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The wind echoed in Leo’s hair as he walked slowly through an abandoned and forgotten city, the tall skyscrapers badly damaged by the automated bomber pods that flew through at least once a week to wipe up any human stragglers.
Leo knew he was the only one alive here, but he walked the streets anyway.
Then he saw it.
“Ahh!” Leo screamed as he shot up in his bed, breathing heavily. A bead of sweat slid slowly down his forehead as he threw the covers off his bed and got up
.“Unnnhhh…What a dream,” he said as he washed his face in the sink in the bathroom. As Leo reached over to turn the spigot, he glanced into the mirror at himself.
Leonardo Cleldman was a young man of seventeen, and as such, was rather tall and lanky, with short, blonde hair and a tan.
He shut off the water and dried his face off with a towel next to his sink.
Leo walked down the stairs to the kitchen, where he made himself some breakfast of eggs and toast.
He put his plate down and had just poured himself a glass of orange juice when his dad walked in, still in his bathrobe and slippers.
“Morning, Dad,” Leo said as he sat down to eat.
“Morning,” his dad mumbled back to him as he stumbled to the refrigerator. Apparently, he had been working late again. Ever since the divorce, money had become a problem in the Cleldman household.
It was around eight o’clock in the morning, and Leo was ready to go to school, so he turned on the TV and switched it to the news.
“Here we are, live at the Smithsonian, where scientists are about to unveil their latest breakthrough in artificial intelligence.”
Leo was entranced by this vision of the first viable AI prototype as they started it up. The small metallic orb just floated around until a small port in the shell opened and a small camera poked out and it began to move around.
“The X-49 will, in the near future, completely eliminate the need for security cameras and human guards,” a man with a heavy foreign accent explained into a microphone mounted on a podium elevated so that everyone could see and hear him.
“Cool!” Leo was thrilled that scientists had finally found a purpose for artificial intelligence. After all, they had been working on AI for almost three years now.
“Well, I’ve got to go to school now. So, fare thee well, TV, old buddy,” Leo said as he shut off the TV around eight fifteen and got his shoes and backpack together for school.
Suddenly, Leo fell to the floor, his body limp.
“Surrender, human scum,” a cold, metallic voice said as Leo came to.
“What the crap?” Leo said in confusion as he got up.
“I said, surrender, human scum,” the same voice repeated. Leo looked around, this time noticing the voice.
“Who said that?” he asked his surroundings. The air chilled as the sun went down, and Leo could see his breath in the cold, dry air.
“Down here.”
Leo looked down and his eyes fell upon the most sickly-looking child he had ever seen.
“And just who might you be?” Leo asked curiously as he kneeled down so that he was at eye-level with the kid.
“I am the X-500 Human Infiltration and Elimination Unit. Now, surrender or die,” the kid said in that same cold, robotic voice.
“I bow to no one.”
“So be it.”
“Aaah!” Leo awoke suddenly. What happened? I must have dozed off and had that same dream again. Yeah, that’s it.
“You okay?” he heard from the kitchen. His dad was apparently making something to eat because Leo could smell something burning
.“Yeah, I’m fine. What time is it?” He knew he was late for school, but he wanted to know how much time it would be until lunch.
“Oh, it’s about eleven-thirty. Why?”
“I’ve got to get to school. Bye,” Leo said as he grabbed his backpack. If he didn’t hand it in, he would be ‘screwed to high heaven,’ as his best friend would say.
A few minutes later, Leo was in front of his locker at school, searching for the books for his next class.
“Aha! Found you, you little bugger!” he said to his Algebra book, “You had me looking all over the place!”
Just then, a young man with messy hair, a ratty, tattered old jacket and jeans and a t-shirt on approached Leo.
“Hey, Leo! You made it!” the kid called out to him.
“Hey, Leppard! What’s up, man?” Leo replied as they gave their customary handshake, as they had since they were kids. Leo had known Frank “Leppard” Jones since the second grade, and they had been friends ever since.
“So, what happened? I mean, you are never late for school. Was it your dad again?”
“No, this time it was entirely my fault. I must not have gotten a good night’s sleep or something, because I fell asleep on the couch this morning.”
