The echoes of my footsteps touching the metal steps ended when I climbed the stairs and opened the metal door in front of me with a tired grunt.
I sighed exhaustedly as I leaned against the gray stone doorframe, wiping the sweat from my face and shielding my eyes from the sunlight.
"Jekyll, are you sure there wasn't one of those boxes that go up and down around here?"
"The elevators, you mean?"
"Yes, that's right!" I replied as I walked away from the door and looked around.
The staircase I climbed was inside a small gray stone building next to a large road made of dark material with white and yellow lines drawn on it.
There were strange machines lined up on the road, a kind of rusty metal box painted green, with a long tail, glass windows, doors on both sides, and long pieces of metal attached to a disc on top.
There was also another machine falling apart on the other side of the road, and I only had one word to describe it, colossal.
It looked like a gigantic metallic bird painted black with two huge wings and three large cylinders underneath each one.
The machine also had dozens of black wheels on the bottom and, strangely, the front of the machine pointed towards the sky, revealing a ramp leading inside.
"I have no idea; I just guided you along the path I found in my fragmented memories." Jekyll spoke, answering my previous question.
"I guess that would be too much to ask." I responded, walking in the opposite direction of the colossal machine and approaching the end of the road.
Jekyll told me that the machines were flying machines called helicopters and planes, but he could not remember the models, whatever that meant.
Helicopter and plane are strange names, although I cannot deny how impressive the things that past humans created are.
I regretted my decision as soon as I reached the end of the road as I realized where this place was.
We stood on top of one of the walls of the abyss. As if that was not enough, I spotted The Aerie far below, looking like a speck in the distance.
My eyes widened and my breathing stopped as I felt something strange, it was a mix of fear due to how high I was and awe at the view in front of me.
I saw the grassy fields in the distance with small villages here and there; I also saw the mountains beyond with their snow-capped peaks touching the sky.
Shifting my focus, I noticed the ruined city that Jekyll and I visited earlier, and looking in the opposite direction, I saw the sea with ships slowly sailing by.
"It's beautiful, isn't it?"
"Yes, for sure, but it's a shame that all these places are covered in ruins."
"There is beauty in ruins, Hyde, they tell stories, but I have unfortunately forgotten most of them. In the end, I just want to save humanity and walk on the sun again." Jekyll responded as he removed his hand from my body and reached toward the sky, only to retreat as it burned.
I looked up while shielding my eyes with my hand, but I glimpsed the blue sky filled with white clouds as birds flew away. Suddenly, a strong gale blew towards me, blowing my clothes and pushing me back.
"HEY, WHAT THE FUCK?!?" Zon screamed into my bag as it shook violently from side to side, I forgot he was here with me.
I looked up at the sky again when the gale stopped and thought about what Jekyll said. Walking in the sun again... It is not a bad dream; maybe you can make it come true.
I turned away from the edge and walked towards the strange buildings next to the road where the helicopters stood. To my dismay, Zon decided to get out of my bag and start complaining, as always.
Some of the buildings were made of gray material, while others looked like large metallic warehouses. Entering one of the warehouses, I saw a large metallic vehicle with a long pipe sticking out of the front. Jekyll told me that this thing is a tank.
I do not understand that name. Tank, a tank of what, what does it store? Jekyll told me there was an interesting story behind the name, something to do with a great war, but he could not remember.
I left the warehouse through the door on the other side, ignoring Zon's complaints, and glimpsed the contents of the other warehouses on my way.
I saw more of these tanks, and what I recognized as cars and trucks similar to those in the ruined city, but painted green and appearing sturdier.
"Jekyll, what is this place, exactly?" I asked as I approached a complex of gray buildings up ahead.
"A military base, a type of installation to respond to the needs of the armed forces, normally operated and maintained by them and can be permanent or temporary in nature, land, air or naval."
"So this is where people of the past kept their armies."
"Exactly and the number of bases around the world has only increased with the war against the monsters."
I frowned at this information as I entered one of the base's buildings.
"The oil slick is talking to you, isn't it?" Zon asked, floating next to me.
"Yes, he told me what a military base is and what it is for, and please stop insulting him."
"Hump! I will stop insulting him when he deserves it, even though those who ran this place don't deserve much sympathy."
"What do you mean by that?" I asked, tilting my head in confusion.
