Transcendence

A man is walking down a street. His surroundings are bleak, grim. There are few others in the area. Some are dressed in dirty clothing with dark colors, others appearing more modernly dressed in slightly lighter colors. Their material appears to be cotton. Most of them are dirty. Mud on their clothes and skin. Some have on face covers. Several appear to be wearing heart shaped lockets. There are rusted industrial buildings covered in sand and moss, connected by hanging vines deriving from multiple plants growing on their sides. Some of the buildings go well into the clouds. The landscape is almost made up completely of dilapidated factories and skyscrapers. The sky is an orange dusky color. The clouds are purple with some having darker navy tints. The ground and road appear to be made of metal, in a valley surrounded by desert. The roads are wet and sandy. Moderate winds are blowing sand in every direction. As the man is walking down the road, he wears an inquisitive face. He is looking for something. Someone. In the distance, he sees it. Her. A female android. Her body half robotic from head to toe. The metallic that covered her appeared to be switching sides in a sense that the right half of her face was android, but her right arm appeared to be human. The left arm was android instead, while her left leg was android. She notices him. Shock. They stand still. Eye contact. He smirks. A short way behind her is a rusty train. She takes out a heart shaped locket and puts it on. As she does, her appearance changes. The half of her that appeared android previously, was now reflecting fully human. She turns and runs as the man chases after her. She bumps a few people running toward the train in the distance. As it begins to move, she speeds up jumping on the end tail, catching it. The train goes as the man stands behind looking at her. Frustrated. She smiles confidently. She has gotten away. She gets onto the train car and grabs the locket again, this time clutching it tightly. She begins to transform into another person. This time an old man. She looks back continuously as she goes through the train cars, transforming through every car. She goes from an old man to a young female child, to a middle-aged woman. The cars get more extravagant as she gets to one of the first few. After several transformations, she finally settles on taking the identity of a train guard. She sits on a seat relaxed. Across from her is a little girl who looks at her and smiles. She smiles back and looks out of the window.

It is revealed that the Earth has gone through some sort of cataclysmic disaster. Sand dunes, with broken monuments lay afar. More rusted buildings covered in dust with small sandstorms forming all around. As she looks out the window, in the reflection she begins to see a memory. Herself, fully human, sitting at a desk talking to a man. He appears to be a half human, half android hybrid as well. A calendar reveals the year to be 2085. She speaks. “Thank you so much Mr. Rowe.” “Please, call me Antares. I created this city for us. It is in the middle of nowhere, yes, but we still thrive in Transcendia. This is our home now.” She gets up. “Uh, Mrs. Flowers, remember, the biggest rule after Transcendence is you can never go back to your family. This rule is in place to protect us. The Transcendents are your new family. You can never reveal our secret. Any transcendent caught or discovered interacting with their family or leaving the main city will be scheduled for termination by shut down. Understood?” “Yes.” She responds hesitantly. Another memory comes to the surface; her half android form walking toward a family. Suddenly the train stops breaking her concentration. She looks up. Loud rumbling is heard. The train starts shaking. It’s being hit by a sandstorm. She begins to look around as every window shows sand rotating around it. Some of the passengers look afraid, others are unbothered as if this is a normal occurrence. The little girl across from the android is now seen on the ground, covering her ears in a fetal position with her eyes closed. The android looks to her worried. Debris begins to fly into the open windows. “Stay down!” she yells, diving down to cover the girl. It gets dark suddenly. The train is in the center of the storm. Everything is chaotic for a moment. The train feels as if it’s lifting for a second. Light again. The storm is gone. She gets up. The conductor speaks, “Passengers, we will be back on route momentarily. Please remain calm.” A few seconds pass. She looks around more. The little girl gets up a she looks to her and smirks. The android smiles back. The train picks up again. Everything is calm for a few minutes. The android is just looking at the girl. “You know, you look just like my daughter.” She says to the child. The train stops again, this time more abruptly. No sand can be seen outside of the window. A few people begin to look to her. She looks confused, but remembers she is in guard form. She speaks. “Everyone, remain calm. I’ll see what’s going on.” Out the window, there is an abandoned town, surrounded by a damaged gate. She walks through a car, transforming into a fancy woman. “I demand to know what’s going on?” She walks through and on the opposite end she sees the man who was chasing her. He looks at her and smirks. She turns and changes. He chases after her. She changes several times through the train, running off and toward the deserted town.

