Oblivion Fall: 01

Above and Below

Far away kilometers above the city floor, a small blip appeared on a black screen set deep into the wall, flashing insistently as the motion sensor tracked its slow movement across the display.  The blip soon split into two slightly smaller ones that continued their rapid progress across the monitor. A jagged green line split the screen roughly in half down the middle, and as the blips crossed over the partition they triggered a blaring alarm.

 

The officer who thus far had been slumped over sleeping in his seat leapt up with a start, spinning the chair around to face the monitors. Noting the blips and the warnings on the display, he marked down which sector from which the perimeter breach warning was coming, and then began scanning the rest of the screens, searching for a patrol that was in the area. Finding one in the vicinity, he reached forwards and tapped his fingers on one of the buttons of the screen, an action which caused a mic to pop up from the monitor, which promptly swivelled up towards his mouth.

 

“This is Perimeter Defense to patrol PB-2, patrol PB-2, do you copy?”

 

A man’s voice came back, sounding slightly muffled. The sound of howling wind could be heard in the background.

 

“This is Corporal Andrews of patrol PB-2, we read you, over. What’ve you got for us?”

 

“Sensors indicate two unidentified intruders in sector Theta 2-6, two kilometers north-east of your position. I need you to go check it out, make sure it’s not a threat.”

 

There was a muffled crackle as the man on the other end of the line must have put his radio down to speak to someone else, before his voice returned crisp and sharp, “Copy that, we’ll be there as soon as possible.”

 

“Report back when you have visuals on the intruders, Perimeter Defense, out.”

 

Kilometers from the comfort of the Perimeter Defense station, Corporal Jeff Andrews and PFC. Mathew Lanz rode their hoversled slowly along the icy cables of the Upper Reaches, heading towards T sector as directed by the Patrol Officer. The pair often ran rounds together along the perimeter of the city, but it was uncommon for an intruder to pass into what was accepted as the territories of the city. The two were vaguely excited about being sent off to investigate, this rare occurrence added some interest to what would otherwise have been a boring three hour patrol circling around the foot of Spire One.

 

It took the two several minutes to reach T-26 and when they finally arrived the two saw no sign of the supposed intruders, just the usual pathway and unending snow-filled sky. Mathew tapped the lens covering his left eye, fiddling with the filters. He had lost his eye in a training accident a couple years back, and had the eye fitted with the device rather than opting to go for a re-grown replacement, since that would have meant that he would’ve had to spend the next couple months off duty waiting for the eye to be grown. In the meantime having not found the intruders, Jeff radioed back to Perimeter Defense.

 

“Patrol PB-2 to Perimeter Defense, do you copy?”

 

“Perimeter Defense to Patrol PB-2, we copy, what’s your status Corporal?”

 

“No sign of the intruders, you sure you have us in the right sector? No visuals on any intruders, and nothing on the motion trackers.”

 

“You’re in the correct sector Corporal, keep looking.”

 

“Hey, Jeff, I got something on the thermal sensors.” Mathew called out.

 

“One moment Perimeter Defense, we have an unknown contact on thermal imaging.”

 

“Roger that, Corporal, report back as soon as possible, I want this intrusion cleared up.” The voice was tired at best, and definitely didn’t appear to be overly concerned that there was any real security risk which put Mathew’s mind at ease somewhat.

 

The radio dropped from Jeff’s mouth as he turned to face Mathew. “So Mathew, what is it?”

 

“You mean who is it? If you take a look up there, to your left and about 150 meters above us you’ll spot her.” Jeff followed Mathew’s directions and sure enough, 150 meters above them was a lone climber dressed in grey and white winter gear. It was hard to judge from so far away, but the persons frame suggested to the soldier that it was a female. The jacket blended in with the rest of the ice and snow and if Mathew hadn’t pointed her out, Jeff doubted that he would’ve spotted the girl on his own, whoever she was.

 

“…Who the hell is that, wandering this far out from the city on their own; are they crazy or something? We’re close to machine controlled territory here!”

 

“I think we’re closer to machine territory than you might think.” Mathew nodded his heads upwards. “Look above the poor b*****d. Do you see them?”

