Chapter 15:
The God of Creation
WOULD THAT HAVE changed anything?
It would have changed nothing.
A-Ka had also pondered this question more than once. If someone else had picked up Heishi by the sea, then it would be a different human accompanying him. They also would have escaped during the rebellion and would probably even have obtained Professor Callan’s transformative vaccine. Likely the only thing destined to happen had been the effects of the vaccine that Professor Callan had injected into A-Ka before his death. That meant Callan could have picked any human; it didn’t matter who. That person would have been tasked with helping the Son of God enter Father’s Nucleus to restart the entire Astrolabe.
“We’re here,” Heishi’s cool voice said.
They had ridden the conveyor belt to its end, and the area in front of them buzzed with noise, as if there were robots working furiously. Having passed through a large part of the Western District, they were now in the spare parts refinery. When A-Ka poked his head out, he saw that the sky was filled with flying robots, including units that were equipped with death rays.
The first box fell to the ground with a heavy thud. Heishi pulled himself out and backed up, stepping onto the pile of containers and leaping upward. He caught A-Ka as he fell out of the second box.
The third box fell with an earthshaking thud. Just as Huixiong and Shahuang were about to emerge, a robot zoomed over and dragged the container away in its steel clamps.
“Oh, damn it!” A-Ka said.
“You guys go first. I’ll go find them!” Feiluo said.
“After you do, get on the conveyor belt and we’ll meet up at the casting factory!” A-Ka said. “We still need to get on a second conveyor belt. This place is still too far from the Nucleus.”
Feiluo gestured to Heishi, who immediately took A-Ka and ran. They searched all over for conveyor belts, just as piercing sirens began to sound in the distance.
“Signs of life. Attention, signs of life,” an electronic alarm shrilled. “Humans and clones, step away from the raw materials immediately.”
Heishi pushed A-Ka behind a container, shielding him with his body. With a slight flick of his wrist, he pulled out a long knife, while A-Ka untied his weapon, the mechanical limb strapped to his back, fixed it to his left arm, and prepared to engage the enemy in combat.
“Do not fire,” Heishi ordered.
A-Ka’s could hear his pulse in his ears, even though it felt like his veins were full of ice. When he saw that Feiluo was running toward the spot where the sirens were originating from, he shouted, “Don’t attack!”
There were still quite a few clones in the hall, and upon hearing the alert, they began to cluster around the conveyor belt. Feiluo pulled out his electronic card with one hand, holding his gun in his other hand, and indicated that all of them be quiet.