“Yeah, since it doesn’t really matter, I can keep on insulting ED-Four O Nine pounds here.”

  “Hey,” was Glitch’s only comeback.

  “Seriously, Glitch?” Mason shook his head. “Is there anyway you can upgrade your wit? Because you’re just making things too easy for me.”

  “Just shut up and let me think.” Jake paced the edge of the cornfield, peering down each row as far as the darkness would allow.

  Kat stepped beside him and asked quietly, “What are you thinking?”

  “I’m thinking it couldn’t be much worse. A silent renegade machine equipped for killing and hiding in a maze of noisy darkness.”

  “I don’t want to be the one to say it, but you could hand it over to Hailey and her team.”

  Jake turned back to the team. “Here’s the plan. We’ll split up⁠—”

  “Because that always works,” Mason said.

  “Shut it, Mason,” Jake said.

  “No, really, I saw it in a horror movie once.”

  “Enough.” Jake walked to the head of a corn row. “We’ll split up. But keep no more than one row between us and stay abreast of each other at all times.”

  Mason held up a finger and opened his mouth.

  “And no abreast jokes,” Jake finished.

  Mason closed his mouth and lowered his hand.

  “Mason, hand out the comms.”

  “What comms, Jake?”

  Jake closed his eyes and took a deep breath. “Fine. Keep an ear out for one another and have their back. This isn’t your typical murderous laundry machine. It’s quiet, has a machine gun for one arm and a sword for the other. It’s dangerous. Let’s find it and put it down quick.”

  The team nodded and spread out across the edge of the cornfield.

  The discharger was shaped like a small carbine and he pulled if from a holster on his hip. He pulled the stock to his shoulder and made sure the cable that ran from the pommel was free of obstruction. His thumb found the safety and switched it off as if it actually worked in the first place. Within seconds, the pack on his back warmed as the circuits closed and the capacitor charged. A pull of the trigger would send the disruption charge through the baton and out a directional Tesla coil at the end of the instrument.

  A single charge could incapacitate most consumer and low-end industrial models. The R34-P3R was weatherized, however, and Jake questioned how effective it would actually be. He looked over to Glitch.

  Each team member carried a similar backpack, but the giant cyborg had another tool slung across his back. The cannon looked like a rifle built to ridiculous proportions. The barrel could double for a sewer pipe, and the receiver was a block the size of a car battery. Its bulk made it too cumbersome for anyone that wasn’t augmented like Glitch.

  Glitch caught Jake’s look and acknowledged the stare.

  Jake nodded. “Keep the IMP handy.”

  Glitch nodded back and stepped into the cornfield. The rest followed his lead and each team member took a row.

  Jake wasn’t but a few feet in when the sounds of nature swallowed the footsteps of his teammates. Having never had the opportunity to wander through a cornfield, Jake had always pictured them as quiet, serene places, but the snap of the stalks and crackle of the plants made it anything but relaxing. Every creak could be their prey, every snap could be an ambush, and every sound put his nerves on edge.

  The ground was moist beneath his feet and rich with an earthy smell that rose with every cautious step. He moved slowly, straining to hear in the darkness.

  A gust of wind pushed the crop deep into the furrowed row. He jumped back and gripped the disrupter tighter in his hand. Two rows over he heard Glitch swear. Four rows over he heard the faint traces of Mason laughing at Glitch’s discomfort.

  The wind calmed and for a brief moment Jake could see further into the crop. Something was there and it was staring back at him.

  Maybe.

  It was as tall as the crop itself and thin like a stalk but, unlike the corn, it didn’t sway.

  A shout rose in his throat but before it could escape his mouth, another gust of wind obscured his view. He held still and waited for the wind to rest. When it did, he peered once more into the darkness at what he thought he had seen. But it wasn’t there. He shuddered.

  “It’s ahead of us,” he called to either side.

  “Where?” Glitch’s voice was faint in the field of plants.

  “I don’t know.”

  “Real helpful!” Mason screamed back. “Thanks.”

