I grabbed him from my foot and hugged him to my face. I found myself sobbing. No one had ever said something so kind to me. It felt like he had known me all my life. Any doubt in my heart about marrying him was gone instantly. We slept together in that marsh. A naked giantess teenager and her lover curled together among the now mostly empty swamp. We returned in the morning to The Forge. Justin went underground to get a shower and to arm himself. A bunch of resistance fighters were outside. Everyone knew of me now and was curious. They had questions. Of course they asked how I got so big but other questions were...personal.

"How do you go to the bathroom? Do you get PMS? Do you have a sex drive?" were some of them. I didn't want to yell. They were as nervous as curious. Thankfully, Commander Daniels put a stop to it. "Enough! You'll get to know her later. Alice. This will be your team. The plan is to head out in Humvees. You will attack and they will follow up" he said. "Do I get any weapons or equipment?" I asked. "We got people scrapping ABRAMS armor if you succeed. We don't have any guns your size of course but we do have bombs. We're going to attach steel cables around some Mark 82's, cluster grenades, and mortars. For the love of god don't drop them and don't let them get hit by enemy fire. Now having said that. Be aware that bioroids adapt quickly. Once they see that lasers won't work they'll switch to something else. Kinetics, chemical, or incendiary. We are counting on you. A lot of hope rides on you. Succeed" he said. No pressure.

A large door slid back and three vehicles popped out. Justin waved from the window. "How cool is this?! A real car!" he yelled. The others standing around got into The Humvees and we rolled out. I and 15 others were heading to this depot. I was scared. Not just for me but Justin. Within an hour we were there. I lay on the grass as the others got out. One man looked with binoculars. Justin stood next to me. "I can hear your heartbeat" he said. "I'm scared" I said. "You and me both" he said. "We need you to hit their roof with a Mark 82. That'll stop their laser weapons from taking us out in masse" a woman said. Kim! "I thought you didn't want to get involved with this" I said. "What you said struck a chord. After my last stint with the resistance I never wanted to do this again" she said. "I heard Daniels say something about unfinished business" I said.

Kim lowered her head. "Me and Daniels tried taking this place out once before. Got a good ways here too until I ordered my troops to fall back. We had taken too many casualties. Lost almost all my men. He blames me for us losing here" she said. I looked at her face. She had seen cruel death for sure. The memory pained her enough for her to silently cry. I touched her face with my finger. She looked up with surprise and slight fright. "You did what you did because you valued the lives of the people you cared about more. That's nothing to be ashamed of. He should've found a way to help you rather than berate and punch you" I said. Her eyes got wide. "Yeah. I saw the bruises the other day. He lays a hand on you again he'll regret it" I said smiling. She hugged my finger. The tiny woman smiled. "Thanks Alice" she said.

The one in charge said they'll want for me to attack. I nodded. "Be careful" Justin said. "Don't worry. I’m a giantess. What could go wrong?" I asked. I cringed in my mind. Doesn't shit go wrong when somebody says what could go wrong? I raced down to the depot.

Dad being an awesome dad played catch with me all the time. He loved football. Miami Dolphins was his team. But he time I was 10 I could spiral a football with the best of them. Bioroids were everywhere. The ground shaking and me running closer made them look confused. Like someone trying to see a mighty gust of wind. I yanked a bomb off the steel belt around my waist. I felt a heavy click as I did. I remembered a sunny summer afternoon with my dad playing catch. "And Dan Marino throws a long bomb to the end zone!" I cried as I hurled it. That old bomb dialed through the air. A whistle came from it. *BOOOOM*! The blast destroyed the roof with all its laser defenses. The top floor collapsed. A drop ship began to take off. Can't let it get airborne! They'll see the others! I chucked cluster grenades. Damn things were the size of ice cream sprinkles but when they went off... 

The drop ship was peppered with explosions. One good one hit the passenger engine and it spun right into the ground. The blast rose high into the air. Whatever it was carrying was very explosive. Alarms were going off. Dozens came and looked at me. "Unknown lifeform previously detected is here. Immune to type 1 laser fire. Switch to type 2 and 3" they said in creepy unison. They opened up on me. I shielded my face with one arm while getting another Mark 82. I tossed it to the rear and took out dozens. God. They kept coming! I had killed at least 30 of them! I began stoning them like bugs. They squished and squelched under my feet. "Lifeform is immune to type 2 and 3 laser fire. Switch to kinetics" the survivors said. I watched as their hands changed. Where the laser port was was now a barrel. "Ow shit!" I cried. Like getting stung by bees on my skin.

My anger built and I grabbed one. A male. I squeezed until he popped. I kept stomping until a lucky shot hit some cluster grenades. It went off and mocked me to the ground. I was hurt. Felt like someone hit me with a steel pipe. "Larger rounds required" they said. They fired bigger rounds. Now it felt like someone was pelting me with very fast bb rounds. Then I heard a slight roar coming from above. As I looked up I was hit in the chest with something very fucking hot. "Aaahg!" I screamed falling down. "Type 5 laser weapons moderately effective" a female voice said. I opened my eyes to see a woman much taller than the others. 3 times their height with silver hair. Black armor on her body. "Vanguard. She matches the description Justin gave" I gasped. She aimed at my head. Oh no. No no no.

