The Milky Way Saga: Cities to Embers (Book 1 of 3)

Chapter 17: The End Of The Beginning

0602 hours March 2nd, 2160

I've been looking through records over the past few seconds and Isaac Free died aboard the MWR HOPE with Bailey Allen Free and their unborn child. I was able to gain access to top secret files and found out that I was a part of a program of Androids. The best of the best, programed to answer certain questions with certain answers. Isaac Free, Janet Harold, Bailey Allen Free, and George A.D.R. Dallon Jr. were all recreated. We were made using the skin samples we have to give now when we enlist in the military. Our brains, hearts, and eyes are all recreated. Our brains are not recreated by themselves, mind you. They were created with little computers that stored as many artificial memories on them as possible. And I was the only one that worked. We all had code names, Mine was Hope. Bailey's was Savior. I wish I could've just died with her. Even as an artificial person, I still miss her. Maybe it's because I'm programed to. To miss her so much that I would want to fight the aliens. The Incolma. The Destroyers. I hate it all. The Milky Way Republic, Bret, Ford, Bailey... Isaac. I hate it all. I found out that we all had little self destruct systems inplanted in us. We were to use them if we ever got to be captured by the incolma. We were also suposed to be self-aware. The scientist who was resonsible for creating me was being terminated from his job. He made me into his own tool, he tried to create me as a person, tried to make me think that I was Isaac. He did a pretty great job of that.

I found a list of people who knew about it. Who knew that I wasn't going to be me. The list is as follows:

Joesph Douglas Ford

Bret Waard IV

Bret Waard III

Janet Cruz Waard

Douglas Allen

Brenda Lopez Allen

Geoff Miller

Hilary Brendan

Oliver Henderson

Elisa Johnson

Mikeal Dawn-Jackson

All of the most important people of the MWR and Friends and Family. Bret knows and he didn't tell me. I hate them all so much. I wish they were dead too. I wish I could just end it all here and now... But wait.

I woke up in the control room of the ship I had infiltrated earlier. I was surrounded by the Incolma. Then, another one older one came over to me. It looked a lot like the Wise One.

"You are finally with us? Good, I want to see your face when we kill your planet. Not that you really have much of one anymore. What are you, machine?"

"I am Earth's Hope, I was made to stop you from destroying our home."

"Your home? This is no one's home, anymore." He looked at the control pad and swiped his large fingers along the panels. "In only three minutes, your 'home' will be no more." I smiled.

"What do you smile about, machine? You've lost, failed your only mission. What do you smile about."

"I'm smiling about the fact that in only ten seconds, this ship will be nothing but a whisper in space."

"Nonsense. Do not listen to the heathen, my followers, He doesn't know of what he speaks."

"I knew of Hav'rte, and I knew of Utanrehe, and I know of my followers," I began to shout, "If any of you are here, I'm sorry that you have to see me like this. I didn't mean for things to get this far out of hand. You will die in the next SIX seconds as heroes, nothing less. Your people will know of it, as I have sent them a message."

"No, they will not, they are not your followers, and you will not be doing anything in any amount of time, besides dying."

"I'm sorry to disappoint you, Oh Truthful One, but I am going to be exploding horrifically in only FOUR seconds."

"How did you know my name?"

"Oh, I know more than just your name." My voice began to sound more and more metallic, like my body was using the energy to prime the bomb.

"No!" Three "You will not win this fight!No matter, there is more of us, far more already arriving! Look!" He was right. There were at least another twenty ships, Earth is going to fall. Two. But I can make sure not another human planet does. Earth might be our home, but we still have Venus, and entire systems out of the way of the path that these aliens took to get here. Humanity won't lose this War. Humanity will win because it has to, not because it wants to.

ONE.

It was very strange exploding like that. I felt my heart, but only for a split second, and it didn't hurt, it tingled, like a tickle. There was a huge white flash and it was over. I do remember seeing the blackness of space, and even seeing Bret's ship, The Behemoth, heading towards me. From my understanding, it was like looking at the ship one second, seeing a giant white orb absorb the middle of the ship, and every spot that orb touched, was completely gone. I had done it, killed yet another of their Holy Lords, and taken out one of their larger ships, but it wasn't enough.

Earth was glassed at 0730 hours exactly. no milliseconds, no fractions of milliseconds. It started at seven thirty in the morning, on a  Saturday. Children were getting out of bed to go watch Cartoons, moms and dads were sleeping in, beat from a long week at work. Nine Billion people, dead in only three hours. The Moon was left alone, Ember II and Isaac and Bret's parents were lucky enough to live.

On March 5th, 2160, Bret Waard IV went back to Earth to try to find something that He thought would help him protect the Ballad System, and he found me stuck to one of the drifting OBD system checkpoints. He removed my remains, Just a chunk of my upper body, as well as my head and a small piece of my left arm. He took me aboard the MWR HOPE II and had my memory unit repaired.

I exist now as you fix me. What year is it now? 2162, and we're still fighting. Incredible. I don't think I will go by Isaac once you are done, though. I think I might go by... AI. I thinks it's for the best no one calls me Isaac anymore.