C H A P T E R - 0 The False Promise Sanctuary

Salvaged from the despair, the land of promise… the sanctuary of all humankind…

..

I heard this bedtime story since the last time I saw my family by my side. It was all lied up until now, when I look up to the endless sky, there is still a projection of those corruptors everywhere in the city. In this city that has no dawn, no night, only lights from the neons. Withstands the great turbulent sea, crushed by ice, lying under the rings of fire.

Even though I said turbulent sea, no one ever sees the sea or outside of the window(I mean the city). I mean the real world. We’re living on the block of metal junk that connected to each other, forming an alley. That alley form an array, and those arrays.. form a city stacking each other. The block of cities joins each other like a district, stacks on top of each other to an endless Babylon.

..

“Today another pile of transistors just drop from the upper ground again, hurry! before the raiders came” A small voice echoed from another end of the corridor. After a moment of silence, you heard the sound of clattering metal on the street. It was my buddy preparing for our exploration.

We form a duo team, scavenging the junk, but not looking for gold or valuable gem for sure. Even if it is salvageable from a junk pile, people just don’t give any dime for a trinket. Especially when you thrive for survival.

Maybe if you’re lucky enough, there might be some sellable technology drop below.

..

We arrive at the yard with a warm welcome by the atmosphere, a nostalgic one right? Human fluid, chemicals, a smell of toxin stabbing your nose... This area is a junkyard for those who lose their lives or are soon to be lost. I look into the eye of a droid [Automata], a humanoid that previously might be a human, now indifferent from an undead without flesh but a metal shell. I put my hand inside its chest, digging into the depth of the cables.

“Gotcha” As I pulled out my hand, the droid iris brightness faded away. The droid that doesn’t belong to any network is like a deadman. Even once upon the time, it was a man, now it isn't.

Rule #1, never sold your soul to the machine, do not believe in the machine's life form. That was a lesson everyone learned when rasing here on the underworld.

— I take his core, to take his life-long-future from this abandoned man (soon to be expired). His “life-long journey” will be exchanged for the currency that continues my journey. A non-mutual exchange contract from the taker. I rather not mention the phrase “it’s the law of nature”, those forbidden gods have already forsaken this planet as the tide and ice cover the world outside this last resort — “The last bastion”.

—Just a moment “we” —sense something extra.

The light’s array from scanners projected down passing through our blood and veins. A horde of terror steps over the potholes creating splashes like stepping over the bloodbath. A march of machine patrols on the non-duty routine seeking something extraordinary. A man walking with terrifying horror heed on his pathway, both upfront and behind. It is a special ops officer patrolling.

One officer controls six autonomous androids with no command at all. He ordered these unrivaled metal knights to search for what they have been looking for —for a whole week.

“It’s already been a week since these Spectres have been searching our vault.” My buddy said as he lay down and sit next to me behind the pile that we cover ourselves. But there’s also a reason why do we called them a spectre as well. Somehow these androids, six of them, will follow one officer and roam on freely but unite like that the decision was commanded by one person.

We’ve seen a situation where one officer was down from a fight. And those predominant androids become something even more monstrous. It hunts, shoots, and rends a man's throat apart like a walking nightmare.

Within a few seconds later we heard heavy footsteps up coming from behind. "Citizen standstill, checking in progress." The android came to a halt in front of us, turning its head, glaring at us. The beam trajectory is projected toward us, the light blurs our vision as it scans our entity.

“Legitimate” the android responds. In the split second, as I turn right, the officer stares into our eyes through his goggle vision before returning to his squad. It is a feeling that induces a deadly chill that is ready to freeze your bone, your being. A squad of four officers with a horde of machines searching this underworld, ignoring the crime and violence down here. Now turning back into the dark, fading away in the alley.

“I have no idea what they’re looking for.” My buddy said his name is Fawn. Not the right time to introduce right?

“Me neither.” I replied while backpacking my stuff for leaving.

We dispatch in the night, in contrast to the reflection lights, cast from the blurry bright neons from the upper floor. With these many civilizations, they still call us uncivilized. Few credits pocketed, in the Main.Net where we store our currency, not really pocketing right?

2177, Day 283rd. (Aka. October-10-2177)

The record sounds weird to many of you, having no summer … only deadly winter outside. Why are we still using such an obsolete system? No day, no night, no seasons, and no eclipses. The old civilization vanished.

10:13 AM

2 days after the last exploration, now, it is in the morning in this night city. I stepped out of the door panel and looked into the hallway of this apartment. Unfriendly-looking folks, not yet hostile, slammed the door behind me doing their own job collecting a rental fee. I skip the chaos part, as usual, walking down the stair and stepping into a bus stop.

A floating (levitated) vehicle stops. Not an aircraft nor an airship, the size is as small as one train cart. The signal sound beeped, follows by fogs coming from inside the door — opened by the vehicle automatically. I move my leg into the transport machine as its door closes later on. There’s no rail, no cable, and no wheel. The train (wheel-less) levitates independently like no gravity defies. On the journey, you will see, a town covered by fog and clouds as if this is an unreal place or another realm. Along with the crowd mixed with droids standing in their place separately, divided prominently.

Automatons, known as droids, are soulless beings. Not all living is living, in contrast, not every machine is soulless. On the other hand, once you transcend into a machine, Automata, it is the non-returning process. Therefore, no one is able to prove that what was inside that false soul… was it actually a soul?, even primordial gods could not believe it as well I guess — if someone can. So, if these Automata can be transferred back to organic living, the genetic system would rather cry for its millions of years of hard effort. Luckily, ew… no… ! Immortality is nasty, especially when you live longer to see the downside of humanity, worst part is those corrupted bastards become undeadable souls.

