"Beep beep

  Calling Third Squad of the Violent Terror Response Unit.

  Assemble at the Color Tower. Acknowledge."

  "Beep beep

  Philo here."

  Forcibly awakened from sleep, she cleared her throat before responding.

  Turning off the comms device, Philo couldn’t help but complain.

  "Damn it, I just managed to fall asleep."

  The moment she opened her eyes, the time display projected itself directly in her line of sight, accompanied by some bizarre special effects. Even without thinking, she could tell the previous owner of this second-hand cybernetic eye must have been an absolute idiot.

  "This crap is an insult to my vision."

  The external cybernetic eyewear she had bought cheaply from the black market had no real function other than delivering weird daily spectacles on a fixed schedule.

  A large cat lay sprawled on one side of Philo, pinning down the blanket. The sound of its purring filled the air.

  "Purr, purr."

  The furniture was covered in dust-proof sheets, and her luggage was scattered carelessly around. Philo quickly threw on her uniform and rushed to the balcony.

  There sat her battered low-altitude flying capsule—officially known as an intelligent low-altitude flight pod, though nobody called it that. Around here, everyone just called it a "Goldie."

  By the time she reached the top floor of the Color Tower, most of the squad had already gathered. Inside the MFTD hover vehicle, everyone was wrapped up tightly. Honestly, they were so bundled up that even their own mothers wouldn’t recognize them.

  "Omg, why am I always the last one?" The rushed member who arrived late broke the eerie silence.

  No one responded, and Philo didn't want to disrupt the strange stillness either.

  Most of the members in the Maximum Force Tactical Division are cybernetically enhanced individuals, their minds on the brink of collapse, just a hair's breadth away from becoming full-blown cyberpsychos.

  The leader of the third squad in the Maximum Force Tactical Division scanned the room, his gaze stopping on one of the team members, Kamala.

  Leader: "Your uniform’s not on properly."

  Kamala quickly tried to cover her torn uniform: "Damn, did it tear during the last fight? Shit, we should've gotten better gear."

  The leader sighed: "Everyone’s here, let’s move out."

  The hovercar smoothly lifted off and headed toward the destination.

  Leader: "Destination is the abandoned factory at 234. Citizens reported strange noises coming from the area for nearly two weeks. The cause is unknown. A police team that went in earlier hasn’t made contact. Based on the life-sign readings sent back, they’re all dead. The live feed was also mysteriously blocked. Likely hacker interference. That’s all we have."

  "Beep beep — Destination reached."

  A message came through the comms.

  The leader glanced at the abandoned factory outside the hovercar, then turned and made a gesture to move out. "Good luck, everyone."

  The hovercar’s doors swung open, and the members of the Maximum Force Tactical Division jumped out one by one, some charging through the windows on the top floor of the factory.

  If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.

  A few chose to investigate the main entrance at the ground level, and the team members gradually spread out.

  A burst of gunfire rang out. The guy hadn’t even entered the front door yet and was already spraying bullets with his machine gun, nearly shooting one of his own.

  Leader: "This idiot’s losing it. Philo, control him, make sure he doesn’t hurt anyone."

  Philo, still in the hovercar, responded.

  "Roger that."

  Almost in the same instant as the response, a sharp "pew" sound echoed, and Lucas’s arm was blown off by a high-powered gunshot. His weapon fell to the ground along with his severed limb.

  Leader, urgently: "Don’t kill him!"

  Philo simply replied with two words: "He’s not dead."

  The top and bottom of the factory were already surrounded. Philo scanned the area, pulled up the factory’s internal layout, then circled around the parking lot and dropped into the factory’s wastewater outlet.

  "Beep beep—

  The top floor is full of discarded androids."

  Other team members noticed the situation and followed up in real-time through their comms.

  A strange noise came through the comms, like something constantly crashing.

  Leader: "Bronx has never deployed androids. Are you sure about this?"

  Operative: "It’s androids. To be precise, it’s the remains of android limbs."

  The conversation coming through the comms distracted Philo.

  "Beep beep—

  Can we trace where they’re from?" Philo.

  "Beep beep—

  Unable to scan. We’ll need to request support from the Post-Human Android Tech Factory."

  "Fuck, the android factory’s stepping in, and we’re not gonna get shit out of this."

  Philo had dealt with these people before—they weren’t the kind you could mess with.

  There were a few vehicles parked in the parking lot, and the tire marks on the ground were fresh. The truck among them was clearly modified, and there was no one in the driver's seat. Philo checked around, taking everything valuable.

  The cargo hold of the truck vibrated slightly. Philo paused, quickly packing up the valuables he’d scavenged, and then, holding his machine gun, circled to the back of the truck to check. The cargo hold was secured with a simple chain that could be easily broken with a shot.

  There was no one around. Philo confirmed the surroundings and shot the chain clean off.

  “Bang,” the door was kicked open from the inside, spilling liquid and the cargo, drenching Philo. Various androids fell out of the crate, and a figure scrambled out.

  “Don’t move.”

  Philo’s gun was aimed at the figure’s head, with the machine gun’s auto-following bullets ready. Any wrong move and she could take him out.

  The figure, who had been running, suddenly turned around. His eyes, which were normally a regular color, flickered with a blue glow for a moment before quickly fading.

  This was a sign that the android’s body had sustained damage. He didn’t run far before collapsing to the ground.

  “Stop, don’t come closer. You’re here to save us, right?”

  The android’s voice system was damaged, making his tone odd.

  “Yes, I’m here to save you.”

  Philo’s tone softened, but her machine gun didn’t lower—it was a warning.

  “That’s great, that’s great,” the android sighed in relief and collapsed to the ground.

  Philo checked the other androids in the compartment. They were wrapped in some kind of liquid, and it was unclear whether they were dead or alive.

  "How did you end up here?" Philo asked as he examined the android, whose eyes were glowing blue.

  "I went for a beauty treatment, fell asleep for no reason, and when I woke up, they had captured me and brought me here," the android replied.

  Philo noticed the professional equipment in the compartment and a question arose in his mind. These people knew how to deal with androids, and the unfamiliar professional devices in the car—this was the first time she had seen such a large-scale operation targeting androids.

  "What did they capture you for?" Philo continued asking.

  "They want to crack our minds. They want to control us. They want to use us for experiments," the android said, its tone growing more agitated.

  "What happened?" Philo asked. she hadn't heard of any major events lately, so how could so many androids be harmed?

  The android’s consciousness began to waver.

  "He said we are all a lie. Humans can’t create independent thought. Androids are controlled by randomly assigned data, all abilities are determined by the underlying data, and all emotions are just data. He said that’s the real definition of an android. He wants to know who the creators are. He wants to rewrite us. He wants to make us extinct. He wants..."

  The android became more and more agitated, its words speeding up, becoming increasingly harsh.

  "Hey, wake up!" Philo tugged at it.

  "Who captured you?"

  The android let out a shrill scream and lost consciousness.

  "Hands up. Don't move."

  The personnel from the Transhuman Android Technology Factory arrived, holding machine guns aimed at Philo's head.

  Philo complied obediently and raised her hands.

  A group of people surrounded her, taking her chest recorder and even the valuable items she had just concealed. After a thorough inspection, they let her go.

  "shit," Philo grumbled, fuming. She had hoped to use those things to trade for a better removable cyberware, but they took everything. Not a single item was left behind.

  "Beep beep, everyone, retreat," the voice of the captain came through the communication device.

  "Why the hell are they calling now? Why didn’t they warn me when those guys showed up earlier?" Philo cursed aloud.