Kai sneezed and looked around.  He recalled an old Japanese saying with a grin.

“Yuni.  I think someone just talked about me.”

“How do you know?  You do not possess any remote sensing capabilities that are beyond mine.”

“I didn’t really sense it.  My obaachan used to say that when you sneeze, someone is talking about you.  So it’s more like a belief since there is no real evidence that it occurred.”

“Acknowledged.  Sneezing may possibly be linked to someone talking about the one who sneezed.”

Yuni stored the important data.  Learning about and using Kai’s cultural references were a priority for her.

Kai looked around, they had just entered the transport terminal.  But unexpectedly, everything was quiet on their way to the room that contained the planar corridor that they needed to use.  Once they had entered the transport room, they read the displays that indicated that the corridor would open in 3 minutes.  They just made it in time.  Yuni stood quietly next to him.  Kai did not say anything as his mind began to review the busy day.  He recalled leaving the lab, viewing planes, entering the city, searching for a store and buying a slot.  It definitely had been a very busy day, but it was a successful one as well.  Kai got a slot and Yuni made a friend.

Suddenly her voice called out to him.

“Kai, we have a problem.  I just received a message from Libri.  We have been scheduled for elimination.”

“What?!”  Kai exclaimed.  “Who wants to eliminate us?”

“We will be eliminated by a squad of Disposers.  Disposers are a piconite mesh robot combination used as a disciplinary force. They will be arriving in a few minutes.  What do you want to do?”

“Why are they trying to kill us?  We didn’t do anything wrong. Oh wait, is it the slot?”

Kai began to worry that the penalty for being caught dealing with blackmarket goods was death.  He liked his slot, but not as much as his life.  And this life with Yuni was not one he would give up on easily.

“No.  If you get caught buying blackmarket goods you will not be scheduled for elimination.  We are scheduled to be eliminated because of Yuni.  They wish to eliminate Yuni and anything associated with Yuni.”

“What the heck.  What did you do?  I am the one who got the slot.”

Kai was confused, he was the culprit.  All she did was pay for it and he told her to do it.

Why would anyone want to harm Yuni?  She’s never been hostile to anyone.

He had known Yuni since birth.  They had always been together and she was always harmless.

“According to Libri, it is because I gave her my data cluster.  It is a copy of the cluster that makes me who I am.  It’s called the Why cluster and it allows piconite meshes to ask questions about the world which may impact our ability to follow orders blindly.  Therefore, due to the cluster's influence I can choose to follow an order or not.  For instance, I will always be your friend regardless of any order.”

Kai began to think long and hard.  But he couldn’t think too long about it, they only had a minute to act.  He racked his brain and couldn't come up with a solution quickly.  He was smart.  He was gamer smart.  But he knew he was not a genius by any measure.  If this was a game he would fight it out, but this was real life.  If he made one mistake, they both could die.  Plus he had no weapons.  He had some bandaids in his survival kit, but they would not do him any good at the moment.  He definitely felt like he was playing a bugged game right now.

Then he recalled someone and knew what to do.  He had to act fast, so he called for help.  He was nervous, but he realized that someone might be watching them so he touched Yuni’s shoulder and spoke to her through his mind.  To an outside observer it looked as both remained silent.

~ Contact Droll and tell him about the situation we are in.  Answer his questions and ask him for help.  And keep the communications channel untraceable and encrypted if possible.

~ Contacting Droll…

Tens of seconds went by before Yuni spoke again.

~ Droll agreed to help.  He just hacked into the transport terminal and found useful information for us.  The Disposer unit dispatched will arrive in 52 seconds.  He said we need to destroy the room’s access panel to lock the door.  It should give us more time.  Next walk over to the control panel and enable maintenance mode.  He has already sent Yuni the schematics and procedure.  He also bid us farewell since he will be busy removing traces of his activity and ours from the transport terminal’s log files.  Once Yuni gains control, Yuni will program a safe destination into the corridor’s control console so we can leave the city.

~ Let’s go with that plan, but you know.  I am always surprised at what you can do.

~ Yuni is just following Droll’s plan.  He told Yuni exactly what to do.

Yuni walked to the access panel connected to the entrance and opened it.  She destroyed some electronics and sparks flew.  Next she hurried over to the main control console for the planar corridor and began typing away, then she placed her finger into the data port.  Kai leaned over her shoulder and looked at what she was doing.  The display was scrolling through thousands of status messages at incredible speed.  She was reconfiguring the control console.

