Data log: 001

If you can't be the light in the shadows. Be the gem that refracts the light all around

On a snowy night. On the busy highway, I sat in the backseat of our car. Dad drove. While mom sat in the passenger seat, anxiously looking out the window. It's been two hours since dad suddenly told me to pack my things. Ever since then, we've been on the road, driving away from the big city. Dad's phone rang. He picked it up, answering it. I leaned my head against the window, quietly listening to his conversation. "Yes… Yes… Yes. They're safe with me. We'll head for the garden in Nagasaki, where we'll meet in japan. Good lock, Sam." He hung up, connecting his phone to the integrated car display. Dad looked at me through the rear view mirror. He noticed that I was concerned. "Hey sport." He said to me, "Everything is going to be alright. Your uncle Sam needs our help in japan. We'll be staying there for a while." "You should be proud of your son." Mom smiled, "He won first place in this year's science fair." "Well in that case, I am proud."

"Hey Beni." Dad called me. "Yeah?" I answered. Dad smiled, "You're turning eleven soon right. There's a red box in the back. Go ahead and open it son." I reached out to the back, looking for the box. I found it. It was quite hefty for its size. And there was a card that read, 'To Benimaru' on it. I sat back down, holding the box over my lap. Dad nudged me again to open it. I hesitated at first, but opened it nonetheless. In the box, a black armband. It was made out of steel, and had a 6 inch screen on it. This was a holographic interface displayable module. Or H.I.D.M. for short. These were state of the art micro super computers that could be used anywhere. And from the looks of it. This was the latest model. "That's the first and probably the last of its kind." Dad told me, "You won't find anything like that anywhere else." I thanked him. But he told me there was more in the box.

I removed a piece of cardboard that separated it from another layer. And there, a carbon black handgun. With 3 fully loaded magazines next to it. "Dad?" I asked him, "What's going on?" Both mom and dad sat in silence, with neither willing to answer. I looked back at the gun. I knew that this was no ordinary gun. Silver trigger. Modular rail systems. Cutouts in the slide. It was designed from the ground up, with the use of special munitions in mind. "That's a storm-tec dagger." Dad finally spoke up, "It can fire special 9mm rounds in single fire, burst, and even full auto." "Dad, why are you giving me this?" I asked. Dad sighed, "I would've liked if you were at least older. But we don't have much time. Something is happening around the world. And we can't stop it. At least not without the completed key." He opened a compartment on the dashboard. He gave me a silver necklace, with a sapphire pendant. From the looks of it, the gem had been broken, as this was but a small piece of it. "Whatever happens. Do not let this out of your sight." he begged me, "This might be the only chance we have to save the world."

Cars suddenly started honking. We were now stuck in the middle of a traffic jam. From what I could see. It stretched for miles and miles. "Damn it. We won't make it." Dad honked in frustration. I looked out the window. The stars shined through. And snow began to fall again. In the distance, I noticed several beams of light hovering around. "Uhm dad?" I asked, "What's that?" Dad lowered his window, getting a better look. "We're too late." He muttered. He put the car in reverse gear. Driving past the other cars, onto a maintenance road. It was bumpy. But we now drove through the woods on an old road.

Not too long after we left the highway. A bright light caught our eye. We heard explosions coming from the highway, as a massive fireball erupted from it. Broken cars fell from the sky right next to us. I was horrified, seeing the deceased bodies of people still in them. "They're already here!" dad grunted, "Hiromi, call Sam and tell him that he'll have to wait a little bit longer." He then shifted the gear, speeding down the road. Mom grabbed her phone, dialing a number, "Damn it. network is down. Dad sighed, "A.R.T.E.M.I.S.! System command. Utilize all available satellites to contact professor Samuel Hansen!" The H.I.D.M booted up, with the screen lighting blue, "Affirmative sir. Scanning for available assets. E.T.A… 10 seconds." The A.I stopped, still busy scanning. "Unavailable. Latest location and current condition of Professor Samuel Hansen… unknown." Not knowing what was going on. I could only panic. I felt as if I could barely breath. Like walls were closing in on me. Squeezing me into a tighter and tighter box.

"Hey sweetie." Mom turned around, placing her hand on my cheek, "Take a deep breath. We'll make it through this." We then heard a terrifying roar, that came from the forest. Dad stopped the car and turned off the engine. He placed his finger on his lips, gesturing for us to be quiet. He reached for the glove compartment. Before he could grab the handgun that was hidden in it. Something broke through the window. It grabbed dad by the neck, trying to pull him out of the car. Mom tried going for the gun. But the creature grabbed her as well. It slowly chocked him. BANG. Without realizing it. I grabbed the gun. I shot the creature right between the eyes. Its lifeless body fell on the hood, sliding off the car. My hands shook, after I dropped the gun.

