In this excerpt, our two detectives come finally come face to face with the pursuit of their unhappiness. A whole lot quicker than they anticipated.
The white blip was still on the move. The tunnel that led out of the station stretched east and west. We hopped down to the track and followed the blip east. The white seemed to be moving toward the edge of the screen faster and faster. Before I knew it we were full out sprinting after the bot. The staleness in the air became replaced by something solid, a choking smolder. It grew stronger every few seconds as we raced down the tunnel.
Suddenly we were making better gain. The blip had become a stationary dot then became a blip a moment later. Only now it was moving west. I nearly tripped over a track when I stopped, realizing it was coming straight at us. Fast.
"What" Roman asked? He looked at the screen, and then we both looked down the tunnel. I slipped the tracker in my coat pocket and drew my piece. We backed up slowly and then moved apart toward the walls of the tunnel as if we were trying to avoid an oncoming train.
I suddenly started wondering whether our bullets were going to do the job. Whether these bot's high-density polymer chassis could withstand high velocity projectiles. Why the hell hadn't I asked Dalia where the most vulnerable area on the bot lay? Would she have even been able to answer questions about destroying machines she only thought about building?
Why would you need to protect yourself against machines that can't hurt people? It was one of the rare moments when you get to actually stand on the edge of a tipping point.
The bot came down the tunnel just like a train, its arms and legs moving like a man. I might have thought it was a man until it got close enough to gleam. A wordless sound filled the tunnel, a frightening jabber that speed up as the bot emerged between us.
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