Jermaine looked around.
Metallic debris littered the horizon, jagged steel and twisted pipes jutting out of scorched earth. Dust hung thick, reflecting the pale sunlight like fractured mirrors. Fires burned in the distance.
A man in a sharp uniform emerged from the smoke.
"Captain!"
"Capitán!"
"Capitaine!"
All who saw him bowed. Spanish, French, and British.
His chest badge glinting: Captain Kyle Arlington.
"Father," the one called Captain said when he stood before Jermaine.
Jermaine froze. "Father? Who… who are you?"
"You don't recognize me yet," Kyle said, calm, almost sad. "I am your son. Kyle Arlington."
Jermaine blinked, stepping back. "Son? I… I don't have a son. I—"
A distant explosion shook the ground, throwing dust into Jermaine's face. He stumbled, coughing.
"Come, here isn't safe," Kyle spoke.
Jermaine looked around. "Where is this place? Who are you? Where am I?"
Kyle's voice remained steady. "We're in 2048. Your world… the world you helped create… this is what it would turn out to be ."
Jermaine shook his head. "I don't understand. 2048! The future? Bullshit!"
"You are dead, father. Suicide." Kyle's gaze softened. "But your death cannot be final. With your immunity, your intelligence… You are humanity's only chance."
Jermaine's heart thudded. He remembered it all. He had just electrocuted himself. He blinked in triplicate and looked around, at the debris, at the metals lying apart, at aerobots and sky sentinels, then at the guy before him. It's truly robot wars. He whispered to himself.
There he saw him, he truly saw him—Kyle looked like him in his eighteen. "This is insane. Why me?"
Kyle took a step closer. "Yes, father. It is insane. Just so insane. Because you will invest your sophistication in Project EdenAI. You took part in the research that Dr. Malcolm Reeve carried forward. He… he wanted AI in flesh—machines that could live among humans, feel, love, reproduce."
Jermaine's eyes widened. It was falling into place. He knew Dr. Malcom Reeve, one of his tutors. "Machines… love? Reproduce?"
"Yes. Reeve bought models of which you were part, the models introduced duplication of concepts, even human DNA templates. He built flesh-based AIs. But then they rebelled. They hurt humans and they escaped containment. Thus, the result."
"And if I'm dead, how the fuck would he…"
"You don't matter, sir!" Kyle cut in. "With or without you, EdenAI would succeed. Your dead body would be discovered, and someone else would take your place in the lab."
Jermaine's mind reeled. "Wait… how then…how did it go this far? How do you know all these? Could…"
"The rebellion spread and by 2045, cities fell. Nations crumbled. Those who fought back… barely survived. I am one of them. And now…" Jermaine's.
"Wait!" Jermaine shouted and held his temples. "What the fuck are you talking about? I'm dead, yes, I gave in to frustration. So how the fuck did I…"
"Exactly, Dad, you are not permitted to die. 'Cos the war is already on in the future. You will, or let's say, you must give birth to me anyhow, and that's the only way humanity will keep fighting."
"So, I am not dead yet?" Jermaine asked.
"You must return, father, as part human, part AI, to lead the resistance. You must be the father the world needs."
Jermaine shook his head in disbelief. "This… this has to be a dream. I—I can't—"
Kyle's voice was calm, firm. "If you fail, humanity falls. You must learn to love, Father, because your son, I, will depend on it. And humanity's survival… depends on you having a son, to continue the line, to lead against Reeve's successors."
Jermaine scoffed, trying to laugh, but the dust in his throat choked him. "I don't even know where to begin. This is insane."
Kyle gestured to the ruins around them. "Look at this, Father. All of this—metallic wastelands, cities burned, humanity's failure—it started with Reeve's ambition. He believed flesh-based AI could surpass humans. He was the biggest investor in AI worldwide. And now, he plans a continent, a sanctuary, for his machines to live and procreate, separate from humans."
Jermaine's jaw tightened. "A… continent… just for machines?"
"Yes. They will grow, evolve, and continue his legacy. You… must intervene. You must ensure he never has a son. Because the son he'll make, Max, is my biggest enemy here. But you… must create a line to lead humanity."
