CYBERPUNK 2077 


Alt Persona by Corvo


"HELP! HELP!" she yelled as her bloody carcass fell to the floor. Her eyes, she was beautiful, but now her innocence had been crushed, along with her life. Blood stained the road, and the headlights were so bright the wildlife ran away in fear. 

She took her last breath, he walked over to her lifeless body, stabbed her and then without hesitation, he kicked and stomped screaming "B*TCH! B*TCH!". This went on for about five to ten minutes, before her beauty had been reduced to blood and gore on the lonely, dark road. Not even the birds came to see the blood, only the flies swarming her corpse.

END OF CHAPTER 1



CHAPTER 2

After Sherry is found dead, her Father, Frank Murdoch, a former Heist Crew member turned Retired Family man, consults an assassin.

"So what does this guy look like? Where can I find him?"
"An associate of mine told me he stalks women in the alleyways, he's had numerous kills under his belt. Cops can't do anything, and why would they help me anyway?"
"Why do you want this guy dead anyway? I thought you were retired, Frank. He some sort of rat?"
"He killed my Daughter a week ago. Left her body in the middle of the road. She was so young. WHY WOULD ANYONE DO THIS TO HER?"
"Frank, I'm not your psychiatrist. I'm an assassin, so as long as I get paid..."
"I can't even think about it anymore. My Daughter, she was so innocent."
"Goodbye, Frank."

END OF CHAPTER 2

CHAPTER 3

In the criminal underworld, the assassin Colt is a legend, a fable. After serving in the military for 17 Years, he turned into an alcoholic, and he lost his job. He then took many braindances, turning him into a stone cold killer. Rumors say he took down three mafia gangs on his own. He is now a feared assassin, hunting down targets for clients in the criminal underworld.

"What the f*ck you creep! Sneaking up on me like that."
"You have nothing to fear, now be quiet. The time is near."

The masked individual grabs her hand twisting it before pulling her to the ground. Colt appears on the scene and then kicks the masked individual over saving the lady. 

"You like to kill women, MORON?!" Colt takes out his knife, which had been covered blood in week old dried blood and threatens the masked individual. 

"Why?!"
"You killed innocent women. YOU SICK BASTARD!"
"You just don't understand, Colt. You never did."
"How do you know my name? Who are you?"
"Somebody like you. An assassin."
"You're an assassin? Who hired you?"
"Murdoch hired me. I know all about you, from when you killed two of the largest Night City mafia familes to now. It's not much of a secret."
"Murdoch hired you? That doesn't make sense. He hired me to kidnap you."
"He hired two assassins. He knew what he was doing. One of us killed his daughter."
"I hope Murdoch takes his time with you! We're taking your car, mine needs repair. Some deer hit the front of my car, if you don't shut up, you will too!"

END OF CHAPTER 3

CHAPTER 4

Colt delivers the target to the meeting spot. He always hated to see what horrors Night City can do to a person, especially with the braindances.

"He's here. Take your wrath out on him, sick f*ck."
"Thanks, but it's not going to be that way."


He pulls out a pistol and aims it at Colt.

"Murdoch, what the f*ck?"
"You thieving murderous...!!"
"I don't understand!"
"You never understand do you? You killed my Daughter!"
"Slow down! I never touched her!"
"Yes you did! It's those braindances, isn't it! You don't even know who you are anymore!"
"I...I...."
"You expect me not to know! Your car needs repairs, Colt! Take out your knife!"
"Why?"
"Do it or you die!"
"That's not her blood!"

Murdoch shoots Colt, and then the masked individual takes off his mask.

"Where's my money then Murdoch?"
"Here, I'll pay you extra for getting it done quick and easy. Braindances ruined Colt and I'm sure, It'll ruin you too."

END OF CHAPTER 4

(This story is set before Kashyyk)As the members of Delta Squad sat in the briefing room of a Venator Class Star Destroyer they wondered what they were getting in to. They had been through a lot over the war, geonosis, the Prosecutor, and other classified missions. They had been told that Taris was a planet of ruins, bombarded by some crazy person named "Malak". They were sent to infiltrate a heavily fortified CIS base on the planets surface,
and blow it from the inside, because of the terrain a full scale land invasion was almost impossible and bombarding the base was not an option because the base was hidden under buildings. There clone adviser, CC-01/425, gathered their attention as a hologram of the planet Taris appeared.

