World by the Heartstrings

Chapter 4: A Machine is Only as Strong as the Man Who Made It

The apples of Sarah's cheeks began to ache slightly because of the large grin that relentlessly tugged at her mouth, an effect of Ace's comical stories of the days of his youth. Another genuine giggle bubbled up through her esophagus, accompanied by a husky and rough chortle from the burly man sitting opposite her. She could tell that he was trying his best to make her feel better, and his efforts were not wasted. The muscles within her abdomen became knotted in protest of all her giddy laughter. She hadn't laughed like that in what felt like ages.

"I swear, it was the perfect plan!" he snickered. "Poor boy didn't even see it comin'."

Sarah's shoulders shuttered as more carefree laughter emerged from her lips. "I never knew you could concoct such a thing from only guinea pigs, Jell-O and toothpicks!" She giggled, her eyes glinting with mirth.

Her amusement was cut short when a hushed, chilled tone tinted with malice slipped into her ears. It licked at her eardrums and glazed them with barbaric promises and harsh punishments. It moved fluidly into her brain like water, drowning her psyche and numbing her senses with flashes of liquid-gold glasses and breached porcelain teeth peeking out behind a wicked smile. A tremor raced down her spine and seeped into her femur and tibia, forcing her to her feet.

"Uh...everythin' alrigh' munchkin?" Ace inquired as he brought the golden brown beer bottle to his lips to take a sip before setting it back down gently. For a second his tongue darted out to gather the leftover bitter drops that were caught on his bottom lip before gazing at her with concerned eyes.

She grinned a fox-like grin. "Yeah, I'm fine. Just thought I heard something. I guess my mind's just messing around with me." She waved him off carelessly. "I'm just going to stretch my legs for a bit, I've been feeling a little bit antsy lately..." Sarah was quickly returning to her normal self, for which she was grateful. She needed to recover her spirits if she wanted to stave off the recent apocalypse that had sheathed the world in gore and left a scent of rotten earth that twisted about the air. Ace responded with a shrug before indulging himself with another sip of beer.

She slowly walked around the corner and exited the kitchen, but halted shortly after, the light from the television across from her having illuminated her rapidly paling face. The Warden wore a look of disinterest and boredom, his lips pulled into a childish pout. His facial expression did nothing to mask the madness that was evident in his ebony eyes, which were concealed slightly by his honey-hued glasses.

"Daddy's quite busy right now, Jailbot. Now, what is it?" he scowled, coiling his long, leather clad fingers into a fist before slamming them into the arm of his metallic chair, clearly expressing that his patience was quickly thinning. The TV simply beeped and trilled softly as it directed the camera in Sarah's direction to reveal her existence. She stood with her lips parted in a small gape as she continued to stare. His stare fixated upon her form, which made her skin prickle with repulsion. His gaze promptly turned from one of disinterest to one of fascination. His lips immediately transfigured into a malevolent, almost poisonous smile.

"You still live? Interesting...I was so sure that I had left your for dead," he murmured lowly, threading his fingers together before resting them underneath his chin. He smirked haughtily and let out a deep chuckle, amusement clearly laced throughout it. "Now, now. I know full well that I'm ridiculously good looking, but your staring is making me blush!" the Warden squealed, much like a woman would if embarrassed.

It was then that Sarah noticed that her mouth had been agape. She quickly clamped her jaw shut, her teeth greeting each other with a small 'click.' Her lips pulled back into a snarl as her iris' darkened to a venetian red in agitation. "Don't flatter yourself!" she barked.

This only seemed to amuse The Warden further because he hurled himself ungracefully closer to the camera, his whole face now occupying the screen. "Oh, my! Am I making you angry...Sarah, was it? Well Sarah, you are by far one of the most interesting people I have come across in a while." He threw himself back against his chair, making it rock slightly. He propped his head up with his fist, his elbow resting on the arm of the chair casually. "Well I enjoyed our little meeting, Sarah but alas...I have to kill you now. I mean, I can't have my reputation soiled by having you still breathing!" An unnervingly sinister smile jerked at his lips.

Sarah glowered at him, courage that she thought had been lost long ago churning in her gut. She took a defiant step forward to challenge The Warden's statement as a smirk twisted her lips and a growl ripped through her throat."I don't think you need my help to soil your reputation!"

His grin simply grew wider, looking as if it would split his face in two. "I'm afraid this is goodbye, Sarah...Oh! And before I forget...Jailbot, be a good boy and kill that Ace Vanderhide, hmm? He's been on my shit list for a while, might as well bludgeon two birds with one stone!"

Sarah retreated back a step, her body tensing as a slight panic tickled her chest. Her breathing was slightly constricted by the bandages wrapped around her torso. The only thing she could wonder was, How the hell had Ace not heard all this going on? She was only a couple of feet out of the kitchen for Christ sake!"

"Play nice, Jailbot!" With that, the screen blacked out and the familiar smiley face emoticon took its place in the center once again. It regarded Sarah with a somewhat cheerful expression before darkening to a much more sinister look. Pixilated eyebrows appeared above Jailbot's acidic, green-dotted eyes. The added feature gave it a much more evil appearance and no longer made the machine's smile look chipper. It just made it look downright vicious.

