Currents of the Future - part 3
by Torpor

A brilliant orange surge of energy swelled around Microwave unit #4541, forming concentric circles on the ground as it rippled outward. At last, the energy reached its peak, and the android simply vanished into photonic particles moving at the speed of light.

The particles arrived at their destination in the center of the human town, near the highest concentration of human energy signatures. As the energy surge faded, the Microwave unit began immediately firing its energy blasts at the nearest targets.

Though the teleportation consumed an enormous percentage of the android's strength, the nuclear batteries would soon bring the weapons up to full force.

Microwave unit #4539 observed the attack and prepared to begin the second wave of assault.

>Calculating best possible entry point for support assault.
>Strategy analysis indicates best possible attack would come from edge of town, moving inward to meet other Microwave unit.
>First targets within range. Beginning assault now.

The unit began firing at nearby buildings, quickly reducing them to molten heaps of metal.

Heat seared the landscape and the noise of explosions and energy beams dominated the area. As the Microwave unit approached more closely to the edge of town, something about the sound of the explosions did not calculate with previous data.

Microwave stopped for a moment, raising a minor force field in case of counter-assault. "Full reroute: Defensive."

It analyzed the patterns in the area's audio waves and noticed something altered, as if something were missing.

The unit ran over to the nearby building it had just decimated and searched around for human energy signals. It found one in a nearby alleyway between two untouched buildings.

The unit jogged to the area. Sure enough, in its visual scanners appeared a human being, cowering in terror behind a refuse container. However, the human unit was not moving.

The android approached closer and saw what appeared to be streaks of light coming from one side of the human. Microwave's vision followed the beams to a focal point on the wall.

"Microwave unit #4541, please respond," the android broadcast on its built-in communicator. The static in the area had grown worse, and it could barely hear the other android's fragmented response.

"Microwave unit #4541," it tried again, "This is attack command lead unit. Humans appear to be decoys, using sophisticated holocube technology modified with heat emitters. Request termination of attack program."

Nothing came back over the comm. channel, but Microwave could still hear the other unit firing in the distance.

Suddenly, alarms started buzzing in its primary defensive systems. Energy readings in the entire area were growing at an astronomic rate.

"Warning," Microwave buzzed to nobody in particular. It activated his teleportation system, waiting patiently for full power. As the orange energy subsided, Microwave saw a fiery red glow growing from the entire city. It had managed to teleport to the top of a nearby ridge but was still less than a kilometer away.

As if an arrow had shot up through the earth's core, the entire city exploded upward in a flash of red light. Microwave unit #4539 had no energy reserves available to put up a defense before the shockwave struck.

The android spiraled through the air, its sensory input overwhelmed. As it continued to hurl through the air, everything went blank.

A few minutes later, Microwave's primary CPU came back online.

>Main sensor array damaged. Internal repairs beginning.
>Secondary sensor array detects equilibrium stabilized. Unit is no longer in flight.
>Beginning full system diagnostic..........Failed.
>Diagnostic unit damaged. Begin individual diagnostic of systems.
>Communications module: status unknown. Attempting to activate.

The unit stuttered as it attempted to send the message.

"Microwave unit #4539 to c-c-c-c-command center. Please re-re-re-re-respond."

The unit lay on the ground, its only motion an occasional twitch or spark from smoldering holes in its metallic shell.

When Atrid returned to the underground basement, the same six humans were still there - four men and two women. All but Trevor hovered around portable heating units.

Atrid motioned to the young girl who followed him in, and she quickly ran over to one of the units, plopping down in front of it on the floor.

She kept her back turned to the others, and they could only see wisps of brown hair coming from her parka.

Trevor, the apparent leader of this group, walked up to meet Atrid.

"Well, it looks like she did survive," he gruffly said. "But what about the rest of us?"

Atrid looked around the room. "Where is everyone else? I though there were more than 5,000 people in this town."

Trevor nodded. "Most of them went underground when we got the warning signals. Unfortunately, I think we've developed a false sense of security after so many years without attack."

