The Final Desperation

Night fell, and the streets were illuminated with fluorescent neon lights. Many signs were broken, emitting a dim glow that cast a dark shadow over many deep corners.

Genji hid in one of these corners, observing the wandering androids. Unlike the bulky robots he’d seen before, these had a humanoid shape, giving them a more civilian appearance.

Most of these wanderers bore weathered bodies, worn down by the elements over an extended period. Rust and grime covered their joints with some flaking off with every movement.

A few androids displayed damaged shells, exposing darkened internal circuits. Others were luckier, with intact casings, but were badly scratched. In this environment, a pristine coating wouldn't last.

These dilapidated androids roamed the trash-strewn streets, often congregating in entertainment shops for the night. As mechanical creations, they didn't require sleep or other life necessities, only occasional maintenance and energy refills.

This afforded them ample time, which they whiled away in these establishments. It formed a society of sorts, one from which they couldn't escape. The robots in wealthier districts didn't permit it. To them, these discarded creations were better off dismantled than taking up already scarce space.

Ironically, while they thought so, nobody was willing to be the dismantler. This created an equilibrium where the privileged did nothing as long as these undesirables stayed in the slums. Out of sight, out of mind—that was their mentality.

However, the moment these destitute robots attempted to leave, they'd be instantly targeted by specific security measures. Entering this place was simple, but exiting was nearly impossible. That was how the elite maintained their "order" and kept out unwanted robots.

Under normal circumstances, escaping this quagmire was impossible, but an exception had been made.

"Hey, did you hear the news? It's shocking."

"You mean the one about the escaped human clone? Of course, I did. Everyone's talking about it."

"I still can't believe Blue Network made that guarantee. As long as we can kill that human clone, we can leave this place."

"Do you really think it's that easy? That clone broke out of one of Blue Network's most secure labs and destroyed many combat bots. There's no way we can fight something like that."

"I know, but Blue Network said the clone's severely injured. If we can find him, won't we have hit the jackpot?"

"Give up. Even if he is injured, we won't find him. This city is too big, and he could be anywhere. You're better off worrying about gathering money for your next maintenance."

"Arrr, you're no fun. Can't you let me have my hopes?"

The androids walked out of sight, leaving Genji in his corner to consider the implications. If Genji wasn't overthinking the situation, that escaped human clone should be him. Everything matched his experiences, and he doubted another person could replicate his actions so quickly.

This meant he needed to be careful about his movements. The moment he revealed himself was the moment he became a fugitive. There was no way around it. With such a temptation, the robots wouldn't care if they had the wrong person. It was better to be wrong than to give up such a life-changing opportunity.

However, this change also confirmed a passing suspicion of his: Sinclair was related to Blue Network and possessed a high position. Genji was certain because no one else would spend so much effort to hunt him down.

He might have displayed some abnormal combat abilities, but it wasn't noteworthy enough to launch such a large operation. Only Sinclair had the motive and disregard to issue such a troublesome order.

'But this only makes it easier for me. I might have been stumped if you hid, but it's different now that you've revealed yourself.'

But first, he needed to find something to eat. It had been a few days since he had last eaten, and he would soon run out of physical strength if this continued. While a normal human could go a month without food, Genji couldn't afford to reach that point. He needed to maintain combat readiness at all times, or his chances of winning a fight would be slim.

Since his body was stronger than a normal human's, he needed more nutrition to maintain his form. Due to his spatial storage being sealed, he had to scavenge for his meals or finish this world quickly. However, Genji doubted the latter would be possible since he didn't know where Sinclair was.

There was a good chance he was at the building Genji escaped from, but what if he wasn't? It had been a few days, and circumstances could have changed. 

Genji couldn't afford to lose this gamble, so he had to investigate first. In the worst-case scenario, Sinclair would lock himself up in some room and play a game of patience, which was detrimental to Genji. To prepare for that situation, Genji had to secure a food source before he lost his strength.

Genji stalked the roaming androids for some more time before he settled on a target who had wandered into a dark alleyway. Due to his strong smell of motor oil and cooling fluid, many androids avoided this robot, making him the easiest target.

Genji sneaked up on the unsuspecting victim and delivered a deadly attack to its head, cleaving it clean off. A loud thud echoed amidst the night's buzzing, but no one bothered to check the source.

