Lloyd blinked. "I think.. I think it's fine. The lenses are red when it's off, and I didn't see a glitch or anything."

Lloyd logged into the manifest app on his phone. Fortunately, it still showed him as updating. He tried to click on it, but like before, it was inaccessible.

"Yeah it's still on. I'm fine." Lloyd reassured her, showing her his phone.

"That's a relief." She replied, giving him a hug. Bethany gave them a curious look while Tony frowned.

"What's that made out of?" He asked, walking around the tables. He got a little too close to Lloyd's face, causing him to back up.

"No clue. Maybe the same tech as the black boxes." He answered truthfully. Tony looked at his machine, then looked back at Lloyd.

"Could be protected in the inside with special shielding. Doubtful these regular automatons they churn out will have a similar feature. We're all set, so let's go over the plan."

He grabbed a whiteboard and a marker. In a rushed manner, he quickly drew a crude cuboid shape, making little boxes for the windows, a staircase on the right, and three doors.

"Ok." said Tony, snapping the cap back on the marker.

"This is-"

"Terrible." said Bethany.
"Shoddy." Phoebe answered.

"The warehouse." Lloyd replied, smiling at the two women.

"Thank you." Tony said, annoyed.

"I doubt y'all could do better. Anyways, we are going to approach from this right side, go up these stairs, and look in through the windows. Then, once we know the layout, we-"

"Come back here and gather reinforcements" Lloyd interrupted. "This is simply a scouting mission. We won't be going in and dragging out an automaton, even with your machine, without some type of distraction, and some type of transportation."

Tony agreed, walking over to his machine.  "Because of how big this is, it'll have to be kept in two backpacks that we'll have to carry, one with the machine, the other with the power source. The two people holding these will have to stay close together, but we shouldn't need to separate anyways. The casing is finally done printing, so I'll put it on now."

Lloyd pulled out his phone and called Ben.

"Yo." Ben answered, sounding cheerful. "Glad you're still alive. I heard what happened."

"What facility do you turn in the automaton to when you're done with work?"

Ben stayed silent for a few moments.

"At first, I didn't return it anywhere, I would just get a log out prompt and exist. Now there are two facilities, and it directs me to go to the nearest charging station."

"Is the factory you were talking about near here?" Lloyd asked Bethany. She nodded.

"I need you to go there and act like something might be wrong with your machine." Lloyd told him.

"You aren't going to do anything dangerous, right? After today they've sent out more automatons, sweeping the streets for anyone causing havoc."

"Don't worry about me. We're just going to take a peek." Lloyd said before hanging up. Tony was shoving his machine into one big backpack, while Bethany put the car battery in the other.

"We're all set, except for this." Tony handed Lloyd a cloth mask.

"It's not much, but it's better than nothing."

Lloyd thanked him and together, the four walked out of the room and took a right in the alley, towards a trampoline and two guards.

That's why she was on the edge. Lloyd thought as they approached the two men. She had an escape route.

"One of you needs to swap places with Lucero, we'll be back in half an hour." Tony told the guys.

They looked at each other, their expression less masks giving nothing away. Then simultaneously, they started playing rock, paper, scissors.

This time, an electric a minivan appeared, summoned by either Tony or Beth, Lloyd wasn't sure. It was a nice copper color on the outside, with a black interior. They loaded the backpacks into the trunk before taking the front seats, leaving Phoebe and Lloyd to take the back. The inside had a lights all over, just like the typical car Lloyd requested. Tony dimmed the lights with his phone, making it clear he was the one he summoned the car.

The ride felt rather long for something that was supposedly nearby, but Lloyd was pleasantly surprised they chose violin music, instead of the loud and bombastic music played at the hideout. As they approached a much larger warehouse, Tony pulled out his phone and paused the ride.

Lloyd remembered the zoom in the vizor and started fiddling with the frame, still feeling a stabbing sensation on both sides of his head. Sure enough, he was able to zoom in manually, enabling him to see six automatons, two standing guard while The other four walked through big double doors. After they entered the doors stayed open.

