Introduction

Hatred. An undying flame, both pure and grand which had been fed to them from the moment they took their first breath, to the first few words uttered into their malleable, young ears. Everyone knew; the small, the fair, the old, the brave. Every one of them lived under the malice of this fire.

It was a millennium-long war. Each side was highly equipped with intelligence and a rough, intense drive of determination. In the beginning, the war had been only physical bodies against flesh. But with such hatred grew many technological advancements to match side and side with violence. Soon after the first battle, the battle of the boneyard, the first firing weapons were put into existence by cyborg forces. Then came the gases from the aliens. Each one was specially made to only shut down enemy technology and destroy the biological parts embedded in their enemies’ bodies-so that their nature, their love, would be safe.

The cyborgs already had become one with machines, and soon decided to reach their frosty grip into the depth of space. Seeing the great power and profit that this led to, the aliens knew that they stood no chance should their enemy be the only force to expand into the skies. And so the aliens, with great sorrow, joined the battle in the stars.

With each turn of the century, more and more ships, missiles, and blasters were created, all more dangerous, and more precise than the last. Entire planets were wrecked-some destroyed completely, and others were stripped of all biological life, and survivable atmosphere.

It was the kings’ faults of course, for they did nothing at all to negotiate. The cyborg king, Prote, was wise, for he knew very well that peace was readily available to him and his world. Though his greatest flaw; his hubris, was pride. The alien king, Sephine, on the other hand was blind to peace, and though he was gifted with genuine intelligence, he was not wise. His hubris in the end, was kindness. He always tried to do what was right, but it never seemed to occur to him that morality is a very mailable and delicate mindset. This kindness which was so readily pasted carried good motives, yet what good are motives inside of a dead heart. What nobody quite knew, was that Sephine was slightly insane.

Part I Sec I.

Mei was tired. For no flaw of her own, she was always tired. Her hands and feet were imparting in ferocious battles nearly every day and her mind always was on edge, waiting for a single motion or sound to alert her of any potential dangers. She lived each life controlled like a puppet, driven by a clangy, metallic bell—the bell which was implanted inside of her ear. The bell that could ring at any time, be it day or night, snow or rain. It was the battle bell. They called it such for obvious reasons, as it played violently inside of her mind whenever a battle had broken out and some other military force was in need of her squadron.

In the moments before the attack, Mei was asleep, gaining back the energy she so desperately craved, but then the alarm fired off inside of her brain, and the kalon was swung awake. No matter how many times she heard that dreadful sound, it always gave her chills. For even though it was only a noise inside of her head, it meant death.

Quickly, she swung on her gear, which included her weapon of choice, a gun which sprayed a corrosive acid that ate away at the cyborg’s mechanical parts, but also fertilized the soil at the same time. Along with this gun, she carried a well-sharpened dagger and a potion which exploded upon contact with air. Every second stole away another life, so she hurried to band together her team, which was one of the most skilled squadrons out of all of the aliens forces. For this reason, the call must have been something important. It was most likely an attack on a planet with high-value minerals or one in which some sort of sacred life forms existed. She had been informed that another squadron was well outnumbered, so this would most likely be a difficult and tedious battle. Especially if it required her troops.

Out in the field, she signaled her arrival, and was flagged down by another kalon in bright blue garments. Her eyes lit with understanding, and Mei rushed to meet up with the leader of this ruffled squadron. He carried a flag which flapped with regal tranquility against the red-smeared wallpaper behind it. It was her brother, the eldest son of Sephine, and heir to the throne. His eyes were pasted with fire, yet he looked at her with coldness. He spoke in a quiet tone about strategies, and she nodded along, murmuring softly her own thoughts until readiness filled her blood, and she looked up at him, smiled sadly, and led her army away into the fire. The planet where she had landed was not their own. It belonged to the cyborgs, and oddly enough was populated by civilians, which meant that this was an all-out strike, or an attack on cyborg crops and those who were unlucky enough to stand in the way. It would most likely be a weakening and dreadful blow to them, but it was also one which would carry no mercy.

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Part I Sec II

The battle spun on, and the aliens slowly began to regain the upper hand. Mei fought ferociously, intelligence guiding her hands and her heart. Her thoughts did not idealize in her motions, but instead, she was guided by instinct alone. After all, thinking too hard would hinder rather than help, and Mei knew that her body was well aware of what to do. She was highly trained with the alien’s techniques-merciless and brutal moves taught by none other than the king himself.