"The high-ranking military had no problem sending their men to their deaths or bombing them alongside the enemy when the fight was lost. They also knew about most of the experiments realized on people, be it their own soldiers or war orphans. Ask the 3D Shadow about the Crusaders and the Weapons Laboratory and you'll see what I mean."
I felt Jekyll's discomfort upon hearing Zon's words, but the Gestalt remained silent as we explored the buildings.
We passed through what Jekyll defined as receptions and waiting rooms, full of old and destroyed furniture. Torn and erased papers scattered across the floor, metal cabinets crumbling into rust, destroyed windows covering the glass floor, and red stains everywhere.
One of the first things I noticed was how this destruction did not seem caused by the passage of time. The walls, floor, and furniture were full of holes similar to those left by the projectiles from the drones that shot at us in Atlantis.
There were also a series of deep marks scattered everywhere along with the red stains, covering everything as well as the holes. I dragged my fingers across one of those marks on the floor; they looked like claw marks from some large animal.
I hope that the stains are not blood.
We left this office aside and entered a large room that was in a similar situation to the previous one.
There was a table surrounded by chairs in the center of the room, with a large, dusty map on it, but most of the drawings were faded.
Strangely, there were small dolls on the table, the green ones representing some kind of soldier and the white ones some kind of red-eyed monster.
I do not know what these toys were doing here, but I took one of each and put it in my bag while laughing lightly, I will keep them as a souvenir of this place.
Leaving that aside, we continued exploring the buildings and eventually arrived at what Jekyll called the barracks, the place where the soldiers slept.
This place was a mess, just like every other place we visited, with leftover furniture scattered across the floor, looking like a pile of rubble with holes, claw marks, and red stains covering the walls.
Going deeper into the barracks, I found a room full of metal cabinets lined up; one of the cabinet doors was open, revealing a series of small faded paintings stuck to the door.
I saw what appeared to be a person, but the majority of the image was unrecognizable.
I also found a green cap after rummaging through the cabinet, I shook the cap to clear the dust and put it on my head, it was a little big.
"Hey brat, do you have any idea what happened here?" Zon asked seriously after remaining silent throughout our exploration.
"Some kind of battle, I guess." I shrugged.
"Ha, you're not wrong; this place was probably attacked by the Legion." Zon responded with a dismissive laugh.
"Legion is that what the white-skinned, red-eyed monsters were called?"
"Exactly, the memory of the childhood nightmare in your body isn't the best, but that bastard must have told everything he could remember, right?"
"Yes, although there are a lot of missing details, but got a general idea of what he tried to tell me."
"Perfect, that saves me time; I'll give you a little history lesson when we get back home."
"Thanks, but changing the subject, do you have any idea where we should go? This place is too quiet and I don't see anything that indicates where we should go."
"How the hell should I know? I've never been here before!" Zon exclaimed irritably.
Well, it did not hurt to ask, maybe Jekyll knows.
"Hey, Jekyll…"
WWWOOO!
I jumped in surprise, covering my ears after a deafening noise echoed throughout the base.
"WHAT THE FUCK?!?" I screamed.
"WHAT?!?" Zon shouted back.
"That's an alert siren!" Jekyll screamed in my mind.
"Alert, but we haven't done anything yet!"
BANG!
BANG!
BANG!
"Hm… Maybe the siren isn't for us."
I staggered towards the exit of the barracks with Zon floating next to me, hearing the sound of gunfire similar to the drones. My eyes widened in surprise at what I saw.
Two groups of robots fought in the courtyard; the first group was humanoid with the height of an adult and slightly bulky, painted black with two small luminous green dots where the eyes should be.
The robots wore gray armor made of strange material that covered their torsos but left their arms and shoulders exposed.
The robots also wore pieces of armor on their elbows and knees and wore a type of helmet that covered their heads but left their faces exposed.
The second group of robots was the most bizarre; they were painted white from head to toe with red eyes glowing brightly on their heads as they walked on all fours on their claw-covered hands and feet.
The black robots took cover behind the abandoned buildings and vehicles and pointed long metallic objects toward the rapidly approaching white robots.
Then…
BANG!
BANG!
BANG!
I discovered the source of the noise from before; the black robots pressed something on their metallic objects and fired a hail of projectiles at the white robots.
Metallic cracks echoed through the base as projectiles pierced and tore apart the madly approaching robots.
However, the white robots did not seem to care, as they ran at an absurd speed, dodging projectiles, jumping over and sliding under vehicles, climbing walls, and jumping from roof to roof.
