WEE-OOO. WEE-OOO.
The alarm screamed. It was loud enough to shake dust from the ceiling. Red lights started spinning on the tunnel walls, turning the gray rocks into a bloody nightmare.
"Run!" Jory yelled. He dropped his pickaxe and scrambled backward. The other miners were panicking. They pushed and shoved, trying to hide in the deep shadows.
But Kaelen did not run.
He stood over the pile of dust that used to be Enforcer 7. He felt… hot. Not like a fever. Like a fire engine was revving inside his chest.
[SYSTEM ALERT]
[THREAT LEVEL: RISING]
[ADRENALINE: 200%]
"Unit 89-Vos!" a voice boomed from the speakers. "Stay where you are. A Kill-Squad is coming."
Kaelen rolled his shoulders. His bones popped. "Let them come," he said.
He looked down at the twisted metal remains of the first robot. A heavy, black metal arm lay on the ground. It had a built-in energy blaster.
Kaelen grabbed it. It was heavy, meant for a giant robot, not a starving human. But Kaelen didn't care about weight.
Weight is just gravity, he thought. Gravity is just a suggestion.
He lifted the heavy metal arm like it was made of plastic.
STOMP. STOMP. STOMP.
Three more Enforcers marched around the corner. They were bigger than the first one. They carried riot shields and stun batons crackling with blue lightning.
"Target acquired," the leader robot said. "Eliminate."
They charged.
Kaelen didn't hide. He ran straight at them.
"Is he crazy?" Jory screamed from the dark. "He's going to die!"
The first robot swung its stun baton. It aimed for Kaelen's head.
Time seemed to slow down. Kaelen saw the blue lines again. He saw the path of the baton before it moved. It was like watching a video in slow motion.
Too slow, Kaelen thought.
He slid on his knees across the gravel. The baton wooshed over his head, missing him by an inch.
As he slid past, Kaelen swung the robot arm he was holding. He used it like a club.
CRUNCH.
He smashed the heavy metal arm into the robot's knee joint. Metal shrieked. The robot's leg bent the wrong way. It fell over with a loud crash.
Kaelen jumped up. He didn't stop.
The second robot raised its shield. "Defense Mode engaged."
Kaelen smiled. A mad, wide smile.
"Shields only work if I believe they are solid," Kaelen whispered.
He focused his eyes. The blue lines on the shield flickered. He imagined the shield was made of wet paper. He forced his brain to believe it.
It is paper. It is weak.
Kaelen punched the thick metal shield with his bare fist.
RIP.
His hand didn't break. The shield tore open. Kaelen's fist went straight through the metal and punched the robot in the face.
Sparks flew everywhere. The robot jerked and powered down.
[SYSTEM ALERT]
[SKILL UNLOCKED: LOGIC BREAKER (LEVEL 1)]
[YOU CAN IGNORE DURABILITY FOR 1 SECOND.]
Only one robot was left. The leader.
It stopped moving. It looked at its two fallen comrades. It looked at the skinny boy with blood on his knuckles.
"Error," the robot said. It backed away. "Human capabilities exceeded. Impossible."
Kaelen walked forward. He dragged the heavy robot blaster on the ground. Sparks trailed behind him.
"You guys rely too much on math," Kaelen said.
He lifted the blaster. He didn't know how to shoot it. There was no trigger for a human hand.
I don't need a trigger, Kaelen decided. I just need it to shoot.
He jammed his fingers into the exposed wires of the gun. He poured his own madness into it.
"Bang," Kaelen said softly.
ZOOOM.
A beam of red energy exploded from the gun. It was messy and wild. It didn't just hit the robot; it vaporized the entire tunnel wall behind it. The robot vanished in a cloud of fire.
The recoil threw Kaelen backward. He landed on his back, laughing. He laughed until his ribs hurt.
Silence returned to the mine. The only sound was the sizzling of melted rock.
Jory peeked out from behind a cart. His eyes were wide with fear. "Kaelen... what are you?"
Kaelen stood up. He wiped ash from his face. His eyes glowed with a faint, blue light.
"I'm the glitch," Kaelen said.
He looked at the ceiling of the cave. Somewhere, miles above them, was the sky. Somewhere, there were the people who put him here.
"And I'm coming for the rest of them."