ONE NATION: A Post Apocalyptic, Dystopian Saga

by Michael W. Huard

  The cyborg, who was more than capable of changing her arms into firing laser guns, nodded and approved as the two of them went upward and forward.

  The two women finally got their turn to try get aboard the ferry.

  Two guards stood in black jumpsuits with machine guns. One in particular, scratching his ear, turned to listen to them.

  Both of the men had on dark sunglasses.

  The shorter of the two with blonde hair pointed at the Cyborg and immediately said, “Her kind is not welcome here. That is, unless you have the necessary documents as to where exactly she's going and who ordered her?”

  The other guy looked Tyne up and down and asked, “Is she a Corporation-built borg?”

  Sinaye step ahead of her white attired sister and said, “Hi, guys. Well. She's mine!”

  “Oh really?” announced the short guard. “Well, whatever, she'll be following you right overboard into the water unless you have proof.”

  The second guard then added, “No robots beyond this point. I'm not going to say it again; there's no one out there that wants her to be around. The only people able to travel beyond this point with a bot are doctors or scientists.”

  Sin’s eyes lit up. “Well, it just so happens that I am a scientist, boys.”

  “Oh really?” spoke the blonde guard. “You don't look like a scientist. Most scientists are fat and ugly.”

  He looked at dark-haired guy with him and the taller man seemed to agree, twiddling with his long mustache.

  “Well, I'll take that as a compliment,” Sin said, pulling out her credentials and showing the men she truly was what she said.

  She then added, “I have private business on the island and she is my personal specimen as I have said.”

  The men grinned. It was then the taller one asked, “So how will you be paying for this voyage today then?”

  His sidekick laughed some and repeated the same words to Sin.

  That's when she pulled out from her side bag a large container of red Atomic Fireballs.

  “I know this is an awkward offering, but everyone loves candy, right? These suckers are pretty rare,” she added, grabbing one out of its wrapper and offering it to the tall guard right before her.

  He took the candy and was sucking on it right away. “Woah, these things are pretty hot. Pretty darn good too.”

  His sidekick now wanted one as well.

  “It's not easy to find candy like this out here,” Sinaye announced with a big smile. “What do you say you guys take the whole bag for yourselves and just let us go on to the ferry?”

  The tall fellow was ready to say yes, but the shorter one shook his head saying, “I don't think so. These little balls are certainly on fire and you're definitely a nice little hottie, yourself,” he added, nodding at Sin and then actually licking his lips, giving her a long stare of her curvaceous figure.

  “But you're going to have to give us something else in order for us to let you pass. Candy isn’t enough!”

  Sin smiled. “How about I take these two fingers,” she said, holding up her index and middle finger of her right hand, “and, well, why don’t I just shove them in your eyes?”

  The man immediately was taken aback and began to lift his rifle up to her face, but before he got it level, she deflected it downward with her left hand and with her right elbow sliced across his nose, cracking it rather hard.

  Tyne had already raised her arms and was letting the mechanics form into rifles as the other guard pointed his gun, trying to shoot Sin in the face.

  Tyne kicked it from his hands with her left foot and spun around, nailing him in the stomach with a jump back kick.

  Her arms were soon turning into rifles and it was going to get really serious now.

  She positioned herself on one knee, guns loaded and ready. More men on the ship had already started coming towards them, but they were easily shot down.

  Sinaye looked back to Tyne. “Did you have to kill them?”

  She then grabbed the guard she had elbowed, whispering in his ear, “Do you want to die also? Tell the rest of the men here and the ship captain that there's no issue here, just a big misunderstanding. If not, you’ll be dead in seconds.” She then locked his arm behind his back.

  The other guy, who had been kicked in the stomach by powerful cyborg, was already reaching to pick his rifle back up. But it was too late. Tyne ran over, grabbed him, and threw him overboard.

  The one remaining visible guard, now in an arm lock, agreed to everything. He hollered out that there had been a big misunderstanding and that everything was going to be okay. Some of the crewman and the captain came out to see what all the commotions was. They seemed concerned.

  Sin looked to her sister now. “So much for making a surprise visit to Pine Haven. We cannot let anyone on board contact anyone there.”

  Tyne agreed. “Give me two minutes on that ship. I'll make sure their wires and radios are down, and when we get to that island, nobody will leave the boat before I wipe their memory of this day from them.”

  “Okay.” Sin nodded. She had forgotten how cool it was to be working with Tyne. She was indeed pretty sweet. Then again, she was part of the crew who had put her together.

  Tyne already knew this would be the case, so upon their boat ride, which lasted perhaps 45 minutes, she made it a point to go about the passengers and crew and make sure that anyone going to that specific island would be manipulated into forgetting they had spotted her and Sin.

  A small microchip into the memory bank of their brain would do the trick. It was a dissolving material, and as she went about getting it on any on board heading their way, she learned there were only six people total. The job was complete in less than 15 minutes, after plenty of awkward looks and bumps into random folks.