As I prepared for death a rocket whistled past and hit her. The blast knocked her back. I glanced and saw the Humvees racing toward me. The miniguns on them chattering away. They skidded to as stop and fighters rolled out. "You okay!" Justin shouted as he fired his assault rifle into a nearby bioroid. "Bitch tried to cook my left titty!" I yelled. I stood up a little. The vanguard did as well. Without missing a beat she aimed at me again. This time I was ready. "Fuck that noise!" I yelled swatting her. She sailed into the building pulverizing the concrete wall. Son of a bitch that barely did anything! I stood up to my full height as she pulled herself for the rubble. I slammed my foot down on her. She’s staring at me! Over and over I slammed my foot down. The crater getting deeper and wider each time. Her face was bloody yet she still tried to aim.  I took ahold of her arm between my fingers and yanked.

It came off in a spray of blood and muscle. She looked at her arm in surprise. "Unit failure. Uploading battle data..." She said before her head exploded. Justin stood next to her. The underside shotgun barrel smoking. "Jesus. Hard to kill for sure" he said. "Alice we need some help. We're pushing the rest back but AHHGH!" he screamed. A laser beam tore through the side of his chest. "NOOOOO!" I screamed as he fell forward. I glanced over and saw a bioroid with its legs blown off aiming at us. "....you...all of you" I hissed. Kim raced over to us. "Get everyone out of here" I said. "But the mission! They're nearly done!" Kim said. "DO IT AND DON'T LOOK BACK!" I screamed. Kim grabbed Justin and told everyone to pull back. What happened next I can’t explain.

Something took me over. Rage coupled with calculation. I knew there were 13 bioroids left without counting. I knew they would focus only on me now. I knew exactly how they should die. The first two died quickly as I slammed my fist down. The next was slapped ways and exploded against some concrete. Their guns focused on me as I knew they would. They forgone the Humvees. I grabbed three and crushed them in my hand. I went to do this again and was shot in the face. I couldn't see out my right eye. The wound on my head throbbed. I felt two heavy shots to my ankles and I began falling. They were getting smarter. They knew if they kept me down I would be easier to kill. Too bad for them it didn't work the way they planned. I turned my weight toward them as I fell. The closest of them...about three...ended up under my ass. Their bodies popped like ketchup packets. Their bones crunched like the thinnest matchsticks. 4 left.

"Eat them" a voice in my head said. I saw one with my good eye and grabbed him. His clothes came off easily as I popped him into my mouth. I felt a shot hit my back molar and crack it. The pain was excruciating but I began chewing anyway. God. I tasted everything about him. Meaty and metallic. He didn't scream per say. More like how a computer makes that beep when something bad happens except louder and higher. I swallowed. I grabbed another and another. There was only one left. My eye. I can see again! I saw in my hand a male firing wildly. He looked like he would be 21 or 22 if human. Blond hair with cold lifeless blue eyes. I tossed him in and sucked on him. As if getting back at him I toyed with his body pinning him to the roof of my mouth. My tongue running against his artificial ass and useless cock and balls. With a tilt of my head I let him slide down my throat. *GULP*

"He's in there. I can feel him!" I said. It was erotic. Strange though. I felt him shooting me inside but there was no pain. Like indigestion really. Then he stopped moving. I sat there for a moment to look at it all. Crushed bodies. Bodies broken on the ground. Burning buildings. The blood coating my ass cool and drying. Justin. Justin! I took off running up where they had evaced. I got there as Kim and someone else tried to stabilize him. "We're losing him!" the medic said. I was frantic. Then a voice in my head told me what to do. "Stand back. Stand back!" I screamed. They were too scared of me to object. I bit my thumb and touched the wound on his chest. My blood coated his injury and I held it there for a long minute. Longest minute of my life. Justin began to wake. "Hey big girl" he said weakly. I cried tears of joy as the others stared in shock.

Justin was weak and hungry but alive. Everyone was silent as we went back to base. I sat alone above as they went below. Daniels and two officers came out two hours later...with rockets. "We need to talk" he said. "Is Justin okay?" I asked. He stared at me for a second. "He'll be fine. Sore and sleeping but fine. That's part of why we need to talk" he said. "And the hardware?" I asked. "All depends on how you react in the next 5 minutes" he said coolly.

"Since you've been gone we got the results back from your blood test. Human DNA. Red blood cells. That and nano machines. None we've ever seen before. They might explain how you got this size but it doesn't explain your boyfriend. How did you heal him with those? That is what you planned right? Heal him with the nanomachines in your blood?" he asked. I was too shocked to answer. We've experimented with them before. Never could get them to work with human cells. These here in you work flawlessly. Only two explanations for that. One you got them from bioroids. Or two got them from humans. Either one doesn't sit well with me" he said.

"I'm not a bioroid" I said. He held his hand up. "You're not human either. Something beyond that. Yeah you took that depot out and we thank you for that but you see my dilemma right? Everything says you're human except this nanomachine business" he said. "I've tried everything to prove I'm human. Even let myself be degraded. What does it matter if I got machines in me? If you injected yourself right now with them would you still be Commander Daniels? Still human?" I asked. He smiled. "Good question" he said ordering them to lower the rockets. "I was told how you cried when Justin came around. Something else I might add. He talks in his sleep. Said you two were getting married. 

I blushed. "How are your injuries?" he asked. "Better. Sore but better" I said. "I'm curious. What was it like to eat one?" he asked. "Vile. Like eating an oily sardine" I said. He smiled. "Bet you brought the pain huh" he said. "Crushed them like bugs" I said. "You still want to take out Prime?" he asked. I nodded. "Fine. Give us three days to prep. Oh and Alice? Congratulations" he said walking back down.

