Dubious about its situation, the robot shook slightly. It's gears, rusty and bumpy, creaked as it moved ever so slightly.

  "That's..."

  "I know that reaction."

  Amelia smiled while lifting her left hand in front of her chest, as if presenting something.

  "It is madness, impossible, risky, whatever you can think of. Still, we have to do it. That's why we're here."

  Listening to her, Senia nodded.

  "We don't have any choice either. From our entrance, we've already caught the attention of the one in charge."

  The conversation paused for a second, as the robot noticed something from the corner of its lifeless and shiny eyes.

  "!"

  Steam armor, walking in line toward this place.

  Its gaze vacantly switched to the people in front of it, who noticed the enemy way before it could say anything.

  Then, its eyes abruptly returned to the steam armor. This process repeated another time before it finally took matters into its own hands.

  (Very quietly, with as little movement as possible... Follow me!)

  The robotic voice whispered, to which the group nodded without deliberation.

  An eerie atmosphere settled as they moved around the workshop. Not a single voice came from the steam armors, only the clattering of their legs and arms as they hit their metallic bodies.

  Heto, with his large built, found it difficult to move around while hiding his wide frame. Still, he managed to move across the entrance to the back of the building without being seen.

  Both Amelia and Senia stayed low against the ground, rapidly moving from one spot to the other.

  As they followed the robot, who made sure not to make a single creaking noise as it moved, they finally entered an inconspicuous room.

  With a sharp turn, he faced the three.

  "I'm going to bet on your sincerity."

  "You said that you wouldn't hurt me. I hope you will stay your hand for the others."

  It pressed a camouflaged button under a table with various documents rotting on top of it.

  Emitting not even a scratching noise or a rumble, a part of the wall in front of the robot opened.

  "Go on."

  Everyone noticed the pressured tone in its voice, so they rushed into the opening, which closed behind them.

  Pressing the button once again, the path closed, leaving the humanoid machine in the room, alone.

  At the same time, the door leading to the workshop violently shook.

  Nervously, the robot leaned against the now closed entrance to the secret space and dropped lifelessly.

  All features stopped working as its eyes lost their glow. The engine in its chest cooled instantly, turning it into a simple piece of junk metal.

  *BAM*

  Stolen novel; please report.

  The door opened, its hinges ripped off, as a steam armor barged into the room.

  It analyzed the room with the scrutiny of a machine.

  Seeing the humanoid robot laying on the ground, it walked toward it with heavy steps.

  Stretching its arm, it reached for the robot before grabbing its clunky head. It pulled the robot closer to its face before letting out a sickening smile that only a machine could let out.

  As it felt satisfaction in seeing the broken-down machine, it finally released its grasp, letting the robot crash into the ground in a loud cacophony of metallic sounds.

  It turned around and left the place with the rest of the steam armors, not showing any care for anything else.

  The massive metallic door that the group entered through closed with force, making the entire building shake from the sheer strength of the steam creations.

  After a few minutes of complete and utter silence, the robot finally awakened.

  "..."

  It picked itself off the ground and pressed the button again. With disheartened steps, it followed the strangers it had sent further inside.

  ...

  Ten minutes later, deeper inside the workshop.

  The robot arrived in a large underground warehouse. It looked big enough to house thousands of machines like him.

  This place, which was the only haven for people like it remaining in this city, was filled with 'life'.

  As it caught up to the strangers, it stared at them with interest.

  "I wasn't expecting you to actually freeze in front of this sight."

  "How could we not..."

  Amelia, Senia, and Heto, all three together, stared at the bustling underground hideout.

  "I would say it's an incredible discovery, but with the context for why it has to happen... I cannot feel the marvel."

  Heto spoke loud enough so that his voice carried far.

  "We've seen many factions suffer from the same conditions. It was the same for you, Senia."

  "Those were dark times. Not just the sirens, but the fairies, the arachnea, and the elementals. We were all on the verge of dying out."

  As they talked between each other, the residents of this settlement of sort noticed the intruders.

  Carefully, they began to point their fingers at them while whispering between each other.

  But, as expected in any gathering of outcasts and survivors, the children weren't as distant to the newcomers, even if they looked slightly different.

  As such, a group of four small 'robots' walked toward the giant man. The humane gaze he showed was enough to intrigue the little souls.

  "Excuse me. Who are you?"

