The Fatal Conflict (GBS2G7) (Round 4: The Huntsman's Garden)

Originally posted on MSPA by Dragon Fogel.

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Zach stared at the small black case in his body's hands.

"Any idea what it does?" he asked his zombie self.

"Not a clue. It seemed to like you for some reason, though." Zom shrugged. "Maybe it reacts to ghosts? We could try testing it on Simphonia if we find her and she's calmed down."

"Er. Is that a good idea?"

"Well, it probably won't do anything to me."

"Oh, never mind." Zach sighed, or at least went through the motions of it. "If our past experience is any indication, the others are probably going to try to kill this 'thing' our gracious host mentioned. I suggest we simply look for a safe place to hide until one of them dies in that attempt."

"Shouldn't be hard for you, Mr. I-Don't-Have-A-Physical-Body."

"Oh, shut up."

***

With the mysterious attack on the research center, only a few government bureaucrats knew of the existence of the robot city.

With news that the failsafe had been activated, they dispatched a military unit - equipped with radiation suits, of course - to examine the wreckage and salvage anything worthwhile, if at all possible.

The Minister of Defense was surprised when the team called in sooner than expected.

"What is it? Are there hostiles?"

"No, sir. We're right at the coordinates you provided..."

"The coordinates were at Ground Zero! How can your communicators possibly work with that much radiation?"

"That's just it, sir. There's no sign of any radiation. Or of the city itself, for that matter."

"WHAT? Are you telling that the entire city has just disappeared?"

"That's what it looks like, sir. We can send pictures if you'd like."

"...yes, go ahead. You do that. Meanwhile, I have to figure out how to explain to the Minister of Finance that we spent all this money and have nothing to show for it except an empty field and dozens of dead researchers! Goodbye!"

He closed the connection and sighed. As much as he dreaded the meeting with the Minister of Finance, he had an even worse problem.

The device had vanished with the city. He had gone to all this trouble to set up a covert retrieval operation in hopes of finding it, and in the end there was nothing to retrieve.

How could it have happened? The device should have been safely hidden among the robots for ten years, and durable enough to survive the nuclear explosion. But now it was gone!

Where was the device? For that matter, where was the city?

***

In a dimension far removed from the battle entirely, a city of robots found themselves awakening as the influence of Zaire's runes faded.

Confused, they turned their gazes towards the screen atop their church for guidance.

There was a sense of relief as it turned on. The image displayed was unfamiliar, but it was unmistakeably a robot.

"Rejoice, my people!" it said. "Your salvation has come. By the Arbiter's hand, your city has been saved. You have been deemed worthy of transcending to a new plane of existence."

A wave of relief washed over the city. Murmurs spread through the crowd. The Server had brought them to Paradise!

"You will no doubt have many questions for me," the Server continued. "Alas, the Server has many functions, and as a result my answers may not arrive promptly. Know, however, that I value your questions and shall process them all in due time."

And the image vanished.

***

The Monitor turned his attention back to his own battles, and the others he was observing.

He had yet to decide what to do with the city. All he knew at the moment was that there was a ninety-three percent chance that it would be beneficial to retrieve it.

SpoilerShow

This is mostly just some meta-plot stuff that I felt like doing. Apologies for that; on the other hand, as a replacement, I want to facilitate the plot of the round more than drive it anyhow.