But then something peculiar happened. Mei’s ears cocked a hair to the left. For no more than a millisecond, her attention faltered. A cry rang from the middle of the battleground. Now Mei turned, eying in the direction of the sound before turning to spray a borg with her concoction. Again, the cry rang out, barely feasible through the screams and clangs of metal. Further into the flashes and chaos she looked, distracted from the unsettled world around her. Finally, she saw it; sitting right in the center of the bloodshed sat a crying child.

Her heart dropped into her stomach. Somehow this kid was in the heart of the battle, surrounded by crowds of clashing soldiers. She looked harder, and noticed that they had a small gear protruding from the side of their face-a bio mechanical eye. Her heart pounded harder, but Mei pushed away the sudden disgust and began to feel torn-it was an enemy child, but it was still a child all the same. Yet diving into the eye of the storm – saving it-- could risk her own life. Her important princess life.

Mei couldn’t stop staring at them. Their singular eye was glassy and their face was puffed from agitation. It’s fur was covered in dirt, and horribly enough, blood, and its frightened wails suddenly seemed to fill her entire mind. It swept away all other sounds of battle as if she were surrounded by walls of water. For only a single moment, it was only her and the child. Two beings which breathed that sweet breath of life, and were surrounded by bloody consequence. She shook her head, clearing that vision, and regained her conscience. From the corner of her eye, movement snapped at her, and she turned just in time to block the attack of another cyborg. She quickly ducked to the left, spraying him with her gas while her feet carried her away. His machine parts-leg and ear, belted out shrill beeps and clangs, let out a puff of smoke, and then shut off. Her attention parted back the child, and she did the unthinkable.

A rotating saw whizzed past her cheek, and she dove to the floor, catching herself with a roll. A spear impaled the soft ground to her left, a centimeter away from her waist. She jumped to her feet, and sprayed-subconsciously-her deadly gas in all directions, shutting down the borg’s equipment, and ending their lives. Mei dodged razors and arrows with the precision of a falcon, and raced the deadly fumes and smoke rising up from the deteriorating bio-mechanical parts. Finally, she stood face to face with the tiny being, and scooped it – him – up. Now all that was needed was to get back out.

The same deadly trail suddenly seemed more difficult, and it occurred to Mei that now there were many things wrong. She couldn’t roll, duck, or use both of her hands, and this kid was surprisingly heavy-far more so than nothing, which was what she had been previously carrying. But then a huge crack broke the heavy air, and Mei turned in awe as a line of fire flared up from the sky; a ship had crashed into the ground before her, sending debris and flames far into the air above it. All soldiers young and old—those in all conditions stopped fighting all at once to stare at this unbelievable scene. Mei stared at it too, and for a long while. It was oddly beautiful in the way that a forest fire is beautiful; solemnly illuminating internal awareness of the devastation she had embarked in. Finally she regained her composure. Mei bolted. And then the fighting continued.

Once in the clear, a little ways away from the danger zone, she looked down to examine this odd child. His teary eye stared back up at her innocently, and a wave of emotion shattered Mei. He wept, shaking and crying, and she knew that he must have been from the borg village which stood not even a mile away. Her mind began to sink into the wonder of his family. Was his mother screaming his name with anguish? Surely she cared about her child with the power that an alien would? Mei’s overwhelmingly emotional mind could not think any differently. She wiped a tear from his good eye, but gazed deep into the animated bio-part on the other side.

She decided after a while of pondering to take him back to the village. Even if that was not his home, the other cyborgs would know what to do. So, she began the trek. It had not even been three minutes when Mei noticed a silhouette dashing towards her, black against the blinding flame-lit orange sky. She examined this figure as they ran, until the two were close enough to see each other face to face. The person, a young cyborg woman shrieked at her, enraged, but stopped as she spotted the child, and was silenced. Now that all was calmed, the lady ripped the child from Mei’s arms. Mei looked at her, and she looked back. Only now did the sharpened stone in the cyborg’s hand become apparent. Yet Mei forgave her by the pain she bore in her anguished eyes. Tears flooded this woman’s cheeks, and she hugged this child, which now had become very apparent as her son-their facial features and coloration was near-identical.

There was then a single moment of silence which passed by, gently caressing Mei’s understanding of reality as the two’s eyes met. It may have only lasted a second, yet it was undeniably feasible as she suddenly became aware of the Cyborg’s similarities to Mei and her own people. Her eyes stretched open, and in that moment while violet eyes locked into mechanical orbs, she felt wonder. This machine-driven sub-being was just as war-torn and shattered as Mei herself. Yet as if a breeze had soared by, rousing her cheeks, and ruffling her hair, Mei returned to reality, and turned away. Even though those momentary thoughts were merely abstractions of her mind, they would always dwell deep inside of her, crawling and scratching. Waiting to be heard.