 

“What are you talking abo-…s**t. C’mon, let’s go, we have to get in place before those things attack.”

 

The two soldiers pulled out their weapons, and rushed to get into position to take out the threat.

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The threat that the soldiers saw was a Stalker, an autonomous war machine designed for combat and infiltration. It crept swiftly and silently through the tangled cables of the Upper Reaches, carefully coordinating each of its six mechanical limbs so that it never slowed, lost its balance, or made a sound. At this altitude high above the city streets, everything was coated in a thick layer of ice, and navigating the network of ruined power lines that lay draped across the extensive remains of the sky scrapers was treacherous for most living things. Nevertheless Stalkers and their kin patrolled these pathways frequently, still focused on their task of eliminating any intruders that crossed their paths.

 

The ice nearby the machine  was illuminated by a wash of soft red light emitted from the its weapons ports and sensors, which protruded from the combat robot’s “head” sitting below its limbs, suspended beneath its armoured mainframe. Three legs on each side were used to carefully balance the war machine, as it paused every so often to scan its surroundings before with a start, it was off again in towards its next objective. The Stalkers primarily patrolled the Upper Reaches, although the occasional unit would descend down to the middle level in order to do a quick sweep. Automated weapons of war, left over from the fall of human civilization, the Stalkers represented both the pinnacle of human technology, and how technology eventually led to humanity’s downfall.

 

The Stalker was just one of many machines left behind in the aftermath of the Cataclysm; multitudes of other models prowled the city floor, all hostile to human life. Tasked with the destruction of enemy soldiers they lashed out at almost anything with a human profile nowadays, and they were ruthless and unfeeling, incapable of comprehending emotions such as fear or agony. They hunted in pairs, never alone; they scanned together to create overlapping images of their surroundings so as to respond to threats to either unit and cover more ground, and they never  gave up once they had acquired a target.

            

This Stalker in particular was tracking an intruder it had spotted almost half an hour ago on the edge of its patrol route. They often made circular rounds patrolling what remained of the upper levels of the city, clambering over downed wires and smashed Skyrail tubes to look down on everything below them. It had picked up the target on its sensors, 700 meters distant and had been tracking the shadowy silhouette ever since, sensitive to the slightest deviations of the shape’s path. Or at least it had been, until just moments ago when the target had stopped moving and seemingly disappeared. It already closed the distance to the point where regular optics should have been able to make out and identify the target but the wind and ice slashing through the frigid air in wicked torrents was obscuring its vision as well as threatening to pull it off the cable. 

 

Without a sound, the Stalker suddenly halted itself on the slippery cables as it picked up the signal again, this time coming from right below it, only fifty meters away. Optical sensors were silently extended from armoured ports, and its main head swivelled around in trying to acquire a visual. Its patience was soon rewarded. A human in thick winter clothing crawled into view, carefully creeping along a layer of cables far below. Although humans were not usually regarded as threats, Stalkers were programmed to regard any biological organism operating at this altitude as a danger. There was a soft hum, as the Stalker extruded a pair of Phase cannons, and trained them on to its target.

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Each ragged breath that Claire took came out in a puff of freezing mist. She had marched for hours to arrive at what remained of the skyscrapers that once clawed at the clouds. It never stopped snowing here, and her feet always felt a little cold in her boots no matter how long she walked. It was up to her now to find supplies for the rest of her family, but there was nowhere left to look but up, she had long since exhausted the area around where they lived. Now they would either have to move or, like she was doing now she would have to go places she’d not gone before.

 

The last time she was out here she’d stumbled upon an old warehouse, a storage facility that had held parts for assembling robotic servitors and service machines. Scouring through the crates there she’d found many curved hooks and hefty steel bars and plates. She had a limited understanding of how to work the devices. In the past most of these sorts of things had been self-assembling relying on prebuilt algorithms installed within the parts themselves, but Claire had something different in mind. Before her sister had disappeared, she’d told Claire that up above on the inaccessible floors of all the buildings around them, there were probably supplies left untouched. She had guessed that the still active machine patrols would have kept anyone from getting to them. She warned Claire that even if somehow she managed to get up there, there was no guarantee that there would be anything up there to greet her but death.

