My name is WL-591. I'm a children of the shell.
I pray our god wokan for forgiveness, I pray our god wokan for love, I pray our god wokan for everything that happens, just like others. There are people inside the chamber where i reside but as far as I can tell - I was always alone.
I grew up in the shell - 75901 at the North East city. I call it North east because that's where its located from the Central Base of the Guardians, who follow the decree of our god and protect us. In this shell, a group of special people called the Caretakers visit us every day in the morning.
The Caretakers are a little different from us. They look prettier than us and from what i heard, they're not of male gender like the rest of us. They're allowed to visit any chamber and it's their routine to talk with the children of the shell. But they never stick around for long, and sometimes they disappear for prolonged periods of time and i'll be left all alone since they're the only people that talk to me. Every other children of the shell wears a black goggle over their face and stays like a vegetable all day. I wish the Caretakers would live with us. Some of the Caretakers are old and they are not that fond of the young people like me. They are pretty hostile when i lock eyes with them. I would mostly leave them alone unless they talk to me first. Since, i'm the only one awake and conscious, there's only one old caretaker visiting my chamber every day. Her name is Kyle. She wears a black and white silk cloth, covering every part of her body other than her face. She has a pretty pair of blue eyes and brown fluffy hair. She talks to me every morning. She would teach me a bit about what the ancient humans used to do in their free times, how they lived and what they ate in special occasions referred to as 'festivals'.
Every thing she said never failed to fascinate me.
I've told her that i felt an attraction towards her, that i can't explain in words. She told me that feeling is called as 'love'. That's what people who would say to each other if they felt attracted. I said that i love her. She said that she's in love with me too but more like a mother. I didn't understand what that meant. I asked her if she likes me. She said, she really likes me. I'm happy with that. She gave me a gift. 'It's about time that you get your own device like everyone in the shell. Wear this on your head and you would be able to see me anytime you want.' She handed me one of those black goggles that everyone in the chamber wears. I'm the last to recieve it. I thanked her before she left, and kept looking at her as she walked through the walls and disappeared.
I cannot follow her as none of us are supposed to leave this chamber for our own safety. After praying to wokan's name which glows in bright red colour on the chamber walls, i ate the food served by the automatic food serving machinaries. They bring me delicious food every day, without fail. But none of them ever talked to me, in all these years i've been in this shell. But they just serve food and leave. I always thought that they're not meant to talk like humans. It must be a sad existence to work all day. I never worked a minute in my life so i cannot critique the life of others so, i didn't think about the machinaries ever again.
In Kyle's opinion, 'We are the superior species and we invented the machines for our convenience. That's why, they show absolute obedience to us'. I'm not quite sure if i agree with her views. I expressed that I would much rather like the machinaries to interact more like a friend to me. She seemed pleased with my reply and said that i have a kind heart. I don't know what kind heart meant, but that sounds like it's a good thing to have. I asked Kyle, who I am and why do i live here. She paused and stared at me with an odd contemptious look on her face. 'Who you are is for you to figure out by living the way you want. There are no pre-determined purpose for every soul. God wants you to find yourself in the way that you see fit. On why you have to exist here, it is because the outside world is very harsh and you wouldn't survive a minute if you weren't in this wonderful shelter we call shells, blessed by our god, wokan. I liked her explanation. But, i can't help but think that the notion of giving meaning to my own life is an convenient response to shut me up from asking further questions related to that topic. i asked her, what were the outside influences that could corrupt me.
She didn't have time to answer, as it was already late for me to have breakfast. She said that we can talk tomorrow and left. Tonight, i decided to use the device like everyone else. I took the device and fastened it over my face, it covered my forehead and my eyes. For a minute, all i saw was the darkness of the glass. I tried to wait for the device to do its thing and finally it showed a bright light. It blinded me but slowly turned into an open landscape. I saw Kyle standing ahead of me in the distance. 'W-Where am i.. is that you, Kyle?' I hesitated for a moment and stood in the place that i had spawned. There's lush sprouts of green things under my feet. This place is full of green things on the ground, it was very open and there is no ceiling. I looked above and saw a blue expanse of nothingness, interrupted from time to time by passing shades of white smoke that floated effortlessly. 'Is this..?' i said to Kyle, who wore one of her usual smile for me.
'Yes. This place was used by the ancient humans to farm and harvest their food. domesticated animals grazed these lands during those days. This was their home.' Kyle replied. 'And from now, this is going to be our special place. just you and me.'
