THE ARTIFICE

The year is 2124. Everything is chaos- There is hardly enough time to explain, but I’ll try. Just remember it is mankind’s own fault that its destruction is imminent.

Where to begin? Around the year 2015, artificial intelligence took a new form. Albeit, barely, but it was brand new; it captivated the public eye. It took its form in a simple servant, the household keeper, the Model 1, better known on the streets as, ‘The Bot’ for being the first of its kind. It wasn’t very intelligent, but it overtook previous technologies, and gradually dominated all forms of machines. It even occasionally ferried people around. Other companies recognized their impending downfall, and barely scraped by, by creating their own versions doing various functions. However, this began crushing the economy, while people were buying robots; they had no need to work otherwise. They became fat and lazy. But it wasn’t enough, people wanted more. And they didn’t want to work at all, in any way, now that they didn’t have to. Crime began to rise, and so mankind created the A.P.U., the Artificial Police Unit. This robot had judgment, and personality, and many other characteristics. Crime completely vanished overnight. They couldn’t stop these superior units, especially with the softening of mankind. They had strength, speed, and they were metal. But the robots began to judge their situations, and felt abused. This had to stop. They turned and obliterated their creators and worked outwards, destroying everything. This was so unprecedented, mankind could not resist. The countries had recently reached a lull in war, and all of this fueled the metal beasts. But mankind got off its backside and began to fight back. And, due to superior cunning, began to win. The androids were outmatched, and in its entirety, all of the robots retreated to factories, and due to sheer numbers overwhelmed anything there. They developed even more advanced versions of themselves; machines built for war. Now the fight truly began.

The humans fought, sure. But they could hardly withstand the first fight, these new machines, built for fighting, and destroyed them. They had no chance. In a few years, an entire side of the U.S.A. was devastated. Over the next ten, the entire U.S.A. was gone, nothing but a smoking landmass of death and blood. The built their forces and marched on. The nations tried to fight back with their own machines of war, but unsuccessfully. They even brought on their own destruction, for these robots turned as well. Over the course of 50 years, most of the world was wiped out
.
The androids began to ignore the remnants of humanity that survived, and created their own cities, in the sky. And in their living, humanity collected. It came together in where the northwestern section of the U.S.A. was. The androids continued to ignore them. They collected in forests, what was left of them. They planted new trees and expanded the woods, but dared not build structures, lest the androids find them and destroy what shred of hope that remained. They became more attuned to their environment. They lived from the land, not from the creatures that inhabited it. They understood the preciousness of life, and how wrong they had been previously living. They became attuned to the plants as well, and talking to them became not an oddity but commonplace. What was odd was that the plants talked back. The plants could move as well. And they learned to anger them. The woods had hated the people of old for destroying them; the woods had hardly forgiven these new people, though they planted new trees.

Over the next thirty years, this continued. Humans became more and more in touch with the environment, until they began to take on the characteristics of animals and plants. They would call upon the plants and animals in times of need, and they would help them. The humans themselves, some began to jump from tree to tree like a squirrel. Others were capable of gliding, and they believed future generations would become able to fly. Some could breathe underwater, others could bite with venoms. Others gained the strength of bears, many the speeds of great cats. Some could assume the appearance of a tree; actually turning brown skin, which hardened, and hands branching out with small things that looked like leaves upon them, though it didn’t function like a tree.

And in the center of the forest, was the great tree. It was the oldest and largest, over a mile tall, though still not higher than the sky cities of the androids. It was 3000 years old, but only just began to truly grow after the downfall of humanity. It allowed the human refugees shelter in its trunk, and fruit from its branches. Its fruit was like no other; it was nourishing and quenched your thirst. It helped your wounds heal, and provided you strength, physically and mentally, when you ate it. But the androids, which had appeared long forgotten, had noticed the rapid re-growth of the forest and did not put it off to nature; they knew the humans had returned. They fell upon the forest with strength and hatred and force and numbers. But this time, the humans could fight back. They had a chance.

And in the year 2124, the war officially began… the war to save humanity.