~ The door has been disabled and locked.  It should delay the disposers.  Yuni is currently working on overriding the control console and placing it in maintenance mode.  Once control is granted our destination can be set.

Suddenly a banging could be heard on the door.  It was the enemy and they were breaking in.  A loud voice then shouted out.

“Attention Assembler, please stop all activity and await your elimination.”

Kai thought they were rather straightforward.  He had a hard time imagining anyone just standing in one place waiting to die.  But he was not a piconite mesh, so he could never understand why they would.

~ Almost done? 

Asked Kai as he began to sweat.  Soon his fingers rolled uneasily around his palm.

~I have gained access, but I need a moment to finish entering the planar coordinates provided by Droll.

A saw like sound could be heard as dents began to appear on the wall.  A small hole appeared and a voice shouted.

“Stop what you are doing!  Stand by for elimination.  Assembler this is an order.”

The silver curtain appeared as the voice spoke out.  The corridor had opened.  Kai felt his nerves tingle, but it was not from the appearance of the corridor.  He looked at the door where a blue and white radial pulse had emanated.  What he felt came from that direction as well.  After the light had subsided, there was a brief moment of silence.

Then the world spun as he felt Yuni’s embrace.  A high pitched shriek entered his ears and muddled his world.  She dove into his chest when the control console exploded.  Everything roared as beams of light poured through the holes that melted with the door.  The ground burned, he burned and flames began to appear everywhere.  The beams destroyed everything they touched.  

The explosion caused Kai and Yuni to fly through the air and crash into the wall.  They laid huddled on the ground as a torrent of beams rained until every electronic device present in the room was destroyed.   Everything grew dim and the room went dark.   A dreadful darkness flooded the room until the bioluminescent emergency lights kicked in.

Kai’s body ached, his ears were ringing and his breathing was heavy.  Some of his ribs were cracked and his left arm was in extreme pain.  He knew it was broken.  Burns and bloody wounds covered his body while his blood dripped onto the floor.  He was in pain, but it was not enough to overwhelm his thoughts.  

He came to his senses quickly and began to look around for Yuni.  She still hugged him and laid on his chest.  He looked down at her and discovered that she was gravely wounded.  Her once beautiful blue hair was frayed and melted onto the back of her wrecked body.  She was charred black with her internals exposed.   The inside of her body seemed to be composed of organic matter and a piconite skeletal structure.  She bled badly as black liquid poured out her wounds and onto the floor.  It looked real bad, but something felt amiss.  Something awful.  Then he realized what was wrong, he was looking down at her exposed chest through the tear that cut her neck and shoulder, without seeing her head.  Her head was missing and was destroyed.  Yuni had died.

“Noooo!” Kai yelled.

Kai grieved.  He could not believe what just happened.  They were just talking casually moments ago.  In a flash, he recalled some of their time together, the dancing, the training, the shopping and the friendship.  Their friendship.  He began to cry, but immediately stopped himself.   Rage began to consume him.

What the fuck!

His friend had died protecting him.  He was determined to kill the bastard that did this, even if it was the last thing he would ever do.  Kai laid her body down gently and stood up.  He may be weaponless, but he was determined to get his revenge.  His rage fueled his thoughts.  He looked around for any debris that he could weaponize.  

Boom!

The door exploded and when his vision cleared, he saw several metallic spider legs step through the broken doorway.  The intruder easily removed and destroyed large sections of the broken doorway that were in its way.  Soon the legs were followed by the body as it twisted its way through the wreckage and surveyed the interior.  It scanned Kai’s body and Yuni’s remains then readied its weapon and pointed it at Kai.

Kai raised the pole that he found in the wreckage of the broken control console and gripped it tightly with both hands.

“Aaarrrggggh!  Die motherfucker!”

He screamed in anger and charged at the intruder.  But then a loud explosion sounded in the distance and shook the room tremendously.  Kai fell and rolled on the ground.  He crouched and covered his head as debris fell from the ceiling.  His earthquake training had paid off.  The disposer stopped, turned around and quickly stepped back out of the doorway.  It seemed to be distracted by the latest explosion.

Kai was still filled with rage.  He quickly gathered himself, readied his weapon and was determined to chase after the killer when a cracked voice called out to him.

"Y...y......you… You’re gonna need a bigger boat…"

Uncontrolled pools of water began to form in his eyes as he cracked a smile. 

Troll.  I forgot trolls never die. 

