[ IP ] Breakdown of Communications

*'' Primary algorithm accepted; new data stream operational. `` * The machine reported, water running down its metal hide in rivulets of crystal. *'' Please clarify. `` * 
 
 `` Deny command.'' I said, my voice ragged and breathless. 
 
 Shogun-Epsilon looked up at me, red eyes glinting under the deluge of rain. The blood on its form was slowly washing off due to the rain, but the blade it held in its left hand was still stained crimson. The neon lights of New Singapore refracted from the droplets, turning the world into a fragmented mess of red and green and orange. 
 
 I had a handgun to its head, a Jaguar pistol. It was capable of holding eight ten millimetre tungsten rounds, each one capable of punching through Shogun-Epsilon's metal skull and eradicating its primary cortex. It currently held one round, the rest embedded in walls or the pavement throughout the city, along with countless assault rifle shots from the Synthetic Response Force squad's rifles. The remaining five SRF troopers had us in their sights, a red targeting laser on my forehead while four more lingered on the Shogun's skull. 
 
 *'' Voice identified; greetings, Head Researcher Mara Tartarovsky. `` * It said, eyes blinking to a green hue. *'' Please input new command. `` * 
 
 I clenched my teeth and averted my eyes for a moment, remembering the days I had spent building Shogun-Epsilon. He, Templar-Alpha, Apache-Delta and Legionary-Iota were the only four that had succeeded upon activation, the rest quickly overloading from the sheer amount of raw data coursing through their cortexes and processing centres. 
 
 They and been purpose built for war, superweapons with no fallout or blast radius. Tell it what you want destroyed, and drop it into the general vicinity. A few days later, roll into the area and deactivate it. Simple, effective warfare. But my machines, my CHILDREN, were more than just weapons. They were people, like myself and my team. 
 
 My finger braced around the trigger. 
 
 `` Shogun,'' I began, my voice cracking as images of his activation, the look of awe on his metal face, ran through my mind. `` New command...'' 
 
 I trailed off, unable to say it. Conflicting emotions roiled within me. I should destroy him. He had killed dozens due to faulty programming, becoming a butcher. 
 
 But he was my son. True, he had been built instead of born, I had pulled him from a machine rather pushed him from my womb, but I had raised him, taught him, healed him 
 
 My voice was trembling, desperate. 
 
 `` Shogun, please... DODGE THIS.''
