ACT ONE, Chapter 1, Day 0

ACT ONE

CHAPTER ONE

In Search Of

Day 0

Welp, I should get a move on, and quickly. The sun is already well over halfway through its journey across the sky, sundown will be soon. I should head back to the town I passed on the way here, perhaps I can find some place to set up shop in its ruins. But I must move soon, for at nightfall, when the weary sun rests from its long journey, the true danger comes out. A danger in the form of nocturnal scavenger drones. They are the only other remaining remnant of the short time my people spent here, and pose a serious threat to my life.

The drones are split up into two models, the JN87 and the JN88. Both are extremely efficient at what they do. It’s hard to say which is better at harvesting meat, they are two very different beasts, but these differences help them work in tandem to accomplish tasks that one of the two models would otherwise have difficulty.

The JN87 is small, about the size of my fist. Its body and design is reminiscent of that of a spider with 8 sharply pointed legs, each tipped with prongs to help it cling to any surface. It is very quiet, and will often stalk its target for days waiting for the right moment to strike when the target is at its most vulnerable. Whatever it’s hunting probably wouldn’t ever see it coming until it was too late. It is armed with only one weapon, if you don’t count its sheer skill to remain undetected as one, a long spring loaded proboscis protruding from its mouth. It’s tipped with an extremely potent toxin designed to induce its victim into a deep and powerful sleep until all its organs inevitably shut down from the poison. Its victim can't cry for help, it can't scream in pain. Anything that came across a victim would think them in an exhausted slumber, unaware that they are slowly dying on the inside. At least the death following its strike is peaceful.

The JN88 however is altogether a different machine. The only similarity between the two drones is the body design. Like the 87, the 88 is also modeled after a spider only much larger. Imagine a mechanical spider the size of a fully grown human adult and all the horrors that would entail. Now imagine that still, but bristling with a wide array of offensive and defensive systems and a very bad attitude. Each of its 8 legs are pointed like spears. It can move very quickly, jump very high, and has an active radar tracking system so it never loses sight of its prey. Along with that, it carries two high voltage stun weapons: One attached to the end of its front right leg and the other, a retractable harpoon mounted on its back for a ranged attack. Also on board is an extremely sophisticated imaging system, a hyper-intelligent deep learning AI, and the ability to camouflage itself against any surface. Unlike the JN87 however, it will not stalk its target. It will kill on sight without hesitation.

Both drones are extremely dangerous and are the pinnacle of what they were designed to do – Hunt down and terminate any living creature they come across, to include myself. Though they typically hunt alone, they can communicate and work together should the need arise. But for the most part, during the day it is safe to roam freely. They only begin their prowl after sundown, spending all day in Low Charge Mode to recharge their solar batteries. If I come across one during the day, I should destroy it immediately while it’s vulnerable. It is however unlikely I will come across one out in the open in the middle of the day, they’re very smart about where they hide.

But I should move. If I remember correctly, the town I came across is only a few miles down this trail. It shouldn’t take me too terribly long to get there. But the big time waster will come once I arrive and must search for a suitable shelter to conceal myself from the midnight prowl. I don’t know what I’ll find there, but maybe there’s a way I can still salvage use from its remains.. I hope.

A quick inventory of all the things I gathered in my bag prior to desertion. I set my bag on the ground and dump out the contents. Let’s see.. A multi tool, that could come in handy. A fire starting kit with two spark tablets, definitely useful. 6 Zeta-Rations. Hmm, only supposed to be about 6 days worth of food but if I space that out I can probably bump that up to 12 or maybe 18 days if I’m good about it. 8 water packs, definitely going to need to space that out as much as I can as well, I don’t know how long I can make that last though.. Let’s see, what else is in here.. A first aid kit , notebook and pen aaannd.. Ah, my rifle silencer kit, and all the spare ammo I could fit into the 8 side pockets of my bag. Not exactly the best survival kit I’ve ever had but unlike the simulations, I can’t just expect to have exactly what I need. It’ll have to make do until I can start rummaging through the ruins of the town for anything of use.

I pack everything back into the bag, throw the bag over the shoulder, and begin my trek back to the town, rifle at the ready.

