Destiny Sorrow

by Rod S. Galves

  The hacker ran away from a guardian in red armor and carrying a flamethrower. The heat coming out of the machine was hellish and had already destroyed most of the robots.

  “Nothing stops this woman!” Said Willys throwing two bombs at her.

  The bombs exploded, but both the barrier and the guardian's armor seemed intact.

  “We have to blow up this place soon or the gate to God will not open!” Ratz noted.

  “If we blow up a Dyna42 here, we will all become jelly,” Willys replied. “We have to put the bomb and run away!”

  Ratz turned launching a missile, which exploded on the woman giving them more time.

  They walked into a room full of scientists and more computers. The scientists hid under tables and the group became confused.

  “What is this place?” Asked Willys.

  “I don't know, the map doesn't show here...”

  Ratz and the other agents restrained the scientists while Willys and Dijo worked.

  “I think I can turn off the cameras in three minutes, and there's a machine room full of paths and walkways nearby. We can install the bomb there; it will be close enough to destroy the door system.”

  Willys smiled excitedly and turned to Ratz.

  “Me and Dijo will plant the bomb. Find a safe zone far from here or you'll all blow up.” Willys ordered.

  “What about you?” asked his brother.

  “As soon as the explosive is ready, we will run.”

  Ratz looked nervously at the pair.

  “You cannot die. Willys, didn't you say you were going after your old love after all this?”

  Willys agreed without showing nervousness.

  “You who have to take care of yourself! Honestly, you're the young people here. I'm going to protect them and secure a better future.”

  The two brothers hugged, and the hacker began to lead the way to Willys.

  “Without the cameras I think the guardian will not find us.” Said Dijo.

  “Maybe Ratz's missile killed her!” Suggested Willys.

  “I like how optimistic you are.”

  When they arrived in the engine room, they saw it deserted. It was very spacious with doors to other corridors and three floors with scaffolding for transport.

  “Put the bomb on,” Dijo said. “I'm going to see if I can control the doors so no one can get in here.”

  Willys spent another four minutes stirring the explosive and Dijo noticed that he was increasingly nervous.

  “What happened?”

  “It's defective!” Exclaimed him desperately and immediately Dijo took three steps back in fear. “It won't explode, relax, but that's the problem!”

  “What?” Asked Dijo.

  “It's defective! I do not know how I have not seen before, but you cannot put a timer, it would have to be triggered manually.”

  The two exchanged heavy glances. At that moment they heard metal steps inside the room and flames flew across the second floor.

  “She found us!” Exclaimed Dijo.

  “I will stay,” Willys said. “It's all right…”

  “Shut up.” Interrupted Dijo by stirring on his tablet. “We can run away from here and destroy the mechanism directly. A WOOL-3 would be enough, wouldn't it?”

  “Yes, but that place is very protected, how we...”

  “Trust me,” Dijo said looking with determination at his partner. “Now let's go before she gets to us!”

  They heard the woman jumping to the floor where they were, and they knew they didn't have much time. Willys took his bag of explosives and ran to the nearest door. As soon as he passed, the locked herself behind him.

  The man looked back, through a glass screen at the door, where Dijo smiled at him. He immediately tried to open it, but it was already locked.

  “Get away from here!” Screamed Dijo. “I'm going to run away from her until you're far enough away and blow up the bomb.”

  “No! You're going to die! Let's switch places, I'm already an old man.”

  “You have a life and a family,” followed Dijo. “Besides, you need to find her again. I'm going to stay here.”

  “You are also my family! What about your date with Evelin?”

  “It is not as important as the rest of your life. You were the best father I could ask for.”

  And saying that he ran back to Dyna42. Willys protested at the door watching the guardian arrive and Dijo climbing a ladder to the second floor.

  “Go away!” Dijo said by the communicator. “Or everything will be in vain!”

  Willys began to cry and ran away from the affected area.

  “The bomb is set,” Willys said to Sorom. “Five minutes to explosion.”

  “What's happen?” Asked Sorom noting the man's voice.

  “Dijo is left behind. He's going to detonate the bomb personally.”

  Sorom and Evelin looked helplessly.

  “Continue the plan.” Ordered Sorom turning the communicator off.

  “How's your barrier?” asked Evelin trying to change his thoughts.

  “It hasn’t recharged yet, but we're so close!”

  They climbed stairs until they reached a small environment with windows that brought daylight in. The two saw the silhouette of the man pointing his gun. Evelin threw herself at Sorom trying to protect him, but he used his strength to push her taking three laser shots. Sorom fell to the ground and Evelin saw her father wearing his full armor. The girl ignored him and went over Sorom.

  “Why did you do that? My barrier still had energy.”

  “I did not want…” The man was speaking with difficulty, “that the elected to protect the chosen one would save me.”

  Evelin could see three holes in Sorom's body, cauterized but very severe.

  “What are you doing, child?” Asked Guardian Simeht. “Why are you working with this man? He's a killer!”

  “As if the people who worked for the order were different,” replied Evelin. “Let us through, we have to kill God.”

  The father laughed at the girl's proposal.