Dad immediately started the car and drove full speed out of the woods. Mom went to the backseat, to sit next to me. She hugged me tightly, trying to calm me down. Soon after we left the woods. We were stopped at a military checkpoint. But it wasn't just the American forces. "Nemesis." Dad clicked his tongue, "They've already taken control of the government." Dad used to work the research division of one of the biggest private military tech companies in the world. But he hated every second of it. The soldiers stopped us, asking for our I.D. The soldiers looked concerned at the broken window of our car. After scanning our I.Ds, they waved us through, "Glad to see you've made it, sir. Director Woods is expecting you." "Appreciate it soldier."

The ground rumbled behind us. We turned around, seeing a colossal creature, attacking the checkpoint. It had white fur, that was covered in snow. Tanks fired. Missiles were launched. None of them even damaged the creature. Its six massive legs flattened everything they stepped on. Its tusks penetrated the hull of the most advanced armored vehicles with ease. It charged through the checkpoint command post. Completely destroying the concrete building. I couldn't believe what I saw that night. It emerged from the flames, charging through another building. Like a harbinger sent straight from hell, it destroyed everything in its path.

The colossal creature stared at us with its six eyes. Almost as if it sensed something. At that moment, the crystal pendant glowed. I gasped, wondering why it did that. Dad shifted the car into gear. He raced to get as far away as possible. The creature didn't chase us. Instead it stood still. Its icy breath could be seen, as it snarled. It bellowed, jumping into the air. Before we knew it. It landed right in front of us. Dad tried steering away. But it was too late. It roared, exhaling shards of ice from its mouth.

Hearing the beeping of an alarm. A silver haired boy woke up in a cold sweat. Startled, he aimed his gun around the broken down room he stayed it. He fell on the ground, franticly looking from where the beeping came from. "What is it A.R.T.E.M.I.S.?" He asked. "Notice. Entity of class five or higher has entered my detection range. Shall I continue tracking?" After calming down a bit, he picked up a device from a nearby table, "Unnecessary. Just alert me when it gets within 5 clicks of us." "Affirmative. Setting up new perimeter." The device beeped, going into its standby mode. This was a holographic interface display module, with an integrated A.I. It displayed a radar, showing him that something was moving his way. Something big. He reached for a silver necklace with a sapphire pendant on the table. He sighed, taking a sip of water from his thermos. "It's been almost six years huh." He said, looking at the pendant.

He got up, walking towards the window. He opened the curtain, looking through the dirty glass pane. He looked down at what was once the streets of Berlin. The streets were silent, with broken cars scattered around them. The buildings were vacant, abandoned ever since the impact. The buildings crumbled, as the wind howled through broken the glass windows. "Six years ago. The world was on the brink of discovering a new element. But what was thought to bring prosperity. Only brought about chaos. Tears in the fabric of space, started popping up all over the world. No one knew what they were, and where they came from. Until strange creatures emerged from them. That destroyed everything in sight. The first impact. The world quickly got overrun, with governments collapsing one after the other. Not even the combined efforts of the united world could put a stop to them. As a last resort. Nuclear weapons were launched at the locations of the rifts. But that backfired, only deflecting and amplifying the effect right back at us. In the end. Over 80% of all life on earth had perished. Cracks formed within the crusts. Strange gravity wells took shape. Natural disasters ran rampant. Most of the landmass now uninhabitable. And those who tried to seek refuge on the moon, were not even spared. One nuclear strike is all it took, to shatter the moon." He looked up, gazing upon the two halves of the moon.

He turned back around, closing the curtains behind him. He walked passed a mirror, seeing the huge scar on his chest. Remembering how it happened, always brought him great pain. "Time to get moving again." He put on a shirt, covering that with an armored utility vest. He placed a drone on a workbench, performing maintenance on its hardware. With a few taps on the keypad of his H.I.D.M., it flew, hovering around him. "How's that A.R.T.E.M.I.S.?" he asked. Systems clicked within the drone, opening compartments, adjusting and stabilizing its flight. Small guns popped out, slowly calibrating. The drone beeped, "Affirmative. All systems functional. Power at 100%. Subsystems at 84%. Ammunition… at 19%. Caution. Replenishment of 9mm bullets, propane gas, and stinger missiles are recommended." "Sorry A.R.T.E.M.S. But this is my last mag of 9 mil." The boy sighed, waving his handgun in front of the drone, "We hadn't had a chance to resupply in a while. For now, we'll have to make do with what we got." "Affirmative. Switching to energy based armaments."

