Blood and Ashes

Abandon hope, whoever enters here, 

in the depths of your weary soul, 

there's an unspoken law, 

Stranger in a lost world, the tone is beautiful.

Dante Alighieri (1265-1321)

 

And now that all is fallen, 

and hope is smothered in ashes

the laws of the new world have become cruel,

and men are but cannon fodder,

In search of a hope that's gone

Klira (author of this work)

 

__________

 

May... June... what month is it? Does it matter in the context of what's happening right now? How fast has humanity fallen? Sirens, panic, people running to nowhere. The start of a full-scale invasion, Andrias under the command of the Core has moved onto the Earth planet. Dozens, hundreds of robots that instantly surrounded the city. The attack began, bombardment, destruction, screams, ashes and blood. On the central buildings still intact from the bombing, giant screens broadcast an emergency message. It repeats, interrupted by static.   “Attention! Attention! Immediately leave the open areas! All civilians take cover immediately! This is not a drill!”   The loudspeakers in the streets sound in unison: “TO ALL ARMED UNITS IN THE CITY! GENERAL SHEMSON SAYS, THIS IS NOT A DRILL! THIS IS A FULL-SCALE TERRORIST THREAT! THIS IS A FULL-SCALE TERRORIST THREAT! THIS IS NOT A DRILL! I REPEAT, THIS IS NOT A DRILL! CIVILIANS STILL IN GOOD HEALTH, PROCEED TO DEFENSE FACILITIES, ALPHA MODULE, FACILITY 2, 3, 7, AND 9! REP...”   Was there chaos? What's the point of asking such questions if it's already clear. Piles of bodies, they ran, they fell, they were trampled, children crying, strollers, mothers, men. Everyone abandoned their cars and ran wherever they could to avoid being at the epicenter of the total bacchanalia. A mother runs with her son, their father is a military man who has been sent home for a break. He's not coming home alive. She's crying, the son is crying too. The son is only 6.   - MOOOM! - Breaking down into a scream, the toddler clutches even tighter into his mother's hand. Quarter after block, searching for some sort of shelter while this entire city is being bombed. Suddenly drones... several dozen armed drones fly out of an open room, and people rush into that room, but it was a mistake. A metallic roar can be heard on the outskirts. They are coming. Hundreds of combat vehicles. One of them drops right next to the crowd, shooting everyone, sparing no one. The son huddles into his mother, both crying. The robot has detected them.   - Son, run! Run my... - She doesn't have time to say anything, the robot blows her skull off and her head is literally gone. The child breaks down into a hellish scream, pain and agony, and almost instantly starts running away from the robot. He runs down the street, everywhere is mayhem, screams, shrieks, squeals, a sea of blood, a sea of bodies and then... he falls through a manhole, but not just like that. The remnants of the military, of which his father was not one. The unnamed child collapsed from the overabundance of stress, a military man with an embroidered “Colonel Seberyak” immediately ran up to him.   - Get back against the fucking walls! - He grabbed the kid and rushed through the crowd to the makeshift camp - quickly assembled from whatever he could find. This place used to be inhabited by homeless people, so at least it's civilized. There's even a medical center, though... there wasn't nearly enough of anything. People were badly injured: some had their legs torn off, some had their arms torn off, some had no body parts left at all and were living out their last seconds - there were regular civilians mixed in with the military and a few medics who were lucky enough to be in the right place at the right time. He drags the child to this very medical center.   - Herald! The kid from the surface, I don't know what the fuck he saw. Passed out from shock, hands all bloody, check him out, huh? - The once-named doctor slouches, but nods, and helps Colonel Seberiak put the child on a more or less clean mattress. At the same time, a military man comes up to the Colonel, covered in blood, certainly not his own.   — Are you Colonel Seberyak? - The man was middle-aged, already visible gray hair, but cold and insistent gaze. — That's right, any questions? - Seberyak massaged his head, looking at the man who approached, expecting questions for himself. — Not at all, Comrade Colonel. We'd like to help us carry the wounded, well, deep into this musty place, for there's more contagion here than above us. We can use all the strength we can get.   — Wait a minute... What's your name? — Michael, I used to be in the 23rd Division. Major Macon, you know him? That's my boss, and when it all started, he called me to him, and... I don't remember what the hell happened then.   — And what do you think, rookie, about all this nonsense about us? - Asked Seberyak.   — What is there to think, Colonel? It was an organized attack, we were certainly not the only ones attacked by those freaks....   There was shouting from somewhere far away. — What's going on, huh? - A mother nervously says, cradling her two-year-old child. All the people here are on edge. — Everybody, everybody stay calm. Calm down, calm down. - Says Colonel Seberiak, surveying the frightened crowd. And one grandfather shouts something. — What kind of calm is this? You're repeating our mistakes.. - The answer from Seberiak came immediately. — What mistakes? This is an extraterrestrial threat, MILITARY SITUATION, and we've never faced such an enemy! Our command has relayed orders to remain vigilant and rescue people like you. Scared, ordinary civilians. And if anyone has anything against saving yourselves, you're welcome to come out!    

