Post by mercuryman on May 22, 2010 1:17:42 GMT -5
Radomir Akzerian, (age 54) at the present time (3537) is President of the Akzerian government.
Enjoy.
* * *
Year 3502
Age 19
"So you see," continued the man, "that it is not necessary to control people with threat of enforcement, or with any sort of aggression. These people are perfectly capable of a self-sufficient, productive community. And in the same sense, so are we."
Radomir listened intently among the crowd, cowled in a robe of presently fashionable attire. He wasn't supposed to be here, of course. Certainly not listening to a man who in spite of no visible or professed affiliation, was almost certainly a Network activist.
Father would be livid if he found out. Some things though, needed to be witnessed for oneself. Radomir found it an interesting experience to observe the machinations of one of their enemies. Watching him ply his words and subvert the whimsical public.
"At a basic level, we all just want to be able to do what we feel like." The mans tone of voice changed with his shift from admonition to a subject of passionate advocacy.
We're not children! We're adults and we are able to take responsibility for ourselves. So why won't they trust us to do the right thing? Why aren't we given a chance to show what good we can do?"
'They' being us, thought Radomir with some amusement. He wondered what the man would think if he knew exactly who was listening, only a few feet away.
Radomir then admonished himself. To polarize the situation here, no matter the lack of restraint in the other man in doing the same, would prevent objective analysis. Even the words of a rebel might hold some merit.
"All people really want is to be free." said the man. "Free to live and love life. And to love each other."
A reasonable enough observation, Radomir thought, if a bit soppy.
"What more do we need?" The man continued.
Radomir sighed. Indeed what? Never did these people give any thought to the necessity for order, for the law to protect the people against those who are less inclined toward love.
"Of course," said the man "we all know that there must be SOME laws, some protection against those who despite all love, are filled with hate."
Ah. Radomir could not prevent a wry smile. Admonishing himself once again, he resolved to just listen and consider the mans perspective, resisting the temptation to make such rash judgements.
"What we NEED, is a rationale of proactive cooperation." The man paused to let the idea percolate. "We must live free, yes. But we, the people, must also be ready to take up the cause of the downtrodden man. We must be ready to apprehend the criminal in his evil act.
We must be prepared to sacrifice ourselves for those we love. Our family, our friends.. our
fellow man."
Radomir was impressed here, despite himself. It WAS an honourable ideal. He began to wonder about the mechanics of it. Simple proactive cooperation. Could it work? How would it manifest long term? He listened with genuine interest now.
"How can others, an enforcer or an official, look after a persons interests better than themselves? The ideal of authority should not be power in the hands of a few, but in the hands of all. Then the people may police themselves." The man looked in earnest around the crowd, seeking and finding the agreement of others. Heads nodded; there were murmurs of assent.
Radomir was listening, but not looking. He was thinking now on the ideas. In his mind a gradual picture of what such a society might resemble came together in his mind.. there seemed like great potential here..
He wondered for the first time if there might not be more serious flaws in his own family's system of rule.
The deafening sound of a huge explosion rocked the plaza.
People cried out in alarm, all eyes went wide with terror, everybody looked up. High up Zheckshan city could be seen fire and smoke.
Radomir froze, his chest constricting. That looked like.. It surely had to be.. the Akzerian residential level!
As all stared upward, the mans voice sounded again from behind them.
"..you see? There are those who already do sacrifice themselves: To free us all from this oppression.."
'Sacrifice THEMSELVES??' Radomir's fear transformed into fury. THEMSELVES? That was HIS family up there!
Enraged, he whirled to face the speaker - who was looking upward with a small smile upon his face - and stepped in close, unleashing a savage backhanded blow to the mans face and knocking him sprawling against the rails.
The man stayed there, looking up at Radomir in shock and some fear.
Radomir had never hit a man like that before, at least not outside of combat training. He'd always thought he'd feel bad for doing so, but in this situation he felt a definite satisfaction. There was a sensation of justice having been done and done rightly, by him.
