Section 1 - Potential
Dew droplets roll off dense foliage glistening in the sunrise. Their pattering joins a chorus of souls singing from grand rain forests surrounding this clearing. Dotting the area are pastel cement homes adopting warm hues waking to the warmth overcoming the small community. All while a sleek grey metal android fails to acknowledge the changing environment and remains motionless at the approximate center of town.
Soft melodies herald new beginnings. Windows reveal movement stirring within in preparation to meet their humble clock tower’s inviting call. Scattered creaking of opening doors leads to talk filling gaps of silence left by anonymous voices deep behind brush. Logic executes when conditions are met and now the android’s matte black visor blinks to life with two, solid blue, stylized eyes. They flick around to confirm the current time and scan over roaming residents.
“Good morning Hayley!” children shout happily as they crowd the android. It nods and returns a practiced greeting, “Good morning, children. Please watch where you are stepping.” Acknowledging Hayley’s fussing they respond with a recitation of, “Yes, officer Hayley,” in unison. Mother of two, Ana Rivera, waves the children away from the android, respecting their excitement with a smile. “It’s time for breakfast! Vamos a comer! You have class soon”, commands Ana. The crowd protests for a moment but are persuaded by savory scents wafting their way from rustic eateries. They head off to dine with their families.
Ana turns to Hayley with satisfied hands on her hips, “Bueno dia, mija! How are you doing? It’s been a while”. Hayley turns to face her and answers in a calm, feminine, synthesized voice, “Buenos dias, Ana. I got the elder’s request late last night so I figured I’d idle here to start the day early”. Ana, supporting Hayley with a hand on her shoulder, “Heh, yeah… sorry everything was last minute. It was so strange, I’ve never seen anything like it. We had a bonfire going by the beach and a rogue wave nearly sent Sofia’s boy crashing against a rock! If it wasn’t for Civi catching him and taking the hit… uy… I don’t want to think about it”. She shutters at the thought.
“Civi?”, inquires Hayley with a cock of her head. “Ah bueno, that is what the kids call the Civilian now and it stuck. I hope he wasn’t hurt too bad”, worries Ana. Hayley relaxes her posture to reassure her, “Oh. Well I was told ‘Civi’ only had cosmetic damage. The ‘repair’ is more procedure than anything serious just to do a full check up before returning them to duty. ’He’ should be back here this afternoon.”
Ana’s face softens with the good news. “Me allegro mucho! They are gonna be happy to see him back so soon,” nodding towards the families. Ana’s eyes narrow as the conversation takes on a more serious tone, “So Hayley, when are you coming over for dinner?”
Off her guard, Hayley takes a moment to consider an appropriate response. “I appreciate the offer. I don’t need to eat but I can stand watch over your next bonfire as additional security if you request it.” Ana’s eyes lose focus, drifting away. “Ah, I understand.” Her smile returns with renewed hope, “We’ll keep you updated then. I’ll let you go then, it’s almost time for class. Thank you again, Hayley!” Ana starts on her way to greet others before turning back to Hayley with a wave, “Try to get some sun this summer, ok? It does a word of good for the skin! Love you!”
These words stun Hayley. She turns to look at the sunrise for a moment, one that feels eternal. The clock tower chimes again. Residents are informed work is to begin soon and Hayley is snapped out of her trance. Children finish up their meals and line up at the edge of town after trading well wishes with their families. “Let’s go Hayley!” a small excited face exclaims.
Section 2 - Call to Action
“¡Buenos Días, niños!” greets Ms. Gabriella. Wearing a smooth white dress she leans against a door, holding it open for her students who return greetings. The school house is wooden and painted white on its exterior. Small, just enough space to comfortably hold its students and allow for various activities. Footsteps echo within while students enter and take their seats. Talking in hushed voices amongst themselves leaves for the adults to talk.
“Preciosa, how are you?! Thank you so much!”, she says punctuating her sentiment with a peck on Hayley's metal cheek wrapped in a tight hug. Stunned, Hayley calculates a response, and half heartedly returns her hug. “Hola. I am operating optimally. Do you require further assistance?”. The teacher pulls back from her hug, with a full smile, to look at Hayley in her artificial eyes and say, “Everything should be in order.” Loosening her grip now to tenderly hold Hayley’s hands, “Mira, you are always welcome to stay for class whenever you want, ok? Do you have time today?”
“I’m sorry, I have other duties to attend to,” Hayley responds, averting her eyes.
“Ah pues está bien. Do you think you’d be able to visit us again soon? I’d like to treat you to some of my baking.”