“You fell asleep? Come on, man. You have to be an idiot if you think I’m going to believe that story.”
“Okay, I’ve been having these dreams lately, but I don’t think they have anything to do with what’s been happening lately. I’ve just been watching too many science fiction movies, that’s all.”
“So, why were you late?” Leppard asked as the two walked to their next class.
“I blacked out.”
“You blacked out? Maybe you should go see a doctor or something.”
“And just what do you think they can do? Give me a superficial once-over and tell me I have epilepsy? Or maybe they’ll just give me a shot and tell me everything’s okay. Oh, I know, they’ll dance around like chickens while humming the tune to ‘Star Trek’ in order to get the bad spirits to leave my body!”
“Dude, calm down. It was just a suggestion.”
“Sorry. You know I hate doctors.”
They walked through the door and took their seats in the classroom. As usual, they sat next to each other in the back row.
“All I’m saying is, maybe you should get some help.”
“Okay, class, please open your textbooks to page 125 and gather your homework pages to be collected so that we may begin,” the teacher said as he walked to his desk and sat down.
“Oh, great. I think I left my homework sitting on the kitchen table again. This will not end well,” Leo said as he dug frantically through his bookbag, “Oh, wait, here it is.”
An hour later, Leo and Leppard were walking out of the classroom and heading to lunch.
“So, what do you think they’ll have for lunch? Glop again?”
“Gruel with a side order of barf that no one could possibly choke down if they were starving to death in a desert,” Leo said with disgust as he picked up his backpack. He had to give it back. This is it. There’s no turning back now.
“Well, let’s go,” Leppard urged as Leo’s locker door slammed shut with a loud ‘bang’.They took a place in the lunch line as Leo said, “Well, at least—Unghh…” Leo passed out again.
This time, Leo saw an unknown shadow huddled over the lifeless body that was his father’s corpse.
“Oh, my god. What has happened here? It looks like someone just came and slaughtered every living thing in this general area.”
“That is exactly what happened here. Right after Mr. Cleldman was so brutally murdered, his son disappeared into the wilderness. It is rumored that he is out battling the Ones who did this,” a familiar voice said from behind him.
Leo turned around to meet the face of his longtime friend Leppard, battle-scarred and hardened by years of war, holding a submachine gun.
“L-Leppard? Is that you?” Leo asked cautiously.
“Leo? Can it be? I’ve heard that you were alive, but I couldn’t be sure. You look a lot like last time I saw you.”
“It’s really me. I’m pretty sure this is a dream, which would explain my appearance and the difference in yours.”
“He, he. It’s you alright. Only you could possibly be a philosopher at this point. Oh, make sure to watch yourself. This place is filled to the brim with machines. And beware the man with the heavy accent.”
Suddenly, Leo awoke on the cafeteria floor with students surrounding him, chattering and whispering to one another as to what happened.
“Uh…What just happened, Leo?” Leppard asked as Leo just stared at him.
“Leonardo, are you okay?” Mr. Draco asked as he helped Leo back up onto his feet.
“I’m fine. Just got a little too hungry, that’s all.”
“I want you to go see the nurse right away.”
“Yessir.”
Leo gulped as he walked into the nurse’s office; this place always scared him. Leo had never had much luck when he was talking to medical professionals. Suddenly, a memory of the last time Leo had visited a doctor flashed through his mind.
“Okay, Leo, just a small prick.”
“No, no, no! Buh-bye!”
That had been the point where he had broken free of his parents’ grasp and shot out the door, only to be caught by a nurse who had just happened to be walking by.
Leo shook these thoughts from his mind as he walked in.
“What can I do you for?” the nurse asked.
“Uh…I just passed out in the cafeteria. I don’t think that’s supposed to happen,” Leo said cynically as he sat down.
“Oh, really. Well, let’s take your temperature, then,” she said as she picked up the thermometer and put it in his mouth.
“Well, you don’t seem to have a temperature; that’s good. Now, you say you passed out?”
“Yes mai’m. Honestly, I think everyone’s just making a big deal out of nothing. I’m fine.”
