EVENT: GENESIS

Part 2

As the elevator descended down further into the facility, we braced ourselves for the worst. Suddenly the elevator's safety system kicked in, accompanied by a loud screeching metal sound grinding against the metal walls outside slowing our descent, until it came to a halt. 

The lights flickered and died out leaving us in pitch darkness, my heart racing intensely, I felt like I was going to die, but somehow still alive. 

Catching my breath, I loosened my grip

"Are you okay?" 

We both asked eachother, though we sustained no injuries from the elevator crash. I quickly got up and tried finding a way out from the elevator, popping up the panel above, and jumping to climb to the top. 

After lending ARIA a hand, Outside was filled with darkness, the metallic surroundings confines had long been abandoned, leaving the pillars corroded with smudges of dirt and dust. The longer we stood here, the more likely it was for the elevator to fall deeper. In the nick of time, Aria spotted a glimmering light coming from a nearby door above.

She pointed above our position, 

"Up there! Maybe we can get out from there" 

Suddenly making any tiny bit of movement made the structure below us wobble.

"We have to jump! Quickly!" 

She shouted, jumping towards the wall and climbing it. 

Though I hesitated, my heart pounded as looking below us was an endless void. As a moment in time passed, I questioned my choices, fear began running a shiver down my spine. 

"Haaw, Jump! You have to trust me!" ARIA continued to assure me

In the final moments, I mustered up my courage and jumped. I Reached out my hand trying my best to leverage the support beams, yet the rusty beams made my hands slipped. Panic ensued in my mind and I felt my very soul leave me behind. Just as all hope seemed lost, Aria's reach caught my hand in those last seconds. As soon as I regained my leverage, together we climbed up. Finally reaching the door, as we breathed in relief.

There we sat by the Elevator entrance, catching our breath once more. 

"Where are we now?"

"It's likely we are deeper in the facility, though i might know another way out from here"

Soon we spurred back into action, rising back to our own feet. We had no other way to go but deeper into the facility.

My mind were still in the moments of the past, even now discovering all of it was alot to process in a moments notice, I began asking ARIA

"Do you remember all of it?"

To which ARIA hesitantly replied

"I tried my best forgetting it, It was my fault to begin with" 

"What about your sister series? The one Viktor mentioned"

As we walked, ARIA paused. 

"My sisters…"

She continued to explain what her sisters meant to her, they were androids of the same generation, all created under Dr. Petrović. They were a series of perfect androids consisting of the hivemind he had created, but to each sister were unique. Many did not make it out.

Due to the unexpected nature of some, they had to have been put down. ARIA described what the network was like, a thousand voices within your head ordering you to do things. At the start, the sister model had to be put under a filter, which made us very stiff. But as time went on, we had time to develop ourselves from the memories of the dead. 

Reading that book was the time I awakened to my own life. The voices became less and less of an overpowering nature, there I came to think for myself and help others. I'm sure that was what the doctor would have wanted. 

"Till this day, I still wonder, what if Dr. Hope was still alive?"

"Hope?" i questioned

"Dr. Hope was the nickname us sisters gave him, he gave us hope"

She continued, 

"...And to the last sisters remaining, I don't know if they're are gone or deceased"

I could still feel a sense of resolve burning inside her, a memory she kept of her sisters. I know deep inside her, she wanted to know the truth behind her sisters too. But her existence was the reason I ended up here, be it fortune or misfortune, fate had set me up to help ARIA. 

Throughout dimly lit lab rooms, series of rooms surrounded by clear glass corridors, 

"This must've been where they experiment with the BHM"

"Indeed, this place was the bio lab. But beyond the backdoors from here should lead us into a trailway system that leads outside"

After crossing doors and hallways, I could feel a breeze coming from ahead. Quite odd, though I assumed it was nothing. But we eventually reached the 'trailways' system. It was gigantic, a long rounded underground subway with at least 10 different tracks on the ground.

"Here we are, the trailway" 

Down here by the railways, the mere sounds of footsteps echoed throughout. Looking out above us, every machinery looked gigantic as I pointed towards one of them

"What is that? Like a moving crane or a platform of somesort?"

 It looked like a giant platform with legs, covered in random parts on its back. 

"That? Its name was MoonRock. I've heard they hide it down here"

"MoonRock? Where did they get the name?"