Sarah stumbled back in awe as the television unfolded, white panels extending and sliding along to rearrange themselves into a new shape, one much larger than the form Jailbot had taken. Any excess panel that was sticking out folded in on itself into a rigid box shape with sharp angles. The screen was placed atop the robot as if it were its head and hovered above the ground, suspended by some unseen force. Six metallic tendrils, each with penetrative pincers, emerged on it's sides. There were three lined up vertically on either side, snapping at her threateningly.

Sarah let out a soft snort. "What? Is that all you've got?" Jailbot gave a small warble as his green pixilated expression frowned, transforming from green to a cherry red as it beeped in anger. Panels slid out of the way to welcome a multitude of missiles, machine guns and even some crossbows.

"Oh shit."

Sarah let out a small squeak before scrambling out of the way of vibrant lasers that were targeted at her small frame. "Ace!" she shrieked as she dashed into the kitchen, the house thundering and shaking from bullets and explosions. No wonder Ace hadn't come out to help, considering the kitchen was empty of one old ass veteran. "Mother fucker...he left me!" she rasped as she forced herself against the dusty kitchen wall. Brown clouds of dirt and debris flowed into her airways from the detonations of weapons. She lurched forward as a violent cough was ripped from her throat after her attempt at trying to stifle it.

There was a brief silence. Her ears still rang slightly as her body pulsed in unison with her rapid heartbeat. Sarah tried to control her breathing, only exhaling in soft and silent puffs of air. She heard a faint hum and strained her hearing, pressing her ear up against the wall adjacent to her. Sarah listened intently. A whirring sound was being emitted from an unknown source, seeming to get louder and louder every second.

"What...?" Her eyes became wild and frantic as she came to a conclusion and threw herself as far as she could to put as much distance as possible between her person and the wall. A split second later, the wall shattered as if made of glass and the bulky, white form of Jailbot now floated among the dispersing debris and toxic dust. Her torso was illuminated in bright red before Jailbot launched a missile the size of a football at her. Yelping loudly, she ran out of the kitchen and rounded the corner. To her dismay, it was still following her with a soft whistle as it cut through the air like a blade.

"'Heating seeking'? Fuckin' A!" she screeched. Her legs began to prickle with exhaustion. Her eyes narrowed and her thoughts buzzed with activity before she smirked like the cat that ate the canary. Sarah quickly made a sharp left and jumped through a jagged hole in a wall, courtesy of Jailbot, with the missile still on her tail. She rounded another corner, and entered through the opposite end of the kitchen, her feet thundering against the smooth marble floors as she made her way toward Jailbot. Jailbot took notice of her change in position and turned to face her with a high pitched shriek. Its expression altered from happy to disappointed, obviously hoping for her demise.

However, once Jailbot took notice of the projectile that was mimicking her every move, the robot's face assumed a flashing red exclamation point display in panic. Jailbot couldn't move quickly enough as Sarah vaulted over the machine, causing the missile to clash with the distressed robot. Sarah was sure to dive out of the way as a blaring and heated explosion commenced. Smoke gathered in thick clouds of gray as the scent of burnt metal took hostage of her nose. She coughed into the crook of her arm. The smoke burned her lungs and throat in thick heated waves. Slowly she made her way out of the now demolished house, her face smudged with dust and ash. The toxic clouds began to fade and part, revealing a ruined Jailbot. His porcelain metal was stained a coal black, varying in darkness on different parts of its body. Some of its metallic limbs hung limply at its side while others were bent oddly and broken. Sparks spewed out from holes and abrasions that littered its body. A diverse amount of wires jutted out from tears and the graying metal withered. A spider web of cracks and splintered glass enveloped its screen as a gloomy frown flickered. Jailbot released a soft whine, whimpering as it retreated and flew off, most likely to return to its master.

"Holy… crap..." she breathed, as she hunched over and gripped at her knees, exhaling in ragged gasps. "If I ever see Ace again, I'm gonna—" Sarah let out a surprised yelp as she was hoisted into the air and crushed against a massive chest.

"Haha! I knew ya could do it! Ya definitely pass!" yowled a grinning Ace.

Sarah pushed out of his suffocating embrace. "What the hell, old man? You left me! I could have died!"

"Ah, but ya didn't. I knew Jailbot was there, jus' wanted to see what I'd be workin' with," he responded as he slapped her on the back. "If ya couldn't survive goin' toe-to-toe with Jailbot, chances are ya weren't gonna last long against anything else. So at least we know ya definitely have potential. Now I have a good idea as to where to start ya off on yer trainin, so I wouldn't say it was a complete waste."

"I'm not really sure how I'm supposed to respond to that, so I think I'm just gonna punch you in the face." And punch him in the face she did.

A/N: Another chapter of World by the Heartstrings has come to an end. I would just be tickled pink if my dear readers would post a review, they mean a lot to me. 8D Now here's a little math problem for you!

Read + Review = One happy as hell Author who will bow to your every whim. EVERY. FREAKIN'.WHIM.

Letter to my Muse: I would have never been able to put this up without you, seriously. From your encouraging notes to your impeccable grammar, you have definitely helped me excel in my writing. Thanks for the brilliant title ideas and everything else. (Don't feel like giving you a list. To lazy)