Tears welled up in Ice's eyes as he stared at the jar the voice came from. The pain was clearly written on his face as he answered the jar with a startled,"Wha-? I uh- I don't know what you're talking about."

He reached across his body and tightly grasped the stump of his missing right arm.  

“I see. The clone is still not aware of the corruption.” The voice paused,” Who then are you? Most organics would not survive on a planet taken by the Rifts.”

Ice felt the blood slowly trickling between his fingers as he tried to think of a response, “I… fuck…. My name is Ice…. I don't know where I am or who you are or what is going on. At this point i just want some fucking answers. This is not the game that was advertised to me and I cannot log out.”

“I see. My name is Francis, I am what remains of the AI of Clockwork, The Automation System User. I was there when he died. However, I think you are in a similar circumstance to what he was when he arrived. If somewhat more injured."

"Who is Clockwork? Where is everyone? Can you help me?" Ice's questions all came out in a rush. "I – I--don't feel s—." Ice slowly sank to the ground from his seated position, the blood loss and shock finally overwhelming the adrenalin.

____________________

Followed by the small squad of automatons led by two of what Francis called the Captain Class; Ice left the factory. Francis, true to his word, provided Ice a temporary clockwork prosthetic leg. It was slow and with every heavy step it caused him jarring pain. The Nano Devourer staff he had found helped as a crutch. He was rather glad Francis had been able to activate the nanos inside the staff since it seemed to be a very potent weapon. He still did not want to get that close to a Theriope.

The gate slowly opened before him and he saw the D.O.G waiting outside with Leroy sitting on its back. Both had marks from the battle with the Blade Spider. The C.A.T slunk out of the gate heading in the direction a Captain indicated.  

Ice checked the pistol he now had a holster for thanks to the armory inside the factory. It was a simple object but not made for his pistol. He also had three spare magazines and two boxes of ammo strapped to Leroy's flanks.  

As they plodded along, the automatons would periodically split off to handle small single Theriopes dragging the bodies back so Ice could touch them with the Nano Devourer. It was extremely creepy watching the corpses get taken apart by the nanos before they would go back inside the staff. Francis had told him it would take several hundred to charge the battleship grade laser built inside the staff.  

Ice had to rest more often then he was used to. More than once Raven admonished him for pushing himself.  

While they walked, Ice mulled over all the new information he recently received. First, and foremost, that this wasn’t a game, Raven was a Prototype AI System from 3000 years ago. And this world was considered interdicted due to the Theriope. Help would not be coming.

Surrounded by the clunking,ticking, and whirring of the automatons Ice felt safe. Well as safe as he could feel under the circumstances.  

As he tapped another theriope body with the Nano Devourer he heard the D.O.G’s sub machine guns firing. Looking up he saw a nightmare heading straight for him. Five Type 7s had dropped out of the trees and surrounded four of the automatons.  

Sparks ricocheted off the legs; the bullets did not do much damage. The C.A.T seemed to come out from thin air. It dashed through the formation of blade spiders using its plasma claws to rip into the underbelly of one of them even as another one nearly clipped it the tip of one leg. A captain strode forward firing its arm-cannon when it reached for the nearest Type 7 letting the legs glance off it's much harder body. 

An automaton reached for a spider's body grabbing onto a joint just as another spider's leg came crashing down on the automaton’s arm severing it at the elbow. The automaton didn’t even notice. It merely reached forward with the other arm to continue ripping the leg off and sizzling yellow blood splattering everywhere.. The severed arm made a grinding sound as the oil inside slowly drained out.

  Ice shuddered as he awkwardly drew his pistol attempting to line up a shot on the nearest spider’s eyes. He slowly squeezed the trigger. The gun went off loudly in his hand. The spider spun in place to face him. The shot tinked just to the left of one of its eyes. It barely broke the spider's black hairy flesh.  

All Ice could see were mandibles dripping with viscous black fluid as the spider changed towards him. Before he realized it he had completely emptied the pistol into it without so much as leaving a dent. He panicked and stepped backwards with his prosthetic leg dragging on the ground. Dropping the pistol, he brought the staff he was leaning on up to his stumpy shoulder. He pointed it at the creature knowing full well the nanos wouldn't eat it fast enough.

"Activating FAFO laser at 25%" Raven's voice rang out in his head.

 The clear end of the staff lit up in a blinding light for a second before a beam shot out, skewering the spider's mandible and all the way through its body. It hit another spider and an automaton as Ice flinched at the sudden brightness. The staff shifted; the beam moved with it, slicing through spiders and the automaton as easy as a hot wire through Styrofoam. He could even see a few of the trees in the distance catch fire even

"What in the holy fucking shit!?" Ice screamed as the heat of the staff seared his skin, leaving him feeling sunburned.