A second explosion sounded and people began to scatter, running for cover in case anything should come raining down.
Thinking only now of his family, Radomir left the man where he was and sprinted toward the elevator chutes. He had to do SOME thing, even though he didn't know yet what. FIND them, that was the first thing.
'Anything' did indeed come raining down. Hundreds of flaming pieces of debris began to rain down all around the level, falling between towers, crashing into levels and starting spot fires... People fled in all directions. The scene was apocalyptic.
Radomir ran through the chaos, desperation for his family's safety overcoming the fear of being hit. He charged toward the central Tower. There the express elevators would get him up there at maximum pace.
He reached the doors, but they had been temporarily locked shut in response to the emergency situation. Being a high ranking member of the government had its advantages though.. Radomir brought out his familial access card and waved it by the sensor. The doors opened.
The lift raced upward. Through the transparent wall of the lift, he saw the devastation grow more pronounced the higher he rose. Passing by the last few levels, Radomir saw carnage.. bodies, bits of building and fire everywhere. Automatic extinguishers squirted out giant clouds of chemicals to tame the flames.
When the doors opened at the Akzerian's residential level, a wave of heat came rolling in, causing Radomir to reel back. Only a moment, though. He steeled himself for whatever was to come and ran toward home.
On the way he could see the site of one of the explosions was on the level above, the first of the bureaucratic offices. The tower concerned was in very bad shape.
Approaching his family's estate, he then spotted the second disaster zone. Where the entry gate, troop barracks and security office used to be, was only a smoking hole in the levels floor. The explosion must have been massive, for the hole went right through the level.
There was a strong wind passing by him - Radomir realised the artificial atmosphere of the level was rushing toward and out of the hole. He needed to get across fast..
He came closer and stopped, warily moving forward. He had to get across some how.. Edging even closer still, he looked down.. and swallowed. The extreme height of the tower was normally taken for granted - when there were solid, even if transparent, walls all around you.
Fall through that hole though.. Radomir could see the thick Zheckshanian jungle far, far below.. stretching off toward the horizon, which at this height disappeared into the visible curvature of the planets surface..
Radomir walked a dozen paces back. He turned again and looked at the artificial gorge in front of him.
It might be jump able.. but he'd need a little help for that.
Radomir reached inside his robe to a spot below his armpit, there being a device, embedded into the flesh. His fingers found the concealed button and depressed it.
The world swam in front of his eyes for a second, vision distorting and realigning itself. The world looked clearer now, sharper.. The AMP powered up and Radomir felt the familiar sensation of his own awareness extending out into dimensions not normally perceivable.
Closing his eyes, he inhaled... cleared his mind... exhaled... and opened his eyes.
The conception of fear, of deadly failure crept into his consciousness. Radomir snarled and mentally quashed it. He HAD to do this..
Before any more doubts could creep into his mind, Radomir sprinted.
As he did so, he mentally channelled the AMP's energy inward. Each step now took him further, faster.
At the very brink, he leapt, eyes fixed only on the other side.
The air swirled around him as he passed across the face of the hole, the gusting wind thrust him downward...
Hands and feet smacked into the rugged metal of the other side, its structure torn and bent down toward the void below. Radomir began to slide; there was a moment of panic.. but he stopped, boots finding sure grip at the last.
Careful to keep his wait distributed evenly as possible, he dragged himself up and over the crest.
Close.. but survival was not luck. It was a good decision.
Radomir stood up and gazed ahead into the courtyard - and beyond, at the mansion itself. There seemed to be relatively little damage, most of it from flying debris.
He ran toward the main door.. stopped. In front of the door lay two bodies.. they were guards. Or rather, parts of them. Limbs had been sliced clean, the wounds cauterised.
Radomir blanched and felt his stomach churn. He moved forward for a closer look, avoiding the faces.. It was unlikely debris had been responsible for this.
He reached to his belt and drew his long blade. By habit, the thumb went to the activation switch at the hilt.. but he hesitated and for the time, left it off. From then on, he moved quickly, but cautiously..
