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Slowly but surely, it caught up to the woman and swung with a huge arm, swatting her
through the air until she crashed into the wall and then crumpled to the ground. Gunner
hung on as the thing moved again. He searched for something on the creature’s exterior
to pull or break or disengage, but his fingers found only a smooth metal hull.
Cherry didn’t make a sound when the machine tore out her Core. This time, the robot
flicked the metallic coin into the air and zapped it with a sun-bright laser, obliterating
it. Marta, who’d scrambled to the farthest edge of the room, was next. The robot caught
her and yanked her into the air. Over the sound of her screams, Gunner heard her body
breaking, bones snapping.
Still he searched, punching the robot’s metal shell with his free hand as he hung on
desperately with the other. The machine was solid, unbreakable. Gunner tried again to
access the code—he needed to pull a weapon from his endless stash of programs. But he
might as well have been in the Wake for all the good his efforts did. He was blocked
from the code like a severed spine.
The next few seconds were a blur of movement and sound. Marta erupted in one final
scream as her Core was excised from her temple, and Kent didn’t even put up a fight,
dying in one swift, crushing blow from the robot. Gunner knew without seeing that his
Core would be removed as well. He searched his mind for possible solutions. But nothing
came, and soon metal claws were gripping his arms, wrenching him off the robot’s back,
throwing him to the floor.
Gunner landed with a grunt that sent the air rushing from his lungs. And then the
massive machine—its gleaming body, its hissing steam, its groans of mechanics—was
hunched over him, its brilliant blue eyes staring down at him like thrusters on a
spaceship.
“At least tell me who you are,” Gunner said, forcing out the words even though his
chest was on fire. “Tell me why.”
A voice—detached, almost dreamlike—answered.
“The Mortality Doctrine is mine. And now so are you. Say good-bye to flesh and bone,
Gunner Skale.”
There was a burst of pure light and a rush of sound, and then Gunner felt his
memories drain from his mind like sand down a funnel.