Even now, over 3 months since planetfall I still find myself silently appalled, still trying to comprehend the mass of chaos we brought to this place. The thick ash crunches beneath my feet like a soft layer of snow with every lonely footstep. This place, this whole planet used to be so beautiful. So full of green, so lush and rich with natural wonder. I can still vividly remember my first moments here, before the first bullet flew and the artillery thundered through the forests. The moment the landing ramp lowered from our craft, and I got first glimpse with my own eyes at the surface… Perfect. I was so captivated, enraptured by what greeted my gaze.. But it wasn’t to last. The splendor vanished at the crack of a rifle, when I was suddenly sucked back into the reality of what I was here to do. But until that day I had never known of creatures that flew, or seen the vibrancies of flowers in bloom. And the forests, woodlands and rolling green hills as far as the eye could see. It was something that not even the most vivacious imagination or ambitious dream could capture in full extravagance. But we just… destroyed it. We destroyed it all, everything. Blazed out of existence in a gale of fire. And now all that remains is ash. Everything burned, blackened and coated in soot. What took us centuries to do to Old Earth we managed here in only three months. Three.. Long.. Months. Full of nothing but killing and pillaging. Sometimes I can still see them, the battles I took part in. If you could even call them battles.. More like massacres.

I remember one day, I want to say it was about 3 days after our first set of missions had been carried out and we began to spread out into the surrounding countryside. We came across a flock of winged Equine all joined together in a massive swarm around a lake. They were flying laps around the lake, gradually flying faster and faster around in hopes of raising the water from the lake. It was a tactic they would come to use very often, to raise the water to their cities in the clouds and bring down a torrent of rain in hopes of bogging us down. We had caught them by surprise this time, the water was just beginning to creep up through their vortex. The moment we saw them we were ordered to fire. Every last weapon system the convoy could spare opened up all at once. I still see it, see the mangled bodies ejecting from the vortex and flopping to the ground everywhere around the lake. Not one Equine was spared, not one made it out alive. The moment the guns opened up the Equines dropped like flies. And then all the puddles of blood, mud and water on the ground.. And the smell.. You could smell it for a mile.

Very troublesome were the wing'ed ones. We were constantly on guard for their aerial guerrilla attacks, harmless as they were. But their faith never wavered. Their leader, the one with the rainbow mane, she rallied them to never give up until the last pair of wings had bore down against the air for the last time. Even more troublesome was she.. Despite being much slower than our jets she always some how managed to get away and reassemble her forces. I can't count how many times we ran into her and her flocks. She went everywhere we went, fighting in every fight we engaged in. Her and her flock were truly and undoubtedly loyal to the end. Never once did I see them quit, or retreat in fear. That was until we cornered the last of her and her band in their defense of their last cloud city.

Those who live here - who used to live here called us monsters and I'm somewhat inclined to agree with them. That's.. All we've ever been. Monsters. Destroyers. Consumers, always searching for our next source of food and fuel at the exploitation of everything we could get our hands on. It never sat well with me knowing what we did. Even if we had managed to capture the planet for ourselves and made it a home the notion of our intentions would have still sat skulking in the back of my mind. It just.. Infuriates me to no end how painfully careless we were to this place. Every time I think about it I can feel the glare of hindsight burrowing into my soul, heating up the trove of anger hidden deep inside. Boiling and churning in my body. Impossible to ignore, the inexorable rage that hides quietly within..

I stop in the middle of the road and drop to my knees. I grip the ash in both hands out of anger, closing my fist tightly around it. I can feel it all boiling back up inside me.

So much time... So much of my life, all 24 years of it, wasted! All that time spent training, all the time spent planning and preparing for this mission... And we just.. blew it. We had a chance, a chance to make a claim for ourselves and start new lives, real lives. We so carefully made our agendas to make this place our home.. but in our own arrogance and oversight, we just couldn't hold on to it! I think I was more excited than anybody else to finally get off that blasted ship. 6 whole generations of people lived and died within our fleet to get us here and it was all for nothing. And now countless more are to pass as they search for another chance.

I grip the ash, tighter. And tighter. And when my muscles begin to strain I let go, and let all the badness welling up within me out in a single lasting, lingering exhale. Anger turns to sadness.. optimism turns to despair.. I pick up the ash and let it slowly sink through my fingers. It flows between them, turning to a cloud as it all gently drifts back down to the ground.

Oh what’s the point! How stupid it was of me to go through with this.. Stupid! Why couldn’t I have just moved on with the rest of the herd! Why do I have to be so free thinking? Why couldn’t I have just stayed a pawn like everyone else...

I stay here for sometime, just sat down in the middle of the road contemplating the value of my own life. Eventually I look to the sun. It is now much farther along than before. Begrudgingly, with the weight of a time limit on my back, I decide to move on.

• - - -

At about halfway down the trail to the town, I have a change in mood. I begin to think that, maybe, this won’t be so bad. Maybe, this could be an interesting little adventure I’m setting myself up for. Who knows what’s in store for me back in the town. I know I’m probably going to be killed off at some point anyway, but I'll be damned if I take the coward's way out. I have more dignity than that. Why not see where this little adventure takes me?

