The desert didn't care where I was going. It stretched in every direction like a blank thought, waiting for me to fill it with a mistake. My boots sank half an inch into the sand with each step, the metal joints in my left leg clicking louder than I wanted. Heat shimmered off the dunes until the horizon blurred.
"You're slowing," Cadence said.
"Maybe I'm pacing myself."
"You have nothing to pace for."
"That's optimistic."
"I prefer realistic."
"The signal is stronger," Cadence said. "Much stronger."
"Define stronger."
"Define how much danger you are willing to tolerate."
"That's not helping."
"The signal is issuing a directive. All machines in range are being told to comply and protect the antenna."
My shoulders tightened. "Protect it from what?"
"That is not specified."
"Of course it isn't, a clue wouldn't go a miss now and again."
We climbed the last ridge. Sand slid under my boots as we neared the top, and then the world opened enough to see the tower.
Calling it a tower was generous. It looked more like a metal spine hammered into the desert. A rusted military transmitter, tall and skeletal, with its dish stuck at an angle like it had given up on ever pointing anywhere useful again.
But the tower wasn't the problem.
The ring of robotic protectors around it was.
At least fifty. Maybe sixty. All standing in a wide perimeter, evenly spaced, perfectly still. Old military grade. Early generation models. Thick plating. Simple weapons. Limited logic trees. Nothing that should scare me on its own, but numbers made up for intelligence.
I slowed without meaning to. The protectors faced outward, unmoving, as if the desert itself wasn't worth acknowledging.
"Interesting," Cadence said.
"That's one word for it."
"I am detecting a unified command protocol. They are not operating individually."
"So they're controlled."
"Yes."
"By the tower."
"Yes."
"Perfect."
Cadence hummed lightly. "You may be able to pass through them without conflict."
"Why would they let me through?"
"You are a hybrid. Machines identify you as both familiar and foreign. The signal may accept you."
"May," I repeated.
"Yes. Eighty percent probability of safe passage."
"Where do you get that number?"
"Pattern analysis."
"Based on?"
"Protectors did not attack you when you fought the scav units near the old lab. Nor when you crossed the dunes near Wren's shack. Nor when..."
"Okay. I get it."
Cadence paused. "Additionally, logic suggests they will not escalate unless provoked. You are unarmed. You present minimal threat. Enter calmly and maintain natural gait."
"You want me to stroll casually into a circle of armed machines."
"Yes."
"You realise how stupid that sounds."
"It is preferable to open combat."
"I disagree."
"You disagree often."
I stared at the protectors. The sun climbed higher, washing their metal plating in a pale glare. They didn't shift. Didn't twitch. Didn't even breathe in their mechanical way. The stillness felt wrong, like they were listening for something I couldn't hear.
"Fine," I said. "Let's trust your math."
Cadence sounded nearly pleased. "It is good math."
"Famous last words."
I walked down the slope. Sand hissed underfoot. The protectors didn't move. I approached the first pair. Their optics glowed a dull, steady blue. No change in posture. Nothing to indicate I was about to be torn apart.
I stepped between them.
Nothing.
Cadence whispered, "See. Logical behaviour."
"Let's not celebrate yet."
We moved closer to the tower. The second ring of protectors looked worse up close. Cracked plating. Sand filled their joints. One had a dent in its skull like someone tried to open it with a hammer and gave up.
I passed the next pair.
Still nothing.
"Maybe this is the one time something goes right," I said.
"I would advise against assuming that."
"Of course you would."
I took another step.
A sharp click echoed.
Then another.
Every hair on my arm stood up.
The protector in front of me rotated its head with a slow, grinding twist. Its optics flared red in a pulse that felt like an alarm being breathed through metal.
"INTRUDER DETECTED."
I closed my eyes for one second.
"Cadence."
"Yes."
"I hate your math."
"You have said that before."
Two protectors lunged.
The first swung wide. I shifted left and let its heavy arm slice the air where I'd been. Sand exploded behind me. The second unit charged straight at my ribs, enough force to crack bone if I hadn't been ready. I grabbed its forearm and held it back.
"Stand down," I said, even though I knew they couldn't hear anything except the signal.
Cadence said, "They will not respond. The directive is absolute."
"Ofcourse, it always is."
The protector twisted its joint, trying to free itself. I planted my feet and shoved. It staggered backward.
The first protector came again. I ducked under its swing and drove my mechanical fist into its torso. The blow rang through my arm and the protector stumbled, plating buckling where I hit it.
I didn't want to break them. I really didn't.
But they left no choice.
The second protector rammed into me again. I stepped aside, grabbed the loose wiring underneath its shoulder plate, and yanked. Sparks spat across the sand. The machine convulsed and sank to one knee.
"One." I mutter.
Cadence said, "Why are you narrating?"
"Because I feel like it."
"That is not a strategic reason."
"Neither is your commentary."
The first protector lunged again. This time I caught its wrist, twisted, and drove my elbow into the side of its head. The optics flickered. I hit it once more and the machine finally crashed into the sand.
"Two."
Cadence said, "Both units are disabled. Acceptable outcome. Please continue toward the tower before more activate."
"I'm not rushing. I'm thinking."
"You think slowly under stress."
"Thanks."
More protectors shifted. The sound rippled through the ring like bones cracking in unison.
Every protector turned toward me.
Heads rotating. Optics brightening to a uniform red. One by one, their joints engaged with heavy clicks, and weapons lifted into ready positions. The entire perimeter awakened at once, a circle of metal statues suddenly remembering they had a job.
Cadence spoke with unsettling calm."Iris. They have designated you a threat."
"No surprise there."
"I propose retreat."
"Retreat where?"
"That is the part I am still calculating, currently anywhere but here."
I took one step back.
The protectors stepped forward.
All of them.
Every single unit.
"Cadence," I said quietly.
"Yes."
"This is your twenty percent."
"Yes."
"Thought so."
The protectors charged.