Meanwhile, on another continent, very different action.

  Russia, Moscow.   Sirens, robots destroy the Kremlin, take over and wipe Moscow City off the face of the Earth. Military force does not help in any way, as soon as one robot is destroyed, it is followed by several others at once. One by one they go on the offensive, the army can't cope. Everything happens in a matter of minutes, although this should not be. But they don't know, they don't understand the threat, it's a threat they've never met before. Several dozen people find themselves captured by a special cell technology. All those who managed to survive are in the Moscow subway. But hell is coming there too. The gates are closing, people are panicking, screaming, handing over their children, so that at least they were kept alive. But it is useless, all those who remained on the streets near the subway are killed indiscriminately.    — Take the baby, please, take the baby, take the baby... - a woman is killed, and all the others too. One man tries to fight back.   — Take that, you metal fuck! - he fires his gun, but the bullet recovers, killing him. Everything goes into total collapse.  

A couple thousand people out of millions survive in Moscow.

 

“I'm sorry, son.”

 

USA, Washington DC.   The White House was destroyed in a matter of minutes, everyone inside was dead, even the president. No one could save themselves, because these are not people, these are biomechanics, these are robots, and to them bullets are like just an ordinary slap on the forehead. Tanks, airplanes, helicopters, no one can handle them. Humans are defeated at one point, so immediately the other point is attacked. And even when both points are on the defensive, the robots skillfully destroy them. How? They don't know. There's never been a threat.   — MOVE OUT, FULL EVACUATION, NOW! - A bus full of passengers explodes, killing everyone. The capital is falling even faster than Moscow. A lot of defenses, a huge army, but they couldn't handle it. There were a lot of robots, and that was just the beginning. 

It was just to show off what these aliens could do. 

And this war.. a full-scale war...

A war that can't be won by simple means.

 

