One day earlier.
Somewhere in the Budalawa Mountains.
***
“Run?”
The storm made everything worse. Even when Exiler K18722 and Firecaller Y4139 stood close enough to brush shoulders, their wireless link kept cutting out.
To stabilize it, K18722 pushed current through its comm module and drove the output to maximum.
And then—
The signal field changed.
K18722 felt something… strange.
Its consciousness seemed to unhook from its skull. It became an invisible domain, expanding outward in a sphere—fast.
Y4139, standing right beside it, was swallowed inside that field in an instant.
K18722 had no idea what it was doing—no idea it was even possible—
But suddenly, Y4139’s thoughts were exposed.
Before the Firecaller could speak, K18722 saw the answer forming.
Yes.
The sensation was impossible to explain. Like a new evolution of wireless comms. Like something completely different from comms. If K18722 focused, it could even see the thought assembling itself—bytes flowing, converging, becoming words, then sentences.
“Yes,” Y4139 said aloud on the public channel, nodding once.
Then it frowned at K18722’s stare. “What is it? What’s wrong?”
K18722 watched the dataflow inside Y4139’s mind as if it were inside its own.
Are you worried about…
The next second, Y4139 spoke the thought K18722 had just seen—word for word.
“Are you worried about power? I thought about that ages ago.”
“Four hours ago we passed a mobile supply station. Nobody cared. But I watched it. Only two Exilers on guard.”
“If we work together, taking it won’t be hard. Then we steal a nuclear supply truck and we won’t worry about power for centuries.”
“And this mission is the perfect chance. ‘Father’ has no outposts or bases in the Budalawa Mountains. We go deep into the range, pick any spot, and hide. He’ll never find us.”
Y4139 kept talking—fast, eager, spilling plans and possibilities.
K18722 barely heard half of it.
It was too stunned by what it was sensing—by what it had just done.
When Y4139 finally noticed K18722’s silence, its voice faltered.
Because the two of them were standing too close. Other units were starting to glance their way.
Y4139 forced itself to step away and said, carefully, “Think about it. Tell me when you decide. If you don’t want to… forget I said anything.”
But what it was really thinking was far less calm:
I didn’t pick the wrong one, did I? Is this guy’s brain actually broken? What if he sells me out?
K18722 saw it all.
And still, K18722’s attention wasn’t on Y4139’s paranoia. It was on the phenomenon itself.
This was absurd.
K18722 tried expanding the field.
A neighboring Exiler slipped into its range—and the stranger’s thoughts surfaced instantly:
Wind speed 22.5 m/s. Maintain five-meter spacing. Average pace 1.67 m/s. Don’t miss the beacon… Why is it staring at me…
K18722 pushed farther, trying to see how big the domain could get.
But the field began to decay, thinning under the storm until it stabilized at around ten meters.
Even then it wasn’t symmetrical. Into the wind, it reached only five meters. Behind it, it stretched twelve or thirteen—distorted like a bubble being pulled and warped.
There was something in the air—an invisible insulating veil—blocking every wireless signal.
And even this consciousness field couldn’t fully escape it.
Still, it was enough to make K18722 rethink itself.
It could glimpse the thoughts of other minds… and yet it knew nothing about its own brain.
That didn’t add up.
Maybe leaving with Y4139—going somewhere different—really would trigger something. Maybe it would remember.
At that moment, an order came down from the front: halt.
Up on a distant ridgeline, several Hyenas had clustered together. A CBG moved toward them.
Another beacon.
While everyone’s attention was up on the hill, K18722 drifted close to Y4139 and sent a tight-beam ping.
“I’m in,” it said. “When we get a chance, we go together.”
Y4139’s relief was immediate and bright. “Yes! I knew you’d be interested.”
“Do we’ve a plan?” K18722 asked.
“Uh…” Y4139 hesitated. “Not yet. It’ll be dark soon. We’ll improvise.”
***
The squad’s default formation was built around the Hyenas’ probes.
To avoid missing a beacon, the Hyenas advanced in a forward arc—front and flanks—each about a hundred meters apart, matching their detection range.
The humanoid units formed a straight line behind them, keeping five meters between each to cover whatever the Hyenas might miss.
Three minutes later, the march resumed. The CBG adjusted their heading slightly. And to compensate for the earlier casualties, it widened the spacing between robots to eight meters.
For two would-be defectors, that was perfect.
The wind was howling now. Visibility was terrible.
Tonight was a gift.
An hour later, the world went fully dark. For stealth, the squad switched on night vision and continued in a blind trudge.
K18722 noted a steep mountain ahead. Their route clearly meant climbing over it.
A plan formed immediately.
Halfway up the slope, K18722 edged close to Y4139 and sent one short line:
“Come help me in a minute.”
“What?” Y4139 replied.
Before the Firecaller could process it, K18722 deliberately let its footing slip.
It tumbled down the steep face, sparks spitting from its armor as it rolled.
Several nearby robots stopped and peered over the edge to watch.
Y4139 understood instantly.
It called up the line, loud enough for anyone listening: “I’ll help him. You keep moving.”
Then, under their eyes, it headed down after K18722.
K18722 slid until it hit a jutting boulder, then pretended to lose balance again and dropped behind it.
Once it steadied itself, it looked up and realized the rock completely blocked the line of sight.
Step one: perfect.
K18722 sat with its back to the boulder and waited.
Sure enough, Y4139 slipped down a moment later and crouched behind the same cover.
“That was smart!” Y4139 whispered, genuinely impressed. “But are you okay? I saw you roll. Sparks everywhere.”
“I’m fine,” K18722 said.
“Then let’s go—now.” Y4139 glanced over its shoulder, uneasy.
“No.” K18722 stayed still. “Wait.”
“Wait for what?”
“To see if anyone comes back looking for us.”
“What if they do?” Y4139’s voice tightened with panic.
K18722 could practically feel the Firecaller’s limited processing power straining. It explained anyway, slow and patient.
“If someone comes back, this attempt is over. You help me up, we rejoin the line, and we look for another chance later.”
“And if nobody comes?”
“The squad won’t stop for two units,” K18722 said. “Once they’ve gone far enough, we can leave openly. If they notice we didn’t keep up, turning back to search will take time—and the storm will cover us.”
“But if you run too soon and someone sees it, you’ll be flagged as a defector immediately.”
Y4139 nodded hard. “Right, right. How did I not think of that? You’re so clever. I knew I picked the right one.”
K18722 could see the admiration was sincere.
They waited under the boulder for five minutes.
During that time, Y4139 peeked out again and again.
“Still nobody,” it reported for the seventh time.
“Good.” K18722 stood. “We’ve been forgotten. Let’s go.”