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12. Held Hostage

Ora struggled to escape the ropes that were wrapped tight around her body save for her head. She had been placed on a crimson velvet armchair in Hilarion and Nargirata's dining room and left there while they went to the bedroom.

"Untie me!" Ora shouted. "Corby needs me!"

Nobody took notice of her demand.

She tried to roll to the side, hoping to at least succeed in dropping onto the floor. It was futile. The rope wasn't allowing her any freedom to move. She looked at the bedroom's door while forming a grimace out of her mouth's lights. "Do you not hear me? I have to keep an eye on Corby! He keeps forgetting things! He hurts himself if he uses his glowanade without my help! He needs me!"

The silence angered her further, but the ropes denied her even the gesture of stabbing the armchair. If she could, she would even stab that book that lied to her and made her lose Corby's trust. Then there was that Vanessa … That human must have been the reason why Corby had lost whatever comfort they had build up together. It haunted her that he was now outside, spending time with Vanessa again. She had to come up with a plan to regain his trust before her competition would take him away from her.

Just then, the sound of the bedroom's door unlocking grabbed her attention. Hilarion and Nargirata came out giggling at each other.

Hilarion played with some rope in his hands as he said, "Well, that was fun! It's been ages since the last time we did this."

"Next time you can tie me up," Nargirata told him.

He grinned at her. "Oh, just you wait until tonight!"

"You have forgotten to untie me!" Ora said.

Hilarion gave her a bored look. "We didn't forget."

"We just weren't given permission to do so," Nargirata added.

Ora shook her head violently. "I give you permission! Untie me!"

"Corby's the one who wants us to immobilize you," Hilarion said. "Until he thinks it's safe to untie you, you're stuck like this."

"Corby might forget to tell you to untie me!"

"We'll remind him later on. Nargi and I will go to the surface to gather more iron, so we might need you to keep an eye out and warn us about any future trouble coming our way."

"You can't tell me what to do! Only Corby can do that!"

Hilarion smirked at Ora. "We'll just have to tell him to give you the orders then."

Corby stopped by the subterranean lake to catch his breath after running. Vanessa halted and turned around to see him sit on the ground. "Already tired?"

He looked up at her. "That's enough for today."

"You should aim to beat your record every day if you want to improve your shape."

"Yeah," he said, turning his attention to the lake. "Right now I need to get this sweat off. Can I take a bath in here?"

"Not in the lake! We need the water to be clean so the fish are kept healthy. You can take a shower at Grandpa's house."

"Okay, sorry."

Vanessa sat next to Corby. "We barely have five carps. We'll need even more people to take care of a larger amount of fish and grow food for them. Good luck getting silkworms though. The few that have escaped aren't easy to find, and we aren't going to rob farms for them."

"So, are the fish in the rivers and lakes at the surface eating the wild silkworms?"

"They seem to be able to digest the native water plants—which is what we have been feeding these guys too. Wild carps might take advantage of the occasional dead moth or silkworm fallen into the water."

Corby stared at the largest of the carps. It looked pretty slim, about twenty centimeters long, and half as tall. "How come the Triumvirate isn't guarding the lakes and rivers? They have fish there."

"They didn't release them in the wild," Vanessa said. "It seems like someone else might have brought them here. Possibly some farmers or thieves. We're not sure if we're the only humans in this forest, but we haven't seen any other humans here before."

"We should try to find them before the Triumvirate kills them."

"My cousin and I have searched for other humans before. We've found no confirmation of human activity nearby. Looking for what may not be there is too risky with all the ruckus going on right now in the forest."

Corby rested his arms over his knees, and his chin over his arms. "We're standing still while the enemies are getting closer and closer. If they decide to check the rock pile, we're dead."

Hilarion arrived behind him and dropped Ora on the ground. "Nargi and I will go get more iron so we can make more cannons."

Corby turned around. "Why did you bring Ora near me again?"

"I think she'll be useful in warning us if the enemy is nearby," Hilarion said. "Just tell her to work with us, and we'll keep her away from you."

Ora shook her head in all sides, still trying to get out of the wrap. "Corby! Tell him to untie me!"

Corby shot her a nasty glare as he got up and grabbed her by the rope. He walked toward the lava a bit further from the lake, then suspended Ora over the fiery pool.

Hilarion followed him and said, "Corby! Don't do it! I get that you're mad at her, and you're justified, but … there's no need to kill her."

"She has one chance to serve you," Corby said while looking at him, then focusing back on Ora. "You understand that, you cursed machine?"

Ora retracted her head toward her body, trying to look as compact as possible. "I understand."

"You will remain tied up until Hil takes you to the surface. Once up there, he will turn this rope into a leash and keep you from escaping."

"Hey now, Corby, you're being a bit too harsh on her," Hilarion said, staring at Ora with concern.

Corby dangled Ora over the lava. "I don't want this thing near me ever again. So you either take it with you and keep it under control, or it'll become a puddle of molten metal after I drop it in here."

