ONE NATION: A Post Apocalyptic, Dystopian Saga

by Michael W. Huard

  “Terms of surrender?” the president then asked.

  “Yes.” BSR1 nodded.

  The president licked his lips at such information. Things were actually on the right track and the dominoes appeared to be finally falling.

  “Perhaps I myself will pay a visit to my old flame Miss Bends. I am quite certain that will be an interesting endeavor. Perhaps she is still in love with me? Either way, it will be nice to rid ourselves of any rebels and move ahead now.”

  Galax than made a point here. “Perhaps our notifications that the sisterhood’s top leaders have been apprehended are starting to make these people finally see the light.”

  BSR1 still seemed puzzled at the sudden news. All at once rival fractions were ready to concede? “There’s one thing for sure I will put out,” he announced next. “I would not trust any of those people just yet. Let me run my session with the Q- Jin leader, just to make sure we get as much knowledge as possible before we make any quick decisions about those who are opposing us.”

  “Yes, you do your thing,” the president said to his new super bot. “In the meantime, we have business in the city. I will be sending some of the clones to meet with Torres. The tall man is also claiming that he has important news regarding this very region, and also about the whereabouts of members of the sisterhood.”

  Galax then announced, “Shall we double the guards about, sir? Put more ships in the air above us?”

  President Purcell nodded that would be fine.

  Galax then added, “I seem to get the feeling that the fun is just about to begin, sir.”

  The president pointed at his sleek blue-and-silver robot and grinned. “I don't know about fun, but things are definitely becoming interesting. I want us to move further than just America. I want to branch out into the foreign countries. I want Russia, I want China, and I want Korea to be with us. I want to form our own coalition with the greatest leaders on the planet who survived the changing wars. Is that too much to ask?”

  The black robot seemed to like what he was hearing. He soon after excused himself. It was time to have a visit with the Mystical Slayers’ leader.

  Galax was left with the president, all alone now. The two of them just stood in a moment of silence. Little did they know that the Chancellor Tessa Zune was out in the hallway listening to this very conversation. She would help the sisters below, because she had been neglected and cast aside. It would be her little piece of revenge.

  In the meeting chamber, Galax then asked President Purcell a question. “When shall we take a visit to the ocean again, sir? I miss the sounds of the waves and watching the birds fly about.”

  The president smiled. “Soon, my friend, soon. Once these issues are dealt with, we will take a long vacation by the sea.” He then added one final thought. “There’s something still bothering me, Galax, but it is just between you and I. But before I tell you, make sure after this talk you send notice to BSR1 that once he finishes with the Q-Jin leader today, have her join me for dinner.”

  Galax right away sent the message to the black bot.

  The president than added, “I will give her one last chance. Either way, I want to speak with her. Make sure he has her wear something more appropriate gathered from the changing room before joining me.”

  He then bit his lip some before returning to his initial thought.

  “Between only you and I, I find it hard to believe that your brother Omagus has just disappeared into the cosmos. I want you to keep a keen eye out, searching your information database along with other systems constantly monitoring where he may be. He’s not with us, so he’s against us. This is my concern.”

  “I can do that,” spoke the powerful robot before his master. “He is a traitor and I will have him monitored whenever possible.”

  The president then explained, “We need to make plans to set up all these rendezvous, and get things back in order here so that we may further progress with the Y-Wood Corporation into the future. It is a future I am excited for!”

  It was soon that the black bot reached Raegan’s cell. She was weak from not eating or drinking hardly anything still, and when he unlocked her cell, fighting was the furthest thing from her mind.

  He dragged her down the hallway into a private room while Jansa was hollering at him for doing so. She also insisted her sister stay strong.

  Raegan swallowed hard at first, knowing very well that this robot was perhaps the most powerful being on the planet.

  BSR1 shoved her more in the new room, her wrists and ankles still shackled together.

  His eyes were lit up a red, showing in narrow slits upon his metal and crystal robotic head.

  Reagan immediately saw that the room seemed more like a dressing room than an actual chamber for torture or interrogation. She knew she would have to endure pain now, and began trying to focus on her one spot. It was there her peace would have to come from.

  “That's right,” spoke the robot. “This room is not what you were thinking it would, be is it? The president would like to have a cordial dinner with you this evening, so if you answer my questions, we will be certain to make that happen. This way, you may have a nice meal finally. You’ll be able to clean up first, and put on something more appropriate and not so blood-soaked for your special dinner. You smell of urine as well. I will see to it that working bots come in and clean you all up. You have a great opportunity here.”

  Reagan spit at the floor. “What is this? Some type of joke?” she questioned.

  “No joke at all,” the crystal bot explained. “Look at all the dresses over there hanging on the rack. You may choose your favorite one so that you may make an appropriate appearance before the president. And down below there are plenty of nice shoes to choose from as well. The cabinet there,” he pointed, “well, there’s jewelry, and I am sure you will find a piece to be of a high enough standard as well.”