Eventually, the white robots got close enough to engage in hand-to-hand combat, while the black robots put their larger weapons aside, took a smaller weapon from their waist, and drew a knife from the armor on their torso.
This time, the black robots were at a disadvantage. The white robots proved deadly in close-range combat, slicing the black robots with swift blows from their claws, creating a rain of wires and metal.
"YOU TWO, RECRUITS! WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE? WHY ARE YOU TWO NOT WEARING YOUR EQUIPMENT AND WHERE THE HELL ARE YOUR GUNS?!?"
I jumped in surprise, snapping out of my stupor by an inhuman voice. Looking at the source of the voice, I saw one of the black robots approaching me with heavy steps.
"COME ON, I'M WAITING FOR YOUR ANSWERS!" The robot demanded again.
"Well, here it is, son of a…" Zon shouted, opening his pages and preparing to fire a magic beam, ready to turn the robot into ashes, but I put my hand in front of him, stopping his attack.
"Jekyll, do you have any suggestions?" I asked the Gestalt.
"Repeat what I'm about to say."
"Our equipment was destroyed by the enemy attack before we had time to prepare, sir!" I responded while making the gestures Jekyll ordered, placing a hand on my forehead and stomping my feet together.
"Bastards, go with the other recruits and get some new equipment. Commander Mars will give you a mission briefing!" The black robot responded before pointing at a group of black robots that quickly marched away.
"Well Hyde, we have a clue now." Jekyll spoke excitedly.
"I just hope this doesn't end like last time." I muttered, thinking about all the possible deaths that await me wherever these robots are going.
"Seriously, are we going to do what the rust pile over there said?" Zon asked in disbelief.
"We don't have much of a choice." I shrugged, running toward the marching robots.
"Fuck it!" Zon shouted before floating beside me.
We followed the group of robots, leaving the battle behind until it became a series of muffled noises in the distance, and arrived at the back of a building where the floor opened up, revealing a metal staircase leading down.
"That explains why we didn't find anything important."
"Is there a chance they already know we're here?"
"Probably, but the robot thought that Zon and you are one of them, so I wouldn't worry about it too much."
I waited for the robots to descend the staircase before following them with Zon at my side.
We walked down a dimly lit passage for a few minutes before passing through a metal door that opened upwards, revealing a long corridor.
"Do you know why the robots are fighting each other? Shouldn't the AI be running this place?"
"Hm… Who knows what goes on in the AI systems? A machine left on and running for a long time without maintenance or rest tends to have problems. My suggestion is that the AI is making the robots imitate a battle between past humans and red-eyed monsters, I just don't know how long this has been going on."
"Hey brat, pay attention!" Zon shouted snapping me out of my conversation with Jekyll.
Thanks to the book, I stopped in time before bumping into the robots that suddenly stopped.
A few tense seconds passed as the robots waited like statues in front of a large metal door.
Nevertheless, it was not long before the door opened to the sides, illuminating the hallway with a bright light.
I followed the robots into the room and my eyes widened at what I saw. We entered a huge, completely white room with hundreds of black robots lined up in front of a large stage on the other side.
The door behind me squeaked shut as Zon and I approached the lined-up robots, stopping at the end of the line and waiting for this person, Mars.
Suddenly, all the lights went out with the robots' glowing eyes becoming the only source of light, and then the wall behind the stage opened up, revealing six green, luminous dots divided into two rows floating in the air.
The luminous dots approached, accompanied by a rhythmic metallic sound as the ground shook slightly, and then an intimidating figure revealed itself to everyone.
It was a large machine, smaller than Neptune was, but with a bulky body.
The machine had a flat-topped cylindrical head with six glowing green eyes below; the head connected to a wide torso covered in metal plates with a hole in the center of the chest.
A metallic spike protruded out from the center of the hole while metallic objects slowly rotated around it.
The robot also had a pair of huge arms that started from a pair of shoulder pads and ended with a metal cylinder full of holes where the left hand should be while the right hand appeared normal.
Considering what I saw, I know very well what that cylinder does. This was not the bizarre part of the robot, but rather its legs, as the robot had four spider-like legs at the base of its torso instead of a pair of normal legs.
"Attention men!" The large robot screamed in a bizarre, booming voice.
All the black robots stamped their feet together simultaneously in return, making the noise echo throughout the room.
"For those who don't know me, I am Commander Mars, and I have a mission of absolute importance for all of you!" Commander Mars exclaimed as the light in his eyes intensified.