"We'll take her with us," Nargirata said, arriving at the scene. "Please don't kill her! I'm sorry, Corby. Part of what she did was my fault. I'll deal with her from now on."

Corby put Ora in Nargirata's arms. "Take her and keep her as far away from me as possible."

"She'll be like a hunting dog," Hilarion said.

Nargirata looked at him. "Oh, like those things that go 'woof' and are kept by the humans of Earth as pets?"

"Yeah, not all people use those as pets though. Some use dogs for hunting, and others use dogs for guarding."

Nargirata smiled and said, "If I had a pet dog, I would have called it Subwoofer."

Corby raised an eyebrow. "Seriously?"

Hilarion shrugged at him. "Nargi picks the weirdest names."

"Don't even think about changing my name!" Ora said.

Corby poked Ora's head with his index finger. "Your name should be Trash, you disgusting piece of—"

"Whoa, whoa!" Hilarion said, putting himself between Ora and Corby. "Calm down. She's all tied up. She's going through enough punishment."

"Don't let her out of your sight. She won't hesitate to stab you."

Hilarion shook his head. "You're getting a bit too paranoid there, Corby."

"You don't know the monster you're dealing with," Corby said before turning to leave toward Samuel's house.

Vanessa went up to Hilarion. "I think it would be better to not go to the surface for a while. The authorities are still very active out there, especially after we poked them so many times."

"We'll be extra careful," Hilarion said. "Besides, we'll have Ora with us. She'll keep us safe."

Ora refused to fly. She had to be dragged over the snow while Hilarion pulled the rope. "It would be easier if she'd cooperate," he said. He was dressed in the usual white hooded jacket, bandanna, white boots, and white pants, and so was his wife.

Nargirata told him, "I feel sorry for her."

"Me too. I don't like treating robots or any sentient beings like this, but she's not exactly innocent."

Ora grabbed onto a tree's root and tried to hold on, hoping that the rope would snap and she would be freed. It didn't work. Hilarion pulled hard enough to detach her from the plant. She screamed, "What will it take to destroy this rope?"

"A knife, or fire," Hilarion said. "I'm not giving you any of those."

"This is so unfair!" Ora said. "First you mislead me into ruining my relationship with Corby, and now you're punishing me for doing what I've learned from your book!"

Nargirata glared down at her. "I tried to warn you! You did not care for what I had to say."

"Why would I care for what a s*x robot has to say?"

"I am more than that. I have a lot of experience when it comes to being in a relationship with a human. I understand my husband's boundaries, and he understands mine. You weren't looking for a genuine relationship. You wanted to manipulate that young man into giving you a high whenever you wanted. That isn't how human relationships work."

"Everyone, shh!" Hilarion said, preparing his shotgun while holding the rope under his right armpit. "I hear drone buzzing."

Nargirata prepared her portable gatling gun. "We were so busy arguing we didn't even notice the enemy has surrounded us."

As soon as a drone came into view in the evening sky, Hilarion shot it with his rifle and caused its pieces to rain down. This alerted more drones, which then flew toward the location of the shot sound. Nargirata made short work of them, but a bullet almost hit her head.

Hilarion said, "Ora! Check the future! We need to know where they are and where they will go within the next ten minutes."

"Untie me then!" Ora said.

Hilarion looked at the rope, then back at the blue robot. "How can I be sure you won't just fly away and leave us to die here?"

"Don't fall for it, Hil!" Nargirata said. "She should help us anyway, because if she doesn't, we're all going to die."

Ora lowered her head while still keeping her eyes on Nargirata. Sure, she didn't want to die, but hearing that her captors were banking on that fact made her even more adamant. "You two will die for sure if you don't release me. It's your choice."

"Ooh, so now you're turning this around," Hilarion said. He heard the drones buzz in the distance. "Looks like we have no choice."

After seeing most of the rope drop onto the snowy ground, Ora spread her wings and flew away with the noose tied around her neck. Nargirata tried and failed to capture her.

Three drones showed up above Hilarion and Nargirata. Two of the machines got shot by Hilarion, but the third threw a black net over the human and the gynoid before getting downed.

"s**t!" Hilarion said. "We need to—" A strong shock went through his body, causing him to drop to the ground. He was joined shortly by Nargirata.

She tried to tear the net, but it was thick and tough. "Great. Now they can just shoot us and we can't even retaliate." Her partner was unconscious, flat on the snow.

Three more drones showed up and hovered, simply observing the captives.

Nargirata stared at them. "Why aren't they shooting? What are they up to?"

A squad of ten minotaurs made its way through the forest, heading toward her and Hilarion.

Corby finished installing a cannon in an opening of the fortress wall near Samuel's house. Meanwhile, next to him, Vanessa and her grandfather placed bricks over the fresh layer of mortar, continuing the wall's construction.

"Looks like we can't set up any advanced controls for the cannons now," Corby said.