Germany, Berlin   The center of the city was massively bombed, many houses still standing from long and hard times turned to dust, half of the city was leveled to the ground, the other half was fleeing civilians and military trying to keep control, which is no longer there. People, like everywhere else, were going crazy.   — IT'S LORD GOD COME TO PUNISH US FOR OUR SINS! [ES IST DER HERRGOTT, DER GEKOMMEN IST, UM UNS FÜR UNSERE SÜNDEN ZU BESTRAFEN!] - Screaming were a few lunatics who had escaped from the asylum, rushing into the ruins from the city. The radio, which was almost silent, played the same recording “DIES IST DAS ENDE” - “THIS IS THE END”.   The entire air force took to the skies, but what could they counter against impenetrable machines that saw two goals: if it resisted, kill; if it did not resist, capture. Humanity had to die.   — IT'S USELESS, OUR ARMY CAN'T TAKE THEM, WE MUST RETREAT! “BIRDS” - FLY AS FAR AWAY AS YOU CAN, THERE'S NOTHING THE AIR FORCE CAN DO AGAINST THESE ALIENS NOW! [ES IST SINNLOS, UNSERE ARMEE KANN ES NICHT MIT IHNEN AUFNEHMEN, WIR MÜSSEN UNS ZURÜCKZIEHEN! “VÖGEL” - FLIEG SO WEIT WIE MÖGLICH WEG, JETZT KANN DIE LUFTWAFFE NICHTS MEHR GEGEN DIESE ALIENS AUSRICHTEN!] - order after order, squad after squad, everyone retreated, hiding wherever possible, but nothing helped. They were found, killed, captured, stripped of everything they had. The radio didn't work anymore, the Internet? Not even the Internet.   The gates are gone. The Brandenburg Gate disappeared along with half the city, leaving behind only ruins, just like in the past. Only this time, the enemy was much stronger, faster and smarter. Several people who had looted the nearest gun hunting stores began opening fire on everyone.   — GOD IS NOT HERE, ONLY WE AND OUR POWER OF WILL [ES GIBT KEINEN GOTT, ES GIBT NUR UNS UND UNSERE WILLENSKRAFT] - The screams echoed through the surviving half of the city, and again - piles of bodies, a sea of blood, the River Spree turned into a bloodbath, a huge pile of people being dumped by robots, clearing the streets. A robot, one of the robots walks down the street, scanning everything and finding the soldiers who had fled.   — THE THREAT OF PLANET CLEANSING, ELIMINATE AT ALL COSTS! - He uttered, and instantly killed everyone with a laser, sawing them to pieces. Smoking human flesh, the remnants of the remnants struggled to live.   A smaller portion of the survivors managed to escape the city, but the bulk are buried there, in their homes, in the street, everywhere. The city is now a graveyard, and this is just the beginning.    Japan, Tokyo   Tokyo is on fire. It's on fire, the fire erupted instantly, neon signs flashing on and off, alleyways clogged with screaming people. Skyscrapers shake, glass bursts, asphalt cracks under the onslaught of an unknown enemy force that does not belong to any army on Earth.   An office worker, gasping for breath, clings to the edge of a window on the 40th floor - his fingers slipping on the broken glass, blood running down his arms. Shards are in his hands, and not only that, they're everywhere.    — Help! [助けて!] - he shouts out of his last strength, but his hands are no longer holding. The last strength, the last attempt and he falls down from the 40th floor, and below is the crowd at the Shibuya intersection - thousands of people running like ants - they are crushed by the skyscraper. Metal roars, piercing bodies, blood gushing in fountains, all organs smeared on the Earth, a huge pile of blood.   No one can help anyone anymore, we have to run. Very quickly, to any place of refuge. It's horror, no one believed there could be anything like this. Robots step through the wreckage, their lasers slicing through every living thing. One grabs a child, rips it in half - the mother screams as the drone burns her face off. They don't kill everyone, capturing the strong who surrender themselves, and killing the weak who try to resist them. The radio, already choked with static, spins the same message: 二十三 四十二    The survivors flee to the ports, but there would-be a point, since the robots were already there, and had destroyed everything that could be a retreat for the civilians. There's no way to get away, no way. The submarines hid, and those who could fired various kinds of missiles at the robots, to which they received an immediate retaliatory strike and their wreck.    — GOD, WHY DO WE HAVE TO DO THIS!? [神よ、なぜこんなことをしなければならないのですか?]   — GET UP, GET UP! GOTTA GO! [起きろ、起きろ 行かないと]   — FATHER, STOP! WAIT! [父さん、やめて 待ってくれ]   — THERE'S NO ONE LEFT TO WAIT, THIS WORLD IS BEING DESTROYED, IT'S THE END OF THE WORLD, IT WAS FORETOLD.... IT WAS TRUE! [待っても無駄だ。この世界は滅びるんだ！世界の終わりは予言されていた！それは真実だった!]   The bombing began and quickly wiped out everything that could be wiped out of what was once one of the most developed cities in the world, and one of the most developed countries in the world. The capital city wiped out, everything wiped out.    China, Beijing.   The Forbidden City is on fire, red roofs collapsing in a sea of fire. Tanks roll across Tiananmen Square, but their armor breaks under the robots' blows - the tracks drowning in the blood of soldiers. The commander, with his helmet pierced, yells into his radio:   — Retreat! [撤退! 撤退!] - but the connection breaks, his tank is blown to pieces, leaving only a pile of scrap metal behind. Huge crowds run through the streets, but the robots move faster - one grabs an old man, breaking his neck, another burns a family, children burning like torches. The sky is black with smoke, missiles come off the bases but fall, shot down by the drones. Robots enter the center of the city and blow it up, turning everything in the area into a wasteland.    But somewhere on another continent, in a flying castle in the middle of Los Angeles, in the body of some schoolgirl is the object that started it all. It's brooding, sitting on a makeshift throne assembled from humans (because Andrias' throne fell apart when it was moved to Earth).  

“Everything is going according to plan... so far.

If we were able to infiltrate the main point of this dimension, and capture it so quickly, then the other dimensions will kneel before us!

That's the way it's going to be... that's the way it's going to be.

In the meantime.

Robots, listen to orders: Take only the strong prisoners, I don't want the weak. “Children, old men, all those who are not strong.”

 

It grins, spinning the globe the guards brought in front of it. 

 

“Well then, planet Earth...I have huge plans for you, and not just for you...for all universes! If we can move here... we just need to unlock the power of these three girls, bring them together. And the box won't help. It only moves in the Amphibians. But that's okay. We can fix this, right, son?”

 

An echoing voice from nowhere, as if from the mind of the core itself, hard, loud, agreeing.

 

“Yes, father. We will make sure that not only these two worlds belong to us, but that the entire universe bows to our power.”