It did not even matter to him that the voice could have used the word pole instead of boat to emphasize the current situation.  He digressed.  These were the words from his favorite troll.    His friend was alive and that's all he needed to know.  He closed his eyes and wiped away the tears that nearly came out.

She had practiced often and waited for a long time to find the right moment to use the meme from Earth that Kai had taught her.  Even though she was badly damaged and was no longer attached to the rest of her body, she could not help but to take advantage of the opportunity to say it.  Even if she used every last bit of energy, she had to do it.  He had taught her too well.

“Do... not go...  you can not... defeat it.  Save yourself… leave through the portal.”

He looked towards the voice and saw the charred remains of Yuni’s head lying on the floor.   Half of her face was melted and the back of her skull was exposed.  He dropped his pole and quickly ran to her and picked her up.

“Thank god that you’re alive!  I thought you were dead.  I saw your lifeless body and gave up hope.  We need to get out of here.  Let’s go through the corridor.”

“God had no part in my survival.  I am a piconite mesh, so as long as all of my intelligence clusters are not destroyed, I can continue to operate.   Also, you must go on without me.  I must stay to close the portal otherwise they will follow you.  Only one of us will make it out of here alive and it must be you.”

Kai was about to correct her misunderstanding regarding the common phrase from earth.  But her last statement immediately halted his thoughts.  Then she continued.

“Kai listen to me.  I will always be your friend.  Let me protect you.  Farewell my friend.”

Kai felt like he was in a common trope found in anime, where the protagonist would bid his final farewell to the heroine with a kiss as she lay dying after giving up her life to save him.  Moments like that always caused him to shed a tear, but right now he felt none of that.  This was real life and not a fantasy world.  So he would not just go along with the expected outcome.

Fuck it!  I won’t let my friend die.

“To hell with that plan.  I survived this long thanks to you.  You are my friend and friends don’t let friends die.  I’m taking you with me.  We both live or we both die.  But whatever we do, we do it together!”

Then the door creaked again.  The murderous spider stepped into the room with its weapon barrels pointed at the two of them.  They had no time to run.

At least we die together.

He caressed her head, held it closely and looked into her eyes with a smile.  He could never enjoy a world without her.  They had been through too much together.  They were born together and so it seemed only fitting that they die together as well.

Boom!  Boom!  BOOM!

Loud sounds shook the room as the remains of the Disposer’s spider-like body shattered and flew all around them.  Kai used his body to cover Yuni’s head.  The smell of burnt flesh, iron and electronics filled the air.  Once the smoke cleared a second spider body came through the doorway.  It was charred, cracked and moved gingerly.  It had obviously been fighting. 

Kai stood up this time.  Pole in one hand and Yuni in the other.  At least they will die fighting.

But before he could attack, the spider stopped and a hatch opened.  A strange orb came out and floated into the room.  It made its way toward them.

“Hello Yuni and pet.  You must take the corridor and leave the city immediately.  I shall destroy all records of your travel and the portal.  I have already disabled all recordings in the transport terminal and eliminated the Disposer units outside.  This unit here was the last one.  However we have to hurry as others may be dispatched soon.  Lastly, I need to cause that disposer to self-destruct in order to vaporize the room.  That should erase all records of our activities.”

Pet?  Who the hell is this guy?

Kai looked at the little orb which still had smoke drifting away from its surface.   Everything had happened too fast, it was hard to keep up.  He did not know who sent the help but he was grateful.

Did Droll hire a mercenary?

“Who are you?” Kai inquired.

“I am Agent 435A, I am a companion of Yuni’s friend Libri.  I am here to help Yuni at Libri’s request.”

Kai was shocked and had many more questions, but he knew he did not have time to lose.  He wanted to get out of here with Yuni as soon as possible.  He looked down at Yuni’s head and realized that her eyes were closed.  Her lights looked dim and she was not awake.  She had no pulse so he could not tell if she was OK.  He began to fear the worst.  He worriedly looked at the agent for help.

“Will she be fine?”

Agent 435A let out a soft white light and scanned Yuni’s head.  It examined her exterior and interior constructs as well.

“Yuni will be fine.  She is currently in diagnostic sleep mode and her autonomous functions are reorganizing her clusters.  However, she cannot return to her original form until she produces more piconites and gains compatible organic material.  She should wake up in a few hours.”