From inside, the sounds of external devastation were muted. It was almost eerily quiet in here..
He came to the hall and looked inside. Furniture was upturned, decorations smashed.
A muffled high pitched shout echoed faintly into the room.
Where was that from? Radomir abandoned caution and ran down the hall, in the direction of his family's quarters.
Turning through one passage and into another, he saw more bodies, all dead guards.
The master bedroom was ahead.. the door was open.. Angry and frightened voices sounded from within.
Thumbing the long blades switch on - a quiet hum emanated from the hilt and a blue current ran up the length of the blade - he approached quickly, but as quietly as he could.
Reaching the doorway, he could now hear his fathers voice - and his mothers.
".. No!" That was his father. "I don't have it here! What, do you think I am a fool? There is no way you can get in without it!"
Another voice, a mans, whom he didn't know. "Fine. But then you're not much use to us alive then are you.. in fact, you're quite useful to us dead."
"Don't you DARE!" Cried his mother.
Radomir entered immediately, with a careful, silent step.
He saw his father standing in front of the bed - with Radomir's mother and his sister shielded behind him.
Surrounding them in a semi-circle, backs turned to Radomir, were five men with energy blades drawn. The middle man also held some kind of gun.
To his credit, Radomir's father did not even glance at Radomir as he entered, but only stood up straighter and spoke.
"I know where it is, but if I tell you..."
Radomir advanced another step as his father spoke. In a second one of the men would spot him.
And within that second, Radomir's mind, in full combat mode, dissected all critical elements of the situation.
He had never fought in genuine combat before, but thousands of hours of training had made him ready for this moment.
The pattern of the men's distribution about the room instantly aroused the memory of a similar scenario in practise.
In Radomir's minds eye, he overlayed upon this scene his strategy. The second passed.
Now it was time to kill.
His mind accelerated and the world around him seemed to slow down..
The man on the far left, catching sight of Radomir, started to turn and opened his mouth to shout.
Radomir lunged forward and his left arm shot out. Following the line of his arm, a wave of heat rippled through air and struck the man - he convulsed and began to collapse - Simultaneously and with his right hand, Radomir had brought his long blade down across his body, under his outstretched left arm.
Now, even as the first man was falling, Radomir stepped forward and reversed his weapons movement: bringing his burning blade back rightward and upward, its edge smoothly passing through the body of his target - the back turned man in the centre - and continuing upward in preparation for the next strike.
.
The closer man on the left, combat reflexes kicking in, turned - with what to Radomir, in this state, seemed inexplicable slowness - to apprehend the new threat.
Radomir, though, was already moving on. The first man on the right hardly had time to look about when the downward blue arc of Radomir's blade opened a long, deep cut across his body from shoulder down to hip.
The man sprawled away, cascading downward.. Behind Radomir now, the other man stepped forward in preparation to strike.
Radomir, made as though to step to his left, yet seemed to stumble.. His attacker corrected the angle of his own attack to take advantage.
However, his target was no longer there - Radomir had already reversed the action and spun full circle to the right, his thrumming energy blade parting the air, then parting flesh. The man, too late, trying to retrieve his error.
Completing the motion, Radomir slowed his spin, while his assailant's body continued the misdirected lunge - in two diverging pieces..
The final man, witnessing the speed with which his fellows fell, instead of attacking Radomir, strode forward to cut down the huddled family.
The man's arm raised to deal the spiteful, fatal blow..
..and was wrenched off course as the rest of his body was flung sideways, skewered and pinned, quivering, to the wall by Radomir's thrown blade.
Radomir stood motionless, panting. He blinked. Took in the bloody scene anew. Had he just done all that?
His mother and sister, in shock, but with their escape now assured, cried in relief and turned away from the sight of the bodies. His father, eyes wide with the intensity of the situation, but not affected by the violence, beheld his son a moment. He then stepped forward and put his hands upon the boys shoulders.