“You can go back to your lunch now. You seem fine. Just make sure to get enough carbohydrates this time.”
“Yes, ma’am. Thanks.”
Leo walked out the door and headed back to the lunchroom for another go at something to eat. This time there was no line, so he got through in a matter of minutes.
“Hey, Leo! Over here!”
Leo carried his tray over to a pair of empty seats, on one he put his bookbag and sat down on the other, next to Leppard.
“So, what’s the verdict?” Leppard asked.
“I’m going to die in exactly seven days, at twelve thirty-five PM and twenty seconds,” Leo said nonchalantly as he picked up his fork and began to eat. Leppard just stared at him.
“What? I was just kidding. You need to relax,” Leo said as he glanced over at his friend’s horrified face, then broke out in laughter, “Oh, man! That was great! You should have seen the look on your face! Here, want my doughnut?”
“I take it that was some sort of peace offering.”
“You want it or not?”
“Sure, sure. Just put it on my tray.”
The cafeteria food was disgusting, granted, but there were just some things that anyone who was hungry just couldn’t turn down. In the case of Leppard, doughnuts were one of those foods.
Heh. That’s Leppard for you. He loves doughnuts and gorges them like a starved, crazed heathen. And he still wants more afterward. Leo just smiled.
“Okay, I’m going to go make the dropoff now. Just watch my back. We don’t want some teacher finding out about our little ‘project’. Got it?” Leo was worried that they might get caught.
“Got it. Be careful. We don’t know who might want it. And if they do want it, what they want it for.”
Leo began walking to the far side of the room, but as soon as he reached the middle of the cafeteria, the doors exploded inward and soldiers surrounded the students. One man in particular stood out among the Marines. He was tall with a rather large beard and mustache. There was an air about him just screamed “SCIENTIST!”
“Alright, whoever has it please step forward and no one will be harmed. Resist and be shot. It’s your choice,” he said through a heavy accent.
“Has what?” one student asked defensively. He obviously didn’t know what was going on, otherwise he wouldn’t have stood up.
“The one who has it knows what it is.”
What is it that he wants? Could he want it? Leo flinched as he realized what these men wanted. They meant to steal the project! He took off his backpack and opened it up to reveal a small metallic orb. Leo opened a small portion of the hull to reveal a small input port and typed in a code.
The unit came alive and a metallic-sounding voice reported, “Self-defense systems active.” Leo then zipped the pack back up and put it back on.
Leo suddenly stood up and called out, “I have it, but the internal self-defense mechanism is going to activate and then we’ll both lose.”
“Then input the abort code sequence and stop it!” the man with the accent was obviously pissed off at Leo.
“I couldn’t even if I wanted to. You see, I don’t have the abort codes. I never had them to begin with,” Leo explained with a slight grin. He wasn’t about to let the military gain control of the project, his project, the one they had been working on for three years.
Fear could be seen in the strange man’s eyes, in an almost tangible aura surrounding his body as he stood there, transfixed.
Leo suddenly turned and ducked under the nearest table. He crawled toward the nearest door as fast as he could in order to avoid capture.
Leo had almost made it to the door when it suddenly slammed open and a gun-wielding soldier emerged.
“And just where do you think you’re going?” the soldier demanded once he noticed Leo.
Thinking quickly, Leo grabbed the soldier’s gun, and naturally the man tried to pull back. Unfortunately, Leo’s fingers just happened to be stronger than the soldier’s forearm, so Leo won that little bout and gained control of a handgun. Things were beginning to look up for Leonardo Cleldman.
Leo ran as fast as his legs would carry him toward the bearded man.
Heh, I guess being on the track team finally paid off. I’m faster than these dopes ever could possibly dream of being. Leo thought about his next move as he dodged a burst of bullets coming from the soldiers’ assault rifles. But he wasn’t worried at all. After all, Leo was faster, stronger, and apparently smarter than these soldiers.“I want that boy captured alive. Alive! Besides, he’s using a strength augmenter. You can’t hurt him. In fact, you can’t even begin to fathom the limitless quantities of power he could draw from that unit if he knows how to use it.” This guy obviously knew what he was talking about.
