***

They made their way through the shallows. Rylie followed close behind the Cyborgs. The algae thickened into sludge and her only hope of keeping up was the light from their eyes.

Everything was green and red, chunky and wet; it plastered itself against the watershield and distorted her view. She felt unclean just being in its proximity. The factory they were headed for was only several miles up the shore but it took them forever to approach it and the closer they got, the thicker the water became.

She could feel the pollution seeping into her very being, even through the walls of her pod. Rylie shuddered, feeling unclean.

Rylie caught a glimpse of Netto’s tail. Her distorted view made him look like another one of the serpents that occasionally swam by. She bit back her fear each time one brushed against her pod. I’m safe.

Safe. She repeated it like a prayer as she followed the Cyborg’s light.

They turned toward the shore and her pod rose above the waves. The muck slid down the windows of her vessel as the late afternoon light appeared.

Rylie chewed on the inside of her cheek at the factory emerged. She didn’t want to look at it but like a shipwreck, she couldn’t peel her eyes away.

There were algae-coated leviathans everywhere. They flailed about and attacked each other as they climbed up the beach. This has to be it. It had to be. The attack on the colony and its pier were nothing compared to the surge of water-beasts pummeling the giant pipes that spewed waste into the ocean.

She counted at least a dozen pipes that extended from the factory, although most were crushed and destroyed. There could’ve been more, but Rylie wasn’t sure. Her stomach cramped up. A siren rang from the roof of the structure. It was loud enough to penetrate her pod and blare in her ears.

She drove the vessel onto land a little ways away, following the cues of the Cyborgs. The water continuously grew thicker until she swore it was no longer water, but brown goop, bordering on paste. Her worry amplified for those who may still be trapped out on the ocean, and for the ocean itself.

This was her planet and it was being harmed—her livelihood was being harmed, people had died, were dying, and others were missing. It made her heart ache; it made her angry.

I hope Da and Janet are okay. She hoped they had gotten the survivors medical care.

The hatch slipped open and she winced; her senses abruptly attacked by the chaos.

Netto grabbed her arm and pulled her away from the vessel and further onto land. They ran through the brush and sand and away from the monsters crowded at the run-offs. The sound worsened the closer they got to the factory.

“We have to find a way inside!” Zeph yelled over the noise. “It’s on lockdown.”

Rylie panted, out-of-breath and stopped. Netto and Zeph were covered in slime and she shook off what had gotten on her arm.

“Why?” she asked as she followed them to the main structure, doing her best to keep up.

“There are people stuck inside,” Netto answered, his voice a low boom amongst the high-pitched wails. “Their hearts are fluttering like hummingbird wings.”

People. She looked back at the shore and the toppling destruction. If the creatures broke through the brick and steel walls, there would be no place for them to go. Their only options would be to wait or fight.

They picked up speed as they came upon the entrance, and there was already a team of vehicles and drones at the front, trying to break down the security door. Some were working at several holographic screens, codes running up and down them, codes that worked to override and break the system. Her settlement had them as well.

“Damn it! We need to evacuate them now! If the fertilizer catches fire...”

Zeph sped toward the group but the gravity wasn’t lost on her. Rylie choked back a wave of adrenaline that rode the waves of her fear. Netto turned to her and caught her arm.

“Get them out of here,” Netto said, as his eyes dulled into a cold grey, they bore through her, chilling with intensity. “Get them as far away as possible.”

She wiped the back of her hand across her brow.

“Okay,” Rylie didn’t ask for clarification; she trusted him.

Netto took hold of her hand and squeezed as she turned away, but he pulled her back to him.

“Stay safe. Don’t enter the facility, no matter what.” He kissed her and let her go. She missed the soft touch of his lips immediately. Rylie watched as Netto rushed to the doors and the drones working on the holograms before them.

Rylie caught up to Zeph, who had begun ushering the bystanders to run. A tremor shook the ground, the rumble rang out above the sirens. People picked up their feet in its aftermath.

