The Summoning Stars

Chapter 7 - Game Over

As more bots streamed into the Dome, Cal turned away from Kelna to face them. "Take cover, Professor, things are about to get messy. Get to the transport, I'll join you in a moment."

"Oh boy," said Kelna again. Grabbing his bag, he made his way to the transport in the centre of the Dome, crabbing along as swiftly as he could on old knees. Cal walked backwards in the same direction, facing the rising tide of bots swarming toward them.

Kelna made it to the transport. A door slid open silently and he stepped inside. Cal still walked steadily backwards, and glanced over his shoulder to make sure Kelna was safe. Seeing the old man standing in the door of the transport, Cal stopped.

The bot with a needle held steady in an armature rolled ahead of its colleagues on liquid metal tracks. Cal made a motion with one hand, and it stopped, dead. A pool of liquid metal spread from underneath the machine, and the bot collapsed in on itself, dissolving before his eyes until just puddle remained.

Cal spoke clearly into the silence. "I do not want to destroy any more of you, it's pointless and wasteful. Go away now, and no more of you will be harmed. I need to talk to my friend. Come against me again, and you will join the remains of this med bot."

Power crackled from Cal's fingertips, static electricity sparking the air between his fingers. He rose up from the floor, his hair standing on end as the static charge built further.

The Mind's voice rippled from the walls - You need to calm down and let us help you, Cal.

"It would help if you weren't trying to stab me with a sedative!" he shouted. The first of the bots tried to grab him and lightning exploded from his fingertips, arcing into the swarm. As the bots were hit, they exploded in fragments of white hot metal, and once more Kelna dived for cover. The bot swarm surrounded Cal, then arced over him, building a dome of skittering metal above him. Cal stood in the centre, a crackling hemisphere of energy keeping the bots away from him. He bowed his head, sending out tendrils of thought into his surroundings. As the last of the bots piled on top of him he mentally reached out to Kelna.

Be ready, Professor.

As the comment whispered into Kelna's mind, Cal raised his hands in a circle to meet above his head, and the dome of skritching electronics around Cal folded in on itself in a shriek of grinding metal. Electric light fused and flashed amidst the maelstrom, and a mental scream of rage threw Kelna to his knees clutching his head in agony. Cal roared into the metallic storm surrounding him, and the entire bot swarm balled up into a glowing mass of defunct metal above Cal's head. Cal took a deep steadying breath, and with a surge of mental energy made a throwing motion with his hands, the metallic mess slamming into the entrance to the Dome.

There was silence.

Kelna sat up as Cal approached, and the younger man proffered a hand, hauling the professor to his feet and dusting him down.

"I'm sorry, Professor, are you okay?"

Kelna pulled Cal into a hug. "I'm fine, Cal, thank you."

"May we talk for a moment please, sir?"

"Sir?" Kelna moved to a seat in the transport and gestured to Cal to join him. "Why so formal?"

"I don't know, I'm just confused as to who I am now." He paused, thinking, and closed his eyes for a moment. Holding out a hand, but with his eyes closed, he spoke. "Please give me your hand, Professor."

Kelna placed his hand in Cal's, the wrinkled and weathered skin of his palm resting against Cal's smooth unblemished one. Cal tilted his head to one side, opened his eyes and smiled.