"This is Taris, once a city world now in ruins. The planet has only a few small cities, and is littered with swamps and destroyed buildings."
"Anything we should be worried about?" Said Sev, the team's sniper.
"Yes there are, the planet is home to many dangerous creatures, and there are rumored to be Rakghouls living there." there Adviser replied.
"Rakghouls?" Boss, the leader of the squad asked.
"Yes, they are believed to be mutated humans, but we have little information on them."
"Nothing thermal detonators can't do." Said Scorch, the team's demolitions specialist
"Let's not use too many explosives, we don't want to give ourselves away before we get there." Replied fixer, the teams export slicer and technician.
"Wildlife isn't the only dangerous thing on this planet, the seps have dug in and fortified a base containing a major droid factory. The base is fortified with Anti Air emplacements and Anti Armor cannons, and a whole lot of battle droids." there Adviser stated
"How are we going in?" replied Boss.
"Your gonna be dropped from low orbit."
"That sounds fun" replied Scorched.
"You will be equipped with parachutes and jetpacks."
"I have always wanted to go skydiving." Fixer said.

As Delta Squad was falling from space, Scorch was screaming "WHOO HOOO!".
They were approaching the planets surface as they slowed themselves down with the high powered jetpacks and pulled their shutes. Delta Squad landed and secured a perimeter, then calling their adviser as he appeared out of thin air on Boss's hologram.

"We are on the planets surface not too far from the sep base" Boss said.
"Head to the base and watch for any wildlife."
"On it, Sev, once we reach the base get to a high point and scout out the base."
"Copy that sir."
"Delta Squad form up!" boss commanded, a wave of rogers came as they moved out into the darkening night to toward the base.

As Delta Squad moved toward the base is was almost pitch black except for their glowing visors and the occasional glowing eyes watching from the shadows. As they moved in unison they heard growls approaching them.

"Take offensive formation!" Boss commanded as Delta Squad formed a circle waiting for whatever was stalking them to come out.
"Engaging thermal vision." Sev said switching from his night vision to see what was stalking them. As he looked around he saw 2-3-5 or more animals approaching, from what he can tell they are Nexu, dangerous giant cat like creatures witch 4 eyes, a long whip like tail, long sharp teeth, and spike like appendages coming from their backs.
"Nexu!" Sev yelled as Delta Squad lit up the forest with blaster fire, killing the 5 or more Nexu.
"We better get moving before more come!" Scorch said

As Delta Squad walked through the dark knight looking for threats, they started to see lights and the all too familiar sound of droids.
"Hold position commandos." Boss ordered
"I can get a good lookout spot from up there." Sev said, pointing at a destroyed building over looking the base.
"Set up a sniping position there and cover us, and provide anything you can tell us." Boss replied
"On it!"

Sev was now overlooking the base, there were a lot of droids and a few tanks. He was trying to find a path to a reactor or something that would destroy the entire base if it blew up. He found what looks to be a CIS munitions stockpile building, and a reactor building.

"We got 2 options, a munitions stock pile and a reactor." Sev said over his com link to Boss.
"Scorch, why don't you choose?" Boss asked.
"Hmm, we could do both, I have enough charges, and it would make a bigger boom."
"I like that" replied Fixer, he was slicing into a computer opening doors and getting the layout of the base.
"Sev, find us a path to both, and take out any thing that would cause us trouble. Fixer try to change the droids patrol route so that we can go by unoticed."
"On it".
"I can't wait to blow something up!" Scorch said happily.

Delta Squad was now moving through the base, dodging patrols and following the path the map in their visors showed.
"There is a shuttle landing." Sev said as he zoomed in the see General Grevious, the military General of the CIS, a high priority target.
"Grevious with a pair of magnaguards."
"Delta Squad hold position."
Boss pulled up their Adviser on his comm link
"We are in the base, but there is a complication."
"What is it Delta?"
"General Grevious has landed in the base."
"Delta do not engage, do not engage, Grevious is highly dangerous. Continue mission but do not engage if possible."
"Roger that, continuing plan as normal."