  Soon after, they approached the shore line.

  In the distance, they could see a series of wooden log homes and buildings. The island, as mentioned before, was a self-sufficient one. Various animals and crops were seen all about as well.

  One rather large building in the distance appeared to be some type of meeting lodge. That was a place they definitely wanted to head to as the ferry came closer to land.

  But before the women got off, soldiers wearing green camouflage-like uniforms were spotted approaching the dock area. This was not going to be easy by any means of the imagination.

  One woman, perhaps in her 50s, who looked good for the wear, simply stated on the edge of the dock with the soldiers, “We take care of ourselves here. We live, eat, build, and socialize via the land around us. Outsiders are not welcome. Any on this boat here with a reason for us to look down on you, do not get off.”

  Having no idea who this red headed woman was, Tyne and Sinaye both rolled their eyes.

  Both went to the other side of the ferry and debated jumping off.

  It was then Sin expressed a thought. “It is beautiful here though. There's something about wooden cabins on the water.”

  Tyne smiled. “Right, but we hardly have time to enjoy the view here.” She then leaped off into the shallow water and Sin followed her.

  She then said, “I do not particularly have a preference as to what is pretty out here, but I will say, you have something crawling up your leg.”

  Sinaye looked down to see some sort of an eel-like creature that had gotten on her.

  She slapped away at her leg, knocking the eel away, somewhat screeching in awfulness. “Get off of me. I hate things that squirm.”

  Tyne laughed as the two of them rushed down the shoreline and then out into the nearby woods.

  CHAPTER FOUR

  With the return of Omagus, the entire Y-Wood Corporation had to regroup. Diplomatic relationships with other countries were put on hold.

  He did not stay on the rooftop very long. The President and Galax being gone led him to leave not long after the sisterhood escaped that stormy day.

  He had wanted to explain to them his New World Order.

  BSR1 found the things
he said to him before leaving that particular day rather absurd. Then again, if this super robot, who called himself the “Godbot”, did have, as he declared, thousands of powerful robots at his disposal, his plans for the future had to be taken very seriously.

  He had to prepare to deal with this situation.

  The Y-Wood Corporation, in truth, was a military dictatorship. Its very name stood for, you will obey or die. The rogue bot would be dealt in due time.

  The moment President Purcell had returned from Washington, he’d needed make some things very clear.

  It was now that he went on the air, explaining his expectations.

  We interrupt your local broadcasting with a B-Purcell special announcement.

  As President, I rule this nation with absolute power. In the absence of a democratic process, a military dictatorship must carry on. Such is an authority that heads our nation’s armed forces. It’s all we have standing in the way of the utter demolition of this country.

  I prioritize law and order over due process, civil liberties, or political freedoms. The ideals of dissent or political opposition are dangerous for those who oppose me. We live in a world of people that needed strict laws and leadership.

  If I have to, I will declare martial law. In lieu of such today, I impose a nationwide 9:00 pm curfew, forbid political gatherings, and will threaten to arrest any and all political activists, including those in the Q-Jin sisterhood. I also officially shut down The Bending of a New Nation broadcasts.

  The infrastructure of America is on the brink of more war. All shall abide by these regulations for your own safety. The threat is real, citizens, and we must remain strong in the face of great adversity. There are other countries looking very closely at us. They would love to swoop in and claim America as their own.

  I, as President, will not let that happen. You have my word. I will fight for you, even if what I must do offends you, or hurts your feelings.

  War and the possible demise of our beloved country is not for the faint of heart, or a weak leader.

  Bear with me, keep your posture high. We will make our way through this.

  Thank you very much, President Berlin Purcell.

  Once finished with his broadcast, Berlin looked at Galax, who had been waiting in the news room with him.

  “There,” Berlin announced. “Now with that being out of the way, I ask you, Galax. What say you of the return of Omagus and the latest intel we have received regarding his plans?”

  The mega robot, one of three created by the Corporation and costing a fortune, contemplated all his data on the subject at hand.

  “He has outgrown his own system, sir. The information regarding what he plans to put in motion, if we agree with him or not, is utterly shocking. The ramifications not only here in this country, but worldwide, will be beyond measure. Omagus had gone beyond his means, this is obvious.”

  President Purcell nodded that he agreed 100%.

  “I know this already, my friend. The question is, do we resist him or join him?”

  Galax was surprised to hear his friend speak about joining the rebel bot. It was not in Purcell’s nature to surrender so easily.

  “If we were to join his proclaimed revolution, sir, it would be the end of humanity as we know it.”

  Purcell scratched his head. Then he tried to push his spiked gray hair back more, to make it stick up better. He did so and seemed pleased.

  “Do you really think he has that many elite bots at his disposal?”

  Galax had been thinking the same thing. “He may very well have a good-sized army, sir. The Corporations facility on Mars was putting out big numbers. However, we have more in various places.”

  President Purcell thought of these locales, wondering just exactly how many robots he could gather at one time.

  He then snapped out of such pondering and turned his attention to Galax.