"Before we get close enough to be in their line of sight, let's make sure they can't spot us from a distance." Tony said as he got out and opened the trunk.

Bethany helped him reconnect his machine, and put the battery backpack on while he got ready to push a button. The vizor helped block the air from his eyes, but even with the cloth mask his nostrils still burned. He felt like he was inhaling gasoline and sulfur.

"Wait, let me make another call. How far away do I need to be?" Lloyd asked Tony.

Tony looked around, trying to gauge the distance.

"Twenty feet... maybe? I'm still working on controlling the range. Try going by the lamp post we just passed, over there."

Lloyd walked over to the street light, giving a signal that he was ready. Holding his phone up to call Ben, he kept the vizor zoomed in, watching as Tony flicked a switch, and the minivan turned off. Tony silently rejoiced, and Lloyd could see them all smiling as he zipped up the backpack and put it on.

He might be the only reason we stay alive. Lloyd thought as Ben answered the phone.

"Hey. I got some news for you. Frederick is here." Ben said in a hushed tone.

"Frederick? What's he doing?" Lloyd asked.

"He's talking to the head officer. The same lady I have to report to. He's asking about the cryochambers. Where they're being sent."

"Are you sure?" Lloyd coughed a he started to sprint back to the others, forgetting the machine was still active.

"Yeah. Here, I'll let you listen-" Ben's voice cut off.

Shit. Lloyd thought. Do I call again, or do we go see?

Phoebe noticed his shocked expression and motioned for the others to come to him.

I guess we'll go see.

He marched over to the others quickly.

"Frederick's inside, asking about the cryochambers location. We need to see what's in there, need to see where he goes when he leaves."

Bethany and Tony led the way, making sure to stay close by each other. The cords connecting their backpacks sparked a weird thought in Lloyd's mind, as if they were suicide bombers rushing in together.

Making it to the right side unnoticed, there was one automaton on this side, walking up and down the length of the building in a pattern. They stood next to a small forested area, though the trees had long lost their leaves.

"You two, wait here. When its back turns again, Tony and I will walk up on it. If it works, we'll have to catch it so it doesn't sound like three tons of metal just smacked the ground." Bethany laid out the plan while they all stayed crouched low.

"What if it doesn't?" Phoebe asked, keeping her eyes on the automaton. Bethany answered her.

"As long as we appear unarmed, it shouldn't go into defense mode. A person within an automaton would probably just tell us to leave. If that's the case, we leave. If not, if it gets serious... Lloyd still has his gun. Unlike the group from earlier, he knows where to shoot. But then, we'd have to run."

"Oh, so we're possibly fucked, that's what you're saying." Phoebe mumbled as Tony and Beth inches away, seizing the moment to move.

She reached behind her and pulled out Lloyd's gun.

"Can you do it?" She asked, genuinely concerned.

"If I have to. I will." He took the gun from her, pulling out the magazine to check the ammo. It wasn't full, but hopefully it would be enough. In the worst case scenario, that is.

"Look!" Phoebe whispered.

Tony and Bethany had gotten close enough to the automaton. It completely stopped, standing still as a statue while they looked on expectantly. They all watched as it began to fall backwards towards Beth and Tony. He pushed her out of the way, trying to catch it, only to struck down by the heavy machine, pinning him to the ground. The impact wasn't too loud, but Bethany stifled a scream.

"Go left to see if those automatons heard the noise, I'll get it off him." Lloyd ordered Phoebe, who quickly sprung into action.

Lloyd ran to Beth, pointing at the cords from her backpack before lifting the automaton up off Tony. A puddle of blood was starting to surround his head, smoke and sparks coming from the backpack underneath him. Lloyd could barely lift the heavy automaton, leaving him no choice but to push it off Tony and check his pulse.

"He's alive!" Lloyd whispered, to Bethany, who tried to turn Tony over to get the backpack off him. Phoebe slinked around the corner before jogging up to them.

"No one's coming, they went inside. I heard two voices shouting, and one of the automatons walking in said, 'that idiot better be careful.' They might be talking about your friend, Lloyd."

