Chapter 26: Cyberpunk

I wonder why everyone were so blind to the coming conclusion.

Before the city was sunken into the black, a virus spread, infiltrating each unplugged device and turning it out down. Then, the electricity was snatched off every plugged machine in the city, starting from microwaves to whole buildings, corporate headquarters and even governmental buildings. Red Tech's headquarters was the only one left untouched. Shortly after darkness had spread across the city, Garlem was lit with fires from across its different districts, most of the protesters marched from the south. One would expect an explosion coming up from a building with splattering glass on the floor. With sub-viruses fiddling with the robots' algorithm, they had become aggressive. They started shooting at civilians and homes, even at each other. The laser fires kept the streets on fire and the fighting kept blood on the ground.

Our own choices that led to this moment. They've grown comfortable to perfection, to the brave new world, that a bit of time without the machine made them aggressive and angry. The viruses? Our mistake too because we made them and made their hosts.

Roger hid behind the wall, cloaked looking at a mob cornering an old man and then smiting him with crowbars. Roger could not even hack anything nearby to stop them, even he knew how powerless he was. He walked to the other alley, surprised by the smoke coming out of a building, and yet there was no firetruck because those were replaced by robots. Roger stepped away when a service bot went rolling chasing after a civilian. As he looked behind the wall again, he saw a handful of protection bots falling from the sky, their arms aimed at a group of law enforcers hiding behind their cars.

I didn't want this, of course I didn't.

A mob of looters broke through the window as they tossed television screens into their truck. They seemed young, even younger than Roger. The latter stood at the center of the intersection, watching a group of protesters raising fire sticks and forks like they had lived centuries prior before a number of service and patrol bots bumped into them. Roger had his eyes on how one of the young civilians flipped the bot and started plucking the bot's visual sensors before struggling to pull the machine's neural interface. The bot landed a bayonetting metal punch that sent the young man crawling on the floor.

The war between man and machine will reach its peak one day. Low economy, high technology, poverty and advancement, this is not the stuff of speculative fiction, Roger. This is the truth. One war will leave the world on the brink of collapse, morals will shrink and leave the place for plain opportunity.

A wave of hot wind caught Roger's back before he turned and looked up at the sky. Four lights chased after each other before the moon's light glittered across their windshields. Four gang members were shooting at a runaway with two patrol bots after them. Aside from that, the sky rained both rain and shimmering vehicles on the roads and atop the buildings.

High Tech, Low Life. This is the future, what you see now will be the standard of living. We've gone too far, even you participated in that, it's far too late to stop it now.

The signal was not too far. He walked in alignment with a shade before he crossed the street, looking behind his shoulders as he could barely catch his breath. Aside from that, his body was crawling to a state of perpetual abeyance. He could no longer feel his toes. Still, it would only be numb for about half a minute before his nerves start sending the signals again. He was weathering; his brain was racing to the finish line, to the stroke. Something was crackling up behind the wall on the fifth road, Roger tried not to be seen as things were quieter. One step after the other, a vroom at the other side roared. Roger turned around once one of two lights blinded him. He turned around, under the two lights appeared two canons that were each divided into rocket launchers and rifles. A large protection bot with a man standing on top of it, holding a laptop in his hand and wearing a mask.

Hackers and punks will soon be a class in society. They'd have their own rights, the likes of me would hire them to reach their ends.

The hacker tapped something on the computer before pointing at Roger. There were spawning red eyes in the dark, stretching from one of the street to the other, all led by the man with the laptop. Roger turned around limping towards an electric motorcycle. There was no time to wonder what had happened to its owner. Roger tried to override the computer, the bots at the back, but there seemed to be a sealing virus. Besides, he could not use much of his brain energy to override anymore, all reserved for Owinson.

Run from them, but you can't run away from the future. It will catch up because time doesn't go backwards, you'd fall into it eventually.