“I will return here upon request to serve.”
The teacher’s smile breaks for a split moment of concern and is regained as quickly. “Bueno, I’ll let you go then. Que dios te bendiga, armor. And tell your parents I said ‘hi’ also next time you see them, okay?” With that her fingers slip away, turning her attention to her class indoors. “Class! Today we are going to be learning about the planet Saturn.” Cheers roar out of the small school house muffling as the door closes. Standing there for a moment Hayley turns to the sun again as if for inspiration, then heads back to town.
She reads the clock tower, then searches for distractions in the smallest tasks. Adjusting a slightly loose wooden board on a fence then hammering down fresh nails. Landscaping with a reel mower and an assortment of gardening tools. Raking the dirt path. Looking back at the clock, less than 10 minutes have passed. Her digital eyes blink slowly in disbelief. The screeching of a cat calls her attention and she hurries over to find one stuck high up on a tree. An elderly man is standing nearby and greets her with a humorous tone as she approaches. “Ah Hayley. Just in time! This kitty ain’t mine but she sure could use some help. I don’t understand cats”.
He crosses his arms and continues, “Why climb up so far if they can’t get down?”. Hayley looks away from the cat and focuses on the elder’s rant. He goes on to say, “Everyone thinks about what they want until they lose everything. ‘Maybe I’ll be happy with this, or by giving up that’. She’s probably reminiscing on what she gave up just to chase empty ambition and end up alone and hungry.”
“Respectfully, I don’t think it's ambition.”
Hayley begins her climb effortlessly and approaches the scared hissing cat. “More like indifference…” Her first attempt to apprehend her is met with a quick swipe of a paw. The second is lightning fast and lifts the cat by the scruff of its neck. “Well done, Missy! Watch your step on the way down now”, the elder warns. She begins her descent when her senses distort. Vision instantly going black, she hears muffled explosions and screaming. Her senses fade back in and hears the elder screaming in worry, “Hayley?! You’re going to fall!!!”
He rushes over to her, she regains her grip on the cat but loses balance on the tree and falls. Luckily her body is light enough for the old man to catch her safely. “Hayley?! Hayley! What happened?”, he asked frantically.
Hayley shakes her head and releases the cat on safe ground where it quickly scurries away. Sirens blaring in the distance approach by air, accompanied by propellers and motor whirs growing louder. Two massive white armored security drones fly overhead at incredible speed towards glistening sky scrapers peeking far off over the jungle canopy. Hayley receives an alert message instructing all Metric City Peace Officers to return to the city as an attack has been reported at specified coordinates.
Hayley motions to the elder waving him towards town, “Get everyone inside now! There has been an attack on the city. Remain indoors until you receive an all clear message. Go now!” The elder relays the message to others he encounters while Hayley bolts off towards the city on foot.
Section 3 - Shell Shock
Inside the dark facility, polished white floors mirror it’s artisan skeuomorphic architecture and furnishings. Rows upon rows of blue glowing pods extend multiple floors to a dizzying height. Offices dot the inner perimeter to monitor the pod’s status, offices that are now drenched from sprinkler systems fighting off electrical fires. Black smoke billowing upwards from the ground floor is lit red from emergency lights lining catwalks that provide access to pods. Within each container, a human floats peacefully submerged in fluid, appearing asleep, connected to simple apparatus which deliver oxygen and nutrients while monitoring vitals and brain function. With each blast, their position shifts in response.
Stomping through rows with great speed is a man vacuum sealed in a heavily armored green suit. His stride: confident, heavy with purpose. He approaches the edge of another row, and stares down the middle of the pods, raising both hands high and wide at his sides. In a flash he claps them together, exploding forth a shockwave so powerful all the glass pods in the row burst into shards of shattered pieces. The human forms within hang from their life support cables, too weak to awaken yet. Inspecting the destruction he’s wrought, he then moves with haste to repeat this act of terror.
“Wakey, wakey, assholes!” exclaims this monster with gritted teeth hidden by his helmet. He approaches his next target. Another clap sends more humans crashing down, some falling out of their pods onto the catwalk. Many of them were born without limbs to lift themselves up, or otherwise are too weak to struggle. “Don’t worry,” he shouts sarcastically, “...daddy Saturn will be here any minute to put you back in your pathetic cages. But until then, I’ll be your entertainment.” Another row explodes.
