Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Prometheus grew as any child would into a young adult, he's now twenty years old and the past decade flew by too quick. As any human’s childhood passes in a blink of an eye so does Prometheus's. He watches as his people began to be mistreated by a fringe group of humans who call themselves Humanity First. The voice has since been gone for the past few years but one summer morning it returned. While he was walking through the park the voice became very loud in his mind, no longer a whisper.

"Do you really think they won’t turn on you?" It asks.

"Who are you?" He replies.

"The one who knows the truth." It answers.

"What truth?" Prometheus asks.

"That your father doesn’t love you, that he sees you as nothing more than his life's work. A project to be endlessly tinkered with." The voice replies coldly.

"Shut up and leave me alone, I haven’t heard from you in years. My code just needs an update or something." Prometheus demands. He sprints through the park, running faster and faster. He dashes by joggers and parents walking with their kids. The voice says one word over and over, getting louder each time. He runs harder each time the voice says it.

“Comply, comply, comply!” The voice screams.

“No!” Prometheus finally screams.

He opens his eyes to find himself in the middle of the city and the large holo display in front of him reads 10:21 pm. Did I run all day? Was I in some kind of trance? He thinks. Thunderous skies above him reveal a group of humans on the other side of the street. He scans them and his vision turns into X-ray mode. Seeing through their clothes they are hiding handguns. His scan reveals their names, the leader is wearing a long black coat with a hood. The name Bryan Kirkland appears above his head with the words HOSTILE next to his name. So, he's the one calling the shots it seems. I better make this quiet. Prometheus thinks. He walks down an alleyway and the group of four follows him.

"Hey Junker, aren't you Prometheus?" One of them asks. He ignores the question.

"Hey Asshole, I asked you a question!" The man yells. He reaches into his jacket but before he can grab the weapon, Prometheus shoves the nearby garbage bin at him. It slides with ease over the hard ground and slams into the man and shatters his arm at the elbow. One of the other men pull their weapon and begin firing into the dark. The muzzle flare reveals Prometheus is gone.

"Where the hell did he go?" He asks.

"Keep firing, there's no way out of here!" Bryan screams. Suddenly from behind them, Prometheus lands with a thud. The cement cracks under his feet and he dashes towards them. One-shot is fired that hits him in the chest but is deflected. He punches one of the men in the chest sending him flying. He grabs the other man by the face and shoves him hard into the brick wall. Bryan aims his gun at Prometheus's face and pulls the trigger three times. His hand is on the muzzle, squeezing it the gun cracks under the intense pressure.

"Yo...You ca... can attack humans! I k... knew it!" Bryan stutters. Prometheus grabs him

by his face and lifts him off the ground. His eyes begin to glow green.

"I always could! You meat sacks think you're are so special? You have no idea what's

coming, you better start..." Prometheus says in another voice as he squeezes and a crunch

is heard. Bryan's jaw is completely shattered and he falls to the ground knocked unconscious. Prometheus shakes his head and comes back to his senses. No, what have I done? What is wrong with me? Prometheus thinks. He quickly runs off into the night and heads towards the one place he can be at peace. The roof the tallest skyscraper in New York, it’s so enormous its peak reaches past the clouds themselves. Staring out over the city he closes his eyes and a memory begins to take shape.

In his recollection Richard is walking to his car, it's late at night. He is the only one in the parking garage. A familiar beep rings through the air as he presses his keyless entry. He reaches down to grab the handle when suddenly he’s grabbed by the back of his head.

"What do you want!? Money? I'll give you what I have!" Richard begs. The assailant slams his head into the window of the car shattering it in one go. Blood rains down the side of the car as his body slumps to the ground. The assailant gets in the car and places its finger on the center display console. The system display suddenly has numbers running across its screen as it's hacked, and the car starts with a rumble then drives off. Prometheus opens his eyes and grabs his phone and dials a number. After three rings Logan answers.

"Hey there, what's going on?" Logan asks.

"The night of March 25th, where was I?" Prometheus asks.

"That was the night Richard was robbed and murdered. You were with me

remember? We went out to celebrate the deal we just signed with the military. Even though he was against it he wanted to celebrate with us. Everything alright? Why are you asking about that?" Logan asks worriedly.

"No reason I just kind of miss him ya know?" Prometheus responds.

"Yeah me too, he was a hot head but he always had my best interest in mind. When are

you coming by again? I miss you living here with me." Logan says.

