Chapter 1

The falling snow filled the quiet air. The tall, lifeless, trees in the suburbs of Chicago cast looming shadows on the empty asphalt streets. The small suburban community seemed peaceful at night. The crescent moon shone its dim light on the barren neighborhood. Eventually, footsteps could be heard. The clattering metal of robots began to fill the empty, noiseless void of the streets. A patrol was coming. 

Patrols of alien robots were the only noise in the neighborhood. They filled the void of sound both day and night. There would be the occasional rat or opossum scurrying through the garbage, but otherwise, nothing, nothing alive at least.

A plume of dark cherry red fire lit the cloudy sky for a few moments, blending with the starry, dim sky. Seconds later, another plume followed from the same place. The plumes originated from one of the suburban houses, from inside a frozen attic. The window on the roof was melted and shattered, with shards shining in the snow, and glittering in the moonlight. Milliseconds after the second plume, racket could be heard from the roof, like light footsteps. A boy then jumped out of the attic, creating a third plume of fire above him. His hair was dark brown, almost black. He wore a bright orange t-shirt with several small tears at the ends of his sleeves as well as a pair of blue pants which were also slightly ripped. The goggles on The boy's head shimmered in the flamelight. His body was on the slim side. Not very muscular, but not scrawny either. The boy's eyes were bright and wide in excitement, with the biggest smile on his face. The boy's name? Asher Johnson.

"I've got you now!" he yelled from atop. His fists were on fire as he punched right through one of the robots. "YAAAAH!" he yelled, throwing the remains of the robot at another. The clattering of the metal sounded like slamming pans, letting a sharp and piercing sound. The remaining few robots began to shoot at Asher. He reacted quickly, hopping off the remains of the two destroyed robots to another one, playing leapfrog with the deadly mechanical monsters. He landed on the back of one and grabbed its arms. The poor robot attempted to shoot at Asher but instead was pulled by its arms like a puppet master, causing it to blast the other robots around him. The robots all fell, with the clattering of the falling metal echoing through the, otherwise empty, streets. Asher then set his arms ablaze and pulled on the final robot's body until it snapped apart. As it fell, Asher looked around him. All that was lying around Asher now were parts of robots, all scattered through the snow. 

Five more robots appeared and began to shoot at Asher, just grazing his side. He darted behind an old car. Now pinned down, he began to think of how to successfully attack from behind the car. Asher looked around the car, eventually looking towards the front of the car. He found the hood propped open, with the engine mostly intact. "Alright," he said under his breath. "Time to cause an explosion." He pulled the engine beside him and got ready to throw it. Asher realized how heavy the engine was as he attempted to squat it up. "I… Really… Need to start… Going… to the… GYM!" He grunted as he flung the engine into the air. The engine flew in the air, somehow soaring higher and higher. The engine began slowing down as it reached the height of the neighborhood trees. Once the engine was high enough, Asher shot a small plume of fire. The small arrow of fire soared even faster in the sky, making contact with the engine in seconds. The engine combusted in a beautiful display of flames in a fraction of a second. The fire distracted the robots as if a helicopter were flying overhead. The distraction worked long enough for Asher to attack one of the robots, destroying ione of its legs and takes its gun. 

PEW PEW PEW

Asher successfully blasts three other robots with one of their blasters. He threw one of the robot's bodies at the remaining two robots, causing more clattering sounds. Now more robot parts were laying in the snow. Small robotic digits lay apart from the arms of their bodies. 

Asher begins to scavenge the robot's corpses for parts he could use. He finds power cells, flasks of hydrogen and deuterium, and a small fusion core inside the patrol leader. Asher then shoves his hand into the neck joint of the robot and breaks the head off. "Now time to gather some information," Asher said with a grin. Asher stashed the head into a satchel and then ran off before the next patrol arrived.

The streets began to glow in the night, as lights shone from above on large alien warships. "Oh man, they are using searchlights now?" Asher frowned, disappointedly.

"Well, time to go home." Asher began to pack his bag, the lights were getting closer. With every street that began to glow, Asher's forehead began to drip with melted snow and very tense sweat. His bag was finally buckled as the searchlights continued onto his street. His eyes wandered upwards, as he saw multiple patrols marching towards him. "CRAP!" Asher yelled. "Time to get the heck outta here!" He darted into a nearby forest behind the houses. His legs were pumping with adrenaline, with excitement bursting out of him. He sets his fist ablaze once he goes far enough into the woods. "I should be safe now." He said to himself. He pauses for a second before falling into the snow. "That was awesome!" Asher yelled with excitement. "Whooo!" He let out all his pent-up energy with one yell. Asher began running towards a clearing in the forest, eventually reaching an old abandoned shed. "There it is," he said. Asher ran over to an old log and pulled it aside, revealing a trap door. He pulled open the trap door with a rope that was tied to the handle. He hopped inside the trap door, sealing the entrance behind him. 

Asher climbed down a ladder that led to the basement of the shed. He turned on a light to reveal the contents of the basement, his current home. Pictures could be seen on the walls. One shows Asher, but a few years younger with a man in his thirties. There are several other pictures. One picture had a few children playing with each other in a garage on it. Another showed him in a suit with his friend in a sparkling dress. An adjacent wall showed a bulletin board with maps and bands connecting ideas and thoughts. 

