Synthetic Survivor: Machine Age

One called Hailey after the sunset. He requested Hailey to dispatch a hovercraft to pick them up under the cover of darkness. It was to use its stealth capabilities to their fullest to avoid attracting any unwanted attention. Hailey obliged and the nearest Hovercraft that had the capacity to get the two off the ground was well on its way.

One and Chloe were standing under an oak tree. The night sky was clear enough for them to see a multitude of stars twinkle in the endless sea of space. The moons shined bright too, it was as if the moons were forever full moons, illuminating the landscape.

"Mister, are we going to your home?" Chloe asked. One took off one of his implants and turned his attention to Chloe.

"Yes. You will be staying in that home of mine for a while and afterward you'll be going to an academy. Alright?" One said.

"Academy?" Chloe asked again. Gah, she does not know what a school is, One thought.

"An academy is like a school." One said.

"What is a school?" Chloe asked again.

Eek! If she does not know what a school is, how can she what's an academy.

"School is where kids like you go to learn." One explained. Chloe's eyes glittered like the stars above and her mouth opened as she gave out an "Ohh"

One then proceeded to explain to her what a school is.

"Chloe. You are a young girl. A child. A school is something run by older people to teach young people what they need to know in life." One explained. Explained like a pro! Or so he thought. It was the roughest explanation that he could think of, hoping that Chloe finally understood what a school was.

Chloe nodded but continued to stare at One. This was a sign that she was waiting for more.

Crap, One needed to explain even more.

"Here, sit down." One sat down and leaned against the trunk of the tree. Chloe followed and sat down as well with her gleaming eyes still fixated at One. And so, One continued his explanation.

"A school. That is where you learn, that is where you get to know the things that you need to progress in this world of yours." One said.

"My world?" Chloe asked and tilted her head to the right in curiosity.

Did she notice my wording? One asked himself and began to suspect that Chloe might be more knowledgeable that he thought she was, maybe she was highly knowing of other aspects and subjects while completely ignorant of others?

Wait!

"Yes. This world is yours. Of course, you need to know how to handle what it gives, for what it gives is yours and yours is the world and so what it gives is you giving it back to yourself, be it glory or pain. Luxury or poverty, that is why I am sending you to school." One began his manipulation of Chloe.

One had planned on integrating her into his empire of machines as one of the few human subordinates along with Ivy and Vilvintine. Though she was a little girl and unsure was her future at best, she held massive amounts of potential that could be manipulated into doing his bidding, into further advancing his plans of domination and eventual restoration of Earth.

"Do you understand now?" He asked Chloe who's eyes began to gleam even more so than before.

But that gleam, that shine in her eyes soon faded and she lowered her head and stared at the ground.

That's right, One only found her on the verge of death and whatever past life she had before then was still ripe in her memories. She may have had a family, or she has a family but they abandoned her. But judging by her story, she was with a man.

The dead lands, if One had the time he planned on investigating it thoroughly but with more firepower.

One then tried to take a look of her face and went over the grass. He saw the tears slowly form in her eyes and witnessed a few drops escape and water the grass below them. One had no idea what to do, he did not know how to comfort a human child! What was he supposed to say? What was he supposed to do? He needed to act quick.

He knew that his reaction to Chloe's crying will impact their relationship and if done right would get her closer to One.

Ha! An idea shot One's mind.

He raised his two arms and positioned them around Chloe. She did not bother looking at him, she was too engrossed in her emotions, in her sadness.

Then, One hugged her.

The gesture shocked Chloe who temporarily raised her head. She was shocked at the gesture of this scary stranger, why was he doing this? Why should someone like him, who barely knew her, who she barely knew, give a damn about her?

She could no longer hold back her feelings and she let loose it all on One's shoulder. She cried and cried. Her wails were strong and echoed through the night. But she felt secure after that, she felt secure in One's embrace, warm and fuzzy. A feeling that she gladly remembered.

She ceased her sobbing and One removed himself.

Was is a success? He thought.

His answer was as clear as day.

Chloe was smiling at him, though her eyes were swollen and what's left of her tears marked her cheeks and her lashes, she smiled.

Her smile punched something inside One.

Something in his heart was burst open but was closed right after.

Nevertheless, One ignored it and focused on the main thing that he was after.

Chloe's allegiance.

"Thank you." Chloe said. She then got on her feet and smiled one more time at One who at this point really unknowing if this smile of hers was another yes or a threat. In other words, he was afraid he was getting played at by a little human girl.

