Prometheus Ascending

Chapter 4

Four

Björn’s pulse raced. His feet seemed stuck to the asphalt as he glanced around to the forest he had come from, the meadows on the other side, the asphalted road that led to the city. He wanted to run at first. It was natural. It was instinct. But there was nowhere to run. He couldn't escape. And maybe he didn't even want to.

Björn wanted it to be over. Just let them kill him. It would be quick. They would show no mercy. In these last moments, his life passed by him in reverse, just like they said it would in the movies. He recognized that the only time he was happy—truly happy—had been in that boat with Annie. When the giant whale appeared from the depths of the oceans and somehow spoke to the deepest part of him, and when he had the privilege to look into her brimming eyes. That moment, those brief minutes, were a bliss he had never encountered before, and never would again. There was something raw in them, innocent, like a voice calling him from the depth of the ocean to a place he had always belonged.

For the last time, he gazed at the black night around him, a night he had created, and closed his eyes. Björn welcomed the imminent death.

A shot echoed in-between the trees.

But he felt no pain. He felt nothing. Why?

Björn’s eyes flew open. The soldier that had been charging at him collapsed to the ground, thick red blood dripping from his forehead. He was dead. Shot. The three others dispersed in front of him, eyes wide with fear. Who had shot the man? What had scared the rest? Before Björn could even process the information, he felt a rush of air from behind. When he turned, an elongated white colossus stared at him. A drone.

Björn gazed at the machine. It was a little over two meters, not created for warfare—originally. But it was better than actual soldiers dying on the battlefield, right? Björn smirked. How easy it was to justify the creation of anything when the argumentation went along the lines of “potentially saving human lives.” What they didn’t consider when first constructing them was that one drone could easily kill hundreds of humans. He inspected its intricate design, the aerodynamic shape, the genius of fabrication behind self-assembling materials that would withstand any bullet. His heart ached at the contradiction of both human brilliance and human foolishness. They have learned nothing from nuclear energy, have they? The drone’s glassy skin glistened in the starlight. It made no difference who or what would eliminate him, although it made him wonder what the AI powered weapon was doing so far away from the city where it was needed most now.

The drone came closer.

It whirled up dust and air, as if about to land on the ground. Finally, it stood still, centimeters above the concrete. Björn held his breath, dumbstruck. What happened here? The drone’s surface began disassembling and reforming in front of him, as if thousands of glass needles scrambled away like ants to reveal an empty space inside. A sleek, glistening black space. It invited him in.

Thousands of questions shot through his mind. It was impossible. He had never seen this. Drones were not meant to be controlled remotely, they were created as independent entities, artificial intelligence that would act on their own programming. And even if someone sent it here—who would even care for him? The government? They had more important things on their plate right now. Or maybe it was the underground? Where would it take him?

But all of it didn’t matter. He looked around one last time to the abandoned road of the Neutral Area to reassure himself that he indeed had nowhere else to go. Fate invited him in. Gave him a way out of his misery, his guilt. Fate opened a new door for him. There was no other choice for him than to enter. So he did. He touched the walls inside to make the step upward. The material felt ice cold and slippery, and he needed a moment to get a firm grip with both hands and his feet as he slowly mounted the dark cabin. The material behind him reassembled in seconds, swallowing him in darkness, and he felt the drone shoot up into the air.