Fallen Empire

chapter 18

III.

          Alice pulls back on Seren’s throttle and speeds through the ShadowGate. Instantly they are in a dark tunnel on a highway. Her eyes attempt to focus on the darkness of their surroundings and the dim the light at the end of the tunnel. They exit the tunnel and drive into the rain pouring down on a modern city. The city is very industrialized with electric p********a visible through the thick rain. Small cars and huge transports, that looks more like locomotives without a track, are heading off in both directions. The streets are heavily populated with Cyborg-militia marching in goose-steps into the horizon. Some have more cybernetics than others but ALL where a glove on their right hand. Alice looks beyond them to see slaves of every race pushing carts of supplies beside the Nazis. Alice continues to drive and sees mosh-pits of Neo-Nazi swirling around each other in a fury of noise-infested-bedlam.

 They continue down the street and see pedestrians walking the streets of the urban-wasteland. Each pedestrian unattended by the Nazis has a label designating their destination to serve their masters better.

Alice looks around in disgust and says, “Seren, see if you can tap into their G.P.S. satellites. We need to find a library, if the Nazis even have one.”

Seren begins to comply as they drive deeper into the heart of the city. They drive down the street and Seren’s voice comes through Alice’s helmet, “I have established a connection with the satellite. There are no libraries from what can tell, however I have located a mainframe we should visit.”

“Where is this mainframe?” Alice asks.

“The museum, 4 blocks north, take the next left.” Seren answers.

Alice drives as fast as she can without drawing attention. Ryland notices the heavily armed Sentinels standing guard outside of every building.

The Sentinels are mostly machine surrounding dead flesh each one is an aberration of what was once a Nazi soldier. Alice, Ryland and Seren each take note of the heavily armed helicopters circling the city, “They are looking for someone; I hope it is not us.” Seren offers.

“They are mobilized so it won’t take them long to find us if they do start looking.” Alice counters.

“So when we get to this ‘mainframe, Seren ‘downloads’ the geography of time an’ we go home right?” Ryland asks optimistically.

Alice shakes her head, “Seren can only do that in robot mode and as long as they’re watching he needs to stay in disguise.

“You just want an excuse to go joyriding.” Seren banters playfully

 Alice finds the museum and pulls into the parking garage next to it. She finds a spot to park and sees a security camera “It looks like you’re going to have to wait here Seren.”

Seren scans his surroundings and says sarcastically, “Do not worry about me I have loads to keep me entertained.”

“Rules- are-rules Seren.” Ryland says laughing at his misfortune. Ryland taps Alice on her shoulder and asks, “So, I get to drive on the way back right?” 

Seren and Alice both answer, “No” As she takes her helmet off.

“My driving wasn’t all that bad.” Ryland pleads

“If I agree with you will you concentrate on the job at hand?” Alice asks playfully as she takes an earpiece out of her helmet and places it in her ear. Ryland smiles and takes a hint and Alice continues, “Seren can you hear me?”

“Loud and clear.” he responds in her ear.

“Will it disrupt your hologram to open your seat compartment?”

“Not at all, I am telling you this is cutting edge technology.” Seren brags as Alice opens the compartment and puts her helmet away.

“I’m afraid this may take longer than I had initially hoped.” Alice groans aloud.

“Looks like we donae have much of a choice.” Ryland offers compassionately. 

“We have a lot of ground to cover let’s do it quickly and get back here.” Alice says stalking off towards the museum with Ryland close behind her. They walk out of the parking garage and up the steps of the museum under a large banner with a swastika.

She pauses at the doorway to observe a digital display above the door. The visor of her armor stretches from her spine to cover her eyes only to read the display.  It reads in German and says, “All hail the Cyborg Legion, Lords of Earth!” She steps closer to the door and it opens automatically.

 Alice retracts her visor and looks at Ryland. She takes a deep breath before stepping into the room breaking the infra-red beams on the entrance. This causes a laser scanner to activate from the wall opposite of the entrance. It scans the room for retinal signatures. It scans both her and Ryland’s eyes.