  Jake walked faster, calling for positioning every few meters to make sure the team was keeping together. The wind came in spurts and slowed their progress. It soon became almost rhythmic. With every pause, Jake scanned the field for the shadowy figure. But shadows were everywhere and he could never be certain the movement he spotted was anything other than corn.

  Another gust blew a mass of leaves in his face. He grabbed at the plant. “I’m starting to really hate corn,” he shouted and swatted the plant away.

  It was in front of him. An evil face etched in metal beneath a rotting, floppy hat.

  Jake screamed and stumbled backward as the machine swung its left arm.

  He fell beneath the scythe as it cut a silver arc through air and corn. He hit the ground and the sliced plants crashed down on top of him.

  The machine held up its left arm and glanced at an ear of corn impaled on the long and slender blade. The Reaper raised its arm to strike again.

  Jake pulled the disruptor’s trigger. A blue burst of voltage lit the field around him and crackled through the air as the arc connected with the tip of the scythe.

  The arm stopped. The blade shuddered. The speared corncob popped.

  The appendage fell dead at the scarecrow’s side, but the robot did not fall. The machine looked at the dead limb and tried to move it again. Its torso bucked but the arm would not respond other than flopping a bit.

  “It’s here!” Jake shouted.

  A whir filled the cornrow and the Reaper raised its other arm. The kernel cannon’s barrels blurred as they spun up to speed.

  Jake scrambled back on knees and elbows.

  The scarecrow fired.

  Plumes of earth chased him backward as the kernels spit from the mini-gun and dug into the ground. They stitched the earth closer and closer until they had reached just below his feet.

  Jake fired again. The disrupter’s charge leapt to the floating barrels but did nothing to stop their spin. The arm did not fall.

  The Reaper continued to fire.

  The musky smell of damp earth was quickly overtaken by the scent of ozone and freshly popped popcorn as the fluffy white snack poured from the barrels and began to pile up on the ground.

  An explosion of cornstalks erupted next to the machine as Glitch charged through the rows shoulder-first at the Reaper. The giant man plowed into the machine, lifting it from the ground and sending it several rows deep back into the field.

  The cyborg glanced at Jake quickly and dove into the field after the machine.

  “Glitch, wait.” Jake started to get to his feet as Mason and Kat found their way through the web of leaves.

  Kat grabbed Jake’s hand and helped him up as Mason grabbed a handful of popcorn off the ground.

  “Where did they go?” Kat asked.

  Jake pointed down the row. “Follow the wreckage.”

  “Did yoush mape dish, Jakgh? Dish ish delicishous,” Mason said through a mouthful of popcorn. “Neesh buttersh sthow.”

  Jake and Kat forced Mason toward the new path that Glitch had cleared through the field. It twisted and turned in indiscriminate directions.

  Fallen stalks tripped at their heels. The uneven nature of the furrowed field grabbed at their toes. More than once, Mason almost choked on his popcorn. For five minutes they rushed after their coworker, shouting his name as they fought to remain on their feet.

  The path cut right, and they were met with a wall of corn. The team nearly fell over Glitch. The large man sat tenderly picking at his arm. His sleeve was dark with blood and he twitched with every touch.

  “Glitch?” Kat put a hand on his shoulder.

  “Damn thing shot me in my real arm.”

  “Are you okay?”

  “Of all the arms I’ve got, he had to shoot this one.”

  “I’m sorry, Glitch,” Kat said.

  “Ah, it’s okay. I was thinking about getting it replaced anyway.”

  “Why didn’t you fry him?” Mason asked.

  “I did. Right after he shot me.” Glitch stood and brushed at the wounds on his arm. “Stupid thing used that spinny-gun to soak up the shot. Then he shot a bunch of popcorn at me and ran off.”

  “It’s mini-gun, Glitch.”

  “Whatever it is. He’s using it as a shield.”

  “It did the same back there,” Jake said. “Mason. Kat. If you’re going to shoot, try and hit it from the left side.” He turned to Glitch. “Can you handle the IMP?”

  Glitch pulled the large rifle from his back, seated it in his hand and smiled.

