Next Human: Leon Livingston

Age: 20

Fav Color: Yellow

Occupation: Tobacco Specialist

Those were the first things Leon saw after watching an old lady be cut apart by machines and his conscious leaving the database. The upload was instantaneous, his vision being regained immediately upon being installed into the head of his new body. A sword was flung into his right hand before he was tossed onto the conveyor belt just like the one before him.

“And now for our next challenger, a small dog.” Came an all too familiar voice.

“Amazing!” proclaimed another familiar voice.

As he climbed to his feet, Leon attempted to recall anything that could help him. He knew he was being sent to fight to the death, but would he fight the same enemies as that Kristy woman had? He glanced down at his sword, which hummed quietly in his hand. He’d been handy with a knife when he’d been alive, so a sword was just a bigger version wasn’t it? If he only had to face up against one of those robots then he could use that time to get familiar with his weapon. If he was going to die he would take out as many as he could first. In truth Leon would have prefered to escape but from what he’d seem those chances seemed slim if not completely non-existent.

“Just kidding, it is another human.” Finished Analysis-Bot, delivering the punchline with a graceful monotone.

“A shame.” Stated Commentatron dejectedly.

Leon dropped onto the elevator and began his ascent to what he assumed was the first fight of many. He doubted fatigue was an issue when it came to these bodies, so if he were to take a guess they’d run him into the ground eventually. He’d just have to think up something before then. The moment the elevator stopped, he charged towards the blue robot that stood across the arena from him. At the same time it began its approach, opting on occasion to jump at random intervals.

‘I’ll need to watch for that jump, in case it tries to avoid my blade.’ Leon thought to himself as he collected all of the information he could on his enemy.

It made sense that if his enemy could jump then so could he. He tried it out and launched himself into the air before landing perfectly into a run. If his new body could keep this up without him getting tired then he doubted there would be any trouble facing an endless onslaught of opponents. Finally they reached each other and the robot swung at him from his left. Leon dove into the air, thrusting his sword downwards into the robot. It pierced through its right shoulder and continued through the waist, slicing the robot in half. The top of the robot toppled off and clunked to the ground, the legs standing upright and rigid.

Leon chuckled to himself as he basked in the glory of his victory. The blade was quite easy to use and cut through their metal like butter. Their reaction times weren’t especially fast either, so he could easily strike first. Grinning inwardly, as he had no face to grin with, Leon turned to see the garbage bots leaving their small room to take away the scrap metal that now littered the floor at his feet. He started to move towards the opening, however after a few steps the garbage bots had already taken the remains and had carted it into the room, sealing it off.

‘If I can be next to that door when it opens, I can try and find a way out through there.’ Leon thought as he turned back towards the elevator, ‘I’ll try ending the round next to that spot then.’

After he took the elevator back down he was greeted with a similar sight to what he had seen during Kristy’s time in the arena. The commentators were busy talking up the next level, however Leon doubted it would be different from when Kristy went up there.

‘I should probably make a habit out of listening to their garble though,’ he thought, sincerely dreading the time he had to do that, ‘They might actually spit out something useful.’

“Coming up, three robots swing their swords at another robot!” declared Commentatron.

“The robot with a human mind.” added Analysis-Bot.

“How do you defeat three robots?” asked Commentatron in mock concern.

“In the same way you eat an elephant. You slice them into small pieces.” joked Analysis-Bot, or at least Leon hoped he was joking.

As he approached the television robot, Leon noticed his name had been printed to his right on the wall. Upon further examination he also found that his listed job was incorrect, though he’d give them credit for trying to make an illegal job sound legal. Why hadn’t he tried that? He turned back to the machine and allowed it to pick him up. The circles appeared on the screen just like they had the last time, however Leon was finally able to get a look at what they said. There seven upgrades for him to choose from, ranging from sword upgrades to a new weapon or a ‘clone’ whatever that did.

‘So it’s an upgrade bot.’ mused Leon silently as he skimmed over the descriptions of each upgrade.

He decided to stick with what he knew, blades. It hadn’t failed him in life and it certainly wouldn’t in death. Unbalance seemed to be the best choice for his current situation. The less his opponent could attack and defend the more openings it would leave. He selected the upgrade and let the robot handle the rest. Sparks flew from his head and it threw him from its grasp. By the time Leon had landed he had already turned and began his trip back towards the elevator. He’d give them a show, then he’d show them just how foolish they were to consider him disposable.

He rose up in the lift and was greeted with saw blades buzzing across the arena. Across from him was the garbage bot door and in between him and his goal were three blue sword robots. If he could grin there was no doubt he would have been at that moment. He rushed forwards, boxed in by the saws on either side of him with the sword robots closing in from the front. One came from his left while the other two came from the right. He moved left and their swords clashed, his sword recovering well before the enemy’s. He swung to the right, slicing the robot directly through the waist. He trampled over the remains as they toppled to the ground in two clean piles. He’d managed to flank the enemy as they were now in pursuit from behind him. He turned to face them while running backwards further towards the exit. He would cut them down as close as he possible could.

