Returning Home

Artemis called Caitlyn after the sunset. He requested Caitlyn to dispatch a Hovercraft to pick them up under the cover of darkness. It was to use its stealth capabilities to their fullest to avoid attracting any unwanted attention. Caitlyn obliged and the nearest Hovercraft that had the capacity to get the two off the ground was well on its way.

Artemis and Alice were standing under an oak tree. The night sky was clear enough for them to see a multitude of stars twinkle in the endless sea of space. The moons shined bright too, it was as if the moons were forever full moons, illuminating the landscape.

"Mister, are we going to your home?" Alice asked. Artemis took off one of his implants and turned his attention to Alice.

"Yes. You will be staying in that home of mine for a while now and the next 10 years you'll be going to an academy. Alright?" Artemis said.

"Academy? 😦?" Alice asked again. Gah, she does not know what a school is, Artemis thought.

"An academy is like a school." Artemis said.

"What is a school? 😐??" Alice asked again.

Eek! If she does not know what a school is, how can she know what's an academy.

"School is where kids like you go to learn." Artemis explained. Alice's eyes glittered like the stars above and her mouth opened as she gave out an "Ohh"

Artemis then proceeded to explain to her whats a school is.

"Alice. You are a young girl. A child. A school is something run by older people to teach young people what they need to know in life." Artemis explained. Explained like a pro! Or so he thought. It was the roughest explanation that he could think of, hoping that Alice finally understood what a school was.

Alice nodded but continued to stare at Artemis. This was a sign that she was waiting for more.

Crap, Artemis needed to explain even more.

"Here, sit down." Artemis sat down and leaned against the trunk of the tree. Alice followed and sat down as well with her gleaming eyes still fixated at Artemis. And so, Artemis continued his explanation.

"A school. That is where you learn, that is where you get to know the things that you need to progress in this world of yours." Artemis said.

"My world?" Alice asked and tilted her head to the right in curiosity.

Did she notice my wording? Artemis asked himself and began to suspect that Alice might be more knowledgeable that he thought she was, maybe she was highly knowing of other aspects and subjects while completely ignorant of others?

Wait!

"Yes. This world is yours. Of course, you need to know how to handle what it gives, for what it gives is yours and yours is the world and so what it gives is you giving it back to yourself, be it glory or pain. Luxury or poverty, that is why I am sending you to school." Artemis began his manipulation of Alice.

Artemis had planned on integrating her into his Empire of machines as one of the few human subordinates along with Liz and Valentine. Though she was a little girl and unsure whats her future at best, she held massive amounts of potential that could be manipulated into doing his bidding, into further advancing his plans of domination and eventual restoration of Earth.

"Do you understand now?" He asked Alice who's eyes began to gleam even more so than before.

But that gleam, that shine in her eyes soon faded and she lowered her head and stared at the ground.

That's right, Artemis only found her on the verge of death and whatever past life she had before then was still ripe in her memories. She may have had a family, or she has a family but they abandoned her. But judging by her story, she was with a woman or a man.

The dead lands, if Artemis had the time he planned on investigating it thoroughly but with more firepower.

Artemis then tried to take a look of her face and went over the grass. He saw the tears slowly form in her eyes and witnessed a few drops escape and water the grass below them. Artemis had no idea what to do, he did not know how to comfort a human child! What was he supposed to say? What was he supposed to do? He needed to act quick.

He knew that his reaction to Alice's crying will impact their relationship and if done right would get her closer to Artemis.

Ha! An idea shot Artemis' mind.

He raised his two arms and positioned them around Alice. She did not bother looking at him, she was too engrossed in her emotions, in her sadness.

Then, Artemis hugged her.

The gesture shocked Alice who temporarily raised her head. She was shocked at the gesture of this scary stranger, why is he doing this? Why should someone like him, who barely knew her, who she barely knew, give a damn about her?

She could no longer hold back her feelings and she let loose it all on Artemis' shoulder. She cried and cried. Her wails were strong and echoed through the night. But she felt secure after that, she felt secure in Artemis' embrace, warm and fuzzy. A feeling that she gladly remembered.

She ceased her sobbing and Artemis removed himself.

Was is a success? He thought.

His answer was as clear as day.

Alice was smiling at him, though her eyes were swollen and what's left of her tears marked her cheeks and her lashes, she smiled.

Her smile punched something inside Artemis.

Something in his non-existent heart was burst open but was closed right after.

Nevertheless, Artemis ignored it and focused on the main thing that he was after.

Alice's allegiance.

"Thank you." Alice said. She then got on her feet and smiled one more time at Artemis who at this point really unknowing if this smile of hers was another yes or a threat. In other words, he was afraid he was getting played at by a little human girl.

The Hovercraft arrived not long after the two were done. It hovered above their heads and shined its bright white light at them. It was time for them to go. Alice could not stare at it, the light was too bright for her to bear and so she cowered behind Artemis. She thought the light was yet another monster that had come from the woods. But then, another part of her felt familiar and recognize of this creature and something deep inside, she felt fear.

Artemis looked at her and gave her a smile to reassure her and rid of her fear and doubts. The Hovercraft landed on a grassy plain near where they where. It opened its doors and out came a battalion of the newest generation of Android Soldiers. They look the same as the previous ones but were lean, tall and mean fighting machines who would follow Artemis' orders with no hesitation, no objection, no insubordination.

