By now, the platform had been made, wood and timber strung together to make what looked like a makeshift raft, with barrels upon the bottom of the wooden boarding. All in all, it could fit around 10 people on it, which was more than enough for us. I nodded; all was in place for our last ditch escape plan. I nodded to Trixie, who stood a little way away from me and was looking forlorn, out to sea. I could imagine her now; The Great and Powerful Trixie, Siren of the Sea. Before I could fantasize any further (look at me, getting soft again. Now, be quiet, or pain shall follow) Hammerfist knocked on my back, and I turned to him.
“You ready, Zero? I mean... are you sure about this plan? You’re not exactly the most waterproof of people.” He frowned and looked at the newly attached back and leg plates, along with other small rubber bindings which basically made me a watertight juggernaut. I had explained the plan to everyone, but they still felt a little underwhelmed at the simplicity.
I grinned back at him, silver teeth flashing in the sunlight “Of course; it’s rather simple, really. I’ll transform, and with the ropes attaching me to the raft, I’ll be able to propel us using the plates on my back as a sort of motor. To switch directions, I simply grab the raft and turn my back we’ll be able to head in another direction.”
He then proceeded to nod, looking slightly reassured as he walked to the raft, hefting some barrels of salvaged supplies and food onto it and then secured them with a lengthy piece of rope; finally, our vessel was ready.
If you had looked at it from afar, you would see a wooden and metal raft, big enough to hold ten; it looked slightly ramshackle, but it was all we needed, along with the supplies.
I shrugged my shoulders, knocking a few pieces of grime out of it; it had been too long since I had polished my plates, and they were riddled with scratches and miniscule dents that itched and ached; whose idea was it to put pain receptors into a robot?
I yelled to catch everyone’s attention “Alright everyone, get aboard and we’ll be off!” Everyone filed onboard the makeshift raft, like ants into a hive; overall, we had Vinyl and Octavia, Hammerfist and Fenrir (along with his chipper son, Pipsqueak) and Trixie. The latter came over to me, worry painted over her face, obvious as day.
I looked at her and smiled reassuringly as she asked “How do you do it? I mean, you always save us. Why?” She crossed her arms, doubt painted across her features.
I replied, my smile ever growing “You see, it’s within my protocol to protect humans, well ethically good ones which have been judged by my AI system anyway. It was hardwired into me on day one; I can’t let a good human die, my protocols won’t let me. Even if they have done me wrong; it’s why I couldn’t kill anyone back on the facility. The guards who beat me were simply men following orders; the Director was simply a man who was working for the advancement on society. Sure, his tests were damn annoying, but it was all in what my AI recognized as ‘Evolution for Humans’. So I have nothing against him. Anyway” I looked straight at her “I have a beautiful girl to look after. And I’ll be damned if I let her die on a shipwreck.” I walked forwards and gave her a cheeky peck on the cheek, then proceeded to walk toward the raft and sat on the back edge of it.
Trixie grumbled, and went and sat on the other side of the raft, the blush on her face that had turned it bright red evident. She bore the cutest pout on her face, and swung her legs to and fro in an attempt to divert her thoughts from her romance.
I nodded at Hammerfist, who had settled down on the centre of the craft, near Fenrir (who sat with the young and chipper Pipsqueak in his lap). He replied with a grin and thumbs up, his battleaxe strung to his back. I swear he probably slept with that thing.
Vinyl and Octavia sat behind the father and son, chatting quietly to each other; I could’ve ear-wigged in on them, but I’m not that kind of bot; you thought I was? How rude.
With everyone on board, I nodded to myself “Alright, let’s get moving!” I picked up the raft and everyone on it (I swear, all these guys together weigh a tonne! Don’t tell Trixie I said that, she’ll hit me with a bombardment of books) and hefted us over to the edge of the ship. Everyone clung on for dear life as I dropped us over the edge and jumped down into the sea, my AI actively recording the near-freezing temperature of the water as I began to transform.
My legs immediately tucked into my stomach, while my arms grasped onto the back of the raft with inhuman grip. The pain was excruciating; every transformation was painful, but I couldn’t give up now. I held back any speech, the blades on my back that were connected beginning to whir.
Before my pain could reach a peak, we shot forward and onward, in the directions that Fenrir gave out; he carried a compass and a sexton, and wasted no time using both to tell us where to go.
We headed out across the sea; the plan had started.
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Day One upon the raft...
We blasted along the waves, everyone hanging on to the raft as sea spray flung up around us like tiny dolphins, only to jump back into the ocean once more. The blades on my back were still going strong, my body more than willing to keep going. I made sure the power was notched at as fast as I could go without draining the energy I would need for the next two days. My eyes grew determined; I would not give in.
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Day two upon the raft...
Fortunately, we had enough supplies to last us a fairly long time; around another two days for humans. Unfortunately, Hammerfist ate like a ravenous manticore, devouring a fair bit more. We had enough to survive one day. Oh, and according to Fenrir, Hammerfist ‘smelled like a piss soaked timberwolf sap bucket’. Hammerfist looked fairly annoyed, and clocked him on the head in anger, while I continued to focus; right now, it was the only thing I could do.
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Day three upon the raft...
It had turned nightfall, and my power was low, almost critical levels. Trixie sat by me now as worry clouded her face. I was in permanent lock in my actions, not able to give up until I ran below a dangerous 10% of power, which is when I would turn off.
After the passing of another few hours, I ignored the cries of joy as we reached what Fenrir noted was a seaside town called ‘RedBeak’. By now, my body felt like it had a tonne of the heaviest metal in existence on it.
I hauled myself up onto the raft, transforming back under the excruciating pain that it took to become my ‘normal’ form again. Once I had done so, I quickly passed out, my metal head and core not having enough power to even let me stand.
My mind entered the hibernate mode, shutting me down as I heard the yells of worry from the others.
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Meanwhile, at Canterlot Castle...
Blueblood paced around his room, waiting for the reply from Fenrir; was that bothersome Zero dead along with his peasant whore of a girlfriend? He grunted and sat impatiently at a chair, until his mind registered telepathy.
‘Fenrir! You buffoon, you haven’t answered in Celestia knows how long! Where are you?’ He mentally berated the shadowy man, a scowl upon his face.
‘Let me tell you something; you know our deal? It’s off. You said the ship was invincible, the crew was well trained and that there would be no damn pirates out on that route throughout the whole week! I don’t care about the amount of money you want to give me. Stay out of my life and away from my family, you bastard. We nearly died out there and all you probably care about is one robot who, by the way, saved our hides.’ Fenrir sent the telepathy message as anger burned through his mind like a raging inferno.
Blueblood stood there, stunned as he received the message. That was, until he received a mental bitch slap from Fenrir, who proceeded to end the message as the royal prince fell to the floor, dazed; that slap hurt.
And on that day, Blueblood swore to get revenge, rage boiling and bubbling away in his blood.