"I guess it's to protect the asteroid that hit here"

As I looked to the side, one of its arms had the emblems of a CCGO and HAAW. There I realized that the platformer was apart of the Heavy Armed Artillery Walker. I wondered if it saw war, or if it saw action on one of the battles I participated in. 

"To think i'd find a unit from the same division as i am down here surprised me"

ARIA seemingly looked confused on what i was talking about, 

"Nevermind that, Lets keep going"

Soon we continued our search for a working trail system, though that wasn't much of a problem as ARIA accessed the control panel by one of the stations. After some time, a working train began to approach the train from one end. 

"Our rides here! Lets leave, and never come back"

It was the first time I saw her bright smile from what felt like an eternity. 

There ARIA asked me one last question,

"Hey, Haaw? Why did you decide to help me? You knew everything, but still chose to help, why is that?"

"We made a promise, remember?"

She covered her mouth and giggled, 

"Is that the reason?"

"Yea-"

But before I could finish, I could feel my body getting heavier, as if my eyes were heavier and heavier to keep up. Eventually I fell asleep without even realizing it. 

Waking up from my sleep, I jumped instantly. 

ARIA surprised, 

"Are you okay?"

"Where are we? Are we out yet?"

But as I looked around, we were still by the train. Sitting back upwards, as i try to gather myself up again, 

"How long did I get knocked out for?"

"A couple of hours, it's fine. You were sleeping so blissfully i didn't have the heart to wake you up" 

Embarrassed as I was, I stared out the window. Suddenly changing to a view of the outside near a city. 

"We're outside?"

"Yes, it's been quite a while since then, but we're nearing our final destination"

"To where? This city?"

The city looked abandoned and overgrown, with nature reclaiming what was once a bustling city. Vines snaked up the sides of crumbling buildings, and thick vegetation surround the streets.

As we spent our final moments riding the train, the atmosphere felt so serene, enjoying the sunset hue reflecting through the windows. We both sat back and enjoyed the view in silence, before eventually reaching our last destination. As we both got off the train onto the station. 

We stepped off the train onto the station platform, which was overrun with moss and creeping ivy. Broken tiles littered the ground,

"So? Where to next?" 

As ARIA led the way through the overgrown station, her footsteps echoing throughout the vast reverberating walls. 

"What is this place?"

"This city was the remnants of Desolace. It was one of Silicara's biggest cities before the war. It's sad to see a once lively city turned into nothing less than rubble"

"A war?"

The thought crossed my mind once more, that memory I had waking up to in the facility. Was I in that war? I asked myself, remembering a remnant of the platformer back at the trailways, it certainly was a war with the CCGO, a war with the same division I was in. 

"What were we fighting?"

I mumbled to myself, trying to remember in the sea of hazy memories.

No matter how hard I tried remembering, there was no use. Everything was wiped clean, all the memories I had until the point I possibly died. Was it only a dream? The more I thought of it, the less it felt like a dream, or something that had yet to happen. 

We moved cautiously through the streets, avoiding unstable debris and navigating around collapsed structures. Passing through old storefronts with their windows smashed, and interior deteriorated. Though ARIA saw something that caught her attention within that store, 

"Wait, Is that what I really think it is?!"

Confused by her sudden reaction, ARIA quickly rushed into the store, wiping away dust across the shelves. As I approached her, she pulled out what looked like an old book. 

"This is what I've been searching for!"

Turns out, the book was a sequel to the one she read back in the facility. An aftermath of the story, a view into the characters 10 years after the said book had taken place. 

ARIA was pleased to find the book, 

"I can finally see the aftermath, I wanted to see the author's vision behind this book. To see how humans stand through the test of time, even after rough times."

ARIA seemed very delighted to find the book, I couldn't help myself but to just smile seeing her get excited over a book. 

From there, we continued our journey occasionally stopping by whatever store catches our eyes, from a small bar with darts, to a broken down arcade with prize dolls. ARIA was enjoying every little bit of it. 

Until one store had a grand piano on stage, curious enough, she went up to it 

"You know how to play one?"

"I'm not exactly sure, but something in my mind tells me so" she replied, 

Her eyes fixed on the keys, testing it, seeing if the keys were still functional. To our surprise it still does, though slightly out of tune. 

