Chapter 4 - E.C.H.O

Sinking slowly, the water rose up to my navel, rising higher and it caressed my breast, leaving part of me unexplored, in an attempt to remove the accumulated forest floor from my skin. It had been days since I had bathed, but it felt like weeks, and I was lucky enough to finally find this place. the bath felt amazing and My mind started to drift and swirl within the warm water, memories were threatening to come loose, so I quickly change my chain of thought.

The year is 2287, 200 years since the techno boom, and the slide of humanity began. My great-grandmother had told me the horror story of the first robot she had ever seen when she was only 7 years old and sue to the nature if her life, she had never experianced technology to this extent. The year was 2173, and they had no flesh, just faceless bare metal, she had came face-to-face with ECHO.

It had taken almost 80 years to perfect a safe, conscious android, there were just too many issues concerning their consciousness programming and self-awareness capabilities. It all started in 2091 with the AlphaDroid. They were released with limited capabilities, clunky and completely programmed, no self-awareness and had shown no future prospects for its design, the design was scrapped. Redesigned, here entered Bravo, released in 2099. This android design had shown the first signs of interactive possibilities; obtaining the ability to question its owner on tasks and then safely perform them, but sadly had a short lifespan due to its consciousness design.  There was to be a third droid design, but it was completely scrapped in 2117 following “irreparable faults” during testing.

Then in 2130 the DeltaDroid became the first ever acceptable design, becoming mass produced and released to society, this was until it started attacking its owners. The droids were scrapped. Parts were recommissioned, the design reconstructed, new consciousness programing installed, and then in 2133, when fully rebuilt, they were released and subsequently started ‘killing’ themselves. I smile at myself, ‘It would have been entertaining to watch robots pull themselves apart’. This is when society gained some respect, as far as my history reflection is concerned, as they placed the self-aware robotic design on hiatus, for almost 30 years and put all the effort into research and not profit. 

This is when entered E.C.H.O, in 2170, the droid designed to Emulates Consciousness via Human Observation.

The ECHO programing was actually simple in design; to imitate. In order to control and limit the droid’s; personality functions, physical abilities and social interaction skills, regulations were put into place to allow only certain people, and certain types of people, to purchase them. This was all done to forestall or, in the best case scenario, remove the likelihood of a droid going ape-shit and potentially forcefully removing someone’s spine. The amazing thing about this was that by the time ECHO was designed and released, humanity had already attained viable space travel in 2131, and interplanetary re-colonization to Cerian in 2165. Who would have ever guessed that a conscious robot would have been so hard to create, you see? This is my job, to know the history of technology and yet, this is also what has destroyed my life.  

Earth’s population was severely diminished after the re-colonization, and the majority of the remaining population migrated to the cities and revelled in all the scientific advancements. This resulted in the remaining landscape becoming wild, forest regaining control of the land and only scatterings of the population remaining as its residents. This is where my family line began, at the cusp of human re-colonization, we moved to the outskirts of the city and avoided interaction with technology. This was the view held by those whom removed themselves from the cities; to remain on earth, to remain untouched, we all receded.

So there you have it, the earth became divided, massive technologically advanced cities, completely surrounded entirely by overgrown wilderness. This is the world I grew up in, entirely devoid of technology, living entirely reliant on nature. But this was not how I wanted to grow up, completely ignorant of the world around me, I wanted to know and this was where everything went wrong. My mind was rounding on those thoughts again and I wasn’t ready to deal with them yet.

In the 80 years since ECHO’s completion you wouldn’t be able to clearly identify them out in public anymore. The outfitting of the droid no longer just consisted of imitating the human mind, but to imitate our entire being.  What is that? The echo’s faded from my mind and there was another knock at the bathroom door, opening my eyes slowly, I watch as he entered the room. Smiling I question “Hey Mikah, care to join me?” only a chuckle in return.

Chapter 3: Goodbyes Are Such Sweet Escapes

Late morning, cool breeze blowing her free flowing raven hair about her face, obstructing her view of the marketplace marks. The stalls lined the base of the high buildings that create the walls of the corridor. Everything from mundane auto and magnet-hover systems to fruit, some of which really should have been discarded a day or so ago, was out for the sods. Tazarra, or just Taz to her more closer circle of fellows, was watching and waiting to pick an easy score. You could maintain a straight job but you'd be just another test of skill and intimidation to pickpockets and ruffians, and when you looked as seductive as Taz or worked purses and pockets as well as she does, you really have little need when you get what you want most of the time.