She relieved Zeph and ran between the triage and helped the wounded that could run to their feet, and those that couldn’t, find an android or human who could carry them.

The crunch of metal screeched through her ears. The sound set her last nerves on fire. She turned to find the front security door split down the middle and no sign of either Cyborg. The punctured metal told her well enough that they broke their way in, literally.

People rushed out of the shredded crevasse. Rylie moved to help them through. The jagged metal cut and dug into those not careful enough to maneuver through it in their frenzy, and when they did she urged them to run down the road where the others had fled despite their gashed skin.

Some asked her questions but she pressed them on for medical treatment. There was no time, no safety, and no medical nearby anymore. Haggard faces came continued to come through, eyes filled with fear.

Men and women, and even advanced androids fled the building. The robots stayed behind with her unless they carried the wounded away. Their programming wouldn’t let them leave the scene if there were human lives at stake.

Rylie waited for Netto to come back through but he didn’t. Time slowed to a crawl as her worry ratcheted. There’s so many.

A burst of dust had her drawing back and coughing as a loud roar sailed through the air. It was followed by the shrill shriek of something else. It had to be the monsters on the other side breaking down the pipes and penetrating the walls.

The drum of her heart was in her throat. Rylie hacked as the grime in the air coated the interior of her mouth.

“Faster!” She sputtered around the debris and helped a woman detach her torn lab coat from the metal. She tempered her urgency for their sake, but it became more difficult while the noises from the nearby shore rose with each passing second.

When the people stopped pushing through, she peered into the hole to see no one beyond but for several androids.

“Netto! Zeph?” Her voice rang through the clouded garage and echoed back to her with no answer. Rylie jumped back as another person ran her way and pushed through.

Her eyes watered. The sirens stopped. The sudden drop in noise prickled her skin. She gasped as the dust thickened, her stomach cramped up, and the world spun. Rylie yelped as she was suddenly picked up and carried away from the building.

“Wait! No! Netto!” she screamed as the smell of gasoline permeated the air. She fought the grip of whoever had her as the crack grew smaller the farther they got.

“Let me down!” she thrashed.

“There are dangerous levels of methane and benzene. The risk of poisoning is one hundred percent if you stay more than two minutes within the area.” The voice was monotone and regulated. An android held her.

“What?” she coughed and rasped. Her vision blurred. Her ears rang and she wasn’t sure if she heard it correctly.

The android repeated itself and continued running. They soon caught up to the others who were fleeing the scene. It didn’t release her.

Rylie twisted back to look for Netto but he was nowhere. The robot’s hold on her strengthened as the hard, hollow sound of a shock wave pulsed beneath them. She sucked in and braced. Those around her fell on deaf ears as the air puffed out a roar and a metal hand clamped over her eyes as a bright light blinded her to everything.

She cowered behind the shield of the android as a gust of wind pushed them forward. There was nothing but screams before the explosion.

Rylie lost her senses as a heavy wave of heat enveloped her. When the world returned, so did the cries of the wounded.

She choked back a sob. Netto.

***

“WHAT THE HELL DID YOU guys put into that water?!” Zeph screamed at the lead scientist. The man looked a strange cross between utterly terrified and unbelievably excited to be in the presence of a Cyborg.

“Well, um, you see, when we first got here growing crops was, well, hard...” the man hedged.

“Now!” Netto interjected, flashing his teeth and pulsing the blue of his eyes. The scientist looked ready to wet himself.

“Oh, yes, um, can you please have your goon stand back? He’s making me very uncomfortable,” he pleaded, avoiding eye contact with him.

Zeph laughed. “I don’t tell him what to do. Perhaps you should tell your story before you lose a limb.  I’ve heard modern medicine is good enough that you might not lose it forever. We’d make sure you did,” Zeph replied, “And Netto might be inclined to eat it.”

The scientist blanched, the whites of his eyes striated with fear.

