The Annihilation Code

Chapter Seven ➹ Atlas Contreras ➹

Ever since I escaped from Bionic Corp, I've been searching for a way to atone for what I'd done. Patch and Marisa told me to move on, it's in the past, they'd say. I can't do that. What about everyone I've harmed or killed? Do they not deserve justice? If Katrina is right about the map leading to the Annihilation Code, then I have to find it and destroy it. I won't let that damn code kill anyone else!

Chase looked like he'd seen a ghost. He clutched my arm, so tightly he almost put a dent in the metal.

"What's wrong?" I surveyed the alleyway for any sign of danger. Nothing seemed amiss.

"This crazy cyborg cornered me! They asked for the map to the Annihilation Code, but I didn't give it to them! He said, clutching me tighter.

I froze. Could it be the same cyborg that attacked me a month ago? I reached into my pocket and pulled out a drawing of my attacker I sketched on one of the disposable coasters. I handed it to him. "Is this the cyborg?"

He stroked his chin as he analyzed the sketch. "No. I don't think so. The mask is different. The cyborg that confronted me didn't have a skull on their mask, it was just plain black." He narrowed his eyes. "Your cyborg looks a lot more muscular too. Mine was pretty scrawny now that I think about it."

Perhaps there are two different cyborgs interested in the Annihilation Code. It's very existence puts all cyborgs at risk. "What exactly did the cyborg do to you?" I asked Chase.

"Well, they jumped out of nowhere and pounced at me, begging for the map. I didn't hand it over because I'm super brave and heroic."

I raised an eyebrow. "You didn't have the map I did."

"Anyway, when I courageously refused to hand it over, the killer cyborg was like," He cleared his throat and did an impression of an old hag. "Call me Oblivion, for I am your doom, and then randomly started singing. I don't know what that was about. After that, they disappeared."

An overwhelming sense of panic grabbed hold of me. My heart palpated violently. A warning popped up on my cybernetics telling me to regulate my breathing, I ignored it. I counted backward in my head like I always did when a panic attack took hold of me, switching languages every time. Veinte, Nineteen, Dix-huit, Siebzhen, 十六, पंद्रह, أربعة عشر, Тринадцать, Doze, じゅういち, Dieci. Once I was calm enough to sign, I asked. "What song?"

Chase grimaced. "I don't know, it was in Icelandic or something, but my cybernetics translated it to something about a wolf eating children." He shivered. "It was freaky." He hummed the cursed tune under his breath.

I trembled. That's the song that plays in my nightmares. I prayed I'd never hear the wretched melody ever again. Now every vile note came flooding back to me. "Russian."

"What?"

I took several deep breaths, trying to steady myself. "The song is in Russian, not Icelandic."

He shot me a questioning look. "How do you know?"

"Because that song is the Annihilation Code."

Chase's eyes widened. "What? That's the cyborg murder code?"

I nodded gravely.