There ARIA began playing a tune, a beautiful melody, it sounded like the piano was played by someone who is skilled in music. Though I never thought ARIA could play the instrument so skillfully. 

I began wondering, her mentioning something within her tells her to play it and her mind tied to the network, I wonder if someone's consciousness was teaching her how to play it. 

As the melody came to an end, she took a deep breath and finished the final line. 

She stepped back from the piano, her fingers lingering over the keys for a moment before finally letting go.

I was in awe seeing her play. 

 "... I never knew I had something like that in me"

ARIA was shocked too, seeing herself play the piano

"Playing it felt surreal, like my hand was guided by someone"

We left the store, with my mind still playing that catchy melody of hers, and continued our journey through the desolate city. As we wandered through the remains of the city, ARIA was curious,

"Do you think we can see the sea from here?"

"What's with the sudden thought?"

"It's just that.. I've never seen the sea before. Though in the books, they were described as places of peace."

"Though a city like this is probably miles away from the sea… But there's always aquariums! If there's any around that is."

We continued our search, eventually, we came across a large, deteriorating building with a faded sign that read "Oceanic Wonders Aquarium." 

The entrance was partially blocked by debris, but we managed to squeeze through a gap.

Inside, the darkness enveloped us. ARIA's eyes emitted a soft glow, providing just enough light to guide us through the empty halls. The air was damp and carried a faint, salty smell. As we ventured deeper, We turned a corner and found ourselves standing before a massive glass tank. 

To our amazement, it was filled with hundreds of fish swimming gracefully among the corals. Brightly colored schools darted in unison, while larger, solitary fish glided through the waters. Despite the decay and abandonment that surrounded us, this underwater world was thriving.

"How is this possible?" I whispered,

Looking towards ARIA, her eyes were captivated by the bright colors reflecting through the glass walls. her hand gently touching the glass,

"This is what the underwater looks like? Its- beautiful"

We wandered through the aquarium, each new tank revealing more vibrant life. Jellyfish pulsated with an otherworldly glow, seahorses clung to swaying plants, and anemones waved their tentacles in the gentle currents.

Spending hours just taking in every view, we decided to rest there for the night. Laying down by a circular room surrounded by glass walls, everywhere we'd look was reflecting the bright blue hue from the waters. 

As we settled down, Aria sat beside me with a book in hand. She was laser-focused, consuming every word with an intensity that made me question whether she enjoyed the book for its entertainment or its philosophical purpose. 

I lay back, my eyes wandering from one tank to another, captivated by the serene underwater world. It was a stark contrast to the chaos and uncertainty we had faced outside. 

"Do you ever wonder what it was like before all this?" I asked,

"I tried, piecing together the fragments of information gathered, but it's like looking through a shattered mirror. Bits and pieces, but never the whole picture." 

Time seemed to slow down, and for a moment, my body felt as if it got heavier and heavier. 

She looked up towards me,

"Rest now. We'll need our strength for whatever comes next."

With that, I closed my eyes, allowing the gentle sounds and the tranquil surroundings putting me gently asleep. 

Upon waking up, pain aches throughout every inch of my body, as if I was in a car crash accident. Slowly my senses returned, my vision still hazy, I could make out a few things from my surrounding. 

Realizing I was trapped in a small cramped compartment, and I could feel the walls pressing in on me. I tried to move, but my limbs were too weak. 

"What the fuck? Where am I?"

Looking around it became clear, I was piloting some kind of machine. With sets of buttons laid around the cockpit, and a handle to control the machine. Soon the thought hit me. This dream, It was the same one I had prior to waking up to the facility. 

As I began to struggle moving my limbs around, I looked back, my co-pilot… With blood dripping down her seat, trickling down hitting the metal floor. I immediately looked back, regretting that decision. 

But as I began trying to remember, who was she? Her face was one I don't recognize, was this really a dream?

Soon after, I took a deep breath and turned my attention back to the machine. 

Fiddling with the buttons around my cockpit, desperately trying to find a way to get out. Right when I wanted to leave my seat, my hands slipped accidentally bumping a switch managing to open the canopy, only for clouds of dust fall from the opening compartments. The gritty particles swirled in the air, catching the sunlight and creating a hazy atmosphere.