…

The vehicle is stationed in front of the bay area, when I say bay area it has no water, besides it is a blank gap of the city (a space) where you can see down into layers of the floor level of the city stacking each other downward like seeing the deep level of the sea below. Contradictory, the upward as well, you will witness an endless floor of (similar to) a Babylon tower in the myths.

This trip is for my personal business. I've traveled all the way here for some parts that I’ve been looking for a week. The gray market makes a lot of stuff here accessible and affordable regardless of its rareness. The laws may not govern the place, but the person in the bills takes all authority for us. Speaking of money, even though there is no person and the physical bills anymore, just only digital currency is stored in the Main.net system, I still like the old-fashioned way of talking.

“Have you got the package?” I stop at the shop and now talking to the owner.

“Here is your finding” He pushes a liquid package in green neon towards me.

We negotiate for a few minutes. In terms of trading, it is kind of a disadvantage for me. He requests 2.5 times the actual price for these vials, unfairly overpriced.

“With your access, it is impossible for you to grant any of it by yourself alone. Do you accept it or not?” The owner asks for the final call as he moves his hand to take it back. I accept the deal immediately by confirming the transaction and the credit amount, with no hesitation.

“Thank you for using our services lad, no change, return available in bullets.” He turns back, leaving the package on the front desk. Also, I wouldn’t be courageous enough to make such a comment otherwise I’d be starred by his deadeyes. Real deadeye.

..

As I return to my hideout, I pull the big piece of cloth that covers an object. Night light shines toward the flesh covered by blood and ashes. A humanoid, genderless, with a dying-like-breathe, gasping, looking up to him. As he pours mixtures into its mouth, it began to light up some fluorescence flares traveling on its skin, the lights traveling in a pattern like a circuit, flowing from the neck to the end of its body. Its body began to regenerate slowly, not fully recovered, but at least it gained mobility back.

“Now you will be able to talk right?” I talk to him (it).

“Name? You got one right? What’s your name?” I hold the blade in my hand, secretly, in case I just recover some monster.

The humanoid creature observes the place, looking around until it approaches him on its sight. It do remember him. It does… now with full consciousness.

“My name.. ”

“.. Experiment IV project-2137, Noel”

“Experiment? … So you’re not human?” I ask. Whilst tighten fingers on the blade.

Noel looked into me.

“You may eliminate me, but that won’t change any consequence from the Apex.”

“The Apex?”

.. “Yes, the Apex. People up there (the highest floor) desire the utmost supremacy.
So, anyways, the weapon behind you. — Do you mind disarming yourself?”

Surprisingly he knows, and that even makes me aware more on one of these uppers.

“Understandable, do not trust the usurper, especially the upper one.” Noel responds.

“And one thing, you were on the watchlist of someone’s eyes.” Noel stands up.

“Come here if you don’t want to die, no time, and anyways — thanks.” That thanks echo from a big metal tube, fades away as he reaches another end. Yes, he slid down to the old pipe. All the time I thought it was a big ventilation pipe.

Flying drone passes. Of course, here comes a problem, they’re looking for something for sure no wonder why. Maybe not that important, very least important. Dark wreckage is now being explored by some authorities, doesn’t know which side it is, but it’s unsafe here right now.

A moment later in the dead air. There’s a creepy sensation, unfriendly, hostile, maybe friend, or at it worst a fiend. No goosebumps, contradictory, I chilled down to the feet. As it says: “Citizen halt, checking in progress.” Before I had time to turn, a metal barrel slowly contact my backhead.

A sound of a nimble *click* triggered.

“That was the first warning.” A shot fired next to my ear. Looking behind, a dark, grim, terrifying being with red light blazes in its eye — jinxed at me under its cape. Yaksha unit, the first-class spectral android. A special force, commanded by the Apex Seekers.

Looking into the bullet hole in front of me, it leaves a high-heated thermal flame on its mark. Suddenly, I hear something.

“— There won’t be any second chance for you, jump in now or never!” A small voice echoed from the tube, as the flying drone fly in and shoot the Yaksha unit in its face. Without hesitation, I slide down the tube that once I was believed ventilation passage leading to blade fans. I heard an explosion from above, as I slid the junk debris fall down along with me. It is a drone’s fan blade spinning beside me, then, stabbing my arm. No screaming for pain (finger crossed).

I dropped into water, swimming, bleeding hard. Then was taken up by someone. My consciousness fades away as my blood is diluted in this canal liquid.

“Noel?” — I open my eye, sorting, staring at my little sister (also named Noel), but she looks grown-up well. Wait a minute… she’s dead for almost 10 years, how could it possibly be? I jumped back from this shock, nervously.

“Who the heck are you?” I stood up my stance, even though it was a few seconds after I regained consciousness. Reaching my arm to get the blade.

“Looking for this?” The girl who looks alike my sister shows my blade in her hand. So, I reached for the missing blade.

“Well, I knew many things about you, through your whole identity. And the first rule, is never trust the machine life forms right? Allen.” The girl smiles, evilly, as the red light gleams in her eye, knowing my name which I never speak up. “Allen.”

“Don’t worry. Not your Noel, just another — Noel.”

“Well, we will have a lot of time to talk.” She said with her devilish smile that deeply impress me well. But not to the heart's content.