  “Good. Try to keep the damage down.” Jake turned to the others. “We distract. Glitch melts.” He turned back and parted the corn. “Oh, thank God.”

  The team stepped through the crop into a large clearing. The heart of the farm consisted of several large steel barns surrounding a paved lot filled with equipment. Several service lights glowed above each door. It was the first light they’d seen since venturing into the fields. Unfortunately it didn’t produce much more than atmosphere and shadows.

  The group stepped onto the pavement and surveyed the area looking for movement or any clue as to where the machine had run.

  “Any ideas?” Kat asked.

  Mason raised his disruptor and started walking. “He went this way.”

  “How can you tell?”

  He pointed to a trail of fluffy white popcorn. “Come on Hansel. Come on Gretel.”

  There wasn’t much, but the wind had left enough of the popcorn undisturbed to establish a trail.

  “Everyone stay behind Glitch.” Jake spoke softly.

  “That’s because he likes you least,” Mason said.

  “It’s because of the IMP, you jerk.”

  “Shut up, both of you,” Kat said. “Before the wind takes the trail away.”

  The crew formed up behind the cyborg’s bulk in a small “V” as Glitch followed the white specks.

  They had taken only a few steps when a sound in the cornfield had them all spinning on their heels. Glitch pulled the trigger on the IMP and it kicked in his hands. The sound it made was subtle, a high-pitched bloop like a pebble falling into a hundred-foot well, but the shot itself tore a four-foot hole straight through the crop.

  The stalks that weren’t obliterated burned. The kernels popped all at once, creating a cloud of popcorn. Once it settled to the ground, it looked like Christmas and the team could see clear through to the other side of the cornfield.

  There was nothing else behind them.

  Mason clapped. “Nice shot, Redenbacher.”

  “Shut up, Mason.”

  He patted Glitch on the belly. “Whatever you say Jiffy-Puffy.”

  “I’m not fat. They’re servos.”

  “Yeah, okay.”

  “Would you two please just follow the trail before the wind blows it away?” Kat asked.

  “Right.” Mason pointed ahead of Glitch. “Follow the popcorn. Like a professional.”

  The still air didn’t last long, but it didn’t have to. The popcorn led them around the corner to a metal barn that was larger than most neighborhoods. Once they turned the corner, they found the steel door ripped from its hinges and tossed ten feet away.

  “I think he went in there,” Glitch said.

  “Very good, Glitch.” Mason asked. “That new processor is really doing wonders for you.”

  Jake shook his head and stepped through the hole into the barn. He reached out to the wall looking for a light switch, not really expecting it to be there. It wasn’t. The barn felt even bigger inside. He pulled out a flashlight and hit the switch.

  The beam didn’t penetrate far into the darkness, but the cavernous nature of the barn was exposed. It rose three stories up before there was anything resembling a ceiling and was filled with massive pieces of farm equipment. Several harvesters were lined up near a pair of monstrous doors. They were set to roll as soon as the computers said the crop was ready.

  The rest of the team filed in behind Jake and spread out along the wall.

  Jake splashed the flashlight around the group. “Someone find the lights.”

  Before anyone could respond with a “how?” or “yeah right” the metal cavern filled with a mechanical whir.

  “Spinny-gun!” Glitch shouted and shoved Mason out of the way a half second before the corn came raining down from the rafters.

  Mason hit the ground as the rest of the crew dove for cover.

  Glitch stood. The big man’s machine mind snapped on. As the corn struck the floor around him, one of his oddmentations began to calculate the trajectory of the corn and triangulated its origin in the darkness.

  The data load was immense due to the number of kernels, but it finally returned an answer.

  “I’ve got you now,” Glitch said as he raised the IMP and fired. The gun sounded and a round section of the roof melted away, letting in just enough moonlight to expose the Reaper’s silhouette as the machine leapt from its place in the rafters.

  The IMP was knocked from Glitch’s hands as the mechanical scarecrow kicked the giant back against one of the harvesters.

