Fritz
New member
Continues from https://forums.sidequest.ca/threads...ugs-ishtar-fritz-brennan-lexi-vera.17/post-49
After last night's power outage across Nashville, the streetlights were the highest priority to bring back. The city had struggled until help had arrived from a multinational tech company eager to be seen literally giving power back to the people. The streets were soon lit, re-enabling travel and commerce through Tennessee's biggest city. Even if most houses were still dark.
Orange lights passing overhead cast the street in a strobing glow as Fritz wove between big rigs hauling whatever cargo was important enough that it needed to be driven through Nashville at nearly 4 in the morning. Glancing back, Fritz saw that the bigger of the two helicopters had peeled off to follow him. It was far too new for him to know what kind of chopper it was. But he could see that instead of one overhead rotor for lift and a tail rotor to keep it from spinning, it had two overhead rotors that span in opposite directions. Clever, he thought. Simple design, though it required twice the torque to keep the rotors spinning.
The helicopter flew low, barely clearing the trailers on the big rigs as it closed the distance between itself and him. As hard as he pushed the old motorbike, it would never outrun a beast like that.
"Still," Fritz yelled to nobody in particular. "I'm more maneuverable. I can slip into a culvert and pay the Regent a visit and be gone before they even land."
The moment he said that, he caught a glimpse in his rear-view mirror as a couple of shadows dropped the 30 or so feet from the helicopter to the street. The shadows landed with precisely-calibrated grace and began running. Fast. The shadows were a blur in his mirrors. He looked back and watched as one jumped up onto the trailer of a truck and effortlessly used its speed to catapult itself at him.
Fritz swerved, narrowly dodging the robot's attack. It was quadrupedal. It didn't have any obvious head. Glass or transparent plastic at both ends of its torso seemed to be full of sensory components. But it was entirely symmetric both vertically and horizontally. Its joints didn't seem to be hinged in any particular direction. Both its shoulder and hips seemed to use ball sockets that let it bends its arms and legs in every direction. Even as it missed him, it simply broke into a run and immediately resumed its pursuit.
"This is bad," Fritz frowned. Just as he swerved to dodge another attack, his motorcycle started coughing and sputtering. Suddenly he was dodging trucks as they raced past him from behind, his bike spewing black smoke. The massive helicopter flew by overhead and started turning around about a mile away. The robots were confused for a moment, but quickly turned around and came back for him. "That's really bad."
Then it occurred to him. "Wait, no it's not."
Fritz's bike rolled to a stop and he pushed out the kickstand as he dismounted. The robots were racing towards him in full gallop, a sight that made some part of him beg to run away, but he managed to stay in control as he raised his hands above his head and quickly balled his hands into fists in the air.
The robots leapt into the air.
The streetlights went out.
The robots clattered to the ground lifelessly.
Truck engines choked and died. Their steering locked up and smashed into highway barricades and each other.
A mile down the road, a $50 million helicopter sputtered and fell out of the sky. Unlike in the movies, its heavy rotors kept spinning from momentum, gently setting the now-dead helicopter onto the ground rather than exploding in a fireball.
But Fritz hadn't had a drink or a smoke for several hours now. While drunk or high, his powers merely affected the area within about a mile of him.
But since Fritz was entirely sober, he knocked out every light in Nashville. For the second time in 12 hours, Nashville was plunged into darkness.
"I guess I'm walking from here."
After last night's power outage across Nashville, the streetlights were the highest priority to bring back. The city had struggled until help had arrived from a multinational tech company eager to be seen literally giving power back to the people. The streets were soon lit, re-enabling travel and commerce through Tennessee's biggest city. Even if most houses were still dark.
Orange lights passing overhead cast the street in a strobing glow as Fritz wove between big rigs hauling whatever cargo was important enough that it needed to be driven through Nashville at nearly 4 in the morning. Glancing back, Fritz saw that the bigger of the two helicopters had peeled off to follow him. It was far too new for him to know what kind of chopper it was. But he could see that instead of one overhead rotor for lift and a tail rotor to keep it from spinning, it had two overhead rotors that span in opposite directions. Clever, he thought. Simple design, though it required twice the torque to keep the rotors spinning.
The helicopter flew low, barely clearing the trailers on the big rigs as it closed the distance between itself and him. As hard as he pushed the old motorbike, it would never outrun a beast like that.
"Still," Fritz yelled to nobody in particular. "I'm more maneuverable. I can slip into a culvert and pay the Regent a visit and be gone before they even land."
The moment he said that, he caught a glimpse in his rear-view mirror as a couple of shadows dropped the 30 or so feet from the helicopter to the street. The shadows landed with precisely-calibrated grace and began running. Fast. The shadows were a blur in his mirrors. He looked back and watched as one jumped up onto the trailer of a truck and effortlessly used its speed to catapult itself at him.
Fritz swerved, narrowly dodging the robot's attack. It was quadrupedal. It didn't have any obvious head. Glass or transparent plastic at both ends of its torso seemed to be full of sensory components. But it was entirely symmetric both vertically and horizontally. Its joints didn't seem to be hinged in any particular direction. Both its shoulder and hips seemed to use ball sockets that let it bends its arms and legs in every direction. Even as it missed him, it simply broke into a run and immediately resumed its pursuit.
"This is bad," Fritz frowned. Just as he swerved to dodge another attack, his motorcycle started coughing and sputtering. Suddenly he was dodging trucks as they raced past him from behind, his bike spewing black smoke. The massive helicopter flew by overhead and started turning around about a mile away. The robots were confused for a moment, but quickly turned around and came back for him. "That's really bad."
Then it occurred to him. "Wait, no it's not."
Fritz's bike rolled to a stop and he pushed out the kickstand as he dismounted. The robots were racing towards him in full gallop, a sight that made some part of him beg to run away, but he managed to stay in control as he raised his hands above his head and quickly balled his hands into fists in the air.
The robots leapt into the air.
The streetlights went out.
The robots clattered to the ground lifelessly.
Truck engines choked and died. Their steering locked up and smashed into highway barricades and each other.
A mile down the road, a $50 million helicopter sputtered and fell out of the sky. Unlike in the movies, its heavy rotors kept spinning from momentum, gently setting the now-dead helicopter onto the ground rather than exploding in a fireball.
But Fritz hadn't had a drink or a smoke for several hours now. While drunk or high, his powers merely affected the area within about a mile of him.
But since Fritz was entirely sober, he knocked out every light in Nashville. For the second time in 12 hours, Nashville was plunged into darkness.
"I guess I'm walking from here."