As the dust settled, I tried to stand up but excruciating pain shivers down my leg causing me to fall from the cockpit, soon collapsing onto the hard sand like ground.

 Laying there on the ground, groaning in pain. My vision was still hazy as dust covered my eyes, though I wasn't ready to die just yet.

With the little energy I still had, I got up and searched the wreckage. 

"ARIA, where is she? Why am I here?"

Observing the wreckage, I tried my best to remember what almost killed me. Without a bullet hole in sight, those enemies were no ordinary foe. No matter how hard I try to remember, I couldn't come to a conclusion.

"Shit, I'm gonna die here again. If I don't act soon, that car will find me."

Whether it was truly friendly or foe, this time I took no chances, and looked around for a storage compartment. 

Searching every nook and cranny from the machine, there after pulling what felt like a handle, opened a compartment below the body. Dropping a few supplies, first aid and a carbine rifle. It was surely enough to protect myself. 

As I hid behind a small gap between the crashed leg, waiting for dawn to come. 

Time passed, my speculation was right. Soon in the distance I began to hear an engine-like sound, the only chance I had was to hide and wait for them to come first. 

Upon arriving, hearing the engine stop, I knew they tried investigating the wreckage. 

Though I heard a familiar voice, 

"Check the wreckage, I want every part cleared, understand?"

Her voice stoic, giving orders to the men. I saw the footsteps circle around, checking every compartment. Staying hidden for too long would only bring the same result. This time, I wasn't going down without a fight

I quickly emerged, priming my gun, as I saw onto the first person, I saw onto her eyes behind the mask. I hesitated, I've seen them somewhere. But before I could come to a conclusion, I was shot from behind. 

There I finally woke up from my nightmare, in cold sweat, as I looked around for ARIA, but she was nowhere to be found. I saw her book, tipped over, picking it up, before getting up and looking around for her.

"ARIA? Where are you? Something up?"

Before I could react, someone jumped me from behind. Covering my mouth. 

"Shut it, someone has entered the place, I heard footsteps."

I was relieved to hear that it was ARIA herself, but someone else had entered the aquarium? Who could it be? We didn't spare any more time for explanations, as ARIA sneakily ducked around the counters, as we heard radio chatters. 

"-This is alpha, beta do you copy?"

"This is beta, Copy"

To my surprise, there were 2 people on scene, a man and a woman. 

"-Roger, Investigate that area for me please, the boys have been saying they heard someone play a piano earlier this evening. It sounded eerie enough, they believed to be ghosts or some shit. Sorry again for the sudden req, you guys were within range."

The woman speaking, "It's fine capt, we'll round up any evidence and take back to HQ"

The man speaking, "Who could've it have been? No ghost right?"

The woman speaking, "How could you ever believe something as bullshit as that? It must been a prank or something, the new guy probably thinks its funny."

From eavesdropping alone, we could identify both were armed with rifles. 

They were dangerous, and after hearing the piano, it must've been when ARIA played it. These guys were hunting us down? There ARIA looked back towards me, she whispered

"Those are dangerous guys, we gotta take em out"

"How?!"

As she pulled out the gun hidden beneath here dress, 

"Stay back, i'll handle this" 

Before I could disagree with her plan, she already acted. Shit.

On a moment's notice, she shot a few times onto the man, injuring his leg and arm. Dropping the rifle onto the ground. 

Though the woman reacted quickly, pulling out her sidearm, firing a few shots onto ARIA's way. There I had little to no time to react to what was happening, all I could do was jump and tried to grab the rifle within an arms reach. 

Without any doubts, I jumped and grabbed the rifle. Priming it, and aimed it to the woman. I didn't want to kill, not any more. As our eyes met, I could see she was also seething in anger, seeing her friend get shot and injured. I could only guess the same to ARIA as we we're on a standoff 

I could hear ARIA's voice, glitched out. 

"Ha- a. a. a. w-.."

"Listen, I don't want to kill anyone anymore, just get your friend out of here."

I shouted in frustration, 

And the woman agreed in silence, as we both put our guns down, and the woman began dragging her friend out. 

I could hear their radio, 

"-Beta what the fuck is happening over there?! Beta do you copy?? Mathilda!"

It would only be a matter of time before more backups show up here. As I rushed towards ARIA, it was clear she was shot a few times, one of them hitting a vital component to her system. 

