Free Code Lightfall and the Robot King by Daniel H. Wilson

breeze.
    â€œThey’re getting rid of prisoners,” said Gary. “And now they’ve seen us.”
    â€œC’mon, we’ve got to hide,” said Code, his heart pounding in his chest. In real life, Immortalis was frightening and huge—even from a distance.
    Gary and Code turned and fled back toward the trees, away from the desert, until Code was out of breath. With Immortalis safety behind him, Code stopped to take in his surroundings. He heard a whooshing, crashing noise coming from deeper in the woods. Cautiously, he made his way toward the sound and, peering through the trees, he saw a big, flat square of concrete in the middle of a meadow.
    Curious, Code marched over to the slab and stood on top of it.
    â€œWhat is this?” he asked Gary, who followed close behind.
    â€œCertain death!” boomed Gary.
    Code sighed angrily. “Why is everything always certain death with you?”
    â€œCode red! Relocate immediately!” shouted Gary.
    A sudden rush of wind blew past and tree limbs began to crash down around them. Code stumbled away from the square slab of concrete just as a crablike creature plummeted down through the forest canopy. With six brawny legs extended, it landed on the slab with a bone-jarring thud. Finally, the whole nimble machine settled down onto its flexible hind legs, then turned in place.
    â€œWhere did that come from?” asked Code.
    â€œIt’s a transped,” answered Gary. “They travel across Mekhos by hopping from one slab to another. I doubt this is its final destination.”
    It was true. With a playful wiggle, the machine suddenly unleashed all the pent-up force in its muscular robotic legs and shot into the sky over the Nanoscopic Traverse. In its wake, a flurry of leaves and branches fell to the ground. A stray tree limb smashed down with unnatural force and shattered into tiny metal flecks. Code jumped out of the way, narrowly avoiding having his brain mashed into pink goo.
    Then the shimmering flecks of metal from the shattered limb melted, forming a shallow river that flowed like syrup toward the desert sands.
    â€œWhat the heck?” said Code.
    â€œA nanotree,” said Gary. “Built out of a whole colony of nanobots invading from the Traverse. Pretty common here on the fringes.”
    Code looked at Gary, puzzled.
    Gary explained further. “Billions of tiny robots from the desert have gotten inside the tree and turned it into a big chunk of metal. That’s why it weighs as much as a boulder. You’re lucky you weren’t squished.”
    â€œSquished by nanobots too small to see?”
    â€œYeah.” Gary chuckled. “How embarrassing would that be?”
    By now, the nanobots from the various broken limbs had spread out and joined together into inky black pools of liquid. The pools were creeping over the ground and forming into a larger pool—one that was encircling them both.
    â€œCheese and crackers,” muttered Gary.
    Peep popped out of Code’s shirt pocket and scurried down the length of his arm, tickling him as she probed the pool of liquid with green beams of light. Then she skittered up Code’s arm and perched on his shoulder, glowing red and defiant.
    â€œWhy is it surrounding us, Gary?” asked Code. “Are these things dangerous?”
    The two broad ends of the pool met and combined, creating a ring of thick black liquid that completely surrounded them. A menacing ripple went through the liquid.
    â€œOnly if they’re hungry,” said Gary.
    â€œAre they hungry?”
    Gary didn’t reply.
    â€œAre they hungry, Gary?” Code repeated.
    The pool closed in tighter.
    â€œI’m afraid they’re always hungry, Code.”
    â€œRight,” groaned Code. He was getting very tired of running away from menacing robots, large and small.
    â€œMaybe we can jump—,” said Code, but was interrupted by a sharp crack!
    Just then, an entire