_AUTHOR'S_NOTE_
This is part 14 of my first SciFi story, '_Automata'. It is the story of a girl, who has been captured by machines during a global robot apocalypse. See
'Girls Submission to AI in Latex.'
for the beginning.
All characters are over 18 years of age; please respect the author's copyright.
__PREVIOUSLY__
Jenny and some of her fellow sex slaves have been sold to General Rockwood. During collection, they were attacked by unknown assassins. The attack has downed Rockwood's personal drone. They have taken shelter in an abandoned Starbucks, in the ruined city of San Fransisco. They are trapped and in a standoff surrounded by assassins. Sovereign's tower has collapsed, killing the slave master Sovereign.
__AUTOMATA 14 A VISIT TO THE NERVE GARDEN__
They were trapped in an abandoned Starbucks, hiding from sharpshooters with a group that included a super cyborg, three robots, a man with cybernetic wolf, a small bald android in a shawl, and three human slaves. All hiding in the ruins of post-apocalypse San Francisco.
"Change of plan," Rockwood announced, as he walked back into the main part of the cafe. "Seventy. The skyline is full of sharpshooters with blanket air cover. There's no way to get a drone in and out. Instead, I've arranged for three self-driving bikes to come here. I'm controlling them remotely now. When they arrive, there will be a volley of missiles. We have about twelve seconds to get in and get out.
"Wireback, you're with the T-slut on bike three. Ahriman, you're with Miss Buy-one-get-one-free. I'll take Terms-and-Conditions.
"Sluts, three motorbikes will turn up. Get on the back with the assigned rider, and hold on for dear life. The guns will start firing as soon as the bikes arrive, so don't hesitate. Just get on and go. The guns will shout above our heads but today we can be heroes, but just for one day. Any questions?"
_AUTO_SYNCHRONIZATION_
Rockwood looked at Jenny and said, "You think you're going to die. Time to find out you're wrong. Only I get to say when you die, not anyone else. Thirty-five, thirty-four, thirty-three."
He stood up and turned to the robots. "Huey, Dewey, and Louie, stay hidden. If we're followed, kill them. If not, stay low and make your own way back. Once I lead them away, you should be okay. Don't fire after we leave, wait."
"I thought you couldn't communicate out?" Wireback said.
"I can't," Rockwood replied. "This is just auto-synchronization. Like if you were in New York, and needed to meet someone but didn't have a time or date, where would you go and when?"
Jenny shrugged. "Under the clock in Grand Central Station at midday."
"Which is what ninety-five percent of the population would say." Rockwood continued, "Fourteen, thirteen."
Jenny knew she had to go with him. Rockwood just had to be on the other side of the room for her collar to tell her that the signal was weak. If he left, she would die within a few seconds.
She looked up and saw a bitter-fly drone. These drones were nearly silent aerial mines. This one had been holding to the ceiling. Something had woken it, and now it was drifting slowly and silently down like a dandelion seed in the morning wind, falling towards Rockwood.
Jenny had had some close encounters with bitter-fly drones, when she was lost in the streets. The first one had killed her chemistry lab partner Kate. She pushed Rockwood back, as the drone missed its target. Moving quickly, Rockwood snatched it and slammed it to the countertop, disabling it.
Rockwood looked at her.
"If you die, I die," she said.
"Four, three," he counted down. Just then, the glass door shattered, as a motorbike crashed through.
"Early!" Rockwood exclaimed.
These bikes were unlike anything Jenny had ever seen before. They looked like a Ferrari that had been cut in half between the passenger and driver. The bikes had elegant, two-wheeled designs with a closed, covered glass cabin wrapped around the body.
A second bike followed the first, and then a third followed the second. Rockwood grabbed Jenny's hand and rushed up to the bike, lifting the canopy like a fighter jet. He straddled the bike and pulled Jenny on behind him. She put her leg over the leather seat, and sat behind Rockwood.
"Don't lean. Just act like a package. Let me do the balancing. If you notice any snipers, don't tell me. I'll see them before you do. Whatever you do, hang on to me," he instructed.