Atlas

110 AE

Crimson Palace

Former PRD Territory

ζ-17

Atlas

 

                What are these monsters?  What has Devivo been up to these ten years?  I am alone in this dark pit and these bodies shuffle towards me.  They look like people, but they’re not.  They are corpses.  They are dead, just, reanimated somehow.  I turn the light on my visor up.  There seems to be at least twenty of these shambling corpses, nearing ever closer to me.  One latches on my arm, I extend my blade and slice it in half.  Its torso falls to the ground writhing around as if life still flowed through its veins. 

                This is ridiculous.  Is he just going to make me sit down here and chop these things up until there are none of them left?  I don’t have time for this.  Using my ECD, FRZ, I generate two concentrated blasts of super cool air from the palms of my hand and aim them at the horde.  Soon their lifeless shambles freeze.  I walk through the center of the crowd, pushing corpses aside as they fall and shatter on the ground.  Was that supposed to be a test?  Ha!

                I look around for an exit.  One does not appear to show itself.  The only light in the room comes from the elevator I came in on, and I have a feeling it won’t go back up. 

                “That was too easy for you,” announces Devivo’s voice from some unseen loudspeakers.  These have more power than the tiny speaker on the elevator.  I feel like I am in a stadium.  “But then again, I knew it would be.  How did you like my pets?”

                Pets?  You call those pets?  Dr. Devivo you are crazy. 

                “The peculiar thing about the so called Hell’s Plague is that it doesn’t do any damage to the body,” explains Devivo.  “Once a person’s soul has passed, a perfectly intact husk remains.  It should work fine, except that there’s no one left to control it.  Think of it like the hardware of a computer without any software.  If you find the right kind of software, you should be able to get the computer functioning again.  I had a planet full of empty husks and all the time in the world.  You don’t expect me not to do anything to keep myself entertained?  What you just destroyed was my beta test.  An experiment to see if I could get the corpses up and at least, shambling towards some sort of target.  As you can see, the tests went over quite well.  You also demonstrated they don’t provide much of a challenge, especially if you use your fancy ECDs.  Why don’t we crank up the difficulty a bit then?  Give the empty shells more fluid mobility, and perhaps, access to weaponry.  Let’s make it melee combat?  Are you a fan of sword fights? I sure am.”

                Two doors open on the exterior of the room and light pours in from the new thresh holds.  Out of the doors begin running more of the husks, this time, less clumsy, faster, but not anywhere more intelligent.  They are charging at me with what looks like makeshift blades.  They look sharp enough to break the skin, and might leave the victim with tetanus.  What is the cliché they always say?  Don’t bring a knife to a gunfight?  Well, I am a gun, Devivo knows that, he commented on that. 

                I raise my gauntlet and take aim.  I can shoot them before they get close to me.  I fire three rounds, all into different heads.  They fall to the ground, not lifeless per-say, but I guess, broken.  I turn and aim at another group of three approaching from the side and repeat the process.  Three more broken corpses.  One managed to get behind me.  His makeshift blade raised and ready for attack.  I grab it by the wrist and use its momentum to swing it over me.  It lands on its back after completing the ark.  I extend the blade from my left gauntlet and drive it through the back of its neck.  I then extend the blade on my right gauntlet and swing it behind me.  It decapitates another husk while clearing the way for me to shoot a round out of my right gauntlet behind it.  Then, without even turning to look, I raise my left gauntlet and shoot a round through what I presume is the skull of the last corpse in the room.  I turn to see that my presumption was right. 

                My breathing is heavy.  I am tired, that shouldn’t have worn me out.  I barely did anything.  This must be the plague progressing.  I don’t have much time left.

                “If you don’t play fair, it’s just going to be easy for you,” announces Devivo’s voice over the loudspeakers.  “But, I didn’t see that being a challenge for you even if you only used your blades.  I must say, Polemos has that CAT gauntlet system down well.  You can switch through the gun and blade features using only your thoughts.  But it’s not the gauntlets that make you so deadly.  No it’s you.  You have heightened senses.  You are biologically enhanced to optimize the effectiveness of your weaponry.   Not only are your senses more keen allowing you to aim and react faster. Not only is your physique enhanced so you are faster and stronger.  You also have augmented mental capacities .  This allows for little to no disconnect between you and your gauntlet.  It becomes a part of you.  You even show greater control and power over the ECDs, as you demonstrated back there.  I don’t believe anyone has been able to prove that much power with FRZ before.  Remarkable.”

