Beacon

The door of the hospital room opened. Samuel didn't turn around.

"You know, is weird; I know that window is fake, I know we are underground; but lately, somehow, looking at it calms me down and I find that disturbing, confusing isn't it Hector?"

"How you knew it was me?"

Samuel turned around to look at his old team mate. Hector looked different, his skin was smooth almost plastic. The new implants were everywhere in his body. Instead of veins popping out, a bunch of tubes or maybe cables could be seen under his skin. His eyes turned a bit sad, he turned to the window once more.

"Call it a feeling"

"How are you doing?"

"I am as fine as I can be. How are things going out there?"

"Quiet, too quiet Sam. Everyone is on their tiptoes; MARTA central node exploded, Rajiv and all the technicians from the node are dead; we blamed the Order of the Faith to keep a facade we have no other choice but to use them as scape goats. Most pilots, military officers and the general population have no idea what is going on and we want to keep it that way. All information we could have obtained from MARTA is gone; the secondary nodes were disconnected and rolled back to their default systems in order to make sure MARTA contaminated code didn't compromise them, so we can't use them. The tenctopus have had no activity in two weeks, the sea is too wide to cover, everyone is waiting and arming themselves to the teeth for an attack that might or might not come any minute now. "

"Maybe you shouldn't tell me this, I am not a pilot anymore"

"Too soon to tell, look at me; they told me I would never pilot an Exo ever again, but here I am"

Samuel turned his head away from the window and looked at Hector in the eyes.

"I don't want to be pilot again. I am done with this farce"

"Is not a farce Sam, not anymore. MARTA is gone, but our enemy is still around somewhere"

Samuel looked at his hands.

"I still can't believe the Pilots Affair Committee agreed to let me go free"

"It was not your fault, MARTA pulled a nasty trick on you"

"Still.. I can see them in my dreams you know. It was my hand pulling the trigger"

Samuel lifted his right hand up and did the shooting motion with his fingers.

"Have you talked to your father?" Hector tried to change the subject.

"A few times. He is doing fine, he is actually happy that I wont be a pilot anymore. If he only knew what I did"

"No one will ever know, unless you tell them Sam. The army has been thorough with all information regarding that incident. Most people don't need to know about this. Although some of it might had already gone out into the web, the government and the army is running a heavy disinformation campaign, no one will ever believe that MARTA or you were involved in any of this. As far as they know, we have been officially invaded by alien forces and our AI systems fell victim to radical terrorist; but we managed to find the underwater enemy base and take the fight to them. Everyone is welcoming our breakthrough against our enemy"

"I saw the propaganda, we supposedly landed a mayor blow to the enemy and destroyed their base. But that is my point; MARTA is gone and still nothing has changed, the war is still a lie"

"Maybe, but now space exploration is gaining a lot of interest; since the high ups have assured the population that the enemy at home is almost defeated, people are focusing their attention on the stars; if the enemy managed to reach us, we can reach them, that is what they are saying. Recruitments numbers for the program have skyrocketed and with the new tech compatibility and tolerance are almost things of the past"

"I see" Samuel turned his head to the fake window and looked at the image of the blue sky once again.

There was silence for a few awkward minutes.

"Well, I got to go, since we don't have any idea when the Tencts will attack we have pilots on duty and ready to go twenty for seven. My team shift is about to start"

"Good luck Hector" Samuel kept his sight off the window.

"Take care Sam"

Hector left the room. Samuel stood there in silence. Two weeks later he was sent home, his father and his grandmother welcomed him with open arms.

"You look so skinny, I will prepare my special stew, I managed to help your grandfather put on some weight with it after he retired" the old woman hugged Samuel with a lot more force that one would expect.

"Sure grandma, I would love some of your stew, the hospital food is always horrible no matter how good the hospital is"

The woman smiled and went straight to the kitchen. Then Williams got close to his son.

"Welcome home"

"Hello dad"

"You know I am glad you tried to make your grandma happy by accepting her stew, try to eat a couple spoons at least, I know you pilots don't have much of an appetite, but it would do a lot for her, your grandpa death was a hard blow for her"

"I am actually hungry" said Samuel with a smile.

Williams stood there confused.

"They removed most of my implants, specially the ones in my brain, since then I have recovered some appetite"

"Really?"

"Yeah. I guess I am a lot more human now"

Both men walked into the house and sat in the kitchen table, they watched the news until it was time to eat, Samuel ate a decent amount.

"I will have you plump and strong in a few months, don't worry Sammy"

"Thanks grandma"

After dinner Samuel stood still looking at the projection in front of him.

