The tower sat behind me, half a corpse in the sand, its steel ribs jutting from the dunes like something that died reaching for the sky. The silence that follows feels wrong. Too still. Too stretched. Like the whole world is holding its breath.
Then the ground trembles.
A low vibration climbs through my boots and settles behind my ribs. Not shifting dunes. Not wind. Something heavier. Purposeful.
"Cadence," I say quietly. "Can you tell me what that is ?"
"Large mass. Indication of hydraulic movement. Very fast, Approaching from the the north-east. On an intercept trajectory."
"Can you be less vague."
"Vagueness saves on time. Accuracy costs seconds."
Heat haze ripples across the sand. A silhouette steps through.
Approximately two metres tall. Dark alloy. Joints constructed with engineering precision. Each step throws up a thin spray of sand, perfectly measured, perfectly placed. Its head is a cluster of rotating sensors that click as they lock onto me.
It stops only a few paces away.
Cadence's tone tightens. "Automated sentry. Model unknown. Recommendation: avoid any contact."
"Too late."
The machine pauses. Then a voice breaks the silence, flat, metallic, so clean it barely qualifies as sound.
"IDENTIFY."
I straighten. "Identify yourself first."
UNREGISTERED UNIT DETECTED
A red light ignites in its chest. Cadence sounds clinical now. "My scans suggest it has engaged what it refers to as : Item recovery protocol."
"Recovery?"
"Recycle, repurpose, reuse ... you get the idea" she clarifies. "They salvage meaningful components."
The sentry moves. Fast enough to distort the air. One stride eats half the distance between us. Sand spits out behind its feet in symmetrical arcs.
I lunge forward, dragging a chunk of rebar from the ground. It is heavier than it looks. Everything is, these days.
"You cannot outrun it," Cadence warns.
"Not trying to."
The sentry halts in front of me, too still, too perfect. I swing the metal bar into its torso with ill intent. The impact rings like a cathedral bell. Sparks scatter. My wrist vibrates.
"Minimal effect," Cadence notes.
"Thank you for the detailed insight."
The machine pivots faster than I can track. A piston-driven kick slams into my hip. The world tilts sideways. I hit the sand, rolling hard enough to see stars even with my HUD flickering over my eyes.
MOTION IMPAIRMENTSTRUCTURAL STRESS
Cadence cuts through the ringing. "You remain operational. Move."
I push up, teeth grinding. The sentry tilts its sensor cluster.
MATERIAL SUBSTANDARD
COMPONENTS SALVAGE REMAINS ACCEPTABLE
"Can we not just talk about this....."
It lunges again. I twist aside. Sand detonates where I was standing. My shoulder clips a bent support beam; I convert the stumble into momentum and swing the rebar sideways with all the force I have.
The strike hits its shoulder joint. Something tears. A line of hydraulic tubing bursts, spraying dark fluid across the sand. The sentry stutters, takes a step back. Almost looks wounded.
Cadence sounds impressed. "Effective strike."
The sentry simply grabs the leaking hose and snaps it back into place. Plates shift. Pressure hisses. The wound seals itself.
It turns back to me as if nothing happened.
"Did it just fix itself?" I ask.
"Simple repair," Cadence says. "Efficient yet Inconvenient for you."
Light gathers in the machine's palm, bright enough to sting my eyes through the visor.
"Energy discharge imminent."
I dive behind a half-buried beam. The blast obliterates it, showering me with hot fragments of molten metal. Heat scorches my back.
SURFACE DAMAGE HEAT LIMIT REACHED
"Status," I gasp.
"Power level 20%."
"Encouraging."
"Your optimism my be a sign you're defective."
The sentry steps through the haze.
SURRENDER RECOMMENDED
"Not happening."
I grab the rebar again and charge. The first strike glances off armour. The second slams into a seam under its shoulder. Sparks burst, followed by a sharp white spray. The sentry grabs the bar and snaps it in half like a twig.
The recoil throws me backward. I hit the sand so hard the world flickers.
Cadence counts calmly. "Three seconds of blackout. Acceptable."
"Remind me to install faster reflexes next upgrade."
"If we're installing anything I'll be choosing humour."
The sentry advances, silent except for the hiss of pressure vents. I grab at exposed metal and haul myself upright. My arm trembles. Something shifts beneath the skin. Something that is not bone.
"You are stronger than you used to be," Cadence observes.
"Thanks ... strong enough to beat this thing ?"
"Statistically no and it wasn't praise, only an observation."
The next swing comes low and wide. I brace. The impact still knocks me sideways, my boots digging trenches in the sand.
LIMB FAILURE IMMINENT
SYSTEM ALERT
My left arm jerks violently and goes still. Dead from shoulder to fingertip.
"Cadence," I whisper. "My arm."
"Non-functional. Motor control is zero."
"No pain."
"Absence of pain does not mean you are fine."
The sentry adjusts its posture.
UNIT CONDITION DEGRADED RECOVERY MODE: INITIATE
Clamps unfold from its arm, snapping open like metallic jaws. A probe extends, humming as it scans my body.
COMPONENT SALVAGE PRIORITY: UPPER EXTREMITIES
"Over my dead body."
"A technically redundant phrase," Cadence notes.
It reaches out and grabs for me. I twist aside, plant my heel, drag myself under its reaching arm and slam my shoulder into its joint. The sentry stumbles half a step, recalibrating instantly.
Its other arm comes down like a guillotine. The blow lands square on my damaged arm. Something cracks loudly.
The limb goes completely still. Cold metal all the way through.
"Response lost," Cadence says. "I cannot locate the peripheral hardware."
"If you cannot help, then stay quiet."
The sentry lifts its palm toward my face. The light building inside shifts from red to white, so bright it washes out my HUD. The air hums like a live wire.
Cadence whispers, "Incoming."
I look up, dirt in my teeth, heat prickling against my cheek as the sentry charged a pulse in its hand.
The world narrows to one burning palm aimed directly at my head.
And the white light surges ...