Subject: Mortimer | Classif.: Sirath

  It was almost unnoticeable, but Tim sensed a foulness in the air. Centuries of absorbing hazardous substances through his Blackblood made him acutely aware of chemical byproducts and other unseen dangers. The agitation on the tip of his nose made it clear.

  Something unholy was nearby.

  Trace amounts of sulfur, ammonia, and other gases he did not recognize were hiding in thin air. Not enough to trigger any volatile reactions, but enough to make him suspicious of where he was.

  Dr. Awesome led him and Lynn to Old Gold’s “house,” if it could be called one. The village chief stayed in what was essentially a factory. That might explain the chemical gases lurking about. But any chemist worth their sodium chloride would know some of them should not be mixed. Even though they were in the reception area, the fact that he could smell them from here made his skin crawl.

  Then again, it was probably unfair for him to impose his concept of “safety violations” on Old Gold and the villagers. They were robots, after all. As long as nothing exploded, they probably wouldn’t get hurt. Steel couldn’t get itchy. And breathing problems wouldn’t be an issue without, well… lungs.

  At the very least, the lobby of this factory was decent enough. Compared to all the other buildings outside, this area was surprisingly modern. Not filled with glass panels or high tech, but at least it wasn’t a hodgepodge of wood and metal like everything else outside. The floors were made of cement, and there were actual lights in the ceiling. Not torches or oil lamps.

  If he had to guess, this factory likely existed even before the village could be called a village. With so many homes and buildings built around it, it felt like the most likely scenario.

  But above all else, this place was clean.

  Maybe not for the rest of the factory, but the waiting area was well-maintained. The sofa was practically unused. No dust in sight. Mia would like it here.

  If only they would let her in. The reasoning behind her being barred from seeing Old Gold was beyond him. Why was something as arbitrary and ungrounded as a made-up ID from a random color the basis for denying her entry? They were already in the village. What was so special about this factory that only those with a hex code ID could come in?

  As much as he wanted to call them out for this bizarre system, he also knew his place. He was a visitor here. An alien. This was Old Gold’s village. Not his. Maybe he’d find out why things were the way they were, but at the end of the day, his personal grievances weren’t important. He had bigger fish to fry. Or in this case, a dragon’s cave to find.

  “This is getting on my nerves,” Lynn muttered.

  Tim raised an eyebrow. He was used to the Immortal complaining, but he was surprised it took her this long to voice her frustrations. Before this, her thoughts were kept to herself at the other end of the sofa. But he could guess what she was thinking based on the restless, droning tapping of her foot the whole time.

  She got up, stomping her way to Dr. Awesome, who stood in front of the counter. It had been a good few minutes since the metallic medicine man first approached the receptionist. If there was one. The raised partition at the counter made it impossible for Tim to see anybody behind it.

  Maybe the princess was used to skipping boring, administrative processes, he thought. But even then, she had to be one of the most impatient Immortals he had ever met. It was like her lifespan was limited or something. But thinking further, if he were in her shoes, he’d probably act that way too. Anyone born in a noble lineage of ice elementalists without ice powers would have no chill.

  Nice. New dad joke to tell Mia—unlocked!

  “Copper Rose!” Dr. Awesome’s surprise bled through the speakers inside its body. The small mech-human's gregariousness was commendable, especially in the face of a tall, muscular, and pissed-off warrior princess. “Perfect timing! I was about to call you both over!”

  Tim got up, only realizing how comfortable the sofa was once his left hip squeezed out a satisfying, audible “pop.” But by the time he reached the counter, the lingering scent of reactive compounds had wiped away any comfort he just felt. That sinking feeling submerged deeper into the pit of his stomach. But he made sure to hide it behind the tired expression he wore.

  Now looking over the counter, that tired expression turned to shock. There was no one there. Not even a chair.

  “Dear esteemed guests.” The doctor slid around to the back of the counter. “Meet #ff6700. Safety Orange. She just granted access to both of you to see Old Gold!”

  “Who? What? Where?!” Lynn rapid-fired the same questions in Tim’s mind.

  “Whatta your eyes made of? Plastic?”

  If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

  An unfamiliar female voice cracked at Lynn like a whip. Raspy and rough, the voice belonged to a chainsmoking lady. Tim could feel the lung cancer hidden within that insult. But where did it come from?

  “Show yourself!” The Immortal roared, sword hand twitching and itching for a shanking. “I dare you to say that right in my face!”

  “I AM right in front of your face, ya blind fleshie!”

  The voice didn’t come from behind the counter. It came from the counter. The large rectangular block in front of them stood up, wheeled legs unfolding like a plane’s landing gear. The countertop extended out by the sides, turning into shoulders as arms jutted out from underneath. By the time the transformation was complete, what had once been the counter was now a lanky, disproportionately limbed mech-human that almost touched the ceiling.

  Two orange camera-eye lenses peered out of the shell of its body, looking down at Lynn and matching the intensity of her gaze.

  “Now, now, Safe-O, no need to get all worked up!” Dr. Awesome was absolutely tiny next to the counter-turned-robot. “They’re clear to enter now, yes?”