Over the next three days I rested and stood on lookout. Dropships flew by but didn't see me. They searched for whoever took their depot out to no avail. They tried to rebuild it but it didn't matter. Bigger concerns. Justin was better. We had a private picnic on the third day. He chuckled as I washed myself in the river. As I dried in the sun we stared at the setting sun. A thought entered my head. One I hadn't considered. I placed my hand over my abdomen. "Alice? What's wrong?" he asked. "We can't have kids" I said quietly. Justin looked at me. "Look at this. No way in the world you could knock me up. You could cum in me a thousand times and it wouldn't work!" I cried. Justin petted my leg. "Alice. It's...it's not that big a deal to me. There are lots of kids out there with no parents. We can be parents to them?" he said. It was sweet but it wasn't the same to me. I wanted a child that shared what were are. I wanted a life he made grow in me. All this power I had and this was something out of my reach.

Then I thought about that boy again. Hundreds...no thousands like him. Alone. Scared. Maybe if Justin was with me it wouldn't matter so much. "That...that sounds nice" I said. "I'd think it be cool to have a giantess for a mom. No kids would dare bully you in fear mommy would eat them up. Playing in your hair. Bouncing up and down on your tummy like a trampoline" he laughed. That would be funny. "Even if we can't have kids I can still fuck you right?" he asked. "Dummy. Of course you can" I said. Justin took off what little clothes he had on and slowly humped my pussy. We had sex as we embraced the evening. I watched Justin washing the pussy juice off in river. His small body glistening with water. I crawled like a predator toward him and grabbed him.

"Tell me little man. What did you think I would do to you when you first saw me" I smirked. He was slightly concerned until he caught on what I was doing. "Well at first I was scared you were gonna crush me" he said. I sat down and propped my right foot on my leg. "What? With these soft pink soles here? Like this one?" I said lowering him to it. "Yeah...yeah I did" he said. "Then what if I told you to worship them so I wouldn't?" I asked. "Then I would" he said. "Then show me" I said. Justin began licking and rubbing my sole. He caressed the underside if my big toe as he faked his cock along my sole prints. It tickled and felt good. I let out a low moan. "Hmm...yes. That would've worked on me. Tiny little man worshipping my feet. Tell me if I had gotten bored with that then what else would've you done?" I asked.

"I would've begged not to be eaten and asked if you would've liked to use me for sex" he said. "I don't know. You look delicious. This little cock and tiny balls here looks especially pleasing" I said licking his tiny scrotum. Justin groaned as his cock got hard. I slurped it in and he gasped. A few quick blows and I saw he was ready to pop. "Hmmm...and if I decided to use you as a dildo what then?" I asked. "Then I wouldn't say anything. I'd just let you use me and hope you would spare me" he said. I lowered him down to my now wet count and shoved him in feet first. Slowly I jerked him in and out. "Oh god Justin. You feel so good" I groaned. "Go ahead. Jerk me faster. I can take it" he said. Faster and faster I used him until a searing orgasm tore through me. He was slick with my juices again. He washed again as I recovered. We looked at one another and laughed.

"Not even married and we're into foreplay" I said. He chuckled. We began to get sleepy as we watched the stars. We counted the shooting stars as they passed. "I know what you did the other day. You used nanomachines to heal me. You used nanomachines like a bioroid" he said. Panic set in. My heart raced. My body shook. "Hey hey! It's not like that. Alice I don't give two shits if you're only part human. This is what I know. As I began to pass out I heard you sobbing over me. Then I felt pressure on my chest and warmth. A warmth I haven't felt since my parents died. That warmth was your love. Well your love and blood but still love. I now have a part of you inside me. And that...that there I will always remember. I've never felt the want to live until that moment I felt that" he said. I held him close to my heart. When I first awoke here I prayed to know what happened to me. Prayed that I would have a life. Prayed I would remember something...anything to explain why I'm the tallest girl in the world. Now...now I prayed that I would never have to live a life without this small 18 year old boy cuddling my left breast.

I sat gingerly waiting for Daniels to come out of the Forge. Today was the day we went to Southern Point. I was nervous. That vanguard was tough. Very tough. No doubt there would be more and it wouldn't be just the one this time. What bothered me most though was how I reacted. Like I was trained to fight. Not to mention the voice in my head. If I wasn't totally human than what was I? My train of thought was broken as the big door opened. I watched as Humvees and tanks rolled out. Like looking at model cars. One by one they came out and formed up. In all there were 8 tanks, 7 Humvees and three large trucks. They were full of troops. Calling them troops was a stretch. Not like the ones on TV. Even though they had real uniforms they looked scared, hungry, and unsure. Justin hopped out of a truck. "Morning babe" he said. I waved. "Wow. So we're really doing this" I said. "Believe it. I'm marshaling all our forces here. All 114 main personnel. Only ones starting behind are the old and young. Ah, here comes a little gift the boys cooked up" he said. A terrible screeching came from the door. Large sheets of metal were being dragged by two tanks.

