Submitted for the March 2024 prompt: Othering AI

Giant waves crashed against the rocks, sending spray fumes high in the sky. Ash reached the stairwell of the old lighthouse and climbed up the spiral staircase to the lantern room. The large window panels were covered in dust.

 

Thud. Ash turned — she wasn’t alone. A young boy hid behind the generator. His breathing was labored, and his eyes screamed with fear.

 

“I’m not going to hurt you,” Ash said. “I’m here to wait out the storm.”

 

The boy shuffled his feet, hesitant.

 

“Want some bread? It’s stale, but we can share it?”

 

He came forward and grabbed it from her hands.

 

She handed him a flask of water. “I’m Ash.”

 

The boy wiped the crumbs off his face. “Ronan.”

 

Ash noticed the mark on his neck, shaped like an arrow. “You’re Vollarian?”

 

“Yeah.”

 

“We’re both far from home,” Ash said, showing him the same Vollarian mark – a symbol of the uprising against the machines. “Are your parents here?”

 

“The Cyborgs killed them.”

 

“I’m sorry, kid.” As the augmented humans evolved, with their enhancement implants and retinal prostheses, the neural interface finally succeeded. A decade later, Cyborgs were born, more machines than men. In time, they turned against humanity, preying on their weakness. And Ash was hunting every last one of them now.

 

A high-pitched sound blared outside.

 

EMF sensors, shit! A Cyborg was headed straight for the lighthouse. “We have to move.”

 

“They’ll kill us if we go.”

 

“We’ll be dead if we stay.”

  

* * *

 

A faint hum rose above the winds as they gathered speed. It was the frequency emitted by the Cyborgs to lure the human brain to freeze. They were easy prey.

 

“Ronan – cover your ears!” Ash handed him the sound blockers.

 

They crouched and crawled, sneaking past the Cyborg until they reached the bay. Ash counted two Hunters guarding the perimeter of the Axion building. The bastards were Cyborg minions and traitors to men.

 

“Run, Ronan!”

 

“I’m not leaving you.”

 

“I hunt Cyborgs, kid.”

 

Ronan refused to move. “This is where they killed my parents. I need to do this.”

 

“Fine, but stay back and don’t move until I say so.”

 

Ash grabbed her double-edged knife and sneaked in behind the Hunters. She stabbed one in the neck, pulled his gun, and shot the other. She aimed at the cameras hanging off the ceiling and hid the bodies. There was no point attracting unwarranted attention.

 

Ash felt a tap on her shoulder as she reached for the door. “Ronan! Shit, you scared me. Just stay close.”

 

They searched the building, picking their way through broken glass, scattered papers, and faulty monitors on the floor. It had to be here — otherwise, what was the point of having Hunters guard it?

 

“What are we looking for?”

 

“Blueprints for a weapon,” Ash said, unfolding the map. “Let’s try the basement.”

 

She flicked the switch, and the neon light flooded the basement. Her heart sank. No visible weapons or blueprints. Could the intel be wrong? The captured Hunter had talked like a songbird.

 

“Over here!” Ronan said, standing by a desk with Petri dishes and microscopes.

 

“What is a chemistry set doing in this mess?”

 

Ronan shrugged.

 

Ash looked down at the microscope, adjusting the lenses.

 

“What can you see?”

 

“It looks like nanobots and organic cells. It's a cyborg enhancement matrix. Try the drawers, Ronan.”

 

“This one is locked.”

 

Ash grabbed her knife and pried the drawer open. It was full of folders and research papers. “Project VV. Grab all you can.”

 

The lights flickered. A loud thud sounded on the stairwell.

 

“Shit, they’re here!”

 

A Cyborg stormed in, scanning the room. Shit, she shouldn’t have turned on the light.

 

Ronan hid his head in his hands, shaking.

 

Ash squeezed his arm firmly, mouthing the words. “It’s going to be all right.”

 

The Cyborg looked like one of the older versions without the thermo-sensors. He couldn’t see them! His auditory sensors were acute, though. Ash placed her finger over her mouth as he marched right past them.

 

Thud. The door slammed behind him.

 

“That was close, let’s move,” Ash said.

 

* * *

  

They found an empty warehouse to shelter for the night. Ash studied the research papers as Ronan fell asleep, dead to the world. The maths were impossible, and her understanding of nanobiotechnology was scant at best. But this paper, Viral Vector, looked promising. She couldn’t get through the pages quickly enough—reports of an experiment that had inadvertently or not created a computer virus capable of hacking the augmented components. This could be the weapon!

 

Ronan woke up startled, with sweat pouring from his forehead. “They’re here?”

 

“No. We're safe. But I found something that can change everything.”

 

“The weapon?”

 

“It looks like sabotage. The work of an insider, probably resistance.” Ash showed him the paper. “They created a virus capable of frying the Cyborgs. It affects the neural interface integration, causing a catastrophic failure.”

 

“It kills them?”

 

“The machine part, at least.”

 

“Will they be human again?”

 

“If there’s an ounce of humanity left in them? Your guess is as good as mine.”

 

“Can I have a look?” Ronan read through the pages. Tears rolled down his face.

 

“What’s wrong?”

 

Ronan traced his finger to the bottom of the page. “That’s my dad’s handwriting! Ash… he came up with the virus!”

 

Ash put her hand on Ronan’s shoulder. “We owe a great debt to your parents. I’ll take these back to headquarters and find you a transporter back to Volla.”

 

“No, I want to fight and make my parents proud. Can we win this war?”

 

“Damn right, we will, kid — we’ve got this.”