  “You were never very rebellious; I think now decided to enter this phase. Anyway, killing God is not an option. That's not even possible.”

  “Let us pass that I show what is possible.”

  “Evelin! This is something serious, do you know how many lives have been lost because of these chaotic?”

  “Why don't you understand? All these people suffered for the fate that cursed them. They've all had terrible lives because of their destinies, and you know what the only difference from a Chaos Agent to a Guardian of the Order is?”

  Evelin waited for his father to answer, but he was silent.

  “It is the damn word that appears in the arms of each one. Their destinies in practice are the same, and yet we exalt and give everything that's best for one group while arresting others and destroying their lives!”

  “It's not like that, the chaotic...”

  “They suffered on the basis of an arbitrary decision of society.” Interrupted Evelin by pointing her gun at the guardian. “And if you don't give us a pass, I'll be forced to fight.”

  The father looked without knowing how to react and then the whole ship began to tremble. They heard the huge explosion happening in the distance and the two who were standing had to hold on so as not to fall with force that ran across the Temple. In this moment, the only thought in the heads of the agents being Dijo.

  When the tremor was over, they realized that gradually the Temple was beginning to descend.

  “I have already brought down the Air Temple,” Sorom said, striving to get up, “now kill the great God-Computer.”

  Evelin helped him walk and the two looked at the guardian, completely shaken by everything that was going on.

  “Can we go, or are you going to shoot me in the back?” Asked Sorom.

  “If you have come this far...” Simeht began. “I do not know... I still think it's impossible, but... If you follow that door, you're going to die without a doub
t.”

  “I don't think you understand yet, Dad. Here we create our own destiny.”

  The girl opened the door, flooding the room with light, and the two left leaving Simeht behind.

  God-Computer

  Evelin helped Sorom walk, and he seemed to get worse at every step.

  “Are you sure you want to continue?” Asked Evelin.

  “If you ask me that one more time, I'm going to be forced to behead you.”

  They walked the outer plateau of the Temple before a concave form with a circular door larger than Ringnug. They saw the clouds moving away as the Temple left the skies and approached the city slowly.

  In front of the door was Guardian Astra, the swordswoman in gold and black armor who were informed.

  “Grab your weapon,” she ordered. “This is where it all ends!”

  Sorom got loose from Evelin and grabbed his sword. The girl looked at him finding him mad, but his calm look in response reassured her. Sorom was straight to the circular door, with Guardian Astra being the only thing on the way.

  “I've been waiting a long time for our fight. Of course, I’ll use my weapon.” Then he spoke on the communicator. “Now, Norna!”

  The guardian proved confused and Sorom took three steps to the left. Then Ringnug appeared with his cannon pointed directly at the door. The shooting happened and Sorom felt the huge heat of the laser pass very close to him; however, when it was over, there was a hole in the door and no trace of the guardian. The pair returned to their destination while Norna continued to be targeted by enemies.

  Ringnug's barriers were nearly burned and were considerably slower than the guardian ships.

  “Sorry Dice, I have no other choice.” She said by herself.

  Ringnug had lost the barriers and flew straight without further trying to dodge. In a few shots, the ship exploded in a fireball.

  The guardians celebrated their victory, yet a ship came out of the explosion. Rinlojm was considerably smaller than Ringnug and Norna piloted it at full speed, with their laser cannons hitting enemy ships.

  Sorom and Evelin saw the explosions in the sky and then entered the passage to the God-Computer. The light went down, and they had to use flashlights to see.

  Their footsteps echoed in the metal corridor and Sorom could only think how close he was to his goal.

  After several meters of corridor, they arrived at a large room, with a huge cylindrical structure horizontally right in middle. It was possible to hear something spinning within this structure and parts of it lighting up with a blue light. The structure was almost ten meters high and more than twenty in length and one large gear in it’s edge that apparently was not connect to anything.

  “Is that the God-Computer?” Asked Evelin mesmerized.

  “I think... so?” Sorom replied in the same state.

  A strange silence formed, the two watched the static machine as the only sound was the mechanism moving within the structure.

  “Will you shoot lasers at us?” Asked Sorom to the machine. “Turn a giant robot and attack us?”

  No response, just the constant sound of the machine.

  “Nothing?” Asked Sorom disappointed.

  The two approached the supposed God-Computer and Sorom took the Dyna42 from his things.

  “Wait.” Asked Evelin.

  “You're not going to ask me to give up now, are you?” Asked him contradicted.

  “No, but I think I should do that.”

  “What?” Asked Sorom frustrated. “I have spent more than fifteen years of my life preparing for this moment.”

  “I know, but... You asked me not to protect you because of my fate. You're very special and I think you're afraid that means it was your destiny from the beginning, aren't you?”

  Sorom became silent and closed his eyes.

  “Let me do it then,” continued the girl, “this is certainly not my destiny and then you do not need to spend the rest of your life believing that you are some kind of chosen one.”

  “I know it was random.” He spoke. “I know I'm not chosen for anything; it was just a stupid story where I died... All right, you plant the bomb.”

