Not able to resist gloating, I said "Well, you all failed. Who are you answering to and how will they know to expect you?" "We have a 36-hour mandatory check-in with our comrades that then report to our superior officers." he told us. "What happens if you don't respond?" I asked. It seemed plausible, but there was no way to know if it was the truth. "If we are online and we do not respond within an hour, we are considered AWOL and will be terminated. Our data is deleted soon after termination." This base, and the lab more specifically, was made to block signals coming in and out from the building. XB-22 and 24 were probably presumed dead based on this information. If a deal could be struck, it might work out without anyone having to die. "When is your next check in?" I asked. He looked at me in confusion "What's it to you!?" "Because you have a choice: defect or die. If what I heard was true, no one will be looking for XB-22 and 24. If we offline you for- let's say- three hours during the check-in window, they will forget you and delete your data. Or, you can get killed here and now" I told him.
He looked from his comrades to me and Captain Whitaker. "Fine! I'll defect. It beats dying. God knows we're just pawns to them anyway." "Fuck you!" XB-24 yelled as he tried to fire his cannon. "Permission Required error?" he said as he looked at Percy. "A-Prime 07, you are a traitor. We fucking trained together!" XB-22 said. "Shut the fuck up XB-22! You're not the one with a cannon shoved up their ass!" he responded. I looked at them and said "It goes for you too. You can defect. You don't even have to join our military. I know a place that can use you." They were all silent for ten minutes. "Fine. There's no point if one of us is going the coward route. Just staying here and dying is retarded." XB-24 said. "You too, huh? All the sacrifices we made mean nothing to you two?" XB-22 said icily. He chuckled derisively. The other two cyborgs came online. XB-21 was still confined to the table. XB-25 got up and held his head for a second before jumping up and aiming at me and Captain Whitaker. "Not so fast, you asshole!" Rusty said as he stopped the cannons and made him kneel on the floor.
Captain Whitaker said "Since you're up now, I'll tell you the deal. You failed the mission. You can die here or defect. Two of you already did. I won't say which two did for the suspense. What are you going to choose?" "There is no fucking way two of us defected. Stop bluffing." he said He then noticed the very compromised position that both A-Prime 07 and XB-22 were in. "What the fuck are you two doing over there!?" he said in shock. "These assholes over here hacked all of us to make us do what they want." XB-24 said. "He's telling the truth. XB-24 and A-Prime 07 betrayed us." XB-22 said. "What the fuck!? We swore to be brothers during the program!" XB-21 hissed. "If you fuckers haven't noticed, I got a loaded canon up my ass. Why should I die for those fuckers! They use orphans for the program on purpose. I'm gonna use everything I got to live." A-Prime 07 snapped. "They can kill me for all I care. I'm not a fucking traitor. If I could pull the trigger I would have already." XB-22 said coldly. As time went on, it got really intense for the other cyborgs. Eventually, the silence broke.
An exasperated groan came from XB-25. "Fuck this! XB-21, I'm defecting. I got stuff I wanna do. What about you!?" he said. XB-21 glared at him and said "If I wasn't tied down, I'd fucking kill you. You fucking traitors!" That was the end of that. It seemed to me as though it was over. "No one wants to change their minds!? Final offer." I said to them just in case. None of them changed their minds. I sighed as I let A-Prime 07 get up. I made him engage his mantis blades and crossed them on XB-22's throat. It was clear what was going to happen. "I hope you all get betrayed just as much as you betrayed me." XB-22 spat as he looked at A-Prime 07. I made the cyborg behead his former comrade with a quick motion of his arms. The head fell to the ground followed by his body. Sparks flew from the corpse in spurts like blood would have. "It's my turn! This is going to be cool!" Rusty said as XB-25 was made to stand and walk to the table XB-21 was still confined. The cyborg was forced to use his cannon. "Say your last words punk." Rusty said cheerfully with his finger hovering over the buttons.