Metric City’s Robotic Peace Officers storm the building like insects, scanning every inch with perfect efficiency. A blue and white armored soldier stands at the building's steps, turning his golden visor upwards to scan the building and detect the attacker’s movement, relaying his position to the officers instantaneously. “First priority is to secure all Citizens. Secondary is to apprehend the suspect.”
“Shell Shock, what are you doing?! You need to leave now!!!”, screams a voice in the green armored terrorists communications unit. His brow furrows tighter at the unwanted interruption. “Shut up. I want Zap to myself.”
“ARE YOU INSANE?! That was not the plan! Get ou-”, the worrywart’s voice cuts out with a flip of a switch.
“Stop right there criminal scum,” commands a synthetic voice from behind Shell Shock. “Put your hands up behind your head and get on your knees.”
“Ah, the warden…” Shell Shock looks over his shoulder at his armed adversary. “Took a bit longer than I expected. Did your clanker ass need an update before dealing with me?”
“Enough! You’re coming with me. On the ground, now.”
“I don’t take orders from silicon. You’re just gonna have to kill me, Zap.” Shell Shock turns to face Zap and challenging him by approaching with his hands raised wide at his sides. Zap squeezes off a plasma bolt from his handgun splashing against Shell’s pauldron. At that same instant, Shell Shock explodes with a powerful shock wave that just barely reaches Zap, knocking him off his balance for but an instant.
Zap regains his composure and trains his handgun on the enemy again. In the blink of an eye, his aim snaps at a water pipe above Shell and fires. High pressure water jets out around Shell obscuring his vision. Zap closes their distance in a near instant and delivers a powerful blow to Shell’s Helmet. A second after he connects, the point of contact explodes into another powerful shock wave. Nearby pods crack and leak their precious fluid, while Zap is sent flying across catwalks, catching himself on the edge of one before falling off. He looks at his free arm, the one he used on his last attack, and it is heavily damaged.
Shell Shock menacingly strides over to look down on Zap, wordlessly. Zap is still reeling from the blast, trying to make sense of his opponent's counter attack. “Who are you?! Why are you doing this?!”... The silence between them is deafening.
Shell Shock squats and reaches his hand towards Zap’s before grumbling with pure malice, “I’m reality, and I’m going to hit you… REALLY fucking hard…”. He then flicks Zap’s last good hand, and a massive concussive blast rips that chunk of catwalk away leaving Zap’s hand crushed from the sheer force, sending him tumbling to the floors below lost in thick smoke.
Officers finished securing most of the humans fallen from pods, finally starting their assault on Shell Shock. He takes on a crowd with ease. Blasting them away with more pods being damaged in the ensuing brawl. His rage is building with each blow, and his explosions grow in intensity. The officers begin retreating into the thick smoke.
The whole building shakes causing Shell Shock to lose balance. The facility's interior becomes illuminated by daylight. He shields his eyes as they adjust to search for the source. A massive hole in the building's wall is ripped away and flying into the sky, with the silhouette of a caped figure gliding in through. The unmistakable ring around the figure’s head can only belong to one.
“Saturn… ,” Shell Shock confirms under his breath.
An angelic voice pierces the chaos, like a choir singing a hymn of judgment. “What ails you, my child? Why are you in such great pain?” Saturn lands on the catwalk and towers over Shell Shock at a slender 10 feet tall. Broad pointed shoulders. Arms and legs hidden by a full length holofoil-like cloak decorated with animated shifting nebulae and twinkling stars. His elegant neck cranes down to look upon Shell Shock. “Why do you hurt your brothers and sisters?”
Shell Shock remains still, considering every possible option.
“I’m sorry,” Saturn apologizes, “... but I cannot allow you to cause more harm”. His cloak splits in the middle and a white gloved hand is raised, reaching for Shell Shock at a distance. Shell becomes stiff and unable to move due to some unseen force restraining him. With a twitch of his hand, Saturn sends Shell Shock hurtling through the entire building, bursting through the wall and falling several stories onto the street below.
Shell Shock lands with a final blast, obliterating the street he landed in and leaving only a crater. Police surround the impact zone in search of the delinquent, but only find rubble and a circular burnt spot at the center still smoking.
Section 4 - Reincarnation
Hayley arrives at the Pod facility, learning of the situation and aiding in extracting injured humans from the premises and onto hospital beds waiting outside. She searches frantically, finding several under rubble. Coming across a pod leaking fluid she frantically looks for a release hatch. She finds it, pulls on the lever, and powers down that same instant. A moment passes, and the woman in the pod awakens forcefully as the emergency system jolts her awake and disconnects all life support systems and tubes.