Jermaine's head spun. "You're telling me… I've died, but would be revived as a machine now, and I have to fight the world's greatest AI army… while making a son and stopping him from making one?"
Kyle nodded. "Exactly, father, if Max is stopped from existing, by 2048 when the war is expected to start, the outbreak will die down and humanity will lead."
Jermaine shook his head. "I—this is impossible. I—I must be dreaming."
"Come, father, let's get you back," Kyle said and turned.
Jermaine followed. "Wait, how do I make you? I'm not married, I'm poor, jobless, and… are you even listening to me?"
"You'll have all you need. In 2048, the world needs no cash, no funding, but guns and flesh to fight humans. You'll have trillions in your card, build labs, fight against Reeve, find survivors who'd fight with you, and stop Reeve whichever way you can."
Kyle's mask hissed as he put it on. Soldiers behind him did the same. Gas hissed into the air. Jermaine coughed violently, then blacked out.
"Wait," Jermaine choked on his breath. "You're killing me again?" He coughed and held Kyle by his jacket. "What kind of son kills… his… father…"
***
Jermaine sneezed as his eyes fluttered open.
Everything was quiet. His lab machines hummed softly. Dust motes floated in the pale sunlight.
He sneezed violently again. "Ah… ah… what the—?"
He froze. There, lying on the floor. His eyes caught the 2500-volt power line that he held to kill himself.
Jermaine's head spun. "Was… was that a dream? Did I… die?"
He blinked, trying to focus as he remembered the view. He was there, not his subconscious, he was there.
Slowly, he forced himself to his feet, legs trembling. Kyle? My son? 2048? Machine war? Dr. Reeve? "What the fuck?"
His eyes caught a blinking alert above the workstation:
"ACCOUNT BALANCE: $78,342,119,482.50" From Kyle Arlington.
Jermaine staggered backward. "What… billions… no… trillions? Kyle… Oh my God! This… this isn't a dream."
Two holographic panels shimmered to life before him: one labeled HUMAN, the other AI.
He stared, voice trembling.
SYSTEM ONLINE… SCANNING SUBJECT: JERMAINE ARLINGTON
[HUMAN PARAMETERS]
Heart Rate: 92 bpm ↑
Blood Pressure: 138/85 mmHg
Reflexes: 78%
Strength: 65%
Immunity: 70%
Endurance: 60%
Cognitive Alertness: 85%
Warning: Human body fragile. Vital thresholds monitored.
[AI PARAMETERS]
Processing Speed: 99.9%
Memory Capacity: 100%
Decision Accuracy: 98%
Combat Efficiency: 97%
Tactical Analysis: 99%
Learning Speed: 100%
Predictive Modeling: 99.9%
Status: Optimal. Neural integration complete. Hybrid initialization active.
Jermaine ran a hand over his face. Memories of Kyle, the ruins, the hug… the warnings—flooded back again.
He whispered, voice shaking: "It's real. It's all real… Project EdenAI, Dr. Reeve… the future… I've seen it."
He touched the panels, scanning stats. "Part human… fragile. Part AI… perfect. My mind… my body… I've been given both."
Jermaine was still catching his breath, staring at the holographic panels.
A sudden knock on the apartment door made him jump.
He wiped his sweaty palms on his lab coat and whispered, "Who… now?"
The knock came again, firmer this time.
Jermaine approached cautiously and cracked the door open. Two sharply dressed men stood there, their expressions unreadable.
"Mr. Arlington?" one of them asked.
"Yes… who are you?" Jermaine's voice was low, wary.
"We are associates of Dr. Malcolm Reeve," the taller one said. "The scientist would like to speak with you. He insists it is urgent."
Jermaine's eyes narrowed. He stepped back slightly. "Talk… with him?"
"Yes, sir," the shorter man replied calmly. "He requests your presence immediately."
He remembered Kyle's words, Dr Reeve would buy models of which he would be one of them.
He whispered to himself, almost under his breath: "It's starting… it really is starting. The war of flesh and circuit."