  No response. Lynn and Safety Orange’s staring match stretched the silence out. Uncomfortably so. Even with that harsh orange light stabbing her eyes, the Immortal did not blink. Her stone-cold gaze dialed up the heat in the room as it lasered back at the machine. Tim and the doctor could only trade glances with each other, both feeling a shared sense of camaraderie in having to deal with the respective troublemakers in their lives.

  But at that moment, neither of them was foolish enough to open their mouths and interrupt this battle between man and machine. Wisdom told them not to get in between an immovable force and an unstoppable object. Instead, they took a few steps back out of safety. Tim could swear he saw sparks flying in the midpoint where both gazes met. But if there really were any, the room might explode just from reacting with the unstable chemicals in the air.

  He didn’t like what those two were doing, but couldn’t take his eyes off either. Like a train wreck happening in slow motion. A lone droplet of sweat slid down Lynn’s forehead as Safety Orange’s internal parts whirred, a telltale sign of impending overheating.

  And after a full minute that felt like an hour, the fight was over. The towering giant grunted as it turned to face the doctor. “Tch. They’re good to go.”

  What? The heck was all that about?

  But just as Tim wondered, the large sliding door behind the reception opened, welcoming them in. Safety Orange had to bend down and practically crouch just to squeeze under it.

  When he turned to face Lynn once more, Tim almost had a heart attack. She had been staring for so long and hard, the muscles behind her eyes had cramped. The result was two eyeballs dangerously close to popping out of their sockets. Eyelids, both upper and lower, rippled and twitched, trying to keep the eyeballs between from sticking out any further.

  Forget staring at the abyss; if she looked at herself in the mirror, her reflection would cry.

  Traumatized, Tim forced his eyes closed, eager to bleach the horrific sight away as he tapped the side of her shoulder, “healing” the muscle strain. For a brief second, he felt discomfort in the darkness of his vision. But then, it was gone. And by the time he opened his eyes, Lynn looked normal again. Thank god.

  “... Thanks,” Lynn said. She looked normal, but saying thanks definitely wasn’t. Tim was surprised the word even existed for her. “I have to admit that was a little uncomfortable.”

  “Don’t do that then!”

  All of a sudden, she leaned close to his ear, whispering while sending chills down his spine. “Don’t get me wrong. Right now, the only things I hate more than you are these tin cans.”

  They didn’t even do anything!

  But Tim kept his thoughts to himself, more disturbed by his personal space being violated. Creeped out, he stood there for a while as she walked away.

  “Oh great Gunmetal!” The doctor’s melodic voice pulled him back to his senses. “We’re all waiting!”

  “S-Sorry.”

  He joined them in the other room. It was an empty space except for a red line painted on the ground, dividing the floor into two halves. Having worked in a hospital, Tim knew immediately what this space was.

  A quarantine zone.

  The noxious particles were far more pervasive here. Whatever was behind the dark-tinted sliding door at the other end was not friendly. Far from it.

  “Take, ahem, these.” Safety Orange coughed while passing him and Lynn half-mask respirators.

  The princess scowled. “Just us two? What’s with the double standard?”

  Tim clicked his tongue, annoyed with her defiant attitude. Did she not learn her lesson from the staring match just now?

  Thankfully, Safety Orange wasn’t feeling as irritable as before. Just grumpy. “Don’t ask me. It’s what the fleshies from a long time ago did.”

  So it was humans who came up with the quarantine procedure, Tim noted to himself. Did the campsite he remembered turn into this factory? Whatever the case was, it seemed that several other protocols had gone missing over the years. They shouldn’t be wearing just masks—these always went with protective gear.

  Granted, he didn’t actually need them. He could easily purify any foreign substance that entered his body. But he put on the mask anyway, trying to influence Lynn to do the same. Fortunately, she did just that with no complaints.

  Dr. Awesome said, “Once we’re in, we’ll be parting ways. Safe-O will show you the way.”

  “Parting ways?” Tim asked.

  “Of course. I have matters of medicine to attend to. You’ll see soon enough.”

  “Just stick with me and don’t even think of snooping around.” Safety Orange’s instruction felt more like a threat. “If it were me, I wouldn’t have let you in. But Old Gold wants to see you, so count yourselves lucky, fleshies.”

  The large robot’s wheezing and gasping between each sentence were painful. Asthmatic, even. It was almost as if it had lungs. The thought of healing the pain flashed across Tim’s mind, but he decided against it. He wasn’t entirely sure about some of the chemicals he was up against. But the fact that they could mess up a robot’s filtration system was worrisome. The kind of things that affected bots in a similar way to normal humans were almost always Aberrant in nature.

  Steeling himself, Tim stepped over the quarantine line and proceeded into the factory with the others. It was as he expected. Leaking pipes. Half-broken industrial chemical equipment. Safety violations everywhere. No. The very concept of safety itself was not being violated; it was slaughtered outright.

  Ironically, as the mech-human called Safety Orange led them deeper, the hazards grew in frequency. And once Dr. Awesome took a different detour, Tim finally realized what exactly this factory was producing. The science didn’t add up, but the sound of crying did.

  Old Gold was mass-producing human fetuses.