                “How do you know all this?” I ask, not realizing that I am speaking out loud.  I guess my curiosity got the best of me.  Now I’ll have to listen to him ramble on more. 

                “A long time ago, I was what you would call, a founding member of the organization known as Polemos.  I began the research into CAT.  It wasn’t long into my research that my views began to differ from that of the organization.  They just wanted to use the technology to make weapons.  I wanted to help humanity with the knowledge we were obtaining.  Our differences in ideology became clear and different enough.  I soon left Polemos to conduct my research in other divisions in the Decorian Bureaucracy.  And since my departure, Polemos has made it ever clear they want me dead.”

                I guess his position makes sense, but that does not change my mission.  Before I die, Devivo must die.

                “But anyway, back to your test,” Devivo continues.  “You see, since you are Homo-Sapien two point O, facing anything less than that would be trivial for you.  So why don’t we make this more interesting, shall we?”  As he finishes his statement, the entire room begins to change.  The floor begins to open up to what appears to be an endless pit.  I have to step to the side as not to fall into it.  The floor continues to retract until three bridges form, crossing the gap to a circular piece in the middle.  There is also a path along the perimeter of the wall.  He’s reduced the amount of space I have to maneuver.  At the other end of the room a door opens up about fifteen feet above the floor and three of Devivo’s husks drop down out of it.  They appear to each carry a sword and a handgun. The swords are more sophisticated then the make-shift blades the earlier ones were using. 

                “Meet my masterpieces of the last ten years,” Devivo announces.  “I have modified them to exceed the physical limitations of their former lives.  I programmed them with one objective, and that is to kill you before, of course, you succumb to the plague.  Have fun.”

                As soon as Devivo stops talking, the husks begin to move.  One runs around the perimeter of the room, I take aim, making sure to lead the target and fire.  The husk seems to expect this though, and stops running as I fire my shot, thus missing the round.  It then aims with its gun and lobs a couple rounds down my way.  I roll across the bridge in an attempt to dodge the bullets.  One collides with my shoulder.  Lucky though for me, my suit is made out of a material nicknamed liquid Kevlar. It can protect me from most types of ammunition, while still allowing my mobility.  Doesn’t mean the rounds don’t hurt though. 

                I come up out of my role to meet another one of the husks slicing down with its sword.  I extend one of my blades and parry the strike.  With a quick spin, I sweep it off its legs.  I stand over it now ready to put a round in its head.  But I become distracted when the third husk flies through the air over the gap between the bridges.  I roll off the side of the bridge and hang on to the edge.  The momentum of the husk’s jump keeps it going over the bridge I hang from, towards the third.  Unfortunately for the husk, it can’t change directions mid-air.  I take aim with my free arm and fire three rounds at the leaping husk.  All three meet their mark, and the husk lands onto the third bridge.  The corpse then slides off and down into the abyss.  One down, two to go.

                This position does not prove advantageous for much else though.  I look up to see one of the remaining husks about to strike at my hand griping the edge with its sword.  It comes down with the strike, but I switch grips to my other hand.  Then with my hand that had just been gripping the edge, grab the end of the husk’s sword.  I yank down on the blade, and the husk loses its grip on the handle.  I let it drop into the pit below.  Without missing a beat, the husk pulls out its gun and fires at me.  I dodge by again switching my grip to the opposing hand.  It fires again and I repeat my maneuver.  I have now gained enough momentum to swing myself back up on to the bridge.  I face the husk, who takes aim at me again, but I don’t give it the chance.  I leap forward, tackling the husk, somersaulting down the bridge and ending up on top of the husk on the central platform.  I snap it’s neck and push it’s broken corpse over the edge. 

                The last Husk now stands at the other edge of the bridge, gun raised ready to fire.  I try to stand, to meet its round but I can’t.  I feel heavy.  I feel weak.  The plague must be progressing.  The husk fires a round that meets me square in the shoulder.  It stings, but I can handle it.  I manage raise one of my gauntlets enough to take a shot at the husk.  It wasn’t the most well placed shot, but it manages to hit the Husk’s gun and knock it from its hand.  The husk then decides to unsheathe its sword and charge me.  I know my liquid Kevlar is strong, but it won’t stand up to something like a sword piercing it.  I only have one chance.  Looking up with a tiny tinge of strength, I ready the ECD, ELC.  Lightning begins to tingle around my fingers as the electric charge builds up.  Finally, as the husk is right above me, ready to strike down, I release the charge. I strike the husk with an arc of electricity right to the chest.  The jolt has enough force to knock the husk on its back halfway down the bridge.  The corpse writhes with the electrical current for a few seconds and then all is still in the chamber. 