'That's.. really cool!.. i didnt know there is a place like this... nobody told me about this place when they got this device..' i replied in shock and a bit of sadness. 'I thought everyone in our chamber liked me. They talked about things to me before they got this device.. after that, they declined to talk with me.. I see why now.'
'You cant blame them —I'm sure they wanted to keep it a secret, so no one can take this special moment away from them.'
'I.. guess... So, we can live here from now on? this is all real, right?'
'Yes, it is real. This is the reward you have earned, WL-591. We can live here forever. You don't need to take your device off —This will be our sanctuary. You and me. Forever and ever,' Kyle said in a lovely tone and whispered, 'Come closer to me.'
I still can't believe it. So, I'm going to live with Kyle inside this new world from now? That is wonderful. But I miss the Kyle of the real world. I know this world cannot be real. Before I could get closer, I felt my body going numb.
'Kyle. What is going on?' I asked.
'What do you mean? Isn't this what you always said that you wanted?'
'What? When did I say to you about wanting this?' I asked, perplexed. I backed away. Kyle kept coming closer towards me.
'What do you mean by that? Did you forget it, WL-591?'
'What did I forget? I didn't forget anything, Kyle.. could you repeat what I said to you yesterday?'
'Oh, you must be joking, right? you didn't forget it so you know what we agreed upon. come closer.'
She kept coming closer to me with her arms wide open.
'N-No, I want you to say it, Kyle!' I kept going back without taking my eyes off Kyle.
'Say it to me!' I repeated.
'You're naughty, WL-591...'
'SAY IT KYLE!!' I yelled.
She finally stopped approaching me. With her arms still wide open, she said in a raspy voice - i've never heard her sound like that before. 'You said let's have sex and start a family far away from this shell. that's what you always told me.'
...
That's not what we talked about. Kyle herself said that she likes me as a child. She told me to see her as a mother figure who loves me unconditionally.
This is not the Kyle that I knew for so many years.
'No... No!! You're NOT Kyle!' I shouted and tried to take off the device from my head. It's gripping my entire forehead. I struggled for a way to take it off. 'GET OFF ME!!'
Suddenly, someone punched me and broke the device off. I sprawled out on my back on the table. 'You need to leave this shell! Now!' I hear a voice coming in front of me. My eyes are blurry from the impact. Someone is grabbing me by my shoulders and shaking me off to stand up.
'We don't have time to explain, but you need to leave right now!' It's the voice of a Guardian force officer. They keep watch of the outside world to eliminate threats to the shells where we live. I have never actually seen an officer from the Guardian forces until now. This officer wears an all black metal armor over their face, encased in a tight helmet, stylish, matte, with a wokan symbol embedded in translucent over the glass helmet. The helmet blended with their armor neatly. Their voice had a harsh ring to it; it felt synthetic.
The officer broke the device from the outside but i still couldn't remove it from my head. The space where my eyes are now open as the glass material and silicon chips were forcibly removed off my face to have an opening where i can actually see things normally. I'm still too jittery over the punch and my head aches. I rushed towards the giant doors with metal casings, but the officer grabbed me by my neck and sprinted straight towards the door. 'No, no! No!'. I fully expected to hit my head first into the thick metal but i'm actually phased through the door, completely unscathed. 'what? how..?'
'I don't have time to explain, kid! let's get a move on! go through that hallway and you'll meet 7 armed troopers. try to keep your head high above the ceiling at all times and you'll be okay.'
'What if i looked down?'
'You'll be left with a million holes on your body and die a painful, pathetic death. that's what will happen if you failed. good luck and godspeed!'
And with that the officer pushed me far out in the dark hallway, i landed on my chest and bruised my knees badly. 'Ouu.. ahh' My body aches with pain, i can't think straight. This is the first time that i'm seeing my own blood. I learnt it's a red liquid but i never knew that i could bleed before.
I saw that there's no one in the chamber and it was turned dark red. It seems like there's an emergency protocol under way. The officer led me way past the area that used to be my chamber, the one place that I'm supposed to live my whole life. The one place that i was taught to never leave under any circustances.
I have to keep moving. Or i'll die by the hands of the people who i thought were supposed to protect me for life.
Prologue - End. The First one takes flight to the harsh world of monsters and mechanoid soldiers. Gaining new found knowledge of the forces and the world, Will he survive? Will he perish at the hands of the metal souls? Find out in the next chapter of METAL SOULS - THE FIRST CONTACT.