"You want to do what?" Jence asked in an ice cold tone.

Jence and Cyrus were meeting in a massive central hall. Carved from the native stone of the earth, the great hall had a spacious central floor where Jence and Cyrus currently stood. Rising in a circular pattern around the pair were many levels of seating, each higher than the one before. The outermost ring of the room's levels stopped near the ceiling. Benches of hard stone were arranged on every level for a sizable crowd. Currently, the benches were occupied by the warriors belonging to both Cyrus and Jence, watching their commanders and awaiting orders.

"I think we can use the chips in the robot controlled city to subdue," was as far as Cyrus was able to get before Jence interrupted.

"Are you out of your mind?" he screamed at Cyrus, his voice echoing from the walls like thunder.

"I have been looking for a way to save the world for years," Cyrus explained.

"Keep thinking," Jence said between gritted teeth. He crossed his arms over his chest. "You're not going to save the world this way."

"Have you got a better idea?" Cyrus demanded, frustrated by the resistance he was getting from someone he thought would be an ally.  He directed his gaze across the assembled warriors.  "Have any of you a better idea?"

The crowd remained silent.

"We were planning to take out that city and free everyone," Jence reminded. "Now, you want to put the whole world into it?"

"What would you suggest, hiding behind our shields and letting the scum of this world keep fighting until they kill each other off?" Cyrus asked. His tone was losing its civility.

"Once we free the people who are chipped, we won't have to go outside the shield," Jence argued.

"That's what you think," Cyrus countered. "My people aren't that many, but we'd grown to the point where the outpost was no longer able to support us. We had to expand and put up a new shield to protect the area. Would you care to guess how many we had to kill to accomplish that?"

Cyrus sighed and began slowly walking around Jence. The heavy steps of his mechanical boots only seem to be amplified by the design of the cavernous room.

"Sooner or later, this fortress won't be large enough, and you'll have to branch out, killing every savage in your way," Cyrus went on. "Again and again it will happen, so over the generations it takes to slowly expand across the entire planet, how many will need to die? Between now and then, how many savages will die in needless skirmishes among their own kind? We can end all of that right here and now. Why are you so opposed to trying?"

"I was chipped!" Jence shouted, pointing to the scar across his temple and halting Cyrus in his tracks. "The Swift Sword broke me out and extracted the chip. I had no life before they saved me. I will never go back to that, and I will never let someone else be put in it."

"Alright," Cyrus relented. He turned and headed for the door. "We'll do this without you."

"Stop!" Jence yelled. He grabbed Cyrus by a metal arm and tried to halt his departure, but the contact escalated the situation from a shouting match to a physical confrontation.

Cyrus spun around, instinctively knocking Jence's hand away and delivering an open handed shove to his chest to force Jence backwards.

The warriors of the Swift Sword tribe unsheathed their blades and rushed down into the central area, closing in on all sides. Cyrus and his people responded in kind, their electric blades crackling to life as they were drawn out for battle.

Neither side moved a muscle, waiting for the opposing group of warriors to start the fight.

"You're not plugging anyone else into that machine," Jence said firmly, his eyes glaring across the edge of his upheld sword.

"Of course I'm not," Cyrus agreed. "You're the one who will."

"What?" Jence questioned in confusion.

"Since you came from the city, it makes you the perfect person to be in charge of it," Cyrus explained. Pressing a switch on his sword, he deactivated the electricity coursing over the blade.

Jence lowered his sword almost imperceptibly, and Cyrus mirrored his actions. Using his free hand, Cyrus gestured to his squad, and they also lowered their swords slightly. Jence gave a nod for his people. All around the room, the warriors backed away from imminent combat.

"I understand your opposition to my plan," Cyrus said.

"I don't think you do," Jence corrected. "When a person is plugged into the system, there's no conscious thought. Everything that makes you a human being is suppressed as if it never existed. If that isn't a death sentence, I don't know what is."

"I do," Cyrus replied. He sighed heavily. "I delivered more than my share of death sentences, and I'm tired. I'm tired of always having to look over my shoulder to see if someone's going to try and knife me in the back. I'm tired of having to hide behind a shield all the time. Most of all, I'm tired of trying to put a broken world back together where the only solution is my sword."

"You're only exchanging one death sentence for another," Jence insisted. "It's not a solution."

"The difference is the chip can be a temporary condition," Cyrus argued. "All we have to do is get them under control long enough for us to have a chance to fix the world. We can let them out one at a time, or in small, easily managed groups. Those who can be trained to live responsibly in society will retain their freedom while those who are still a threat to others will have their chips reactivated until their next review period. It's not a perfect system, but it's better than running them through with a blade."

Jence frowned and stared at the floor, seemingly at a loss for how to refute Cyrus' point. His index finger traced the scar on his temple absently while he considered his options. Finally, he sighed and looked toward Cyrus.

"We can try it, but I want numerous safeguards in place to make sure the system can't be misused by those in charge," Jence said.

"I agree," Cyrus responded. "Now you see why I wanted you in charge of it. You'll be the best man to make sure the power and authority of the chip isn't abused, and the people aren't subjugated by a tyrant. Its use needs to be a safety measure, nothing more."

"Alright," Jence said. "We'll discuss it in greater detail after we liberate the city."

Cyrus nodded. He sheathed his sword and held out his open hand. Jence took hold of the armored glove and shook Cyrus' hand firmly.

***

The communication center for the stronghold was little more than a storage room Jence had cleared out for Cyrus to set up his transmitter and receiver equipment. The limited dimensions of the area seemed even smaller when Cyrus and several of his warriors entered while wearing their bulky armor.

"Have you made contact?" Jence asked.

"Not yet," Cyrus denied. He adjusted the frequency dial and pressed the button to activate. "Swift Sword base calling outpost. Deborah, are you there?"

"Cyrus!" came the exited reply through the speaker. "It's about time you called in."

Cyrus smiled. "I've been a little busy. Did you finish the sensor scans of the robot city?"

"I did," Deborah replied. "Most of the city is undefended. No laser emplacements or particle beam turrets. What they do have is a considerable number of sensor drones. I did a close flyby on one of them, and a transport ship full of attack robots was dispatched. They've certainly made progress in the area of engine design as I wasn't able to outdistance it. I headed back to the outpost, and the robots suddenly broke off pursuit."

"They have a limited defensive range," Jence put forward.

"The raider base we liberated during the defense of our new allies," Cyrus reminded. "From what I recall of the locals' map, a flat patch of ground should be a mile north. Meet us at 0300 local time, and we'll go from there."

"Understood," Deborah acknowledged. "See you then."

Cyrus turned off the comm unit and nudged Jence in the shoulder with his forearm. "Let's go free a city."