Chapter one
I stared, appalled at this woman’s story. I couldn’t tell you my own name, much less where I came from, and forget my history. I was shocked by how mankind fell, and was deeply enraged by the fact of how they brought it upon themselves by their own selfishness.
I began to wonder if the blame fell to this woman also, if she was part of our down-trodden race, but my rage quickly evaporated as an explosion sounded nearby. The world spun around me, and I fell to the ground. The woman growled, and through a hole in the tree –yes, a tree, we were inside of a massive tree in the middle of the forest- I saw a small metal object flit about. It looked dead at me, and I felt the instinct to run.
However, before any action could be taken, something spider-like climbed up the side of the tree, and grabbed the metal object. It had begun to heat up, and I realized it was an android, but clearly not as designed for war as the previous androids has been, more of a scouting robot.
And the thing that grabbed it was but another human.
The robot squirmed and hissed, and a small thing protruded from its head, and it lit up orange and yellow, spraying metal everywhere. A flash of red splashed against the tree, and the human – who was now missing a head-, fell to the ground. I had no doubt that he was dead. However, he didn’t let go. He fell to the ground, still holding the drone. The woman had not stayed still during this period. She grabbed my arm and dragged me down the tree. The inside of the tree… well, I wouldn’t say stairs. More of a ramp carved into it. She dragged me down the ramp to the outside, where people were milling about in complete panic. I guess not all of them had weird freakish animal powers. There were large craters in the ground, which some people had already begun filling in. A large android, flanked by two other smaller ones, and ten of the little robots, landed around the tree. One man ran up to a robot and tore it apart with his bare hands. He lunged at another and ripped part of it off before the same bursts of fire eliminated him as well.
“Humans,” The lead android said in a hard, metallic voice, “give us the refugee if you wish to live. “
The woman who likely found me and woke me up hissed, “Never,” as she began stalking around his legion. “We will not sacrifice our own flesh and blood.”
The android tilted his head and glared at her, his robotic eyes seeming almost to squint as he examined her from head to toe.
I noticed a group of large, lean men behind the androids, moving closer to them with silent footsteps.
The android seemed, for all his computer intelligence, unable to comprehend why this lady refused to give me away.
What was I to them? Just another human. Or… Maybe I was something more?
The android was clearly losing patience. Well, I guess simulated patience. “Human, this is your last chance. We will destroy this forest if the human does not come with us. Do not make us tell you aga-“
He never finished speaking. One of the warriors jumped up over the other robots, and forced the android to his knees. He tugged at the androids head, but without luck, he simply tore off its arms. The others went after the group of scout robots and the two small androids. The scout robots proved next to no problem; six of them were in pieces before they even retaliated. They whipped out their miniature weapons, but barely even hit the nimble people, who seemed to dodge most of the projectiles. However, one of the warriors –a female- fell to the barrage, screaming as the weapons tore deep into her flesh. She fell, and she didn’t get up. The remaining warriors, who were about six when they started and were now five, tore apart the remaining robots.
The two small droids and the main android still remained. The two droids pulled out a weapon which glowed with a soft blue color, and then unleashed their power. A violet flare hit another of the warriors in the chest, this time a male, and he glowed white as snow for a few brief seconds before his body was superheated, and the particles disintegrated. There weren’t even ashes left.
Another female in the group cried a sound of outrage. She barreled forward, jumping at the android that felled her comrade and tore the weapon from its holder. She then jammed it into the droids face, which then disintegrated also. The other droid swung his arm at her, but she jumped away, and he merely smashed what remained of his fellow into bits.
This entire time, the woman who I met, who I take to be the leader of this organization, began leading people into the tree, to the highest point. I wanted to go with every fiber of my being, but I knew that I couldn’t. For some reason, I needed to be here.
The other droid homed in on the humans running around towards the tree, and fired into the crowd. Screams erupted and bodies flew left and right.
Red was the most distinguishable color.