The bike vroomed before it strode into the road. Thin protection bots, some broken, others had their skulls sliced in half or without a layer, rushed after the bike. Some ran on the road, others climbed on the walls as they kept leaping from one building to the other. Other bots even took a truck like a wild gang and went on chasing after Roger. The latter swerved to the left, taking the very right as more bots came out of the sewers, others surprised him from the right as they fell off a building. It was hard to recognize which was a service bot from a protection one from a patroller. Aside from it all, the big one was just behind him, rumbling the ground with every step he took as it ran and destroyed the poles and vehicles on its way. Bullets escaped its right hand while the laser shots escaped its left hand. As if cold water splashed his face, he was astonished at the sight of flying drones with two hackers standing on each, just phones in their hands.

In the midst of the dark, the chase, the heat, Roger could only hear their laughter, the metallic rumbling all around as more drones faced Roger, their weapon pads stretching and aiming at him. Roger turned the vehicle, taking a shortcut through the showroom to the other road. A second later, the whole show room was wrecked with a raging explosion that washed the place with fire. From within that fire emerged the big bot, taking the front with all the robots behind him. Roger turned back, finding himself flipped on the floor rolling.

He threw his hands on the floor and hid behind a bench. He was in that same park where he'd sit every morning. All the smaller bots remained outside the park while the big one ravaged through the gate's entrance. The man on top raised his fist as in placing a halt sign to all other bots. The big one along with four drones dominated the park. Roger hid under a bench as a drone passed by with her light circle on the cobbled road. Roger rolled out, crouching his way to the other side as he hid in the bush. His heart struck at the sound of the metal rustling behind him.

Roger looked up, this time the hacker's face was obvious. Roger's eyes widened at the sight of him; he was just a kid. Roger was not that much older than him, yet he smiled as he ravaged across the city and sought to gut Roger like he was an NPC.

Yes, exactly. This is the kind of world we've created. The kind of world, me, Bob, your father, and even you, even though unintentionally, created.

Roger rolled out of the bench and hooked his hands to the back of the bot. He stretched his hand, one grip away from bringing the hacker down before a bullet passed by the side of his feet. Roger lost balance and fell on the ground, sliding through the bushes before the big robot turned with a storm of bullets, mistakenly hitting two of the drones.

"I will find you, little bug!"

In the midst of the bush, Roger looked down at his feet as its side seemed to be chopped off. He left a blood trail all around, on the cobbles, on the leaves and even a bloody handprint on the tree. He limped away from there, lately spotted by the bot as it landed quick shots behind him. Roger picked one of the iron bars ravaged by the big one and propelled it at the drone up in the sky. As it was impaled, bit of electricity sparked all around before it went eddying down on the cobbles.

"Where the hell are you?" the hacker said, shrilling like the teenager he was.

Roger seized more iron bars, despite how heavy they seemed. Seconds later, the iron bars rained on the big bot, some hitting his feet, others almost hitting the master on the saddle. The bot raised both of its hands and started landing mortars on the park. The bot was slowing down, the hacker looked up at his computer which was not so bright anymore. The machine was darkening in its screen.

Thee bot fell and the hacker slumped on the cobbles. His nose spilled the red juice. He stood having his finger on his nose, sensing it burning. He looked up, finding Roger standing next to him with his feet clenched. His eyes glowed.

"Woah, wait up, man! We can talk this out," the hacker said, crawling back and knocking on his robot. Roger clutched him by his clothes and flipped him to the other side, sitting on him. He smote him with a punch before landing the other, finding enough pity to stop after the third one. He grasped his shirt again, pulling him up.

"You thought it was a good idea to hack robots and start killing people?" Roger said, sputtering on him.

"Who cares? It's just a game, a simulation. Nothing's supposed to matter."

"Big words for a kid."

"Big enough for you. Garlem is the heaven of hackers, we've been preparing for this takeover for a very long time. How much we prepared for this outburst of freedom, both real and virtual. Our leader, he's the one to be thanked."

"Your leader? So this is some kind of a revolution, against what?"

"The system, the shackles, all of it. We've been tethered for far too long. I'm a new age rebel, a cyberpunk. May God bless Carl Owinson, the orchestrator of our uprising."

"Owinson? He prepared for this? Why?"