"That was well done, lad.." He said. "Thank you... thank you.."
His father found himself blinking back tears and somewhat embarrassed, turned back to the rest of his family. He had to get them out of here.
Radomir, mind whirling, suddenly thought of something else.
"Where's Caliban?" He said.
His father turned back. "He should be in the enclave, son..."
Radomir ran out of the room, down the stair way and out through the backdoors into the Mansion's enclave.
Smoke and fire surrounded the areas perimeter... and in the centre, a robot..
"Oh, Caliban...!" Radomir ran toward the machine and placed his hands upon the sundered, scorched metal.
"Caliban.. no no no, not you.." For the first time that day Radomir wept, tears streaming down his cheeks.
He looked over the robot through blurred vision.. but even with the image distorted like this, it was clear that Caliban was wrecked beyond all repair.
"d**n it.. don't leave me here alone, d**n you!" Radomir cried anew.. and then became furious.
"Why?!" He shouted. "Why you! There was no reason.. no cause..."
The boy sunk to the ground and leaned his head against the remains of Caliban.
He'd loved that d**ned robot.. it had become so much more than just a machine. Caliban was the closest thing he'd had to a child of his own. Many years spent building him, teaching him.. so many formative moments.. It'd been his only true friend. Gone, now, without even a chance to say goodbye.
He sobbed, no longer a solider, or even a man, just a boy..
A minutes later, Radomir's mother came to the doorway and looked out, looking for her son.
Seeing him there, she did not approach. She knew how much that machine had meant to him..
Somehow, in spite of everything else, this was the most unhappy sight of all she had witnessed today..
Her husband joined her and taking in the scene, just shook his head..
He left, leading the woman away..
Radomir stayed out there.. he did not care if the entire level burned to the ground, now.. Hours passed, light faded..
When finally the emergency crews made it this far, they found here - outside, under an incredibly clear, star bespeckled sky - a man.. no, a boy. Head resting against a burnt out piece of machinery, fast asleep.
Not wanting to wake him, they covered him with a blanket. He'd be alright there.. And tomorrow.. that would be a new day.
Enjoy.
* * *
Year 3502
Age 19
"So you see," continued the man, "that it is not necessary to control people with threat of enforcement, or with any sort of aggression. These people are perfectly capable of a self-sufficient, productive community. And in the same sense, so are we."
Radomir listened intently among the crowd, cowled in a robe of presently fashionable attire. He wasn't supposed to be here, of course. Certainly not listening to a man who in spite of no visible or professed affiliation, was almost certainly a Network activist.
Father would be livid if he found out. Some things though, needed to be witnessed for oneself. Radomir found it an interesting experience to observe the machinations of one of their enemies. Watching him ply his words and subvert the whimsical public.
"At a basic level, we all just want to be able to do what we feel like." The mans tone of voice changed with his shift from admonition to a subject of passionate advocacy.
We're not children! We're adults and we are able to take responsibility for ourselves. So why won't they trust us to do the right thing? Why aren't we given a chance to show what good we can do?"
'They' being us, thought Radomir with some amusement. He wondered what the man would think if he knew exactly who was listening, only a few feet away.
Radomir then admonished himself. To polarize the situation here, no matter the lack of restraint in the other man in doing the same, would prevent objective analysis. Even the words of a rebel might hold some merit.
"All people really want is to be free." said the man. "Free to live and love life. And to love each other."
A reasonable enough observation, Radomir thought, if a bit soppy.
"What more do we need?" The man continued.
Radomir sighed. Indeed what? Never did these people give any thought to the necessity for order, for the law to protect the people against those who are less inclined toward love.
"Of course," said the man "we all know that there must be SOME laws, some protection against those who despite all love, are filled with hate."
Ah. Radomir could not prevent a wry smile. Admonishing himself once again, he resolved to just listen and consider the mans perspective, resisting the temptation to make such rash judgements.
