The red glow deepened as the spider-like construct stepped forward, its limbs twitching like it was still learning how to walk.
Za remained kneeling, head low, cables wrapped around her chest and limbs like restraints. Blue energy crackled weakly across her skin, resisting, but barely.
Kira took a step forward, trembling. "Za…?"
The creature twitched.
Its head snapped toward him.
Za's body spasmed violently.
Then she moved.
She stood upright in one jerk, the cables going taut—not released, but puppeteered.
Her eyes opened.
Not blue.
Red.
"Run..." she whispered, her voice barely hers. Choppy. Digital. "Run... I, no... control..."
"Za!!"
A blast of electric energy shot out from her hand, smashing into a tree beside him.
"Shit!" Kira dove, barely avoiding the crackling sparks.
Roxy grabbed his arm, pulling him back. "She's being controlled—Kira, it's hijacking her nervous system!"
Kira shielded himself, thrown to the ground.
"But how?" he shouted, eyes wide. "Za isn't a robot!"
Roxy ducked beside him, panting. "No,but her translator is! Think about it! It's biotech.It scans, adapts, syncs to brainwaves to translate alien languages, remember?"
She peeked out from behind the tree as Za fired another blast.
"If that thing tapped into the translator's neural link, it could hijack her motor signals like hijacking a drone!"
Kira's expression darkened. "So she's... being used like a puppet?"
"Exactly," Roxy said. "And we gotta cut the strings."
Za stepped toward them, limbs stiff but fast, electricity crackling across her fingers like whips.
The robot watched from behind,its core pulsing more violently now, red light flickering with blue streaks of resistance.
Hana, Aira, and Leo reached the edge of the woods. They stopped short, breath catching at the scene before them.
Aira pointed suddenly. "There! That's her! That's the one I told you about! From the forest!"
Hana's eyes narrowed. "That girl… and that thing…"
Leo stepped forward, stunned. "What even is that?"
Then Za fired another bolt,this one skimming Roxy's shoulder.
"Damn it!" Roxy hissed, ducking behind a tree. "Kira, we have to stop her before she fries us!"
"She's not doing it on purpose!"
"I know that, genius!"
Roxy scanned the creature again, eyes trailing along the glowing wires connecting it to Za.
"It's the core," she muttered. "It's using those cables to override her body like a circuit."
Kira gritted his teeth. "So we break the connection."
He stepped out, arms raised. "Za,listen! Fight it! You're stronger than this thing!"
Za's head twitched. Her body stumbled,like she was resisting,but the red glow flared up again and she screamed, firing blindly in his direction.
Kira shielded himself, thrown to the ground.
"Fine," Roxy said, sprinting wide around the battle. "Guess I'm doing this my way!"
The creature's core pulsed erratically, watching her,until she got too close.
It flared. Wires shot out like tendrils to stop her but Roxy ducked under, leapt over a fallen log, and slid straight toward the glowing sphere.
"This is for my best friend, bitch!"
She grabbed the core.
A shockwave exploded.
BOOM.
She flew back through the air, hitting the ground with a painful thud several meters away.
But..
The red cables twitched, then sparked violently.
Za let out a gasp. Her eyes flickered red. Then blue. Then red again.
And finally
Blue.
She collapsed to her knees, then to the dirt.
Unconscious.
The thing screamed,an electronic, corrupted howl that sent every bird in the forest scattering.
Its limbs flailed violently, and its body began to melt down. Sparks and blue fire poured from its joints.
From the treeline, Hana grabbed Aira and Leo. "Stay back!"
Then the robot lets another distorted scream rises like a siren,so loud it rattles the trees. A second shockwave blasts out from her, scattering leaves and dirt like a bomb went off.
Roxy shields her head. Kira tightens his arms around Za, who's unconscious, sparks flickering on her skin.
The scream gets higher, almost desperate. She lifts a claw, charging energy.
Then it hesitates. Just for a second.
Its head tilts.
Red optics focus on Kira… holding Za.
And something in the robot body glitches like it's torn between rage and… recognition.
Then the energy surges again. No mercy. She's going to fire
And that's when the drones appear overhead from between the trees.
Omega drones buzzed overhead, hovering around the corrupted machine.
Four black vans pull up. Silent. No warning. No screeching tires.
Doors slam open.
Figures in matte-black armor spill out with military precision, some crouched with rifles, others holding strange devices glowing faint blue.
One raises something small. Clicks.
Suddenly…
The bot drops.
Not from damage. But something in her mind was switched off. Her body convulses. Limbs twitch, then collapse.
Roxy finally lifted her head, "What… what did they do?"
A squad member barks through a mask:
"Core signal intercepted. Object suspended."
Another team rushes forward with containment gear. Two begin lifting the spider-body. Others set up containment rig cables, stabilizers, scanners like this is just another clean-up job.
Behind them, a soldier levels a rifle,not at the robot, but at Za.
"Drop the alien and Step back."
Kira flinches, tightening his grip on her.
His eyes glow faintly.
To Be Continued…