The laser show ends with a primitive hologram program of a woman appearing in their eyes. It is a crude projection and the colors of the hologram are not right but it speaks to each of them in separate languages, to Alice it speaks Latin, to Ryland English. 

“Welcome to the national history museum, what can I help you with today?”

“Nothing you heartless harpy go away!” Ryland says uncomfortable with the intrusive program. It leaves Ryland’s eye and he proceeds down a deserted hallway. The corridor is uninhabited by people but populated with relics. He looks back at Alice and she motions for him to continue exploring. He walks down the hallway and on one side is a mock up of one of the first U-boats. On the other wall is a mural depicting a Cyborg Legion initiation, amputating a young man’s right hand.

Above Ryland’s head is an early Bi-plane hanging frozen in mid air suspended on cables from the ceiling. He walks down the hallway uneasy with the lack of people in this building when quietly in the distance he hears a sound. He curiously follows the sound down the hallway.

Ryland turns the corner and jumps at the sight of a fully reconstructed Tyrannosaurus Rex Skeleton smiling at him.

“Are you ok?” Alice asks from the other room.

“I’m Fine.” Ryland says trying to hide is discomfort “It just reminds me of lunch.”

Alice smirks a little and says, “Don’t destroy anything this is a fact finding mission.”

Ryland nods in comprehension and continues through the room dedicated to the Mesozoic era. He spies another person in the next room and makes his way towards him. The next room is a depiction of early Neanderthal man but Ryland is more interested in the older gentleman who is moping the floor in a very nonchalant pace. He is an older man wearing goggles like the Crusaders had. The old man feels Ryland gazing at him and returns a glance.

“Those are some nice glasses, you donae’ look like a welder, so where did you get them?” Ryland asks.

The old man looks at Ryland for a moment then continues mopping, “I got them in the center of the Earth I would say you couldn’t get there, but you might have the technology to do it.”

“Who are you?” Ryland asks moving in closer to the janitor.

“I thought you would have figured it out by now. You’re that guardian who unleashed the T-Rex on us.”

“What’s a Tea-Rex?” Ryland asks earnestly. The Crusader points at the Skeleton from the previous room. Ryland tries to wrap his head around this odd information, “You were much younger then.” 

“That was 42 years ago.” This Crusader counters, “Some things you just don’t forget.” The old man raises his cybernetic arm to display how crippled he is now because of that encounter, “What do you really expect to accomplish here?” The old man asks. “You can’t stop it.”

“What have you done to this world?” Ryland asks in a bitter tone.

“You think I’m happy with this outcome?” the stranger pauses, “This is not what we were promised. We were all manipulated. We wanted to save the human race not quicken its extinction. We each had our tasks and only one knew what they all were. He’s dead now and the full extent of his plan died with him. There is no way of preventing this from happening. I am here to receive the death I have earned. If you wish to kill me before hand I will not go peacefully.”

“Who was this man who led this group, we need a name.” Ryland demands.

The Stranger snaps, “I am no traitor. You will get no more information from me. You could prevent one attack if you knew where but you will never find all three.”

“You are going to tell me everything you know or…”

“Or what, you are in no position to demand anything. You are in more danger than you know!”

          “Donae’ threaten me! I bested you in your prime you would be easy to conquer now.” Ryland says in an aggravated tone.

The Crusader throws his mop at Ryland and hobbles to the next room. Ryland runs after him but as he enters the room he is electrocuted by a stun g*n from a Sentinel who was waiting in the doorway. 

                                                •

Alice asks the hologram, (still active in her eye) “Are you a tour guide program?”

“That is correct. What would you like to see today?” The program asks politely.

“Everything.”

“More parameters are needed on your inquiry.” The program says.

“I want to know how the Cyborg Legion came to power.” Alice shoots back impatiently.

The program takes a second to assess the question then begins to rattle off, “The rise of the Cyborg Legion. Our glorious leader, appropriately named the Adolf Hitler (Alpha wolf) conquered Europe in a persistent bombardment for seven years. They finally accepted his rule in 1947.