Genji peeled off the outer shell of the robot and molded the metal over his body. After smearing some rust over the cracks and donning dirty clothes, his disguise was complete. With this, he looked like any other robot—a conglomeration of metal and rust in a humanoid form.

He disposed of the remaining parts in clusters of trash and returned to the main road. From there, he blended in and boldly entered a random establishment.

As he entered, he spotted colorful disco lights flashing and the loud beat of rock music. A crowd of androids raved to the DJ's makeshift drums and swayed carelessly with their associates. It was a lively scene, but Genji wasn't looking for fun right now.

Walking out, Genji glimpsed over the numerous fluorescent street lights, trying to decipher their meanings. However, this was a fruitless endeavor since many of these signs were repurposed from scavenged scraps, making them less indicative of the establishment type and more for show.

Left with no choice, Genji slowly browsed through these places and observed their customs. From what he could tell, the robots loved partying and wasting the night away. If they weren't dancing, they enjoyed music, games, or any other form of entertainment.

Life in the darkness was dull, so they distracted themselves with the discarded remnants of society. It was that or spend half their day in stillness due to the lack of light.

Genji found many such places, but none provided edible food. The search took so long that he eventually gave up and asked a passerby.

"If you're looking for something to eat, head to Davyton's. He's one of the two places that serve food."

It was a strange statement, but Genji didn't think much about it. He was just relieved to finally get an answer and some directions. That was until he found the place and realized what the robot meant by "food."

'No matter how I look at it, this isn't human food,' he thought, staring at the murky gasoline and dim cubes radiating with electricity. 'So that's why they only needed two restaurants for this whole place.'

At this point, Genji was starting to understand what it meant for a world dominated by robots. If he wanted anything, he would have to make it himself. The only problem was that he hadn't seen anything that wasn't metal or minerals since he entered this world.

'Is this always the case? If so, I might be in trouble.'

Genji hoped he was simply unlucky, but a sinking feeling had already formed in his stomach. As a last-ditch effort, he asked about the other location and checked it out. To no one's surprise, it was exactly like the first one, confirming that he couldn't delay any longer.

'I guess I have no choice. Time to attack and pray for good luck.'

With his mind made up, Genji headed for the towering skyscraper he had escaped from. When he arrived, dawn had risen, illuminating the world with a thin streak of light.

Numerous drones flew around the area, forming the initial layer of security. Behind them, larger robots with plasma cannons for arms rolled over the ground, leaving black track marks in the dust. Their eyes rapidly scanned the area, searching for anything abnormal to unleash their firepower upon.

They were an intimidating bunch, one that could easily destroy a tank. Genji wasn't as durable as a tank so he couldn't afford to fight them head-on.

Luckily, he didn't fight since he only needed to sneak past them. His goal was to assassinate Sinclair and leave this world, not engage in battle with lifeless machines.

After half a day, he gave up and prepared for a forceful breakthrough. There was just no way for these robots to make a mistake and give him an opening, so he needed to create his own.

When night fell, Genji returned with some more scraps of metal. Many were small and aerodynamic, making them the best distractions he could find.

He stalked the patrol team for some time before bursting into action. With a hard throw, a drone camera shattered, drawing the attention of the other robots. When they registered what had happened, their heads instantly spun at the suspected source.

Fortunately, Genji had predicted this and thrown a curved shot, misdirecting their gaze away. Genji threw four more pebbles and caused the security feed to spin chaotically. Amidst this disorder, Genji slipped through using the shadows cast by the large robots as cover.

He also supported this with a few more projectiles, shattering all the cameras that would have caught his figure. Seconds later, the robots confirmed the anomaly wasn't in sight and reported the situation upward. The higher-ups reviewed the situation and ordered the robots to continue investigating.

While this unfolded, Genji lurked around the entrance of the building, debating whether he should break in. After weighing the costs and upsides, he realized the best move was to wait.

Instead of causing a commotion and alerting his enemy, it would be better to let his enemy come to him. Sinclair might have a high status, but he was human as well. He needed to eat, and Genji would eventually get his chance.

Days passed like this as Genji entered a state of stillness, preserving as much energy as possible. However, things didn't go as expected since Sinclair never came out. He was either not in the building or had another way to obtain food, if not both.

This was the worst possible outcome and drastically lowered his chances of survival. If he didn't break this status quo soon, he would wither away and starve.

'Dammit. At this point, I don't think I can afford to plan anymore. Time to just send it.'

