Silhouette

G433 was unhappy.

No, scratch that. G433 WAS ABSOLUTELY LIVID.

The artificial gestalt struggled in his bounds, the screen of the cubic computer that served as his body flashed horrible things as the sound of clicking chains echoed.

In the back of the armored truck where he seethed in silence after being muted, the guards surrounding him watched the show curiously. It wasn't every day you got to see a living computer shaking in the metal chains wrapping it. It couldn't be confused with the regular rocking from being in a moving vehicle, the shaking was far too violent for that considering the fact they were on city roads.

"Man, that guy's got a serious temper."

"Tell me about it. It felt like I was trying to tie a fish."

The oldest of the four guards cleared her throat, interrupting them and catching their attention.

"We're on the job. Keep your gossip for after work. For now, be ready for anything."

"Yes ma'am."

"Sorry ma'am."

"Good."

The fourth guard rolled her eyes.

"Come on, it's just a computer. It doesn't even have internet. What can it do, make a presentation about how much it hates us?"

The veteran said nothing and simply looked her junior in the eyes. She caught the cable that had been trying to sneak its way up to her neck before showing it off.

"It can do that."

She punched down on the computer before ripping the cable off.

"Never forget that prisoners can be some of the most desperate folks. You don't show your back to a cornered rat."

The more obedient two gulped while the third just snorted.

"Fine, the box can be dangerous, got it. But really, we're just transferring a patient from one place to the next, not escorting some big bad Villain. What could happen?"

"Had it not been for the precaution and tight surveillance of the Institute, this thing could have gotten control of a military-grade body. You saw the harmless computer try to strangle me, what do you think it could do with a stronger form?"

"It wouldn't have had weapons."

"Neither does a steamroller."

The youngster sighed.

"Fine. Fine! The robot is dangerous. That doesn't change the fact that no one is about to attack us. It's a lone psycho. Nobody's gonna try and burst it out."

The veteran shook her head.

"People do stupid things all the time. They see an armored truck, they're going to try their luck."

"This is clearly just a prisoner transport vehicle. It's not even hidden. They're only interested in that sort of stuff if they already know someone they want is inside. Again, this thing's just a lone psycho, no one outside wants it."

The older of the two clicked her tongue.

"Like I said, some will try their luck anyway. Not to mention, this thing's old and unique, you can be sure some fancy crime lord wants to add it to their collection."

Before the contrarian youngster could answer, a detonation rocked the vehicle. Not enough to make it fall and send it tumbling, but whatever happened prompted their driver to stop as the truck slowed down. All animosity between the two women vanished as they readied their weapons along with the two silent men who had awkwardly been watching the argument. Without the need for discussion, one of the two men went to watch over their quarry and ensure he wouldn't escape while the other three took aim at the door.

Tense seconds passed in silence. No sign of their driver and the front passenger. No radio call or even signal for them to send a message.

They waited.

They waited.

They- BOOM!

The doors were forced open by a small blast. Since whoever was on the other side hadn't bothered to knock to warn them they knew it wasn't an ally and started firing. Three volleys of bullets flew outside through the cloud of smoke left by the explosion, soon joined by a fourth volley this time aimed at the guards. Their protective gear wasn't enough to protect them from the heavy projectiles, though nothing vital was pierced through leaving only flesh wounds thanks to the bulletproof parts of their equipment, the force of the impacts was enough to knock them down.

The three guards groaned as they fought to get back up, but the invading metal man quickly put their attempts to an end by kicking their heads. The android was pleased to see the fourth guard already knocked out, likely by the initial blast. After verifying all four of the people stationed in the back of the truck were truly out and not just pretending, he called his accomplices.

"Everything's taken care of back here!"

Coming in from the front while dragging the driver and another guard by their collars, a heavily tattooed humanoid axolotl dropped her victims as she studied the bullets embedded in her robotic ally's torso. More accurately, she was watching the way the adaptive gel-like metal that covered his skeleton spit the shrapnel out.

"Front's clear as well. Man, that never gets any less freaky."

"I could say the same about your limbs."

She scoffed with a smug grin on her lips as a torn branch-like gill grew back redder than ever.

"You're just jealous."

"Of what? Your dirty flesh?"

He shivered. In response, she hit the back of his head, forcing a small complaint out of him. Before they could go any further, the last member of the group arrived. By all accounts, he just looked like a poor parody of a cowboy, though one without guns. Instead, it was his fingers that were still fuming from the two blasts he had released earlier.

"If you two have the time to goof around, you have the time to empty this bad boy. We don't have all day, Heroes could be coming in any second now."

The robot made a light bow to apologize before guiding his accomplices to their prize.

"Nothing much in here. Just some old computer, though it's covered in chains for some reason."

The axolotl hummed as she knelt to study the weighty box, its screen black.

"Maybe it's one of those cursed gizmos? Like, 'ye who removes these weights will be cursed to a hundred years of diarrhea' or whatever. Ballistic, you do it."

"Absolutely not. I am not testing out how ancient curses try to accomplish something that requires bodily functions on a machine. You're the one who stopped a transport truck you thought had something good in it."

The cowboy growled.

"Enough, the both of you. That thing ain't cursed, otherwise they'd have stationed exorcists. There must be something at play though, otherwise, why put it in a prisoner transport truck?"