  The bot was mocking her now. She knew it to be true.

  “I'm not going to tell you anything,” Reagan said defiantly.

  But the robot had a plan.

  “Either way you're going to meet with the president. I was asked to send you to him this evening and you will be going in style either way. The choice is yours as to the pain to come, my dear. I have very little time to deal with humans who are defiant in the face of hopelessness.”

  “There is always hope,” Raegan countered.

  “Where are you hiding the rest of your members? It's a very simple question,” the bot asked, leaning closer to her and peering with his red eyes into hers. “If you answer, and we find your information to be true, things will go a lot better for you. If you do not tell us, I will go down the hallway and I will remove your sister's head from her body and prop it in front of your cell. This way, you will be able to stare at its decaying form for as long as it takes for you to tell us what I am asking. Make this easy on yourself, human.”

  “Screw you,” Reagan said to him.

  But before she could say anything else, the robot chuckled loudly. “I have been told your sisterhood is hoping to save the land, plant trees, clean up the water, stop coal manufacturing, and do a whole slew of other things to get the climate to where you think it needs to be. I have to tell you; we robots couldn’t care less. All of it means nothing to our species.”

  Raegan swallowed harshly. Intelligent machines were never a good idea.

  She thought about lying to him about the others whereabouts. But she had a feeling he might catch on to her plan.

  She was sitting with her back to the wall and the black bot approached her even closer.

  He then lashed out, smacking her beside the ear. He laughed some and then picked her up and threw her across the room, slamming her into the nearby wall. That’s when she noticed his teeth had a white, skeletal look to them. Something meant to intimidate a person even more.

  Walking forward, he grabbed her by the feet and dragged her across the chamber, banging her into various objects and then swinging her again across
the room and into another wall.

  Crying out in pain, Raegan held on, but it was then he picked her up and punched her directly in the nose. It was lights out as she fell back to the floor.

  When she opened her eyes, she could barely see. But it did not stop her from whispering, “Kill me, I’m not afraid to die!”

  “You're a tough little shit.” He spoke to her, kneeling down near her face. “We’ll have it your way then. I'm still not going to make you look any worse for your dinner date. And no, I will not kill you just yet.”

  He then put something on his wrist, a new shackle-like device, while calling out for servants to appear. In a few moments, several rolling robots came down the hallway and entered the room.

  The worker bots rolled in without legs upon fat tires and went about working on the commands of the black robot. It was time to prepare Raegan for dinner.

  They chose a blue, long-sleeve, crystal-highlighted gown from the rack, a pearl necklace, and a gold bracelet set with diamonds. They went to Raegan and tore the clothes off her body so she was naked before the super bot. It meant nothing to him. He did not desire humans.

  They bots then tried to do her hair and makeup, including eyeshadow, lipstick, and everything else in an attempt to make her look somewhat good for the president. Her injuries were making the job difficult.

  When they were finished, the three rolling robots left the chamber. BSR1 stood there looking the Q- Jin over.

  “Now that's a bit better,” he announced. “They got most of the blood off you, but you’re still a little bruised and battered. I'll tell you what, I'll give you one more chance before we put the final touches on your wardrobe.”

  Raegan closed her eyes and hung her head down. This monster was more horrible than she could have ever imagined.

  He again asked, “Where are the rest of the sisterhood hiding out? If you tell me, I will give you this pair of shoes.” He went over and picked them up, showing them to Raegan. They were a white high-heeled set, and were well made.

  “If you do not answer this time, I have something else in mind for you.” He then turned about and went to a nearby drawer on the opposite side of the room, removing another set of high heels before her.

  “Human women always look better in heels. It makes their calf muscles stick out. We wouldn't want to disappoint the president, would we now?”

  But it was then Raegan saw that the second pair of heels, a silver in color, were embedded with razor-sharp nails pointing up out of the top of them.

  “Yeah,” the robot announced. “This pair is made to stay on your feet in a way that I would say would rather be uncomfortable.”

  Raegan swallowed hard at what was before her. She could never give away the whereabouts of those that she loved. It was in the hands of God now. So once more, she shook her head, offering no answer to BSR1.

  She was bleeding still, and crying. “I will never betray the people that I care so much about. It does not matter what you do to me.”

  The black bot gritted his teeth. “They say robots are insensitive and have few feelings. This is untrue, my dear. I feel for you in not answering me. These are truly going to hurt,” the robot said, reaching down and picking up Raegan. He pushed her to the ground and held her leg, placing the first shoe upon her foot.

  She tried to pull away but he would not let her go. She screamed like a banshee as he put the nail spikes into the sole of her foot and then put the other shoe on as well.

  Standing was going to be the worst part and he wasted no time, yanking her up and propping her down on the high-heel shoes.

  It was one of the most painful moments of her life. She could not reach them to take them off either. She had another locking device on her wrists that made such a task impossible.

