literature

C.E.S.A. - Chapter 3 - Sum

Deviation Actions

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From sweltering heat and the blistering sun, he was glad when he began to feel the first frost in the following day. He saw it before he felt it. Frost forming on his legs, and arms. The hound started to feel it, and made it very noticeable that he didn’t like it.
He whined, and click its teeth each time as the temperature dropped a degreed. Which was quite often. The transition from hot to cold was really noticeable. How the area remained so cold, CESA never knew.

On their path, they found signs of the Roc’s passing. Computer monitors, half frozen in ice where tossed about. Somewhere smashed completely, one had even caught fire recently and burned away the surrounding frost.

“Wonder if the cold slows it down.” CESA said quietly to his companion. He tightened his grasp on the spear, and brought it close to his chest for protection. A deep fear was within him. He didn’t want to admit it, he wanted to be strong like his parents. But it was hard. Very hard. He was so different from them.

He didn’t hate the world to a point where everything was numb. And he certainly wasn’t in spite over the deaths of the past. He didn’t understand fully why he never became like them. He was…so much more… kind.

“There is a lot I want to ask the both of them.” He said softly, more to himself then anything. A glance around the area, for any sign of snow. But there was none to be seen. The absence of it did not tell him that they were nowhere near the Ice Caverns, but rather that it was just too warm now for such a place to exist.

In the moment he looked around, he was able to take a better look at his surroundings. The ground in this area still retained some of the original compound used to make AM, and with each step his metal boots and the hound’s steel paws clicked and echoed against the deck plates. The wind howled and gently blue some burst of light frost across.

Ahead, a large mound of stone stood out on the barren frozen land. It curved over, like a wave and turned into a tunnel. There was something inside, but it was too far for CESA to make out. It wasn’t the Roc…. In fact, the bird was nowhere to be found.

The hound growled, but not on the sight of oncoming danger, no. Instead it faced the ground below their feet. Dusty remains of bones littered the ground. Not in solid pieces but now little chunks worn over time.

“Leave them be.” CESA told his pet. He carefully moved around the piles of remains, adding softly “They deserve to be left in peace…” The hound’s only answer back was a tilt of the head, and then following his master once again. CESA griped the spear tighter in his hands, the point where the staff part was beginning to have an impression.

The silence of the air around them did not help. The tension was heavy, the object of their hunt knew they were coming, and they knew that too. It was a large game of chess, and the kings were getting cornered by one another. The hound growled, now in anticipation. It too, could feel the tension.  
It snapped.

The Roc dropped down from a catwalk high above, screeching like a broken machine. Its talons where the first to be upon the two AI, but they were ready. CESA ducked and rolled clearing a large space between him and the Roc. The hound darted to the side, before bouncing itself off a large bolder. The silver machine leaped, and managed to snag the leg of the Roc.

The Roc screeched, twisting in air. Gears from the hound were loud, spinning as the whole silver machine twisted into a more dangerous contraption. The paws were now talons of its own, like picks it cut deep into the bird, climbing up from the leg to the back, no longer dangling. Spines on all edges of the hound twisted, spinning at a high rate. CESA watched, far from the ground below as his creation battled his fathers.

The Roc was a mess, screeching and screaming, twisting in a violent fury as it crashed through the catwalk, sending it falling below. The scrap pieces of the catwalk was enough to not only injure the Roc, but knock the hound off. Along with the gigantic piece of metal falling, so too came the hound. CESA had no time to find his friend. Instead the light blue AI took off running fast as he could to get away from the falling pieces. With each crash to the ground, the deck plates flew off, and dust, frost and stones were tossed about. Some spewed out just far enough to strike CESA in the back, but he ignored it.

The Roc circled around in air, wounded but not defeated. Everything had fallen, and now it was a moment where each side retreated. The hound was half buried under a metal beam covered in rust. It howled, scrabbling at the ground. Somewhere in its core system a spark formed into a flame, and smoke began to arise from inside it.

“Hold on, I’m coming!” CESA yelled, running into the field of wreckage. Pieces of the ceiling where still falling, crashing to the ground below. It was like running into a war zone, it might as well have been.