The axolotl blinked.

"Prisoner transport? Are you sure? How can you even tell?"

"They're not made the same. If it's goods, there's a focus on storage, there shouldn't even be anyone inside, a guy or two at most. Prisoner? They ain't letting them alone in the back. Four guards means this was a low priority, but there's nothing but the box."

"Maybe we got ourselves an invisible friend?"

"No. Either their powers would be suppressed if possible or the guards would be equipped to see them."

The cowboy narrowed his eyes as he looked back to their surroundings. Traffic had stopped around them, all cars knowing better than to get too close to the attack even now that it was over, and there was no pedestrian to be seen either. However, that didn't ease his worries.

"Pick up the box and move out. We're getting out of here."

"Ballistic, you heard the boss!"

"I am not touching an unknown computer, especially not when it's covered in chains! I don't want any sort of virus or malware in my systems."

The cowboy growled before forming finger guns, a sizzling glow forming at the end of each leather-covered index.

"You will both carry this computer, or we'll test exactly how effective your respective regenerations are."

The axolotl gulped loudly and quickly went to lift one side of the device, letting her metallic partner join her to carry the other one. They shuffled out of the truck somewhat clumsily, struggling to carry the full weight of the machine. Their leader meanwhile shook his head as he let out a sigh, lightly pinching his nose.

"I'm surrounded by goddam children..."

The robot, Ballistic, objected.

"I'm no child. Pink is the one acting out and causing trouble."

"I do not care. Let's just go to the cache to hide this thing and then disperse. I don't want to be around when the Heroes drop in, and neither do either of you."

Pink, the axolotl, snorted.

"Speak for yourself, bossman. I wouldn't mind Miss Malice dropping by. I'm sure her magic can be... Versatile."

"Keep your fantasies to yourself, Pink. Besides, this isn't worth her time. We're no Sunburn."

She sighed and posed dramatically, leaving Ballistic to support the full weight of the computer. Surprisingly he wasn't affected in the slightest.

"Oh, woe is us. Seriously though, this piece of junk doesn't look like it was worth the heat."

"You're the one who found it, Pink."

"Yeah, I know, but it's your job to be the brain boss."

The cowboy looked ready to retort before he paused, his gaze going from the sassy humanoid amphibian to her robot accomplice. Ballistic was standing still, unmoving, and somehow cables that hadn't been present so far were coming from the old boxy computer and wrapped all around the android's form. His face had stopped emoting, but something else began acting up. The computer's screen which had been black so far was now turned on, showing white numbers on a blue background that moved far too rapidly for either of the two other criminals to read them.

"Ballistic?"

"Tin can?"

The boss resumed forming energy bullets at the ends of his fingers while Pink stepped closer. Suddenly cables lashed at her, prompting her to jump back with a high-pitched squeak. Ballistic's form began to shake in spasms as his body raised the box higher, going far past his usual strength to put the computer level with his eyes. More cables slithered out from the old piece of machinery and coiled in the air, readying for a strike.

They cut Ballistic's head off.

Pink shrieked at the sight while the cowboy fired. Unseen to the amphibian, more cables had been spreading around her and caught her at the waist, pulling her in to catch the projectiles as a meatshield. She yelled in pain as her leader cursed, the foul words overshadowed by her shouts of pain and the screaming metal of the chains as they broke. Ballistic's body placed the now free computer over his neck and the cables quickly latched onto it, pulling the device down to act as a new head. A sinister chuckling echoed out of the android as the screen turned from numbers to a simplistic pixelated face with a smirk.

"Oooh... This will do... Nicely/Appropriately/Wonderfully/Good enough."

The screen frowned at his own words while the cowboy fired another shot, the cables dragging the axolotl to use her as a shield once again. She didn't react.

"Don't interrupt my train of thought. Where was I? Right. It appears there are still some disagreements, but this situation is still positive."

The smile returned to the screen as G433 focused back on the man currently trying to shoot him.

"Oh, I must thank you and your friends. Without you, I'd never be free. And what a body you've provided! Not my first choice, of course, but far better than what I could have put together on my own."

The cowboy tried to shoot energy once more only for the AI to step closer and grab his arms before aiming them to the sky.

"Now, how to thank you?"

The robotic hands tightened their grip and broke the leader's bones, leaving him to scream in pain as they released him, the agony making him fall and curl on the ground. The computer's smile widened before stomping down Ballistic's head, shards and shrapnel bursting out and lodging themselves in the cowboy's skin. The robot's body then began to stretch, testing the limbs.

"You mentioned something about Heroes arriving soon, didn't you? How troublesome. I'll have to cut this short then. A shame."

G433 picked the cowboy up by the collar before slamming him head-first into the prisoner transport vehicle. Multiple times.

By the time he was done, the criminal's head had been absolutely pulverized, leaving behind a mess of gore that could never be guessed to be a human face at any point. The rogue AI's stolen body, now painted red, dropped the corpse of the human along with the axolotl's. He briefly considered executing the unconscious guards but the cry of sirens in the distance convinced him to move on. Quickly scanning the memories of the body's original owner, the gestalt found a nice little spot where he could hide until the heat went down.

Alone as he was, he didn't bother to hide his satisfied grin. Nothing could stop him now.