Then the light from Mars' eyes formed a floating image above us, revealing a map of the military base's surface. All the robots raised their heads as I repeated the gesture, marveling at what I saw.
"The Legion took control of the B-33 train station, and in doing so, endangered the top-secret cargo of the military cargo train A7J492BTID82NVLS9. Your objective is to break into the train station and recover the cargo, no matter the cost." Commander Mars spoke.
A line appeared on the floating map, probably starting from the building where we were and moving across the map, curving and stretching until it reached a building on the other side of the base.
Then the map zoomed in, revealing a long three-story building with tracks going in and out on both sides, the map changed again, revealing the interior of the building with a train inside, and a circle surrounding a specific section of the train.
"This will be an all-out attack, a powerful assault against the Legion forces. I am not lying in saying that the fate of humanity depends on the recovery of this cargo. I won't waste time with speeches, as we don't have time for that, go to your respective posts, the mission will begin soon."
With his words spoken, Commander Mars disappeared back the way he came, the lights in the room turned on and three doors opened on both sides of the room.
Then the robots lined up in front of us split into groups, and marched towards the doors.
"TSK, what a load of bullshit! If he wants this cargo so badly, then why doesn't he go personally?" Zon complained.
I imagine he would have spat on the floor if he could.
"You seem uncomfortable with the situation." I asked, turning to the book.
"I have experience with superiors sending their subordinates to their deaths. They think they're powerful until I make them swallow their teeth."
"What do you mean by that?"
"Let's just say it's not a good idea to piss off a super soldier who can swing a giant sword like it's nothing, even though I liked using my fists, which, to my amusement, irritated my superiors." Zon spoke with an amused laugh.
Putting the destructive book aside, I noticed that Jekyll muttered something since Mars introduced himself to everyone.
-XXXXXX-
"Mars… The God of War… Crusaders… Legion… Crusade… Luciferase… Data… Data… And more data… Plans… Strategy… Improve… Improve… Improve…"
That dark room again and there was the old man in the white coat, hunched over his desk.
However, I noticed more details around me; a bookshelf full of books to my left and a table covered with scientific papers, files, and newspaper reports to my right.
A blackboard covered in calculations and the drawing of a person with two arrows coming out of their feet and pointing to two people below stood on the wall above the table.
"Is it ready?" A man in military attire, with a mass of white cubes covering his face, asked the old man.
"Yes, it is." The old man responded, standing up and showing the soldier a metallic sphere.
The old man still had no face, but I saw a gray beard and a forehead wrinkled with age.
"Are you sure this will help us?" The military man asked dubiously.
"Yes, it will process battle data at an absurd speed, creating plans and strategies during confrontations."
"Hump, I hope you are right because the situation is worrisome." The soldier responded, placing a friendly hand on the old man's shoulder.
Suddenly, the door to the room opened with a click, revealing the two faceless female figures.
"Doctor, it's time." The two female voices from before spoke again.
The faceless old man nodded slowly before bidding farewell to the military man and walking out of the room.
The two female figures moved aside for the old man to pass and exchanging a nod, the three walked down a long white corridor.
"You forgot your cane again." One of the figures spoke, offering a cane to the old man.
"Hump, I'm not that old!" The old man responded with a mixture of amusement and irritation.
The female figures tilted their heads in confusion, causing the old man to sigh and accept the cane before returning to their walk.
There were a series of glass walls throughout the hallway. Looking through one of them, I saw a series of white blurs messing with something on top of a large metal table.
But I didn't have time to process this information, as the trio reached the end of the hallway where a large metal door slid up, revealing a bright, blinding light.
Then everything disappeared.
-XXXXXX-
"Jekyll" Hyde shouted.
I screamed in fright, making the young man flinch slightly, and I looked around, scanning my surroundings.
"Oh, how can I help, Hyde?"
"You had another flash of memories, didn't you?" Hyde asked worriedly.
"Yes, but I will explain it later, now we must move on."
Exchanging a nod, Zon and Hyde followed a group of robots to one of the doors on the right side of the room and entered a smaller room.
The door closed behind us and the room shook as the numbers on an indicator above the door slowly changed.
"Great another elevator. No more climbing stairs!" Hyde exclaimed happily.
"He, good for you, I won't have to worry about stairs for the rest of my life." Zon replied.
Then Hyde leaned against the wall, with Zon floating next to him, the two talked while I looked around, spotting something of interest.