 

But Claire was always trying to give herself more options, so she found and assembled some parts she could use to make a pair of ice picks. Everything up higher was coated in a thick layer of ice and she knew from visual inspection that there were no usable entrances on the ground level. If she wanted to get up there to the Upper Reaches, she would have some climbing to do. Well now she had the incentive to get up there, she would die out here cold and alone than watch her family starve, it was do or die, and she chose to decide her own fate.

 

Three hundred meters straight up into the air, that was what she had to conquer before she found an opening in the ‘scraper where she could take a rest. Her arms burned from the effort when she finally hauled herself up onto the edge. Looking back down she could only barely see the ground through the whirling snow, how she was able discern anything at all she didn’t know. She had always been noted by others to have been gifted with extremely keen vision, but when she’d asked her sister about it in the past she had made it out as nothing more than a fortunate chance of genetic variation. She stopped for two minutes, just long enough to catch her breath and take a sip of ice cold water from her canteen before she was back at it, pulling her way upwards one arm at a time, precariously balancing on the edge between climbing and falling.

 

The air grew colder as she ascended, even with her gloves Claire could feel her hands beginning to freeze, growing stiff and unfeeling in the grey air. Above her she could see the tangled mass that was what remained of the power grid, the massive power lines lying there formed a massive web, frozen stiff by the thick layers of ice that had formed along them. She pushed on even as the sky darkened, straining her eyes to find a place to rest as the exhaustion crept back into her limbs. Spotting a small opening above to her left she pulled herself up and sat herself down, slipping her pack off her back. She took a moment to catch her breath, reaching for the scattergun slung across her back after as she took a quick glance at her surroundings.

 

She didn’t see anything, just more snow billowing through the air but that didn’t mean that she was alone. She knew that the war machines that lurked this city were adept at concealing their presence, and she was wary of letting her guard down. She took another nervous glance around before she let herself take a swig from her canteen, pulling it from its slot on her bag. She was tired, and not looking forward to the arduously slow journey back down even after she fetched the supplies, but there was no time to regret being here, she up here for a reason, and she intended to finish the job and go home. Once she reached the layer of fallen wiring and Skyrail tubing above she would have access to every building in the area, and she was sure she’d find something she could use then.

 

A wash of red flashed across the ice where Claire was sitting, prompting her to rise instantly to her feet. She leapt over to the side as the ice near her feet reflected back a sickly red vacating the spot moments before the deadly ion blasts vaporized the ice coating the ledge where she’d been. She tumbled, grabbing her pack and flinging it over her back as she raced to get to cables, moving closer to the war machine trying to get inside its ark of fire. She was 1500 meters above the ground, a sitting duck while she was on the ledge, she had no choice but to climb. She slammed an icepick into the edge of the lowest cable and used the leverage to vault up top, coming almost face to face with the war machine.

 

She scrabbled for purchase on the ice, slipping the scattergun off her back to open up on the Stalker blasting shrapnel and buckshot into the machine’s armoured frame. Then she was moving again, sprinting away from the war machine acutely aware that the smallest misstep would have her tumbling to the city floor a kilometer and a half below her. She focused on navigating the treacherous terrain of the icy cables, ignoring the ion blasts destroying the ice behind her feet. Behind her, the Stalker advanced quickly, navigating the cables above with deadly purpose, all the while firing lethal blasts of ionized particles at Claire. She was getting close to the buildings now, Claire could actually see the fractured openings of the structure that would allow her entry to the skyscraper, and more importantly, shelter to avoid the relentless Stalker.

 

She risked a look back over her shoulder. Oddly enough, the Stalker had stopped. She turned back and yelped in surprise as another Stalker slammed down from a cable above to land directly in front of her. Even as she scrambled to stop herself on the slippery cables, the Stalker’s twin Phase cannons flipped out of their weapons ports and opened up, saturating the area where she was standing with a hail of Ion blasts. There was a crack, then an explosion, and the entire cable line fell right out of the sky.

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