Chapter 1
The wind was picking up, and with it came the dark clouds that carried the nanites. Gao and Juniper were surveying not far from the village. They had seen it before - the tiny robots that ate away at anything in their path. Their village had been lucky so far, but they knew that luck could only last so long.
Gao frowned. Nanites were tiny robots that had been designed to clean up pollution, but they had gone rogue and started attacking anything that moved. They had already destroyed many cities and towns, leaving nothing but ruins in their wake.
As they watched, Gao couldn't help but think about how much he had come to rely on Juniper. She was the one who had helped him survive all these years, with her knowledge of engineering and her quick thinking. They had grown close, in a way that he couldn't quite explain. He admired her strength and her intelligence, and he knew that he could trust her with his life.
But he also couldn't help but feel a bit of jealousy when he saw her talking to the other villagers, particularly the men. He knew it was irrational - after all, they were some of the only people left in the world, and there was no room for petty jealousy - but he couldn't shake the feeling that he wanted her all to himself.
Juniper, for her part, was focused on the task at hand. She was scanning the nanite cloud with a small device that she had built herself, trying to find a way to predict its movements. She knew that the nanites were attracted to energy sources, and that their village had a few that could be vulnerable. If they didn't act quickly, the nanites could destroy everything they had built.
Juniper had designed the village's defenses. The two had learned a lot in their years of survival, and they had become quite skilled at improvising. They used everything they had - scrap metal, old machinery, even rocks and dirt - to create barricades and shields to protect their homes and their people.
Juniper put down the scanner and said "The swarm is approaching fast we need to warn the village immediately". Without another word she ran back to the village. Gao sensed the urgency in her voice and immediately followed.
Juniper approached the group of villagers, her face a mask of concern. She was always empathetic and had a way of connecting with people that Gao admired. He had always found it easy to talk to her, and even though they had been through so much together, he still found himself a little shy around her.
"What's going on?" an older villager asked, her voice tense.
"It's the nanites," Juniper replied. "They're getting worse. They'll be here in 15 minutes or less, we need to get everyone into the bunker." She was firm but had a hint of terror in her voice. Juniper was normally hard to shake.
As the villagers gathered their things, Gao grabbed Juniper's arm and looked her right in the eyes: "June, are we gonna be okay?"
Juniper said no words but her eyes told him everything he needed to know. Her deep brown eyes were normally a cheery contrast to her dirt-covered face and raggedy clothing. But at the moment her eyes were filled with dread.
"I... I don't... we need to hurry!" She pulled away and immediately began collecting anything of value, jamming it into her large rucksack. Gao watched her carefully and saw her put two unexpected items into the bag. A small stuffed animal made to look like an owl and handful of glowing purple marbles no larger than her thumbnail. He'd have to ask her about them later.
As he walked outside he saw it. The cloud of death was approaching, it was already beginning to envelop the shack at the edge of the village. Gao heard the buzzing-the sound of tiny nanobots eating metal. It was a truly wretched caucophony like the sound of a hundred thousand nails scraping against a chalkboard. The horrid noise had already begun to overload Gao's senses and invade his mind. The only good thing about the spell was that it drowned out the screams of the people inside the shack who were now being ripped apart atom by atom.
Gao covered his ears to stop the sound but it was no use and he began to feel nauseated and crumpled over.
"Gao!" Juniper screamed running over to him. She grabbed his arm to pull him towards the bunker. It was no use, Gao was paralyzed. Juniper too was beginning to get a headache.
"WE NEED TO MOVE!" She was panicking, they were going to die if they couldn't break the spell. Seconds felt like hours as the demonic buzzing reverberated inside their skulls.
*SCREEEEECH*
As the two survivors crumpled into a pile, Gao caught a glimpse of their salvation peaking out of Juniper's rucksack: an over ear headset. He grabbed the headset and slid it onto his head.
Silence. Oh Gods sweet silence. Gao thought to himself.
The buzzing stopped and the world stopped spinning. He was still nauseated but he could move again. He grabbed the second headset and slid it over Junipers ears. Her paralysis ended almost instantly.