Atrid took off his heavy coat and walked over to Trina, motioning for her to do the same.

As the child took off the layers, she turned her head slightly. Trevor could see her face covered with dirt and grime, but an almost illuminating sparkle came from her bright blue eyes.

She turned her head back toward the heater, not saying a word.

"So, you want to tell us your name, why you're here, and how far behind you the androids are?" Trevor asked.

Atrid motioned to the storage room and Trevor nodded in response. The two men walked out of hearing range of the others.

Atrid placed the parkas on a wall hangar before speaking. "You know that tri-alpha booby-trap you sprung on me won't even phase an android. It'll just teleport right into the basement and vaporize you all before you can move."

Trevor crossed his arms defensively as he spoke. "I'm not a fool. I know the androids are powerful. But they haven't come up into the mountains since the Second Earth War. In fact, I wonder if your appearance here is really coincidental to their arrival."

Atrid narrowed his eyes, but remained level in his reply. "I've been tracking them for two years, trying to do whatever I could to slow them down, help humans escape before I get there. They're relentless. They've even started diverting units from the Panama Front."

Trevor laughed softly. "So, what are you? Some kind of soldier?"

Atrid nodded. "Lt. Anthony Marseilles, call sign ‘Atrid,' U.S. Air Force."

"Oh, so you're one of those, eh?"

Atrid looked back at him quizzically. "What you mean?"

Trevor started walking around the room as he spoke. "I mean you're one of those fools who still believe the United States still exists." The old man almost spit as he spoke the name of the nation.

"It still does."

Said Trevor, "Really? Then how come I haven't gotten an angry notice from the I.R.S. for not paying my taxes for the last 23 years?" He could see the puzzled look on the younger man's face at mention of the long-gone agency. "How long has it been since you spoke to your C.O.?"

With crisp, clear precision, Atrid replied, "Mission time: 2 years, 4 months, 13 days."

Trevor groaned. "Dear God, you sound like one of them when you talk like that. Listen, it's been 19 years since I spoke with my C.O."

Surprise crossed Atrid's face. "U.S. military?"

Trevor nodded. "For 14 years. All the way through the Second Earth War. Up until my entire squad was decimated by androids."

He rolled up his sleeve and a light blue glow appeared from a holographic tattoo on his shoulder. The tattoo showed a mountain lion surrounded by flames. The elder man quietly rolled his sleeve back down.

Silence hung in the air for a minute. At last, Trevor spoke again. "So what's the deal with the girl?"

Trevor's voice lowered a notch. "Her name is Trina. She's with me. That's all you need to know."

Another awkward silence hung in the air for a minute. Trevor shifted modes. "You have a Link connection, right?"

The elder man laughed out loud. "Of course we do, but it only works half the time we try to use it. And we never try to use it. We use up all our power just trying to keep the WPUs* running."

Trevor could tell by the look on the newcomer's face that he was going to ask to use it all the same.

"It's over there, in the corner. I'd be surprised if you could link, though."

Atrid walked over to a pile of empty boxes, moving enough of them until he could see a desk with a small monitor attached.

Just then, one of the younger men ran into the room, out of breath and almost at collapse.

Trevor and Atrid ran over to support him.

The man was grasping a digifax printout in his left harm. He handed the photo to the two others and managed to gasp, "Our scouts got a picture of this about 2 kilometers to the north. They said it was important."

Atrid looked down at the photo.

"My God, is that what I think it is?" he asked, handing the photo to Trevor.

Trevor handed the photo back to the messenger after glancing at it for a moment. "I was just a child when the First Earth War started, but the memories still give me nightmares to this day. "

The old man began to tremble, the first time Atrid had seen any sign of weakness in him. "I would rather face a hundred Microwave androids than live through that again."

Atrid waited for a moment, then impatiently asked, "So, it is what I think it is, right?"

Trevor nodded. "A Dominion warship."

To be continued...