Lloyd looked down at Tony, and looked at the tears streaming down Bethany's face.

"Get him back to the car, try to get it to turn on. I'll check what's happening alone."

"Be careful." Phoebe warned as she and Bethany each grabbed an arm, slowly dragging Tony back to the car.

Lloyd charged up the steps as fast as he could, hearing lots of noise the closer he got to the windows. As soon as he reached the top, an automaton walked past. Lloyd instinctively ducked, then realized it was too tall to see him through the window. Looking inside, there were massive cords along the entire warehouse like a snake, with seven foot tall pods on the right. Some had automatons in them immobile, while others were empty. Lloyd watched as three of them, from outside, tapped something on the touchpads before getting into the pods and deactivating.

"Automaton #7114 Now Charging." said a female voice. "Automaton #4892 Now Charging."

Lloyd looked at the center of the room, where Frederick was standing next to a black metal automaton. He looked furious. Two other automatons walked up behind him. To the left of him, covering half the entire floor were circular coil pads. There were 8 rows and 8 columns of these pads, and they appeared to be built into the floor. Lloyd zoomed in on Frederick's face, and a pop up appeared on screen.

Translate Lip Movement?

Lloyd selected yes, using his eyes to control vizor like he did with the black box.

I didn't even need that tutorial. He thought, pleased with himself as subtitles appeared on his screen.

'I'm not leaving until you tell me where.' the screen read as Frederick turned to notice the automatons that walked up on him.

'You think you can intimidate me? I'm a key member, you can't do shit!' Frederick was clearly shouting at the two behind him. They stepped forward, but the black metal automaton raised his hand.

Key member? Lloyd wondered, unable to hear or read the automatons words. What is that?

'After the new year my ass. It's tomorrow. Give me the info I need now.' Frederick spoke again.

Unable to hold it in any longer Lloyd began to cough uncontrollably, ripping off his mask to throw up. The automaton above must've heard the noise, because when Lloyd looked back up, it was walking back towards the window.

Oh fuck.

He ducked low and stayed quiet, feeling the automaton get closer as it's heavy feet vibrated the railing it was on. He listened with eyes closed, praying it didn't open the door, as the footsteps stopped right near the window.

Please go away. Please please please.

It stayed quiet for a few a minute, until finally the automaton began to walk away. Lloyd looked up at thick orange clouds, thanking whatever god this world still had left. Looking out towards the road, he saw another minivan pull up behind their first one, this one a plain gray color Beth took off her shirt to gingerly wrap Tony's head. Underneath, she had on black tank top and a white bra.

Lloyd looked back at the window, but Frederick and the black metal automaton where nowhere to be seen. He silently rushed down the stairs, doing his best not to make noise.

"This car wouldn't turn back on, so we had to get another one." said Phoebe. "Tony woke up for a few seconds, but he went back to sleep."

"We need to get him home, now." Bethany demanded.

Lloyd and Phoebe hopped in the front this time, with Bethany cradling Tony's head in her lap.

"Frederick's looking for something, but it's somewhere else." Lloyd told them as the car began to pull off. He turned his phone back on, hoping to call Ben and hear the full conversation. The car drove past the first one and made a U-turn, but they weren't close enough for the automatons to notice.

"I almost got caught so I had to hide, but when I looked up, they were gone."

"Isn't that him right there?" said Bethany. Lloyd looked back, zooming in with the vizor to see Frederick and the black metal automaton in front of the warehouse. Frederick was now smiling.

'See? Didn't even have to make it this difficult. I could've been in and out. I'll let them know things are moving efficiently here.' Frederick's last words appeared on the screen as he walked away from the automaton.

It looked at the two guarding the door before entering the building, causing them to nod in agreement and follow behind.

"It looks like he's calling a ride." said Phoebe, but Lloyd and Bethany shook their heads. Bethany spoke as Lloyd's phone beeped.

"Frederick still drives his own car."

Lloyd looked at the message he was sent, and then looked back up at the ladies.

"He just sent me a message. It's the address for the place they're storing the cryochambers."