2185 AD.
Under a hazy, yellow sky, endless city ruins stretched out like the skeleton of a colossal beast. Two men stood atop the ruins, the wind whipping up dust at their stained uniforms.
"If you can't find it, go back, Karl."
"Headquarters ordered us to find it. We have to find it. It's an order. Failure meaning …death" His voice was low, as if squeezed from the depths of his chest.
"I really didn't want to come… looking for the superweapon, it can't possibly still be here…"
Three years ago, the "Skyfall Incident" tore the sky apart, and it tore civilization apart as well. Five colossal mainframes, equipped with super artificial intelligence, awoke in the chaos and armed themselves, launching a silent war against their creators. There was no declaration of war, no glory, only a protracted, gradually decaying war.
The year is 2188 AD.
"Is me,slayton,THE KEY find me?okay… they need a bit of infected people and some soldiers?infected was fine,soldiers?no way"
"Lieutenant Karl Kakov Hermanf of the Solomon Joint Forces Defense Department reporting for duty!" The officer behind the desk looked up, a forced smile playing on his lips. "Hermanf? You executed Kakov?"
"Yes. He conspired with the Calamity; a single shot was merciful. Anyone else would have died much more slowly and painfully." The officer rose and walked to the window. "Come on, I'll take you somewhere."
They turned into an alley. A stench assaulted their nostrils—a mixture of rotting flesh, excrement, and despair. Some humanoid figures—if they could still be called human—huddled in the shadows. Their skin was covered in tar-like black patches, the marks of melanosis.
"Killed these infected. Ah… it's still too cold today" the officer said calmly, as describing the weather,like those infected were unimportant than today's weather.
"Kill them? There are still…"
"Keep a few for THE KEY to research.The rest, dispose of them." Karl was silent for a few seconds.
"Why does it have to be this way?"
"Don't ask questions you shouldn't. It's better they're dead. If you won't do it, I'll do it myself." He drew his pistol.
Gunfire erupted in the alley,shot after shot, countless. Smoke filled the air, and corpses piled up into a silent mountain.
"Holster your weapon.You kill the next street. What our defense department needs is a good knife, not a man with humanity."
At that moment, a small, thin figure peeked out from behind the broken wall—a girl, her eyes still bright, but her neck covered in black scars.
She looked at him, her lips moving as if she wanted to say something.
Karl lowered his hand and put the gun back in its holster.
"Sir, I can't do it. Your orders..."
The black muzzle of the gun was pointed at Karl's head.
"Committed a war crime,is it? You either kill her now, or I'll execute you immediately. What if you go to a military court? I have the entire defense department to back me up. What do you have?" The trigger of the pistol was slightly pulled down, making a clicking sound.
Karl raised the gun, his hand trembling slightly.
This shouldn't be happening. I shouldn't kill civilians, especially a child
he silently told himself.
"What are you waiting for? I'll count to three, and if you don't act, I'll shoot" the officer said.
"Three."
No...I can't...
"Two."
Think of Anna...think of her...
"One—"
I want to alive, I want to alive! He pulled the trigger—
"Bang!"
As she fell, her eyes were still open, as if asking:
"...Why...?"
Karl lowered his gun, his voice so soft it almost drifted away on the wind:
"I'm sorry, I...didn't change anything,I'm sorry!"he whispered