"We'll do it all mechanically," Samuel told him. "Some switches, belts, and pulleys should allow us to control the cannons from the distance. I just hope we have enough time to build those."

"Knowing Ora, the enemy will be knocking on our door soon."

"Had the recent events not happened," Vanessa said, "I would have told you to have a bit more faith in her. But seeing how she went as far as trying to control you at any cost, I think you're right not to trust her with anyone's life."

Corby took a heavy brick in his arms and prepared to put it over the mortar layer, next to the one Vanessa had placed. He looked at Zoom, then at her. "I wish she were a normal robot. Sure, we probably would have never made it alive out of Hades if that were the case, but I can't say things are fine as they are. I've brought the Triumvirate to the forest, I've used up your resources, and who knows what Ora's going to do to get Hil and Nargi in trouble?"

Samuel said, "They'll keep that robot of yours under control. They've faced worse challenges before."

"I hope she doesn't prove to be even worse," Corby said. "Man, I wish I could just rewind time and … maybe do something to stop the explosion. I'd be hanging out with my best friend again during lunch break and after work. Then I would visit my dad and check out how his ginkgo biloba penjing garden is coming along." He sighed. "Why didn't that stupid robot get time travel powers instead?"

Vanessa patted him on the back. "You can still go see your dad later on if we manage to defeat the Triumvirate. He's still alive, right?"

"Yeah, but … it feels like I haven't seen him for over a year instead of a few months. I can't even remember what happened during my last visit to his place. I wish I had spent more time with him, because I don't know if I'll ever get to see him again. Not with these odds."

"Maybe we can find something out there that could help us get the upper hand. We'll keep looking, Corby. We'll gather as much of the Triumvirate's technology as possible, and maybe even find a way to use the glow from the glow thieves to power our own type of robots. There might be other caves like this one. Maybe we'll find the aliens and team up with them against the Triumvirate."

Corby smiled and shook his head. "What makes you think they would help us? We've taken over their planet. If anything, they would kill us on sight."

"If those forest robots are actually aliens, they don't seem so threatening. They are curious, in spite of being wary of us."

"We can't even communicate with them, Vanessa."

She smiled. "We could, but it'll take some time. They're using colors and blinking signals. Maybe we could learn their language eventually. Then we could unite with them against our common enemy."

"So you want us to go look for robot deer in the hopes of toppling the forces that pretty much drove these natives into hiding? If they had any power to stand against the Triumvirate, they would have wiped us out by now, or at least tried to attack the city."

Samuel said, "I told you, ten years ago something strange happened. Informator, the news robot from back then, tried to warn people about a fight that broke out between the Triumvirate's guards and some unusual rogue robots. He was cut off before he could give more details, and was never heard from again. Since then, his role has been taken over by Newsflash. I don't know if that one's still presenting the news today though."

"I've seen Newsflash. Yeah, he's still the news presenter."

"He just doesn't have class like Informator had. Everything was a breaking news according to Newsflash. Using words like 'astonishing', 'incredible', 'phantasmagorical', and 'hair-raising' doesn't make boring news impactful."

"There's almost nothing interesting going on in Hades anyway. Well, the explosion at Kimiatronica must have been covered somewhat, but I'm sure the full story never made it to the public. It was simply treated like an accident. My dad probably thinks I'm dead after hearing the news. I just wish I had some way to give him a sign. If only my phone hadn't been smashed when the blast went off ..."

Vanessa said, "You can come with me tomorrow and look for the forest robots. Maybe they have a way to let us contact the people of the city."

"That sounds as unlikely as forging an alliance with them. But at this point I'll cling onto any hope. I'll go with you."

Ora's voice echoed in the cave. "Do not go to the surface!"

Corby put his hands on his head and dug his fingers between his spikes. "What did they get themselves into?"

"Corby! The Triumvirate caught them in a net! They were taking them away!" Ora said, landing at his feet while the rope trailed behind her.

"You let them down," Corby said. "It doesn't surprise me. I've lost my faith in you this morning, and I regret not throwing you into the lava pit."

"But it wasn't my fault, Corby! They weren't paying attention to the surroundings!"

"If I had to guess, I'd say you were keeping them distracted."

"I only asked them to untie me."

"You had one job: to help them avoid the enemies. And you ended up attracting the enemies to them."

"It's not my fault that they preferred to argue instead of cooperating with me!"

Corby glared at her. "Ora, you were tied up as punishment. Your only chance at redeeming yourself was to keep my friends safe." He grabbed the rope and pulled it toward himself, dragging the robot over the ground. "If I didn't need you to help me go look for them right now, I would kick you straight into the lava pit. I'm getting the papyrus device and my weapon, and you're coming with me back to the surface. I'll even use you as a shield if I'll have to." He continued to drag her all the way into Samuel's house.

Vanessa had a horrified stare as she let the news sink in. "Hil, Nargi … I dread what the Triumvirate will put them through!"

Samuel's lower lip quivered as he couldn't find any words to say.