I woke with a violent jolt—my consciousness roaring back to life like an open gas can tossed into a fading fire. Agony streaked across my mind in manic fury, hurling bolts of anguish without reservation. Phantom pain pulsed in rhythm beside my heartbeat, the organic performance serenading an audience of one.

  Existence lurched at a sickening angle—as if the ground was a drunk sailor skimming the edge of a roiling typhoon. Blood poured from my bisected eyebrow, painting half of my unfocused vision various shades of red. Hazy memories returned in bits and pieces, carefully stitching themselves together into a patchwork reminiscence.

  An analog alarm blaring.

  The drop pod shaking.

  A scorching heat from an unseen blaze.

  An explosion of blinding light.

  The sharp tearing of metal.

  A piercing scream buried in the wind.

  Shit.

  Adrenaline surged throughout my body in raucous exclamation, sweeping away the internal pandemonium like an unstoppable riptide. As my senses tumbled to their familiar roles, I fell into a habitual meditation—one I reserved specifically for overwhelming stress and desperate emergencies.

  My eyes instinctively closed, shutting out the world around me. Quickened gasps of air elongated, then deepened. Racing thoughts crawled to a standstill while time was seemingly frozen. I focused on breathing, in and out, until the heaving beat of my heart settled at a stroll.

  Twinges and spasms I never noticed halted, providing much needed relief. Practiced tranquility blanketed me, a warm embrace that spoke of soothing harmony. Unneeded emotions were packed in boxes, shipped away to the far recesses of my psyche. It took me a few minutes until I was completely and utterly calm.

  I opened my eyes.

  The world was covered in darkness that flowed around pockets of sunshine. Rays of light trickled in from tiny cracks, gaps, and holes to illuminate the cramped interior of the metallic coffin. As my eyes adjusted, I looked around at the multilayered padding and inflated cushioning that entombed me. A quick glance up revealed the long lid, webbed in spirals of severe damage. Nonetheless, it remained stubbornly intact. Past my weeping brow, near my matted dirty blond hair, a shard of broken glass poked outward from the buffer menacingly. The tempered rebel reeked of wet blood and hot iron.

  Mechanically, I observed each of the status panels mounted near my head. Nearly all of the icons glowed an agitated orange or an angry red. The device whined about its woes; it had been beaten to the Hells and back again. Even so, its thick layers of protection had successfully served its purpose. No shattered machinery stuck out of me at jagged angles. No serrated components tore open my guts.

  A preferable outcome.

  Gently, I prodded at my body, flinching at the extensive bruising hidden beneath a sea of shadows. There were no critical injuries, broken bones, or members ruptured. Physical condition was optimal—if I ignored the major concussion, the internal contusions, and the minor laceration.

  I sighed in relief. Well, I’m not dead. Yet.

  Recalling the memorized steps, I attempted to sense the recently injected nanites that resided in me. Surprisingly, it wasn’t very difficult. What started as an ambiguous feeling led to the hint of a response. Gradually, the feedback clarified and coalesced into a single point. Reaching out to it, I willed the sleeping machines to rouse from their eternal slumber.

  Suddenly, an androgynous monotone voice boomed inside my mind.

  — INITIALIZATION PROTOCOL : ACTIVATED —

  — UNBOUND NANITE CLUSTER : DETECTED —

  — BEGIN BINDING PROCEDURE? : YES / NO —

  Luna was right, I ruminated. It certainly sounds like someone yelling directly into my ears.

  The tone didn’t surprise me, I was used to interacting with various sub-AI’s in the cradle. In fact, it was a strange sort of comfort; a reminder of all the effort we had invested to prepare ourselves.

  I sighed to myself again. Too bad I’m a visual learner.

  As if the nanite cluster read my inner thoughts, semi-translucent words appeared at the top left of my vision. When I focused on them, they grew slightly larger and solidified. The previous lines that it had just spoken smirked back at me teasingly. I did not give in to their obvious bait.

  Nifty, I remarked. Proceed.

  A painless static shock swept across my body several times, then rapidly disappeared.

  — AUTHORITY DOMAIN : ESTABLISHED —

  — TASK : COMPLETE —

  Abruptly, I felt a brand new sensation unlock itself within me. The metaphysical signal noiselessly echoed out from me in all directions for twenty feet and stopped, maintaining a circular area. It was quite jarring to feel something that I had only read about with such clarity. However, this was merely the first step to its real functionality. I couldn’t allow myself to be amazed so early.

  Thus, I closed my eyes.