“Why did America not stop them?”

The hologram takes a moment to compute, “America was under siege by the Japanese.”

Alice staggers a moment and says, “The Japanese?”

The program continues, “The Japanese conquered the western hemisphere on in 1941.”

Alice asks breathlessly, “How is that possible?”

“On December 7th 1941. The Japanese launched a surprise attack on the United States; bombing all states and capitals. They attacked the Americans from the airspace over the Republic of Texas.”

“The Republic of Texas?” Alice asks confused by those words.

The Program stops it’s rattling and acquires a new subject, “The Republic of Texas ‘was’ a nation in the western hemisphere. They were declared a nation in 1836. By 1841 it stretched from the Gulf of Mexico to the Pacific Ocean.”

“Did this Republic of Texas assist the Japanese?” Alice asks.

The program retorts “Negative, in fact there are several references to faulty weaponry being the reason they did not fight at all. This problem plagued them and only continued to attribute to their downfall, when our glorious leader mercifully beheaded them.”

“What kind of military did the Republic of Texas have?”

The hologram thinks for a moment then responds, “There is not enough data of their remains to speculate.”

 “Ok let’s get back to a subject you do know.” Alice thinks for a moment then asks aloud, “Where was Winston Churchill when Hitler took Europe?”

“No such person exists in my database...” The program says, “What else can I help you with today?”

Alice thinks about her next question when Seren’s voice comes through her earpiece, “Alice! The tour guide is stalling you. Their entire satellite network is talking about YOU! Get out of there now! Every Sentinel within a five mile radius is converging on your location, I suggest changing it.”

Alice runs down the hallway to get Ryland. The air leaves her lungs as she finds him sprawled out unconscious on the ground surrounded by Sentinels. One of the Sentinels turns to speak to Alice, it echoes in chorus as if it were the thoughts of the entire legion, “Achtung frauline! This is a restricted zone.” They take aim at her.

Alice quickly runs for the door as a Sentinel fires his laser cannon at her. She mentally tells her Armor to cover herself. It instantly falls into place and deflects the attack. She grabs her sword with one hand, it unsheathes automatically as she readies her dagger in the other hand, almost making it to the door before seeing another Sentinel blocking her exit.

This Sentinel fires at her but she never breaks her stride. She advances to the door with her armor deflecting several shots.

 She runs up on the soldier and with her dagger she takes off the Sentinel’s metal arm and with her sword she slices through its cybernetic leg and it falls. Alice exits the museum thinking out loud “I can’t carry Ryland out of there; I’ll have to save him later.” She stops on the steps to survey the area and sees several Sentinels running towards her in multiple directions.

“Will you hurry up? What are you doing?” Seren screams in her ear.

“I’m thinking where we should go for the information we need.” Alice says calmly walking towards the parking garage.

“What do you have in mind?” Seren Asks

“These computers have a censored depiction of history and we need the whole story.” Alice moves steadily towards the parking garage and Seren as the mob draws nearer. A spotlight from a helicopter cascades on the ground beside the garage.

“So where are we going to get this uncut view of history?” Seren asks as Alice climbs aboard.

“In History itself” Alice says as she deactivates Seren’s Holographic cloak, “Locate coordinates for Oahu, specifically Pearl Harbor.”

Seren searches for the requested information while asking, “What are you thinking?”

The Sentinels storm into the Parking garage as Alice asks, “What time did the Japanese first get spotted at the attack of December 7th 1941...”

Seren rapidly searches for the information as a Sentinel shouts something in German. Seren ignores this and answers Alice’s question “7:02 AM”

 “Do you have the coordinates?” Alice asks as the mob bears down on them.

“I am sending them to you now. Are you sure you want to do this?” Seren asks almost knowing the answer already.

Alice touches her Temporal Gauntlet and it re-appears. She programs it with the coordinates and asks, “Does this answer your question?” With that they vanish into the infinity tunnels narrowly evading the laser blasts meant for them.