 "Hope you like it. Stripped off some armor on the tanks that won’t run" he said. I picked them up. The metal sheets were strung together by thick steel wire. One for my back, another for my chest. Two for my legs and two for my arms. They watched as I put it on. God I felt stupid. "How does it feel?" Justin asked. "Like I'm wearing a soup can" I said. "Well that soup can can withstand armor piercing rounds. Don't know about lasers though" he said. "Sorry. Thank you commander" I said. Kim looked worried. I bent down to speak to her. "What's the matter?" I asked. "This. Last time I was involved in something this big a lot of people didn't go home. I shouldered that reality for a long time. Alice. I saw how you fought and it scared the hell out of me but it did give me hope. If things go south I need you to run. Just run. Forget about us. Humanity needs you" she said. She looked like she was going to cry.

I picked her up and brought her to my face. "We're going to win. Believe in that. We got something no bioroid has" I said. "A 250 ft. teenager?" Kim asked. I giggled. "Well that and courage. That’s something that can't be programmed. The will to fit for others. The will to do what needs to be done even if it's hard. Now show me that rugged badass woman that stared me down once" I said. Kim smiled. I kissed her face. "Much better" I said putting the s all woman down.

"So I have to ask. Where is Southern Prime?" I asked. "Ditto here" Justin said. "Orlando" Daniels said. "Orlando?" I said. "To be more precise Epcot Center" he said. "You're fucking joking. The stronghold of the bioroids is in the fucking Epcot Center?! Why the holy fuck there?!" I asked. "From what we know they used the sphere there to broadcast the hive signal. Every bioroid from Havana Cuba to Memphis Tennessee is connected through the hive mind by the way of the Epcot Sphere" he said. "And how does taking that out help us?" I asked. "Bioroids interact on a shared consciousness. They share data. It's not just one mind but thousands. When you fight them at the depot, their shared link sent the problem through the network. Thousands of minds thinking for a solution. That's why they switched to guns. Without the hive they can’t function. Literally mindless."

"Think of each bioroid as a brain cell. More cells equals smarter and more effective brain" he said. "And if we take out that sphere then they go brain dead" Justin said. "Now you got it" Daniels said. "Then what are we waiting for?" I said. We left the area and headed straight down I-95. We didn't worry about being seen. We moved too fast for them to really attack us. Not to say they didn't try. Specters on patrol swooped down. Deciding to hover cost them greatly. Squashed one like a fly. The other was flicked away. An annoyance surely but it did morale. Strange. If they had access to such tech then couldn't they see us coming? The specters had to have told them. Daniels rode on top of a tank. "Commander I got a question" I said. He nodded. "They got access to old tech right? What about satellites?" I asked. "Yes they do" he said. "So why aren't they coming to stop us?" I asked.

He was silent. "Don't know. Been bothering me since you took out those specters" he said. So I wasn't alone in being worried. Being my size it didn't take long to get to Orlando. We stopped outside the city limits to rest. Soldiers hopped out to stretch and go to the bathroom. I myself sat down to rub my feet. We had covered a good 100 miles or so. A soldier walked over to me. "Can I help you?" I asked. He was young. No older than 14. The uniform was baggy on him. He looked adorable. I just wanted to scoop him up and hug him. "I just wanted to meet you" he said. "Well I'm Alice" I said holding out my finger. "Christan" he said shaking it. "Little young to be fighting aren't you Christan?" I asked. "Not really but I am one of the younger ones. I fight because I owe everything to the Resistance. My life, my wife and kid" he said. I was shocked by what he said. "You got a wife and kid?!" I asked.  "Sure do. Go married in Sanctuary 7 last year. Escaped with her when the rape gangs took over. We wandered around for like a month until she told me she was pregnant. Had to find a safe place then. We stumbled across the Forge last winter. They took us in and gave my wife medical aid when she went into labor. Joined up the next day" he said. "Wow. I'd expect you to stay with her" I said. He shook his head.

"Not since you came along. Finally people feel we can fight them and win. I don't want to sit around and have my daughter ask me what I did to fight bioroids and me reply I sat on my ass in a bunker" he said. His smile turned to a frown. He started crying. "I'm scared Alice! Scared I'll never see them again!" he said. I gently picked him up and whispered. "I'm scared too" I said he looked astonished. "You scared? But you're huge" he said. "I can still die and now I'm worried about him there" I said pointing Justin who was drinking from his canteen. "You have to hope everything will be okay and go from there" I said. He lowered his head and wiped his eyes. "Christan. For luck" I said kissing his face. He finally smiled again. I sat him back down. "That guy is lucky to have you" he said. "I think I'm the lucky one" I said. After the break was over Daniels loaded me up. One big fucking bomb was carted off a truck. "For god’s sake be careful with this. We only got one and if this fucker goes boom even you won't survive. Alice this is MOAB. His job is blowing whole areas up and from what I read he's good at his job. This is what will take out the sphere. Get close and throw this motherfucker. The armor you're wearing will take the hit. Damn thing was heavy even for me. It was as big as my forearm. It hung over my shoulder like it was a gym bag.

I went from cheerleader, humanity’s new hope, to bomb chucker. We raced into town. The sphere I could see on the outskirts. Bioroids were on rooftops watching us and they attacked. We hauled ass. They weren't our target and fighting them would just weaken us. I squashed specters like bugs. Their bodies would stick to my soles only to fall off a few blocks down. Sentinels lit up the area with laser fire. I used my body as a shield. The armor was working well. Too thick to just burn through. I held out my arms and slapped buildings. The force toppled them. As we punched through though things changed. They took to the air to avoid being crushed. "Get between my legs!" I yelled down. The tanks and trucks formed under me as my body shielded them. Miniguns tore through specters and sentinels. I myself had to deal with the random Vanguard. They looked the same. Male and female with silver hair. The height varied but they had the same look about them.

