Bittersweet Legacy

The night enveloped everything in darkness along the road. The usual lamp lights at the side of streets, roads, highways and other places were no more.

Two figures moved through this, specs of green light emanating from their heads as they moved as quickly as they could.

Ahead of them was a large shadowed mass, their final destination as it were.

Quickly they left the flat uneven surface of the road and crossed the large fields of grass. Once there, they searched for their target, a grate of metal covering a manhole used for access and repairs.

“Okay Simon, you’re up.” came a whispered voice.

One of the figures moved over and began working on the grate exposed form the ground at their feet. The heavy metal was moved, scraping over the concrete right around it after a few seconds of strain.

Checking their surroundings quickly, the first one moved to the side of the hole and sat down, legs dangling into the hole, which looked like a void to nothing.

Only a slight hesitation before he plunged through the darkness. Silence stretched for only seconds before there came a small echoing sound of something heavy hitting concrete.

He was quickly followed by the other, which made a louder more solid thump.

Standing the two looked around the long dark corridor before moving in one direction.

After a few minutes, the two pairs of green dots were removed and a flashlight was turned on. One face was of a man with dark hair and a rough shadow over his face. The other was a more feminine looking face of a young man.

The flashlight moved about briefly before being aimed in front of them to reveal a metal door.

The older man looked to his companion and nodded before stepping back.

The younger one moved forward and checked for a switch on the door, or something to try to open it before forcing it open, bending the metal slightly. It was difficult to try and press his fingers into the door creating a small opening to get a better grip. The strain was enormous, and he had to stop.

“What’s wrong Simon?”

Simon raised his hands to show the gloves on his hands had torn, beneath them revealed a false layer of skin beneath that was metal and wiring.

“If I continue, father, my hands will become useless and you will not be available to repair them.”

With a heavy sigh, his head turning quickly at an imagined sound from behind them he nodded before turning back.

“Alright then,” he placed the flashlight in his mouth and removed a pack to dig through it.

Producing a couple of crowbars, he handed one to Simon and held the other.

The two positioned themselves, crowbars in the hole that was made and struggled to push and pull.

The door resisted, but after a minute or so of struggling, they could feel the metal starting to give way.

With a screech, the metal door gave part way, bending out towards them.

The older man placed a hand on Simon and shushed him.

Overhead they could hear the sounds of a strange motor humming and vibrating as it moved and shifted above ground.

Simon moved as if wanting to go back from where they came, but the older man pushed him back, shaking his head silently.

After a few more seconds of the engine overhead shifting about, they could hear it growing louder before fading in one direction.

“They found the hole, I’m betting. It gives us even less time.”

Simon nodded to his father before turning and struggling with the door, no longer seeming to care if his hands were damaged.

The squeal of the metal echoed loudly as he peeled it back further, until, “There! That’s more than enough for us to slip through.”

His father moved him aside and tossed the bag through the hole before clambering through.

Simon waited until his father moved before he too crawled through.

The other side of the door revealed a large room that appeared to be a control room. It had remained dark and dusted due to the years of unuse.

“There, take that and block the door with it, please.” The older man told Simon, pointing to a closed metal cabinet.

Looking back, his eyes adjusting, Simon nodded as he moved over to the large metal cabinet and placed his hands on the smooth sides before bending the metal slightly in his grip to slide it over.

His father used the flashlight to look around the room before he spotted what appeared to be a glass door. It looked as if it had a card reader next to it, but was not sealed shut. With some effort, he was able to force the door the rest of the way open and looked down at a set of stairs.

Through the door was a stairwell surrounded by smooth concrete, that ended at another metal door that had been left wide open.

Simon looked over his shoulder, “Father, shouldn’t you use the control panel up here? This way you won’t be exposed?”

“I don’t know if we can even turn the power on from up here, but down there;down there we can access the grid for sure, which is why I need you with me the entire way to the end.”

The sounds of engines roaring overhead could be heard even through the concrete and dirt above them.