Delta Squad continued moving through the base undetected. When they reached the munitions stockpile they had to quietly take out a few droids with there vibro blades.
"Scorch, plant those charges, quickly!"
"With pleasure sir."
"Fixer when we plant the last charges can you make a clear path for us?"
"I will try to direct as many patrols and open doors."
"Good"

"Sev, cover us as we make our escape! And call in a gunship to pick us up! Fixer disable those Anti Air!"
A wave of on its came through as Scorch planted the last charge.
"I'm all done sir! I can't wait to blow this thing!"
"Don't get cocky we aren't out of this yet."

"Delta Squad take offensive formation! Take out as much as you can as we leave."
"Roger That!" Delta Squad replied eager for action, and to see things blow up.
Soon they were moving though blaster fire and little explosions. The Squad moved in unison skillfuly taking droids out in unison, it ddin't look human, no human has that amount of cooridination.
'Take that clankers!" as Scorch threw a thermal detonator into a group of droids
Droids were falling everywhere, any blaster fire that hit the commandos got absorbed into the shields.
An AAT approached and fired a round, it hit close enough to feel the shock. Scorch switched from his standard DC-17m blaster configuration to the Anti Tank configuration and blew the AAT to bits.
Boss turned to see Grevious approaching the 3 members of Delta Squad, a bolt from Sev's DC-17 Sniper rifle configuration slammed into the side of the cyborg general's head. the general stopped for a second and kept moving.
"Delta Squad, it's time to leave!" Boss ordered.
An LAAT gunship was in view soon approaching as the Anti Air went down. It landed right outside the base as Delta Squad exited the base. They all got in as the Laat left, they saw the horde of droids approaching them firing up at the gunship, the gunship ate the blaster fire as it swooped to pick up Sev.

When they got the a safe enough distance Boss said
"Here Scorch, you can have the honors of blowing this thing."
"Really! Thanks, now let's blow this base and get out of here, I hate swamps."
A giant explosion erupted from the base, sending a shock wave shaking the gunship.
"Whoo hooo!" Scorch yelled in excitement.
A hologram came out from the bottom of the gunship.
"Good job you did, Delta Squad, rewarded for your actions you will be."
The End

In the near future there will be cyborgs, some of these cyborgs will be good, others will be bad, the good ones will probably work for the military or some other organization, the bad ones will do bad things, the good ones will probably win but have to sacrifice themselves, as they die, some sad music will play, did i mention these Cyborgs have family's, thats kinda important because it will make you cry. the end...

I

The empty cosmos was depressive in its silence. The only sound Bakar heard was that of his breath, circulating through the closed helmet. Along with his brothers, the Adeptus Astartes, he stood on the broken hull of their battle barge. It was engulfed in flames that were immediately extinguished by the surrounding vaacum. In front of Bakar was equally damaged ork cruiser, which they were preparing to board. Both ships had become a tangled mess of steel from the exhaustive battle between them.
– Crimson Fists, today we die for the Emperor!– the voice of Bakar’s captain Aitor crackled in his comm. Always with the dramatics, Bakar thought, determined to make greenskins die instead. The had chased their sworn enemies through a warp storm with one goal in mind – to finally put an end to the reign of terror commited by ork warboss Grobull Skulldrinker. The warboss had devasted half a dozen agriplanets when their chapter had finally caught up with them. The main forces of both parties stayed to battle with each other, while Grobull made his escape. Bakar’s force was tasked to capture and exterminate the warboss even if it cost them their lives.
– For the Emperor,– the other marines responded to their commander and Bakar joined them. They leapt, a whole squad equipped with jump packs, to the remains of the ork ship. For a moment they slid silently through the emptiness, landing without impact on the ship’s hull. Bakar felt the impact of his boots against the metal surface and immediately activated his melta gun, aiming it at the hull. The hot beam of energy cut through it as easily as a chainsaw through a tyranid.
One by one the marines leapt into the dark hole whose edges were still glowing white hot. Just as Bakar prepared to follow his comrades, the ship started shaking violently and red outlines surrounded it. They had entered the nearby moon’s atmosphere, Bakar realized. But that was all he managed to surmise, because the next shake dislocated his boots from the surface and Bakar was now drifting away from the entangled ships that were closing in the moon’s surface with rapid speed.
– Captain, ships have entered atmo,– Bakar said in his comm but received back nothing but static. Space marines were used to unusual occurrences but Bakar felt that soon he would stand before the Emperor. He tried to reach his team once more, with despair in his voice for the first time in his long lifespan. With nothing but static responding him, Bakar started to feel the effects of gravital force and wind blared around him.
– Frakking greenies,– he cursed and activated his jump pack, aiming it against the moon’s surface. His armor could withstand an impact to the surface but even it had its limits. Both ships had reached the surface and exploded in a magnificent fireball. The shockwave threw Bakar off course and he tumbled through the air like a leaf in a storm. Seeing a large lake below him, Bakar activated the jump packs for the last time, before crashing into it with a huge splash. Surrounded by nothing but darkness and water, Bakar slowly faded away until there was nothing but silence.

