fine. Chest armor deflected the round. You?”
“Thought I was dead this time. Thank you.”
He nodded.
“None of you have to tolerate this tyranny any further,” Newton called out over the din. “None of you have to exist under the weight of fear. Today is your opportunity to band together and fight for mutual freedom. Today is the day we can begin working toward mutual prosperity.”
“After all they’ve done, why would we want to live with them?” someone shouted.
Lara was certain it had been one of the humans.
“Metal and meat aren’t meant to live side-by-side!” another person declared.
“Fuck that!” Lara turned toward Newton, who offered his hand to help her up onto the stand.
She faced the humans. “My husband, a bot, is in there”—she jabbed a finger toward the bot district—“fighting for you. For us! These soldiers are bots and humans, and they come from a place where they live, work, and prosper together, where they’re friends, where they’re family.
We can live side by side. They’re no different than us. They feel just as deeply as we do.”
“Before this world was shattered, our kinds coexisted peacefully,” Newton said. “That was always the design. We were meant to learn from each other, to grow alongside each other, to shore up each other’s weaknesses with our respective strengths. We are not meant to be at war.”
“Yet you ask us to fight?” a bot asked.
“If you don’t, it will be an extermination,” Cobalt said.
The crowd turned to him. “He’s not capable of stopping once it’s begun.
He’s been…bored lately, so he’s taken it out on humans, and eventually he’ll kill all of them.
And after this, he won’t hesitate to wipe this whole city clean and start over again. ”
“It’s only a matter of time before he turns on us,” another gearhead said. “He threatened to disassemble my lover if I didn’t obey. And I’ve helped him take apart some of our kind already.” His eyes found Lara’s for an instant, flashing with guilt, and flicked away.
The gunfire in the bot district continued, picking up tempo.
Newton took a small step forward. “We must do this together. Not as bots and humans, but as a single, unified community. Gather whatever weapons we can find and march on the clinic to finish this. There cannot be freedom without sacrifice, but we cannot allow another life, whether organic or mechanical, to be taken for no reason but to serve Warlord’s whims.” He punctuated his statement by slamming his metal fist onto his open palm.
Rapid conversation swept through the crowd, shifting to calls of assent. Chester helped Lara down, and Newton followed behind her.
Captain Cooper approached her. “It’s time, Lara. Newton will take you to the forward camp.”
“No.”
“I’m not asking, Brooks.”
“It is going to be terribly, dangerous, Lara,” Newton said, settling a hand on her shoulder. “And Ronin would not be happy with any of us.”
Lara shook her head. “I don’t care. As shitty as it’s been, this is my home, and these are my people. I’m not going to hide while they risk their lives for it, especially not after I encouraged them to fight.”
“And just what the hell do you think you’re going to do in there?” Cooper demanded.
“Whatever the hell I can.”
He stared at her, jaw clenched. “Shit,” he muttered and ran a hand over his face.
“Nancy’s going to kill me, but she gets just as stubborn, and there’s no budging her either once she’s made up her mind.
Newton, get back there. Tell them what’s happening.
If they can spare any more bodies, we might need them here. ”
“Please, check on Kate,” Lara said.
Newton gently squeezed her shoulder before dropping his arm. “Thank you, Lara.”
“For…what?”
“For getting me out of that hole, even if it was indirectly. I shall never—”
“Just save it, okay? I’ll see you soon.”
Despite his lack of skin, his expression was clearly troubled. “As you say. Soon, then.”
Newton walked away. She watched him before Cooper caught her attention.
“Take this,” he said, holding out another pistol. It was larger and heavier than the one Ronin had given her. “Two hands when you shoot. It’s going to have a hell of a kick, but I don’t want you to hesitate. Just…stay back. That clear?”
Lara tightened her grip on it and nodded.
Cooper pointed to Chester. “Like the colonel said. Like a fly on shit.”
Chester sketched a salute. “Yes, Captain.”
“Good. Now let’s move. We’re already late for the party.”