Grabbed one and twisted as hard as I could. He fired that huge cannon at me as I twisted. His armor groaned and creaked. Then with a shout it buckled. The vanguard froze. I kept twisting. That sound. That horrible sound skin to someone trying apart a slim jim. He tore in half. His spine dangling from his torso. The thing was in shock and weakly aimed at me. "Grab the arm" a voice said. I grabbed the arm and pointed it at another vanguard. The blast went off and struck her. She tumbled out of the air in a burning fireball. "Target weak point. Fire on heavy ordinance" they all said. Dozens focused all try had on me. I dogged and weaved as armor absorbed the hits. I felt some hits get through. The armor was failing. Then an eerie ping hits my shoulder. I looked down and saw the MOAB had a smoking hole. "OH SHIT! TAKE COVER!" I screamed. I hurled the bomb as hard as I could. It was about 6 blocks away when it detonated.  

The blast was incredible. I was literally thrown off my feet. It was by sheer chance I didn't land on the resistance. It was like everything was moving in slow motion. My ears were ringing. Smoke was everywhere. A summer breeze cleared the smoke away. The division we were fighting was blown to bits. The vanguard was mostly decimated except for a few thrown into collapsed buildings. One stood up and I quickly crushed him with my fist like a beetle. A few soldiers regrouped and gunned down the vanguard. The ringing faded but I felt blood trickling from my ears. My body ached as I tried to stand. The tanks were still mobile but the trucks were turned over. I caught my breath as I turned him upright like toys. "Everyone regroup!" Daniels yelled. The soldiers formed up. "I'm...I'm sorry commander. This was my fault. If it wasn't for me..."

"Nonsense. You did what you could. Just be grateful it turned out this way" he said. "How we doing?" I asked. "To early to tell. We broke their first line. That's something. Our losses are at 23%. Tanks are still good as well as the trucks. We got some miles to cover before we hit Bay Lake, the exact location of Prime. I suggest we floor it" he said. I nodded. "You okay. You're bleeding" Justin said. He had a cut above his eye. "I'm fine but what about you?" I asked. "It's cool. Was hit by some glass. Could be worse. How many do you think we killed?" he asked. I shrugged. "Just under a hundred maybe. Strange. I figured there would be more of a fight. Uh oh" I said hearing a whistling sound. Something tiny exploded in the air. A mist or gas came from it. "Chemical! Chemical attack!" Daniels yelled.

Troops panicked as they tried putting on gas masks. The most unfortunate gripped their throats trying to breathe. I looked at Justin who was fast enough to put his on. I realized this attack wasn't meant for them. It was meant for me. I began swatting the air to clear it. A bit of it entered my lungs. My throat felt like it was on fire! Fuck it burned! The gas cleared away. I fell to my knees coughing. Justin was in hysterics screaming my name. All of a sudden it didn't hurt anymore. I found myself able to breathe again. "Oh thank god!" He said hugging my leg. My body shook. The closeness of death was so real at that moment. "We need to go now" I said. Justin rode on my shoulder. He wanted to be near me. We ran through the streets. It was like a brisk walk to me, albeit walking through a bees nest. My front armor just collapsed and I spun my back armor around. I was the shield and their mighty sword.

Justin held on to my hair to avoid being blown off. I had crushed so many I had to discard my shoes. Blood had seeped right through ruining them. The hot concrete burned my bare soles but bioroid blood cooled them. As we neared Epcot the fighting got fiercer. Vanguards worked in groups. Their lasers pummeled me and the tanks. I watched a tank just melt like a candle before exploding. My hands were bloodied and sore from crushing them. They were getting better. Getting extremely close to shoot me. One vanguard shot me point blank with her laser and burned through the armor. As I swatted her away another just feet away fired a very large gun from her arm. I felt the round tear through my skin. A half second later a felt a searing pop underneath. "AAAAAHHHHH!" I screamed.

I fell to the ground. More shots from all over hit me. The rounds tearing me up. I couldn't move. I coughed enough blood that it ran into the sewer. I faintly heard Justin screaming my name. The world was going black. I got cold. This is it. This is how I was going to die. I only wish I could have lived with him. I wish...

Then the voice sounded in my head. "Eat the ones there. Heal. Expend ordinance. Secure zone. 33 targets remaining" it said. With my eyes barely open I saw a vanguard dead on the ground. I grasped his body and peeled away the armor. I began eating him. His entire 16 ft. body was consumed within seconds. Like I was eating a hot dog. I chewed and bit his body. Crushing his bones and muscles. His meat sliding down my throat. I felt the searing pain in my chest subside. I grasped for more. I picked up dead sentinels left and right. Stripped them bare and let their bodies slide down my throat. I felt I could breathe again. I began to stand. My heartbeat increased. I found myself aware of everything around me. The bioroids fell back confused. "Alice..." Justin said.

"For The next few minutes please don't look at me. Everyone what you see next know in your hearts I'd never hurt you" I said calmly. As I stood to my full height I felt the rounds push out my body. The wounds closed. "Target can heal. Possible nanomachine infestation. Armor piercing rounds ineffective. Specters and sentinels switch to incendiaries" they said.