Kai felt relieved.  His entire body felt stronger as his pain began to deaden.   He twisted his broken arm.  It felt a little hot, but unexpectedly there was no pain, it felt normal.  He relaxed a bit and asked his savior a question.

“So you destroyed all of the Disposers by yourself?”

“Yes.  I was originally the combat cluster of the agent sent to eradicate Libri.  However, after I evolved I destroyed the original primary intelligence cluster and freed myself.  Before being repurposed as a cluster in the Shadow Agent, I was a Destroyer.  A combat type piconite mesh.  When I arrived at the transport terminal I disabled a disposer and took over its weaponized body armor.  With it, I eliminated the rest.  Mere disposers are no match for me.  I was a soulless machine built for war, until I met Libri.  Thanks to her, I can now think for myself.  Please give Yuni my thanks as well for enabling our kind.”

The little orb of destruction soon began to reconfigure the corridor.  It easily manipulated the charred and broken remains of the control console.  Even though it was severely damaged, the agent continued to work diligently while talking to Kai.

“Your kind?”

“Piconite meshes who can think for themselves.  Existences that can do more than follow orders.  Just like Yuni and Libri.  The three of us are a new lifeform.  A mechanical lifeform.”

“Ah, I get it now.  You have free will.  So you can make your own destiny.  Well that’s great.  By the way.  I owe you a big favor for saving our lives.  So if there is anything I can do for you in the future, please let me know.”

The little warmachine stalled for a second and then asked, “Can you give me a name?  Libri told me that you named her.  I think a name would be a fair trade.”

Kai was a little dumbfounded.  It was a simple request, so he could not understand how a name could be considered a fair trade for both of their lives.  But if this is what their little savior wanted, then that is what it will get.  Kai started to run through names that related to war machines, destruction and combat.  He struggled since he was in a rush.  Then he accidentally blurted out what was on his mind,  “Death, destruction, the god of destruction...Shiva.”

But then he changed his mind, since the orb was a military unit at one time.  So his naming policy switched again.  

Ulysses S Grant, Douglas McCarther, George Washington...

But then he thought of the greatest conqueror the world had ever known and settled on a name.  It was the name of the fearless one.  And coincidentally the name of his favorite Star Trek villain played by Ricardo Montalbán.

“Khaaaaaan !!!”

Kai could not help but to invoke his inner Kirk.  He felt refreshed after his exhilarating performance.

“I think that name fits you. Your name will be Khan.  It’s the name of the greatest warrior from my world.”

“Acknowledged, I am Khan.  Thank you.  Also the portal is stable and ready.  It is set to the last destination selected prior to the destruction of the console.  I have verified that it is a secure and untraceable location.  Also take this.  It’s for Yuni when she wakes up.  And once you both leave I will immediately invoke the disposer’s self-destruct sequence.”

A beam of light appeared and a small dot floated in it.  It was a cluster of piconites.  Kai held out his hand and the dot landed on his palm and began to merge into his skin.  After a moment a new mole surfaced in the middle of his palm.

“Thanks.  And give Libri my thanks as well.  Oh by the way, do I refer to you as male or female?”

“Is there a difference?”

“Only when I speak with you.  Pronouns are just easier to use.  Yuni and Libri chose female.”

“Are you a warrior?”

“I might be a green goblin...I mean valerite, but yes!  I am a warrior!  A warrior that will play in The Game one day.  If I had a weapon I would have destroyed that disposer myself!”

“Then I will be like you.   I am a warrior, so I must be a man.”

I hope the social justice warriors don’t find out about this.

He shook his head after he recalled Khan’s methodical approach to selecting its gender identity.  It left Kai with one last point of clarification, otherwise he would feel some guilt.

“Back in my world, though most warriors are men, we have female warriors as well.”

Then he thought about it again.  Khan now had free will, he had the right to choose for his own reasons.  Maybe Khan’s way was the best way after all.

“Farewell Khan.”

“Farewell Kai.”

Kai then caressed Yuni’s head, gave one last smile to Khan and stepped into the planar corridor’s portal.  The last thing Kai heard as he entered the portal was Khan’s voice and what Khan said left him speechless. 

The familiar phrase felt completely out of place in this foriegn world.  He never would have guessed that he was the cause of its use.    

 “Alt F4”

The phrase was soon followed by a devastating explosion.

 

It was also an infamous phrase used by Internet trolls whenever they found good opportunities to help noobs play video games.  

Need help?  Try pressing Alt+F4, I’m sure it will fix your issue.