  Inside my mind, a blurry outline of the drop pod appeared. It was made of colored three-dimensional shapes smashed together in a bizarre collage. In the center, I saw my body laying diagonally in a golden rectangular trunk, motionless and rigid. Everything around me was energetic and vibrant in a way that reminded me of childlike wonder. However, as distance from the drop pod increased, the colors swiftly desaturated to a dull dark grey. I focused harder on myself, the vagueness starting to drop away to reveal finer details. At that moment, an intense fatigue hit me, breaking my concentration. The scene shook, falling apart.

  I snapped to reality with a gasp, stunned into silence from the strange geometric vision. A sharp ache throbbed at my temples, growing weaker by the second. Soon it faded entirely, the pain but a memory forgotten.

  The experience reminded me of a radar being flipped on; except, it was lightyears ahead of that. The new sense was a close-range semi-omniscient vision that could detect anything within its grasp. Although there were big limitations to it, this was an incredible boon to have gained upon landing. To think that nanites could do this passively. Truly miraculous machines.

  I’m going to have to train this in my downtime. What’s that saying again? Practice makes it permanent?

  Turning my attention back to the nanite cluster, I paused to formulate my first actual command. Ready, I sent a mental handshake and the command inward.

  Heal me without using critical internal matter.

  It accepted.

  — REQUEST : RECEIVED —

  — ANALYSIS : GENERATED —

  — REQUIREMENTS : FULFILLED —

  — EXECUTING : COMMAND —

  The nanoscopic machines responded instantly to my order, rapidly deploying with measured calculations. I felt my brow tingle and a bit of pain as the cut skin zipped itself together in one sleek movement. Touching the affected spot, I failed to find a scar or flaw. It felt like it cost nothing to do this, but I knew that wasn’t the case. There was always a price for a service. Whether it was external or internal, nothing was totally free.

  Freshly invigorated, I began to deactivate the safety mechanisms holding me within the capsule. Cushions deflated, plates retracted, and straps coiled backward toward compact compartments. Gravity made itself known once again by pressing down harder on my chest, now noticeable given the extra room to move. While my body patched itself up with accelerated speed, I reviewed my fragmented recollection once more. The montage circled my skull, a loop on repeat.

  What in the Hells happened? Was the drop pod hit by incoming flak? What shot at us? Why?

  Initially, there were no issues. Leaving the lab, traveling through space, and breaching Earth’s atmosphere all went smoothly. Even the freefall through the clouds was relatively uneventful—right until we exited them, I assumed. The moment we entered targetable range, someone immediately noticed and painted us red, making it evidently clear that they disliked our arrival. At the time, I simply prayed they wouldn’t investigate the result of their aggressive action.

  — TASK : COMPLETE —

  Huh. That was what, barely ten seconds? I shook my head, tabling the topic.

  Details could wait.

  Survival couldn’t.

  Near my right hand, my fingers extended toward a numbered control panel that whispered of secrets and security. Feeling the ridged keycaps, I jabbed the correct sequence into the manual interface. In response, the mutilated lid that covered me complained loudly, prepping for release. Hidden gears clunked to life, a rugged clamp disengaged, and a pressure seal hissed. Several cogs thumped noisily as the hefty faceplate slowly slid open, revealing the outside world in a growing rectangle of white light.

  This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author's consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.

  Squinting, I briefly rubbed at my face to scrape away crusted blood. Somewhat satisfied, my focus shifted outward. An open blue sky dotted with chunky clouds loomed over me, mirroring my confused stare.

  It took a full minute to comprehend what exactly I beheld in my sight.

  I was gazing at the heavens above, from which I came—a view I had only seen pictures of. The desire to soak in the majesty of the expanse bloomed inside me, yet I reluctantly suppressed it.

  There will be time later.

  Using an elbow, I raised myself onto my side to take in my surroundings.

  As the world reoriented itself, I realized that I was peering downward off of a tall incline. It appeared that I crashed near the top of a massive mountain, gingerly placed in a lengthy line of its own kind. On a different summit, along the alp chain, a razor thin line of smoke curled upwards longingly.

  Due to the extreme height, the view extended forever allowing me to see everything within countless leagues of me. There wasn’t much on the ground close to the alps. The bleak terrain was deserted, sparsely decorated with random piles of rubble.

  An endless hot wasteland unfurled toward the horizon where a gigantic ruined metropolis sprawled lazily in the sweeping sun. The landscape before it reminded me of a long-dried ancient lake that had transformed into cracked basalt flats. Remnants of trees and brush rose periodically to stretch toward the sky, as if begging for a mote of sunlight. Overall, the turf down there wasn’t too bad. Up here was another story: Difficult at best and unpassable at worst. Far from ideal, though it could’ve been worse.