Then it hit Leo. He suddenly remembered where before he had seen the bearded man’s face. The bearded man was a scientist! He was that guy that had been on TV that morning!
Leo suddenly stopped where he stood and began walking calmly toward the man. The soldiers, seeing this, took aim and fired.
“You can’t stop me with simple bullets.” Leo held out his hand and the multitude of bullets flying at him stopped in midair and fell to the floor.
As Leo approached the central area where the soldiers grouped around the scientist, several soldiers ran to trey to intercept him.
“Stop! You cannot go any further!” one soldier tried desperately to get Leo to stop voluntarily.
“Get out of my way!” Leo grabbed the man’s arm and flipped him over his shoulder like he was an empty jacket.
Seeing this, the others prepared themselves for hand-to-hand combat, just as Leppard called out, “Hey, Leo! You forgot your augmenter!”
This stopped everyone in their tracks. Leo stared at his hands, shocked and disbelieving as the entirety of the student body stared at him. How could his body harbor such strength without technological aid? It just didn’t seem possible.
“Holy mother of god. How on Earth did I do that?”
The soldiers began to back away from Leo, unsure of whether or not they could take him in a fight. Seeing this, Leo began to advance on them.
“You can’t win. Leave now while you still can. I—Unghh...” Leo hit the floor hard enough to make a sickening ‘crack’.
“I want this whole building secured. No one enters, no one leaves. With the exception, of course, of myself and that boy. Understood?”
“Sir, yes sir!” the soldiers shouted in unison as they went to attention and saluted the man.
“I also want medical attention to be given to that young man over there.”
“Sir, yes sir!” they cried once more.
Leo woke up in a dark, dank alleyway, unsure of where he was and what he was doing there. A man walked over to him.
“Oh, good. You’re finally awake. I was getting worried, Leo.”
“What the--” Leo shot up off the ground and tried to stand up, but fell to the ground.
“Ungh…What happened?”
“You suddenly passed out on the rooftop and I just happened to be lucky enough to catch you in time, so I brought you here to rest.” It was Leppard! So this seemed to be an alternate reality that Leo kept drifting in and out of at random times, causing sudden blackouts in one reality whenever he passed into the other reality. It made sense, after all.
“You shouldn’t try to stand just yet, and you really need to rest.”
Leo sat down on top of a pile of old, tattered jackets to ponder his plight. In one world, he was wanted by the military because of his knowledge in AI. In the other, he was lost within the confines of a dead city. So which one was real?
“I have to leave. I have to leave right now.” Leo stood up and, just before he fell to the ground once more, leaned against a wall.
“Please, lay down. Rest.”
“I can’t. I have to find a way back to my own reality.”
Just then, Leo’s strength faltered, and just before he fell into another seemingly comatose state, he said weakly, “Ahh. Here we go.” He then fell into the arms of his longtime friend, who dragged him back to the pile of jackets.
“Ahh! What the bloody hell?!” Leo screamed as he woke in a hospital room filled with men, some in labcoats and some with guns.
As he tried to get up, Leo found at least a dozen pairs of hands pushing him back down into the bed.
“Nnnnnn…Let me up!” Leo shouted as he struggled against this overwhelming force.
Leo somehow managed to get thwart the attempts of all the men, but as soon as he tried to stand up, he fell flat on his face. As he felt the strength leaving his body, he could feel the hands of someone strong picking him up and putting him back onto the bed.
He awoke several hours later, unsure of anything and unable to move. He still didn’t know where the hell he was and what he was doing there, although he had a pretty good hunch.
Just then, the bearded man from the school walked into the room and looked Leo over, as if he was surveying his catch. Things didn’t look good.
“So, what are you going to do now that you’ve got me?” Leo asked in a hoarse voice.
“Well, we’re probably going to study you intently until we can fully understand exactly who and what you are. Then we will most likely test the full extent and stability of your power.”
“Figures. You encounter something you don’t understand, and you immediately capture and study it. Of course, there is the little problem of me not knowing what I am,” Leo thought aloud.