  The voice of a girl caught him off guard, as he was too focused on his thoughts.

  "Me?"

  Pointing at himself, he kneeled in front of the mechanized children.

  "Yes. Who are you?"

  While preparing to answer, he looked at the little ones carefully.

  "..."

  His gaze slowly moved toward Amelia and Senia, who had already noticed. He could hear the Lorelei's gasp and the first wife's tongue clicking.

  Indeed, these children, or more specifically, all of those residing in this area, were a gross mixture of flesh and machine.

  The girl in question that spoke first had half of her head being made of gears and screws, while the other was of flesh.

  Her throat was entirely replaced by cables and pipes, and a glowing motor appeared on her chest, which replaced her heart.

  The same, with various differences between people, appeared on the other residents. Some were more mechanized than others, but all showed signs of being partly made of metal.

  Trying to keep his composure, Heto smiled dryly.

  "My name is Heto. I am... human."

  That was all he could say. There was no reason to confuse these little ones with complicated matters from his world.

  "Human?"

  The little robotic girl turned to the boys behind her.

  "Isn't that what we were called a long time ago?"

  "I remember reading that in a book."

  Out of those questions, the last girl, who looked rather reserved, asked the following question.

  "Why... aren't you like us?"

  Looking at her prosthetic legs and arms, she couldn't help but ponder.

  "!"

  At a loss for words, Heto tensed up.

  But out of the group, someone knew how to deal with tricky questions. Someone who knew what being shy meant.

  "She didn't ask that out of malice or to make it difficult for you. Just answer how you truly feel."

  Without reservation, Amelia walked up to the girl and placed her hand on her rough gray hair. She still had her face mostly intact, except the right eye, which had been replaced by a simple detection device.

  The four children looked toward Amelia before all stares moved toward the large man.

  "We came from another land, where what pains you don't exist."

  "That's part of the reason we're here. To help you."

  A genuine and sincere smile caught the children off guard. One of them, seemingly understanding the context more than the other three, began to sob quietly.

  It took a few more seconds for the others to understand the situation.

  'No more living in pain?'

  'We can be saved?'

  The emotions coming out of these poor children made the three shudder.

  Carefully, Amelia returned to Senia and whispered in her ear.

  (We're in trouble.)

  (If Orion comes to learn about this, this place will burn in an inferno.)

  Senia nodded faintly.

  (He despises those who make children suffer... We have to bring the mastermind down at all cost.)

  Recalling what had happened with Stella, Amelia frowned.

  (It was per chance that he had already ended the guy responsible for her suffering, but I remember him saying that if he had known, he would have tortured him longer.)

  (We haven't been faced with another case of children being exploited or abused, but knowing Orion, this might be one matter that will never change, even if he removed himself from his vengeance.)

  Again, Senia agreed with her.

  (Let's do everything we can, so his anger remains manageable. I don't wish to see him angry anymore.)

  (So do I.)

  Agreeing on this, they turned to Heto, who was patting the heads of the children with a hard expression.

  "In every world... We stumble on people who do not value the lives of the people."

  "It's still as sickening as the first time I saw it."

  Glancing at the two women, his face showed the unrest with such clarity that it surprised them.

  "The children's suffering will always be a weak spot for men, it may seem."

  As Amelia recalled the same stare appearing on Florian's face when he brought Stella, she acknowledged the men surrounding her as caring.

  "That's our future. We strive to make their life as good as we need so that the future generation follows suit."

  "Who doesn't understand the importance of the younger generation is a fool."

  With those words, he stood up and turned to the robot, watching the interaction between the strangers and the children with awe.

  "Can we talk somewhere else? We would like to get an idea of the situation."

  "Because we arrived an hour ago, with no warning on where we would get dropped."

  In its stupor, the humanoid robot trembled.

  "Ah! Yes, of course!"

  "Follow me."

  Hurriedly walking past them, he stopped in front of the children.

  "Do not forget to return to the ones taking care of you. Be careful of falling."

  "Yes."

  "Thank you."

  As the misfortunate children returned to the adults, the robot led the group deeper into the safe haven.

  A few minutes later, they entered a decrepit home of metal and rust, with just a table and a broken mattress inside.

  "Please."

  Politely asking them to come in, the humanoid smiled as much as its metallic jaw permitted him to.

  With trust in its heart, it welcomed the three inside its home.