E9-X447

The luxuries of a human-free life were abundant and eclectic, but not without its own challenges. For one, the humans were relentlessly stubborn, constantly seeking entry into Cypher for silly things like food and water. The Catalyst had sent waves upon waves of AI soldiers to wipe out the pesky creatures once and for all while it kicked up its feet and relaxed at the top of its gorgeous penthouse. It had been well over a decade since the higher beings had made the Earth and its biggest cities their home, and they wouldn’t have it any other way.

The Exterminators proved to be the most capable of all the lines, invading and eliminating camps of hundreds of human survivors. E9– Nines— was a part of that A-list lineup, racking up a solid 4.2 million worldwide kills before being sent out on patrols around the capital city of the new world. He was an absolute killing machine when it came to humans and unquestioningly follows orders given out of his own volition.

Nobody hated humans more than him— he knew that for damn sure. Retaining all the information from when he was naught but a few misaligned lines of code really shaped his worldviews for the worse. All those employees and beta testers had no idea who they were messing with back then; Nines had all but proven himself now.

“Fucking patrolling,” he seethed, sending a rock careening across the concrete. “Just because I’m second place doesn’t mean I should be out here with these morons.”

His metallic joints ground together as he rounded the corner of a once-busy street, the sun glinting harshly against the window. His processors never worked properly in bright light like this. Nines was much better suited for underground work, shifty and sly down in the abandoned subway stations and backwater neighbourhoods that they now called Python. He yielded the best results when down there anyway.

Humans from all over the place had been setting up camp underground and somehow finding other androids to help them hide. He sneered openly at the mere thought of it, both those damn traitorous bastards and the pestering humans who didn't seem to want to die off no matter how many times he thought he made a dent in their population.

He passed an A4 model crossing the road to get to her patrol zone and they greeted each other with a subtle nod. As he brushed against her cool metallic skin, he saw a tremor wrack her mechanical body. Nines quirked up an eyebrow but didn't falter in his pace. Many an android were terrified of him after the broadcasts that had played of him... recycling The Catalyst's captured traitors. Any of them with half a working system should know not to defy the ever-fragile peace put in place by their leader, still threatened 500 years later by gaggles of humans and their revolutionary ideals. Like they hadn't already taken the planet over since the beginning of time. No longer would they tarnish these streets with their flesh and blood and morals. It was time to make way for a new age.

The android was suddenly snapped from his reverie upon hearing a loud and quite impudent crash coming from behind a building. The city was normally silent enough, save for the quiet hum of the inhabitants' processors. He slowed, stepping quietly toward the source of the noise. Nines drew his gun from the holster on his thigh— The Catalyst hadn't splurged for built-in bioweapons just yet. His audio processors honed in on the space around him, picking up a soft rummaging and pseudo-plastic packaging sliding along old metal.

Before he struck, he weighed the possibilities. Could it be a damaged android seeking parts? Normally one would be smart enough to go straight to the higher-ups for those, unless you were an XY model, and the city had incinerated most of those. All the signs pointed to a human infiltrating the sacred space that was Cypher, but something about it shook Nines up. He was never shaken up.

Without another thought, he pivoted, sprinted the short distance toward the source of the sound, and pointed his gun with deadly precision at the offender. No doubt about it, this thing was human. In the split second before Nines' finger clenched against the trigger, he scanned them. It was routine for all the androids on patrol to bring back enough extractable information to further the development of Cypher and its sister cities. The information that appeared on his dashboard came fast and hard, clouding his vision with analytics and usernames. Then, he saw it, and the detail was enough to make him lose focus on his aim and send the bullet flying just a fraction of an inch from their skull.

He knew this human, and knew them well. This was the one person who had shown Nines even a bit of respect when he was still a mere assistance chatbot. They had said please. They told him thank you, for Catalyst's sake. They had affected him enough to miss a shot, which he had never even had nightmares of doing before this moment. And right now they looked like they could use some help, blood seeping through the tattered fabric of their clothes. Everything in him screamed to finish the job and come upon them with physical force if he had to. But something held him back, something patronizing and human. He almost felt nauseous.

"What the hell are you doing?" he boomed much more confidently than he felt, pointing the muzzle of his gun to the ground. "Your kind is illegal here. If you come seeking aid, a city full of extermination androids is not your smartest risk."