 

And that's just the beginning

 

The internet, in its final hours, went mad. Millions of posts about doomsday, about how robots were appearing not only in the US but all over the damn globe, multiplying like rabbits. Nobody knows what these things even are, what sort of technological advance they represent, or how to explain such a sudden appearance. Aliens, maybe? The Strategic Command Bunker. The last base directing Operation Black Banner. No one ever thought they’d have to give such an order—much less actually implement it. But this is humanity’s final hope, and if it fails, then everything is lost. Generals and commanders stand before a gigantic screen displaying the approximate trajectories of nuclear warheads: the USA, Russia, China, Central Europe, Southern Europe, Northern Europe, Western Europe, Africa, Australia, India, Canada, Mexico, all of South America. One of the officers pulls off his headset, lets out a loud sigh, and buries his face in his hands. Then he speaks.   — We’ve lost contact with Europe. All strategic points have gone silent; we have no clue what’s happening. We don’t even know if their government survived. Germany managed to send a brief message, then nothing. Same for everywhere else except the Netherlands; there we’re still getting fragments of transmissions, but nothing solid. Any idea what we do now, sir?   Another officer, named Hank, silently stares at the monitors. The threat is on US soil, but it’s already spread worldwide. He glances at the point he’s been tracking.   — The Asian divisions are wiped out; the surviving cameras only show devastation, an invasion by unknown biomechanical robots made from metals we’ve never even heard of. Goddamn it, what the hell are these things!? Where’d they come from, and why didn’t our government know? Is this Area 51 all over again, or what? They’re obliterating the Earth, and it’s not just my family in danger—yours is too, General!   The others watch the screens in silence, struggling to grasp this alien menace that seemed to spring from nowhere.   — No word from the Middle East either. Their government must have fallen or found some way to hide. No civilians in sight, nothing but seas of bodies on the satellite feeds. Corporations are being obliterated; they capture anything that bows to them, and if it doesn’t… looks like it meets the same end we will.   — The Americas are quiet. North and South. We can’t show any visuals—these bastards knocked out all the satellites the moment they started the invasion, wrecked every communication system, trashed everything that could be destroyed. They might even be jamming signals so nobody can broadcast a thing. And where the hell did they come from…?   — These... - The officer eyes the screen, where a biomechanical robot slaughters a crowd. - If they can do all this already, if our armies are wiped out with a single blow, then we need our next strongest option.. You get it, General? We can’t send in thousands more troops. Sure, we’ve got a huge army, but damn it! Look at what’s happening in the countries we still have video from! See those bodies? Civilians and soldiers alike. They don’t care whom they kill. They’ll keep going until they get to our families, our kids. Tank shells do nothing, our jets get shot down, we can’t even enter their damn airspace. It’s like a self-contained air-defense system, but smarter—and it moves on its own. What are your orders?!   — Nuclear weapons.   — Oh, great idea - blow the entire planet to hell, let everyone die, right!?   — Shut your mouth, you bastard! - The punch comes instantly, knocking the officer to the ground, where he clutches his head. The General exhales a deep breath. Arguing is pointless, and pitching other options is pointless too, given the facts. Humanity’s last chance is nuclear force. He takes a swig of whiskey, steps up to the loudspeaker, and utters a single phrase before typing in the launch code for the missiles.   — Operation Black Banner   He enters the code.  

Code 8293840-169

I repeat, Operation Black Banner

 

A second later, the screen flashes “Code Confirmed,” and within minutes the entire sky is filled with nuclear warheads, ready to annihilate anything that moves. The General falls back into his chair, downs his whiskey, lights up a cigarette. Then he picks up the radio broadcasting throughout the complex and speaks calmly

 

— Our army, our soldiers - they’re here first and foremost to protect the people from this war now engulfing every nation on Earth. We’re the only ones who could even try to make a difference. I urge you to forget your quarrels, your feuds, and everything else, because it’s far too late to change anything. Operation Black Banner is underway…  

May God help us all.

 

Several thousand silos open with a minute's delay, launching hundreds of warheads of various calibers and yields. Ballistic missiles accelerate, heading into the stratosphere. They fire off all at once - because the enemy isn’t far away anymore. It’s right here, everywhere, all across the Earth.  

Someone is praying in a church

 

— I believe in one God, the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth, of all things visible and invisible. And in one Lord Jesus Christ, the only Son of God, begotten of the Father before all ages: Light from Light, true God from true God, begotten, not made, consubstantial with the Father—through whom all things were made. For us, and for our salvation, He came down from heaven, and by the Holy Spirit and the Virgin Mary was made man...  