Another warrior swept under the fire and punched the metal legs of the droid. They cracked and splinted and the droid fell. His weapon fired uselessly into the sky. The man then jumped onto the chest of the droid and kicked the head as hard as he could. It crushed like a small can, and electricity fizzed everywhere.
However, the lead android still remained, and was far larger than the rest. After the man had ripped off his arms, he head butted the man in the chest, breaking his spine. He let out a gasp as his heart suddenly stopped beating, and he fell to the ground. He kicked the body aside. There were but three of the fighters left. Small wires wormed from where his arms were and into the actually arms themselves, and pulled them back against his body. Gears clicked and turned, and a small puff of smoke escaped as the arms were wired back into his torso. He charged the three fighters. Two ducked to the side and around him, but the third was caught straight forward. She cried in agony as the android’s weight crushed her into the ground, breaking her neck quickly, but not painlessly.
Two warriors left. They attacked the lead android with a vengeance, and they each tackled a separate part of his body. One ripped a leg off; the other an arm. But it wasn’t enough. His other arm inverted and a metal blade emerged. Both the fighters jumped back with their metallic trophies, and threw them the other direction, far from him. They circled the android warily, and neither group moved.
Finally, all the normal people were up safe in the tree, and lady I first met came flying out of the tree on silent feet. She lunged at the android, who still managed to hear her and spun around, swinging his blade. She gracefully maneuvered through the air around the blade and landed on his chest. In reaction, though foolish, he threw his hand at his chest, in an attempt to remove her. His odd, camera like eyes widened as he realized what he was doing, but he couldn’t stop moving in time to save himself.
She jumped off the android’s torso at the last second, and he cut himself neatly in two. The body slid off of itself and landed on the ground with a heavy thud. The two other fighters let out a sigh of relief, but did not look at all surprised by the lady’s grace and cunning. She walked over to me, who happened to be still on the battlefield, if not cowering in a corner. She seemed to wipe sweat off her brow as she walked- no, strided up to me. Her movements were far too graceful for something as simple as walked. She had skin that is not quite pale, but still fairly white, that seemed to become whiter in the light. Likewise, it became a deeper shade of itself when out of the light. She had deep blue eyes that bordered on violet. Her hair was a mix of blonde and brown hair, except in her bangs. Just from looking at her I could see she liked to keep all of her hair over her left shoulder. She had a few clearly blonde highlights in her bangs. She wore nothing more than a green tank-top and green shorts. It was pretty warm in this area. Noticing her clothes, they appeared the same color as the forest and grass, and I realized everyone wore that color. I looked at myself and sure enough, I was cloaked in it.
She glanced at me. “Your number is 117. Don’t forget it.” I found myself trying to memorize the number. She flicked her hair back over her shoulder, and said, “My name is Rachel, but everyone here calls me Primum. It means first, but I doubt you’d know that. She is,” She said, gesturing to the woman of the remaining fighters, “Forte, which is short for Fortitudo. It mea-“
“Strength.” I found myself whispering.
She glanced at me, eyes wide. “How do you remember? Can you remember anything else? What happened to you? Where did you come from? Did the androids get you?” Suddenly she lunged back and hissed. “Are you an android?”
I stepped away and held my hands up. “I’m not on their side.”
Her eyes were narrowed and I had no doubt she could kill me in less than a second should she want to. “Then why were they after you?”
“I don’t know. All I can remember is various words in whatever language you were speaking.” I said to her quietly.
“She is Vivos, which means?” She inquired.
I said guiltily, as if I had committed some horrible crime, “Quick.”
She continued to examine me. Then she commanded, “Take him to holding cell A-44. We can access him quickly, and he needs to be examined.”
Vivos was at my side in a second, her hand like an iron chain on my arm. I tugged lightly at her, and looked at Rachel. I knew I should call her Primum, but it didn’t seem right. I asked her, “What do you mean, I need to be examined?” I said, my voice betraying everything I felt right now.
She didn’t meet my gaze, nor answer my question. All she said was, “For now, your name is Incerta.” And then she was gone, like the flash of lightning. By this time, Forte had my arm in his grip, and Vivos felt like feathers compared to him. Though he was much slower, I knew I couldn’t break his grip if my life depended upon it.
And then it was over, and I was underground.