                Is this how I die?  I succeeded in one way yes, but that is a short term victory.  Devivo still lives, Moses still lives, Rexrode still lives.  I have failed all my objectives.  I will die a failure.  Fortunately though, my death will not be in vain.  My suit monitors my vital signs and sends the info back to Polemos command.  Due to the decline of this planet and the lack of upkeep of infrastructure, this is about the limit of transmissions.  If command reads that my vitals go flat, then protocol dictates that my suit and weapons cannot fall into the hands of enemies.  They will launch a strategic missile to my location.  It doesn’t look like anyone here will survive today. 

                The lights turn on in the room, everything is bright.  The light would be almost blinding had I not been wearing my visor.  “Excellent,” comes Devivo’s voice from some corner of the room I can’t see.  He is not speaking through his loudspeakers anymore.  He is in person this time.  “You have managed to destroy everything I have been working on these past ten years,” he announces.  “I don’t have anything else for you to play with, but by the looks of it, you’re all out of energy to play.”

                He has come to gloat then?  Gloat as my life drains away?  Gloat over my dead body?  So be it.  He will come over and dance around my immobile body celebrating his victory.  But I will show him.  I need to muster all the energy I have left so when he gets over here, I can kill him and cut his victory short.  That way I can at least say I completed one part of my objective. 

                “One more interesting fact about the plague is physical activity speeds it up,” explains Devivo.  “All that fighting you were doing helped seal your fate.”  He’s walking closer now.  I can feel his foot prints approaching.  My opportunity is coming.

                “Now you see, I can tell you are not the same as my experiments,” begins Devivo, “My husks were tools.  I programed them with what they had to do, and they did it, but they could not think.  If I asked them a question, they could not respond and give me an answer.  You told me earlier you were a tool, a weapon per-say.  That you were just the method Polemos was using to try and kill me.  Well the difference between you and my husks is you came up with the conclusion you are a tool all by yourself.  You are a human being beneath all your armor.  You can think for yourself.  You have a soul.  You are not Zeta-Seventeen.  You are Atlas now.”

                He stands over me now, pausing for a second.  I cannot see him.  I’m saving what little energy I have left for one final strike, but I know he is there, biding his time.

                “Now I don’t want you to die,” he says, “If you die, then I just wasted ten years of work.  No, you need to carry out the rest of my plan, and I will help you do it.”  Oh no.  I think he’s going to turn me into one of those husks.  I will not allow that to happen.  I will not become that kind of monster.

                He kneels down over my back now.  It is my chance.  I roll over extend the blade on my gauntlet and meet him in the gut.  I see Devivo’s face now.  It is not the face of some deranged scientist, but of a man.  A man with a look of disbelief in his eye.  His arm extends towards my neck.  In his hand is some sort of vial, a syringe.  The needle is in my neck.  He falls over now, onto his back.  I stand over him.  How am I standing?  I should be dead. 

                “I- I should have seen that coming,” he stammers, holding the wound I caused him, “I didn’t think you’d recover that fast.  It appears Polemos has improved on my original formula.”

                “What was in that syringe?” I ask, pulling it from my neck and discarding it.

                “It is the cure,” Devivo answers, “The cure for the plague.  You are now immune.”  His shaky old hand reaches into his lab coat and he pulls out another syringe, this one filled with a glowing green liquid.  “This is one more dose of it,” Devivo says, handing me the syringe, “I’m sure you will know how to use it.”

                “Why did you cure me?” I ask, hoping to get more answers before Devivo takes his last breath.

                “Because you will shape the course of humanity,” he replies, “You are Atlas.”  Devivo Looks away for a second, “Everything is in place, I don’t need to be here,” he says, “but I wish I could have watched it all unfold.”

                “Watch what unfold?” I ask.

                He turns back to me and extends a dying hand towards me, “You have the world in your-“ He doesn’t manage to finish his sentence.  His hand falls limp, and no life remains in his eyes.  He is dead.  Now I can’t help but question whether I am fighting for the right side of this conflict.