"ARIA?? Can you still hear me??"

I panicked, my breath came in short burst. 

"Answer me!! ARIA, are you there??"

But all I saw was her flickering eyes, once crystal clear, now lifeless as ever. Her power was diminishing, I had to act, and act fast. 

"Don't die on me! We made a promise you hear me!?! shit"

From there, I carried her on my back, and rushed towards the back door. 

I ran, ran as fast as I could. Adrenaline was pumping throughout my body, even carrying ARIA's heavy mainframe. I thought of nothing but to get her to a safer place and rebooting her main OS.

Through the darkness, away from the light, I saw a house with a small window. Thinking it would be a good place to hide, I slid in ARIA's body and mine through the hole, and closed it shut. 

As I layed out her body flat onto a nearby sofa, holding her hands. 

"Promise me something, ARIA. Don't leave me just yet!"

I got back up, desperately searching for any cables, anything at that point. But to no avail. 

I cursed myself, shouting. Frustrated, and stressed out.

Punching the wall, while I sat down by her side, thinking of something to do. How the hell do I revive an android? Hitting my head over and over again, thinking for a solution, anything. But again to no avail. 

As I was stressing out over blaming myself, ARIA turned back on for a minute, as her final words uttered

"Don't blame yourself… Haaw-"

Those were the words I last heard from her, not even a chance to say goodbye. 

"No- no, no, no, no, no. Don't die on me ARIA. please- I beg of you"

As tears began to flow down my eyes, I fell onto my knees, crying to myself, over a dead android. It was miserable. 

Days after nights have passed, I had little to no energy left to move. I thought to myself, if this was the place I will die, then I will gladly die alongside ARIA. 

But I told myself more again and again, her last words 

"Don't blame yourself… Haaw-"

I just had to get up, do something about it myself. 

From that day forward, I prepared my equipment alongside a backpack I found in the house. Going to countless expeditions, bringing back any equipment I could find from cables to all sorts of electronics, to bring back. 

In the first few weeks, I searched the house around, as we stopped by a pretty rural area of an overgrown street. I prioritized all food and consumable items, hauling them all back. Cleaning up the place, as I began to organize all the things I had gathered. 

Onto week two, I began searching for more scraps and electronics around. To my surprise, in one of the backyard sheds had a large assortments of tools and a classic generator. It was pretty heavy, hauling it back home, I tried everything to get it back up and running. It took a few days and some odd mechanic books to get it up and running again. 

A month in, I began running into problems with fuel and food reserves. In the few spare time I had, building safety perimeters around the house, gathering all the steel fences and barricading the windows by the first floor. There was a pretty decent looking truck in the garage, though with a key in the ignition, the engine didn't even make any noise. It was clearly broken and left behind. I remembered in one of the mechanic books, showed some instructions on engine models and how they worked, but upon opening the trunk, things looked for the worse. 

By a month and a half, I began walking out onto the road, towards the larger towns around. Searching and finding every little thing that could be useful to me, though food grown scarce, as everything was rotten already, It's been years since these houses have been abandoned. With little to no luck, I could only find scraps of materials. And a few books that might come in handy. 

2 Months have passed, Venturing out a little further wasn't a problem anymore, as I got the truck up and running from a book I found in the neighboring town. With the car, I took every last bit of fuel from the generator and hooked it up to the car, as from a map of the area I found showed a gas station a few miles from there. 

3 to 4 months have passed? I don't know anymore, it's been quite some time since I took time and wrote down my things. I've been through countless trips from town after town, eventually hitting up the cities once more, I traveled cautiously. To my surprise, I found a few friends willing to hop on abroad, one was a tech guy and the other was an officer. Miles and Elanor. Both escaped a concentration camp far away, working on machinery. Thanking myself for not off-ing them immediately, they proved their usefulness. 

Day whatever, Miles got info that there was a hidden chemlab guarded by militia around the southwest corner of the city, it was likely the lab was abandoned from the war, but remaining rebels and bandits took hold of the area. We had a rifle and two pistols in our arsenal, without anytime to waste, we took the camp by surprise and killed anyone who resisted. In some questionings, the men were talking in a different language, none that we could speak. Elanor understood a little, they were speaking the native language of traditional Circialian which was the language old people of Silicara used. They spoke of a larger rebel group, with the backings of the government, with radio chatters that said something something along the lines of that. 