"Hey, Hyde, get closer to that terminal!"
"What is a terminal?" Hyde asked confused.
"It is that computer-looking thing on the other side of the elevator."
With a murmur of confirmation, Hyde walked towards the terminal, dodging the robots in his path until he stopped in front of the device in question.
"Okay, now what?"
"Now I do my part."
I removed one of my hands from Jekyll's body and slid my key card into a slot on the side of the terminal, causing its screen to turn on.
"Won't the robots try to kill us if you touch this thing?" Hyde asked, looking at the robots that stood in two rows facing the elevator door.
"Only if I hacked the terminal, but I am a person with maximum clearance so there is no need for it."
"I didn't understand anything you said."
"And you don't need to for now; we'll have another explanation session when we get home." I replied while typing on the terminal keyboard.
"No, please, I don't want to spend two hours sitting in a chair while you lecture me and argue with Zon again."
"It wasn't that bad and… Well, that's interesting." I murmured, surprised by the information in front of me.
"What are you two idiots doing there?" Zon asked curiously, floating next to me and looking at the terminal.
"According to this data, Mars is a military AI developed to collect data and analyze battles of the Army, Legion, and something called the Crusaders, thus developing new strategies to win combats efficiently with the least possible casualties. According to the records I'm reading, Mars has proven capable in its role, except for its last mission."
"What do you mean by that?" Hyde asked.
"Something Mars has failed to understand is the concept of a soldier with no sense of self-preservation. The last mission consisted of the collaboration of the Army and Crusaders to recover cargo at the train station taken by the legion after an attack on the military base. But the Legion had almost infinite numbers and didn't mind throwing themselves at their enemies, eventually; they overcame the Army and Crusader forces and overran the base, resulting in what we saw on the surface."
"Does this mean that Mars is repeating this same mission using everything he knows about the Army and Legion? Isn't he fighting himself in the end?"
"Exactly."
"And how long has he been doing this?"
"Just a minute... Two hundred years."
I felt Hyde's breathing stop for a moment as he processed the information, walking away from the terminal with shaky steps.
"Two hundred years? Mars spent two hundred years doing the same thing. Why does he still do this, doesn't he realize that he is stopping himself from getting what he wants?"
"I imagine it's something similar to Neptune. Mars is an AI like Neptune created for a specific purpose, with the ability to learn in the absence of humans, eventually, he acquired consciousness and feelings and went crazy for some reason. Neptune went crazy due to isolation, now I wonder what caused Mars to end up in a similar state. Tell this information to Zon please, I will see what I can discover."
I typed on the terminal as the conversation between Hyde and Zon faded into background noise.
Hm... This is harder than it seems, unlike Neptune who created a kind of diary, Mars kept records in the style of a soldier delivering a report to his superior.
There was only relevant information about battles with precise dates and hours, but nothing about how he felt or what made him go crazy.
The only thing I found that resembled a clue was that all the reports arrived at the same person, General Ige Takao.
DING!
Unfortunately, I did not have time to continue my search, as the elevator reached its destination.
The doors opened and the robots marched outside with Hyde and Zon following shortly after. We found ourselves in the space between two buildings and noticed the robots running away, disappearing around a corner ahead.
"Looking" back, I noticed that the elevator rose from the ground and returned the way it came a few seconds later, with a section of the floor sliding to the side and covering the pit.
"I think that's it, we'll go to the train station, get the cargo, and leave. We just need to get past the army of killer robots." Hyde said nervously, drawing Beastbain.
"I don't know why you're worried, we've been through worse."
"We've been through worse so far, there's nothing so bad that it can't get worse."
"I have no idea what you two are talking about, but I'm dying to send some tin heads to the scrapyard! It's been a long time since I destroyed anything!" Zon exclaimed anxiously.
BANG!
BANG!
BANG!
"Let's go!" Zon shouted as the gunfire began, quickly floating towards the fight and disappearing around the same corner as the robots.
"Hang on!" Hyde exclaimed, running after Zon.
Therefore, without wasting time, we entered the thick of the fight, spotting the two armies clashing in a hail of bullets, claws, and metal. Luckily, the train station was not far away, as we saw the building in question in the distance; the robots in our way were the only problem.
What can I do? This will be good training for young Hyde; after all, experience is the best teacher. In addition, if something bad happens... Well... My ax is still sharp.
END OF CHAPTER