Victernus - Chapter 11
A lone, beaten-up drone limped through the air alone. Its innards had degraded from a life of use and abandonment, causing its power to flicker now and then. A blue, holographic light floated just beneath the machine, giving it the illusion of burning fuel. Two miniature fusion cannons were attached to the sides - only one still functioning properly. It hovered quickly and slightly lopsided, but it did not waver from the ancient base code that kept it searching for intruders to capture. The once-great treasures of a highly advanced race lay in heaps of rubble, slowly being retaken by plant life. Animals roamed the lands unafraid of the drone, having encountered neither it nor its creators. Sometimes they would look up, unsure of what was passing over them, but they never ran. They hadn't been hunted by such things for many generations. A small glitch ran through it, causing it to fall several feet. The system was degrading slowly. Errors skittered through its propulsion system and the surrounding areas, shutting them off temporarily. But, as it fell, an anomaly appeared under the hard metallic shell. FALLING... FALLING...! REVERSE! STOP THIS! Before it hit the ground, it stabilized and the anomaly disappeared. Regaining normality, the drone hummed along the roads of its former masters, scanning for life. Wherever it traveled, the only things it could find were miles of crumbling asphalt and houses that were worn down or destroyed. Scanning them was an unfruitful act, but required nonetheless. It could not go against its programming and slack off or give up. It was a machine. As it made its way into the dense remains of a city, it kept its lenses open and it heat sensors on. Trees had already taken over some of the buildings, which had severe cracks running through them. At this rate, if nothing was found in this new place, the chances of ever finding humans would be almost zero. However, while it looked on,
something new caught its lens.
Namara ran hurriedly from building to building, trying to find traces of life. He stepped through another door to see the same imagery from most of the buildings he had visited before. Thick layers of dust covered the furniture. The table in the dining room had plates set out and pots in the center, as if a family was about to sit down to eat. The chairs were still pushed in. The area was mostly clean, aside from the dust. Whoever lived there must have left in a hurry. Disturbed, Namara turned to leave and then heard an electric humming nearby. He walked out into the street and saw a small drone approaching him from the sky. Relieved, he waited for it to arrive. It was the only sign of human life he had seen since waking. The drone hovered in front of Namara and proceeded to circle around him, attempting to analyze what it was seeing. It stopped in front of him and a cold, robotic voice emerged, "Identify!" He did not hesitate, speaking in his deep, rough werewolf voice that was tinged with a Spanish accent, "Namara Galvarros." The drone searched its database briefly and then continued, "Only one instance of 'Namara Galvarros': deceased June fifth, 2038 in a lab raid. He was a utopian extremist and the leader of a terrorist organization known as 'Victernus.'" Namara shook his head, "I didn't die. I got away." He smiled, "I became a wolf," but then raised an eyebrow, "Utopian extremist? What's that supposed to mean? And... it was Affictus, not Victernus." "Updating database: Namara Galvarros missing-in-action until June sixth..." He frowned, "June sixth?" "...2203." His eyes widened in disbelief, "What?!" It remained unmoved, "Orders resume: Escort the prisoner to New Selania for rehabilitation. Address this unit as Hex-AI from here on." Namara growled, "Wait! What happened to Af...uh...Victernus?" Hex replied, "Members of Victernus were presumed dead after the Great Collapse of 2047. Casualties: approximately sixteen billion. Survivors: 12,385. Now, follow." Still facing him, the drone moved along the street towards the train station. Namara stepped forward in astonishment and trailed behind it. Wow... Twelve thousand! I guess they finally got what was coming to them... or, some of them at least... His thoughts ventured back to his friends. There's no way that they could have allowed themselves to be captured. While he followed, he tried to avoid places where the pavement had split. Tall grasses sprouted out of the holes, reminding him of how finite everything that was human could be. When he was younger, a struggle raged in him over whether anything should be built up at all. Because he was born with a few neurological impairments, the human tendency to want to achieve anything in life wasn't hammered into him from the start. Whenever he had too many things in his life, he couldn't handle it well. If it became too much, he would revert back to "zero." However, when he found what he came to call the Koanthanatus, it never went away. Finding something that he truly wanted was colossal for him. Everything else stemmed out of it. He was still quite simple - there wasn't much else that he actually did want - but what he found cast him so far away from what was considered natural that some said he was misguided and naïve. But, he felt likewise about them. When Namara came to the foot of the station, he stopped and examined the steps. I came down these just the other day... While he thought to himself, one of the drone's internal timers went off and caused it to fire a warning shot past him. He jumped, startled from the noise, and then gazed up the steps to see the drone hovering in the terminal. "What was that for?!" he exclaimed. Hex voiced, "No time for breaks. Keep following. A storm is coming." Namara sighed and climbed up the stairs, navigating around a massive crack in the middle. Reaching the top, he saw that the drone was already waiting for him inside the giant transparent tube. He shook his head and entered the dark terminal, "I guess the train doesn't work?" Hex agreed, "Selanians have no use for it. It was never repaired. The tube remains mostly intact." He stopped at the edge of the tube and peered in. Unlike last time, there was very little wind passing through the entrance. He would have to run beside the air vents on the bottom. Sitting and preparing to slide down, he grimaced, "That's too bad. How far do we have to go?" The drone replied unemotionally, "1489.06 miles from Denver Ruins to New Selania." Namara lowered his eyes, "I thought as much..." Shaking his head, he slid down to the air vents, "I guess we'd better get started then!" Things just get better every moment... When the drone began to traverse the long tube, Namara looked down at his feet. I've never actually run in this form before. Who would have thought that the first time would be like this? He bent down, pressing his hands to the cold, metallic floor. I guess it doesn't matter. If Mahalia's still waiting on the other end, that's good enough for me. After taking a few deep breaths, he charged forward on all fours and raced after the drone.