  Sorom drew his pistol and fired three laser shots, being completely ineffective against the God-Computer structure.

  “That was my retribution,” Sorom said. “You can plant it.”

  Evelin planted the bomb on the side of the God-Computer and, unlike the other explosive, managed to set the timer.

  “Now let us go,” said the young woman. “We don't want to be here when this blows up.”

  The two walked the corridor again and Evelin noticed his partner's increasingly slower movements.

  “We will already get a treatment for you.” Said Evelin.

  “It doesn't matter anymore,” Sorom replied. “Now I'm in peace.”

  “Don't say that! You have to see the new world you created!”

  The two walked to the bow of the Temple and the city was getting closer and closer, they could feel the wind hitting their faces and shaking their hair. They passed by the huge skyscrapers and the whole temple trembled as it hit one of them. The building was demolished, but there did not appear to be any civilians nearby.

  The fighting in the heavens also seemed to be over, and upon seeing Rinlojm, Sorom's heart was reassured.

  Evelin supported Sorom as they watched God's fall when a drone approached them. She drew her pistol thinking it was some enemy, but soon noticed it being a reporting drone that was focused on Sorom.

  “I think it's time for another speech,” Evelin said. “Before they arrest us or kill us.”

  The man agreed and tried to stand alone so as not to seem weak.

  “I am Sorom, the leader of the Chaos Agents and today we release all of you! In a few seconds the God-Computer will have been extinguished and the world will be free from the sovereignty of destinies. You may hate me and want revenge, but never forget that it was me and my group that we fought all these years so that you can own your own destinies.”

  Evelin noticed Sorom's eyes turning and his body gave way to the ground, at the same time that the ship was shaking again, not because it hit another building, but because the explosive was triggered, showing the huge white explosion consuming the upper part of the Temple.

  Evelin shot the drone when Sorom crashed and went to help him, he was still breathing, but his condition was terrible. Although she wanted to help her friend there was a curiosity growing wildly within herself.

  She raised her arm to see her fate and nothing appeared.

  Epilogue

  The sun had just bathed the horizon with its first rays of light. Miles of city were illuminated, revealing the destruction caused by the fall of the Air Temple already being repaired.

  When he opened his eyes, Sorom found himself in a hospital room, white and spacious, the opposite of what he had at his base. His conscience had not yet been fully regained and he was alone in this room.

  Gradually he returned to his natural state and saw bandages on his entire trunk, while trying to move only pain traveled through the body.

  He didn't know how long it actually went, it seemed like seconds, but maybe it was hours when the door opened. To his surprise, it was Evelin who came in. She was very neat and wearing a different white uniform with light blue details and a familiar symbol on her chest.

  “I was informed that you woke up.” Said Evelin sitting next to Sorom.

  “And God? What about Norna and the agents? And Garr…”

  “Calm down,” said Evelin with a reassuring smile, “I have lunch time now so we have plenty of time, I can tell you everything.”

  “Lunch time? Are you working for someone?”

  “Not exactly,” continued her. “I'm on the board, so I don't exactly have a boss; but let's talk about what matters.”

  She showed Sorom her arm, and when no glyph appeared, he began to laugh with happiness.

  “Everyone around the world has lost their destinies.” Evelin s
aid. “It was only chaos, but we're working on it.”

  “Who?” Asked Sorom.

  “Don't you know? It was your idea, Mister Destiny.” Spoke Evelin making fun about the man’s name.

  Now the leader has noticed the symbol on the chest being the design he made for the Defenders of Harmony.

  “Are you kidding me?” Said Sorom.

  “No, the name sucks, but we decided to adopt it in your honor.”

  “But who is this group? What are you guys doing?”

  “As soon as the ship crashed, I did what I could to get you to a hospital. The world was not well with the disappearance of destinies and the God-Computer. So, I talked to my father and Magnum Laserfield to take care of it under a new organization.

  “So, you have transformed the former Guardians of the Order and military into the group that will help everyone?” Asked Sorom contradicted. “Nothing seems to have changed.”

  “Shut up,” said Evelin, turning her eyes. “It's a council and a lot of different people have voices. Norna is representing the former Chaos Agents and Willys and the other surviving agents are part of the Defenders as well. They're all working side by side to build the new world.”

  The girl noticed a smile forming.

  “That's good to hear. And Garreth, how's he doing?”

  “Better than you. He was also invited to join the Defenders. He said that your statement to the world was going just when his countdown was in the last few seconds. God exploded before he reached zero.”

  The man let out a great sigh of relief and his whole body relaxed, getting more comfortable in bed.

  “Anything else I should know?” Asked Sorom.

  “Pharaoh Tess was arrested for a number of reasons, such as hiding his sister in a room for years without her consent. By the way this Zizi told the orders you gave her and that must have been the difference between the success and failure of the mission.”

  “I was quite surprised when I found out that Pharaoh's sister was chaotic. Is she part of the Defenders?”

  “No, she thanked the invitation we made and decide to travel the world without further ado, I have never seen anyone in a hurry to leave like this.”

  The leader was happy, however, noticed an expression of annoyance in the girl.