This new being, Nomad, as he called himself was carrying my companion on his back like nothing more than extra weight.

It had been half a day’s time since we managed to rescue him from the hanger filled with clinks, and we would’ve been destroyed if it weren’t for Nomad’s conversion of the giant. I only wished that Henry could’ve been spared and not ripped apart like he had…the giant was a machine only tasked with destruction without any sentience towards its actions. I hoped it’s radioactive grave would keep it down for good.

Ever since the hanger – Henry was silent, and his expressions laid dormant under the half smile on his face, like a creature who made peace before its demise. I knew that Henry would not be able to recover from the damage dealt to him, our synthetic frames were fragile enough as it is.

Nomad walked and looked just like any human who I could recall – his synthetic skin was no longer pale and jagged, it was now tanner and flexed with every step he took. He had told me that the rogue AI, that we both encountered, had not fully converted his OS and that he was in control of his actions. It still made me uneasy seeing a newer Norman come out of that hanger with none of the quirks or characteristics that he entered with. For now, he seemed set on reuniting the three of us with our fourth counterpart.

It made me wonder now how any of this was real – spending years trying to figure out our purpose, only now finding out what it was and that we were about to achieve it. An army was coming after Eve and our only hope of solving all of this was reaching her before they did.

According to Nomad we were well ahead of schedule and were only a few hours away from the destination when we ran into the first group of half a dozen clinks, who were droning ahead at the highway as they marched. They were about half a kilometer away from our current position and would be able to zero in on us if they detected us from this range.

“What are we going to do – there’s no way to go around them.” I asked Nomad.

Already, he was placing Henry down beside the rusted hull of a car.

“Wait here with Henry, and do not show yourself under any circumstance.” He told me.

Before I was able to interject, he was already briskly walking towards the group of armed clinks. Four of the clinks look thinner – grunts, while two carried clunky backpacks for the railgun in their hands. Whatever Nomad planned on doing, I just hoped that it didn’t end in us getting wiped out shortly afterwards.

I watched from behind the cover of the vehicle as the once organic-like skin on Nomad receded into his frame and was replaced with a slick, dark material like the look of the clink’s armor. From a distance, you could’ve mistaken him for one.

Soon enough Nomad was right behind the group of clinks – who first reacted to the sound of him with their guns raised, then shortly after lowering them once they examined him. Within the next moments they were simple moving onwards towards their target. Nomad walked behind each of the clinks, pulling out a cord from the back of their necks, before moving onto the next until all six of them were laying motionless on the pavement of the highway while their weapons were taken from their hands.

This new machine was scaring me even if it did have the appearance of my old lover. Nomad waved us over to join him, as he created a pile of equipment that he scavenged from the nearby clinks.

Holding Henry in my arms I joined Nomad in middle of where the group of clinks laid.

“Take as much as we can carry, we are going to need everything we can get.” 

Next Chapter: Chapter Nineteen: Nomad