II

The first thing Bakar heard was a cabal of concerned voices. Unsure if he even was alive or maybe the Emperor just didn’t find his death that impressive, Bakar opened one eye just to be sure.
Next to him was a broad shouldered woman, dressed in the flak armor of Imperial Guardsmen. Bakar opened his other eye and tried to stand up. Right then a sharp pain in his abdomen made him realise that he was wounded. The guardswoman, noticing that he had awoken, dropped on one knee while Bakar sat upright. They were in a small mining shed, full with old equipment.
– Mi.. Milord,– she stuttered, unsure how to address the hulking marine, then sprung back up. – Captain Justus Aveline,  451st Female Regiment. We saw your ship fall from the sky.
– Are there any survivors?– Bakar asked. His booming voice startled the raven-haired captain but she was quick to hide it.
– None of Astartes, m’lord,– Aveline replied. – But we saw several greenskins make it out from the wreckage.
– Then I must continue my pursuit,– Bakar tried to stand up, but the wound opened again and realization hit him that maybe Astartes were not as invincible as he once thought.
– Milord,– Aveline said, unsure how much she could speak against the hulking marine. – You’re in no condition to pursue our enemy. The Guard will deal with the greenskins.
– No,– Bakar protested. – Their leader, Grobull, has tormented this sector for a full decade. If I let him escape, the sacrifices of my brothers will have been all for naught.
– Then let at least our chiurgeon take a look at you, milord,– Aveline persisted. – I don’t know much about Astartes durability, but even I can see that you are gravely wounded.
– I’m afraid that her tools would do no good here, captain,– Bakar forced a smile. The little glimmer of humanity put Aveline little more at ease, although there was still worry in her face. – The wound will heal in time, which unfortunately we don’t have.
– I wouldn’t worry about that,– said a young women with corporal’s markings on her flak armor, next to a stencil marks of a tyranid skull. She was standing next to the shack’s entrance with a grin on her face. – There’s no transport on this Emperor forgotten rock except for our Aquila and greenies aren’t getting that without a fight.
– Corporal Vilke, you’re in the presence of a space marine, living representation of Emperor himself,– Aveline barked at her. – This is not the time or place for your jokes.
– Your corporal is right, captain,– Bakar intervened. – Greenskins may lack basic intelligence, but they make up for it in cunning. If what you say is true, then Grobull will soon realize that and seek us out.
– Then we should leave right away,– Aveline replied. Bakar shook his head.
– Not without proof that Grobull’s dead,– he said.
– Maybe the green old meanie died in the crash,– Vilke was quick to chime in, much to her captain’s dismay. – That was one spectacular explosion.
– Orks are very resilient, corporal,– Bakar said. – Grobull wouldn’t be the first warboss to survive such a crashlanding.
– Hey captain,– Vilke said with a grin. – We have a space marine with us. How much danger could a couple of orks do to us?

