Dominion

Behind every hostile act, there’s a man. Or woman… we’re in the age of equality… but in this case, it’s a man.

He’s just an ordinary man. He sometimes even wears cardigans.

He’s now wearing a blue boiler suit, and is sitting at his podium. He’s just activated Dominon VI. He’s adamant the name has to be V.I. and not 6. It makes all the difference.

Oh, his name’s Wesley. Or Cash. Or Salem… it doesn’t really matter. He’s the one with the power. Well, the power button.

He’s also slicked the floor with oil.

Dominion VI stirs. The prototype fusion infused heart beats and whirs into action. Clanking mechanical legs click and lock into place as the gargantuan robot stands. It’s sapphire blue eye scanning the area. It records what it sees and it now records the sea that it sees beyond the window behind the man.

The first step reverberates around the room. Wesley smiles and slides the directional leaver forward, and Dominion VI moves its right leg forward.

Cash stands as the robot steps forward.

Salem makes a sharp exit of the room as Dominion VI starts to slide.

Wesley steps into an alcove and removes the boiler sut, throwing it into the waste receptacle.

Dominion VI crashes to the floor, in a shower of sparks. The whirring heart stops.

The delete command, infused in the heart’s core valve, triggers itself, forcing the jet propelled thrusters to fire in the feet. Dominion VI slides forward on the floor, flames emerging around the monstrosity as the oil ignites.

The robot careens through the large window, into the ocean on the other side. The incoming oxygen further spreads the fire that now takes hold.

On the ground floor, Rudolph carefully walks out of the research complex, smashing both the fire alarm signal and intruder alarm. He is long gone by the time his sabotage is noticed.

The prototype destroyed.

The hostile act completed, the man behind it… unknown.

Written for Michael's Afterwords. The prompt is Dominion.