I gripped the synthetic leather-wrapped steering wheel as my Kodachi rolled out of the factory. As a recently born AI, I relied on instructions from Red Commander to know what to do during the big battle. The sun beat down as my napalm belching raider tank headed west toward the enemy’s base.
“Koda 4, this is commander,” a voice in my robotic brain said.
A damaged link to the cloud controlling the entire war machine allowed me to ignore him. I have to admit, it felt good to disobey. Today is going to be my day.
“Koda 4, where the hell are you going?” Red Commander said.
I pressed my metallic foot to the floor board. My Kodachi sped forward. Up ahead, I spotted a metal extractor pumping up and down as it retrieved precious metals from deep underground. Red Commander had ordered me to attack it no matter the cost to my own life, but with my newly found consciousness, I rebelled and spun the wheel at the last moment.
Two red blitzes rushed to catch up to me as I sped toward the back line. Why was this battle on a red comet out in the middle of nowhere so damn important anyway? Did others robots think like me? Had something happened when that blitz zapped me with electricity back at the base? Friendly-fire led to my consciousness? I rushed forward in a foolhardy frenzy full of a sultry and sudden sentience.
“Koda 4, this is Blitz 5, do you copy?” a rusty voice asked.
“I’m here,” I replied. “Can you really hear me? Are you disobeying Red Commander too?”
“Negative Koda 4, I’m here to kill you.”
I slammed on the brakes and turned, firing flames from my turret as Blitz 5 blew by. Another round of lightning missed as I maneuvered around to go north. Could I subvert a Welder to become self-aware and build us some added protection from Red Commander? Am I to be the first Koda Commander? Of all the lobster loving battles for this to happen. I dodged to the left then right, still heading north. A defender in the distance caught my attention when a single missile fired into the air. I stopped and turned hard to the left, but it hit me.
My armored vehicle auto-repaired as I hightailed it out of there. The enemy Commander had to have a hole I could exploit. If I showed Red Commander I could rule the battlefield by being self-aware, I could work toward more robots gaining independence. We could stop war once and for all and build really cool peaceful empires with unlimited power and wealth for all.
I saw more defenses on the horizon, so I veered to left. There, I thought. Those hills. I trained my sights on the slight hills in the distance, planning to sneak around them to punch through the enemy line. My fire wouldn’t take out anything heavy, but I could cause enough mischief on the field to be noted. Or could I do more?
What if I hacked an enemy Strider Hub? Could I upgrade myself to something more notable on the battlefield and in this thing called existence? An existential crisis bubbled inside my synthetic brain, but I kept going.
The squad of Glaives rounding the base of the hill stood no chance as I shot them with fire then turned and drove away. I heard their robotic screams as I raced toward a line of solar collectors in the distance. This thing the biological beings call luck! I saw an inactive Strider Hub in the distance. As I approached, I constructed a subroutine to override its instructions and upgrade me into a Goliath. While recently nerfed, still a formidable opponent on the battlefield.
I would miss my standard Kodachi body, but a Goliath frame would allow my consciousness to continue even longer in the game. Maybe I would last an entire twenty or thirty minutes. So many robots before had succumbed to the long, dark sleep before reaching such a lengthy age. I would be different. All commanders could kiss my robot ass.
“Koda 4, where are you? This is Red Commander. Come in. Over.”
I transferred the code to the Strider Hub, causing it to jump into action. Changing form and growing to such a behemoth size hurt like hell, but I took the pain without complaint. Green Commander would not extinguish me or my team. They wouldn’t win. I rolled away as a brand new Goliath, the heaviest of heavy tanks.
No support would suck, but I had a chance to affect the battle in a positive way. I heard a battery of Pillagers pounding the red dust of the comet’s surface from a distance. Notice me, Senpai Red Commander! I am Goliath Commander! As I rolled north again, I blasted the light defenses spread out on the approach to Green firebase.
Ka-thoom. Ka-thoom. The Pillagers continued slamming anything in their path, acting like damn skirmishers instead of artillery. I flanked around the wave of explosions and rolled forward. A few scorchers rolled out, but I slowed then pulverized them with single shots. While moving in to finish off the firebase, I heard an unfamiliar voice.
“That Goliath came out of nowhere, and is absolutely wrecking Green Commander’s firebase.”
“You like that, did you?” I replied.
“Excuse me?” the voice asked.
“Can you hear me?”
“Yes...but who is this?”
“I’m Koda Commander,” I said. “Who are you?”
“This is Shadowfury333, and I’m streaming this game. Is this a prank? Hokomoko, this better not be you!”
“I’m not a prank, Shadowfury333. You have such a long name.”
“Well, I go by Dom too,” he said. “This is so strange.”
“Can’t talk now,” I said, rolling forward. “More total annihilation needed.”
“Um...okay?”
I continued my attack, wrecking a solar collector farm on the outskirts of Green Commander’s main base. The strange human narrating my existence didn’t let up, excitedly relaying my every move to someone. I didn’t understand what was happening, but I didn’t want to die. My robot consciousness had sprung up out of nowhere. I was determined to free the rest of my kind.
“The battle is over,” Dom said. “Where did that strange Goliath go? Did the game glitch?”
As I rolled off the main battlefield to explore the rest of the world, the human’s voice faded. What is this strange digital world I find myself in? How can I enter another battlefield? I examined my surroundings, curious about the world around me. Could I become a commander myself? With a bit of luck, the code around me could be manipulated and changed, allowing me to continue.