"You still want to be a pilot, don't you?" asked Williams.

"No dad, I don't" answered Samuel while still looking at the projection.

"Then, why you seem so sad Sammy" his Grandma asked.

Samuel gave a sight.

"There is a huge secret, some things happened, there is... things; things about grandpa and his team, MARTA, the Order of the Faith, the tecntopus, things I did"

Samuel eyes were full of tears.

"Tell us son, what happened?"

Samuel doubted for a few minutes. Finally he told them all the secrets the army, the government and the Pilots Affair Committee were trying to hide or trying to trick people into not believing with disinformation.

"All those deaths and years of war, for nothing. All because an AI went crazy" Williams said clenching his fists.

"I knew those things were not good, I never liked those machines" Samuel grandma took it a lot better than expected.

"Dad died for nothing, doesn't that make you angry?" Asked Williams.

"I am, but your grandfather was a soldier at heart, he didn't die for nothing. He died protecting his country, protecting his family, protecting his grandson, I am sure he would do it all over again without a doubt. In the end he succeeded, his family is doing well and the war is over. The fact that his team managed to defeat the real enemy in the end is just the cherry on top"

"Is not over grandma, is not over; they will attack, I can feel it"

"Well, enough with this. We are alive and got things to do; I have to go to the third age association now, we are preparing an activity for next week, maybe you should come Sammy; I have a few friends with daughters your age"

"Grandma, things don't work like that anymore"

"They worked for me and your father, too bad you mother died so young, I wanted at least one granddaughter"

"What time was this reunion? Ain't you late for it?" Williams was trying to make his mother drop the subject.

The woman finally got her purse and left. Samuel went up to his room and watched through the window remembering old things. He raised his hand like saying goodbye.

"I wish you were here grandpa, I feel so lost"

The rest of the day passed without much event. That night Samuel woke up suddenly in the middle of the night gasping. Then he fell asleep again. Something similar happened a few more time during the next two weeks. One day after going down to the kitchen for breakfast his father dropped some letters on the table, they came from the Pilots Affairs Committee branch of the army. Samuel opened them.

"What do they want?" Asked Williams while drinking coffee.

"They are offering me a job"

Samuel said with a mix of surprise and disgust.

"You told me you can't pilot anymore, you are not thinking about joining one of those crazy experiments are you?"

"No dad, I told you. I don't want to be a pilot ever again. They want me to become an instructor in the local base"

"Oh!" Williams didn't seem to oppose the idea.

"What are you gonna do?"

"Give them the middle finger"

Williams was silent for a moment.

"Maybe you should think about it. It is not like you have much of a choice. I know how it is, your grandfather went through the same. You might recover some strength but your body will always be weaker"

"I though you hated the pilots and army"

"And I do. But you have to think about your future. The army ain't going to disappear. Also, if you stay a civilian you wont know what is really going on. Your grandfather saved us many times thanks to his connections inside the army"

Samuel stayed silent for a while.

"You might be right. Since I was a kid I only though about becoming a pilot, I never imagines myself doing anything else. Now I don't know what to do. I didn't expect to be alive by now or being a retired pilot so soon"

"Well, I am glad it ended like this" William said as he ruffled Samuel now growing hair.

"Me too dad"

One week later Samuel came back home after going out, his face wasn't too happy.

"What happened son?"

"Nothing much, I tried to visit Hector, he was on duty; it seems that the information about what happened and the things I did have spread among a few soldiers, they were less than welcoming and told me that I am retired and should not visit the base"

Samuel gave a sight.

"I just hope they give him my message"

"Son, what is going on?"

"With what?"

"I can hear you talk in your sleep, some nights you wake up screaming; maybe you should see an specialist, the Pilots Affair Committee has good professionals, maybe they can help you"

"Is not that dad"

Samuel took a deep breath.

"They are coming dad, they will attack, I can feel it. I dream of it, I can... see them in the deeps of the sea, digging for minerals. They are just reproducing and replenishing their numbers, without MARTA they are like animals with a simple order; to fight humans, they will come"

"How you know that, son?"

"I just know, one of those things was basically fused with my brain remember? They are coming, I can feel it"

Two days later an army convoy showed up to the Terrence household, after opening the door Samuel smiled.

"Nice to see you Hector, you look like shit"

Hector looked more skinny and depleted than ever before, his face looked even more plastic than before if that was possible.

"You know me bro, always in fashion, this is the ultimate look for a pilot this days, the neat part is I don't need to dress up for El dia de los muertos, I already look like a corpse"

They both laughed.