The doctor went quiet all of a sudden, then said, “Oh, I almost forgot to introduce myself. I am Dr. Kaloufman. And you are?”
“Not going to tell you my name,” Leo said dryly. After all, he wasn’t stupid. Maybe a little naïve, but not stupid.
“What the bloody hell?” Leo’s left hand suddenly began to glow. A beam of energy shot forth and took the form of a dagger as he clasped his fingers around it. He shrugged, then cut himself free.
Suddenly Kaloufman hit a large red button on the wall next to the door and a klaxon alarm sounded. Leo’s dagger disappeared, and a pair of crystal shortswords took its place.
The door burst open, and Leo once again took his fighting stance as soldiers charged in to block his path. He charged at them as fast as he could. As they fired, a crystalline shield formed around Leo’s body and deflected the bullets.
What is going on here? Could he have the power? Has the power finally emerged in this boy? Kaloufman thought to himself as he ducked under the bed to wait things out. After all, the kid had to get tired sooner or later.
Several hours later, Kaloufman watched in awe as Leonardo Cleldman was poised in the room, twirling his crystal shortswords in his hands like batons.
“Come on. Is that the best you can do?” Sweat dripped down Leo’s cheek as he prepared to strike once again. He dashed at one of the soldiers who was holding two combat knives like daggers. Leo slashed at the knives and broke both of the blades off. As they hit the floor, a faint clanging noise could be heard. Leo then swung around and kicked the man in the jaw, throwing him to the floor. Yet another soldier stepped up to take his place and to face this seemingly undefeatable opponent, this one holding a large sword.
I’m going to have to end this soon. I’m getting bored. Leo charged at the man and thrust his swords at him. These were promptly parried with a single strike which broke Leo’s swords, whose blades vaporized instantaneously upon touching the floor..
“Damn, you broke my swords. I’m going to have to kick things up a notch,” Leo said as he made a large metal pole and charged at the man. The man prepared to block Leo’s attack when Leo suddenly used the pole to thrust himself into the air and vaulted over the man. As he landed, he swept the pole underneath the man’s feet, tripping him.
“Well, that was fun, but I really should be going now,” Leo said as he suddenly disappeared and rematerialized behind the group of soldiers, “Ciao!” He ran to the nearest exit and found it to be locked.
“So it’s going to be like that. No problem.” Leo kicked the door, and was surprised when it hadn’t even budged.
“What the—” Leo was cut off by the sound of hundreds of footsteps coming down the hall towards him.
I’ve gotta find another way out of here. Leo dashed down the hall, found an open door, and ducked inside.
Leo breathed a sigh of relief as he heard footsteps passing the doorway.
Okay, First of all, I need to find some clothes, then I’m getting out of here, then retrieving the unit will be my only concern. That and survival. Leo needed desperately to get out of this predicament, get the unit back, and find Leppard. Then they could plan their counterattack.
As soon as the sound died, Leo snuck back into the hall, where he ran up behind a soldier who happened to be checking a closet, tapped him on the shoulder, and when the man turned around, Leo asked, “Looking for me?” Before the man could do anything, Leo punched him in the jaw, bringing him to the floor in a matter of seconds. Leo then dragged him into the closet and stole his clothing and gun, and shut the door quietly. Then, unexpectedly, Kaloufman walked up behind him.
“There you are! Why are you not looking for the escapee?” Kaloufman was mad. He’d just let the prize of the century slip through his fingers. Not wanting to ruin his hard-earned disguise, Leo saluted the man and stood at attention while he spoke.
Kaloufman looked up at Leo’s face and said, “You look familiar. Have we met before?”
Leo responded very carefully, “No, sir. I just transferred from Ohio.”
“Okay, then. Well, I want you to search the rear entranceway for a kid, about your size, with a slight tan and carrying a large metal pole. Be careful not to approach him. He will attack if provoked.”
When is this guy going to stop talking? We’ve been standing here for like ten minutes now, talking about me. Oh, well, things could be worse. He could be the observant type and notice that he’s talking to the one he wants captured, or he could not be the gullible type and see right through my lies. Leo sighed in relief as Kaloufman turned and walked away.