“Enough! What did you do?” Netto growled.

“When we first a-arrived,” his voice shook, “we were not prepared for the difficulties that came with growing crops on a non-terraformed world. Nothing responded to the soil and while the local flora was uncooperative with regard to industrialization, our Earthian transplant species were utterly impossible. We are outside of any Earthian regulatory involvement, so the local planetary council, who has jurisdiction in these matters, you see, approved research for accelerated fertilizers. See, what we did is take the standard nitrate and phosphate boosters that worked well in the past and added complexes to the mix that would signal cell uptake. Effectively, we kicked the plant growth into high gear in order to overcome the issues we were having,” the scientist sputtered, spraying saliva with each sentence.

“We didn’t have time to survey. Everyone was panicked that we would run out of food because the first four generations of crops failed. So we went ahead and did what we figured would work. And it did! It worked beyond our wildest dreams. The only problem then was when we finally figured out that the bio-uptake regulator we were using for plants also seemed to work on the local sea-life, we were too far in.  There was no way we could discontinue production without crippling the food production of the colony.

“You see, we built too good of a growth catalyst. It doesn’t really degrade and it seems to work forever. So as we went through more and more planting cycles, and the concentration in the oceans kept rising from the runoff.  As the concentration went up, so did the wildlife response. We assumed that the oceanic relay network that the EPED installed would live up to its hundred year guarantee. The system is defective—”

“No,” Netto said under his breath, feeling calm despite the circumstances. “I was here when it was installed.”

“It could not have been foreseen! It’s not our fault the EPED’s tech faulted. We had no way of knowing that this would happen. This is totally unprecedented with Earthian species and we continued on with the promise the seawall,” the scientist argued, throwing off the blame.

Netto didn’t have to look to know Zeph wanted to pull the man’s spine out through his throat but shut him up. But they couldn’t, as long as the man continued to talk, Zeph and Netto continued to record.

“It doesn’t matter anyway! Everything is gone...” the scientist had a cold, distant glare in his eyes. “The plant is gone.” They hardened suddenly as he looked at Zeph, “There’s no evidence. Nothing. We’re innocent.”

“Hmm,” Netto hummed and didn’t bother correcting the scientist. Netto grabbed the back of the man’s shirt and dragged him toward several nearby emergency vehicles. He handed the man to the local authorities without a word except to give instructions to deliver him to the Montihan homestead and to Zeph’s ship.

The scientist had earned a place in Zeph’s lab, inside one of the empty enclosures usually reserved for animals. It was as good as any brig but with no privacy and no upkeep.

Netto didn’t stay; he needed to find Rylie. Even his charred skin couldn’t stop him from seeking her out on the outskirts.

Many died. Many.

But more had been saved. And he had made sure she was safe, sending one of Fert Tech’s androids after her, recoded to his specifications. It didn’t settle the wires that thrummed through his chest. Those wouldn’t stop until she was within his sight and within the shield of his arms.

It was all he could do to not run in the direction of the android’s signature. She’s fine. She’s being treated for carbon monoxide poisoning but nothing else. It was all there in the android’s systems.

When his eyes landed on her, she was lying on a slat in a medical vehicle, with a plastic clamp over her mouth. She was breathing but there was a hitch with every inhale. In the evening gloom and with exhaustion painting her features, she was still the most beautiful thing in the universe. He climbed into the transport and sat at her side.

“Stay still,” he placed his hand on her chest as she moved to get up. He smelled the tears in her eyes before they rolled down her cheeks. When Rylie settled back, he kissed her forehead.

Netto breathed her in and caressed her hair until the crease in her brow vanished.

“Is...it over?” she mumbled over the apparatus in her mouth.

“Shh, now. It will be soon. There’s a lot of damage and a lot of people hurt. The death count is climbing, Kepler has taken a significant hit to its population.” Netto located a cloth and began to clean the smut on her face. “We saved a lot.”

