[Task] Prison Break (Mmur)

[Smerdle]

Thoroughly chastened by what he saw as punishment for crying out, Mmur kept his lips pressed tight as he moved on, whip still in hand. Once he rounded the next corner the rubber bullets were no longer a problem, but now there was the matter of the scattered, shredded metal shards that carpeted the rocky halls. He skirted the chunks nimbly for the most part, silently wincing when his feet found a piece he hadn't seen. He found a whole mound of the stuff at the end of a darkened corridor. What were they hoping to build here? Whatever it was, Mmur wasn't about to let them accomplish it.  

[Smerdle]

He tiptoed past cavern after cavern, disabling a number of bugs and destroying what he could find of the hunters' technology. It was a satisfying activity while he was doing it, but in the lulls between destruction, Mmur wondered at its ultimate futility for the first time. Destroying this junk would only make them fight harder to replicate it, which would make his own people retaliate at greater strength in return. On and on until one side gave up or was slaughtered. At least he was certain it wouldn't be the horsemen who caved first.

Mmur had slipped deep into his thoughts by the time he found the human this time. Surprise flitted across his face as he paused, watching the hunter at work.  

[Smerdle]

He fully expected the same reaction he had gotten in the past. A smug, over the shoulder smirk, an overused quip, and thousands of stupid, mobile turrets laying into him until he dissipated. But the hunter didn't even turn. He continued to obsess over his work, cutting wires, twining them around other wires, coaxing the metal monstrosity in front of him to life. Mmur inched back into the shadows when it stirred on its own, anticipating turret fire, but this creation was tame by comparison. It whirred almost happily, staring at its creator with unconscious reverence.

"Heeeeey," the hunter said, pride clear in his voice. "Can you sit for me, buddy?"

Sit? The human wanted his construct to obey? That was just...

Mmur forgot he was supposed to be hiding. He stepped forward again, eyes intent as the little robot did as it was told. That was... something. Something dangerous. The implications were interesting, but mostly Mmur was simply struck with jealousy. He continued forward, sliding the smallest of knives out of a sheath at his thigh. He was directly behind the hunter, holding a blade to his pale throat, before the man noticed he was there.

"I didn't hear you this time."

"I know."

"I suppose this is it then."

"Yes. Don't worry. I'll take good care of your friend. Your toast too."