death of hope

Chapter 999 "Psionic Storm" (73) Shadows of the Past

Without any warning, the cyborg's arm shot up like lightning, striking towards Tonya.
The hand covering the living body snatched the screwdriver from the air, gripped the handle tightly with four fingers, and pushed hard with the thumb, breaking the screwdriver made of chrome vanadium tool steel in two with a "crack!"

"Danger!"

Paul shoved Tonya aside and shielded her behind him, startling everyone who grabbed their weapons.

No one could have predicted that the shattered cybernetic remains would suddenly rise from the dead, springing up onto the repair platform with a somersault.
The miniature reactor glowed a faint blue light, its electronic eyes opened, and artificial blood and coolant seeped out, dripping onto the table.
The most bizarre thing was the face: a beautiful face covered in half artificial skin, and a hideous metal skull on the other.
This scene perfectly illustrates the uncanny valley effect (the effect of a humanoid object being highly similar to a human but with subtle differences, causing people to feel disgust or fear).

"Holy crap... what's going on?!"

Even those present, seasoned veterans of the commune, were caught off guard and quite frightened.
When the inhuman monster opened its mouth, baring its alloy teeth, and uttered a mixture of piercing electronic noise and ghostly, mournful words, the fear and discomfort reached their peak.
"My Franz, my Sarah don't be afraid, babies Mommy is here...to save you..."

(My Franz…my Sarah…don’t be afraid…babies…Mommy…is coming to save you…)
After speaking, the reactor indicator light on the cyborg's abdomen gradually dimmed, the light in its electronic eyes slowly went out, and the half-screwdriver it was holding fell to the ground.

Like a toy doll whose battery has run out, losing power, its entire body falls straight down, its limbs twitch for two seconds, and then it stops moving.

·
The basement was silent for a full half minute, and everyone could hear heavy breathing and pounding heartbeats.

"Fuck you... damn it..." Sergei muttered under his breath.

"It scared the hell out of me, I almost had a heart attack..."

Donya mustered her courage and approached, pressing her ear against the cyborg's lower abdomen:
"The reactor... is completely destroyed."

“What was that?” Nikolai let out a long breath and put down the pipe wrench in his hand;
"A final burst of energy before death?"

"I... I don't understand either. Logically speaking, that should never be possible..."

"What did that monster just say?"

"Damn... I almost peed my pants from fright, I don't remember anything, it all went in one ear and out the other..."

"Upgraded Technology,"

Paul rolled up his sleeves and played the recording using the personal messaging terminal strapped to his arm;
"My Franz...my Sarah...don't be afraid...babies...Mommy...is coming to save you..."

Even though the monster had fallen, everyone still felt a chill run down their spines after listening to the recording.

"Franz...Sarah...is she her child from her previous life?"

"Who knows? This guy's a cyberpsychotic, spouting nonsense. Don't trust him."

·
"Huh? What is that?"

Paul keenly noticed that the cyborg was hiding something in its mouth, something he hadn't noticed before because its teeth were clenched so tightly;
"Give me a sturdy steel ruler."

"What's wrong?"

"Don't come any closer, watch out for booby traps." Paul took the steel ruler, used his alloy teeth as a fulcrum, pried open the mouth, and pulled out a small metal can from under the bionic tongue.
To prevent the fuse from exploding, put on a helmet and carefully unscrew the can with a wrench. Inside was a rolled-up, yellowed old photograph.
“It’s alright, it wasn’t a booby trap,” Paul said, taking off his helmet.

"You little rascal, you have a sharp eye!" Sergei exclaimed.

"The oral mucosa is damaged and sloughed off, so it can hide things, and when you look for it, you can find it."

Paul used two nuts to hold down both ends of the photograph, flattening it out. He paused for two seconds before speaking:
"What it said... didn't seem like it was talking nonsense..."

·
Everyone gathered around to look; the photographic paper was very small, the clarity was poor, and it looked cheap.
It's one of those coin-operated self-service photo booths you often see on the street, usually used for couples to take selfies, but this one is clearly a family photo.

After everyone saw this, they all fell silent or sighed.
Even Nikolai, who had always been extremely hostile to cyborgs, sighed with regret, after all, people are made of flesh and blood.

Drizzt said, "In the middle of the photo, that big guy in overalls grinning like an idiot, isn't that Marcus Lynch, whom we buried in the Martyrs' Cemetery at our base a while back?"

"Yes, that's right..."

"So... that monster was... once... Captain Lynch's wife..."

"Yeah, stop talking... I understand..."

"Ugh…"

The information in the photo, combined with the monster's earlier frantic shouts, makes one vaguely guess at a sorrowful past buried for many years;
What exactly drives this inhuman cybernetic remnant to survive hidden in the factory ruins and become an urban legend?

What intense obsession and resentment drove this former wife and mother to madness and demonic depravity?

Paul took off his hat, seemingly in silent mourning, and everyone else followed suit.

The basement fell silent again, broken only by the crackling of cheap LED strips.

Everything is understood without words…

·
In the yellowed, curly photo, a burly, ugly middle-aged man wearing overalls is grinning foolishly at the camera.

The blond boy with messy hair looked excited as he rode on the ugly uncle's shoulders, making a V sign with one hand and pressing the shutter button to take a picture with the other.

A beautiful blonde housewife, dressed in a floral dress, is bending down to kiss the swaddled baby she is holding.

A line of small print was printed on the back of the photo:
"Taken at 128 Dalton Avenue, South Green Screen Mountain Amusement Park, New Campbusville, on Colony Planet 5, Sigmanas.

Customer comments:

"Dad doesn't like to laugh, but I have a way to get him to talk;"
Eggplant! ~”

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