CHAPTER 3

I ran as fast as I could, determined to lie low and evade being killed by those robots. I was still carrying the fluffy white feline in my arms. As my legs grew exhausted, I scanned the area for a hiding spot. Fortunately, I spotted a filthy garbage pile, surrounded by flies and emitting a foul smell that assaulted my nose. With no other options available, I decided to hide under it while still holding onto the fluffy white feline.

"Negative," I peeked at a hole where the robot was left dumbfounded. After that, two more robots emerged. They didn't even look exhausted; it seemed like they were still heating up. As I looked at myself, I noticed that my hair was disheveled, my clothes were filthy, my entire body was damp from sweat, and I had a horrible odor.

"Let her be; she's just a waste of time. Now, have you already placed the bomb? What did the master tell you to do?" The robot questioned his companion. His eyes, voice, and body showed no signs of life at all. He was programmed to be authoritative and commanding.

"I did. I placed it in a room where people can see the entire mall," answered a half-robot. He looked quite familiar. No, wait! He's the robot I encountered at school! Ugh! The nerve to blame me for a deed I didn't commit. I really want to end him! But safety first.

"It's almost midnight, and the 5-minute countdown starts now. I hope they will scorch," commanded the third robot as he tapped on a screen on his mechanical arm.

'5 minutes? What did he mean by 5 minutes? Wait a minute!' I thought to myself.

I recklessly moved but instantly halted because one of the bags had fallen, creating a sound that caught the bots' attention.

"Scanning," the robot touched the left side of its head and attempted to scan the area. I was praying the whole time to avoid getting caught.

"MEOW!" I heard a loud high-pitched scream coming from the left, then I saw the fluffy white feline distracting them, revealing its sharp teeth and extended claws, and running away. It seems that her plan worked because the three robots went after her.

'I owe you my life, my fluffy feline!' I said in my head, thanking the cat.

Without wasting any time, I needed to save those innocent people. They would get killed by the explosion. I saw a bike on a crosswalk, so I picked it up, sat on it, and started pedaling.

'Wait, where did they put the bomb? I heard them say mall. But there are tons of malls here! Midnight. Only Robinsons closes at midnight!'

I had already plotted in my head what I was going to do to rescue the mall. As I got nearer, the mall began to close. I pulled the brakes, got off my bike, and left it on the streets.

I recklessly ran and burst out of the entrance.

"GET OUT!! THERE'S A BOMB!" I yelled while running. The staff looked at me unbelievably. I grabbed one of the guards by his collar.

"GET THE PEOPLE OUT OF HERE! THERE IS A BOMB ABOUT TO EXPLODE!" I pushed him and ran to their CCTV rooms. Those robots thought I was stupid? I had been paying attention to their chat carefully.

"Stop her!" I looked back, and instead of the bots chasing me, enraged staff and guards were running towards me!

"WHAT THE HELL?" This day was getting me hyped up! Why were they chasing me instead of helping me? Were they dense?!

I shoved other staff who were in my path. They were slowing me down. I knew they were not knowledgeable about what was happening, but could they just comprehend? I felt that my knees were getting weak from running and pushing. I was exhausted; my hair was already soaking wet from my sweat, and my face was dry and thirsty at the same time.

In my last sprint to attain the CCTV room, robots from above landed in front of me, their jetpacks leaving a lot of smoke, making me cough and stop for a moment. Fury was plastered on their faces.

"Halt! You're not ruining our plans this time," said the robot. There were three bots who had battled me earlier. He extended his arm and pointed a tiny dot at my forehead, and a tiny light was emanating from his hand, which was growing bigger and bigger.

"What the-

BOOM

I dodged and crashed into the wall behind me. He shot at me similarly, but I managed to dodge it. I wasn't sure if the people heard those blasts and realized that I wasn't alone on the 5th floor. Sweating and in pain, I had wounds on my legs, scratches on my arms, and bruises everywhere!

"Ugh! Mom's gonna kill me!" Out of frustration, I picked up a vase and tossed it at them. Luckily, one of them got hit, leaving two left. Even though it hurt, I stood up and attacked the half-robot by jumping on his back and punching his flesh. The other robot didn't know what to do.

"Shoot her!" commanded the half-robot. He tried to reach me with his robotic hands but instantly failed because I pulled one of his arms, making a static noise, and slammed it on him.

"This is what you get for messing with me! You... Robots... Are... Just... Tin cans!" I slammed him one last time until his system shut down, and he fell to the ground. I jumped in front of the last bot.

My eyes darkened, and I tightly held the bot's arms while glancing at the last robot, who now appeared frightened.

"Defuse the bomb," he hastily nodded and tapped something on his arm, then looked at me.

"Bomb is now defused." I tossed him the arm and stepped backward while maintaining our eye contact.

"Now leave." He stood up and assisted his two companions. I picked up my phone, and with a click, they were now caught, for now. This would be my memento.

"3000." The hole sucked them until they were gone. I sighed out of relief, and thankfully, my concerns were now gone.

"You're in big trouble, Missy," said an older man.

