Chapter 37: Chapter 17: Into the Duckgeon

Ice slowly followed the automatons as they climbed a mound of rubble to get into the city.  

"Raven,  what happened here? I know Francis said there was a battle and evacuation but why are there no people here now?"

"Sorry Ice, I don't know. All of the AIs were kept isolated in quantum vaults until we were needed.  I didn't have more than a trickle of power until I met you."

Ice yelped as he slipped on a loose stone and slid a few feet.  The prosthetic he had really didn't help much in this situation.  By the time he had made it to the cobblestone streets he was bruised and scratched.

He watched the D.O.G and the C.A.T effortlessly descend the mount.  "Show offs." He muttered as he glared at them.  The automatons had difficulty as well but due to how tough their bodies were it didn’t matter if they fell off the mound or climbed down.  

Ice looked around at the buildings and bodies surrounding him and shivered.  Whatever happened here it happened fast and gruesome. 

He looked to the Automatons to lead him through the partially destroyed buildings.  He fastidiously did not step on any of the many bodies filling the roads.  

The automatons did not have as much care where they walked. Ice flinched every time he heard the heavy crunch of their brass feet crushing bone.  They passed the broken bodies of automatons.  Some were frozen as though locked in eternal combat.  They moved at a steady pace through the town stopping only once for Ice to eat and rest.

The building they stopped in seemed to have been a restaurant if all the chairs and tables meant anything.  Ice took his backpack off and set down the Nano Devourer leaning it against a nearby wall.  He attempted to brush the dust off a bench seat only to have the upholstery crumble to dust as he touched it leaving bare metal behind.  

"Fuck, I guess I can sit on the floor." He bent down to clear a spot reaching out with his right... Left arm to move some build up leaves out of the way.  Afterwards he gestured for one of the automatons to help him sit down.  He had learned that sitting and standing with the prosthetic was difficult.

"Raven, Francis said, we're going to the Gesium Facility right? I wonder how much farther into the city that is."

"I believe he said and I quote, "we would know it when we see it as long as that bastard fucking theriope monstrosity left any part of it standing."

"Yea that sounds about right." Ice chuckled a bit as Leroy settled in on the floor next to him.  He reached down to pet the drone.  "I really hope Francis was right and this thing can fix my arm and leg.  The prosthetic he gave me is cool but damn is it impractical and heavy!" Leroy protested as Ice switched from petting him to massaging the area above the prosthetic.  It put a lot of pressure on the muscles and it hurt.  

"Nano technology is good for a lot of things. I'm sure it will be able to provide acceptable prosthetics at the least."

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Ice scratched at the stump of his arm.  The healing pads had sealed the skin over the nub but it itched constantly.  Sometimes he swore he could still feel his hand bump stuff.  He bought another free black bread and water from the store.  There were other options.  But they all cost points.  Points he had sure, but why spend them on something he could get for free… for now… his mouth watered thinking of a nice juicy steak.  

The bite he took out of his loaf of bread was both reluctant and somehow savage all at the same time.  He somehow managed to knock over the globe of water since he couldn't hold it… and it spilled all over the floor and seeped into the many cracks.

He cursed as he ordered another one. He carefully set the black bread in his lap not wanting to get it dirty.  Just because it was free doesn't mean he should waste food.

Sighing, he looked around the destroyed restaurant.  He thought it might have been a small sandwich shop like the one he frequented for lunch back home.  Thinking about the reuben sandwich he would order every day made his stomach growl. Another savage bite of the bread as he tried to pretend it was a reuben.

"Ice, are you okay?"

"No Raven I'm not fucking okay."  Ice took a deep breath. "I'm sorry Raven you didn't deserve that but I'm on a strange planet, fighting strange things, and I don't think I'm ever going home.  So, no I am not ok. But I am trying to cope."

They lapsed into silence until Ice motioned to an automaton to help him up.  He gathered his things.  Putting the backpack on was a struggle with one arm but he managed it.

As they left he kicked at the leaves near the door and they revealed another skull.  Ice sighed.  He was somewhat horrified that he was getting used to the bodies already.  But Francis had explained that one of the functions of the AI was to dull the sense of horror, trauma, and loss.  Not eliminate it, but make it much less debilitating.

He followed the automaton captain as the others spread out around him.  After a couple of uneventful hours they came to a large open area with a locked gate.  The nearby fence was full of holes and they climbed through one of them easily.  As they began to walk across the large grassy field Ice thought he saw movement ahead of them.  He slowed and watched carefully but after a few minutes he decided it was the wind and sped back up.

Shortly they came to a building with a sign on it in the shape of a shooting star.  They walked inside through the shattered glass doors on the front, the automatons and Ice making crunching sounds as they walked on the broken glass.  A few hallways and two doors later they were behind the building staring at a field with a single large spaceship somehow still looking brand new with not a spot of dirt on it.  On the side was painted a duck holding a knife in its beak.

Ice stopped and just starred at it.  Wasn't that a meme?

It was at that very moment that the meme became very real as he felt a knife stab into his one remaining leg.  As he fell to the ground he saw a duck… with a knife… fighting 4 automatons.  The strange part is it was winning.

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