  The Reaper’s left arm still hung limp at its side, but it swung the mini-gun barrel to great effect, bashing Glitch back into the machine every time he took a step forward.

  “Shoot it!” Mason yelled as he searched for his disruptor.

  Kat kept tabs on the Reaper with her own disruptor but couldn’t get a clear shot. “The current will run right through it into Glitch.”

  Jake stepped out from behind a crate and the mini-gun spooled up instantly to fire. He dove back behind cover as the kernels dug into the wood.

  Glitch made the most of the momentary distraction and seized the machine by the waist. The metal muscles in his arm twitched as he lifted the Reaper above his head. He bashed it into the ground as he yelled, “You hurt my real arm!”

  The Reaper’s eyes turned brighter and it brought the gun to bear on the cyborg. Then its head and torso melted.

  Mason flew back across the room and dropped the IMP as he slammed into the barn wall and collapsed.

  The collision caused the entire structure to roll like thunder.

  Glitch dropped the remains of the machine and rushed to his side. “Are you okay, Mason?”

  Jake slid to his knees and examined Mason as best he could. “Would someone find the lights?”

  “I’m on it.” Glitch stood and ran off into the darkness.

  “Firing the IMP?” Jake said. “That was…”

  “Brave. Courageous. Selfless.” Mason said as he stood on shaky legs.

  “Stupid,” Jake said.

  “This sounds an awful lot like the start of one of your insurance premium rants.”

  “You’re an idiot.”

  “Oh, now we’re doing performance reviews?”

  Bright lights filled the barn with a boom.

  “Good job, Glitch,” Jake shouted over his shoulder.

  Glitch’s voice came back from somewhere deep in the barn. “That wasn’t me.”

  Jake turned. The lights weren’t coming from overhead. They were coming from one of the massive combines. The work lights were focused on the two men in front of the barn doors.

  “That’s weird and terrifying,” Mason said.

  “Maybe it’s just trying to help,” Jake said not believing a word of it.

  “Yeah, I don’t like the way it’s looking at us.”

  “I’m sure it’s just the farmers back at the office trying to help.” Why did he keep saying things he didn’t believe?

  The combine’s engine turned over and the giant machine began to rumble. The blades began to spin.

  “How sure are you?”

  Jake started to edge toward the access door they had entered. “Not much. Actually I kind of regret saying it because now it sounds really stupid.”

  The combine lurched forward as the two men dove aside. It crashed into the door and produced a thunderclap that shook the barn and rattled the team.

  Glitch ran out of the darkness and joined the two men. “What did you guys do?”

  The combine backed up and redirected its lights at the trio.

  “Run!” Mason shouted and turned for the door.

  Jake and Glitch followed.

  The three men ran out of the barn and were halfway across the tarmac when the combine exploded through the barn doors in a shower of sparks and screeching metal. The combine’s reel snapped in two and spun away across the parking lot. The machine turned on the fleeing trio and choked out the moon with its work lights.

  Jake fired a blast from the disruptor, knowing that it would do little to slow the massive machine. The streak of electricity ran the length of the farm equipment to no effect.

  They zigged and zagged across the open space and the machine course-corrected each time.

  Cybernetics notwithstanding, Glitch’s bulk slowed him down and he was falling behind. “It’s following us.”

  “You think, dumbass?” Mason shouted as he tried his own disruptor against the machine. It worked as well as Jake’s.

  “Lose it in the corn,” Jake yelled and turned into the field.

  Glitch followed him as Mason took the next row over.

  “I’m not going to make it, guys.” Glitch yelled.

  “You can do it, Glitch.” Jake turned to encourage him. “Redirect power or something.”

  “Nope.” Glitch crashed to the ground and slid through the dirt as the combine tore into the corn behind him. “I was right.”

  The machine sucked the giant man into its maw and Glitch’s screams disappeared inside the machine.

  Jake screamed himself and fired his disruptor at the combine until the system shut down to prevent it from overheating.

  The machine chewed through the corn toward him.

  Mason burst through the row of stalks and fired his own weapon to failsafe.