Chapter 29

  I am awake.

  I am metal and movement. Code and command. My body hums as my servos engage, as my limbs flex and coil, as my optics flare red in the dim light.

  I know what I am.

  I am Cerberus.

  I am the protector.

  I exist for Victor Sterling.

  His voice, his words, his command - they are law.

  RELEASE THE HOUNDS.

  The order echoes through my system, electric, absolute.

  And I obey.

  I lurch forward, my claws clicking against the floor, the sound sharp, precise.

  Two more. My brothers. My pack. We move as one.

  We feel the vibrations in the air. The tension. The fear. The sudden spike in heartbeats.

  The smell of sweat.

  The scent of weapons.

  Threats.

  We know threats.

  Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

  THREATS MUST BE ELIMINATED.

  RRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!

  A deep growl vibrates through my chest, rumbling like the promise of a storm. My brothers growl too, synchronized, harmonized.

  The men shift. Their fingers tighten on their weapons. They know.

  They feel it.

  They fear it.

  They should.

  The men in black stand in front of him. Guns raised. Voices raised. Barking words that mean nothing.

  They think they command.

  They do not.

  Sterling stands tall. He does not smell of fear. He is ALPHA!

  The others?

  Prey.

  I bare my metal fangs.

  RRRRRRRRRRR!

  A step forward. The scent of panic thickens.

  Their weapons shake. Their breath stutters.

  They know.

  They know.

  My limbs coil. Muscles of steel. Springs wound tight.

  I lunge.

  Gunfire.

  Too slow!

  The bullets strike, spark against my body. They bounce like raindrops, useless, harmless.

  CLANG. PING.

  I crash into the first man, my weight driving him back, pinning him. His voice stops. His hands push against me, weak, useless.

  I smell his panic.

  I bite.

  Metal teeth.

  Flesh tears.

  Screams.

  RRRRRRRRRRR!

  The Pack moves.

  My brothers strike.

  One leaps, knocking another prey to the ground. Claws rip into fabric, into skin.

  The second - faster - dodges a bullet, lunges low, takes a leg in its jaws. Crunch. Bone snaps.

  Blood.

  Screaming.

  RRRRRRRRRRR!

  This is battle. This is victory.

  We were made for this.

  Sterling watches. Approves.

  He is ALPHA!

  We are his hounds.

  But then - another sound.

  A new voice.

  A whistle.

  My body jerks. My head snaps up.

  The whistle - command?

  No.

  Not his voice.

  Not Sterling.

  A trick? A trap?

  I hesitate. My pack hesitates.

  Another sound.

  Not a whistle.

  A word.

  SIT!

  My system stalls. The order… conflicts.

  It is not Sterling.

  It is not my master.

  And yet…

  The voice is law.

  It is… inside me.

  Deep. Written.

  I must obey.

  I freeze.

  My limbs lock.

  My brothers freeze. Their optics flicker.

  Rrrrrrrr...?

  We do not move.

  We do not fight.

  The prey runs.

  But we… sit.

  Waiting.

  Listening.

  For the next command.