III

While captain Aveline set up her women to prepare a possible ork assault, Bakar learnt from Vilke that they were an scouting force sent on routing check up of the moon. Their base was on nearby Liguria Bene, a small agriworld, next to Tau controlled system. Frequent warp storms made further Tau expansion innefiecient so there was no need for a large regiment.
Aveline had already voxed her command about the incident, but reinforcements could arrive only twelve hours later. While she hoped that orks wouldn’t show up in that time, her intuition knew better. She was inspecting the fire teams set around the small mining compound, which was abandoned when the moon’s silver reserves dried out, when scouts returned with fearful expressions on their faces.
– Greenskins,– said a blonde-haired scout. – Whole swarm of them, at least twenty or thirty.
Aveline immediately got everyone up their feet and in positions. Bakar’s wound had closed up but any strain could open it back again. The space marine took one of the drills left behind by the miners and activated it. Having lost his melta gun during his crash-landing, he swung the huge drill with ease that earned some cheers from the guardswomen. While they were unsatisfied with sudden prospect of battle, the presence of one of the Emperor’s chosen kept the morale high.
The air was silent. Having taken their positions, everyone just waited, scanning the empty plains. The still smoking wreckage could be seen at a distance. Bakar was reminded of his perished brothers and tranquil fury overtook him. He quickly regained his composure though, and started a silent prayer to the Emperor.
– Movement,– Vilke calmly said, setting her lasgun to full power. Aveline pulled out binoculars and scanned the horizon. A large group of green figures were quickly closing in. Aveline was amazed at the speed they ran.
– Is this your first contact with orks, captain,– Bakar asked, having finished his prayer. Aveline nodded.
– This sector has only seen trouble once. A rogue tyranid bioship, cut away from the main hive fleet.
– Then aim for the neck and joints,– Bakar said. Orks had closed the distance and Aveline could make out some features of them, particularly their large and ugly heads, full of spiky teeth and bloodlust.
Vilke opened fire and the rest followed. A hail of laser fire hit against the orks. A loud scream that sounded a lot like „Waaaaagh!” erupted from their ranks and they started to run even faster. After a couple of sceonds they were so close Aveline could make out the smallest details on their faces and armor.
Bakar started up the drill and rushed forward to meet the greenskins head on. Regular humans had no chance against orks in close combat and he took the main bulk of ork assault, who almost tripped on each other trying to be the first ones to kill „wun of doze marine boyz”.
Only a couple of orks had fallen form the concentrated fire when Barak’s drill eviscerated the first ork. Several orks lunged at the marine at the same time, but the drill had become a terrifying weapon in his hands and they were quickly cut down. Two bolter bolts from an ork shoota exploded against Barak’s ceramic armor plates when an ork wearing a spiked helmet and wielding an incredibly large gun finally managed to hit something. A second later his head exploded in a shower of blood and Bakar saw Vilke shouting something profane at the expired greenskin.
– For the Emperor,– Bakar cried and several female voices cried in reply. The sudden joy of sure victory was quickly exchanged with screams of pure horror.
Bakar swung around to see an incredibly huge ork behind their position. Grobull, decorated with human skulls all over his thick metal armor, had flanked them from behind and now cut a bloody swath through the guardswomen. Bakar run towards him, his goal was so close. Right in the warboss’ path stood Vilke who switched her lasgun to full auto and blasted in right into warbosses face. She managed to shoot out his left eye jsut as he grabbed her in his clawed power fist and snatched the girl clean in half.
– Vilke!– Aveline cried and activated her chainsword. Just before she tried to take the warboss on hand-to-hand combat, Bakar intervened and smashed his drill right against Grobull’s chest plate. The two giants locked into a deadly combat, their next swings destroying the small shed in which Bakar had woken up only a couple of hours before.
Aveline didn’t have much time to watch the deadly duel as one of the remaining orks rushed at her, screaming at the top of his lungs. Without thinking, Aveline screamed back and swung her chainsword, sticking it right between his collar bones and chopping the ork’s head which lunged away with a dumb-founded expression still on it’s face.
From the Guard’s squad only half remained, the rest had been killed by ork assault. The last ork, Grobull himself, was still dueling with Bakar. Both were of equal strength but the space marine felt that he couldn’t do this much longer. The wound had opened up and black liquid was pouring through the joints of his armor.
– Milord,– Bakar heard Aveline’s voice shouting from behind and he sprung back, evading another strike from the warboss. The remaining guardswomen, their lasguns set to full power, started blasting the huge ork. The hail of laser fire stunned him for a moment, the smell or burned flesh filling the air. That didn’t stop Grobull however, as he let out another warcry and rushed forward. Bakar, reprieved by the small moment of rest, activated the blood-covered drill one last time and lunged against the ork, killing him in the most brutal fashion Aveline had ever witnessed. Warboss’ ravaged body fell lifeless to the ground. Bakar stood for a moment, taking deep breaths and let the drill slide out of his arms. The ork menace was finally stopped and his brothers sacrifice had been avenged.

