Sovereigns of the Abyss

Chapter 2 ~ A Man Of Romance

Loren struggled to stop himself from covering his ears at the piercing screech of metal, echoing repeatedly throughout the room. Running to the pile of twisted metal, his body almost acted on its own, as if to see if it was still operational. The robot was lying on the ground, lifeless and motionless. Its metallic body was bent and warped out of shape, almost as if it had been crushed into its current position. 

'Man that looks rough,' Altimus's sudden laugh snapped Loren out of his thoughts, leaving him almost surprised by his amusement. The sight of the robot's wrecked body should have been disturbing, not amusing. Loren shook his head, trying to shake off the confusion. He started rummaging through the destroyed robot, being careful not to cause any further damage. But as he crawled through the robot's insides, he found a curious object, a pole of wood carved into a sharp point. 

Loren gently touched the wooden pole with his finger, feeling the texture of the object. He then moved his hand back quickly when a sharp splinter slashed his finger, leaving him with a mixture of confusion and shock. Altimus, however, could not contain his laughter, wrapping his arm around Loren's waist as he laughed hysterically. Loren flinched a little bit when he felt Altimus's touch, but it seemed to go unnoticed. Whether Altimus noticed, but chose to ignore it, or whether he had missed it entirely, was not clear.

'Looks like that old piece of shit got what it should've had a long time ago!' Altimus's laughter turned to sarcasm as he laughed mockingly at the sight of the destroyed machine. His grip on Loren's waist tightened as he held him closer. But Loren wasn't having it, his attempt to break free becoming more and more urgent. Whether he was oblivious to Loren's struggle or deliberately ignoring it was unclear.

A loud squeal cut through the room, silencing Altimus in an instant. The sudden noise also prompted him to release Loren, dropping him like a hot potato. The squeal seemed to have caught both men by surprise. The sudden loud sound of the robot had cut through the room, gathering the attention of all present, both men and women alike. Their expressions turned to ones of excitement, rather than of shock, their focus on Loren, rather than on the remains of the robot, almost as if they were expecting a spectacle.

The people's excited composure turned to that of ravenous animals, as they surged towards Loren in a frenzy. Their eagerness overwhelmed logic, and they scrambled over one another in a chaotic attempt to get as close as possible to Loren. Altimus's unexpected act of letting him go led to Loren slouching on the ground, caught in the midst of the stampede. One person in the crowd took note of Loren's precarious position, approaching him carefully, but with urgency. They managed to lift him to his feet before gazing at their hands and giggling. He let out a slight chuckle, his bow met with ecstatic shrieks and squeals of the crowd. He was overwhelmed by their adoration, feeling grateful yet uneasy.

The noise only grew louder as he acknowledged their cheers, his heart warmed by the praise and applause while his heart ached for just a second of peace.

Altimus muttered ‘Show-off’ under his breath, but the noise drowned out his voice as Loren attempted to respond to the crowds. The praises and adoration seemed to distract him, and he struggled to give each person his proper attention.

He smiled, laughing at the sight of a woman, asking her if she had already recovered from the flu; and he also acknowledged another man and his friend's impressive growth. Though he tried his best to acknowledge everyone, a longing for a moment of peace still remained.

He felt a sudden wrench in his arm as he was pulled out of the room, almost falling over after the unexpected tug. The woman that pulled him out was quick as she slammed the door shut, silencing the crowd's shouts. The door separated him from the chaos, leaving him alone with the woman. A wave of relief washed over Loren as he realised the commotion outside the door was gone.

'Thanks Arly, I don't know how I've been able to keep this up for so long.'

'You're a people-pleaser,  you love the attention and literally anyone younger than you thinks you're hot. There, I answered for you,' Arlecchino laughed. The teasing made him chuckle, but her harsh words seemed to cut into his heart a little, even as he laughed. He took a moment to gather his thoughts and compose himself, before starting to explain what he had found and done.

Arlecchino let her head tilt to one side in confusion as she listened, her expressions of confusion growing in intensity as the tale continued. As she listened, she seemed to have more and more questions popping into her head. 

'That does seem weird,' she agreed, 'but I'm not too sure on what you would wanna do about it. I guess you could go to the bot control centre and see what you could do.'

Loren, filled with energy after the sudden change in environment, nodded vigorously and waved to people as he passed them by in the hallways on his way to the control room. By the time Loren had reached the room, his mind was already whirring with questions, his curiosity sparked by the bizarre discovery.

He peered through the door and saw that the room was empty, the usual guards that worked there seemingly absent. Sneaking in, Loren stared up at the vast array of monitors which dominated the room. Each screen showcased different sites outside of De'aem, their home kingdom, with the various robots that were sent out to eliminate survivors who posed a threat, a fact that did nothing to dispel his confusion.

The scene left him bewildered, with many unanswered questions still lingering in his mind. Loren was enthralled by the sight of the bots patrolling the different lands, their majestic movements across the vast plains, the inhospitable deserts, and even the dense forests. However, the repetition of the view, the bots continuously patrolling, soon began to bore Loren, and he began to feel himself getting drowsy. Despite the grandeur of the sight, he felt himself growing tired of the seemingly never-ending patrol.

As his consciousness hovered on the brink of slipping away, Loren could have sworn that he had seen a person launching a spear at a robot's head on one of the screens, but the monitor went black too quickly for him to register any more details.

It was only a brief glimpse, a fleeting sight that disappeared as soon as he had seen it.