Eric Vall [Vall - Kill the Power Gamer

Humans. The mere sight of the filthy, disgusting creatures made me wish The Hive had created me without a gag reflex.

I stood just at the edge of the rocky cliff that overlooked the sorry excuse for a base the Human Resistance had set up in the mountains. They thought they could hide from us by scattering their hideouts throughout the wastelands to the east and the mountainous regions to the north, regions that held no strategic value to my kind.

They were wrong. Dead wrong.

According to my X-ray scanners, there were fifty-seven humans in the base. Ten of them were in the buildings kitchen, a makeshift dining hall of rotting tables and broken floorboards where the Resistance chowed down on meat two-months expired. Fifteen more of them were wandering about the base as they performed the odd jobs that helped the building function.

Then there were twelve of the meatbags huddled around a large table at the structures center, undoubtedly discussing military operations. Probably typical, emotional bullshit about taking back the big cities, or creating some new superweapon, or arguing about how they were going to defeat an army of mindless killing machines.

Unfortunately for these soldiers, I was far from mindless.

The last twenty men were stationed around the perimeter of the base, standing guard just in case any of my kind came to crash the party. If they saw one of us approaching, they would sound the alarm, and the humans would try to spring one of their little traps.

My mission was simple. Walk in undetected and download the information located in the central computer. HFDs were equipped with universal data tendrils that could conform to any shape of port and could understand information from any type of operating system. So, getting the information would be easy for me.

I was already dressed in the standard Resistance uniform, dark green fatigues with a black bullet-proof vest and matching military cap, complete with a tiny logo of a clenched human fist on the front. I had a semi-automatic pistol at my side, and a military-grade assault rifle was strapped to my back.

If everything went according to plan, I wouldnt need to use my weapons at all.

Then again, a part of me kind of wished Id get the chance.

In order for this charade to work, I needed to look battle-worn. So, Id rubbed mud, dirt, and blood all over the uniform, sliced and tore away pieces of fabric from my body, and had even given myself some self-inflicted wounds for good measure.

Part of my programming made me act with compulsive behavior like our enemies, so I checked the hammer on my pistol again, scanned the building one last time, and then headed toward the small footpath that would lead me down to the base. I could feel the rocky mountainside crumbling beneath my feet with each step I took, but my organic internal ear stabilizers kept me from stumbling. Soon, I was down in the basin, only a few dozen yards away from my target.

This so-called base was about as sad of a building as Id ever seen. It was two stories tall and made out of whatever second-hand material the Resistance could collect. It was mostly concrete and steel, with windows and doors that were little more than a piece of tattered fabric held up by an even more tattered rope.

As I approached the base, my defense systems indicated there were six guns aimed in my direction. Two sniper rifles, three assault rifles, and even an RPG.

These meatbags really werent taking any chances.

A rough-looking human with dark black hair and grime smeared across his face was standing guard at the front door, and he instantly took aim at me with the shotgun in his hands.

My HUD had access to a database of the various resistance identities wed stolen from their computers, but I didnt bother to read this mans name when it displayed in my scanners.

He would be just a corpse in a few hours.

We werent expecting anyone else, the man warned, if you value having a complete torso, youd best stop right there.

I halted my stride and held up my hands in surrender.

I-Im with the Silverton East Faction, I stammered as I adopted a distressed tone.

The man raised his eyebrows as his pupils narrowed.

Silverton? he mused. I thought The Hive wiped out every faction we had in Silverton?

They did, I said sadly. They razed that whole place to the ground and didnt leave a single soul alive. I barely escaped with my life.

The dirt-covered man still looked skeptical. Without taking his eyes off me, he tilted his head to the side and let out a short, shrill whistle.

Almost instantly, another man in dark gray fatigues rushed out from behind the tattered fabric. In his hand, he held a device I knew all too well.

A Decoy Finder, or a Decepticon Buster as the humans liked to call it.

Id only been active for a few short months, but I was already intricately familiar with this process. The man would hold the device up against my chest to check for a nanomachine core before he placed it against the back of my neck to try and read my programming. Lastly, the man would shine the laser beams into my eyes. If I reacted like a normal human, Id pass the test. If I was indifferent to the sudden flash of red, itd give me away instantly.

Luckily, The Hive had created me as a counter to these exact measures, and there would be no way for them to know I wasnt human.

The tests were done in seconds, and then the guard motioned for me to follow him inside.

As soon as we were in, his entire demeanor changed.

Thank God you escaped, he sighed with relief. The Resistance is going to need every single human left on the planet if were going to win this war. The more trained soldiers we have on our side, the better.

Im not sure this is a war that can be won, I warned ominously. The machines tore through Silverton like they were on a mission.

Thats because they are on a mission, the guard scoffed. The Hive wants us all dead. Thats why theyve started to use those fucking decoys, so they can get closer to us without setting off any alarms. Fuck, I even heard a single decoy took out both of our bases in the Outland mudpits.

I gave him a single nod and played it coy, even though I knew he was talking about me.

Thats awful, I feigned sadness as we walked past the war room with the twelve generals inside. What kind of machine do you think it was? My team felt the wrath of a Bruiser.

It definitely wasnt a Bruiser, he said as he shook his head. Those things are a lot easier to kill than they look. Its just a matter of getting to their weak spot. No, all signs point to The Hives little science experiment getting away, and that never happens.

Its horrifying, I lied, to think there are heartless killing machines out there who look like you and me. Who could sneak in here at any moment and kill us before we could even react.

I had to watch it, I was starting to get a little too confident. It was one of the many disadvantages of having human emotions programmed into my brain.

Finally, we arrived at the mess hall, and it was even more run-down than my X-ray scanners had originally indicated. The whole place smelled putrid, like decaying wood mixed with mold and then topped off with the odor of rebels who lived in a mountain and probably hadnt showered for weeks.

You rest up here, the guard commanded. You must be starving. Ill tell the chefs to prepare you a warm meal and send for the doctor to look at your wounds.

Youre too kind, I said as I forced my lips into a coy smile. Thank you.

Without another word, the dirty-faced guard turned around and marched out of the mess hall.