The kid started laughing, smiling as blood crossed his teeth. Roger turned to his left when a drone bumped into him, sending him coughing on the floor as the drone hit his throat. The kid had his button on his phone's screen. Before he could say another word, Roger spotted someone coming. The kid fell when he was smitten with a crowbar. The attacker impaled the drone with the crowbar, tearing its neural interface off.

Roger raised his hand, looking at the fellow. He sensed his heart beating. The fellow wore a vest with simple jeans, a set of glasses yet he seemed bruised. His jaw was tightened, his weight was lost. He squatted next to Roger, had a tight grip on his hand.

"Hey, brother," Jeremy said, helping Roger to a bench. Roger grunted, opening his left eye with a stretching smile and a hand on his friend's shoulder.

"Jeremy, what are you doing here, man? I mean, I'm glad to see you, it's just that I fear for you here."

Jeremy smiled. He was a bit different. He had a small beard, his hair was trimmed and neat if it wasn't for the bruises. One could feel some roughness in him.

"I came looking for you, bro. I arrived yesterday at night, took a night's sleep and woke up to some gang war. Then robots and… I don't know. I was stuck when I saw the big bot out there, but now since he's down, I can leave the city through the old tunnel. Come on, let's go," Jeremy said, pulling his friend with him. Roger was as stiff as a boulder.

"What's wrong, Roger? This isn't the right time for your games, we'll get to talk about everything else later. Now, let's get outta here!"

Roger took a few seconds' silence. "Look, I should have told you everything. You're my best friend, I should have talked to you about it all. I wish I had more time."

"This is not the time for some silly bromance, we need to go. You can die here."

"I am already dying, Jeremy. My brain cells are dying, one by one. My lifespan doesn't exceed a day. I know this is a lot take in, I should have explained it all to you before," Roger said. Jeremy's eyebrows rose up his forehead before he took a step back and sat beside his friend, arms rested on his knees. Jeremy remained silent, sweat caught in his beard.

"This had something to do with that stupid contact card, isn't it?"

Roger nodded, grunting. "I have a chip implanted in my mind that allows me to control technology. My father was the one responsible for it, I do understand him now though. The chip is killing me now, but I can use it to stop whoever is responsible for this whole chaos."

Jeremy put his hands on his head, feeling like a heating bomb on the verge of an eruption.

"There is nothing better in the world than going back with you to my Uncle, to Tamara, but I can't make that choice. I have to finish this."

"You've always talked about leaving Garlem, Roger. If you're dying, then die among those you love and love you. Come on, the road is clear, let us leave this dump."

Roger sighed. "Where is your car?"

"There," Jeremy said, seemingly satisfied. He pointed at a parked vehicle facing the park. Roger limped towards the car, Jeremy followed him. They were going home. It was over, it was time to leave Garlem and achieve that dream of an artistic life away from a place that didn't see the heart in matters, but only shallowness. Were they going home? As Jeremy tossed himself into the driver seat, the doors of the vehicle were sealed and the wheels started rolling with Roger outside. Jeremy looked at his smiley friend from behind the window, starting bumping the window. The car moved far away from the location, Roger used what was left of his brain energy to take his friend to safety away from him.

He closed both of his eyes, sensing the wind playing with his hair. He rolled a strap of cloth around his feet on his way to the wanted location.

The signal was stronger.

No need for you to have any hard feelings about it, Roger. It was coming; I just bought their loyalty so that I wouldn't be among those they rebel against. Besides, it was necessary for me to give you a clear demonstration about the kind of world we created. Now, I can propose my solution.

In the large square of Red Tech's headquarters, the ground started to quake before a passage was uncovered and thus all dust fell on the sides, leading the way for the light at the very bottom. Roger stood at the threshold, looking back at the fire and laser, the destruction and the chaos. In the midst of it all, he saw them all looking at him. They were all looking at him, encouraging him to move forward, to finish the journey at last. Beyond his imagination stood an army of nesting bots all around Red Tech, preparing to initiate immediate takedown if Roger had hesitated to take the step forward. Roger looked down at the stairs, about to meet Owinson face to face at last.

Come. Let us end this.