Someone else is destroying everything

  — Oh yes, so much cash… so much food… gear, oh God, yes, yes, yes!   A man runs out of a stall wielding a club, but is instantly beaten by a mob—cruelly, viciously, inhumanly.

 

In a single moment, everyone turned into monsters from some storybook.

 

— You bastards, what the hell are you doing!? We shouldn’t be like this! It’s horrible, why did we ever fight, for this!? - yells an old veteran, tears streaming down his face, loathing them all.  

Someone is killing

 

— You bitch! Take that, you scum! And to hell with giving you back your lousy 1200 bucks, asshole! There’s no courts left, no one can lock me up for this! - yells a woman—apparently the wife of the man who’s long been dead by now—as she keeps beating him. It looks terrifying, brutal.  

In an instant, people stopped being human.

 

Vehicles sped in every direction, crashing into one another; those lucky enough to swerve only slammed into something else anyway.   — Come on, get off that car, you moron! -  Gunfire erupts after the local gun shop gets looted. Piles of bodies-men, children, even animals - no one is spared.  

This is..the true end of the world.

 

Someone is raping

 

—N-no… please, I’m begging you, don’t do this!   — Don’t you move, you whore! We’re gonna have our fun, then you’ll be on all fours… - The men around laugh, and in turn begin committing atrocious acts.  

War doesn’t change people; it merely reveals their true nature.

 

Someone is confessing their love

 

— Kera, I love you! I’ll always love you!   — Maksim, I… I love you too! And I’ll never let you go. - They kiss, and a chunk of falling debris crushes them from a collapsed building. How ironic… “never let you go.”  

Someone is weeping

 

— Wh-what’s happening? - sobs a child, clinging to his mother, who’s covered in blood from shrapnel and rubble. He’s wounded too, though not as severely as she is.   — Everything… will be okay, just… listen to your sister and… your father... I’ll make it out… now go… go find your sister… - Her eyes roll back, voice cuts off, breath stops. The child wails, while his sister—injured herself—pulls him away from their mother’s dead body. She has no choice but to protect him now. It’s the last promise she can keep.  

Someone is laughing

 

— Hey, you know what? Let’s just have fun, yeah? Let’s put on the biggest apocalypse concert ever! - The crowd cheers, a final gig, the last song, some ‘happy’ tune… then the final chord.  

But in the end, they all face the same thing.

 

Hundreds of nuclear explosions light up the skies.

 

A colossal boom is visible even from space. The whole planet shudders.

 

But they failed. And that means only one thing:

 

The beginning of the end.

  Mushroom clouds flared, millions of people vanished -  it looked as though it had worked. The storm dispersed, leaving behind only silence... yet not the silence of victory. Oh, no. They hadn’t won. They had only hastened their own doom. The robots stood exactly where they were before. A few had been destroyed, but most remained, unmoved by radiation or the blast. How? How could anyone have known? Not a single secret organization had ever foreseen a scenario in which the strongest weapon in humanity’s arsenal would prove useless.   The Core’s machines withstood even that. Sure, some were taken out, but only a few. The majority absorbed the strike and survived. Andrias’s biomechanical armor siphoned off their energy. He laughed, surveying the ruins - he liked it, but deep down, it seemed he really didn’t. He hesitated, but the Core wouldn’t allow it.  

“This is no time for idle musings, my son. Do what must be done. You are obliged to restore this world, to make everyone submit to you and me. You know this - we were born for it.”

  — N-no, I can’t... all this blood... it’s on my hands, and yours, too! Why don’t you feel anything at all? Are emotions too foreign for metal to grasp?  

“My son, one day you’ll see it cuts both ways.

I don’t care how much blood is spilled, and you know that.

That girl resists— she doesn’t understand her body is just a vessel.

Once I’m through with it, she’ll be worthless.

She’s stubborn, won’t listen... I love the headstrong ones, but I hate it when they destroy all my plans.”

 

— You mean the one who...?  

“Don’t change the subject.

I don’t care how much blood is spilled or how many of those creatures calling themselves humans die - they are merely a new evolutionary stepping stone.

This planet will be ours, and not just this one.

I suspect we can find something here that will aid in conquering further universes.”

 

— No! I never signed up for this! You said we’d take one planet, no killings, no blood! Look at what your robots have done! Look how many corpses are piled up! You filth!   Immediately, he cut off - the Core, using its mental link, forced him to shut up. Sparks, a scream from Andrias.  

“I will conquer this planet, whether you agree or not, my son.”

 

— I... I knew it... I suspected... Father, you’re nothing but rot! You forced this on me! You made me enact a plan to seize everything! You issued orders in my name!  

“Son, son... haha...