  Barely perceptible gargantuan shapes slowly shifted in the distance, easily standing within reach of the city. Smaller blobs lumbered purposefully on the metropolitan outskirts while tiny specks darted here and there, dancing past countless obstacles in a never-ending fashion.

  A light breeze blew through my skin-tight outfit, blowing away remnant crumbs in a mindless manner. At the back of my brain, a vague nagging itched, growing exponentially stronger the longer I gawked outwards. I frowned at the mild discomfort.

  Why…

  Why can I see outside?

  The drop pod was a solid, totally enclosed teardrop structure without a single window. Unless there was a gaping hole or a missing wall—

  I finally whipped my head around, taking in my immediate surroundings.

  My eyes widened.

  I shivered uncontrollably.

  The entire orbital entry unit was sliced perfectly in half, directly down the middle, exposing the sheared innards to nature’s elements. Outer edges of the shell were burning bright red where they were rudely separated from a previous bond. An awkward crater the size of a small cottage held the whole thing lovingly, like a kangaroo mother carrying offspring in her pouch.

  The other half was simply missing along with its own local resident and cargo. Luna’s crash couch and supplies were both mounted opposite mine, so the smoke I saw from afar was likely her.

  Belatedly, I realized a harsh truth: Our whole lives were spent training, yet it wasn’t enough. We couldn’t even get here in one piece. The rules down below were different and we didn’t know the language. Theory could not fully supplement experience, knowledge would not replace understanding. Even a stockpile of nanites and materials wouldn’t be enough to fully prepare us. Resources and allies were definitely valuable, but comprehension and insight were priceless. Those were skills learned through a trial by fire.

  Regardless, I knew one thing for sure.

  If I didn’t reunite with Luna, I’d be alone.

  Stranded—here in this death zone.

  I spent a while thinking.

  On the cradle, the sub-AI instructors told us that we would face three fundamental issues when we descended: Sustenance, survival, and predation. The solution to all of them relied on nanites.

  Thousands of years ago, The Maker removed a majority of the restrictions put on the nanomachines by humanity. She only kept a few exclusively for administrative and logistical purposes. Now any cluster could operate independently and execute plausible commands when the conditions were met. Despite this newfound freedom, the capability of a single unit was limited; that is why hosts were encouraged to collect more by force. Additionally, as quantity increased, better blueprints and technologies were unlocked. With the right materials, a host could conquer the planet and turn it into anything they wanted. The False God would not stop them. It was their right.

  Throughout our courses, we learned that commands were divided into three distinct stages: Generation, transmutation, and construction. The length of time required for each was directly proportional to the quantity of nanite clusters and the type of materials available. In other words, it was based on what it had to do to complete the task.

  If no matter was provided, the needed material would be generated from nothing. This was so slow that only indestructible immortals with infinite time or hosts with near-infinite amounts of nanites could use it. If matter was provided, it was either the required element or it had to be transmuted to it. For the latter, that process depended on how close it was in atomic structure. Once the essential mass was provided, it was used for construction. That process depended on the complexity of the end result.

  All together, if a host met the requirements, anything was possible. This was also the solution to all three fundamental issues: We had to fight.

  If we were alone on Earth, our only enemy would be ourselves. Unfortunately, a single step does not make a ladder. As such, The Maker populated Earth with various life. No specific detail was provided, though it was inferred that a majority wouldn’t be friendly.

  Dejected, I sighed.

  We were destined to struggle. Perhaps that was the point: To become something new and succeed against all odds was oh so very human. Whether it was biology or machine, each had its own advantages and disadvantages. However, costs could be hypothetically mitigated to negligible levels. The old humanity refused to surpass the line they set for themselves, but that didn’t apply to us.

  Looking down at my hands, it was hard to say I wouldn’t miss what I was born with. Yet, I also couldn’t deny the weaknesses of humanity. Without technology, we simply paled in comparison to a fabricated apex predator. It was a fact. If we truly wanted to live, we had to adapt. Fast. The optimal way to do this was indiscriminate war, but Luna hated that idea.

  I scratched my head. I don’t know if I can agree with Luna’s idea of socialism, though it might be possible to unite humanity against our enemies. When she talks about a united front, somehow I think it’s possible. Maybe someone already did it. After all, might does not always make right. Despite that, I know the selfish always succeed, in one form or another.

  Enough thinking. I sat up in the metallic coffin and stretched briefly. About an hour ago, when I realized the severity of my situation, I carefully scoped out the nearby terrain for potential threats and hazards. Fortunately, only rock, stone, and dirt surrounded me for miles. Whether it was luck or karma from a past life, our landings seemed relatively safe for the time being. However, now there were extra steps to the starting line. Good thing we planned for a situation like this.

