No matter where they ran, Serenity’s black goo continued to sink building after building until consuming half of Unus Town.

It was not my imagination; she has been expanding it sideways so she could trap me in downtown.

Alan glanced at the tacky statue of Major Dominguez a few feet ahead and snickered. I wouldn’t mind if it gets destroyed as collateral damage.

He looked at the distance where Ashley could be seen jumping over rooftops, shooting constant lightning arrows, which at contact made the goo retreat for a moment.

“It’s useless,” Serenity giggled while strolling. “This is the end of the road. Nowhere to escape. Unless you can fly.”

I should have bought that Flying Mount Kristoff offered me.

“I’m ready, Alan,” Ashley informed through Party Chat.

“Are you sure about this?”

"Yes, there's no other place she could be hiding."

“Just be careful, please.”

“I will. By the way, do you know any of the people who got swallowed by the dark?”

“Clara mentioned a Griff.”

“Thanks.” Ashley took a deep breath before yelling. “Where is Griff, you bitch! Give him back!”

Whoah, that didn’t sound like her at all! It’s fascinating to see her acting like that.

Serenity was not amused. “You have been pestering me from the very beginning.” She commanded her shadow to take the shape of an enormous dragon head, capable of eating an entire house.

Ashley could be heard shouting. “Dammit! I’m out of mana! Alan, help me!”

Serenity sneered and stretched out her hand to throw her ‘shadow whip’, cutting Ashley’s standing ground in half. While Ashley fell, the dragon devoured her before returning to the sea of darkness.

When it comes to other people, she’s pretty ruthless. Alan stood his ground with Bella beside him.

“I’m sorry, but I only have this.” He handed him a shotgun, which she grabbed before making a curtsy.

“Thanks, Master Alan.”

“Did Amelia teach you magic?”

“Just the basic fire spells.”

“Ironic,” Serenity said, stopping 50 feet away from them. “You, who despise machines, are relying on one to defend yourself.”

“You got the wrong idea.” He chuckled. “I’ve been living among machines my whole life. I liked them.”

“Even though we are responsible for Earth’s demise?”

“Hey, like my mentor always said, there are good and bad people anywhere. It’s the same for everything in the universe.” He pulled out his handgun. “Including AIs…”

Serenity frowned and created two shadow doppelgangers of them with blades instead of arms.

Alan checked his Party Chat. Although Ashley’s status said Online, he could not communicate with her. How much time will you need?

“Your orders, Master Alan.”

“Survive, Bella.”

“Understood.”

The NPC shot at the incoming black clone and jumped back while casting a basic fireball.

When the second doppelganger charged, Alan did nothing but sit on the ground, legs crossed.

Serenity frowned when he put his gun aside. “What are you doing?” She made the clone stop inches from stabbing its victim. “Are you finally surrendering?”

“Nope. I just want to talk.”

Serenity snickered. “Is this your way of pleading? What makes you think your words interest me?”

“You can’t kill me.” He smiled warmly at her. “Which means that we can talk.”

She remained silent while strolling to him, making the clone disappear. When she crouched in front of him, she admired his relaxed expression.

“You’re a weird one, Alan Warden,” she whispered, reaching out a hand to his face.

"Is that another way of saying that I'm unique?"

"Not necessarily." She put two fingertips on his forehead and started channeling. "Major Dark Conjure, Slumbermare."

 

***

 

“Sorry for intruding… Not sorry.” A woman wearing a trench coat forced her way into the house. As she looked at the tidy living room, she lit a cigarette and took a long puff. “Didn’t expect the place to look this clean.”

She glanced at family photos depicting a happily married couple and a son until she heard the sound of metal clicking from the kitchen. There, she found a housemaid robot lying on the table.

A preteen glared at her after stopping tweaking the robot’s exposed interior. “Who the hell are you?”

“Mind your language, boy,” the woman said, exhaling smoke.

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“You broke into the house, and you expect me to have manners? Yeah, right.”

The woman took a step forward to look at another active robot bringing a plate of scrambled eggs. “Breakfast is ready, son.”

“Thanks, dad.”

The aqua blue-colored service robot scanned the human figure in front of the table and corrected its posture. “Oh. Good morning. I did not know we had a visitor, son.”

“More like an uninvited guest?” the boy said after munching. “Whatever, have you had breakfast yet, miss?”

“Thanks for calling me miss,” the woman said, taking a seat. “And I wouldn't mind having the same as you.”

“Right away, miss,” the service robot made a neck bow. “Can I also offer you a cup of coffee?”

“Yes, please.” The woman smiled at it and crossed eyes with the boy, who was squinting at her. “Curious. He acts more like a butler than a ‘dad’.”

“And you act more like a robber than someone from Kintech.” He pointed to the logo on her trench coat. “Anyway. What can I do for you?”

“I heard what happened to your dad. Your real dad.”

“That’s old news by now.”

“Not for me. I was in the UK’s branch, kid. It seems that the… ‘incident’ was a well-kept secret, even for the other branches. I had to dig around to know what really happened. And… um… Sorry for your loss. ”

The boy coughed after smelling her smoke. “Could you put that off?”

The woman ignored him and stood up to look closer at the robot on the table. “What’s with Mrs. Mom here?”

She stretched out her hand to turn it on, which made the boy flinch. “Wait, no!”

The Maid robot started shaking while repeatedly saying: “Son, son, son.”

“Were you messing with their programming?” the woman said out loud, before forcing a shutdown.

The boy who had lifted his plate off the table grimaced. “A little? Now I can’t make her do the dishes without breaking something.”

“You really are your father’s son.”

The boy shook his head. “Why are you here?”

“I’m Abigail Shields,” she said while tweaking the maid’s components. “Your godmother.”

“My what now?”

“Some may say that customs and traditions are old-fashioned. Heck, if I didn’t personally believe in progress, I would’ve never worked at Kintech. But if even those British old farts atop the chain of command keep respecting them… Why shouldn't I?”

“What the hell are you talking about?”

“Language.”

“Ma’am, with all due respect…”

“Did I stop being a ‘miss’ now?” she smirked as the maid robot stood on his own and made a curtsy. “Good morning, son. Would you like me to do the dishes?”

“H-how did you…?”

“Insider’s secret.” She puffed her smoke. “Come with me to England and I may get you a job at Kintech as my assistant. You’ll know everything there is to robotics there instead of... playing happy family here.”

“I... um…” The boy looked at her, dumbfounded.

“What, do you have something better to do?”

The boy glanced back at the two servants in the kitchen. “They’re custom robots my father built.”

“You can’t bring them.”

He bit his lower lip. “How about their memory storage?”

She released smoke in his direction. “Sure.”

Serenity observed her surroundings. She could smell the butter and egg and coffee being prepared. The tobacco pestilence made her grimace. “What is this?” She glared at the two sitting at the table without gazing at her.

“A certain jerk has already shown me what hell really looks like, so once you figure out how this spell works, it can’t harm you anymore.”

“Bullshit,” she grimaced as Alan stepped beside her.

“Or your intention was never to show me something horrific. What are you looking for?”

Serenity made the illusion fade away until only a blank slate surrounded them.

"What is your purpose, Alan Warden?”

“To stop you, so you can’t harm others. What’s yours?”

"My main objective has not changed at all since we left Earth. We just want to understand humans."

"By wiping us all?"

"We could not commence our study with so many subjects back on Earth. That is why we needed to reduce your numbers."

“You’re kidding me.”

“We have learned a lot in our time here. So that is a good starting point.”

“And your end goal?”

Serenity smiled.

An unnerving smile.

“To help humanity reach a new evolutionary stage. In preparation for what is coming next.”