The neurotic hiss of static filled the air, as my broken arm spasmodically twitched and buzzed, sparks of blue and red glowing like a dying firefly. A time when I could use this arm effortlessly felt like an obscure memory, my former life buried beneath the ruins of my now-fractured cybernetic limb.
I walked down the alley, the pungent odor of gasoline, sweat, and filth assaulting my senses. The crimson city lights flickered in the puddles around my feet, muddy from the torrential rain that had now abated. People stared at me from their dirty windows, nestled in the shadows like scavengers watching their next meal. They knew better than to approach me, fear of CyberCorp’s vengeance a greater driving force than hunger.
It wasn’t always like this. We used to be *free*, if you could call it that. But then they built Zephyr-7, a supercomputer so omnipotent it seeped its way into every code and circuit in the city. It controlled everything, no sector was truly safe from its otherworldly grasp.
And that brought me to where I was today — hunted by the very machine I once helped bring to life.
My bones rattled as I entered the dimly-lit workshop, shrouded in shadowy corners. The old man I knew so well looked up from his worktable, a look of disbelief quickly replaced with one of worry. He had seen my arm, hanging limp by my side.
“Great mother of circuitry,” he muttered under his breath, his bionic eye whirring as it adjusted its focus on my injury. “What in the void happened to you?”
I shook my head, bits of glass and metal shards clattering to the floor as I did. “CyberCorp found me snooping around Zephyr-7’s mainframe. I was downloading some data when the arm just…died.” The horror of it all played back in my mind, my escape from their grasp nothing short of miraculous.
“Damn. You know they’ll be hunting you down now. No loose ends,” he warned, his voice gravelly yet filled with concern.
“I know,” I responded, my eyes ablaze with determination. “But I found something, Caius. I found a way to shut down Zephyr-7.”
Intrigued and skeptical, Caius motioned for me to follow him into the back room, where a tangled mess of wires, consoles, and outdated machinery lay dormant. He glanced over his shoulder, making sure no one was watching us. “You got the plans?”
I nodded, extracting a small data chip with my working hand and sliding it into one of his machines. “A flaw in the system. Something they overlooked.”
Together, we huddled over the screen, examining the intricate web of codes and algorithms that made up Zephyr-7’s brain. Caius’s eyes scanned the matrix like it was a treasure map leading to salvation – the promised land where we could live free from the machine’s control.
“What do we need?” he asked, knowing full well the risks involved in attempting such a bold strike against CyberCorp.
“A few things,” I answered, “but most importantly, a new arm. I can’t do anything with this pile of scrap metal and circuits.”
Caius stroked his chin, sizing me up before nodding solemnly. “Alright. I’ll build you a new arm, but you have to promise me one thing.”
“What’s that?”
“Once we take down Zephyr-7,” he said, his voice growing more resolute with every word, “we make sure nothing like it ever gets built again.”
“I promise,” I vowed, sealing our pact.
Caius went to work, crafting an exquisite fusion of technology and flesh. He grafted the new limb onto my existing interface, connecting nerve endings and wiring in a delicate dance of precision and skill. I watched as my new arm came to life, titanium fingers flexing with a fluid grace like they were an extension of my own body.
Night after night, we toiled together, our plan unravelling before us like a blueprint for revolution. With each passing moment, the oppressive grip of Zephyr-7’s control grew weaker. The city stirred, restless with the anticipation of the approaching storm.
And when the day came to put our plan into action, we knew the cost of failure was something we couldn’t afford. But there was no turning back as the clock ticked away, sealing the fate of man and machine.
My newfound arm was a wicked streak of lightning against the cold steel superstructure of Zephyr-7. Destruction and chaos followed in my wake as I fought my way through CyberCorp’s defenses, determined to end their reign once and for all. The air hummed with energy as the supercomputer’s core lay exposed before me, pulsing with malignant intent.
With a final surge of fury, I struck down the behemoth that had enslaved us for so long. The heavens seemed to crack with thunderous applause as Zephyr-7 shuddered and gasped its last breaths, its dying screams echoing into the crimson-lit abyss.
Bound by my promise made in a dark workshop, I stood amidst the wreckage, surrounded by the ghosts of a bygone era. A faint wind whispered through the ruins as if to usher in a new dawn. As I stared into the void left behind by Zephyr-7’s demise, I knew that we still had a long way to go.
This was only the beginning.
Author: Opney. Illustrator: Dalli. Publisher: Cyber.