  The black robot then took her by the wrist and dragged her out of the dressing room and down the hall, to a private door. They then went up a long flight of stairs. Her feet were aching and hurting badly as she tried to drag her legs without putting too much pressure on her feet.

  BSR1 seemed to be enjoying their walk.

  CHAPTER FIVE

  Chancellor Tessa knew very well that the days of the sisterhood were finally coming to an end.

  Being just a secretary again and a so-called stick figure from here on out made her very upset.

  She herself knew Mr. Torres, and made the call herself to him about the women landing in New York. But this time the plan would be different. He was not to work for Y-wood like she had him do in the past. Nope, she had a better idea. One he would like very much. She had given the tall man a good life. A spy lives well, but now the work would be more to his liking.

  She went about instructing him on how to help those women enter here. How to get them undercover, provide them the help they need. Documents, badges, whatever it took. She made it so they could enter the Empire State Building unharmed.

  One done with their conversation, Tessa sat before her desk, fidgeting with a bunch of golden balls that she knocked back and forth on a swaying device in front of her. Little did she know, eves-dropping outside her door was young Della Winstrip.

  She had heard everything. It was time for her to make the biggest move of her life. She knew where the prisoners were being kept. She also knew where the keys were to unlock their cells.

  Word had it that President Purcell was having an odd meeting with Raegan tonight. That meant Jansa could be facing the wraith of BSR1. Della had to help the sisterhood’s doctor. She took a deep breath, contemplating this move. Yes, she had to do it.

  There was definitely a lot of commotion in the streets of New York. Troops of robots and clones were out, making routine checks of the citizens here seem like a day in the park. These associates were checking people twice and asking lots of questions.

  Wherever anyone went outside any building, they were stopped.

  No longer were these checkings about the obsession that Arn Marcou once had, the location of all male children so that he could dispose of them. The former president had been obsessed with the men at Y-Wood being the stars for women to choose. These sick thoughts and actions all were attained mostly from listening to his computer entity, a woman, who in truth had been a robot looking out for robots, not for the human race. Anyway, today it was all about catching any of the members of the sisterhood out here.

  The robots and clones made sure that each individual had their microchip embedded into their wrists, marking them as a legal citizen that paid taxes.

  The five women now appeared near the check-points. They noticed that the bots and clones were also looking for the barcode that the new president had administered to all women to ensure that the woman was a legal citizen and not a spy for the sisterhood.

  “That's no way to live,” Chaya said, turning back to the rest of her crew.

  Sun had a quick answer to her sister’s thought. “We were born on this Earth to live under one nation and under God. For it is he who dictates who is supreme. So it should be that all men and women are created equal. The Corporation couldn’t care less about anyone. This is just blasphemy.”

  The other sisters were a bit surprised at her sudden words about God.

  Naiera knew what it felt like to be under such interrogation. “This is nothing new to me. All throughout history, Native American tribes have been put in situations like this. Now regular people see how it feels. It has to stop.”

  Karma agreed. “It’s just ridiculous.” All of them agreed. They knew how much it meant for them to work for the rights of people these days and also to try and preserve the earth.

  It was then the women, led by Paka’s sudden movement, ran across to another building, then down a long road to the east.

  “Quickly,” the black woman called back. “We need to move fast.”

  It was then they stopped as they noticed action across the boulevard.

  Through an open archway, they watched as associates and robots broke into buildings. They began pulling out anyone who was
hiding in these places. Above the area was a flag representing the United States of America as it once was, one with stars and stripes, colored red, white, and blue. It was faded, but all knew what it stood for. The sisterhood had played their roles in bringing these old symbols back to life again. Here the Corporation people were not too pleased.

  The five women could barely watch at what was transpiring now. The ones dragged from building were shot on the spot.

  “Keep your mind on the task at hand,” Chaya then told them all. “This is not how it is all over the country, only in places where the Corporation has their imprint. Come on, follow Paka and me. We have work to do.”

  As instructed, the five of them followed a digital map Paka had that led through the streets of New York.

  The roadways of New York were beaten down, most of the monuments toppled or in ruins from the severe weather. The buildings were vacant and broken, many busted and too dangerous to live in.

  Looking all about, each also saw that Mother Nature had overgrown the area, and in many places vines and weeds and even trees were hanging all about the buildings, streets, and high-rises.

  The rich people associated with the Y-Wood Corporation had their regions cleaned out, but that was not exactly where the sisterhood was going right now.

  They soon cut down a couple alleyways, then under a high overpass. They went down a dirt road until they reached another street. “Behind that old bank,” Paka called out. “That’s where we need to be.”

  Outside were several hummer vehicles, most of which were black and bare metal. A large warehouse was there as well. Standing amongst the place and vehicles were several men, all armed heavily. They immediately took notice of the five women approaching.

  Chaya looked to Paka. “Hopefully they’re expecting us?”

  Paka just grunted.

  Chaya did the talking as they got closer. The others all stood by her side.

  It was an interesting sight for these men.

  Chaya immediately announced, “We are here to see Torres.”