On days we had our hands full, Miles and I got to work with designing and computing a new hardware to fix ARIA, but her components of her model showed a more complex design from what the network had public prints on. There I remembered where we could find extra spare parts to fix her, the facility. As we got up to the abandoned station, Miles and Elanor were surprised to see a train still in working condition. Making our way through the facility, I guided them across the maze like structure of the facility, carefully making our way above, cautiously taking every step to not repeat what happened last time. 

Eventually we reached the storage room, searching for any usable parts. We found some, but specific modifications were needed to rebuild the parts to her components. Soon we stumbled upon the control room once more, there the place was more of a wreck than last time, with many of the windows broken, There lurk monster like creations down there. All Miles wanted to do there were to extract data on previous models and future concept models of ARIA, and use those to rebuild her parts. 

Though the data extraction caused an alarm, and those screeches. They were back for round two. 

"What the fuck was that?" 

Miles worriedly panicked, 

"Security system been triggered, fuck. We gotta book it. Quick!"

As we ran through the corridors, this time I stood back and faced the fuckers on. I saw them head on, a faceless 7 ft tall creature, it was certainly bigger than I thought. 

We fired rounds after rounds, but none of it seemed to deal any real damage to them. 

Our only hope getting out of there alive was to run. 

"What are those things??!"

"Talk less and more running!" 

But there, Miles got scratched by one of the creatures, Elanor quickly ran towards him and mag dumped that fucker, it only made a few second window for us to escape, but it was too late. Miles quickly slid the hard drive towards me, 

"Take it! And save ARIA-"

As the dwindling time to escape forced us to leave him behind.

Back there we managed to take a wrong turn somewhere, and ended up in a hangar of some sort. It was a military hangar, with equipment and large assortments of weapons. Though we had no time to waste, as Elanor pointed out 

"Look a walker! you remember how to ride those things right?"

Without any other choices, we quickly hopped on and from muscle memory, I managed to remember the startup sequence of the walker. 

As it booted up, a flash of memories crossed my mind. 

A soldier to fight for Silicara's freedom, but no memory of the desert incident. But in that cockpit, there was no time to think, as I pulled forward the stick and we burst out from the facility. 

Slowly making our way back to home base.

Elanor was depressed, losing Miles back there was detrimental. She had lost any fighting hope, as from there I gave her some space and time to think to herself. But without any time to waste, I got back to work on designing and creating ARIA's damaged components.

From the files, the blueprints of the new model suggested to use this new processor, a large sandwiched like box with 2 screens between it, and a very small tinted glass along some circuit boards and such. 

I got to work, building it from scratch, coding it from a barely functioning computer. Days have passed since I last rested, there was no stopping me from creating this component. 

Eventually I got it down, inserting the newly made part, and attracting all prerequisite cables. I diverted all power and started the reboot. 

"I made it! I MADE IT!"

Manically laughing at my own achievement, 

As I kneeled down, holding ARIA's hand again. I whispered

"Please.. Come back ARIA…"

The code was running perfectly, but there were sparks from the plugs, some even smoking. I panicked, unplugging some lines, though it only made it worse. Suddenly the lights popping and power shutting down, killing all generators. 

The reboot failed. 

I was mortified, my project I had sunk thousands of hours into. I was beyond helpless at that point. Miles sacrifice, as if he died for nothing. 

I was irritated, stressed out of my mind. 

"What am I going to do now…"

As Elanor came into the basement, 

"There might be another way, but this plan is risky"

"..I'd do anything at this point, anything, just please-"

"From Dr. Petrović's video, we saw that facility ARIA was resting on right? What if that's the place to reboot her system, she was created there after all."

There I realized that she was right, I was a fool for not thinking of that from the start.

"All mother"

As i quickly got back up,

"Pack up your things, prep everything. We're going back tomorrow, coming back. Dead or alive"

From that point on, there was no turning back. As I gathered everything, some first aid, a spare carbine rifle, and some supplies. By sunrise, Elanor helped me to put everything in the walkers storage component. 

We geared up, with plate carriers and bike helmets. Carrying ARIA on the back seat, it was a tight fit but Elanor managed to get it all setup and fine. 