"What we NEED, is a rationale of proactive cooperation." The man paused to let the idea percolate. "We must live free, yes. But we, the people, must also be ready to take up the cause of the downtrodden man. We must be ready to apprehend the criminal in his evil act.
We must be prepared to sacrifice ourselves for those we love. Our family, our friends.. our
fellow man."
Radomir was impressed here, despite himself. It WAS an honourable ideal. He began to wonder about the mechanics of it. Simple proactive cooperation. Could it work? How would it manifest long term? He listened with genuine interest now.
"How can others, an enforcer or an official, look after a persons interests better than themselves? The ideal of authority should not be power in the hands of a few, but in the hands of all. Then the people may police themselves." The man looked in earnest around the crowd, seeking and finding the agreement of others. Heads nodded; there were murmurs of assent.
Radomir was listening, but not looking. He was thinking now on the ideas. In his mind a gradual picture of what such a society might resemble came together in his mind.. there seemed like great potential here..
He wondered for the first time if there might not be more serious flaws in his own family's system of rule.
The deafening sound of a huge explosion rocked the plaza.
People cried out in alarm, all eyes went wide with terror, everybody looked up. High up Zheckshan city could be seen fire and smoke.
Radomir froze, his chest constricting. That looked like.. It surely had to be.. the Akzerian residential level!
As all stared upward, the mans voice sounded again from behind them.
"..you see? There are those who already do sacrifice themselves: To free us all from this oppression.."
'Sacrifice THEMSELVES??' Radomir's fear transformed into fury. THEMSELVES? That was HIS family up there!
Enraged, he whirled to face the speaker - who was looking upward with a small smile upon his face - and stepped in close, unleashing a savage backhanded blow to the mans face and knocking him sprawling against the rails.
The man stayed there, looking up at Radomir in shock and some fear.
Radomir had never hit a man like that before, at least not outside of combat training. He'd always thought he'd feel bad for doing so, but in this situation he felt a definite satisfaction. There was a sensation of justice having been done and done rightly, by him.
A second explosion sounded and people began to scatter, running for cover in case anything should come raining down.
Thinking only now of his family, Radomir left the man where he was and sprinted toward the elevator chutes. He had to do SOME thing, even though he didn't know yet what. FIND them, that was the first thing.
'Anything' did indeed come raining down. Hundreds of flaming pieces of debris began to rain down all around the level, falling between towers, crashing into levels and starting spot fires... People fled in all directions. The scene was apocalyptic.
Radomir ran through the chaos, desperation for his family's safety overcoming the fear of being hit. He charged toward the central Tower. There the express elevators would get him up there at maximum pace.
He reached the doors, but they had been temporarily locked shut in response to the emergency situation. Being a high ranking member of the government had its advantages though.. Radomir brought out his familial access card and waved it by the sensor. The doors opened.
The lift raced upward. Through the transparent wall of the lift, he saw the devastation grow more pronounced the higher he rose. Passing by the last few levels, Radomir saw carnage.. bodies, bits of building and fire everywhere. Automatic extinguishers squirted out giant clouds of chemicals to tame the flames.
When the doors opened at the Akzerian's residential level, a wave of heat came rolling in, causing Radomir to reel back. Only a moment, though. He steeled himself for whatever was to come and ran toward home.
On the way he could see the site of one of the explosions was on the level above, the first of the bureaucratic offices. The tower concerned was in very bad shape.
Approaching his family's estate, he then spotted the second disaster zone. Where the entry gate, troop barracks and security office used to be, was only a smoking hole in the levels floor. The explosion must have been massive, for the hole went right through the level.
There was a strong wind passing by him - Radomir realised the artificial atmosphere of the level was rushing toward and out of the hole. He needed to get across fast..
He came closer and stopped, warily moving forward. He had to get across some how.. Edging even closer still, he looked down.. and swallowed. The extreme height of the tower was normally taken for granted - when there were solid, even if transparent, walls all around you.
Fall through that hole though.. Radomir could see the thick Zheckshanian jungle far, far below.. stretching off toward the horizon, which at this height disappeared into the visible curvature of the planets surface..