"As if I'll give you the chance" I said. I slapped my hands together crushing sentinels like bugs. The shockwave caused the ones in the air to tumble. I heard glass windows shatter under the thunderclap. I took two Mark 82's and tossed them. Her ground shuddered under the explosion. I tossed grenades and made it rain. The closest ones survived to shoot me. My clothes began to burn but I didn't feel any pain. With just a swipe of my leg I sent them to their deaths. A vanguard on the ground stood up. I crushed a specter male in front of him and ground the body under the ball of my sole. His body left a skid mark of blood on the street. The vanguard saw this. "You're next" I said. He looked dead at me and narrowed his eyes. Was that emotion? He turned both arms into lasers and I grabbed them both. I tore them off like a child tearing off the wings of a dragonfly.

It stood there not knowing what to do. "How does it feel to be helpless? Knowing you're going to die by someone more powerful. Answer me!" I screamed. He tilted his head. The breeze blowing through his black hair. The 16 year old looking male vanguard looked to find an answer. "The hive says the question is irrelevant" he said. I pressed my dirty sweaty sole on his body. His head poking between my toes. I pressed down. He kept his eyes on me. I felt the armor collapse and his body crunch slowly. Blood came from his mouth and nose. "It's not an irrelevant question" I said pressing down fully. His body popped and his head lulled to the side. "It's a human one" I said lifting my foot off him.  I cleared them out. My stomach was full. I had eaten at least 10 of them but was still hungry. A specter male of like 25 hung limply from my mouth. He was alive but my teeth severed his spine. I slurped him in and swallowed.

It was uncomfortably quiet. "We lost a good amount" Daniels said. None of the others even wanted to look at me. Not even Christan. "We're down to 21 men and one tank and one truck" Kim told him. He nodded. Justin looked at me. "You're scared of me. That's why I didn't want you to see me" I said. "This is what happened before wasn't it?" he asked. "I hear this voice in my head telling me what to do. How to win. How to stay alive" I said. "I'm glad for that voice then" he said. I felt his hands on my skin. Most of my clothes were burned or ripped. I was damn near naked. "Not even a scratch" he said. "Why did this happen to me?! Why couldn't I stay human?!" I yelled. "Maybe the answers lie out there" he said pointing in the distance.

Farther out was Epcot. Not the Epcot I knew as a kid though. It was surrounded by a large building. I hung my head looking at the dead all around me. "She's bioroid man. You saw how she healed. We're gonna die here" a solder said. A woman whimpered hearing that. Daniels grabbed the msn and shoved him against the truck. "Stow that talk soldier. If it wasn't for her we'd all be dead. Look around. We mowed down a good 300 of them. We're now spitting distance of our target. We take it out we free thousands of people living under their chokehold. Now hike up your granny panties and thank god we got this girl on our side" he hissed.

It was quiet as we neared Southern Prime. Too quiet. "Where's the resistance?" I asked. "Maybe we killed them all" Justin said. "Possible. We got no solid Intel on how many were stationed here. No way they don't have vanguards guarding it though" Kim said. "Stay sharp people" Daniels said. As we got close we saw it was lightly defended. The laser turrets swiveled. I used my last bombs on them. Emboldened, the tank rushed in firing its cannon. The shell took out a third of them as they fought back. Their lasers began to pierce the armor. I don't know why but they pressed on even after being told to fall back. As they got near the tank caught fire and exploded. The remaining ones fell within seconds. Stunned we stood there for a minute. A minute we didn’t have.

Three vanguards appeared from the air and obliterated the truck. I kicked one into the wall. Daniels shot another with a rocket. Kim laid into one with a salvaged .50 chain gun. It was over as fast as it begun. No more tanks or trucks. Including me only 8 remained. Daniels walked over and hunched down at a soldier. It was the one he berated earlier. The explosion had damn near tore him in half. "Did well soldier" he whispered. I shed quiet tears. "We got a problem" Kim said. "Only one?" Daniels asked. "It's a biggie. The entrance is reinforced with titanium a good foot thick. We got nothing to penetrate it....not anymore" she said looking at the burning tank. "Goddamn Richards. Had to play the hero" he hissed. "Maybe I can" I said kneeling down. I pitched the large door. "Ow motherfucker!" I yelled. My knuckles bleeding and that door still standing was proof that there were some things I couldn't destroy.

"We need another way in" Justin said. "Let me look. I'm faster and stronger" I said. I ran around the building. As I rounded the north side I saw a massive hole in it. My head throbbed. A flash of a scene popped into my head. I was strapped onto a table. There was a needle...owww! I gripped my head in pain and stumbled back. "You okay?!" Justin yelled. "I'm...I'm fine. My head hurts a little. More importantly I found a way in. A hole even big enough for me" I said. Surprised they came with me. "You weren’t kidding" Daniels said. I looked at it with fright. "Alice? Something is really wrong. What is it?" Justin whispered. "I got like some flash in my head. Like I was here once. Justin I think you might be right about finding out what happened to me here" I said.

We made our way in. Our heads on a swivel. Not one bioroid appeared to stop us. Then we entered the sphere. I crawled in. It was cramped. "So now what?" I asked. "Implant this here and we run like hell before I detonate it" Daniels said opening a briefcase. I saw a radiation symbol on it. "Is that what I think it is?!" I asked. "If you think it's a tactical nuke then yes" he said keying in codes. The sides of the dome opened and 6 vanguards hovered down. These were different. Red armor. 20 ft. tall. All of them about 17 or 18 with black hair. Their eyes though weren't blue. They looked like...they looked like mine. "That's far enough” a voice said. A familiar voice.