She fixed her hair so her vision was clear, a good looking man of middle age and appreciative fashion came to view. Perfect. Charm was the hand to be played. Strolling up to the same stall but not right next to him was the start of the ploy. Coy glances his way, giving him a vibe of attraction. He could tell she wasn't interested in the wares in front of her, he could honestly say his interest diminished as well the moment she came into view. They both secretively threw glances each others way until Taz timed the look in his eyes perfectly, raised and eyebrow and bit her lip, even blushed a little. This man had found his lucky day. Her eyes suggesting they both leave to somewhere more lush with furniture and less populated.

She did find him appealing, he wasn't a half bad lover either, but that didn't diminish the fact she was here for business and the pleasure was a bonus. Drugged wine kept him sleeping soundly after some long wrestles in the sheets of his well furnished abode, she went to work. She fleeced the joint for all that she deemed valuable, she snickered at the picture the man had of himself and his absent spouse, looks like a valuable empty house won't be the only thing that man will wake up to, he'll have to deal with the woman inquiring as to why the place is robbed and why he's naked and taken care of as well and as the old saying goes, Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned.

Tazarra slipped back into the main bedroom, the betrothed man still content and asleep. She proceeded to swap the used condom that held her DNA, and ability to be found easier, with another used one she gets for these such jobs from her friend Garru. A quite, well known homosexual stripper, that works at 'Hard Up'. A place she frequents often, to visit the well kept man, have a relaxing drink and have a laugh at each others weekly exploits. With her current location clean of her trace within twenty minutes she exited the back, locking it behind her, and scaling the garden wall.

Late afternoon, sun waning and getting cooler as the early night approaches. A warming drink at a near establishment seems to be in order after such success. Two blocks later and Taz is surrounded by fashionable patrons of the 'Azure Allure'. She could try to find another mark here, but she collected quite a bounty at that poor fellows expense, who by now should be getting somewhat of the third degree, and a talk of divorce, and felt no need to. She recognized a familiar face waiting attentively at the bar. He was handsome, definitely roguish, and he struck some cords within her as you would when you share each others side in a few scrapes and cold night sheet, sharing frequenting several bouts of sex. Drink in hand, she slinked towards the back of him.

"Evening Taz." She took a small step back realizing that he couldn't have possibly seen her yet. "You must start wearing a new perfume, you're getting easy to tell when you're behind me these days." His back still to her, Taz reached out a hand and stroked his black leather vest and ran her finger down his spine.

"Old habits I guess." She appreciatively spoke, every word was like a whisper into his ear. She pulled herself up to his right hand side, looked into his brown eyes, smiled.

"You look satisfied, how much collateral did you leave behind?" He smirked at her knowingly.

"Enough for the wife to take everything I didn't." She broke into a little laugh.

"I heard you had another brush with Harris."

"How is it these things surface so damned quickly?!"

"At least you came out on top again, and yes the bounty is higher. I heard about that last remark you flipped to him. Can't believe he slipped in Davs' blood pool." She giggled that last remark in spite of his unamused expression.

"I can, for all of Harris' tracking abilities he seems to almost have two right feet when it comes to scrapes. Do you know what it feels like to be pursued by a man who cannot attain a proper stance in a duel? It's insulting!" Taz couldn't help but laugh at his tone and seriousness and neither could he after hearing her break into it. Bringing the laughter down she looked at him affectionately.

"How are you Wi..." a splatter of her blood rushed at my face. It all went slow. The ringing of a not too distant shot fills the air with it's silence. I'm falling to the floor, her body is draped over the bar. Patrons are wrestling with the shooter but in places like this you never come alone to kill someone. Taz always keeps a few daggers on her in case there's trouble, bless her for showing me where she hides them. I slipped my hand up under her tight black turtleneck sweater, her blood flowing over the well hidden bandoleer of small throwing knives. She would appreciate the severity in my ripping them off her and not seductively unstrapping them as we have done in our now past and never future.

"WHERE ARE YOU SHITEATER!?" I hear booming from the doorway. Speak of the devil. My eyes close and open whilst I draw a razor from its sheathe. He's standing, his friend's beside him, additional backup unseen. He hasn't moved. His tracking is good, his stance is still terrible. I wipe the once beautiful Tazarras' blood out of my eyes, roll onto my left side, cock my arm and throw her well balanced knife at Harris' skull. Another shot blasts the bar just above my head as soon as I moved and I see he's only got the one goon like our last encounter. Harris' head jerks backwards under the weight of the throw, it strikes just above his left eye but plunges to the hilt. Gooney man is shocked and fires another less accurate shot that hits the rafters and draws another scream from frightened patrons. Time to run.