The remaining two robots grouped up as Leon renewed his attack. He swung from the right again, cutting through the first robot’s arms as it raised its sword. However in this moment of vulnerability the second sword robot successfully finished an attack, the sword shearing off part of his right shoulder and back plating. Furious, Leon swung the sword back and drove it through the chest of the last sword robot, disconnecting an arm and its head from the rest of the body.

Red signals flared in his vision, reporting the damage that had just been delivered. He had been careless and nearly paid dearly for it. However now wasn’t the time to be distracted, as the moment the last robot fell to his blade, the door began to open to the new room. The garbage bots flew out and Leon flew in. Or so he tried. A field of energy blocked his way and the moment he touched it, he was launched across the arena, landing only a few metres away from the elevator. He was left dazed on the floor, unable to move as the commentators scolded him like an animal.

“Bad Human” Commentatron shouted, as if disciplining a dog.

“That room is not for you” added Analysis-Bot with the same level of respect, none.

“See the elevator behind you” pointed out Commentatron, his eyes lighting up with each word.

“That is where you should go” instructed Analysis-Bot as Leon finally managed to recover.

A rage he knew well sweltered up inside of him. He fought to urge to scream curses and to try once again to break through. It seemed he’d almost lost control once again to his personality… quirks. He spun around and returned to the elevator, desperate to escape the spotlight and embarrassment. In time he’d form a new plan to escape and when the time came, if he couldn’t escape, he’d at least cut down the commentators before dying. That’d satisfy his alter self.

“Analysis-Bot, what do you think of arrows?” queried Commentatron

“I think they are great for killing humans!” responded Analysis-Bot enthusiastically

“Then let’s hope they hit this one.” declared Commentatron, almost in spite.

Leon arrived at the upgrade bot and looked at the screen. With his unit already damaged only two rounds in, he would have to pick the clone option in hope that it would get him a new body. Mind transfer didn’t appear to be an issue and he needed to be in peak form if he wanted to survive long enough to escape. Or take out the commentators. Whichever came first. He picked the clone option and instead of being zapped in the head, the upgrade bot simply pointed to his left. Leon glanced over to see a door open and a robot identical to his current one, minus the damage, slid into the room. He turned back to the screen to find that the Clone slot now said one out of five before he was thrown away by the robot. So he had four more clones left, they didn’t even grant him as many as he could afford it seemed.

“What kind of almighty power did these scrap heaps think…” began Leon’s rant before he quickly shut it down, “No, I need to hold it together if I want to live. No time to let you run free.”

He shook off the doubt holding him down and proceeded to the elevator. With the added security blanket of a clone, he’d be able to safely check out the new robots without severe repercussions. He just hoped they were as easy to deal with as the sword robots. The elevator took him up to the arena where he finally got his first proper look at the bow robot. They sported the same colour as the sword robots and carried only a bow from what Leon could see. Other than that they appeared almost identical, at least from this distance. Each bot stood on the outskirts of the arena, next to saw blades. They would be at a huge advantage until he closed the distance so he immediately began running towards them. They were primarily grouped on the left side of the arena, however a lone robot stood to the right side.

‘If I let them attack me from behind they could easily shoot me in a blind spot,’ analysed Leon as he ran towards the lonesome robot, avoiding the arrows that trailed behind him, ‘so I’d best keep them in my view at all times.’

He reached the first bow robot with relative ease, approaching it so that he could still see the other four archers. It fired an arrow towards him, glowing blue with energy. However Leon easily maneuvered out of the way and struck it down. His sword was driven through its head, cutting directly through a reticle that he hadn’t seen on the robot until he had gotten closer. The sword proceeded in a diagonal line through the chest of the robot, the head and left arm sliding along the new surface onto the floor. Relief flooded Leon, these were far easier to deal with than the sword robots. Their attacks were too slow and easy to avoid, he would have no trouble, especially once he got that Block Arrow upgrade or whatever it had been called.

“Weaklings, the lot of you.” he heard himself mutter. Despite the small comfort of a clone the stress was getting to him and it was showing.

Four more arrows struck home where Leon had just been as he bolted across the arena towards the four in a group. He’d make short work of them before returning for another upgrade. He struck at the first in the group, however his attack was off and merely severed a leg. Caught off guard he moved to the side to avoid a retaliation from the crippled robot in front of him. The other robots fired as well, one of them catching Leon in the side of the head. It tore through his eye socket and the next thing Leon saw was the upgrade bot pointing towards the elevator.

For a while he simply stood still, the fight still going on in his head. This was the first time he had felt the true gravity of his situation. He would die here if he was too weak. He would die, and nobody would care. Without realising it he had already begun his trip back towards the elevator.

The elevator was waiting for him when he arrived and he wondered whether the entire arena had been reset. However his worries were short lived as upon being lifted back into the arena he could see that it had been exactly as he had left it, with the addition of his cold metallic corpse also lying on the ground. Looking at it brought a rush of excitement to his mind, an electric spark in the place of adrenaline. He knew this feeling well, but how could he fight it after witnessing his own death. Even his usual calculating demeanour and intelligence had failed him.

‘You lost this battle the moment you died,’ a voice whispered critically in his head, ‘You don’t have what it takes to survive. Just rely on me again, as always.’