Joseph Trance

Program Tweak

  Karin Tridell stood up slowly, the leather whip dangling from its carrier, hung loosely over her right hip.
She entered the holographic simulator and turned on the “Whip Bots’ Butts” program.  The lights dimmed and her attackers emerged from the darkness.  Karin turned off the Level 1 safety switch.  She wanted a more realistic workout, but didn’t want to stress herself too much.  But where was the fun and danger in the program if she left the safety switch completely on?   She had been feeling over confident and wondered what could she do to improve her defenses?  The seven bots that surrounded her, hidden by grotesque face masks, chanted in unholy tongues.  Karin turned slowly in the middle of their circle and eyed each one of them. 
    
      “Shut the hell up,” she whispered as she completed her turn.   The chanting died down but continued on simmer mode, whispering   their ungodliness.    One of the bots standing directly behind her extended a mechanical arm towards the back of her head, and arched its bladed fingers.  Karin raised her left hand and without turning to face the bot, she shouted, “KEY_TAM_A!”   The air pulsed and the bots’ arm and fingers disintegrated.
 
      Three bots standing in front of her moved in.   Karin extended her arms out, palms down and took a deep in-breath.   Jet streams of red fire shot downward from her palms and her body lifted like a rocket.  In a unified movement the bots legs extended and they rose together in the air like a tower coming after her.   The bots faces were approaching her knees when Rita stopped rising and hovered in mid-air. 
Her body rotated and she moved into a crouched position.  The bots hesitated for a micro second and that’s all Rita needed.  She shifted her position and her legs extended until she was “sitting.”  Her whole body began to spin mid-air, and she kicked off the faces of the bots.  Metal pieces flew in every direction and crashed to the floor.
  
     On the ground, the three remaining bots joined mechanical arms and morphed themselves into an old fashioned Gatling gun.  They positioned the gun upward and fired a spray of green light molten bullets.  Karin’s  palms re-fired and she took off towards the ceiling.  She dodged the spray of bullets weaving in and out like a kite blowing in the wind.  She avoided most of them but as she approached the ceiling and safe ground, there bullets nicked her left leg and a stream of blood gushed out.

     “AAAAYYY III!”   Karin screamed.  Her left hand moved quickly to press on the bullet wound, and she wavered in the air as she lost her left palm jet.  With her right hand she unleashed her whip as the bottom of her feet fired jets and she recovered her balance in the air.  The bots stopped firing and disconnected themselves to reload as Rita hovered.  She turned slowly in the air.  Her eyes glowed fire.  She took a breath and her body puffed up.    She made a one hundred and eighty-degree turn in midair and rocketed towards the bots.  She snapped the whip three times as she approached.
“Yiiii!   Yiiii!  Yiii!!!”  She yelled.   The bots reassembled and began to fire at her.   Karin dogged the fire easily.   The whip snapped and extended towards the Gatlin.  It made a loop around the turn trigger and wrapped itself around the handle.  Karin jerked the whip and the handle snapped off and was anchored to the whip. The bots disconnected and began to scramble.
    
     “Hell, no!”  Karin screamed.   She snapped the whip again, the handle of the gun now part of her weapon.  She whirled it and swung it at the bots’ heads.  The handle knocked the heads off the bots and their bodies crumpled to the floor.  Karin floated above the Bot debris. 

     “End Program,”   she said.    The atmosphere faded and the halo-floor came back into view. She descended and softly landed.  She began to walk out of the simulator but as she did so she felt a pain in her leg.  She reached down and pressed her palm over the wound. 

     “Note to self…wear bullet proof boots.”  She hobbled out of the simulator, with her palm pressed against her leg. 

All rights belong to its author. It was published on e-Stories.org by demand of Joseph Trance.
Published on e-Stories.org on 01/15/2013.

 
 

Comments of our readers (0)


Your opinion:

Our authors and e-Stories.org would like to hear your opinion! But you should comment the Poem/Story and not insult our authors personally!

Please choose

Previous title Next title

More from this category "Science-Fiction" (Short Stories in english)

Other works from Joseph Trance

Did you like it?
Please have a look at:


Pulse - Joseph Trance (Thoughts)
El Tercer Secreto - Mercedes Torija Maíllo (Science-Fiction)
Heaven and Hell - Rainer Tiemann (Humour)