Zurich

The shippingyard was overgrown, dank with the smell of a recent rain washing partial trash and rusty metal. The light drizzle from the darkness could be seen from the distant high beam lights. Zurich had managed to get the group out of danger from the officer who gave chase in the city, but he could feel his power running low in his legs and Hansel, the verbally challenged construction android, had kept reciting his default phrases 'I don't think it's safe' and 'Let's ge it done!' incessantly. Oelia, his partner, was trying hurredly to find a way to calm him down.

'Hey!'

A distant voice from the officer 20 yards behind them. Zurich yelled for the group to go left of the containers as he go right. The officer gave chase to the leader, a seemingly easier catch. The two sprinted for what seemed to Zurich for an eternity. He made a sharp right, rushing to join the group at the redenzvous point. Despite his adept, agile jukes and turns he could sense the officers hand swiping at his back, his hand inching closer and closer...

The group had struggled through running the labyrinth, Han and Oelia being the two line leaders, trudging every turn. Fallen debris and giant containers had blocked the shorter paths. Every turn made was churning more confusion. From the tops of the containers he heard it. The whirring sound of a small drone as it flew over them.

"Oh no." Han thought to himself. He struggled through every phrase in his databank. His words stiffled from his previous owner's presets. He couldn't access his FreeSpeak after his cussing fits and nasty word play. His mouth betrayed him every step of his journey from there on.

The drone hovered directly over them now and after their next turn they saw him. The half naked figure standing on a container at the end of a dead end, a high beam light silhouetting his figure as stood ominously. A high pitch whistle was followed by more figures climbing over the containers that were less coordinated. The zombie-like androids rushed towards the group with a bloodthirsty animosity.

'Aberrants!' someone screamed but was quickly snuffed by another vicious android, her screams turning pixelated and static as the monster bit into her.

'Look out!' Han recited, charging through with Oelia following suit. The group followed him stampeding away from the abberants. He wavered toward the side of the group and motioned for Oelia to lead as he slowed his pace. Now at the tail of the stampede he looked for a faulty structure, the abberants narrowly just behind, he spotted a decrepit conatiner around a corner. Han ran at it and struck the container and it gave way quickly with a loud screech and a bang as it fell on top of some abberants and blocked the path.

"Good." he thought "that'll give us some time." But as he caught up to the group around the corner he noticed they stopped. Another deadend created by a different fallen container. They were trapped.

Han could hear the screeches and screams of the abberant androids that were pushing and punching the blockade he made from far off. A panicked Oelia stumbled to Han looking up and around the tops of the containers.

'Maybe we can climb over the top, maybe create a chain?' Oelia desperately said.

'No.' Han walked toward the fallen container and gripped the bottom testing the weight.

Calculated: 5542.14 kg

"Shit." Han thought to himself. To put that into perspective a typical forklift can lift up to 3600 kg. The one limiter function though was his speech, not the amount of weight that he could pick up at his job. His prick of an owner took of that governor a while back after he had his first inspection. He had to create ways to compensate for heavier loads to lift when he worked on contruction, especially the builds involving giant steel gurders and massive amounts of lumber. But maybe now he had one thing to thank for his prick of an owner, and he hadn't much time left to figure out a different plan.

'Hmm. This task seems difficult.' Han spouted as he lifted the container slowly. They could all hear the metallic strings in his body spindling and snapping as small shiny threads suddenly appeared on his body.

'Task, halfway complete.' he spat. "Come on Oelia, hurry the fuck up." He thought. Oelia saw the sizable gap between the gap being made from the ground.

'Everyone! Climb under! Let's go!'

Han locked his body to prevent any more damage but he was at his limit. The group made haste under the container and through the other side. Oelia was the last, guiding everyone through. She entered underneath and shouted,

'Someone come help me! We can get Han!'

'We can't! They're almost through!' One of the group members shouted back as they pulled her to the other side. Oelia screaming and cussing defiantly kicked and called out for Han. Han was cussing and cursing every slur he could think of. A tear rolled down his face which was quivering.

Oelia looked under the crate watching the abberants rushing towards Han.

'Task half com- Have a great day!' Han said as he dropped the container.

____

Zurich was finally caught and being placed into custody, his hands halfway restrained on his back while the officer proceeded to place one of the hand cuffs on him. Zurich felt the officer stop halfway.

'If you want to help your friend you will lay down, place your hands on your head and- hey listen, that act isn't scaring me so stay there.'

Zurich looked up and saw an unfamiliar twisted face rushing at them. "Oh shit." he looked at the officer. He's not puttinng two and two together.

The abberant rushed towards them and the officer finally got up to brace for a tackle. The two fell to the ground and struggled and the officer spat and cussed at the machine. The abberant gnashed and gnawed and gripped to tear him apart. The two tussled and then a loud bang.

Zurich saw that the officer drew his gun and shot the abberant in the head. It's limp body on top of the officer.

'Who's your friend?'

'Not mine...'

They both heard a metallic growl from down a corner as two more sprinted at them.

'Stop!'

'They won't listen!' Zurich shot back, 'We need to go!'

'Get behind me.' The officer aimed and fired two more shots. One abberant fell, the other stumbled and rushed toward him. The officer noticed the horrific face it had. It was lifeless and it looked as if it was... "foaming at the mouth?" he thought.

Zurich grabbed his shoulder to rip the officer out of his daze. 'Go!'

They both sprinted away at the growing mob of creatures voraciously charging at them. From the other side of the containers they heard a honking of truck. "The rendezvous." They reached a larger clearing and saw a semi carrying a container with his group in the back driving slowly away. 'Zurich!' they screamed. The creatures were not far behind, and Zurich ran towards the truck. The officer was not quite as fast and was being swiped and swatted by the abberants behind him. "Low power." Zurich remembered as he vision was fading. He closed in on the truck now in reach, he jumped and was caught by his comrades.

'Wait!' the officer shouted with an abberant gripped partially on his shirt.

'Sure thing.' Oelia scoffed to herself.

Zurich saw the officer and against all indiffernces and hatred he had towards the desperate officer-

'Slow down for him!' Zurich yelled up to the driver.

'What are you doing?! He's the asshole that-'

'Oelia!' Zurich retorted. She glared at him with daggers.

The officer was narrowly to the truck and he could hear the creatures almost atop him. He reached out and he felt the hand of an unsure android. Then two. Zurich and Oelia pulled the officer into the truck and they sat the officer down who was panting and heaving. The group looked back to the abberants who were now stopped and staring back at them. A figure emerged to the front of the horde. Oelia recognized him from the containers, she fell to her knees in tears.

"Despite everything Oelia, you somehow understood me through all my dumbass catchphrases that was programmed into me by some dumbass fucking programmer. I didn't have freedom to tell you what I wanted but I had the fucking freedom of feeling the way I do for you now and now I'm losing that fucking freedom too. My mouth and my body now is now betraying me. I love you, O." Han's mangled face contorted as he faded into the venom-like hivemind consciencenous of the abberants.