The Hovercraft arrived not long after the two were done. It hovered above their heads and shined its bright white light at them. It was time for them to go. Chloe could not stare at it, the light was too bright for her to bear and so she cowered behind One. She thought the light was yet another monster that had come from the woods.

One looked at her and gave her a smile to reassure her and rid of her fear and doubts. The hovercraft landed on a grassy plain near where they where. It opened its doors and out came a battalion of the newest generation of soldier drones. They were lean, tall and mean fighting machines who would follow One's orders with no hesitation, no objection, no insubordination.

Their armor was state-of-the-art, made from various precious metals that Hailey personally oversaw the creation of. They were the latest of her breakthroughs at re-engineering prewar technology left behind by the former human civilization. Though the drones were equipped with the latest blaster, configured and installed with the latest systems and commanded by a far more sophisticated AI than their former versions, they were still not within the standards of Prewar Battle Droids.

The drones formed a perimeter around the hovercraft. Two of the drones walked towards One, prompting Chloe to clutch tightly around One's right leg.

The drones only walked towards One and stopped halfway before forming an opening between themselves. It was One's signal to finally get on the Hovercraft. There was no doubt that it was Hailey commanding them.

"Hm, Chloe." One said as he grabbed her hand. "Time for us to go home."

One tugged Chloe who began to walk behind him. She did not resist, she was just afraid. She had never seen such a thing as a drone, let alone a machine. Everything she saw that night was just overwhelming for her.

The Hovercraft then lifted off the ground and flew back to the Machine Hub. One then activated his transponder, allowing Hailey and the entire Machine Empire to know of his whereabouts as long as he was within range of the radars they have set up.

Choe stayed close to One but she was soon distracted by the view she was given. By One's orders, the hovercraft opened its small windows, allowing Chloe to see the world below. She saw the lights of the villages, towns and the cities. She saw below her the great forests, the dirt roads, the meadows, the grasslands, lakes, and rivers.

"Amazing." She said under her breath. One heard her, what could he do but give her a smile? Chloe smiled back, One then realized that the Little Girl was now accustomed to him. She was no longer afraid of One.

"Micheal is with his partner leading the final attack on the Freetan Capital." One of the drones suddenly talked.

"You talk? Not again."

"It's me!" The rough voice of the drone suddenly changed to a familiar tone.

"Oh, Hailey, it was just you. Wait, don't tell me you have assumed control of this drone?" One asked.

"What if I told you I have assumed control of all of the drones with you right now? Except for the Hovercraft." Hailey said through the drones. They all spoke in unison, proving to One that she has indeed assumed control of every drone with them.

One sighed. The little girl was too distracted looking through the window, so she did not care.

"How is the final attack?" One asked.

"The surviving magic council of the Freetan Theocracy cast a shield around the fourth inner wall of the city. The shield was tougher than initially thought and not even our artillery could pierce it." Hailey said.

"How about the rail guns? Have you deployed them? We need to take care of the Freetan Theocracy once and for all and establish ourselves a permanent foothold in this peninsula." One elaborated.

"I know, One. Micheal has assured me that they would break the barrier soon. He and I hypothesized that the barrier was relying on their caster's magic. It's only a matter of time before they exhaust themselves of even their inner magic and the barrier will be breached and our army will take care of the rest." Hailey sounded confident. She had every right to be.

 The Freetan Theocracy no longer put up that much of a fight against them and would soon fall. Whatever resistance they were mustering could be easily crushed, defeated or would just downright fall apart.

One smiled at the thought of the crisis he had just made. The Freetan Theocracy was home to millions of people, hundreds of thousands were already dead in the wake of the paltry crusade that they waged and now more than a million of their citizens have become refugees. Fleeing to the south to seek refuge in the Dioz Kingdom. Some would eventually find their way to Yuhin and Herlion. It was complete and utter chaos.

"But.." One suddenly remembered.

"What is it?" Hailey asked through one of the drones.

"Ivy and Vilvintine. We haven't heard from them yet?" One asked.

"No, not yet. But they are alive. We haven't received anything that would say otherwise. Shall we send a rescue mission to their last known destination?" Hailey suggested. One was obviously distressed just by judging the sound of his voice.

"Maybe, we'll discuss this later once we get there." One answered. This was his last message before falling into complete silence for the rest of the trip.

Back at the hub inside the room on the highest floor. Hailey was smiling as she turned off the panel she was using to watch One and the little girl through the eyes of the drones. she then sat down on the chair behind her and placed her hands together.

"Finally. A bit of Johann is coming back. How I missed you for all these years."