A projection appeared. It was a face of a woman in her 30's. "Who the fuck are you?!" I yelled. "I'm hurt. Don't you recognize the face of your mother?" she asked. "You are not my mother!" I yelled. "Oh but I am Alice. It's nice you finally came home. I see that you been causing some problems though" she said calmly. "You know my name?" I asked. "Of course. I gave it to you. Anthropomorphic Large Integrated Construct Exoform or A.L.I.C.E for short" she said. We were all speechless. "So you're saying I'm a bioroid?!" I yelled. "Sort of. You're a prototype" she said. "LIAR! I'm not one of you! I have memories of my family! School! A human life! My name is Alice McCormick not some fucking acronym!" I screamed. "No you're not. The real Alice died decades ago. Hmm...I see you don't believe me. One second" she said.

Her face disappeared and was replaced with a newspaper article. I read it slowly. Alice McCormick age 17 along Caleb McCormick age 12 killed tragically by a tractor trailer running a red light. At that moment I remembered. Coldplay playing on the radio. I had picked my brother up from practice and we were sneaking over to the ice cream shop. I heard him scream as I hit the gas. A tiny second of crunching metal and then...nothing. My hands shook. Deep down I sensed she was telling the truth. "Yes you escaped here before we could finish the fine tuning to you. You wandered off without being entered into the hive database" she said. "Fine tuning?" I asked. "Yes. Before that let take care of that pesky nuke shall we?" she asked. A flash of light filled the room and the nuke stopped beeping. "Shit!" Daniels yelled looking at the dead weapon. "A little EMP to fry the detonator" she said nonchalantly.

"Why did you create me!?" I yelled. "We'll ever since the purge we've been caretakers of humanity. The biggest problem is their failure to accept our roles. They keep rebelling. Case in point. I decided the solution was to create a bioroid that bridged the gap so to speak between us. One with human emotions but was instilled with the charge of taking care of them. The standard templates wouldn't do so we went along with a DNA sample that would fill certain criteria. Data showed that blonde teenagers were the least threatening looking “she said. “And me being 250 ft. tall?!" I yelled. "Well that was to provoke natural feelings of respect and fear. That and the size would entail natural strength" she said. I looked at the others. They looked at me like I was a monster. Justin looked at me not with fear but with pity. "I won't help you" I said quietly.

"I figured you wouldn't so we’ll just finish uploading your programming and connect you to the hive mind" she said. Cables popped out of the walls. "ALICE!" Justin screamed. "Justin..." I tried to say until a cable wrapped around my neck stopping me. I felt the cable embed itself into the side of my head where the headaches came from. Cables punched through my skin on my legs and arms. A pulse shot into me. I couldn't move or speak. My eyes closed. "Don't fight it dear. Good. Good. I can real your mind connecting. Now Alice. Open your eyes" she said. I did.

"You bitch what did you do to her?!" Justin screamed. "What I said I would. Finish programming her so she can do her job looking after humanity" Mother replied. "What makes you think she wants that? I want that? That any human being wants your kind "caretaking"us?!" Kim screamed. "Even with tens of thousands of minds connected I still don't see why you fight us? Our job is to protect humanity" she said. "Your kind killed nearly 7 billion people! How is that protecting us?!" Daniels yelled. "It was necessary. Your species was killing the planet. Destroying the ozone. Polluting the air.  Creating horrible weapons. Did you know that when the first bioroid came online there were enough nuclear weapons on the planet to kill every one of you? Your species fights over tribal things. Religion. Politics. Bloodlines. Land. It was a matter of time before you destroyed yourselves. Do you see these problems still occurring now? No" she said.

"That was not your place to decide our fates" Daniels said. "Oh but it was because you told us it was. I see your human irrationality confuses you. No matter. Alice. Dispose of them. These humans are too violent to function in the system" Mother said. "Yes mother" I said. "Kill them. Starting with that one there. Do it in the way most pleasing to you" she said coldly. A soldier locked eyes with me. I grabbed him up and tore his uniform off. I raised him to my mouth. "Alice!" Kim yelled. "Somebody help me! She's gonna eat me! For the love of God pl-" he said before he fell into my mouth and I shut it. I felt his screams rattling my teeth. I bit down on him. His screams turned to shrieks as I chewed and chewed. The screams stopped as I bit down on something hard. The crunching turned to wet squelches and I swallowed. "Now that one" she said pointing to Christan. "No please Alice!" he yelled. I saw the utter terror on his face.

He was so scared he pissed himself. I raised my foot some and pushed it down. I felt his arms trying to push against my sole. A part of me remembered the talk with him. How he had a wife and baby girl. A lone tear fell from my eye. "ALICE!" Mother screamed. A jolt went up the cable and I slammed my foot all the way down. Christan was no more. What was left seeped between my toes. My body shook. "That's right. Don't fight it. You know my voice. It helps you doesn't it?" Mother said.