Asher took out the severed robot head from the satchel and plopped it onto a desk. He grabbed a cable from his computer and placed it into the back of the robot head and began a download of all the information. Asher falls into his bed. His mind began to relax and wander through his thoughts. Asher's mind eventually flashed back to the day of the invasion, the day his world would change forever.

Two weeks ago… In Urbana Illinois…

"Hey Brock, we need to finish this project before the professor comes," Asher said. He was in a college lab with other students and plenty of desks. Asher and another friend named Brock were at a lab table at the far back, with an inactive Bunsen burner and a sealed box. An old car battery sat on a stool beside Asher with a small car beside them.

"Okay, give me the deuterium cell," Brock replied. "I'll connect it to the fusion cell." 

Asher began to dig through a box of chemical compounds and molecules. "Aight, here," Asher said as he passed the deuterium.

"Thanks!" Brock said as he finished the fusion cell. The professor then walked in, with a presence that seemed to suffocate the room. His eyes immediately caught Asher's and Brock's table in the back. His body turned towards the table, with his feet pointing in their direction. Each step echoed through the room, with every student staring at the professor. Asher's and Brock's stomachs dropped with every footstep they heard. After the longest five seconds of their lives, The professor finally reached the back table.

"Could I see a demonstration from you two?" the professor asked. The tension in the room escalated tenfold as Asher and Brock stared at the professor. Their eyes were wide and their hands were shaking with immense fear.

"Sure!" said both Brock and Asher with their throats stiff and closed. Asher pressed the button on top of the Fusion cell with his shaking hand. The two chemicals began to pour into the main cell. The atoms of the chemicals began to accelerate rapidly, eventually creating a net positive energy source. The cell began to glow brightly, eventually sparking. Plasma began to form in the main cell, generating more energy. Brock then plugged the cell into the car battery. The car's motor turned on following with the entire car starting to life. All the functions of the car became operational and the motor began to run at maximum efficiency. The plasma in the cell soon cooled rapidly before there was nothing left in the cell. The car then shut down promptly.

"Congratulations Asher and Brock, you have passed your winter final!" The professor said proudly.

"Asher! We did it!" Brock exclaimed to Asher. The two celebrated as anyone would. Asher jumps with his fist in the air, while Brock falls into a chair, easing his muscles from the stress.

A shadow covered the window, sending a terrible feeling down every student's spine. A blast could then be heard from outside the lab. The students ran to the window, staring at the sky to see a giant figure eclipsing the campus. A blast hit the courtyard just outside of the lab, sending people flying into classrooms. People's screams filled the air as the fire raged everywhere. The students were fleeing as they watched the shadowy figures destroy their campus bit by bit.

"We have to get outta here!" Asher yelled. He then jumped out of the window, landing in the courtyard. He then saw robots descend from above. They began to shoot at the college students, piling corpses high. Asher was having none of it and began to fight the robots head-on. His arms and legs erupted into flames as he struck one of the robots in the head. He sees robots picking up the paralyzed college students and loading them into shuttles. Asher gets enraged and his flames begin to burn a brighter red, almost orange. He sees the robots break into the college dorms and begin taking people. The screams were all that Asher could hear. "CRAP" he exclaimed as he continued to attack the robots. His flames were doing damage, but not enough to stop the hordes of robots marching toward him. Asher looked up to see the alien spaceship flying away along with all of the shuttles. The robots then begin to fly away instead of continuing the fighting. The fires from the attack began to burn brightly, creating dense layers of smoke in the sky. Asher looked around the college only to see it on fire. He was now all alone.

The rain soon began, putting out the fires around him. He saw a glimpse of the alien ship heading north. He got on his bike and set his sights to follow as now he had nothing left he could do.

Present Day…

BEEP BEEP

Asher snapped back into reality after hearing the download complete.

"YEAH! It's done!" He yelled out in excitement. He leaped onto the computer and opened up the files. Asher finds the file for the product information of the robot, which brings him to an information log for the robot. He opens up the information log, hoping to find some valuable information.

Zever droid model: 73-ZD

Registration number: BO-157299

Function: Conquer and occupy planet and inhabitants

Fleet: 396 Exploration and Invasion

Commander: Arc-45612

Access Codes: 45612 87430 12069

The Droid head then activates a privacy lock and prevents Asher from looking any further into the robot's head.

"AAAAHHHGGG! Now what?" Asher yelled out of frustration. "I waited for TWO HOURS in that stupid attic. The information wasn't even that useful. All I gained was the name of the aliens and a bunch of access codes." Asher tried the access codes, but nothing worked. He was fully shut out from the robot's system, and it had wiped all the data in its hard drive. Asher's face showed that of annoyance, but then he smiled a little and then let out a laugh. "Nothing left to do but to scavenge the outskirts of the city." He said with a laughter-filled sigh. Asher begins to pack a bag with some supplies. He packs his computer, some photos, and a few flash drives. 

Asher gets out of the shed he had called his home for the past two weeks. He takes out the power cells he collected before. He looks at his bike, which had lost power when he arrived. "Aight," he said to himself. "Time to get this thing working again." Asher puts the power cells into the battery pack and powers on the bike. In just a few moments, the bike rejuvenates back to its former condition, readying to go. "Woo! It turned on!" he yelped with excitement. "Now time to get going!" He gets on the bike and lowers his goggles. "Oh, I almost forgot," He said as he got off and picked up his helmet. He put it on and snapped on the buckle. "Now it's time to get goin," Asher said at last.