He may have dreamed it once, or it may have happened a hundred million times. It would have been impossible to tell the difference.

In the void of deep space, Colin Wade pierced the vacuum at supra-light speed toward New Earth. He would awake after what felt like a moment’s passage--not even well rested from what any observer would have deemed an ancient slumber.

Colin was one of the lucky ones; perhaps the only lucky one. It was no wonder that his story would later sound incredulous to his captors. Why would the inhabitants of an alien world with no knowledge or memory of Earth believe that he was one of the architects of their population? What could Colin say to convince them his words were true? These were two questions for which he had no response though he’d had an aeon to prepare one.

When Colin landed on New Earth, it was as a bullet fired from one planet and striking another. In utter defiance of space and time, he set foot on terra firma born of a different star; a world illuminated with the light of a foreign sun.

If TAP, or The Ark Project, had been successful, New Earth would already be seeded with cities of biologically normal homo sapiens who could fluently and flawlessly speak to each other in any of six distinct languages. The people would be about Colin’s height and have a similar life expectancy. They would, for all intents and purposes, be the same kind of human beings with which Colin was familiar.

Colin had been trained to withstand interrogation. After all, at a point in his recent past, Colin had been privy to the most exclusive knowledge in the world. As a Gatherer for TAP, Colin’s job had been to go into the world, locate individuals, and escort them and their families to TAP’s headquarters. Though he used much of his training frequently, anti-interrogation was never an area where Colin had been tested. This changed almost immediately after landing on New Earth.

-----

It is common to feel disoriented after regaining consciousness. The events that led up to the loss of consciousness are a distant, invisible memory. Your brain generates questions faster than it can answer them and confusion takes hold. It was no different for Colin. He began with only an awareness of the room in which he found himself. It was white--nothing but white. Colin expected shapes to form and for the effects gravity to register, but they never did. There was only the white formless room.

“Do you know where you are?” asked a monotone voice of no distinct accent. It was robotic and sounded artificial in nature. Perhaps his captors were using it to avoid revealing anything more about themselves other than that they had quasi-advanced technology at their disposal.

“No,” Colin responded. This was as simple and honest an answer as he could give. There was no point in lying Colin reasoned. He knew nothing of his predicament--his location, his captors and their motives, or what threat he may pose. He could therefore not construct any kind of helpful deception. His best course of action was to speak as honestly as possible and hope he was with friendlies.

“What is your name?” the voice asked.

Colin paused for a moment. Should he be concerned that his body was numb? He pushed his curiosity aside and said, “Colin Wade.” He hoped the moment of hesitation before his response was taken for what it was--disorientation, not dishonesty.

“Where are you from?” the voice echoed back.

“Earth.” Colin wondered when the tougher questions would follow.

“Why did you leave Earth?” the voice inquired.

Colin could have gone into detail but he decided to stick with the short, to the point answers. “Impending doom,” he said.

“Describe the impending doom,” the voice pried deeper.

Colin exhaled as he wondered where to begin. “There was an asteroid approaching Earth,” he started. “A… celestial object. Our planet was overdue for an impact. It was inevitable.

“When the object, 2020 GA81, or Acronis as it came to be called, was first discovered it was estimated at a fifty-fifty chance of collision with Earth. The size of Acronis was enough that it meant almost total global devastation and it was estimated to strike in 4 years. As scientists recalculated time and again, the chances of collision only grew. Sixty percent. Seventy-five percent. Ninety percent. Ninety-seven percent.