Radomir walked a dozen paces back. He turned again and looked at the artificial gorge in front of him.
It might be jump able.. but he'd need a little help for that.
Radomir reached inside his robe to a spot below his armpit, there being a device, embedded into the flesh. His fingers found the concealed button and depressed it.
The world swam in front of his eyes for a second, vision distorting and realigning itself. The world looked clearer now, sharper.. The AMP powered up and Radomir felt the familiar sensation of his own awareness extending out into dimensions not normally perceivable.
Closing his eyes, he inhaled... cleared his mind... exhaled... and opened his eyes.
The conception of fear, of deadly failure crept into his consciousness. Radomir snarled and mentally quashed it. He HAD to do this..
Before any more doubts could creep into his mind, Radomir sprinted.
As he did so, he mentally channelled the AMP's energy inward. Each step now took him further, faster.
At the very brink, he leapt, eyes fixed only on the other side.
The air swirled around him as he passed across the face of the hole, the gusting wind thrust him downward...
Hands and feet smacked into the rugged metal of the other side, its structure torn and bent down toward the void below. Radomir began to slide; there was a moment of panic.. but he stopped, boots finding sure grip at the last.
Careful to keep his wait distributed evenly as possible, he dragged himself up and over the crest.
Close.. but survival was not luck. It was a good decision.
Radomir stood up and gazed ahead into the courtyard - and beyond, at the mansion itself. There seemed to be relatively little damage, most of it from flying debris.
He ran toward the main door.. stopped. In front of the door lay two bodies.. they were guards. Or rather, parts of them. Limbs had been sliced clean, the wounds cauterised.
Radomir blanched and felt his stomach churn. He moved forward for a closer look, avoiding the faces.. It was unlikely debris had been responsible for this.
He reached to his belt and drew his long blade. By habit, the thumb went to the activation switch at the hilt.. but he hesitated and for the time, left it off. From then on, he moved quickly, but cautiously..
From inside, the sounds of external devastation were muted. It was almost eerily quiet in here..
He came to the hall and looked inside. Furniture was upturned, decorations smashed.
A muffled high pitched shout echoed faintly into the room.
Where was that from? Radomir abandoned caution and ran down the hall, in the direction of his family's quarters.
Turning through one passage and into another, he saw more bodies, all dead guards.
The master bedroom was ahead.. the door was open.. Angry and frightened voices sounded from within.
Thumbing the long blades switch on - a quiet hum emanated from the hilt and a blue current ran up the length of the blade - he approached quickly, but as quietly as he could.
Reaching the doorway, he could now hear his fathers voice - and his mothers.
".. No!" That was his father. "I don't have it here! What, do you think I am a fool? There is no way you can get in without it!"
Another voice, a mans, whom he didn't know. "Fine. But then you're not much use to us alive then are you.. in fact, you're quite useful to us dead."
"Don't you DARE!" Cried his mother.
Radomir entered immediately, with a careful, silent step.
He saw his father standing in front of the bed - with Radomir's mother and his sister shielded behind him.
Surrounding them in a semi-circle, backs turned to Radomir, were five men with energy blades drawn. The middle man also held some kind of gun.
To his credit, Radomir's father did not even glance at Radomir as he entered, but only stood up straighter and spoke.
"I know where it is, but if I tell you..."
Radomir advanced another step as his father spoke. In a second one of the men would spot him.
And within that second, Radomir's mind, in full combat mode, dissected all critical elements of the situation.
He had never fought in genuine combat before, but thousands of hours of training had made him ready for this moment.
The pattern of the men's distribution about the room instantly aroused the memory of a similar scenario in practise.
In Radomir's minds eye, he overlayed upon this scene his strategy. The second passed.
Now it was time to kill.
His mind accelerated and the world around him seemed to slow down..
The man on the far left, catching sight of Radomir, started to turn and opened his mouth to shout.