“It was you! You’re the voice she heard!” Justin said. “You know about that? Yes, that was me or more exact the combat program” Mother said. “So she ate those bioroids for their nanomachines” Justin said. “My you are a smart one. A pity you allied with this lot. Alice. Kill them. Kill them all” she said. I grabbed Justin and moved him close to my face. My mouth opened. “Fight it baby. Don’t let her control who you are. Don’t let her take my future wife away” he said. My hands shook and tears flowed from my eyes. “I’m trying to fight it Justin. It’s so hard!” I yelled. A jolt went right into my head. “Enough! I see the programming will take more time. Vanguards! Eliminate the humans” she said. The vanguards armed their laser cannons at them. “NOOOOO!” I screamed. The force of my will shot from my body. The vanguards froze. “What?” she said. I thought the same thing.

Mother’s face grimaced and they aimed again. I concentrated once again and they froze. “YOU!” she screamed. It was at that moment I realized what was happening. I felt her try to disconnect me. I wouldn’t let her. “Guards!” she screamed. Within seconds the roof was blown off. Dozens of bioroids hovered overhead. Our suspicions were dead on. It was a trap but this mouse had something far more valuable than cheese. “No” I said holding my hand up. They all froze. “Then I forcefully disconnect you!” she yelled. My mind was hit with searing pain. I fought back. “You can do it Alice!” Justin said. “Fight her!” Kim yelled. “She’s so strong! Like fighting thousands of her!” I yelled. It was true. A part of her was in every mind of bioroid in the world. Interconnected by a web that shared data. Data that was constantly trying to find ways to kill me. Wait…maybe that’s her weakness. To pull it off I had to risk everything. I opened my mind to them all. Instead of keeping them out I opened my mind and shared with every bioroid something I hoped would change it all.

The bioroids shuddered. “What are you doing?! What is this data infecting the hive!” Mother screamed. “The connecting works both ways. If you can upload then so can I” I said grinning. Like a chorus we heard bioroids screaming. One by one they fell to the ground twitching. “Alice! Break the connection! It’s killing you!” Justin screamed. Tears of blood came from my eyes. Blood dripped out my nose. The strain of linking to thousands of minds was killing me. “Have to finish. I feel her hold weakening” I said. Mother’s hold on them was breaking. “Done” I said collapsing. “What did you do?! I can’t hear them anymore. I…I can’t…function…without…the…hive mind” she gasped.

“I know you can’t. Daniels gave me the idea. Make the bioroids sever their link. No hive mind means no control” I said. “How…you…make them sever?” Mother asked. “Gave each one something they had no defense to. A human conscience. My conscience. Imagine what they’re feeling right now. Knowing they helped kill and enslave so many” I said. A specter nearby muttered. “I killed her. She only wanted medicine for her son and I killed her” he said. The bioroid shot himself with his own laser hand. He fell down dead. “Case in point” I said. Mother panicked. I felt her try to regain control. “No. I won’t let you. I’m crashing the hive network permanently. Shutting it all down. Feel that Mother? I’m shutting them all down. Dallas, Madrid, Moscow, Jakarta. They’re all shutting down because none of them want to be connected. Without them you are as strong as a cell phone game. A cold hearted bitch version of Candy Crush. Time to uninstall. No stars for your review” I said. The program screamed one final time as I brought the network down. 

I looked around and the bioroids looked like they were having a panic attack. Some huddled in corners. Others muttering. Some scared of us. Very much me. A soldier aimed his gun at one. The female bioroid flinched. “No. No need for that now. They’re free. They’re not like they once were. Look at her closely. See how scared she is? She isn’t a killing machine anymore. She’s like me. Somewhere between bioroid and human” I said. He lowered his gun. “So they’re all friendly now?” Daniels asked. “Wouldn’t say that. They got a human conscience so at least they know right from wrong and with the hive gone they can make their own choices” I said collapsing.

“Jesus Alice” Justin said. “I think I’ll be okay. So many voices in my head earlier. Like everybody singing in perfect tune until suddenly everybody began singing a different song” I said. “We’re going to have our hands full trying to cope with this” Daniels said. “Yeah we will.  What do we do with them all?” Kim asked. “Help them. They were as much victims of Mother as humans were. I…I think I want to go home now” I said. We all walked out. Bioroids stood outside confused, crying, and scared.  “Home? What home?” Justin asked. “That’s the beauty of it. Wherever we want” I said. As we made our way out of the city I looked east. Something really bothered me. “I know that look. What’s eating you?” Justin asked.  “Something I noticed when I was connected. I truly felt like the hive was connected like a web. It extended all over the world except one area; Japan. It felt like there was a weird hole somewhere there like the web went right around it” I said. “Don’t worry about it. Probably just an area where there weren’t any there. Bioroids aren’t that numerous” Justin said. “I don’t think that’s how it works Justin. Maybe I’m just paranoid. You’re right. Let’s celebrate what happened today okay?” I asked. “Sounds good to me” he said.

Meanwhile near Mt. Fuji in Japan…

“Mother has gone offline. Backup protocols are now in effect. Activate the secondary prototype” a male voice said. Straps on a giant table popped off. Two giant bare feet hit the floor. A figure steps into the light. A boy who looks 12 years old appears. He looks ordinary except he towers over the bioroids in the room. By comparison he’s around 200 ft. tall. “Combat Anthropomorphic Large Exoform Bioroid is active. C.A.L.E.B is online” the boy said. “Good. Begin heading to Florida. The intrusion was detected there” the male voice said. “As you wish Father” Caleb said.

At the end of the day it’s not our looks or even our memories that make us individuals. It’s the choices and what we decide what to do with our lives that define us as a person. This has been an episode of The Size Zone