The boy packed his bag with the last of his supplies. 2 canisters of water, 30 meters worth of lightweight cable, fire starters, med kit, small tent, multipurpose axe, and a half a dozen of military grade M.R.E's. He did the last checkups on his rifle. It was an American assault rifle, ar-15, that had been modified to fire special high caliber rounds. Though it was considered outdated at this point. It was still useful. He checked the under-barrel grenade launcher, removing the spend cartridge. "Oh yeah, I had to use one yesterday. Only got 2 left now." After loading the magazine. He slung the rifle over his shoulder, placing his spare magazine in one of his pouches. He sheathed a bayonet on his shin, and added 2 smoke grenades, 3 flashbangs, and a frag grenade to his pouches as well. He picked up his carbon black handgun, pulling back the slide, checking if it functioned correctly. "A.R.T.E.M.I.S, let's go." "Affirmative." The drone flew over to him, attaching itself to his backpack. After holstering his handgun. He took a deep breath, and walked out the door.

His footsteps rustled on the dust filled streets. He looked around, thinking of how lively such a place used to be. His goal was to head east, towards the direction of Asia. The drone beeped, displaying a radar before his face, "Notice. Movement detected. 10'o clock, 17 meters out." On guard, he aimed his rifle, "What is it?" "Unknown. Too much interference to perform a scan." He clicked his tongue, cautiously moving forward. He heard rustling behind a bush. With his finger on the trigger he aimed down the sights. He lowered his rifle, seeing that it was only a deer. He sighed, "Where's the interference coming from?" "Unknown… Notice. Radio waves detected." "What?" The boy looked in confusion, "Notice. Radio transmission intercepted. Would you like to hear it?" "Yes." The boy nodded.

Static could only be heard as A.R.T.E.M.I.S. showed him the transmission. The drone beeped, "Adjusting frequency." "….. backup…! We're being...…entities...…over!.....now!" It was getting better. But static still interfered. "It's hopeless." The boy groaned, "Stop interception." The drone beeped, "Readjusting frequency." "Hey. Save your power. You won't be able to…" The drone beeped, interrupting him, "Notice. Correct frequency found." He was almost left speechless, how crystal clear it now sounded. "I repeat! We are in possession of the first half of the key! Need backup now! We're being chased by entities of class 2 and higher! We're on our way towards the west side of Berlin! Send reinforcements now!" An explosion muffled out the rest of the transmission.

"Key?" the boy asked himself, "It actually exist?" He sat down on the hood of a broken car, trying to regain his thoughts. The crystal pendant on his necklace glowed, moving from underneath his shirt. He lifted the necklace up. It levitated, gently pulling him a certain direction. The drone beeped, disconnecting itself from his backpack. "Where are you going!?" he asked. The drone beeped, "Notice. Please follow if you will." He realized that the pendant wanted to go in the same direction. The drone continuously beeped, repeating the same sentence, slowly annoying him. He groaned, placing the necklace underneath his shirt. "Fine! Quit your beeping already." He ran full speed through the streets, chasing after his drone.

After some time, Artemis had brought him to an overpass. "Where are we A.R.T.E.M.I.S?" he asked. The drone beeped, attaching itself to his backpack. "Scanning area." It beeped again, "Error. Signal interference increasing. Unable to perform scan." "You've been getting those a lot lately. Know what's causing it?" The drone beeped, "Unknown. Insufficient data." "Seriously?" He suddenly heard the roaring of an engine, and screeching of tires, coming from the road below. He grabbed his binoculars, looking from where it came from. He saw 2 military Humvees, speeding down the road towards him. They were being chased by monsters with four bladed arms. One of the creatures pounced onto the vehicle, killing the driver in it. The one Humvee crashed, getting swarmed by dozens of the monsters, that ripped apart anyone who was unfortunate enough to be alive. Those monsters are called entities. Strange creatures that emerged from the rift. Though they vary in size and appearance, they all hunt down anyone in sight.

Only one Humvee was left. Another entity pounced on its hood. The driver tried to shake it off. But it planted two of its bladed arms into the hood, stopping it from even being shaken. The boy grabbed his rifle, ejecting the magazine, "A.R.T.E.M.I.S! Armor piercing! Now!" It beeped, opening a compartment in his backpack, with a single bullet on a rack. "Notice. Last round of A.P.C.R. Proceed with caution." "Yeah, yeah. I know." The boy yammered, "I was saving it for a rainy day." He pulled back the charging handle, loading the bullet directly in the barrel. "That day." He took a deep breath, aiming down the scope, "Is today." He squeezed the trigger. The bullet fired with a high muzzle velocity, creating a shockwave that left a vapor trail behind. The bullet traveled half a kilometer out. Before piercing the entity directly in its head. Its body fell on the road, only to be run over by the Humvee.

