Read Z14 for Free Online

yet and, even if a human had found a cache of cyborg-tech jetpacks lying around, there was no way they could give commands to one. Oh, and whoever this was flying up to meet me; they’d done as good a job at not showing up on any of my approach scans as, say, I would have done. So the well-built, strong and athletic-looking male humanoid that had just touched down on the grass, nine point seven feet away from me – who’s body was like a mirror of my own, before I’d taken damage – was another very interesting trespasser indeed.
    “So, are you Z1? Z13? Or are you a younger brother?” I said. I had started running threat assessments as soon as I heard the jetpack and then expanded those into combat simulations the moment the – let’s face it – other cyborg landed in front of me.
    My visitor said nothing and didn’t move. He didn’t look like me – and not just because he hadn’t recently had most of his flesh seared off him by exploding lizards. He just looked like a very well-conditioned human, with utterly average, nondescript, Caucasian features. Designed to blend in, I realised. I guess I probably did look kind of similar, then.
    I gestured at the sorry state of my human disguise. “If I’d known I was going to have company, I’d have dressed a bit more respectably,” I said.
    Still the visitor said nothing, but he did start walking towards me. I adopted a combat stance, continuing to process my options. Then some kind of unfamiliar communication type pinged into my mind. A network transmission on a network that I had no idea existed, let alone that I was connected to, until that moment. This wasn’t part of the ‘net, or anything else, this was a cyborg thing.
     
    - QUERY WARDEN 14 STATUS-
     
    “You what, mate?” I said aloud. I didn’t seem to be able to communicate with whatever this network was, just listen in. Well sod them and their little cyborg clique, I didn’t want to be in their gang anyway – oh boohoo.
     
    -WARDEN 14 FAILURE ASSERTION-
     
    -AFFIRMATIVE WARDEN 14 FAILURE-
     
    Either it was arguing with itself, or there were other presences on this network.
    “Bollocks, I’ve never failed at anything, me,” I said.
     
    - WARDEN 14 DEACTIVATION AND DISASSEMBLY ASSERTION-
     
    “Hey, that’s fighting talk,” the gap between us continued to close. I stood my ground. It was achingly obvious that this was going to come down to a fight. This guy was built just like me. I would not want to fight me. Shit.
     
    - UNANIMOUS AFFIRMATIVE DEACTIVATE AND DISASSEMBLE WARDEN 14-
     
    He was practically on top of me now. Here we go. Robot rumble in five...four...
     
    -WARDEN 14 SUBMIT-
     
    “How about you submit to my fist?” I shouted, taking the last step between us before the other cyborg did. I swung my right fist as I moved and smashed it, hard, into his left cheek. His face split open and he half-spun away from me, stumbling with the impact. I barrelled into him before he could recover, knocking him to the floor, face down. I jumped onto his back with both knees, grabbing his flailing left arm in both hands as I landed. I wrenched his arm up, back and over to his right-hand side with every ounce of force I could muster. I can pull a human’s arm out of its socket like picking a flower, but breaking a cyborg’s skeleton took everything I had. Tortured metal screamed and various internal parts crunched, popped and tore.
    My enemy bucked and thrashed, but he couldn’t dislodge me. I gave his other arm the same treatment and then took his head between my hands and began to twist it.
    “Please, Warden, no,” shouted the other cyborg suddenly. “Please, don’t kill me.”
    I faked a short laugh. It was the kind of plea I’d heard from so many humans. It never worked for them – and at least they managed some emotion with their begging – so why should this guy get special treatment?
    “I’m not going to kill you,” I said, even as I tore his head from his shoulders amid