Chapter #4Fending off an invasion by: Billis   "The 23rd century must be interesting." You tell Tess as you work the controls, blissfully unaware of just what your time machine's first trip will be heading into.
You finish programming the time machine's piloting systems, not wanting to risk manual piloting when you don't know where exactly you'll be landing.
"Wait, what happens in the 23rd century?" You hear Tess ask from her position in your hand.
"Well this is the first time machine, so we get to find out." You respond flippantly, casually stuffing Tess into your pocket for the trip. You feel her wriggling in there, but it's for her own good, it would be terrible if you lost your grip on her during transit and she tumbled into the machinery or something.
As you put in the final confirmation, you hear the time machine's engines whirr to life. Machinery hums around you as the time travel begins, unfortunately though you can't see anything due to the machine's design. You're not even sure what the process of hurtling through time would look like to human eyes, you'd have to figure out a way to safely install a window in the next version.
Soon the roar of machinery dies down and you step out into the future, only to be met by the sight of an imposing, armored figure. It rounds on you, servos humming smoothly as the robotic-looking figure turned its gaze on you. It was nearly seven feet tall, made of a silvery metal and bulky. In its hands it was wielding a blocky, vaguely rifle shaped object made from the same metal as its armor. Your time machine had landed in what appeared to be some manner of dilapidated warehouse, in which you and this figure now stood.
"A civilian? Where did you come from?" The voice that emanated from the figure was recognizable as that of a young woman, apparently wearing the powered armor. She approached you and before you could blink an armored hand shot out and grabbed you by the front of the shirt. Normally you'd be terrified to be in the grip of a clearly dangerous stranger, but in this circumstance you couldn't help but think of how cool it would be to have her at doll size as your hand reached for the size ray in your pocket. "This entire area is supposed to be evacuated, you are in breach of-" She was cut off by a loud crash from outside the warehouse.
"Shit, another grolxie." The woman said, tossing you aside and whirling to face the entrance to the warehouse. As you fell to the floor you felt a momentary jolt of concern for Tess, but fortunately you hadn't landed with your weight on her and could still feel her struggling in your pocket. Your attention was drawn to the main door of the warehouse as it was torn from its hinges and a hulking creature charged through it. The thing was massive, dwarfing even the power armored soldier as it was some twelve feet tall. Its body was that of a hulking humanoid covered in a dark, chitinous exoskeleton. Its face was composed of two eyes set behind clear carapace, over a mouth made up of several sets of mandibles and palps. It had several cords of coppery looking wires twined around its left arm, and in its right hand it held what looked almost like a glass briefcase.
The power armored soldier was raising her rifle at the monster, and it pointed that briefcase-thing at her as though it were some kind of weapon. You seem to have been forgotten in the moment, presumably neither combatant expected you to be a threat...  indicates the next chapter needs to be written. |
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