Smoke singed out of the barrel. He looked down at the road, seeing the Humvee race pass him. He saw 3 people in the Humvee. A middle aged male and female. And a girl in the back seat, that leaned against the window, looking directly at him. He felt as if he seen her before. But could not remember where or when. Hearing the screeching of entities, he turned around, "Uh-oh." Artemis beeped, "Notice. It would seem you've alerted all nearby entities." "YA THINK?!" he exclaimed. After he finished reloading his rifle, he started sprinting away. Many entities chased after him. Slithering on the road and walls of the buildings around him. "Damn it!" he shouted, "Just how many of those things are there!?" Artemis beeped, "Notice. Approximately 200 entities detected." Another beep, "Notice. Approximately 207 detected. 216 detected….225…" "I get it!" he exclaimed, "There are still more coming!" He jumped off the overpass, onto the roof of an apartment complex.

He ran across the roofs of the buildings. Narrowly dodging entity, after entity. "Last 2 grenades." He fired the grenade launcher, taking down two clusters of entities. He spotted a small water-tower on a roof. "A.R.T.E.M.I.S!" he shouted. The drone beeped, flying around him, "Affirmative." The drone launched a small missile at the base of the tower. The tower tumbled, washing down the entities of the roof. The drone hovered backwards behind him, aiming its weapons up, "Notice. Hostiles incoming. Engaging." The drone opened fire with its laser based weaponry. The entities fell one after the other, until none remained. The drone turned around, speeding up with him, "Notice. Power at 24%. Unable to support with laser armaments. (BEEP) Notice. 5 hostiles approaching." The boy quickly aimed his rifle, flicking off the safety, to single fire. 4 entities jumped him. He slid down, pulling the trigger multiple times. He shot each entity with 3 bullets to the head, efficiently killing them. More jumped him. With a 3 round rapid burst. He killed another. With each shot he took. He counted the bullets, "18." Another one that flew, zipped towards him. He aimed up, shooting without even hesitating. "20."

A bigger entity jumped on the roof. It had a slender humanoid appearance with 2 arms, that were tipped with a massive claw. Six glowing eyes made it spider like, with no visible blind-spots. Knowing that he didn't have enough ammunition to deal with it at the moment. He threw a smoke grenade at it, to buy him some time. He slipped passed the entity, running through an old green house. He ejected the empty magazine, loading in his last one. The humanoid entity landed before him. He aimed, shooting for its head. Even with specialized bullets to penetrate armor. Its hide was still too tough. "9." The entity roared charging towards him. Its swung its arms, trying to cut him. It sliced through the ground, causing them both to fall. The boy grabbed onto a nearby ladder. But the entity threw a car at him, breaking the ladder.

He fell on the roof of a car, that managed to break his fall. Artemis beeped, hovering above him, "Notice. Pain level at 89%. Body condition, critical." "I noticed." He grunted. The humanoid entity stood before him, snarling. The boy grabbed his bayonet, attaching it to the front of his rifle. He shouted engaging it in melee combat. Clash after clash. The entity seemingly had the upper hand. Artemis fired her flamethrower, trying to distract it. The entity knocked it straight out of the air. The boy stabbed the entity in its chest. He then hopped on a car, jumping of it. Using his weight, he pinned it down. He pulled the trigger, expending the entire magazine.

He panted, "A.R.T.E.M.I.S? You alright?" The drone beeped, taking flight once again, "Affirmative... Notice. Subsystems critical. Hull critical. Ammunition 12%." With nightmarish screeches. The remaining entities surrounded him. He sighed, cocking his handgun, "So this is it." He took aim. "SO THEN COME AT ME!!!" he shouted, firing away at the entities. Artemis fired everything she had left at the entities. The rapid fire of twin submachine guns. The heavy fire of a specialized handgun. Echoed throughout the city buildings. The boy pulled the pin on a grenade, throwing it at a swarm of entities. They cut through the entities, slowly backing up into an alley. Killing one entity after the other. The clicking of the guns soon followed after. Red lights blinked on their weapons. "Notice. Ammunition… 0%." They were now both completely out of ammo. The boy pulled out his bayonet. With his back against the wall. He made his stand.