The houses on either side look down as if they are watching over the scene in quiet judgement. Witnesses to the death row execution of the killers of their former masters. The rest of his fellow drones just standing there in their now deactivated mode, or whatever it was. Oblivious to the world around them.

Steve stands up, lowering his night vision goggles to see in the dark, and packs the rifle away into the arm of Belle. The Beast is parked off to the rear alongside the edge of the forest that borders the town. He climbs into Belle’s open torso where a backpack awaits, nestled in the standing area.

He straddles it with a leg either side and the cover closes over. After a few seconds the mechanical frame leaps forward towards the now dormant swarm.