They didn't have time to celebrate, Juniper was right, they needed to move. It was impossible to know how long they were paralyzed by the buzzing spell but it had seemed like weeks. When the two finally caught their bearings, the swarm had eaten already half the village.
At this moment, a figure appeared from a dust cloud only a few hundred meters from them. It was a man - tall and lean, with piercing blue eyes and a mane of white hair. He dressed in strange clothing that seemed out of place in this world of ruin and he carried a long staff.
He was walking with a purpose.
Juniper slowly reached down to the holster on her hip.
Before she could unholster her weapon, the strange man lifted the staff into the air and it began emitting a bright, pulsating blue light. He turned to face towards the nanites, his staff held out in front of him. The nanites recoiled, as if they were afraid of the light. And then, to Gao and Juniper's amazement, the nanites began to retreat.
The man turned to them and shouted, with a deep gravely voice "Hurry! Get to the center of the village!"
Gao and Juniper didn't need to be told twice. They ran towards the center of the village, where the village elder had just finished ushering the villagers into a large, concrete bunker. The elder's wrinkled face could not hide her concern. A strange man with magical powers might be even worse than the nanite cloud.
The staff turned from red to purple and pulsed twice. Then it stopped pulsing and emitted solid red light, bright enough to paint the entire landscape red.
The nanites stopped. It seemed to Gao as if the entire world stopped.
Then, the cloud dispersed as if it had never existed at all. Gao and Juniper looked at each other, both of them breathing heavily. They were in shock - they had never seen anyone fight off the nanites like that before.
The only proof the nanite swarm had been there at all was the ravaged buildings and a black puddle of broken nanites on the ground where the swarm had been. The individual machines were so small that the mass flowed like water. Incredible. Before he had time to think too hard about it, he heard Juniper's voice.
"Who are you?" Juniper asked the man, her voice trembling slightly.
The man smiled. "My name is Arcturus. I've been traveling across the wasteland, looking for people to help. It seems like I got here just in time."
"How did you do that?" Juniper asked, pointing to the device in Arcturus' hand.
"This? It's a nanite repellent. I developed it myself," Arcturus said, his eyes twinkling with pride. "I'm a scientist, you see. A physicist."
Gao and Juniper exchanged a glance. A physicist - they had heard of those before. Scientists who studied the laws of the universe, who could harness the power of atoms and molecules.
"But how did you know to come here?" Gao asked. "How did you know we were in trouble?"
"I have my ways," Arcturus said cryptically. "But more importantly, I know where we can find safety. A place where the nanites can't reach us."
"Where?" Juniper asked eagerly.
"It's a secret," Arcturus said, a sly grin spreading across his face. "But I can take you there. All of you. We can travel together, and I can protect you from the dangers of the wasteland."
The remaining villagers had come out of the bunker. They looked at each other, scared and confused. But Gao and Juniper had seen enough. They had nothing left in this village - the swarm had destroyed both of their shabby homes and it was time to move on. And if this stranger could protect them from the nanites, then maybe they had a chance. However, to protect his own ego, Gao felt it imperative that they didn't seem too desperate to this outsider.
"We need to talk before we decide" Gao said.
The man nodded and turned away walking towards the elder, leaving the two of them alone.
Gao and Juniper were shaking as the adrenaline wore off. They had survived the swarm, but they had lost so much in the process. The village was in ruins, and some of their neighbors had perished.
As they looked out over the destruction, Gao felt a sense of hopelessness wash over him. How could they rebuild? How could they go on?
But then he felt Juniper's hand slip into his, and he looked down to see her smiling up at him. It was a small gesture, but it filled him with a warmth that he couldn't quite explain.
"We did it," she said, her voice filled with wonder. "We're alive."
Gao nodded, feeling a smile spread across his face. They were alive, and they were together. And that was all that really mattered.
They stood there for a moment, hand in hand, taking in the wreckage around them. But then Gao turned to Juniper, his heart racing with an emotion that he had been trying to suppress for so long.
"Juniper," he said, his voice low. "I don't want to go through something like that ever again. But if I have to, I want to do it with you. Together."
Juniper looked up at him, her eyes shining with emotion. And then she squeezed his hand, her fingers interlocking with his.
"Always," she said, and Gao knew that she meant it. Whatever came their way, they would face it together.