Shadow of Steel

Chapter I

“Coast is clear, Rick. Looks to me like the area is completely abandoned,” Mad-Dog reported. A bead of sweat streamed down the jagged scar above his eye.

“Good. The University grounds might be the quietest since the Great War,” I said.

The Great War between China, the United States, and Russia lasted five years, leaving barren land and torched tree lines in its wake. Much of the conflict involved the use of conventional weapons, destroying most of each sides’ cities. Consequently, what brought the entire world to its knees was the use of biological weapons, one of which was a highly contagious virus called the Infernal. Only half of the world population remained by the time the vaccine was created and distributed. To make matters worse, twenty percent of those that survived their contraction of the virus were psychologically changed. They became violent and sadistic, preying on anything and anyone. What they lack in technology they make up in numbers and ruthlessness, which led to the founding of their faction as we know it: the Raiders. Their legion attacked my settlement last year, forcing us to move from Washington D.C. to Boston.

Yesterday, one of our research patrols reported that they were receiving an anomaly of electronic transmissions. Upon further inspection, they found that the signal was coming from a humanoid robot at the Biotechnology Laboratory in Boston University. When our chief scientist, Doctor Tina Li, examined the files detailing the humanoid’s programming, she advised that we retrieve this robot immediately. Prior to our departure, I filled in our settlers on the details. Although there were mumbles of doubt, Tina reassured us that numerous preliminary tests would be run upon the robot’s arrival.

"This humanoid might be our best hope to save humanity," Tina’s words echoed through my mind.

“Rick!” A familiar voice called, interrupting my thoughts. “I’m gonna kill you if we die out here!”

That’s Chris, my best friend. We’ve been through thick and thin against the Raider invasions, and he’s one of my most trusted Deputies. Even though Chris was joking, I noticed how exhausted he was, his clothes soaked in sweat. Boston reached over one-hundred degrees for the past year, and we couldn’t take many supplies on this mission. Fortunately, from our point on the ground, I began to pick up the transmission signal we were looking for.

“We’re nearly there,” I called. “The signal is picking up on our frequency.”

“Hallelujah,” Chris muttered.

“So this humanoid, what is it capable of?” Mad-Dog asked.

Tina piped up, “From what I have read in these reports so far, the humanoid has been programmed to help rebuild human society. Any other capacities that this humanoid may have require further investigation and testing.” She moved a strand of brown hair out of her face as she continued to study the documents.

Soon we reached the laboratory’s ruins, and Mad-Dog took point, keeping an eye out for potential traps or armed security systems. We proceeded slowly behind him, moving past the fallen cement, and crushed glass. The transmission frequency began to pick up in speed as we moved throughout the lower levels of the facility. It didn’t take us long to reach the deepest level, and when we arrived, the first thing we noticed in that steel-enforced room was a titanium figure lying motionless atop a metal table.

“Is that…” our scrawny, raven-haired tech-expert Jace, breathed.

“The humanoid robot we’re looking for. Our last hope.” Tina, concluded with equal wonder. Upon recomposing herself, she added, “Looks like most of the terminals here are intact, let’s see if we can turn them on.”

I turned away from my comrades as the memory of Jenny’s last moments suddenly passed through my mind.

“Survive, Rick. Make sure our little Susie grows up somewhere safe… give her my locket...” Jenny’s voice hitched as she struggled to breathe. Tears poured from my eyes as I squeezed her hand tightly, the gold, heart-shaped locket pressed between our hands.

“I will, Jenny, I promise. Please hang on, we’ll get you to the Medjays–”

The bomb’s timer ticked next to us: two minutes left.

“Not… enough time…” she rasped. “I love you Rick… tell Susie I love her...” The light went out of her eyes just then, and all the color in the world seemed to drain away with it. I lost the love of my life that day, when we escaped the Raider invasion, and since then I swore I would hunt down those responsible and show them pain that they never experienced before.

“Rick? You alright?” Tina put a light hand on my shoulder which brought me back to the present.

Whirling around, I answered, “Yes, thank you. Uh, sorry about that. What can we do to help?”

Tina glanced around the lab monitors, “First we need Jace to gain access to these computers. Based on the files I examined from that patrol, this robot should have been activated as soon as its programming completed in 2055. That means this humanoid’s creators must have been incredibly confident in their work to have it released immediately. But the lab took a heavy hit during the War, so something stopped the activation.” Tina’s gaze came back to me as she added, “If we can find the source of the problem, we can activate our friend here and take him home for further study.”

“Tina makes a great point, but that leads to another problem,” Jace called from a terminal, his forehead scrunched in concentration as he examined a screen filled with streaming codes. “This software’s complexity is beyond anything I’ve ever hacked into. I don’t know if I can crack it.”

“It’s worth a shot,” I countered. “If you, our techie, can’t hack it, then no one can. Besides,” I gave Jace a sly grin, “I’ve never taken you to be a quitter. Imagine the stories Chris will tell when we get back home. Y’know what? I can hear them already.”

Jace put up his hands in surrender and sighed, “Fine. I’ll give it a shot, but if I crack this, Chris has to carry all of my equipment on the way home.”

