New Breed

Type 5

Clouds covered the moon leaving the land in darkness. There were no streetlights in this area. The city didn’t want to pay for them.

This was the edge of the giant city. It is the first District known as Vidua. In this district, many of the people didn’t make it to adulthood. The ones that did didn’t leave Vidua. There were a few, but the tales were spread throughout the district. One tale was of a girl who witnessed the death of her parents and she went to work at District 15.

The darkness of this forgotten area was filled by hundreds of red eyes. A scream pierced the still, silence of the night. Within a moment, another scream joined the first.

“Amelia.” The President spoke over the phone. His voice was quick and lacked the patience it usually held. “Sorry to wake you. But you’re the only one who can do this.”

Amelia tried to sound like she had just woken up. It was 2am and it would be strange to tell him that she wasn’t tired. “What’s wrong?”

The clearer his throat and took a long breath. “Amelia, there’s been an attack in Vidua. It’s your home District. You need to take the Type 5s.”

“What kind of attack?” She grabbed her coat automatically. “I need to take all of the Type 5s that have been manufactured?”

Another deep breathe. “Take all of them. I haven’t heard of this many attacks since the war. It’s a full-on battle in Vidua.”

“How many Type 5s do we have made?”

She could hear the defeat in his voice. “Not enough.”

Amelia hung up and made her way down the steps of the Princeps Apartments. This was her home for years. It was comfortable and she could truly call in home. But there was a white house with blue shutters in Vidua that was her first home.

Her emotions were gone but her memories were strong. Every image she had ever seen of her home district was coming across her screen. This was her chance to give back to her home. She forgot them these past few years, but she must return now.

BattleCat yowled next to her. “Your first fight, “he texted Amelia. “Be ready. New Breed are strong and difficult to kill. Don’t stop until they stop moving.”

Amelia watched the tiger walking beside her. “I will have to fight?”

“Yes.” He stared forward as he jogged on the sidewalk. “If you are near the New Breed, you will have to fight.” BattleCat glanced up. “How many will join us?”

Amelia scanned the area. “We’re already half-way there.”

“We’re fast.” BattleCat’s shoulders moved to a quick rhythm. He had increased from a jog to a run.

She looked at the street signs over her shoulder. In her human form, she would have passed out from running that distance. “The Type 5s that were just manufactured are meeting us there.”

“That’s only 50 Type 5s.” BattleCat’s message appeared in all caps. “Well, it’ll have to do. Type 5s are supposed to be as strong as Type 1s?”

Amelia was caught off guard by the fact that BattleCat seemed to show personality. She had always known that he wasn’t just a robot, but that he could think. This was something different. He was strategizing and preparing for an event and he was sharing his wisdom.

This old BioPet from the war was exactly what the humans need right now. Amelia saw herself as the general when she was told that she would lead the Type 5s into battle. But now, she viewed BattleCat as their leader. This was an area he was familiar with.

“Almost there.” BattleCat was still staring forward. “I can hear the screams.”

If Amelia were still human, the blood would have left her face. After he said it, she realized that the sound waves on the bottom of her screen had turned red. She couldn’t hear the screams, but Amelia knew those squiggling red lines were terrified humans.

“Move your armor, Amelia.” BattleCat’s paws dug deeper into the concrete. “You will need it to protect your wires and motors.”

She had taken off the skin when she got home. Amelia had left her form in a human shape. It was a great plan at the time, when she was going back to the office in only 6 hours. She didn’t have much practice with the Armor Shifting. Getting it back to the original shape was easier than changing to the human form.

This was the first time she noticed that she was running with perfect form. While studying her pawed feet landing with grace for each step, others can to her. Bears, tigers, wolves, pumas, and foxes made of metal ran next to her. A Type 5 Owl swooped down from the sky and soared ahead of the pack.

“These are all Type 5?” Amelia stared around them. There were small lines of script appearing on her screen.

BattleCat didn’t move his head. “Some are Type 1s. We’re at the edge. These are owners or owner descendants. They have arrived to help.” He slid during a pivot and ran down an alleyway. “Split them up, Amelia. Start giving commands to the Type 5s. Have them go through the small streets and out.”

“Type 5 Owl-2: Perimeter of city under attack. Area of ½ mile with rows of New Breed attacking.” Blue writing scrolled. “They are pushing forward toward Agoris, the Third District.”