“I learned this later, of course. The danger of Acronis was classified. Handling of the knowledge of its threat was the direct province of the United Nations. If the imminence of the apocalypse became public knowledge, it was believed that panic would lead to lawlessness, rioting, and inevitably war. The fear was that we might kill ourselves before Acronis can do it.

“Once Acronis was within a distance to Earth that allowed it to be observed by those who could not be silenced by the U.N., they began to spin stories. “Asteroid will narrowly miss Earth by 1.2 million miles in 2024,” the stories read.”

Colin realized he had been talking for a bit to a white formless room. He needed to pause for a moment to be sure he wasn't hallucinating. He had heard a voice asking him questions moments earlier, right?

“Continue,” the voice assured him. It was a bittersweet realization for Colin that he wasn't crazy, but that he was also not dreaming.

“Conspiracy theories began floating around the same circles as those who would speak of 9/11 conspiracies, talk of the deep state, and other such shady government dealings. It was easy to hear talk of Acronis, but to be an impact believer was to be labeled gullible or a crackpot by the majority of the population.

“However, Acronis eventually approached to a distance where independent scientists could calculate the probability of impact and fears began to spread. The end of relative global peace came with the death of Bruce Livingston, the president of the National Academy of Sciences. He died under mysterious circumstances just before a press conference he had organized. After his death, major media outlets released letters he had sent them in a safeguard against his untimely demise.

“It was revealed that Acronis was to be of near-certain impact and that human life on Earth would be over in less than one year. With this news, the world descended into chaos. Every major nation turned to anarchy and law enforcement became obsolete.

“Shortly after this revelation, I received the call from TAP. The Ark Project. As a bounty hunter with a military background, they were interested in recruiting me.

“I learned that TAP was a collaborative effort of the U.N. that began before Acronis was even discovered. The goal of TAP was to protect the extinction of human life by developing spaceships that were essentially portable bio-domes capable of sustainable, long-term space flight. They were described to me as mini-planets that would sustain life between planets.

“My job was to find TAP targets… those that had been tapped… and escort them and their families to the safety of TAP’s staging area. Various individuals and groups of individuals from all over the world were selected based on their intelligence, health, artisanal skill, and so on.

“The story broke that Australia was to be the location of impact. It had already been the location of several large impacts in the past so this idea had some plausibility. However, Australia was actually being used as the location for TAP’s base of operations. The impact lie was used to evacuate the island and free the area for deployment of the arks.”

Suddenly the robotic voice interrupted Colin. “You worked for this group but you were not on their ships. How then did you come to our planet alone?”

The question interrupted Colin’s line of thought. He was working his way up to this explanation but the truth was that it was mental fog with low visibility. It was not lifting, but rather was becoming clear only as Colin walked through it.

“I was stranded in the United States when the arks left,” Colin explained. It was like reliving a rejection one had forgotten. “Complications with one of my escorts ran long. It was to be my last escort. I knew the date and time of the last flight from California that would be allowed to land in Australia and we missed it. Any plane that attempted to land afterward would have been shot down. I was stuck.

“However, my target on this last run was an executive for a tech firm near Silicon Valley, a branch of TESLA, that had been developing its own space flight technology. Rather than large ships habitable by conscious beings, this firm was developing small pods capable of transporting individuals across vast distances in space.

“TAP’s evacuation arks would sustain life for millions of years while the people onboard lived and died… generation after generation. Seemed like a bummer but it was better than not living at all I suppose,” Colin said as he shrugged his shoulders with a kind of comfort that suggested he was feeling less like he was being formally deposed.

“I helped escort my target to the safety of TESLA where development was being rushed on the deep space pods. If successful, these pods would move through space and time in defiance of the limitations of light-speed travel and allow a passenger to enter suspended animation for as long as the pod moved through space. I volunteered for an early test of a functioning pod.”

When Colin realized that all there was left to say was “then I woke up here,” or fill in details, he waited for the next question from his robotic inquisitor. His story was essentially finished.

An uncomfortably long period of time passed and Colin again began to wonder if he was dreaming or dying.

“Are there more pods coming?” the voice finally returned.

“I don't know,” Colin answered. “I don't know how this planet was selected for my destination and I don't know how many pods were launched.”