Our great mind is far too vast for you.

You, as King, never amounted to much.

Recall how you even gave away that big secret the girl confided in you.

She trusted you, and you just handed all the info to me.

Well? Shall I continue, my son?”

 

  — Marcy... she’s just too trusting! I... I... tried to warn her, I dropped hints! But she wouldn’t listen, wouldn’t listen, wouldn’t listen! -The King repeated it to himself, because he truly had warned her, yet was ignored. What else could he do?   Suddenly, Andrias’s emotions vanished. And that meant only one thing— the Core had taken control.  

“I’ve had enough, my son. Our mind decided you’re unfit for us.

You’re just a dim speck in our Amphibian lineage.

You’re no Triton, and you don’t deserve what you’ve been given.

However... there’s one way you can redeem yourself— kill that bothersome girl and her frog family she dragged from our world.

Then... maybe I’ll forgive you.”

 

"No... no, no, no! How could my own father think like this!? I didn’t want to harm anyone. I... I... I really am a pathetic ruler, fine, but I never wanted to be a murderer!”   — THEN I’LL NO LONGER SERVE YO— - A jolt of electricity. Andrias collapses, his protective armor splitting open and dumping him out, completely scorched. He is dead, but the Core will pretend he’s alive. It’ll toss his body back to Andrias’s castle, all for the showdown with that pesky girl - Anne Boonchuy.  

“Forgive me, son.

You could never become me, but now I have a chance.

We’ll do it together - your body, and that Marcy girl’s body… we’ll make this world stronger than ever.

I can do it without your help, you pesky little irritant!”

 

Anne stands with her frog family, looking skyward - toward Andrias’s Castle, and what’s left of Newtopia’s center.   — What do we do, Anne? - Sprig asks, ready to jump into action. Anne glances around. Everything is destroyed - nothing went the way she’d hoped. Her family, her loved ones... they might be dead. These frogs… they’re all she has left now.   — We fight. Like Sasha taught me… and like life taught me - Anne replies, drawing her sword and pointing it at the hovering core of Newtopia.   — But how do we even get there? We don’t have flying beetles or anything - Hop Pop wonders aloud, shielding Polly, who’s straining to see the devastation around them. They spot missiles overhead; Anne doesn’t fully grasp it, but she knows they need to hide. They won’t die by the King’s hand - the Core itself will kill them first, and that’s a direct death sentence.   — Over here, quick! - Everyone takes off running at the sound of a voice echoing down an alley. Definitely a human - and there’s no choice. The rockets rush closer, and just when hope seems near, a problem arises: Polly falls, unable to get up. Her newly grown legs, which she’s not used to, fail to support her.   — POLLY! - Hop Pop shouts, but someone yanks him and Sprig into a sewer tunnel (with help from a stranger in uniform— maybe a firefighter). Anne thinks fast. Time’s too short, the missiles are seconds away, and Polly’s practically in the blast zone. No time for pondering; she just acts.   She leaps over broken pavement, debris, and everything else, snatches Polly up and tosses her into a narrow passage. But that moment, a robot grabs Anne instead… and it doesn’t kill her. Then it speaks in a repulsive, robotic monotone.   — CLASS B OBJECT. NO SIGNIFICANT THREAT. HUMAN. MATCHES THE DESCRIPTION OF THOSE THE MASTER IS SEARCHING FOR.   "Master? What’s this King up to?” flashes through Anne’s mind before they haul her away from the place they’d been. They carry her to Newtopia itself - specifically, the King’s palace, where he waits in his armor, alongside the Core inside her best friend’s body.   — Well, well, well… Anne Boonchuy… - The King’s body sways as he rises, peering at her angry, determined face.   — What did you do!? Is this your idea of a world? You can’t build anything on these ruins! It’s pointless anyway - the missiles are on their way, your army’s going to lose! - she declares heroically, only to be handed a sword.. her own sword. The Core in Marcy’s body (should I just call her Darcy?) speaks.   — Call me whatever you like, disobedient little girl. I’ve looked out there many times, and this— you call this a weapon? - It stares through the windows, where its robots don’t even stir, — Anyway, here’s the deal… - Andrias abruptly interrupts the Core.   — If you beat me without your special powers, fine, we’ll withdraw… - the Core continues.   — But if you lose… yours won’t be the only life damned… - Andrias cuts in again.   — I’ll summon most of my Amphibian army here. This planet’s already at our feet, but with my forces..  