“What kinda deal is that Jace?” Chris groaned. “Did you see how much sweat—"

“Done,” I interrupted, ignoring Chris’ complaint.

“I’m not patrolling with ya’ll no more,” Chris huffed as he strode to join Mad-Dog’s company.

The laboratory slowly fell silent as Jace’s fingers flew across the terminal keys, and Tina wasted no time at all to examine the humanoid further. Meanwhile Chris and Mad-Dog stood outside the room, keeping watch.

“Are you sure this is the best decision?” I turned around and saw Jenny staring quizzically at me, her blue eyes filled with concern.

My throat bobbed at the sight of her, even though I knew I was hallucinating. I lowered my voice, “Yes, I do. If I’m right, then this AI can change everything.”

“And if you’re wrong?” Jenny folded her arms, worried.

Taking a step toward her I replied, “I don’t expect for everything to go back to the way it was… but this AI could be the key to stopping the Raiders, and Susie could grow up safe from harm. Isn’t that what we’ve always wanted for her?” My voice cracked, “For us?”

“Of course that’s what we always wanted,” Jenny responded, her eyes welling up. “But is this really the solution to our problems?” Jenny began to pace around me. “It almost seems too easy, too good to be true. Is this AI truly strong enough to help us when the world has been broken?”

She had a point, but for this technology to have been so heavily protected, what else could it mean? “Breakthroughs happen, Jenny. Believe me, we won’t let it get out of hand, and if worse comes to worse, we’ll face the Raiders as we always have. But we have to try when we’re given the opportunity.”

Before Jenny could respond, Jace called out, “Got it!” I turned back to Jenny, but she had disappeared. Chris and I surrounded the humanoid while Tina joined Jace at the terminal.

“Wow…” Tina exhaled quietly, “Look at that body plan! The bipedal drive module barely consumes any energy, and its piezoelectric actuators allow—"

“So everything looks good?” Chris interjected. “Can we turn it on?”

Tina glared at Chris before turning to me, exasperated, “Since the systems appear to have warmed up, I believe we can.”

We called Mad-Dog over to keep his rifle trained on the lifeless steel body. Tina moved from monitor to monitor as the systems along the laboratory walls hummed to life.

A feminine voice sounded overhead, “Automatic activation corrupted, update in progress.”

Electricity crackled through the various tubes that were connected to the robot, and the air increased with tension. The humanoid’s body glowed blue in a matter of seconds, and a pair of cold blue eyes cracked open. Nothing happened at first, until the tubes detached from the humanoid as it slowly sat up, fixing its cold gaze at each of us, calculating.

My heart pounded as I stepped towards the AI, fighting the urge to back away. I announced, “Hello there, my name is Rick. Who are you?”

The robot said nothing, it merely stared at me, and I felt Tina slowly move towards my left when the robot finally replied.

“Hello, Rick. I am TRCTR-1453, code-name Max... an artificial intelligence program… designed to… help rebuild… human civilization.” Turning to Tina, it asked, “What year… is it?”

Tina’s eyes widened, but she quickly composed herself. “It is the year 2060, Max. Does this environment look familiar to you?”

The robot’s gears whirled for a few seconds as it paused, its response was more jointed this time, “Yes. Human interaction last recorded on March 13th, 2055, at 0600 hours.” The humanoid carefully stood, testing its limbs.

I brought Max’s attention back to me, “Listen Max, a deadly war took place a few days after your inventors met you. It tore our world apart, and we need to figure out how we’re going to survive when there are so few of us left. Can you help us?”

Chapter II

Upon arriving back home the following day, my comrades and I stepped through our settlement’s steel gates, with Max enclosed in the middle of our group. Many settlers appeared skeptical and concerned, despite the discussion prior to our departure, but I reassured them that I would discuss the matter in the Great Hall at dinner.

“They’ll get used to him,” Tina said as we strode to the settlement’s science center. “If Max can help us as we believe he can, then everyone will come to realize that he is our most important asset.”

“Well I don’t know about you, but Max makes me uneasy,” Chris confided, “I mean if he short-circuits, what then?”

I turned to Chris, reassuring him, “Then we survive the only way we know how. Now let’s get that robot to the science center and have the engineers to take a closer look at him.” We navigated through our war-battered settlement, weaving around mobile market stalls, farmers wagons, and soldier patrols. The atmosphere was solemn until a petite brunette girl dressed in pink ran through the crowd. I recognized her immediately.

“Daddy!” Susie called as she ran into my arms. “You’re back! I missed you so much!”

I hugged her tightly, laughing, “I missed you too, princess.” As I released her from the hug, I studied the gold heart-shaped locket that settled next to her heart, it shone like the sun.

“Did you see the Raider men outside?” Susie asked, bringing my attention back to her.

My smile quickly faltered, “Who?”

“The Raider men! They said they would come visit us today—"

I picked up Susie and ran to sound the alarm at the center of our settlement. A purple flare shot into the sky and a siren sounded, “Raider attack! Soldiers, to arms!”