  “BSR1 says we now need to destroy Omagus. Do you agree with his logic?”

  The blue and silver robot paused for a moment. He was a war machine, a follower-of-commands prototype. Omagus was different than he, a thinking machine through and through. BSR1, of course, was a killing machine. All three brothers, created on the same day, were alike but not the same. Galax found it difficult to give a clear answer. To say such command, to have any of the others put to non-functioning mode, did not settle well within his digital thinking process.

  “I am not sure just yet, sir,” Galax replied. “But I do have thoughts on the whole scenario, and his upcoming actions. Those which I feel will put us in position to enjoy more relaxation on the ocean shoreline and put the Y-wood Corporation in a good light.”

  “Please do share,” the president requested. He was very interested in Galax’s perspective.

  “His functioning has gone beyond the order he was developed for. He believes others now to be inferior to himself. He has taken on a human term, ‘God’. Now, his laid-out vision for the future of earth is leaning towards a destiny of bots leading a revolution where the planet can survive better. Let me show you more clearly,” Galax then announced, walking over to a giant flat tv screen and imputing the various documents Omagus had shared with the Corporation recently.

  The president gave his full attention to the screen, holding his chin and wondering how this would unfold.

  Galax soon continued, pointing to various diagrams and wording on the screen. “Here is where he moves first, sir. Civil liberties will be altered. He is claiming chaos is something that will end with his leadership. He is going out to seize power to benefit himself, his comrades, and those allies he will lure into his fold.

  “He will operate with one main assumption. In essence, his dictatorship does not need to be bad. If all people are ‘good’ then it would not be bad to have one person, him, decide all, instead of endless debates, wars, famine, and so on.”

  The president took a long breath at all this data and assumptions.

  “Is this not what we have already being trying to do in effect ourselves, Galax?”

  The robot nodded yes.

  “However, sir, his plan is unlike ours. Let me bring up the hierarchy he is wanting to install. This here,” he pointed to the screen, “is his planned pecking order, a system in which people or groups are ranked one above the other according to status or authority.”

  Omagus outlined with his metal finger the following words.

  Robots – Gold

  Cyborgs – Silver

  Humans – Bronze

  President Purcell debated such terms. It was like offering medals in some past century world games, the Olympics, which were long gone by.

  He then realized that Omagus was about to push the proverbial envelope beyond anything he could have imagined.

  “Why these?” he asked Galax.

  “According to the thousands of transcripts he sent and I have downloaded, sir, he clearly states his reasoning. Let me explain,” Galax announced.

  “Humans love competition. They have been obsessed with wining within their short lives. Sports were once their favorite pastime. Parents of children fought and did anything they could to make their kids stars. And for what, I do not know. But it was and is an obsession, even today.

  “Humans like to be put on a pedestal, to see who the champions are.

  “His goal is to do that outright. So, the entire country and beyond us will know just who is best.”

  “I’m not sure what this will all accomplish,” The president made note of, giving his thoughts to Galax.

  Galax then brought up a new screen.

  “He has also coined the term ‘lifestyles’, where he claims certain privileges will be offered to all bots, borgs, or humans.”

  On the screen, now in bright green, it read:

  Lifestyle Ranking

  Government Officials

  Military

  General Citizen

  The President looked over these charts very closely. “He’s out to put the robots at the head of the class, is
he not, Galax?”

  Galax gave his friend a very simple answer. “Yes, he is, sir. Very much so.”

  President Purcell needed answers now.

  “Then what do we do? This is crazy. He must be stopped, right?”

  The tall silver and blue robot acted as if he was running data before nodding to his master.

  “Hear me out, sir. Let’s say we let him go about doing this, since we are in agreement to a certain point. Keep the peace, tell him the Corporation agrees but would like to work together as times goes on.

  “Then we strike out at him. The things he is doing will have to all go on our side when you announce his judgment is off and we no longer work together.”

  Purcell contemplated such a risk.

  Galax then added, “This is a strategy that can work in our favor, sir.”

  President Purcell now began to see where this was going.

  “I’m starting to like your logic here. I know where you’re going with this. He can sweep up the masses for us, those who have conceded. And the rebels who defy his so-called plan he can deal with. Then, once it gets to the point where all are overwhelmed and things are out of control, we step in. We become the ‘good guys’ for once. It would be then, that finally, people may see that I am not the bad guy after all. Yes, Galax. I like it!”

  The women were on the isle and ready for action. If everything Karma said was true, along with Miggie, who herself lived here, this place needed to shut down. The harvesting of young body parts was sick, and both Sinaye and Tyne relished in the chance to deal with such absurdity.

  Sin was still struggling with her breathing. Since leaving the moon planet, something had triggered in her lungs. Her regular earth air intake was still off. She had to continue wearing an oxygen mask, even now.

  Tyne went over the game plan. “We now will wait until such a bidding takes place. If they know we’re out here, and have any indication whom we truly are, they will come for us, and we’ll fight soon.”