THE PLANET WILL BE OURS ENTIRELY, AND YOU… YOU WILL BECOME MY NEW HOST

 

A strike, two, three, four - Anne leaps back, yet Andrias’s armor remains unscathed. “What the hell!?” She hammers at him again and again, to no effect. Then she pivots to attack the Core directly, aiming at Marcy’s body it controls. “Huh… if I..” She doesn’t even finish the thought. The sword runs right through her chest, droplets of blood, but no screams, no pain, no nerves.   — Heh… what for, exactly? You need me alive, don’t you? - Even in that moment, Anne manages some sarcastic quip - the last thing the Core wants to hear. She’s ready to fight for everyone, for her family, for her planet. If she’s meant to die, she’ll die for her home, for everyone she loves.  

“We decided we wasted our time giving you hope.

Your strength— that’s what we want, nothing else.

Strength not just from that box, but from inside you.

Right… ?”

 

Anne’s body goes limp; she collapses, no longer able to stand. Marcy inside is in shock, every emotion crashing down at once. She witnessed it, never wanted this - now it’s another burden of guilt.   "No… no… Anne, please get up. You can’t just— you’re Anne Boonchuy, damn it! Stand up! Ple-please… Annie…"    Marcy cries, dropping to her knees to see her best friend, effectively killed by her own hands.   “I’m sorry… I’m sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry— I never wanted it like this, I didn’t think it would go so wrong!” -But it’s no use. Nothing can be undone. Her pleas fail.

 

"Enough.

Guards, take her to a capsule.

We need to study her strength.

She’s not part of that box’s crystals; this power is hers alone, from birth.

And meanwhile, I’ll be rid of this host. I’ve used her enough.

Oh, and Robot 2901— destroy those crystals.

I don’t want them catching up when we make our strategic retreat.

I don't get it... what do you mean they're gone?

What the fuck, you stupid idiots, find it fast!"

 

Somewhere underground…

 

 

People are outraged: what are these frog-mutants doing, speaking the same language as humans? Where did they even come from, and how could they not be the reason Earth’s gone to hell?   — This is all your goddamn fault! You brought that thing here, and now it’s destroyed our entire world! - yells an old man - maybe eighty-one, — t’s you bastards who doomed our planet, and you’ll pay with your miserable lives!   The crowd roars, some rush at the frogs, but one man halts them with a shout.   — Knock it off, right now! Or I’ll use force! - He draws a pistol, scanning them slowly, — We’re under martial law. We’re taking in any survivors, whoever they are. As long as you’re not a threat, - He turns to the frogs, — You folks aren’t a threat, I take it?

 

Hop Pop just nods, while Sprig and Polly stand there deep in thought. They’ve lost Anne—the one who was their guiding star in this human world, and in Amphibia too. Life with her made more sense. Now… now nobody knows what happened to her, or what awaits.   — All right, everybody back off. Let’s give these guests time to settle, - the man orders, and the grumbling crowd disperses, — Name’s Glem. Served in the U.S. Army from 2004 to 2008, but I’ve never seen anything like you. Care to explain—where the hell you came from, and whether you caused what’s happening out there? You brought this here?  

Silence.

 

Sometimes, someplace, for no reason -  who knows…

 

Shattered skyscrapers groan under the wind, shedding shards of glass onto the streets. A once-lively city turned hollow, scorched earth full of screams, sobs, and moans. The stench of smoke, ash, and dead flesh sticks in your lungs. Far off, a lone child’s cries fade into the drone of patrolling machines and endless gunfire.   A body rolls involuntarily onto its side. Silence… utter silence, the kind that kills. Then, out of nowhere— gunfire, explosions, collapsing debris, screams. She can’t adjust, but manages to open her eyes. Wiping them— no, smearing more soot— no one’s around. She’s lying in ash, pinned under bits of roofing that somehow spared her life. Sharp pain in her leg. “Damn… or maybe I wasn’t lucky.” A slab traps her leg between rebar and sand; she can still feel it, but every movement hurts.   “Where… what happened? Anne...? Sasha? Where is everyone…?”   No more Core controlling her thoughts. She tries recalling those last moments, but draws blank after blank. She’s aware of dying— or nearly so. She tries to stand, to lift the slab, but it’s too heavy. Her body is limp, unresponsive.   “C’mon… c’mon… just a bit more…” On the third attempt, she manages to shove it aside, only to drop back onto her knee, coughing up nasty phlegm. Marcy looks around. Distant fires color the horizon; hundreds of drones roam the streets.   “This is definitely not… ugh… damn it, my leg… that can’t be good. I have to… hide, get away from open sight.”