SLAM

I stood up at the sound of a loud noise, looking at the door. It was Mom, still wearing her pajamas. It looked like she had been sleeping peacefully, but appearances were deceiving.

"Mom," I walked closer to her, ready to cling to her arm. But to my surprise, she just strolled past me, confusion written all over my face.

"Ah! Mrs. Tañala, I'm glad that you are here." The old man from earlier probably called my mom, and from the looks of it, he wanted her to pay for the damage I had caused. Oh, I'm sorry, I called that savior.

"What did she do?" By the tone of my mom's voice, she seemed relaxed and showed no hint of outrage. I hoped she wouldn't ground me for this. After all, I was rescuing those staff; why would I get grounded? If I didn't save them, they would have ended up burning along with the mall.

"Well, in the middle of the night; barging in and causing chaos inside the mall, getting the staff out, and declaring that there's a bomb going to explode. There were blasts that we heard on the 5th floor, and our CCTV cameras were sabotaged," my eyes widened because those bots did it again; they're accusing me without knowing the whole story! What do they know? I looked at the old man; now he was looking at Mom, smirking and tapping his fingers on his desk.

I slammed the desk and fiercely looked at the old man; he flinched slightly but remained calm.

"I called that helping! Are you dense!? I didn't start this mess; it was those filthy tin can robots!" I exclaimed. But he just looked at me unbelievably, not caring about what I just said.

"Huh! Not believing? Just wait; I'll show you this." I slid my hand into my pocket; I'm 100% sure they were caught by my phone, and 100% sure they will be convinced this time. I was about to grab my phone, but a hand halted me from doing it, grabbing it tightly and compelling me not to pull out my evidence.

"I'll pay for the damages," Mom said precisely while not letting my arm move. The old man smirked proudly and offered my mom some documents, making her sign them. After that, Mom apologized to the whole staff and even the guards, still not allowing my arm to move. When we arrived at our car, she eventually let go of my hand, and we both got inside the car.

We finally drove off, and the atmosphere became quiet. None of us opened our mouths or started a discussion. Mom was thinking intensely, and I was just lost; counting the streetlights that we passed.

"Mom."

"Not a single word." I was heartbroken. Mom had never said this to me before, even if I had made a mistake. I wanted to clarify, confirm that the robots are real, and... wanted to heal my wounds.

She was always my doctor, healing my wounds, treating me as her patient and baby. My lawyer, defending and supporting that I was right, taking my side, and hearing my justifications even though they were mixed up. And my protector, shielding me at all costs, even though I was the cause of it. Did she... change her mind? Or have I just become paranoid? I hope so. I hope that this is all in my head.

Until we arrived home, she didn't glance at me, not a single look. I understand she's disheartened and even furious. She stopped at the staircase, and I saw Dad in the kitchen, holding a bowl and a spoonful of cereal and ready to eat but halted when he saw me. I looked back at Mom, who was still not moving.

"Mom, if you could just hear me. Please?" I begged her. She let out a heavy sigh and faced me, crossing her arms and locking her eyes on me.

"I can prove it! I saw them! With my own two eyes. Look! I even have wounds and scratches!" I pointed to the visible wounds, but she's still not convinced.

"Because of what?" The way she said it, it wasn't even a question.

"The robots! And I can prove it to you by-"

"STOP MENTIONING ROBOTS!" I stopped and flinched at the same time. This was the first time that she yelled at me. My eyes filled with tears, and I was quivering and frightened.

"You've caused so many problems! I don't know what got into you, and I can't even understand why the hell you did all of this! This is the second time that you've gotten into trouble!" She exclaimed. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Dad hastily put down his bowl and run towards Mom to soothe her.

"I-I," now I was stammering, shaking, and unable to think straight at the moment.

"And now you're accusing those robots that don't even exist! Why are you doing this!?" She exclaimed again, tears escaped my eyes, and my heart started to ache. I was hurt.

"I'm telling you the truth, Mom! Why can't you believe me!?" I shouted back. I wanted to defend myself because neither of them could.

"What are you, 6!? We know that you're obsessed with those fictional things. I know that you believe in them! But don't bring your fiction into real life! Grow up, Ely! You've caused a lot of trouble you're embarrassing me and our surname!" And that's when I burst into tears, wiping them with the back of my hands.

"You always tell me to pursue my dreams, that I-I can bring my dreams into actual life! And now that I have done it, you don't believe me! I HATE YOU!" With that phrase, a slap landed on my cheek, and the sound echoed in our living room. Dad was shocked, and so was I. I couldn't handle it anymore but to go upstairs while my heart was broken, and tears were consuming me. I shut the door, locked it, entered my hidden room, and locked myself in there.

TING!

I took out the photo that I printed and placed it at the center of the web. My web was complete; a full picture of robots that I took, red strings that were attached, and background proofs.

My tears began to flow again because of what happened earlier. Mom had never raised her hands at me, and even though I was persistent, she had never yelled at me.

My legs quivered until I sat on the floor, bringing my knees closer and hugging them, crying my heart out in the dark, cold room.