A warning sign has the words, “DANGER! Government Condemned Sight. Nuclear affected beings in the area. Stay Away.” As she runs, something in the distance is watching her. She comes to a tomb-like building and runs inside. She hides behind a wall. The man walks into the tomb moments later. “Fitting,” he thinks to himself. She hears his steps come closer. The heart on her human half beating out of her chest. She looks nervous, looking through the walls with her android half she notices him coming closer. She transforms into a large man coming from behind her hiding spot, fighting him. They fight for a moment; trading blows almost evenly matched before he eventually gets the upper hand causing her to transform with every hit. She lands on her full human form. He angrily hits her once more. “Why did you do it? WHYYYY!?” she falls to the ground. “I had to….” He hits her again. “You didn’t have to! We were building something together. You knew I’d have to do this! You know what happens whe-” “Chris… it was all a lie.” She manages to mutter with the blood coming from her mouth. “What do you mean?” “Transcendence. What Antares told us about going back to our families… it’s a lie.” “What the hell are you talking about Keri?” As she sits up, the being that was watching them in the distance previously, is closer. “When Antares changes you, what does he constantly remind you of? What’s his one rule of thumb?” “His biggest rule is that you can’t go back to your family because they won’t understand… they will try to kill us and others like us… with the knowledge of what we are. Human’s fear what they don’t understand.” “It’s a lie. It’s what happened to him because he tried to transcend his entire family against their will.” The man stands silent for a moment. “How?” “I found his human file and tracked them down. They told me everything. Antares is sadistic. He couldn’t have his own family, so he decided to make one.” “The Transcendents?” She nods up and down. “Even the lockets, they’re a symbol of his daughter who died in the process of transcendence due to a weak heart.” “Keri, if this is all true, then why haven’t you done anything about it? Why didn’t you go to the media or the police? I don’t know, anyone. The entire rule that we’re based on ‘Future Forward’, ‘Android Family First’ is based on a lie.” He says angrily, “This damn necklace…” he pulls off his locket, revealing his android half, showing he is a hybrid as well, “is all a lie. We have to do something about this. We need the others to know!” “Some already do… they don’t care. Look, I don’t want to take down a corporation. I don’t have some big plan to expose a conspiracy. You can do that. Find others who’ll help. I just want to see my daughter.” Silence for a moment again. “So, my mother?” “You could’ve always gone to see her.” “That son of a bitch.” She coughs up blood as the wounds on her human half begin to heal. He runs over to help her up. “The nano-bites starting to heal you. I’m so sorry…” She looks to him lovingly. “I understand. I know what I signed up for.” She replies. As they start to walk out of the building, they see the shadow of a man, ghastly even in the dark. “Chris, where are we?” she asks fearfully. “I didn’t even pay attention.” “I think we’re in NUKE-Town.” The being walks toward them coming from the shadows. His skin is pale and bruised, the parts that aren't peeling off, while other parts are blistered and boiled. Eyes red, with blood coming from his tear ducts. Chris’s android arm turns into a gun. He aims, shooting the zombie-like creature, killing it. “Let’s go!” They both start to run, Keri’s body fully healed now. More and more of the nuclear damaged, mutated, creatures come forward to fight them as they head toward the train still in the distance. It begins to take off. Keri and Chris fight their way through the nuclear zombies. Eventually Chris is overpowered by them. Keri tries to help, but the train is getting further away. “Keri, GO!” he yells. “I’m not going to leave you…” she says. “The train is leaving; you have to go!” He says still fighting. Suddenly, one of the zombies bites him. He looks to Keri, “GOOOOOO!” this time screaming in pain. She turns running, crying as they chase her. Chris takes out a grenade. “I’m not letting Antares or you sick bastards take me down.” He says, just as he pulls the pin. The train almost gets away until the blast propels Keri forward, killing Chris and the remaining nuclear zombies. She gets on the train transforming into the child she saw earlier. She sits silently. Catching her breath.

A few days later, Keri is walking through a neighborhood. It almost looks utopian. Opposite of the place she was before. The sky is brighter. The few people that are outside look clean. Healthy. No masks in sight. The houses appear modern and minimalistic. She is looking around, smiling, as if the streets here are familiar to her. She walks toward a home, the words “Flowers” on a hovering mailbox, but not before taking off her locket causing her to go back to her half human, half android form. She steps on it, breaking it. From the view of the broken locket on the ground, Keri is seen in the background running up to her daughter hugging her. The inside of the locket reveals a mic. A voice speaks. “Target acquired. Move in. Terminate the target and all related.” “Yes Antares.” A voice responds. On the other end, a man is sitting at a desk in a dark room. He is looking at a framed photo of a little girl with a heart shaped locket on.

THE END