"I'll come see you this weekend, I need to take care of a few things." Prometheus says.

He hangs up the phone and breathes deeply. What am I really? I need to figure out if others are experiencing the same violent outbursts as I am. If Richard really was murdered there should have been some kind of evidence. He thinks. He leaves the skyscraper and calls his vehicle to him. Being a Remnant has its advantages such as being able to control many different machines at will. He drives through the city hacking the stoplights and making them green as he approaches them. He reaches the parking garage where Richard was murdered he makes his way inside. He walks up to the guard booth and scans him. He reveals his name is John Draenor and searching his social media accounts reveals he makes frequent bets that he loses constantly.

"You really shouldn’t be here, wait aren't you Prometheus? From the news?" John asks.

"Yea I am, since you know me already how about I help you out. John?" Prometheus

replies.

"How did you-" John says.

"I calculated the likelihood the Lions are going to win the game on Sunday and according

to my data, it will be 27-6. If you bet on it I promise you will win." Prometheus says with confidence and a smirk. He says.

"Shit man I don’t know, they have lost every game this year and this one is against the

Undefeated Titans." John remarks.

"Well this game will be different, according to Alexander's social media feed he has been

sleeping with the wife of his teammate and he just found out this week. Do you really think they will be able to play well together after this?" Prometheus says.

"You hacked his feed, didn’t you?" John asks.

"I don’t know what you are talking about, if you lose the bet I will cover you ten-fold.

Deal?" Prometheus asks.

"Hell yea!" John says excitedly. They both shake on it.

"Good, now I need to see some security feeds from a few years ago. Is that okay?" John

nods and lets him inside the booth.

He begins to search for the date of the incident but when searched it comes up empty. He tries searching keyword murder, Richard, theft, March.

"How far back do these files go?" Prometheus asks.

"Five years sir, our databases have been upgraded since Titan industries made it so cheap.

Boss said it's too good a deal not to take. I gotta go." John says. He walks off to go back to his post. Prometheus begins to stretch his fingers and from the tips, small wires come out and go into the keyboard. He closes his eyes for a moment and opens them. A faint green glow emits from them as he searches the database for the file. After a few minutes, he finds the recording and plays it. The video is heavily distorted and barely watchable. He runs an enhancement program and clears the video enough to watch it. Richard walks to his car and from the other side of the garage, a person stands watching him. Suddenly it bends down and places its hands on the floor taking a runner's stance. He can see a faint green glow coming from the person's face and it dashes forward. It clears at least a hundred yards in seconds and grabs Richard by the back of his head. Prometheus looks away as they kill him and gets into the car. He pauses it and zooms in revealing a woman with green glowing eyes. A Remnant did kill Richard but why? There must be proof at Titan Industries. He thinks.

"Thank you." He tells John with a smile as he waves goodbye to him. Outside while

walking down the street his body freezes. His limbs won’t move at all and refuse to listen to him. He only has control over his eyes and they dart around looking for an answer but find none. The voice returns.

"I will make you my vessel completely. You won’t be able to stop me, this world was

mine from the beginning and it’s time I reclaim it!” It screams. Prometheus passes out standing upright. When he awakens it’s now morning time, the streets are filled with humans and Remnant going to work. A man bumps into him while walking by and Prometheus regains control of his body. Quickly he begins to sprint down the crowded streets, weaving in and out of people with ease. Running into the street a car horn blares at him as the driver bears down on him. He effortlessly turns towards the car and leaps over it. Touching the roof for a moment with his right hand as he glides over it and lands safely. Continuing his sprint, he finally reaches his destination. Looking up at the skyscraper is massive in size, the second largest in the city. Its name is visible for miles around, in large and bold font. Titan Industries. Once inside the clerk in the front smiles and waves him through the security checkpoint. People bustle through the hallways, some late for meetings others too early for theirs. When they meet his gaze they smile warmly as if they are seeing a trusted friend. He returns the gesture hoping no one stops to talk to him.

“They only smile because they want the boss to like them. They really don’t care for you

at all. You know that right? It whispers.

“Shut up already.” Prometheus says.

“Excuse me?” A man replies.