Genji let out a heavy sigh and clenched his weapon tightly. After several deep breaths, he closed his eyes and relaxed his grip.

'Focus. I need to unleash everything in a single strike. Only that way do I have hope of hitting him.'

When Genji opened his eyes again, all signs of anxiety had disappeared, replaced by a tranquil calm. He firmly held his weapon and raised it over his head, arcing it behind his back.

With a single step forward, Genji swung down with all his strength, unleashing a massive wave of light. Despite his weakened physique, the attack surged forward with immense power, leaving a giant laceration on the building. A sharp whistle later, the air rushed into the vacuum left by the attack and caused the surrounding material to collapse.

The building sensed this damage and triggered the alarms, sending everyone into a hyper state of alertness. The defense system automatically deployed its self-repair measures as the robots activated their plasma weapons. Many security cameras zipped out of the openings and scoured the area for intruders.

There were a staggering number of changes in this short period, but Genji ignored everything, opting to prepare his next strike. His makeshift weapon came back up to its initial position, and his muscles tensed up once more.

Then he unleashed everything and slashed out a streak of cutting intent that surpassed the previous one in power. Another wave of devastation crashed into the unstable building, annihilating everything in its path.

Sounds of breaking glass and metal resounded as multiple camera drones shattered and collapsed into metal junk. After that, explosions rang out as pockets of energy detonated under these unstable conditions, bringing a third round of destruction.

When all the explosions calmed down, a building that bordered on collapse came into view. Half of the building had disappeared under this barrage, leaving many robots unable to process what had happened.

'Seems like I didn't hit him. Too bad.'

The next moment, strong fatigue assaulted Genji, making him lightheaded. After so many days without food, he could only push his body so much before it lost its strength.

'I better get going.'

Using his weapon as support, Genji hobbled into the darkness, making his escape before his enemies regrouped. Although his attack failed to kill his target, he still had a chance to survive.  

As long as he could find some food before the energy backlash could catch up to him, he would be fine. Otherwise, his nutrition-starved body would break down his muscles for sustenance, weakening him drastically.

Unfortunately, that was why he launched this attack, hoping he could finish Sinclair before everything took a turn for the worse.

As he walked, his stomach growled with hunger, demanding anything he could find. It was starving right now so it wasn't picky.

'I don't know how much longer I can last,' Genji thought, slouching in the corner of the slums. 

 His stomach was starting to hurt, and his dizziness wasn't going away. Things were getting worse, and he needed to do something about it. Otherwise, it was only a matter of time before he starved.

Genji racked his brains for a way out but came up empty-handed. There was just no way to replenish his energy.

'Energy, huh?'

In his muddle-headedness, an insane idea came to him. Not crazy, but insane. There was no reason or logic behind it, only sheer madness and lunacy. It was so far-fetched that anyone with a brain would have told him that. Yet Genji didn't care. He was getting desperate and was willing to try anything.

'Fuck it. At worst, I die trying instead of starving.'

He made up his mind and pushed himself up from the ground, heading for Davyton's, the "restaurant" of the slums.

"Give me one of those," he weakly said, pointing to the cubes that sparked with electricity.

The android behind the counters pushed one over without question, having gotten used to his job. Genji stared at this unknown cube for some time before throwing out all reason. What he was about to do didn't need logic, rather it would be more of a hindrance than anything.

Yet before he could go through with his action, he recoiled in a moment of lucidity. 'Did I really just consider eating this? I must be going crazy. Only an idiot would think of such an extreme move. I'm not a robot. I can't use this energy.'

"Everything okay?" The android asked with a strange look.

"Yeah," Genji weakly responded. "By the way, can I have another one? I just realized this might not be enough for me."

The android's gaze became stranger but didn't voice any more questions. The customer was asking for another cube and he wasn't going to reject the business. But when he turned around, he realized Genji had disappeared.

"How weird. Did he leave?" The android stared at the scene in confusion before turning to place it in its original position. But as he stretched out his hand, the cube slipped from his grasp as another realization hit him. "Dammit! That guy didn't pay!"

While this was happening, Genji leaned against a wall, the skin of his face sunken inward. 'I'm in trouble. If I don't find some food soon, I might have to resort to that idea. I hope it doesn't come to that. I've taken some crazy gambles over my life, but this one doesn't even seem feasible.'

With that thought, he placed the stolen cube by his leg and closed his eyes, hoping to preserve as much energy as possible.