He fell into silence as he cleaned her up, taking care to avoid any skin that appeared raw. The dirt pulled free from the chemicals on the cloth and disintegrated into the air. With each slow swipe of his hand, her bronzed skin came back into view.

Rylie watched him.

“Fert Tech was the cause of the phosphates in the water, which increased the algae bloom in the area. The fertilizer they made went toward the crops for the local agriculture farms. And I think toward farms off Kepler’s surface. The increase in demand increased the run-offs.”

An android peered into the vehicle and Netto willed it away. He didn’t want his words to be recorded before he had contacted the EPED and Montihan.

“The amount in the water—although I haven’t analyzed it yet—was at devastating levels. It went unchecked or ignored for some time. Enough to affect the natural balance. Zeph is interrogating one of the CEOs. Everything came to a head when the algae attracted the attention of those creatures on the other side of the barrier.” Netto ran his tongue over the points of his teeth. “It’s the only explanation I have. My only guess.” He took hold of Rylie’s hand and cleaned her palm. He lifted it to his lips and kissed the clean surface.

“If it wasn’t for your father contacting us...”

She muttered something then sighed, giving in to the breather attached to her face.

Netto continued when she gave in.

“More would have died. When we fixed the module, those creatures that were stuck on our side gravitated toward the overgrowth. The phosphate irritated me, and I have cells that filter toxins. I can’t imagine what it did to them.”

Rylie closed her eyes tight before reopening them. She gripped the breather and pulled it out. Netto didn’t stop her but instead helped her sit up as she coughed up phlegm.

“I hate those things.”

“Everyone does,” he held her hair back. “But you took in a lot of toxins. The drip clears your systems, it’s not meant to be comfortable.”

“I’ll put it back in in a few,” she conceded with another cough. “I only want a couple of minutes. The android said I wasn’t poisoned.”

“No, but the air is still thick.”

Netto got up and closed the door to the vehicle before he returned to her side. He adjusted the settings to filter and sanitize.

“Are Janet and Da okay?”

“Yes, they’re still at the colony.”

Rylie wrapped her arms around her middle and sat forward. One of her hands rose to cup her throat and massage her trachea. “My throat tickles, ech.”

“So does mine,” he smiled until her lips lifted. For once, for several moments there was nowhere else he needed to be but with her and vice versa. He wanted to enjoy her smiles.

“Will Fert Tech pay for what it did?”

“Yes, and more.”

“More?”

“They’ll go to trial and their off-world licenses will be reviewed, possibly terminated, and those that were responsible to report to the government will be interrogated. There was negligence. It’s up to the EPED to figure who the guilty parties are.”

“Good. I hope they're dealt with,” Rylie sniffled. Netto ran his hand up and down her back; he couldn’t stop touching her. He never wanted to stop touching her. Amongst the corruption and death, the fire and blood, he found her and, although he was worse for wear, exhausted in his own right, he was happy.

Happy when no one else was.

“Yes.”

They sat there for some time as he continued to pet her and as she began to tire out. Her pulse slowed down and continued to do so the longer he was with her. When she moved to lie back down, he swept her hair from her face.

“We still don’t have nuggets to give you,” Rylie chuckled under her breath.

“I know.”

“How will we pay you? It could be years before the next harvest...if we ever have one again.” She closed her eyes and sighed wearily.

“Don’t worry about that now. And with any luck, now that Fert Tech is gone, everything will go back to normal. There’s no point in having technology if you don’t know how to use it.”

“Yeah, I guess that’s true. And you?”

“What about me?” Netto rested his elbows on the slat and threaded his fingers, needing to be closer to her.

“What will you do now?”

“Stay until you’re better.”

Rylie smiled up at him, her eyes hooded, her body pliant and limp. “You’ll still be here when I wake up? I don’t want you to leave without saying goodbye.”

Netto stiffened and lifted the breather.

“I’ll be here.”

She opened her lips and he placed the apparatus back into her mouth. He remained with her while she slept.