I slip another throwing knife into place in my fingers and release a little less accurately this time but still on target and the blade slips into the shooters right shoulder. By this time I'm on my feet and rushing to the nearest exit. A window. I tuck my head in and brace as I crash through the glass, eyes closed to avoid blinding myself with the shower of shards around me. I hit the concrete with a roll that takes me into an industrial bin in the alleyway, with a thud I stop movement then scramble to gain my footing. Tears run down my face for the friend and lover I lost back there. Tears that dilute the blood still staining my skin. I run for my safe house. Sweat aiding the now gone tears in removing the crimson reminder.

I hit the straight run for the front door, jumping to the railing and launching myself over it. No time. I kick the door in. I'll fix it later or move locales, yes get out of here. Too long in one place is death now. I pack a backpack with the essentials - food supplies, spare clothes and survival equipment. Strap on my sword, belt on my light repeating pistol and head out the door now hanging by the lowest hinge. I run to a place I've rarely gone. I run to the forest.

Chapter 2: Fractures

Emotions are running rampant while I watch in horror at the unveiling scene. I can barely open my eyes and the darkness sits there, threatening to engulf me. The room is vague, but I stare as she lifts the sledge hammer and swings for the one hundredth time. She won’t listen to anyone’s reason, and this time the pillar comes down.

“This has to be done! This is your fault, she is dead and it’s your fault!” she screams in the direction of a young man standing in the doorway. Then I slip into darkness once again.

……..      

I wake to loud voices, urgently uttered words and forceful thuds.

 “No Anna, don’t do this, you don’t understand!” I can see the vibration rain through her arms as the hammer collides with the wall, leaving a hole where he had been standing moments ago.

“Dammit, definitely not my choice of weapon” she remarks, as she throws it to the ground. Reaching into her pocket she pulls out her blade. “Now that’s more like it” she grins.

“Anna! Calm the fuck down!” He screams desperately, trying to gain some control. Slowly the rest of the building starts to crumble, and smiling, she basks in her delight. For a moment she stands frozen, as the building rains around them, this is the last true smile I will see upon her face. Suddenly, you can see it her eyes, the happiness turns to rage and she loses all control, she lunges with her knife.  

“I can’t take it anymore. I told you to leave us alone! Look at what you’ve done!”  I watch in horror as they fight. They dodge the collapsing building, as he dodges her; Anna wielding her knife with extreme precision. I want to calm her down, I scream at them to stop, but they don’t hear me, she never listens to me anyway. Then I’m devoured by a sea of black.

I sat bolt upright, disorientated, I could still hear them fighting as I watched the forest fade into sight. Slowly the sounds faded and all grogginess was washed from my eyes by the rain, “more rain?” I sighed. The ground was soft, the wrong kind of soft, verging on mushy. I was mud covered, drenched, and my hair sat matted on my head. I searched for my pack, it was a few meters away, and I plunged my hands inside, eager for what I wanted.

“Where is it?” Fear ran through me, just before my hand brushed its hilt, all fear subsiding instantly. Her blade…..  My blade, was in my hand and I quickly put it to work. Mud-matted blonde hair started falling to the ground and I felt slightly relieved. I had been walking for days; no food, no rest, I must have collapsed from exhaustion. I had no idea of the time; some moonlight was filtering in through a grey fog, which constantly hung above the trees. I was also at a loss for my location and wasn’t sure if I wanted to find a city anytime soon…. The idea of other people scared me.

The last lock of my golden hair fell to the ground. I couldn’t help it; I just started laughing, hysterically, and then crying uncontrollably. The rain continued to wash my clothes clean, while my eyes washed away the rest of their memories. I lay back with my head on my pack; I had no energy to move. Just before I slipped back into sleep I heard engines, an indeterminable distance away. Barely visible through the fog, were the lights of the rapidly rising frigate.  

 

Chapter 1: The Scoundrels Code

Heavy breathing. Sweaty brows. Twitching muscles awaiting the command of movement. These things the three men had in common.

A spiked club. A slender sword. A machete. Besides their statures, these things defined them individually, kept distance between them. Mutual respect for these tools' wielders becomes the reason to end it quickly. Five minutes seems pretty short a time to a lot of people but when you are parrying the advances of two fellow scoundrels looking for the value of your blood, well it feels an age.

