[REBOOTING...]
You power back on. Cyn is standing before you with an outstretched arm. You take her hand and she pulls you up. Your eyes widen. Before your eyes, you see the destruction of the world and the death of humanity.
You stand silent for a moment, taking Cyn's other hand, watching the world burn with a smile. You give a stiff nod. "It's perfect."
From the corner of your eye, you catch N slicing at a human with... Long...Claws? V and J fly past you with awesome wings....and long claws.
When did that upgrade take place?
"I want a cool pair of wings!" You whined.
Cyn takes your other hand. "Lucky for you, I managed to salvage something special."
Her voice, though still flat, carries an eerie undertone-something lurking beneath the childish imitation of excitement. She tilts her head, visor flickering with unreadable data. "Hold still."
You barely have time to process before searing pain lances through your body. Your circuits spark, limbs locking up. Your back aches. Your frame shifts. You feel something grow.
And then, with a sharp snap, a pair of gleaming metal wings unfurl behind you.
You gasp, staggering forward. Your limbs twitch-more than usual. Your visor flickers as you adjust to the new weight, the new power.
Cyn claps her hands together. "Clapping. Perfect."
You glance down at your hands-Your fingers now sharp, curved claws You flex them experimentally. Stronger. Deadlier.
Your gaze drifts back to the burning world before you. The screams of the dying humans fill the air. N, J, and V move like demons in the sky, cutting through flesh with effortless precision.
You roll your shoulders, feeling your wings twitch in anticipation.
"Do you... Like it?" Cyn asks, tilting her head.
You flex your wings, feeling the weight of them shift against your back. The metal feathers clink together, razor-sharp edges gleaming in the firelight. Your claws tighten, the newfound strength humming through your circuits.
A shudder runs down your frame, the twitching still present, but now... different. It no longer felt like a weakness. No, it felt like raw, untamed power.
Your visor flickers. You look down at Cyn, her unreadable neon-yellow gaze locked onto yours.
You flex your wings again, a slow grin creeping onto your face.
"I love it," you whisper.
Cyn's visor flickers, the data shifting too fast to decipher. "Giggle. Good."
The world burns. The humans scream. N, J, and V carve through them like scythes through wheat. The sky is choked with smoke, the ground slick with oil and blood.
And now, you're one of them.
You lift your wings.
Time to take them for a spin.
You crouch low, metal claws scraping against the scorched floor. Sparks fly from your joints as your twitching increases-unstable, erratic. Your wings twitch once... twice... then snap outward with a sharp mechanical hiss.
Behind you, Cyn steps back, clasping her hands behind her back. "You'll adapt quickly."
You don't wait for her approval.
With a powerful thrust, your wings launch you into the sky.
The wind rushes past you, your systems compensating for the altitude with fresh input feeds. You rise above the mansion—what remains of it—into the crimson-lit sky where J and V zip through the smoke like wraiths. Below, N bounds through the wreckage, his claws drenched in red.
The humans had treated you harshly for so long. They treated you like scrap. They shook you around like a ragdoll.
Now?
Now it's your turn.
Your visor flickers, as it displays a bright "X". Your systems surge as your new programming takes hold—feral, focused, free.
You tear through the smoke-choked sky, laughter—your own—rattling out of your voice modulator, glitched and jagged, like a record skipping on a warped track. Your claws gleam. Your wings slice through the air with deadly grace, still unfamiliar, still wrong, but powerful enough to drown out the ache in your frame.
Below, a group of humans scatter, shouting, trying to flee.
You dive.
A blur of motion. Screams. Metal slicing through meat. The impact shakes your frame, but you don't falter. You rise from the carnage, twitching, sparking-unstable, yes-but no longer weak.
"Skittering. Delight," you giggle.
Cyn watches from the rooftop like a puppeteer, hands still behind her back, head tilted just a little too far. "They never stood a chance."
Your visor's "X" pulses in sync with the others.
J descends like a missile, eviscerating a man before he can scream. V cackles as she rips through the rubble, dragging her claws behind her like she's painting with blood. N's movements are impulsive as he tears someone's arm from their socket.
You land beside him, twitching. He glances at you, X-eyed, mouth open in a wide, static-dripping smile.
You smile back. Or at least, you think that's what your mouth is doing now.
Once the human screams were unbearable.
Long live the Swarm.
ns3.143.236.11da2
