Chapter 12: Invader (4)
Episode 12. Invader (4)
“What on earth is ‘that’?”
“Oh, you wouldn’t want to know.”
He chuckled and then kicked the approaching butler. I was somewhat shocked. As someone from a country where elders are respected, seeing an old man kicked was unimaginable to me, even though I appeared to be a 19th-century lady. What was more shocking was how easily the old man was flung away, and what startled me even more was that his body shattered into pieces upon impact. My discomfort was finally resolved. It was natural that I couldn’t read anything from it. The butler wasn’t human; he was a highly precise automaton mimicking human form!
Through the broken leg, I saw round joints and connectors like those of a wooden puppet. The broken lower half clattered and began to chase us with its arms.
“For God’s sake, they’re all puppets!”
“I know. They’re called automatons. I didn’t realize you were this slow to catch on.”
As we ran, I began to run out of breath, and soon the front door came into view. What should we do now? This was a residential area, and there were few people around in the evening. Hardly any carriages were passing by. We had limited stamina, and if we kept running around the neighbourhood, we would surely be caught by those things.
But then Liam Moore, with a bright smile (a smile I found ominous), suddenly pulled me and threw me over his shoulder. I didn’t have time to question his actions. I knew well enough how to react in such situations: I clung tightly to his coat.