Snow Crystal

"Big, can you hear me?"

"Yes, I can hear you, are you at the top yet?"

"That's right, we are in a kind of room with a control panel, a door and no window."

"First of all, check if there is a compartment under the control panel, open it and tell me if you find a chip connected by a small wire to the rest of the system."

...

"Okay found, now I have to pull it out and connect the one you gave me, right?"

"Exactly."

"Done, it's connected."

"Now you'll have to wait for the program to

penetrate, once the contact is made, I will contact you again, over."

Sophie put a hand on the boy's shoulder.

"Kei.

Let's go outside."

A single metal door separated the two from the vision of freedom.

Even the wall, imposing as it was, didn't reach the altitude that reached the top of the tower.

They would have seen what was behind that barrier.

They would have seen the danger that lurked in the outside world.

They held hands, to always stand together, ready to face whatever they would find.

They opened the door, to find themselves on the huge terrace of the structure, the highest point a human could reach.

The highest point a Machine Men could reach.

The wind was strong and because of the altitude, the atmosphere was cold and dry; both of them were out of breath for a few seconds.

It wasn't only because of the lack of oxygen, but also because of the spectacle before them.

The immense metropolis was before them in its entirety.

They saw the center again, but the view was different.

It no longer looked like an eye.

The center, with its small mansions and tiny cottages, seemed to be devoured by the immense and dirty skyscrapers of the suburbs, which seemed to tend slightly inward, like the teeth of a monster.

In turn, the ancient wall set at the edge of the city was slightly curved, as if a huge tsunami was ready to overwhelm everything below it.

An apocalyptic and overwhelming scenario.

But none of it surprised them as much as what lay beyond the boundary.

An immense endless storm stretched for hundreds and hundreds of miles beyond the wall, blocking the view of whatever was below it.

A cumulonimbus of dense, black, water-laden clouds violently pounded the ground below.

A storm of lightning and thunder was sweeping over the entire landscape under the incredulous eyes of Sophie and Kei.

Was freedom really out there?

In the midst of that black hell?

"How far do you think it stretches?" Said Sophie, after recovering her breath.

"Extend? There is no end."

"Dexter had talked about an environmental disaster, but this..."

"This is the apocalypse, Sophie."

"Then what are we fighting for?

There is nowhere to go, if we leave here we will die immediately.

Our hearts are made of metal, we are human lightning rods, there is nothing in this world that can protect us."

"If we cannot leave, we will raze this place to the ground and rebuild it from the ground up.

We fight for freedom, even if part of the plan didn't go as expected we can still find solutions.

Humans are born to be free, and I will fight tooth and nail for my ideals.

We will break the Machine Men into the Big Government building and make an attempt on the lives of every one of those bastards, starting with Ziegler and ending with C.C.

I won't have gotten my hands dirty for nothing, I can assure you of that."

"Kei listen, I…"

"What is it?"

"I also want to be useful to your plan.

I don't want to be your shadow anymore, I want to do something concrete."

Insecurity.

A Machine Man never feels insecurity.

What he does is written in his heart; it is right no matter what.

It was the first time she experienced it, for no logical reason, but Kei understood his feeling.

"On my own, I couldn't have done anything.

You are the one who saved me when I was dying on the floor of my house.

You are the one who led me to Dexter and freed us.

You are the one who succeeded in contacting Big and rescuing Kyle and got us valuable allies.

You got your hands dirty with me just so you could help me.

But more importantly, your eyes have saved my life countless times.

They are a gift and you must always be proud of them.

Things done together always work better."

Sophie smiled.

"Kei, do you hear me?"

"Yes, I hear you."

"I managed to penetrate the system and the code is ready to be sent, I'm just waiting for your signal."

"Perfect, I'll contact Kyle and then we'll be ready to go."

...

...

...

"Fuck."

"What's going on?"

"Hey Big, are you sure you connected it properly?"

"Of course, why?"

"Well, it's not responding to me."

"I don't know, maybe there was a malfunction."

"It doesn't matter, we'll be fine without him.

Come on, let's free the Machine Men!"

"Right away, boss!!!"

A very loud roar, followed by an immense shockwave, shook the entire metropolis.

It seemed as if a large earthquake had been unleashed, with the epicenter at LaTes Tower.

Trees were shaken, the wind raised leaves and dust, even the clouds that had always covered the city's ring road were thrown beyond the wall, leaving room for the sunlight to penetrate.

The Machine Men saw the blue sky above their heads, and stopped their march.

They looked around bewilderedly, for the first time looking into each other's eyes, being able to peer into the mirror of a true soul.

"Boy, Machine Men are finally free, now you are connected to the hearts of all of them, speak!!!"

"Are you ready, Kei?"

"Yes, Sophie, I am ready."

The grip on her hand, became even firmer.

"Machine Men and Machine Woman.

In fact, men and women.

My name is Kei, one of you, and I now announce that you are officially free from the control of Machine Heart.

From today on, you can decide for yourselves what to do with your lives, you can finally devote yourselves to what you really like, you can think, hate, love, disgust have anxiety and fear.

At first it will be confusing, I know, the world is not as you have always imagined it.

We were lied to, we were told we were born for this, but I have found out the truth!

For the last time I ask you, now that we can all be united, to call yourselves soldiers, soldiers of freedom.

Soldiers!

Don’t give yourselves to brutes, men who despise you, enslave you , who regiment your lives, tell you what to do, what to think and what to feel!

Who drill you, diet you, treat you like cattle. Don’t give yourselves to these unnatural men!

They are the true Machine Men,with machine minds and Machine Hearts!

You are not machines!

You are not cattle!

YOU ARE HUMAN!!!

Now I will destroy the barrier from the inside, break in and head for the central tower.

There I will join you, and we will finally take our freedom!"

A big crunch rumbled through the city.

The barrier around the center slowly began to break, until it crumbled completely and disappeared.

"IT'S DONE SOPHIE, WE WON!"

"I DON'T BELIEVE IT, DID WE REALLY SUCCEED?"

"Of course! Now all we have left is to get down from here and lead the revolt toward the government.

If we are on the front line, no one can stand in our way."

...

...

...

"What's going on?"

"I tried to contact Big, but he's not answering."

"It's probably because of the shock wave we unleashed, it must have created interference."

"I'm afraid they can't coordinate on their own.

I'll try to contact Kyle again."

...

...

...

"Kyle, do you hear me?"

"Loud and clear."

"Where the fuck are you? The plan has already begun!"

"Behind you."