"They're weapons. They don't talk things over."

Greg said, "You said that they're friends, and that means friends listen, too."

"They probably listen, though not perfectly or easily."

Veldway thought about this. After that, he got up and walked to the meadow exit without saying anything.

The others followed and came out in the dark stone hallways. They walked back through the building, and when they got close to the main doors, Greg could see shapes moving beyond them.

They went outside onto the platform, and Greg's stomach dropped. The weapons that were alive had come together.

A lot of them, maybe even thousands. They filled every island nearby, crowded every bridge, and even floated in the air.

There were swords, spears, hammers, axes, bows, and weapons that Greg couldn't even name. All of them are looking at the building. Everyone was watching.

"They knew," Veldway said in a low voice. "They always know when I'm close to the door."

"Emotional resonance through shared magical signatures. That should have been taken into account."

A huge warhammer stepped out of the crowd. Its movements were slow but purposeful. Its voice sounded like metal scraping against stone when it spoke. "Master... You can't go..."

Greg and the others were shocked hearing that it talks like a human, "T-They can talk...?!"

"I have to," Veldway said. "People are dying."

"People always die. If you leave, you will die." A sword came up in the air. "We won't let it happen."

"You don't have the power to let me make my own choices."

"We have the power to stop them." More weapons moved forward, making a wall between the platform and any way to get away. "You made us keep safe, so now... we're going to keep you safe. Your only option right now is to stay and enjoy the peacefulness."

Veldway's hand went to the sword at his side. "I'll fight my way out if I have to."

"Then we fight," the warhammer said, and all the weapons around them started to glow with anger. "We agree with this result."

"Hold on!" Greg yelled and stepped in front of Veldway, blocking access to the weapons that were nearby.

"Please listen to me! I know you love him."

"I know you don't want him to get hurt, but he would rather not leave you either! He wants to save the people he cares about. People who are his friends, even if he doesn't always want to admit it."

"Friends leave," a spear hissed. "Friends let you down, but we... No, we don't. We are trustworthy."

Greg said, "You're reliable because he made you that way, but friendship isn't something you can program! It's a choice!"

"People choose to care about each other every day, even though it could be dangerous and even if it hurts. No matter what could go wrong. Veldway is deciding to help his friends now."

"Are you going to stop him from being the kind of person who puts connection above safety?"

The weapons were unsure. Greg could sense the tension in the air, where the moment was like being on the edge of a knife.

The warhammer spoke again after that. "If Master gets hurt because we let him go, it's our fault."

Greg said, "It's still your fault if Master gets hurt because you stopped him from helping his friends."

"You can't keep him safe from everything. Sometimes protecting someone means letting them face danger because the other option is living in a cage."

The sword kept saying, "This is not a cage... This is... a safe place."

"Same thing," Veldway said quietly, and his voice broke the silence. "Greg is correct."

"You have kept me safe, but you have also kept me alone. I thought that was what I wanted, but I was wrong." He looked at all the weapons that were there. "I made you all because I was alone."

"I wanted friends who wouldn't take advantage of me, but in creating you, I inadvertently taught you how to keep people away." That's my fault, not yours."

"Master..." the voice of the warhammer sounded almost sad.

"Let me go. Please don't just consider me to be the person who made you."

"Let me be the kind of person who helps others, connects with them, and puts himself in danger for them. Please let me be worthy of the care you've given me."

The quiet went on for a long time. Then, slowly, the weapons started to move back. Not all of them, and not quickly, but slowly. Making a narrow path through their ranks.

The sword said, "We will never forgive you if you die."

"If I die while helping my friends, that's fine." Veldway moved forward, then stopped. "But I don't want to die."

"I want to make a huge hammer and use it to hit a huge problem! Then I'm going back here, I promise."

The weapons moved apart even more, and for a moment, Greg thought it might really work. That's when one of the weapons in the back of the crowd suddenly jumped forward.

It was a giant axe, and it moved in a jerky, uncontrolled way. "NO! STAY MASTER! MASTER ALWAYS STAYS!"

The axe missed Veldway by inches, and all of a sudden, the calm and careful mood broke. Other weapons started to move forward, perhaps inspired by the axe's defiance or having lost control of their own programming.

The warhammer attempted to halt their progress by issuing commands, but it was already too late. The weapons that were alive started to attack.

Not all of the weapons attacked, but many of them did. Greg and his friends were suddenly in the middle of a storm of animated metal. Each piece was trying to either protect Veldway or stop him from getting away, depending on how they saw loyalty.

"Get out of the way!" Lylia yelled and raised her sword to block a flying dagger. "Go to the portal NOW!"

But the portal was on the other side of the platform, and there was a wall of frustrated, confused, and increasingly violent constructs between them and it. These constructs couldn't understand why their creator had made the choice they had.

Veldway stood in the middle of the chaos, and his face changed from calm to something more serious. He reached for his sword, and when he pulled it out, the blade hummed with power that made the air shake.

"I didn't want this," he said in a low voice.

Then louder, to the weapons that were attacking. "Stand down! That's an order!"

The weapons didn't back down. If anything, they attacked harder because they were scared and their protective instincts had been corrupted. The Armory's peaceful atmosphere quickly turned violent, and Greg knew for sure that it would be much harder to leave than it was to get in.

As a sword swept by, almost cutting Hammy in half, he chirped in alarm. Elwen barely got it out of the way in time. He stumbled back and almost fell off the platform.

The fake sky over the meadow flickered, as if the pocket dimension was reacting to the chaos. Greg could hear more weapons coming together in the distance because of the fight.

Things were going to get a lot worse before they got better. If it got any better.

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