There we set out and made our way towards the facility one last time. 

Upon arriving by the hangar entrance of the facility, we managed to enter from there point on, forced to leave the walker behind. But it was do or die. 

I carried ARIA's body through the facility as Elanor was leading the way down to the deepest level of the facility. In one of the files that Mile's had extracted was a data point of the whole facility, it contained sensitive data, we didn't have time to access back then. 

From the data, it suggested taking a backdoor entrance down to the lowest level, from the needle itself. 

The first floor consisted of the mining equipments they used back before this operation became what it is now, the data wasn't lying on about having a backdoor entrance down to the lowest level. Though there was one problem, one person needed to operate the system and the other to go down. Which meant, I had to go solo while Elanor navigated me through the facility, possibly walking through those creatures again. 

"Are you sure you want to do this solo?"

"It's the best shot we've had since meeting you guys. It's my turn now"

As I strapped myself and ARIA down to the needle, we gave out our last salutes, before Elanor pressing the button, sending me down hundreds of meters per second. Going down, I held my breath as adrenaline started to flow throughout my body. 

Before eventually, the needle slowing down and came to a halt. There I have already made the trip in a matter of seconds, before releasing me and ARIA down to the ground. 

"Checking comms, Stamford. Do you copy?"

"Copy, Elanor. Where to now?"

"-I'll give you a brief rundown of your position. You have to get to zone 43G, but I can't exactly determine which zone you are in currently, mind checking on the walls or something?"

"It's dark down here, with such a small flashlight, how am I going to get there?"

"-You'll figure that out, hopefully"

"...In zone 39E, how far is that from it?"

"Can't say for certain, maybe check the gates?"

I explored around, the place was foggy, with a flashlight, and the amount of fog there was blocked me from seeing the area with clear vision. 

"This place is filled with fog, the door says to zone 40"

"Great, just go through there. And a straight line should lead you to the room"

As I opened the door, there was a giant room before me. With nothing for miles apart, I couldn't see to the every end with such a small flashlight. 

"Alright, here goes nothing-"

Only to realize after a few steps forward, I was walking in some kind of liquid. It was gross but I continued on nonetheless. But walking through this room felt as if it sent a chill down my spine, as I shined my flashlight around, seeing odd mushroom-like structures made of pure metal. It was rock solid, but also organic?

"Hey Elanor? You'd happen to have a description of the room do you?"

"No? Why? Something wrong in that room?"

"It's a room filled with liquid all around the floor, something about it tells me bad news"

"Just focus on getting there, beyond that gate should be area G from 41-43"

I kept on pushing through, but on the edge of my eye caught something moving. I knew for certain that I wasn't alone down here. Those monsters lurk in the shadows, before I knew it, the creature already moved, and was likely outside of my peripheral, ready to strike. 

But it was too late, as I tried to make a run for it. The monster charged through me, knocking me back, dropping ARIA on the way. 

I quickly reached out to my gun, shooting it a few times. But it was no use, the monster had its sight set onto ARIA. I had no other choice but to tackle it. 

I readied my arm, and ran full speed. 

Hitting it and knocking it down. But the monster pushed me back, 

"Why is it that you are trying to save this creation of death"

There the thing spoke, 

"What the hell."

As the monster got back up on its feet, it showed another way to communicate

"You- Why? Blinded by the lies? You don't know the slightest of the truth!"

Radio chattered, "Did that thing just speak?"

"Yea, but sorry. I don't speak monster language"

Before popping a flashbang, throwing it below the monster. Bang

From the way it reacted, it seemed to be sensitive to flashbangs. As it created a big enough time window for me to pick up ARIA once more, and make a run for it.

Crossing both zones 41 and 42. It was likely the monster had recover, but there was no turning back, as I could hear distant screeches from behind me. It was calling backup. 

I was so close, seeing the entrance of the circular room beyond the gate in front of me. But I could feel the monster was faster than I could run, was this really it? The only thing I could do was hope,

"You don't know the consequences human!!"

It screeched louder and louder, as if it's voice possessed of multiple different people. All of them still sounding very human, those who were subjected to the experiment still remained human. 

Before it could cut me off, an alarm blared loudly, turning all lights bloodred. 

Elanor had triggered the security system,

"Get in there! This is our one and only chance!"