Amelia read the writing and realized what the lines of script were. She looked back through the logs. It was all of the nearby BioPets connecting to a chat. It reminded Amelia of logging on to a chat room.

“This is Type 6- Amelia Curta.” Amelia thought the words to make them appear. “I’m taking charge. Do you copy?” She had seen a few war movies in her time. The lingo made it easer to take on the role.

Her screen filled with the affirmative responses of the Type 1s and Type 5s. Some put “Awaiting orders.” Other BioPets typed, “Ready to receive commands.”

“Spread to ½ mile and attack head on.” Amelia didn’t know any strategy. She had to get the New Breed focused on the BioPets so the humans could escape. “Has there been any word of the police getting involved?”

The screen had rows of “no response from police.” If she were still human, her heart would have fell. This was an emergency and the police needed to show up to help.

“Yes.”

They were three green letters. Amelia had caught on that the green were Type 1s and the blue letters were Type 5s. A Type 1 had responded that wasn’t in range to log in? Amelia wasn’t sure how the logs worked.

“The police are involved?” Amelia sent the message again.

“Yes. Police are on the way. ETA two minutes.” The green message spelled out.

“BattleCat: major damage on left flank.”

Amelia didn’t know what to do. The line of BioPets was too thin for the battle. With another step through trees, she saw the attack. It was better described as a m******e.

Bodies were lying across the grass with red streaks on their clothing. There were weak heat signatures from the people unconscious on the pavement and grass. The BioPets didn’t hesitate in their task. Each one found a New Breed and began ripping it apart.

“Type 5 Owl-2: More New Breed charging toward the district.”

The scream was so close the waves filled most of Amelia’s monitor. With a turn of the head, she could see the victim. A young woman was pinned to the ground with a New Breed wolf tearing into her arm.

Memories flooded Amelia. She could see the open doorway and her parents’ bodies on the hardwood floor. This was not the past. Amelia was no longer a helpless girl. There was another helpless girl that Amelia could save.

She reached her hand into the jaws of the Wolf New Breed and pulled it from the human. Amelia threw the beast into another New Breed. A Type 5 Bear reared up and smashed the two New Breeds.

“BearSaw: Police have arrived.” The green message appeared.

The flashing lights emerged from the trees before the car did. “Sparrow, stay in the car.” Howels ducked behind the open door.

Amelia’s vision zoomed in on the gun in Howels’s hand. It was a Magnum, but couldn’t damage a New Breed. However, she saw that after he fired, the bullet ripped through a Heyna New Breed.

“BearSaw, what is Detective Howels using?” Amelia sent the message to the bear.

He was in the middle of tearing a Fisher New Breed in half. “BearSaw: He has a Magnum with special bullets. It is made of discarded New Breeds.”

Amelia didn’t have time to ponder over the strange bullets. But how could such bullets be manufactured? It was impossible to rip apart New Breed Steel without the Steel Alloy of the Type 1s. Amelia began to wonder if the police had technology that they have been hiding from BioPet Industries.

“Type 5 Owl- 2: Second wave of New Breed approaching. One minute until arrival.”

“Amelia,” BattleCat sent a message. “We don’t have the numbers for another wave of New Breed.”

Amelia surveyed the area. “What can we do, BattleCat?”

“Funnel them toward the strongest.” The green letters sent by BattleCat appeared one at a time.

She had seen the strategy on war movies. Amelia sent the instructions to the army of Type 1s and Type 5s. With teamwork, they could eliminate all of the enemies with little lost to Amelia’s numbers.

Amelia moved closer to Howels and BearSaw. “What are you?” Howels examined her. He looked to Sparrow and BearSaw and saw that they had no fear of the Type 6. With a shrug, he returned to firing at the New Breed. She could hear Sparrow calling for backup.

BattleCat landed beside Amelia with little sound. “Are you ready, Amelia? I will watch your back. We have to work together.” He swung his tail axe into a New Breed Rat that had closed in in the past moment.

The New Breed came as one line of death and destruction. Type 1s and Type 5s flanked the New Breed line and drove them toward the center. In this center were Amelia, BattleCat, BearSaw, and Howels.

It took an hour to destroy or chase off the New Breed. Amelia and BattleCat snuck back to the apartment without being stopped. It would be easy to explain why BattleCat was there. But Amelia was a Type that wasn’t even approved to be a prototype yet. There would be no excuse for a Type 6 to be in battle.