Machine God: A Post-Apocalyptic Thriller (Final Draft)

The Returner

"And you brought your friends. The more, the merrier for the greater good. Yippie."

I swore my heart was about to break from my chest.

Ann-Lyze hit her forehead with her palm and experienced her very own eureka moment.

"Of course. We're back at the Bulwark Cluster."

"What?"

Only Naif seemed serene, but then again, I couldn't see his facial response.

"You led us all the way from the abandoned city to here."

"That's impossible. I had no idea. I was just following my instincts."

It sounded like a protest, but I was just as flummoxed as them. I knew my intuition was swell, but this coincidence was bordering on the insane.

Ann-Lyze hugged me and cheered.

Even became a bit teary.

Happy as children.

If only for the moment.

I spun around and tried to grasp the reason behind all of this. Konforma saluted next to me and waited for another input.

I said,

"I really don't understand."

Naif patted my shoulder.

"Destiny, my brother. You were chosen."

He came closer.

"There are no coincidences in the universe. Everything was orchestrated to create this very journey."

"Orchestrated by who?"

I saw my reflection in the soldier's face shield.

Saw the mirror image of a clueless leader.

"You know the answer," he said.

Konforma's squeaky voice sounded.

"I hate to break up your little jabber session, but there's something you need to know."

All eyes turned to the little holo projection.

"I can only imagine what you had to go through to reach our glorious Bulwark, but please don't squander your resources just yet."

Ann-Lyze grimaced.

I turned to the holographic girl and showcased my smile. Konforma still played her role, and I was beginning to love it.

"Why? Are you going to punish us with solitary confinement because we're celebrating our survival?"

She closed her eyes and shook her oversized head.

"Nope. I just wanted to mention that our cluster has been compromised by the Technoids."

Pause.

Followed by a longer pause.

Followed by utter bewilderment.

I said,

"Konforma. We fell through a hole during a digging session. Escaped a sandstorm. Ran through a tunnel with a wounded person. Surfaced again only to get ambushed by snipers and berserk shooters. We lost a friend. Stormed through the tunnels again until every fiber of our body screamed in pain. And now we're back and you're cranking jokes. Please don't."

I swore, everyone looked at me.

But pushing these words out of my dry lips lightened my body.