Sixth Challenge Piece
Title: The Radicals
Author: Kateifer
Theme/Prompt: Dystopia, cyberpunk
Rating: T
Word content: 557
Start time: 9:55pm
Finish time: 11:59pm
Author's Comments: For the record, this is my first attempt at this genre… It will most likely show.
Breathing is hard here; the air is too thick with smog and filth. This dirty air passes through my lungs every day, most likely turning them black. It constantly smells like cigarettes, only stronger and tainted with the smell of gasoline. This air makes it hard to breathe well, which makes running quickly difficult.
I’m one of the very few inhabitants of this place who the air actually affects. Only my nose and lungs can really be offended by the stench. I’m running now, and my chest is almost burning as I do. I’m on a back road right now, and it’s deserted. The buildings around me are old, some of them seeming to fall apart. There is no sign of human life here, well, save for me now of course. I should fix that, lest I get spotted. I can see a nice dark alley, which I quickly turn into. I take refuge behind an old dumpster. Finally, I can stop to catch my breath.
I can see one of the robotic Scanners rolling by, looking for any signs of human life. It is a large metallic box on wheels, and there is a screen on the main part of its body, which displayed some random binary. On the top there is a camera and a red scanning beam, which constantly sweeps around it, looking for Radicals. Thankfully it can’t see me. I had spotted it a few blocks back, which is why I was running. I am trying to find the hideout. It’s rumoured to be in this part of the city, which is called the Radicals’ Haven. The Cyborgs concentrate their Scanners here, knowing that when they find one human, they will find most of the last of us.
The Scanner has passed, and I can finally check if the coast is clear. The street is empty again, but I won’t risk going out into the main roads. The alleyways have fewer Scanners, and it’s a lot easier to hide in here. As I wander, I can’t help but remember how things got this bad.
The government created an amazing super computer. They said it was able to think, and it had more knowledge than most humans. Unfortunately, The Computer had the ability to realize that it was smarter. When it realized this, it took over the government’s labs and created Cyborgs to carry out humans. The Computer thought of humans as lesser beings, weak and stupid in comparison. The emotions felt by humans were seen as defects, just something that got in the way of more knowledge and developments. The Cyborgs were succeeding; they were killing off humans at an insane rate.
Fortunately, the Radicals saw this coming, and many of them went into hiding. They are finding as many humans that are left as they can, and sooner or later they plan to get back at The Computer. Right now, I want to find them and join them. I had been in hiding in a part of the city that the Cyborgs were sure they had cleared out entirely. As soon as I found out about the Radicals and their plan, I made my way over here. I want to join them, and I want to fight with them.
I should keep going; if I stay still the Scanners will find me.