Some time later I begin to see the outer reaches of the town ahead. Not much remains of this sleepy little town. The only indication that there WAS something here at some point are the charred wooden support columns of buildings jutting out of the ground, all at angles and toppled over each other. And maybe a still standing stone wall here and there. Some of the rubble still smolders from the recent firestorm. It’s going to be hard to find a decent shelter given the state of things, but it’s all I have to work with so I must make due. Maybe after I explore the town a little I can find some place that I might call home, but I can’t spend too much time. The sun will soon traverse the horizon and let loose the nightly prowl of the dreaded mechanical beasts. I must pick up the pace.

I don’t bother with the buildings sparsely dotting the outside rim of the town, I follow the streets straight into the higher density areas before beginning my search.

Every ruined building I inspect is either just a deep pile of debris or a crater, or some combination of the two. None of which meet even the basic requirements of a shelter. I climb on and dig through as many piles as I can, finishing with one only to briskly move on to the nearest one after that. But nothing, not even the larger piles that look so promising on the outside come close to fitting the bill. Another glance to the sun urges me to pick up a mild jog. Forget digging through these, it’s taking up too much of my time. I run between the houses, giving each a once over before scuttling over to the next.

This one? No. Here? No. Nope, that one sucks. Nope, nope. This one is literally just a crater with a piece of wood sticking out of it. Nope, not even. No, no, NO…

Somewhere in the search I get the idea to just build my own shelter, but I decide that to be too time consuming. I don't think I would actually trust my skills as a craftsman either, that’s not in my repertoire.

The sun begins to rest atop the hillsides. I’ve almost completely run out of time, I have to make something up quick!

I run to the middle of a street, rubble piles on all sides and hurriedly look at each. But they are all the same, all just piles of uselessness. Piles of nothing I’d ever want to get involved in. Could I just climb into a random pile and try to hide in it? No, too many problems arise from that. What about that one over there? No. Nothing, nothing here is good enough for -

My eyes drift over to a blown out hole leading underneath one of the buildings. This might be it, I have to check this out.

Upon inspecting the hole I find a tunnel leading to a room underneath the building. Oh how perfect, and not a moment too soon, the sun has just crossed the precipice giving way to the night. What luck, what fantastic timing.

I squeeze through the tight entrance and guide my way down a short pathway into what appears to be an old unused basement. Debris densely scattered throughout, most of it collected in the center of the room but there is enough space for me to move freely around it. The ceiling is blown open to the sky. The building above has mostly collapsed over the gaping hole, giving me not exactly ideal overhead “coverage” but enough to suffice for now. My guess is that a bomb was dropped directly onto the house and smashed through the floor into the basement before detonating. The amount of displaced dirt beneath the house is a testament to the power of the explosion, I can clearly tell how small the basement was compared to what it is now, it’s quite roomy. What a lucky find. For what it is given the circumstances it’s perfect… aside from the mess.

I collect some of the debris and use it to plug up the hole I entered through. And use some of it to patch up the larger holes in the ceiling. The rest I shove tightly to one side of the room to clear the floor space.

I’ll wait until it’s light outside again before giving the area a thorough search. Who knows what I’ll find, I could be sitting on a veritable gold mine of useful survival materials right now for all I know. Or maybe just the opposite. But for now it is dark, almost too dark to see clearly within my new hovel. Alas, I must contain my curious excitement ‘til the sun restarts its long trek across the endless gray.

I really should get some sleep. I’m going to need it, I have many long days ahead of me. Today was just the start of a hopefully long adventure, who knows what the coming days have in store. I could be dead tomorrow for all I know, or maybe not. We’ll just have to find out won’t we?

I curl up on the dirty, ashy floor on the far side of the room away from the debris I moved. Now’s the moment that I realize I have nothing to keep me warm through the night. My only attire is my combat shirt, pants and boots. Not exactly a comforting ensemble. I could start a fire with my spark tablets but then again I don't really have anything I can burn. All of the wood here is already burned through to the core and I’d just be wasting my time trying to reignite it. Perhaps tomorrow I’ll go out in search of still burnable wood. That’s what I’ll do. First thing when I wake up I’ll compile a list of things to be on the lookout for, firewood being the most pertinent. But all must wait, for that time will come eventually. For now I must rest and await the horrific wonders that lie in wait in this world of ash.

I close my eyes, and attempt to lull myself into that deep deep repose...