  Our training module on the cradle had covered a discrete low-cost method of contact in case we were initially separated from our pod partner, but knew where they were. The concept wasn’t complicated: We each crafted a small mirror with nanites and used them to reflect a light over a long distance. This established basic communication though predetermined patterns, movements, and codes. I started to wonder if this was perhaps a frequent occurrence for descenders; the archaic method was way too specific to put in the curriculum by chance. Likewise, the severance of the drop pod was too perfect to be an accident. Either way, this had to be done before moving on. What came immediately after was similarly predetermined as well. I should start with those two. The rest could be taken with baby steps.

  I reached inward, connecting to the tiny robots. They responded in affirmation, ready to accept a new task.

  Let’s begin.

  I sent them two orders.

  For the following commands, utilize any and all material within my domain except for critical internal matter. Prioritize non-functional material. Keep track of time elapsed upon starting operations.

  Command 1: Construct a long-range signaling mirror. After execution, pause operations and only resume on manual request.

  Command 2: Modify my biology to support the safe utilization of most organic matter. Additionally, maximize my natural limits and efficiency while minimizing waste.

  — REQUEST : RECEIVED —

  — ANALYSIS : GENERATED —

  — REQUIREMENTS : FULFILLED —

  — EXECUTING : COMMAND (1/2) —

  A transparent cloud of mist discharged from my skin. The mass expanded to the nearby air, filling the space around me. An invisible ghost carved out little chunks from unimportant, nonfunctional parts of the capsule and floated them to my lap, dropping it. The swarm then condensed, descending on it as a termite did to wood. Inside, a blurry shape twisted and wiggled like a master sculptor reshaping clay. A minute later, the nanite cluster finished, flowing back into the pores of my body.

  — TASK (1/2) : COMPLETE —

  Interesting. Are nanites the same as ants where they can pick up things several hundred times their weight? Having the materials nearby seems to be important too.

  Looking down, I grabbed the square object that sprawled lazily in my lap. It was a grey-black palm-sized folding mirror, built for durability and portability. The edges could be adjusted to change the size and shape of the beam of light. Its compact form and simple complexity followed most of what I knew about estimated timetables for a single nanite cluster. Nevertheless, it was much faster than expected. If it was like this, future command shouldn’t be too long provided I had the material.

  Grabbing the tool, I scooted up a foot and placed it on an open surface by my head. Unfolding the pocket mirror, I aimed at where the smoke was from earlier and adjusted the glass for optimal reflection. It was currently around noon. The sun was out in full glory, blazing down with fiery delight. There wasn’t a better time of day to use this.

  Somehow the pod had been perfectly bisected, so Luna should’ve been properly protected during the landing. This hypothetically meant there wouldn’t be a large delay in response time. The procedures were developed with synchronicity in mind, so we shared the exact same tasks, commands, and timetable. Only unaccounted factors could influence those significantly. Hopefully nothing came up on her end.

  Cracking my neck, I began relaying our unique contact pattern.

  I hope she responded soon.

  It ended up taking fifteen minutes before a similar flashing pattern shone back. That was promising. I responded a few seconds later using the next pattern. This mind-numbing process repeated for the next thirty minutes before we finished our back-and-forth correspondence. In the end, it took just under an hour to exchange all of our information.

  The good news was that her situation was indeed the same as mine: Landing on a tall mountain, isolated from immediate threats, minimal injuries. The bad news was that we were on opposite sides of the mountain chain. High altitude aerial traversal was not an option given our difficulty landing. Descending to the flats was also not an option given the number of bigger moving targets at this time. Therefore, the valid option was to meet in the middle of the alps at a designated point. This also provided the least risk.

  Pocketing the mirror, I thought about the next command. Unease squatted angrily in my gut as I unsuccessfully tried to predict how this would work. External modifications only involved waiting, but I doubted internal mods did as well. There had to be pain or impairment. None of the scenarios I generated in my head seemed to resolve my concerns, so I decided to push through by force. Luna called this alteration essential. I didn’t have a choice. I trusted her with my life.

  Once again, I reached out to the nanites. A familiar voice murmured in my head.

  — STATUS : PAUSED —

  I reversed the opening process for the crash couch, closing the lid and re-enabling the safety features. I had a feeling this was going to be bad, so the less I could move the better. Safety first.

  Thoroughly secured, I took a deep breath and thought of two words: Resume operation.

  — STATUS : RESUMED —

  — EXECUTING : COMMAND (2/2) —

  A soul-devouring pain ripped through my body like a hot knife through butter.

  Not a second passed before the strings to my consciousness were brutally severed.

  A familiar dark void swallowed me whole, dragging me down to the furthest depths of oblivion.

  CHANGELOG