Apocalypse: The Machine War

Chapter I: The Crater

Phoenix Drakos

We were standing on a rocky, uneven surface of the Moon with no clue as to why we were there. We had hoped to find answers as we reached the surface of the Moon, but there seemed to be none. And we could not even go back as all our fuel had been used and Earth was dying. It was not suitable for life anymore.

There was another problem. We had not seen daylight for about three Earth days. I mean, sure it does not seem like a big deal on any planet that rotates and has a good atmosphere, but experiencing it is a nightmare and it's no joke not being able to see your solar system's star.

Another major problem was that we were starving. We had not had food in about twenty-four hours. I longed for sandwiches more than anything else. Luckily, we had had enough water in the ship for us to drink.

It felt like we were stuck in a dark, white desert where the Sun never rose, and no matter how far we went, there was no water, no sign of life. There was nothing on the Moon except wrecked spaceships and safely-landed spaceships (which were rare). There were no people around except us and, the dead who were just visible from the wrecks.

I turned to our robot, Ajax. He was about a foot, yet he looked like a fully grown man.

"So," I said. "Have you found anything using your scans, yet?"

"Still searching," Ajax replied.

"Great," said Melissa, who was my best friend. "Tell me when you're done."

"Phoenix," said my brother, Apollo. "Your eyes are probably sharper than Ajax's scanning system. Please tell me you can see something."

I was touched by what he said, but I shook my head. He looked down through his space helmet. I could understand what he felt. I mean, sure, we had our differences, but nothing could change the fact that we were identical twins.

"Done," said Ajax. "I located a stall."

"A stall?" said Melissa, startled. "A stall?"

I was bewildered. What kind of stall would be there on the Moon?

"Do they have sandwi-," I began.

"Shut up," Melissa cut me off.

"Where exactly did you see the stalls, Ajax?" said Apollo kindly. "Could you lead us?"

Ajax began trotting forward. We followed, but he was so slow that we had to wait at least five seconds before taking each step.

Well, our problem was nothing compared to Apollo's. See, while we were in our ship, there was this phase of collisions with other ships, which resulted in permanent damage in Apollo's legs. So, Ajax built him a wheelchair out of titanium and it zoomed at a terrific speed, which would have been cool, except that Ajax was so slow, he moved for one second and then applied brakes, waited for Ajax to lead and then did the same thing over and over again. Even the spacesuit had found a way to cover Apollo's body.

I believe it took us an hour or so, but it felt like much longer than that, until we stopped at a deep and wide crater.

"Finally," Apollo muttered, pressing the brake buttons one last time. "Ajax, is there a way to control the speed?"

"One speed only, sir," replied the robot. Apollo groaned.

"So, are you 'one-speed-only' too?" said Melissa.

"Yes," said Ajax. Melissa groaned.

We looked down at the crater. Then I noticed a building which was the exact colour of the Moon. I mean, sure, it was huge, but it was nothing compared to the size of the crater.