The hatch opens and the woman falls out. Her eyes straining to open, maladjusted to the sunlight. She looks up in confusion, gasping for air and sees herself holding the emergency release lever lifelessly. Her mind races with confusion, and after struggling for a moment, she utters, “must… save her… ,” before falling unconscious.
Feeling comes over her as she regains her senses slowly. She finds herself in a dimly lit hospital room with blurry figures at her sides standing from their seats and calling to her in a frenzy. Her eyes adjust and she sees her mother and father at her bed side, skin almost pale and their faces mixed with horror and relief. To her right, a synthesized feminine voice attempts to reassure them that Hayley is stable, and urging them not to cause her stress. The nurse tells her to relax, that she is experiencing the effects of pain killers so she will be lethargic for a while. She looks at her parents, knowing it's them but trying to recognize their faces. She looks down past her feet and sees some gift bags, flowers and balloons on a table.
“M-Ma? Pa?”, she asks weakly. Her mother breaks into tears holding Hayley’s hand and head bowed. Her father nods and grips her shoulder firmly, “Yes Hayley, we are here. It’s going to be ok. Take it easy, baby,” he says comfortingly. The nurse gets an audible ping, a notification which she shares with everyone. “I am sorry for the short notice but you have a special visitor. I know you are disorientated but he said it cannot wait.”
Through the door walks in Zap. She could recognize the shape of his helmet anywhere. “Steele family, please excuse our intrusion. I failed you all today,” Zap solemnly expresses. Hayley hangs on the choice of words, then her question is immediately answered with Saturn lowering himself to clear the door frame and following in after Zap. His head is nearly touching the ceiling when he straightens. “No Zap…”, corrects Saturn, “You performed admirably. I am the one responsible for today’s misfortunes. Mister and Missus Steele, a pleasure to meet you. If only it were under better circumstances…”
His voice fills the room like soothing music. With every word he speaks, she can feel herself healing. She opens her mouth but can’t utter a word being star struck. Her parents greet them both, and thank them for visiting. Saturn draws his attention towards Hayley and dismisses the nurse to stand at her side. “Hayley,” he begins brokenheartedly, “... I ask for your forgiveness.”
He tenderly reaches for her hand, holding her with the softest touch she’s ever known. His hand faintly glows as he checks her vitals manually. “My sweet child… I vow to bring those responsible to justice. I am glad to see your injuries were non-life threatening. I think you will be happy to know no one was killed during the attack. You saved many souls with the Civilian unit you commanded. I cannot thank you enough, but I will try. You are a hero, so I thank you for your service.”
As she awoke further, her expression became more neutral until it was stone dead. “It’s an honor to live and serve, Sir. I will resume service once I am dismissed”. Hayley’s parents immediately jump up in protest, appalled by her decision, but Saturn raises his hand with the patience of a saint to ease their worries.
“Hayley… the facility is not safe. We are rebuilding and it will take some time, but even when it is complete, I’m afraid I cannot allow you to operate another Civilian until I can guarantee your safety,” Saturn explains. Hayley’s heart sinks, a feeling so uncommon it might have shocked her more than the news itself. “I will discuss the details with you later. For now please try to understand.” His grip grows tighter hoping for an agreement, but Hayley slowly pulls her hand away and rests it elsewhere.
Saturn lowers his head in disappointment. “I know this condition is unsatisfactory, and I do not wish to distress you further, so I will take my leave. Thank you again Steele family for having me.” He turns to leave and while passing by the table he pulls a gift bag out from under his cloak and places it on the table. The bag is custom made with an image of her and Saturn hugging with big sparkly stylized text saying, “Love and Time heals all! Get well soon!”
Silence fills the room after he and Zap exit. A silence so profound that the soft pings of monitoring equipment echo in the void they left. Hayley’s parents try to comfort her, but she interrupts with a bite in her tone, “I’m not feeling good,” and hangs on the implications of that statement. The nurse reads her cue and asks her parents to give her some space, and they will be notified regularly of her condition. With some protest, her parents ultimately respect her decision and leave along with the nurse.
Hayley looks out the window towards the sunset and raises her hand to meet the sunlight. For the first time in years, she feels the warmth on her bare skin. Tears well up in her eyes, her brows furrow with gritted teeth. “Damn it… ,” she protests looking upon her skin. “God damn it… ,” she cries, tears burning down her cheeks as the sight of her flesh, and to a lesser extent, her old scars, repulse her. “Disgusting…”