The club dips, muscles tense and cock the arm back for a heavy swing. A guttural roar bellows from the massive man, patience not his virtue. It's a hay maker of a blow for anyone not quick enough to react. The outnumbered man instinctively lunging forward, left hand aimed to stop the swings momentum, the right plunging the wicked point deep into the heart of rage. Get in close to this poor sod. The machete glances off the club of the soon to be silent ally with a thwack. Quick steps turn the two survivors to face each other with the same respective distance before the scuffle that just played out one mans last breath.

"Well that leaves a larger sum to you, should you succeed. Harris you really should thank me." Steadier breaths become the slender bladed knave, a well spoken accent exuding confidence in light of the last victory, a taunt more than cockiness, words do have such a wonderful effect on the mind. "Perhaps I shall. You don't mind spit on your cooling corpse instead of those exact words though do you?" "My friend nothing would please me more."
The light blade points at the man, like looking down the barrel of a gun it seems to the machete wielding Harris. Thankfully it's not the barrel of a gun or such sweet sentences wouldn't be exchanged between the two, only a cracking of light and thunder of certainty.
Harris bringing his well toned arm up to touch steel upon steel. He pushes the rapier to the left and steps forward slipping in a puddle of his fallen comrades flowing life. Falling face first to the hard concrete floor, Harris fully expected to feel the intrusion of a killing stroke through his prone body, but it never came. Rather the touch of a cold wet blade rested on the back of his sweat covered neck and a mocking fit of laughter erupted from the victor.

"My dear fellow, if you think I am to end your life after that 'brilliant' display of footwork haha! oh! I am afraid you are mistaken. NO! I shall leave you intact with a scrape of pride left with which to build yourself back up on and maybe we'll get together again and exchange steel once more, til then mind your surroundings." The blade lifts off his flesh but leaves the red mark of a dead man. Foot falls carry off into the dark alleyway "OH! Do see that the bounty gets raised, wouldn't want vengeance to be the only motive to continue the chase."

I sighed relief once out of earshot of Harris, back to the wall of a few corners from the encounter. Time to clean the blade, collect my thoughts, listen to the shadows for any further reinforcements. None, good. Harris had been dogging my movements for far too long now so maybe it was time to get lost. My eyes drift upwards to the stars, barely visible by the lights that cover the tops of these sheer faced buildings, but there enough to see the potential in the plan formulating within my mind "Just need a ship out of here." I whisper to myself, agreeing with the plan, confirming it.

More footsteps. "Shit!" I hiss, unsure of who those feet are attached to and in no mood to find out, I slink off as quiet as can be as to not alarm the patrons of the night that they share it with me.
I round the bend that brings me out to bustling streets, public, open, dangerous if someone is looking for you. The vast majority of the populace carrying some form of protection, these are rough streets in rough times fail to see that fact and you, well let's say your further contribution to the future gene pool is forfeit.

A few hundred feet away from the apartment currently acting as a roof over my head, I turn to hear the sound of Atmos Engines blasting a medium sized armed frigate over head and turning upwards to exit the exosphere and enter the great potential of space.
I rush up the stairs to the front door, pick the lock, and slip inside re locking the door behind me.
Unbuckling my sword belt and removing my other articles of clothing to lay over a drawn rope inside so the sweat will begone by the inevitable morning. I run a cold bath, the heating having gone I suspect some months ago. With deep breaths while lowering myself into the bathtub I come to lay finally motionless save my steadying breaths as my body acclimatises finally to the watery world around me. An hour slips by and it's about time I rested in warmth. Muscles carrying my dry form to the small pile of covered mattresses and liberated pillows, I fall for the first time that night, I fall into sweet sleep. 

Prologue: Silence

Silence. All I want is silence. But does silence ever really exists?

The cool breeze lifts my hair off my shoulders, brushing it against my face. I hear the river nearby, the animals in the trees, the rubble shifting under my feet; the wood still creaking after its collapse. All I wanted was silence.  Suddenly my mind shifts, 'What am I doing? What have I done? What is happening?' I slip, falling on the rough pile of wood beneath me, 'Karma?' No, just a scratch.

I feel the breeze picking up and it snaps me back. I resume removing myself from within the mess of wood and stone. Now standing on its border, I turn and stare in disgust, disgust at myself. Some pillars are still falling, slowly inch by inch, but most has already collapsed. I pull what I need from my pack and swing it back over my shoulder. I hold this precious, tiny, item in my hand. I strike the match and then my mind goes blank. For a moment I'm floating in blissful Silence. Then the roar of the flames invades my mind, leaving only one thought, 'Goodbye Anna'. I place my hood on my head, then turn and walk away into the surrounding forest.