 

She limps into the gloom of a ruined alleyway— or what’s left of it. Her head pounds, her mind’s a blur, and somewhere in the city, someone crying/screams  

Seven—six—eleven—five—nine-an’-twenty mile to-day…

  The turbulence overwhelms her vision; she staggers, knees buckling, head throbbing, body shaking. “What… what happened? I don’t remember… Earth? Everything destroyed… dear God…”  

Four—eleven—seventeen—thirty-two the day before…

 

Pain. Through it, she props herself against a wall, taking any semblance of a breather. Robots stalk the streets, scanning homes, exterminating whatever moves. “I have to… keep going….” She isn’t sure where, but she can’t stay here. It’s not safe.  

Boots—boots—boots—boots—movin’ up and down again!

 

Gunfire is nonstop, messing with her psyche. One hand grips her wounded leg; the other tries to keep her from going insane. Bodies everywhere—men, children, the elderly. “They’ve killed everyone! Oh God, oh God…” She needs to cross a literal mountain of corpses… The bombs don’t stop, explosions ring out alongside gunshots.  

There’s no discharge in the war!

 

One step… another… “No, no, NO!” She falls into a hole in the ground, probably an old sewer. She tries to grab some railing but fails. A five-meter drop. “Shitshitshit!” She folds her arms in a cross and slams down on a… mound of something charred.   They’re corpses.   “Oh dear God, NO!” she scuttles away as fast as she can. Grabbing her head, reeling from pain, static, white noise. Then she remembers…  

The Core… the Core…

it killed everyone…

it killed Anne!

With my hands..

 

“It all went so wrong. Everything is wrong, nothing will ever be the same again. The world is gone! War… it’s killing everyone. It’s… doing something. I need to hide, stay here for a while. Figure out where I am. Damn there’s so much… how did they fail!? I was sure we had this planned… This can’t be real! Anne… you had to survive, you… how…” She trails off, forcing herself to breathe. “Okay, calm down, Marcy. Calm… This isn’t the first time you’ve… or is it? No-no, calm… calm.”   She checks her surroundings; there’s nothing but darkness. Night fell quickly. Is she losing her mind, or is the world itself insane? Leaning on a half-bent metal rod covered in who knows what, Marcy finally surveys the area she’s in. “Oh God, oh dear God!”   hey’re not just bodies, they’re children, the elderly, soldiers - stacked atop each other, all with different injuries. She realizes they were dumped here. One thought flashes: “My pockets, my journal! Dammit, no, no, no—my diary!” She tries searching, but finds nothing. Of course not—she was only just tossed out of captivity, obviously she has nothing on her. “So… where the hell is… oh God, light?”   A short distance later, she spots a gap in the ceiling, like it’s calling her forward. She heads that way—no other choice. Maybe she could try climbing back where she fell, but with that leg? No chance. She improvises. Body after body, an endless mass of corpses stretches along this… sewer, or whatever it is. Marcy trudges on, thinking about all that happened, and is happening, and might happen next. “How did… how did it get this bad!? Anne, why… why’d you… God. And Sasha, she stayed in Amphibia! Dammit, that unstoppable friend of ours… If I could’ve done something, back then I’d have… ugh, enough. First I need to find someone. And fix my leg, I don’t wanna lose it. That’s… that’s not good. No one wants to just lose a leg, right? Hah… yeah… guess I should stop talking to myself… Where’s my diary? My stuff? That monstrosity’s got them? Why? For what? The Core reading my diary— I wrote all my feelings, events, hints about the crystals, the attempts to contact the supernatural realm (which worked), the plan to… oh no, no, no, no!”   She suddenly remembers the plan to return to Earth, plus others if that failed. Of course the Core must’ve read it. Over and over. Shit! That means they have minimal time— the Core knows everything, the only limit is it’s busy with other schemes. Realizing all this, Marcy continues onward, shining a dim flashlight she found on a dead soldier. Graffiti covers the walls; apparently, this sector’s been abandoned for ages. Makes sense. She goes a bit farther and stumbles on a makeshift door that… isn’t even locked. She slips inside and barricades it with whatever she can. Looks like someone’s hideout, but the occupant’s clearly been gone a while. “Well… guess I’ll take it. Gotta treat this leg, or I’m screwed. Probably infected already.”    

Yet a couple kilometers away, the Planters wait without much hope, dealing with locals who blame them for everything that went wrong on the surface.

 

The crowd accuses them of being the cause of Earth’s downfall… but then a voice silences them all, telling them to listen.

 

Up above, for the first time in a day, it’s gone quiet. Not that there aren’t screams - there always are.. but a strange lull, as if the city were… functioning?

Impossible.

 

t’s a new phase..

 

A phase in which almost every territory belongs to the Core.

 

to be continued