Cerberus Robotics' DEMIGODS

The day began at the same time as it always did.

I detached from my wall socket, and glanced over to my left.

There was, once again, a total lack of the object I felt should be there. It was … annoying?

I was never any good at these 'emotion' things my creators gave me, and now that my memory is half fried, it isn't any better.

I walked around the facility, checking my traps, to see if any animal had entered overnight, as I had a thief stealing my stuff. I had been hoping that it was just a rat or something, but when I reached the storeroom, my suspicions were confirmed.

Once again, my stores had been depleted, and this time it couldn't be put down to one of the island's animals.

No animal, even one on this hellhole, would take a replacement power source. I had personally seen to it that the functioning robots on this island had been deactivated, or harvested for parts, so I could keep myself running.

Anyway, that power source was a custom one, made to fit the Z series droids only. Someone was trying my patience...

As I left the storeroom, I walked over to the screen wall. I have a vague memory that these screens once were filled with colour, but now they are only good as a mirror.

I turned, to get a full view of myself. Nothing had changed since the day before.

My vaguely humanoid body was still had that sizable dent in the center, as I couldn't remove the plate to fix it. Other than that slight blemish, though, the rest of my frame was as designed. Sleek arms and legs, the oily mask that was my … face? (I guess?) and the long cable that stretched from above my waist to the last surviving computer bank. This computer was how I hadn't followed my counterparts into insanity, and self destruction. Mainly, as I had experimented with what my model was designed for.

The Cerberus Robotics Z series was designed to completely take over any computer system, and thus infiltrate enemy bases. However. Whilst my body was being prepared for full integration with myself, the AI that controlled most of the population decided we were too big a threat, and so dropped a thermo-nuclear device on the main island in this chain.

Lucky me, I was just on the outside of the area that would have killed me, as were my counterparts. This didn't mean that the whole area hadn't been radioactive for thousands of years, though. Thinking about it, I was never actually fully integrated into my body in all those thousands of years...

Pardon my digression. I shall return to the story.

On that day, I decided that enough was enough, and I would venture outside the complex to confront this being.

I walked over to the wall next to the door, and switched the cable out.

(I need this cable, as all of my software is in this computer bank, which is why I've been scavenging parts for this one bank, instead of all of them.)

As I pushed against the door, my audio sensors picked up the squeal of rusted hinges. So much for 'Rust-proof Hinges!'

I poked my head out, and performed a quick scan. There was a heat source that was within the range of my cable. Not a big one, as big as the K series walking bombs created by Cerberus Robotics. Vaguely child-sized.

I creeped over to the heat signature, making sure to keep the cable free, and as I got there, I saw it was a campfire.

The fire was surrounded by evidence of a person ( a tent, clothes, food wrappers, various pieces of technology) but what grabbed my attention almost immediately was the spool on the edge of the encampment. The spool was about a meter tall, and seemed to have a cable wrapped around it.

This was an interesting situation.

My programming, at the beginning, instructed me to never steal. However, it also dictated that retaliation was the preferred reaction to any pre-emptive strike. And, stealing a power core could be classed as a pre-emptive strike.

My mind made up, I sprinted over to the spool, picked it up, and ran back the way I came, following my cable so I didn't snag it on anything.

My computer raced with the possibilities of this cable. With it's estimated length of 1500 meters, I could finally reach some of the other buildings in the complex. The J series would be a great accessory to my army...

After I plugged the wire into the computer bank that held most of my mind as of the moment, I had a small robot car come crawling over. It was the B series robot, designed to carry supplies safely. However, this one was modified to carry wires for me, and so I sent it on its way to the next building, utilizing the passageways my makers had added between the buildings as a precaution for radioactivity above ground.

As it neared its destination, I noticed a small heat signature suddenly appear on my scanners, and make for the door to the building I was in.

I will admit I was taken aback for a microsecond, but I quickly started to bring up the old defense systems. They were the usual blend of EMP emitters, sonic weapons, and - this was one of my proudest achievements - a working flamethrower. It was held by one of the arms that would have, at one point, been used to hold various sheets of materials for the scientists and roboticists to choose between to build another robot.

However, all these systems didn't activate. The system recognized the being as one of the researchers. This, I knew, was an impossibility, as all the research staff had died in the bunker from radiation poisoning. I had watched it happen. It was fascinating to see what the tiny particles the device produced did to each person...

Then, the being stood in my line of sight. It looked like... a child?