When the voice again went quiet, Colin realized his last bit of speculation may have been unuseful to his captors. They appeared uninterested in his guesses and uncertainties. The last thing Colin thought about before returning to unconsciousness was that they had also been uninterested in challenging the validity of his statements. They seemed to take him at his word.

-----

Colin could hear the impact of the machines as they moved outside his room and feel the weight of them shaking the ground on which his bed rest. Given their pace, Colin determined the machines were engaged in a kind of biped walk. Though the thought of mobile robots in his near-vicinity roused his curiosity, it did not spark any great fear. Awaking in an unfamiliar room from a state of utter helplessness allowed Colin to know that if he was wanted dead, he would indeed be dead.

As he quickly became familiar with the room--size, lighting, distance to the door, potential weapons--he also noticed he could move his body again. The white room was gone and he was again in charge of his own mobility. Colin was unsure if his legs would support him if he stood--had there been any muscular atrophy during his deep space travel? There was only one way to find out.

To his surprise, his legs felt as if they were brand new. There was no sense of weakness or stiffness. He was able to make his way quietly to the open door where he saw a hallway that appeared to branch on a grid system. Colin supposed he was in a type of living quarters. The aesthetic was somewhere between a college dormitory and a hospital. It was clean and moderately comfy looking, but utterly repetitive and lacking of any design flare.

Gauging whether he should step into the hallway, Colin listened to the sounds of movement in the halls waiting until they all sounded acceptably distant. As he was leaning forward to put his foot into the hall, he heard a voice ask a question he'd already answered.

“Do you know where you are?” a familiar robotic voice inquired from a direction to Colin’s left.

Colin was startled. “No,” he answered once again as he turned expecting to find a speaker or screen from which the voice would be coming. What he saw instead caused his stomach to leap into his chest and his legs to give from under him. There was what appeared to be a cloaked individual standing 7-feet tall beside him. It looked like the grim reaper but with a screen where there should have been a skull.

Seeing his fear, the machine moved backwards. There were two steps that matched what Colin had been hearing elsewhere in the hall and the upper portion of the machine recoiled slightly backward. This machine must have been standing still at Colin’s door.

What surprised Colin most was that the blank screen located inside the hood of the cloak began to display a facial pattern that called to mind an emoji. The color emerging was a soft blue and the facial pattern registered with Colin as a kind of remorse and empathy.

The mouth on the screen then moved and Colin heard the robotic voice say, “My apologies Colin. Do not be afraid.”

Was this alien technology and if so, how had it acquired human speech? Was this robot merely the shell of some human controlling it elsewhere? Might Colin be speaking to a genuine form of A.I.? Colin had no time to evaluate the merits of any of these answers before the machine spoke again.

“You do not know us,” the robotic voice assured Colin.

Though he was attempting to calm his nerves, and while the machine seemed friendly enough, Colin quickly noticed the steps of other nearby machines had quickened and they all sounded as if they were getting closer.

“Us? Who is us? Who are you?” Colin asked. He did not want to sound as if he were demanding answers, but the rapid beating of his heart had taken over. His mouth was a slave to his fear.

The machine shifted a bit to regain an upright posture and the sounds coming toward Colin suddenly stopped. He looked around himself but saw no other machines like the one in front of him. Had they sensed his fear and paused their approach?

“We were the keepers,” said the machine with its blue face shifting to a shade of green. The sounds around them both began again, but this time they were slow and drawn out. It was a speed that implied intent--the machines were approaching him gently.

When Colin realized he was being approached the way a group of adults might surround a scared puppy, he quickly stood to his feet and said, “Tell me about the keepers.”

There was a pause from the machine standing in front of him while other hooded screens began to appear from around the corners of the various halls near him. It did not take long before Colin was surrounded by no less than a dozen other machines--all with a soft green smile under their hoods.

When the machine that had been speaking determined the entire crowd had gathered, it responded to Colin by extending a tarnished silver arm from under its cloak and gesturing down the long hallway that seemed to end at his room. The hallway was long enough that Colin could not see where it began. “Walk with me,” said the robotic voice. The others parted and made way for Colin and the first machine to pass. “You will be told all you want to know.”

As Colin took his first steps with his robotic companion, he wondered if the hardest part would be knowing where to begin.