Radomir lunged forward and his left arm shot out. Following the line of his arm, a wave of heat rippled through air and struck the man - he convulsed and began to collapse - Simultaneously and with his right hand, Radomir had brought his long blade down across his body, under his outstretched left arm.
Now, even as the first man was falling, Radomir stepped forward and reversed his weapons movement: bringing his burning blade back rightward and upward, its edge smoothly passing through the body of his target - the back turned man in the centre - and continuing upward in preparation for the next strike.
.
The closer man on the left, combat reflexes kicking in, turned - with what to Radomir, in this state, seemed inexplicable slowness - to apprehend the new threat.
Radomir, though, was already moving on. The first man on the right hardly had time to look about when the downward blue arc of Radomir's blade opened a long, deep cut across his body from shoulder down to hip.
The man sprawled away, cascading downward.. Behind Radomir now, the other man stepped forward in preparation to strike.
Radomir, made as though to step to his left, yet seemed to stumble.. His attacker corrected the angle of his own attack to take advantage.
However, his target was no longer there - Radomir had already reversed the action and spun full circle to the right, his thrumming energy blade parting the air, then parting flesh. The man, too late, trying to retrieve his error.
Completing the motion, Radomir slowed his spin, while his assailant's body continued the misdirected lunge - in two diverging pieces..
The final man, witnessing the speed with which his fellows fell, instead of attacking Radomir, strode forward to cut down the huddled family.
The man's arm raised to deal the spiteful, fatal blow..
..and was wrenched off course as the rest of his body was flung sideways, skewered and pinned, quivering, to the wall by Radomir's thrown blade.
Radomir stood motionless, panting. He blinked. Took in the bloody scene anew. Had he just done all that?
His mother and sister, in shock, but with their escape now assured, cried in relief and turned away from the sight of the bodies. His father, eyes wide with the intensity of the situation, but not affected by the violence, beheld his son a moment. He then stepped forward and put his hands upon the boys shoulders.
"That was well done, lad.." He said. "Thank you... thank you.."
His father found himself blinking back tears and somewhat embarrassed, turned back to the rest of his family. He had to get them out of here.
Radomir, mind whirling, suddenly thought of something else.
"Where's Caliban?" He said.
His father turned back. "He should be in the enclave, son..."
Radomir ran out of the room, down the stair way and out through the backdoors into the Mansion's enclave.
Smoke and fire surrounded the areas perimeter... and in the centre, a robot..
"Oh, Caliban...!" Radomir ran toward the machine and placed his hands upon the sundered, scorched metal.
"Caliban.. no no no, not you.." For the first time that day Radomir wept, tears streaming down his cheeks.
He looked over the robot through blurred vision.. but even with the image distorted like this, it was clear that Caliban was wrecked beyond all repair.
"d**n it.. don't leave me here alone, d**n you!" Radomir cried anew.. and then became furious.
"Why?!" He shouted. "Why you! There was no reason.. no cause..."
The boy sunk to the ground and leaned his head against the remains of Caliban.
He'd loved that d**ned robot.. it had become so much more than just a machine. Caliban was the closest thing he'd had to a child of his own. Many years spent building him, teaching him.. so many formative moments.. It'd been his only true friend. Gone, now, without even a chance to say goodbye.
He sobbed, no longer a solider, or even a man, just a boy..
A minutes later, Radomir's mother came to the doorway and looked out, looking for her son.
Seeing him there, she did not approach. She knew how much that machine had meant to him..
Somehow, in spite of everything else, this was the most unhappy sight of all she had witnessed today..
Her husband joined her and taking in the scene, just shook his head..
He left, leading the woman away..
Radomir stayed out there.. he did not care if the entire level burned to the ground, now.. Hours passed, light faded..
When finally the emergency crews made it this far, they found here - outside, under an incredibly clear, star bespeckled sky - a man.. no, a boy. Head resting against a burnt out piece of machinery, fast asleep.
Not wanting to wake him, they covered him with a blanket. He'd be alright there.. And tomorrow.. that would be a new day.