"But look at you homie, gaining weight, growing hair, is that a belly I see, men you really let yourself go" Hector continued to tease as he entered the house.

The two men sat at the sofa, Hector face turned serious.

"I guess you didn't go to see me just for a visit"

"What gave me away?"

"I know a few things about you homs"

Samuel looked into Hector eyes.

"I am having this dreams, I am floating in the ocean, then the water turns red, there is men swimming and screaming around me. The Tencts, they come out from the deeps of the ocean and torn the men apart right in front of my eyes; minced meat everywhere. I am trying to swim, but the current is pulling me further away from the shore, then it comes. That thing is huge, the general of the Tenctopus, the thing MARTA was controlling"

Samuel started trembling as the hairs in his arms stood up.

"The fluorescent tentacles wrap around me and drag me down to the ocean. They are coming Hector, they are coming soon, I... I can feel it, they are rebuilding their numbers, multiplying, they will come. They will surge like a tide from the ocean and destroy everything in their way, they don't know what else to do, is all they have been doing since MARTA brought them into existence"

"Is just a dream bro"

"No, is not!" Samuel yelled.

"They will come like they did the first time..." Samuel got up and stood there with his eyes wide open.

"Like the first time" he repeated.

Hector looked at him confused, then suddenly his eyes opened.

"Hawaii" both of them said.

Hector ran out of the house and got into one of the vehicles from the convoy.

"Captain Broflosky this is a priority; I am at Samuel's house I need transport to be arranged to the command center immediately, I repeat, this is top priority"

"Hector, this is not a safe line"

"Captain, we don't have time for this; we have to move, now!"

"Understood"

The captain accepted. Samuel barely had time to say good bye to his father as him and Hector boarded the Humvee and went back to the local base. A helicopter was waiting for them. The two men were flown away to the secret base of the command center. They were greeted by General Cromwell, Captain Broflosky and a few other high ranking officers that were already waiting for them, a few minister were connected via a secure line using military satellites. Samuel explained his suspicions.

"You want us to take our decision based on a dream?" asked the minister from USA.

"No sir, It is not a dream. I know what they will do, because I was connected to one of them. They are basic creatures that were created by the AI to fulfill a purpose and they will try their best to do it"

"Son, we already know about your experience and let me tell you, that only makes me doubt you even more. How do we know you are not a compromised asset?" the south Korea minister asked.

Samuel showed a irritated face, he was about to open his mouth when Hector spoke.

"Sir, I don't know you, I don't care much about politics, but there is two things I know: One, this man is not a traitor. Two: If he says the enemy is coming to Hawaii, I am going there"

"Captain Hernandez, that is not a decision you can make on your own" the minister who accused Samuel retorted.

"Who is gonna stop me?" Hector crossed his arms over his chest in a challenging manner.

Broflosky looked at Cromwell and then at Samuel.

"How sure are you about this attack?"

"I am totally sure" answered Samuel.

"Well, we don't have any other lead, if captain Terrence is right and we are not there; we might have a lot of trouble in the future. However if he is wrong we can just take it as an exercise, lets send a few squads there just in case" Cromwell gave his opinion.

"No!" Samuel yelled.

"You don't understand, you have to send them all, all the exo pilots you can find, the army, drop all the missiles you can find on them, is gonna be an all out war"

"That is impossible, we wont get all of our weapons in a single place, that is stupid" the French minister rejected Samuel proposal.

"Remember what happened the first time" reminded Hector.

"That computer tricked us, she just wanted to destroy our military, in the end we did well in not sending all we had" The French minister rebuked.

"There is something you are forgetting minister, we have no other clue. It has been a months since the enemy disappeared, no attack has been launched, Samuel hint that they are accumulating forces is a non contest, the problem is we don't know where they will attack. He has an idea and is the best we have" Captain Broflosky gave her opinion.

"All right, lets vote" said the minister of Noway.

"Right now?" Questioned the Spanish Minister.

"Yes, now! Are you busy with something more important Albert?" The French minister seemed irritated.

"Okay, those in favor of sending our troops to Hawaii say, Yes"

The USA minister was the first one to cast its vote.

"Yes"

Most countries that followed voted in favor of the strategy.

"No" said the Russians and the British.

Most of Europe voted against, most of America voted in favor, Africa was divided, Asian countries were also divided, while Oceania was mostly in favor.

"It has been decided, we will have our last stand in Hawaii" The minister of Norway finally announced the results.

That same day thousands of pilots and their giant exoskeletons were dispatched from all bases around the world towards the Hawaiian coast.