The Roc circled, now in control of its flight. It dodged the falling pieces with ease, and looked down, ready to strike again. It began the dive. CESA, by this time had reached his fallen friend. The hound was no longer clawing at the surrounding metal and dirt to escape, it just laid down and let the fire deep inside burn out. The gears were still turning, but very slowly.

“Don’t move!” CESA shouted the unneeded order, and grasped the large rusted beam. It creaked and moaned as CESA lifted. But the scraping of metal on metal was drowned out by the mighty beating of wings. CESA, his back turned to his attacker didn’t even think about his movements. Just that he dropped the beam, and spun around.

The impact was enough to cause CESA to fall back on his back, and get pushed up against the ground dragging. The bird’s screech of anger turned to agony, as the spear in CESA’s hands drove deep into the core of the bird. The Roc’s wings went down, and made it flip over CESA landing back first on the ground. It twitched in several different areas of the body. CESA scrambled to his feet and backed up.

The nanites of the spear handle dropped down, slipping into the open wound. The nanites would find the machinery, and break it. CESA backed up, quickly. There was no telling if it would burst into flames, explode, or simply shut down. Such was the unpredictable aspect of a machine breaking down.

The bird made a gurgling sound from the beak, and continued to twitch a little. They were becoming less violent, and more pitiful. CESA waited, for the eyes to dim, and for the metal bird to stop. Cautiously, CESA walked towards it. The bird watched, through its nearly completely white eyes. But a faint rim of the iris and pupil showed. Eyes of life.

CESA walked up to it, and looked at the outer design cover. Usually, a thin leathery cover was used for all of AM’s designs, and then added fake feathers or fur, depending on the creature it was mimicking. But up close, there was no seams, not stitching to show where the fabric had been constructed. Something wasn’t right with this one, AM must have put more effort into its design.

Carefully, CESA grasped onto the bird’s side, and pulled himself up onto its torso. It rose, and fell slowly, ever so slightly. But CESA had little time to explore the top of it, as he nearly slid off. The feathers were wet, hard to grasp. But it wasn’t oil… water, or anything of the sort. It was blood. CESA slid off, and backed up looking down at his arms. The blood of the fallen enemy covered him.

“Your…real…” CESA said softly in astonishment. He backed away, the Roc still watching him. It glared, a hatred burning in the nearly pale eyes. But it seemed to fade, as the Roc managed to roll itself over. It squat, wings out and fanned to the side. The scrap metal end of the spear dropped down onto the ground, now stained crimson.  The Roc breathed heavily now, watching CESA. It was grounded, injured, but still angry.

CESA took a daring glance to the side, looking off to the mountain side in which the Roc made its home. Now, he could see another creature poking out of the darkness. A slightly smaller creature then the Roc. It was a light shade, just as many feathers, and eyes the same color. Hidden under its large feather’s, three perfectly white eggs lay close to the female Roc. And in this moment, CESA realized the mistake he had made.

Turning away from the injured bird before him, CESA walked to his friend. Movements stiff. He tried not to think at what he had done, but it was nearly impossible to do so. He had nearly killed something with more life then he had…

Lifting the metal beam, and tossing it to the side, CESA managed to pull the hound loose. The fire inside the hound had gone out, and luckily the gears were still turning. The lights in the eyes still shining, but dimly. The AI lifted his only companion in the world, and held him close. Without looking back, he began the long walk home, back to his parents. He would not take part in murdering the creatures that threatened technology’s existence.

For the first time in centuries, life had started to reclaim the world.
Before anyone ask, a Roc looks like a giant hawk. In mythology they were giant birds that supposedly where big enough to pick up and elephant and fly off. Here, they are significantly smaller. Big enough to be a threat, but...you know :>

One more chapter. We'll see what SOAIA and AM have been up too v3v~

Story / Characters (c) Way-to-Haven

No the bird doesn't die, it will be fine :I
© 2015 - 2024 Way-to-Haven
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OingoB's avatar
Why must you wreck my emotions...my poor cinnamon roll...</3
This is getting way too surreal for me, I'm just so excited that there's life in this world but I also worry about CESA and how he must feel. Knowing that he won't ever get to be a living breathing being...maybe I'm looking to much into it. I just want my godchild to be happy ;0;/  I am fearing the last chapter...