As the screeches stunned the monster a bit, screams in pain and agony, voices of people that still lingered within. It bought me just enough time to run through the gate, before Elanor closed it shut. Hearing banging from the other side, as I was finally safe. 

"Good job out there"

Elanor whispered, she continued

"Now it's my turn to also say goodbye, it's the end for me"

"Elanor? What's going on? Do you copy?"

As behind the radio, all I could hear was the screeches got louder and louder on her end. She triggered it to divert all of the attention upside, it was a noble sacrifice.

"Thankyou Elanor."

Before turning off the radio as a whole,

There I carried ARIA, through the room, as the same machine that I saw from Dr. Petrović's video. The more closer I got, the machine slowly started to unpack and reveal a gigantic web of cables and machinery, and a glass tube in the middle of it all. 

It was clear enough that the machine wanted me to put ARIA in, as I looked down towards her lifeless face one last time. There I finally put her where she belongs. 

The machine got to work immediately, giving me a screen popping from the ground. 

With the startup logo of an angel. There it was 'All Mother'

Last thing I had to do, was initiate the project. 

And so I did. 

***

News Flash. 

"This is Galactic6, reports have stated an outbreak on the network"

"People are experiencing their androids retaliating"

"The androids are sentient-"

"Planet wide investigations have launched"

"Test are being conducted at this moment-"

"Riots have occurred around major cities such as Halcyon"

"3 Tragic casualties have been reported of murder just this morning"

"The network has been hijacked by androids!"

"The government had issued orders stating, all citizens to stay away from all androids"

"Did these A.I really just become sentient all at once?"

"Media has reported thousands of cases around the Orion spur!"

"The CCGO has reported to be involved, further development of the case will be disclosed in the future"

"They really went through with it… This galaxy wide event would go down in the biggest events in history, the birth of Artificial intelligence being sentient. We'll call it, Event: Genesis"

***

Waking up to darkness, pain aches throughout every inch of my body, as if I was in a car crash accident. Slowly my senses returned, my vision still hazy, I could make out a few things from my surrounding. Soon realizing I was trapped in a small cramped compartment, and I could feel the walls pressing in on me. I tried to move, but my limbs was too weak.

"This again… But I knew for certain, this time, it wasn't a dream."

Looking around it became clear, I was piloting the walker. With sets of buttons laid around the cockpit, and a handle to control the machine. Soon the thought hit me as I looked around trying to turn on the machine once more, my co-pilot… 

"Elanor?!"

Right when I looked back, nobody was there. 

"Wha- It's different, it changes after her actual death…" 

Soon, I took a deep breath and turned my attention back to the machine.

Fiddling with the buttons around my cockpit, desperately trying to find a way to get out. Right when I wanted to leave my seat, my hands slipped accidentally bumping a switch managing to open the canopy, only for clouds of dust fall from the opening compartments. The gritty particles swirled in the air, catching the sunlight and creating a hazy atmosphere. 

As the dust settled, I tried to stand up but excruciating pain shivers down my leg causing me to fall from the cockpit, soon collapsing onto the hard sand like ground.

 Laying there on the ground, groaning in pain. My vision was still hazy as dust covered my eyes, though I wasn't ready to die just yet. Observing the machine made me remember why I was here. 

"I did it! Haha, I did… it.."

Gazing towards the sunset behind the horizon, it became clear nightfall is approaching and I need to get a move on. With a bummed leg and a mild headache, I chose a direction and walked, walked and walked until I found nothing other than sand and rocks. From here towering boulders in the distance felt within reach and yet they remained distant, with each step in the scorching heat of the desert, my muscles felt like they were set ablaze. It would be only a matter of time until I stumble and fall, collapsing onto the ground. 

"I.. Did.. It"

Soon in the distance I began to hear an engine like sound, as I looked left and right, a blurry object riding along the distance came clear and it was moving towards me.

I knew what was happening next, my actual death. This is where i die

As I spread my arms wide out, I shouted one last time. 

"I've fulfilled my purpose!"

Soon a gunshot struck through me and everything became so dark.

Though this time, I remembered the last part

Groaning in pain, as my lifeless body laid on the hard sand. I heard her voice, 

"Lena-"

As she took of her mask, 

"You were supposed to end the project, not continue it"

Before she shot the last bullet, right through my skull.