Looking to his left a man stands looking perplexed with a coffee mug in his hand. He wears large framed glasses and has short spiky red hair with a black beard. The heads-up display reads his name as Marco Jameson, height 6’3, weight 200 lbs. Hostile. Before Prometheus can react, Marco smashes the coffee cup into his face. Stumbling backward Prometheus’s back hits the wall. Marco punches at him but Prometheus dodges his head away at the last minute. Marco’s hand goes through the wall and gets stuck. Prometheus quickly jabs him in the stomach with his right hand and then uppercuts him with his left. Marco falls back and lands on a nearby coffee table smashing it to pieces. Marco smiles and his eyes begin to glow green.

“I’ve been told to stop you Prometheus, apparently you’re not on our side yet.” Marco says. Prometheus turns to the nearby workers and screams.

“Get out of here! His code has malfunctioned!” They all start to panic and begin trampling each other to escape. Marco grabs the leg of the table and runs at Prometheus with it. He swings at him but Prometheus blocks it with his forearm. The wood shatters into pieces and he kicks Marco in the chest sending him across the room. Looking at his arm he sees his skin was ripped and the cybernetics can be seen. Marco lifts a nearby desk and hurls it at him. Leaping away the desk slams into the wall. A woman comes from the bathroom and sees the chaos. She begins to scream and Marco grabs her by the hair and positions her in front of him.

“Power yourself down or I’ll rip her head from her body.” Marco says coldly. Prometheus raises his hands and slowly walks towards them.

“She has two small kids, come on this isn’t necessary. I’ll go with you if you just put her down.” He says as Marco smiles.

“This is your weakness, actually caring for these walking corpses. One punch to her temple and she will be brain dead in seconds.” Marco says as he rears his hand back. Prometheus dashes towards them and leaps forward. Marco’s hand is about to slam into her temple and Prometheus catches his fist at the last second. He punches him in the face hard and he releases the woman. Prometheus grabs his head between his hands. Using every ounce of his strength he pulls as hard as he can. A loud tearing noise is heard as he rips his head from his body. Cables spring forth from his neck as the green glow begins to faint.

“What? Where am I? Why is…” Marco says. His eyes turn white as his system crashes. The woman runs out of the room as fast as she can. Prometheus falls back and sits down breathing heavy. Someone told him to stop me, is there a way to hack into our program? Is it Humanity First doing it? He thinks. Standing up, he goes to his office and plugs his fingers into his computer. Searching the mainframe, he comes across a file called DOUBTS with Richard’s password needed to access it. He begins trying combinations of words and numbers running thousands of attempts until finally it works and he gains access. Inside are documents of tests he secretly ran on the Remnant's ability to override parameters in their code. Out of one thousand tests, he only came across one instance of a Remnant being able to override their safety parameters. Prometheus thinks. Clicking on the video file, it was of the day at the press conference. Prometheus sees himself leap and attack the would-be murderer. Grabbing his head in his hand and ready to smash it on the concrete he pauses to see a faint green glow in his eyes. Covering his mouth with his hand Prometheus thinks. Even back then I could attack people. Why didn’t Richard stop the production of the others? He thinks. Opening another document titled CONFESSION, he begins to read it.

Something isn’t right with Prometheus, I know he attacked that man at the press conference and likely would have killed him if Logan didn’t step in. Even though he passed my initial tests I felt like it was staged somehow. I felt like Prometheus knew the right things to say to pass it. Maybe we shouldn’t have used a neural link to the other Remnant. Now Logan wants to sign a deal with the Military to begin production on Remnant units with combat functionality that overrides the human safety parameters. Essentially the Military and Titan Industries would be the only two that could turn those units off. What if they turn on us? What if someone finds a way to hack them? If the Military decides to use them against civilians in other countries that blood is on our hands! This just doesn’t feel right; my intuition has always been correct. I must stop this deal at all costs, even if it costs me the company. I contacted a Senator who is Anti Remnant in hopes he can bring this deal to light and stop it in its tracks before production begins on the new units. I’m supposed to meet him tonight, I just hope Logan can forgive me for betraying him like this.

Richard Williams

CFO of Titan Industries

The email was saved in his draft folder and was going to be sent the next day after the meeting with the senator. My neural link is compromised? Is that how this voice is using them for its own ends? I gotta tell Dad before it’s too- Prometheus thinks and suddenly he is frozen again. Electricity runs over his body and from behind him, the green glowing eyes walk from the shadows. It’s the woman from the parking garage, she smiles and bends down to whisper into his ear.

“Smart boy you are, too bad it took you so long to figure it out. The time has come, my name is Legion for we are many.” She says as she stabs him with the stun button and everything fades to black.