Prologue - The Enemy

Couple kids under a tree
Holding hands, forever free
Naive smiles of innocence
Trying vainly to make sense
Yet trapped under a sunray

The powerful sound of the city alarms abruptly cut off Harmon's sleep. He rose from his bed with a frown. The slight hint of fear added to his heart's beating was new to his usually cold and calculated self. He did expect a night attack, but it happened sooner than anticipated. He felt unprepared and perfectly conscious that losing this fight might cost him his city. At worst, it could cost him his life.

He has been wearing his usual blue office shirt for the past few days, even during bedtime. He knew that a day might come when his sleep would be interrupted, and he must act immediately. He felt like the last bastion of hope, the last human standing against the unknown. The burden of this responsibility crushing his soul, he knew he had no choice but to fight.

He closed his eyes for a moment and took a deep breath.

Panic would do him no good.

His dormitory and office rooms were on the same 33rd floor of the Grand Tower Building from the center of Nexus, the city of his protectorate. The dormitory window had a good view of the east side of Nexus, while the office window had a view toward the city's west side. There were a few other rooms, such as the large guest chamber north of the floor and a bathroom. On the south side, one could find the staircase room leading to the rooftop and the floor below.

The floor was illuminated by a few lightbulbs, one in each room, all connected to Nexus's primary power grid. Harmon could swear that he sensed those lights flicker a few times. These flickerings were a terrible sign that the power grid was unstable. The city would fall into darkness if someone attacked and destroyed the power plants or the main cables. So he went to a hidden storage room beside the staircase and turned on the gasoline generator. He'd only used it briefly when the power network was under brief maintenance. Having to resort to this gasoline generator worried him. Was the situation really that desperate?

He rushed to the eastern window, but the city seemed pretty peaceful on that side. The lights shone brightly on every street, and everything seemed carefree. If not for the panic alarms.

He took another deep breath and returned to the office room on the side of the floor, ready to face the brutal reality. But as he reached the window, the room suddenly fell dark. He looked over the window, but the city lights were also out. His worst fear came to life. He returned to the eastern side only to see that the lights on that side of the city were also off.

The city had fallen into total darkness.

He concentrated on his hearing, hoping to catch a sign of what was going on. He could hear the sounds of his defense systems and the invading forces' noise as they slammed into buildings and lampposts. The clinging of metals and the occasional explosions were coming closer and closer, their rustling now reaching the 33rd floor.

A sound of rustling wheels came from the staircase. Harmon hoped his wheeled machines, a particular type of robot he called Wheelers, would bring him some good news. Batteries fueled his robots, so the failure of the power grid should not affect them for now. As the machines approached, he returned to the generator and turned on the engine. The power supplier started making pumping sounds, and the lights on the floor went on again. Unfortunately, the rest of the Nexus city was still in darkness, and the status of the battle was hard to assess.

Harmon turned to the three machines that had come up the stairs, arriving on his floor. His Wheelers were a strange sight. A very rough design of a cubic case with two metal pipes that might have resembled some arms. The cube sat on top of a pair of wheels, looking like an ancient chariot. LEDs of various colors blinked on the case's surface, communicating the machine's status.

From the signals, Harmon could tell that the robots had some information to communicate, most likely the status of the fight. He headed toward the office, followed by three machines, their wheels cracking against the wooden floor in the staircase room until they reached the comfy carpet of the office. Harmon took a cable from a drawer and connected one end to some strange rectangular device sitting on a desk. The device was a rudimentary printer, though it looked more like a typewriter, being able to use ink to print only predefined letters on paper. Then he connected the other end of the cable to the closest Wheeler.

The typewriter started typing letter by letter, printing a sheet containing the status report the machine was trying to convey to its commander. Harmon did the same for the other two robots until he eventually got a few sheets of paper.

The message of the first robot was that the west Nexus's line of defense had been broken less than one hour ago by the same rogue beasts known as the Teardrops due to their liquid aspect. The robot guards of the Nexus had intercepted them, but they were no match for the enemy's huge numbers. Most Wheelers were now missing in action.

The second robot's message was that the enemy had blown up three main power generators and some secondary power sources. As a result, there was not enough energy to restore the power grid. Machines without charged batteries could not continue their activity and were now completely useless. Those with batteries would only last for a few more hours.

The third machine claimed multiple robot guards had spotted the notorious Red Barbarian during the conflict. Also, one source claimed that the Barbarian attempted to start climbing the Grand Tower Building and, according to the latest intel, was intercepted by a guard patrol on the base floor.

Harmon pondered the situation and his options. At first sight, the Red Barbarian's actions seemed disconnected from the Teardrops' attack. But chances are that the Red Barbarian was not only an opportunist but the de facto leader of the recent attacks. That meant defeating the leader of the warmongers might crush the entire invasion. So he needed to target the Barbarian as soon as possible.

From a file containing various cards, he picked a few specific ones and inserted them into a free slot in each machine. Each card combination represented a set of predefined commands. That was the only way to give new orders to his robot loyalists. The Wheelers rolled down the stairs, carrying their new orders.

In his instructions, Harmon commanded the guards to allow the Barbarian to intrude into the Tower. Instead, they should focus on intercepting the Teardrops' attacks and protecting the remaining power sources. The location of his local generators, such as the one near the staircase, was likely a secret to the enemy. Still, his presence here on the 33rd floor was definitely known to the offender. He expected the Red Barbarian to attack head-on while his robots handled the Teardrops downstairs.

The generator was the key to defeating the Barbarian. His secret weapon relied on it. And so he will fight, and he will win. Perhaps the defeat of the Barbarian would be the trigger that would put an end to this madness. Taking a deep breath, he connected a thick cable to the generator, tightly holding the other end in his left bare hand. He turned on the generator and waited, ready to activate his secret weapon.

The next moment, he heard the window of his office room shattering to pieces. He moved swiftly into the threshold between the staircase and office rooms and held his right hand towards his enemy. But the sight of the red-haired intruder was nothing he expected.

The Red Barbarian, a red-haired young woman about his age, looked back at him and seemed as scared as he was. But by the determination in her eyes, he understood she had no intent to back down either.