This was followed by pounding on the doors and walls beyond the command center. Simon and his father knew what this meant.

“Simon you need to get this powered now.”

“But, Father-”

“No, I don’t care, we are out of time!” His father screamed.

Closing his eyes, Simon turned and placed his hands down into the exposed wiring and began working.

His father lowered his head as he finished using the blowtorch weld the last parts of his contraption together. He took time to try and look over his work, beginning to inspect the large magnets and metal casing that made the framework of a large arch.

The sound of something heavy hitting overhead drew his attention as clouds of dust fell around them.

“Simon, I-” He was interrupted by the sound of a high pitched whine drowning out the showers of electrical sparks.

Jumping back the man covered his face with an arm as electricity surged over the magnets, turning red as they grew hot, before glowing almost white.

“SIMON!” He screamed over the noise as best as he could.

There was an explosion, and Simon was thrown back across the space. His hands and arms were smoldering, some of his internal parts somewhat melted in places.

The fact that his creator had designed him to vent and stabilize extreme amounts of internal heat with a personal cooling system showed forethought, but even this had its limits to the archaic technology of the time.

“Simon, can you move?” His father asked as he rushed over, trying to pat him down to keep the heat from catching the clothing on him on fire.

Simon spasmed before opening his eyes.

“I-I,” He started as his head tweaked to the side.

“Damn it, your internal systems must be damaged throughout your whole body, I can’t even imagine the extent of the damage inside of you, much less what its done to your brain matrix systems.” His father said as he looked him over.

Pulling the shirt up, he could see some of the ‘skin’ he covered the android in had melted or burned away. Looking with the assistance of his flashlight, the man shook his head at what he saw.

The damage had fortunately been altered by the energy source and some of the systems in him. It could have been worse if it overcharged his energy source connected to his heart.

That would have created an explosion that certainly would have dealt with their pursuers, but not much beyond that.

“Come on, you will be okay. I downloaded plenty of schematics of you and your previous sisters. All you need is to get your hands working and you can repair yourself over time.”

The man slowly helped Simon to the portal before another explosion could be heard from the other side of the concrete walls.

“Well, times up Simon.” His father said, as he set him down by the now glowing, energy filled doorway. He turned to where he had left the bag, when something hard and heavy struck the side of his head.

Simon knelt down next to his unconscious father, “WE are sorry for this father. But you are our creator. We must ensure your survival.” Simon then moved his father over and looked at where he had hit him. The damage to his physical body was minimal externally. Some blood for almost removing the skin.

Beneath the skin were a few small sparks and Simon pulled back a piece of skin to check the device. His systems scanning it, and detecting minor internal cranial damage.

Shaking his head, he removed a small black piece of plastic from his pocket and slipped it into an empty slot. He moved his hand and used the tips of his melted fingers to click the device into place.

Simon then began to move and lift his father up, before allowing him to fall back, and giving him a shove through the doorway.

There was a bright surge of energy before Simon was thrown back once again, the doorway expelling energy before briefly drawing back in on itself.

The metal and magnets couldn’t hold before collapsing inward, the metal twisting and tearing apart disrupting the doorway.

The concrete wall from where they had entered exploded, the chunks of debris almost burying Simon as large machines entered. One floating through the air, other human forms climbing down the stairs and looking about scanning the area.

Their scans led them to the collapsed doorway, before an alarm was sounded drawing them back to where Simon lay.

They scanned him, seeing a large slab of broken rubble crushing most of his body, part of his head and brain matrix showing.

An advanced camera inside the eye turned to the machines over him, “I-if I c-could laugh, I would. You c-c-can not kill humans anymo-” Simons head fell, chin touching his torn apart chest. The parts of his internal systems that were lit up now falling dark.

The machines scanned him, before easily removing the rubble and lifting the android up.

The hovering machine lowered itself slightly before opening a compartment and accepting the android into an empty compartment.

One of the machines performing a scan over the collapsed piece of metal bent over and stretched a claw out, only to draw it back as a surge of energy sparked out from the pile.