The metal in part of the armor besides Primelium was a state-of-the-art, made from various precious metals that Caitlyn personally oversaw the creation of. They were the latest of her breakthroughs at re-engineering prewar technology left behind by the former human civilization. Though the Androids were equipped with the latest Battle Rifles and Blasters, configured and installed with the latest systems and commanded by a far more sophisticated AI than their former versions, they were still not within the standards of Prewar Battle Droids.

The Androids formed a perimeter around the Hovercraft. Two of the Androids walked towards Artemis, prompting Alice to clutch tightly around Artemis' right leg.

The Androids only walked towards Artemis and stopped halfway before forming an opening between themselves. It was Artemis' signal to finally get on the Hovercraft. There was no doubt that it was Caitlyn commanding them.

"Hm, Alice." Artemis said as he grabbed her hand. "Time for us to go home."

Artemis tugged Alice who began to walk behind him. She did not resist, she was just afraid. She had never seen such a thing as an Android, let alone a machine. Everything she saw that night was just overwhelming for her.

The Hovercraft then lifted off the ground and flew back to the Machine Base. Artemis then activated his transponder, allowing Caitlyn and the entire Machine Empire to know of his whereabouts as long as he was within range of the radars they have set up.

Alice stayed close to Artemis but she was soon distracted by the view she was given. By Artemis' orders, the Hovercraft opened its small windows, allowing Alice to see the world below. She saw the lights of the villages, towns and the cities. She saw below her the great forests, the dirt roads, the meadows, the grasslands, lakes, and rivers. And even nearby Airships across the horizon.

"Amazing." She said under her breath. Artemis heard her, what could he do but give her a smile? Alice smiled back, Artemis then realized that the Little Girl was now accustomed to him. She was no longer afraid of him.

"Michael is with his partner leading the final attack on the Senadate Capital." One of the Androids suddenly talked.

"You talk? Another one? Again?"

"It's me!" The rough voice of the Android suddenly changed to a familiar tone.

"Oh, Caitlyn, it was just you. Wait, don't tell me you have assumed control of this drone?" Artemis asked.

"What if I told you I have assumed control of all of the Androids with you right now? Except for the Hovercraft." Caitlyn said through the Androids. They all spoke in unison, proving to Artemis that she has indeed assumed control of every Androids with them.

Artemis sighed. The little girl was too distracted looking through the window, so she did not care.

"How is the final attack?" Artemis asked.

"The surviving magic council of the Senadate Theocracy cast a shield around Zannasir Island, the inner city, the city where high-ranking and important individuals lives, a luxury heaven, you named it. The shield was very easily to peirce through using our artillery and Primelium ammunition. However, the magic barrier has a magical effect, any objects that peirce through the barrier, the kinetic force of the object will be reduce significantly, making the bullets and shells could only take small amount of damage to the nearby buildings. And also the more we pierce through the barrier, the magic barrier suddenly regenerates in a fast rate," Caitlyn said.

"How about the rail guns? Have you deployed them? We need to take care of the Senadate Theocracy once and for all and establish ourselves a permanent foothold in the Eastern Region. Then, its the Western Region is next, where the Empire and Republic are. Finally, boom, world domination," Artemis elaborated.

"I know, Artemis. Michael has assured me that they would break the barrier soon. He and I hypothesized that the barrier was relying on their caster's magic. It's only a matter of time before they exhaust themselves of even their inner magic and the barrier will be breached and our army will take care of the rest." Caitlyn sounded confident. She had every right to be.

The Sendate Theocracy is no longer put up that much of a fight against them and would soon fall. Whatever resistance they were mustering could be easily crushed, defeated or would just downright fall apart.

Artemis smiled at the thought of the crisis he had just made. The Senadate Theocracy was home to less than 500 million of people, 94% of the population were already dead in the wake of the paltry crusade that they waged, another was getting pillaged by bandits defenselessly, and mass suicide all over the nation and now more than tens of million of their citizens have become refugees. Some fleeing to the south to seek refuge in the Dioz Kingdom. Some would eventually find their way to the three neighbouring countries of the Theocracy like the Tigomol Kingdom and the Eastern Dominion State from the east, and the Kingdom of Ice and Snow from the north of the theocracy, a kingdom lives in a very cold and dense atmosphere. It was complete and utter chaos.

"But..." Artemis suddenly remembered.

"What is it?" Caitlyn asked through one of the Androids.

"Liz and Valentine. We haven't heard from them yet?" Artemis asked.

"No, not yet. But they are alive. We haven't received anything that would say otherwise. Shall we send a rescue mission to their last known destination?" Caitlyn suggested. Artemis was obviously distressed just by judging the sound of his voice.

"Maybe, we'll discuss this later once we get there." Artemis answered. This was his last message before falling into complete silence for the rest of the trip.

Back at the base inside the room on the highest floor. Caitlyn was smiling as she turned off the panel she was using to watch Artemis and the little girl through the eyes of the Androids. she then sat down on the chair behind her and placed her hands together.

"Finally. A bit of Zack is coming back. How I missed you for all these years."

If Caitlyn was human, she'll get huge amount of tears on her eyes.