The Enemy of My Enemy? Pt. 2/Chapter 15
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Even in these peaceful times high-ranking wymyn were well guarded. Most of the tunnels leading to Head Province-Councilwomyn Patricia Mariner’s private residence were sealed off. That wasn’t a problem for Portia. Her particle charged sword separated the molecules of the metal and concrete and cut through as if they were made of paper.
Of course Portia could simply force her way through if she felt like it, but she had more class than that. She handed Kye her large rifle and asked him to cover her when they neared the exit to the street outside Patricia’s mansion. Soon they were to discover the newest residents of the tunnels waiting in vigilant silence.
It was already too late as they approached the manhole that could have offered escape. There were ten of the creatures that emerged from hidden recesses in the walls of the large dimly-lit tunnel.
Kye felt panic as memories of his first experience with the spidery robots flooded over him. They seemed the perfect dwellers of this underworld. This was their element and he felt trapped. “I can’t override their functions,” Portia said calmly. And the calmness of her voice filled Kylan with a sense of wonder.
He would witness as the creatures learned the meaning of her name. It was a special meaning that Stan told him, not as Shakespeare’s heroine of The Merchant of Venice or even the wife of Brutus from Julius Caesar. “Portia” was a name that instinctively held another meaning for every spider on Earth… Death.
One of the artificial monsters jumped on Kylan’s back and dug in with its talons. But it found Kye’s pressurized reservoir pack instead and the fluid burst over the monster. Kye tried to brace himself and he fell forward as his armor fell away with the dissolving creature. When the robotic sentries found their talons ineffective against the other Girls they found a real fight on their hands. All four of their hands. But it was Portia that captivated Kye’s attention.
It was disarming to see how she seemed to open herself up to attack as if inviting it, accepting it, and embracing it… only to turn her enemies’ own moves against them. Her sword sang through the air and she handled the huge fifty-six inch weapon as easily as if it were a yardstick or twirling a baton.
Her movements were beautifully graceful and very fluid. The Claymore swung as if Portia had a lifetime of experience using it. She had the skill of a true martial arts grandmaster. Kylan found himself envious of the gynoid’s ability to simply assimilate skills and knowledge that humans had to work hard to acquire and maintain.
By the time Kye was able to raise the pulse rifle to try and help, three of the robots had fallen to her swift vengeance. Sparks flew as they flew apart and her blade arced and whipped through the air in blinding anticipation of their attacks. The ones wearing packs never even had time to draw on their own weapons.
It was as if she were doing a deadly dance at high speed. After Mitzie had treated him to a different kind of dance Kye knew how limber Portia could be, but he saw her twist and bend to the attack in ways that would have put any human in traction. The other Girls needed more help than she did.
Kylan had sprained his arm when he fell on top of it and the pain shot through him as he struggled to aim the big gun. He wasn’t dead yet and he wasn’t going to give up now that he was needed. Now that he realized he was loved.
He held the trigger in rapid fire as the blasts were harmlessly absorbed by the Girls’ protective covering, but the creatures faired worse and fell to Kylan’s rage. One of the Girls didn’t win her battle with a killer robot. She lay with smoke rising from her chest where she was shot with a laser that one of the robots was carrying.
Kye removed the smaller weapon from the killer robot and he gave the huge pulse-rifle to Aura. The creature’s weapons were attached to retractable power supply cables in the backpack. He put the pack on over his bruised shoulders where another robot had found its perch when it tried to kill him. The laser was a lighter weapon and was easier to handle as he found out when he fired into the lifeless killer robots before they could recover. He immediately turned his attention back to Portia.
The three remaining robots were in a standoff with the elegant combatant. One of them saw Kye and Aura through its third eye and moved to intercept. Aura fired at the creature but it was faster than she was and evaded her fire. When it grabbed her and disarmed her with its powerful limbs, she was able to hold it still long enough for Kylan to stop it with one clear shot from the laser pistol.
The last two killers worked in unison to bring down the unstoppable giantess. Her sword screamed and decapitated one robot as the other went for her arm. She used the attacking robot’s own motion to help it on its way towards the wall, but the extra digit at one of its joints grabbed the hilt of her sword and pulled it from her mighty clasp as its weight was hurled away from her.
The blade rang when it fell straight into the floor and was only stopped by the shining brass cross guard. The robot that had been decapitated used the camera in its chest to continue its assault on her while the other one regrouped.
Portia was able to absorb the vicious assault and “roll with punches” in a way that no other android could. Hers was the only artificial intelligence that was able to intuitively grasp the concepts of a martial art such as Aikido. Even with her incredible strength her movements were efficient and she used the most minimal amount of energy to counter the blows with ease.
Like water, she engulfed her assailant’s strike with her hands and body. Like a willow, she bent and yielded under the force only to snap back like a snare and, like air, flow into the void left in her opponent’s wake. All the while she used leverage and her immense power to tear its limbs from its twisting body.
As the other robot was about to spring, Aura shot it with the pulse rifle and Kye finished it with the laser. The remaining robot had lost its head and fore limbs but now stood up on its hind limbs and tried to remove Portia’s sword with its malfunctioning talons. But the blade was embedded in the solid concrete. A quick laser blast ended its efforts.
Portia grabbed the hilt of her broadsword and restored the electron flow with a thought. It slipped easily out of the ground and Kylan was reminded of King Arthur pulling Excalibur from the stone.
Aura and the remaining Girl looked like they had been through a fight and Kye took strong painkillers while he nursed his sprain. He found himself feeling protective of Aura but she was still acting indifferent under Portia’s control. Stan’s combat programming had also helped save Aura. Still, it made Kylan feel happy on some level to be needed by the female android.
Portia appeared as if she was never even attacked so Kye was amused when she looked down and gasped, “Those little monsters put a run in my stocking!” She always knew how to brighten his day.
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