There it was, the blue sphere of Earth, hanging in the blackness of space. Its cities lit up the night, a tiny, glowing marble surrounded by the endless lights of stars and distant galaxies.
Watching it was a fleet of warships. They were huge, blue ships with giant cannons, just waiting for the command to tear it all down.
Red lights pulsed along their sides like a heartbeat, making their strange design feel even more threatening. With their tall fins and angled wings, they almost looked like old sailing ships, remade for the stars.
In front of the blue fleet, a single black ship hung in the space. It was bigger and scarier than any of the others. A massive weapon, a kilometer long, formed the nose of the ship, making it look like a great shark hunting in the silence of space.
Inside, on the command deck, stood Athenos. He was the exiled King of the Astra, thrown off his home world by his own brother, Gaia. Now, he stared at the blue planet, a new hope burning in his eyes.
"It looks a lot like our home," he said, a smile in his voice. "We can rebuild here. We can get back what Gaia stole from us."
Gladious stood with his back to him, just watching the planet through the main window. He didn't turn. "It's inhabited," he said, his voice completely flat.
Athenos's smile vanished. His face tightened with rage. "What? You're telling me this now? How are we supposed to live there? Are we supposed to be refugees again, living under some other civilization?"
Gladious's voice didn't change one bit. "No. We'll move them to your planet. They will fight Gaia for you."
"Are you insane? How are we going to move an entire civilization?"
"Be careful what you say, fallen King. You might regret it," Gladious said, and for the first time, there was a hint of steel in his calm voice. "You don't know this race. They're called Humans. They are one of the most violent creatures in the universe. War is in their blood. You can't even imagine the things they've done to each other. They've wiped out whole ethnic groups of their own kind just for power. This world only has one rule: the strong eat the weak. That's what makes them the perfect army to fight your war, not your peaceful people who haven't held a weapon in ages. Anyway, I've already set things up. They don't deserve this planet. Your people do."
Athenos put a hand to his face, running it through his silver hair. "You want to wipe out a civilization just so we can live?"
"They'll wipe themselves out soon enough," Gladious shot back. "A huge war is coming. They'll burn their own planet with their own weapons. Most of them will die. From where I'm standing, their whole species is a lost cause. What I'm offering them is a chance to live. I'll turn them into an army that follows my orders in exchange for survival. It will finally unite them, give them one single purpose. Right now, they're a disease killing their own world. What I'm doing is a mercy. I'm ending the wars that would have killed them and planting a civilization that actually understands unity in their place: yours."
The cold, terrible logic hit Athenos hard. He hated the idea of causing so much pain for his own people's sake, but he understood. This blue world would soon be a dead rock anyway, thanks to human greed. He had to choose the lesser of two evils.
He let out a long, tired sigh. "What's the plan?"
A thin, cold smile touched Gladious's lips. "I have a plan that will be very… efficient," he said, letting the words hang in the air. "We'll turn their own machines against them."
***
Akira ran. His arms were wrapped tight around his youngest daughter. His other hand gripped the tiny, trembling hand of his seven-year-old. His wife was right behind them, gasping for breath as the sound of their hunters got louder and louder.
Machines. The robots were hunting them.
His heart felt like it was going to explode. The world was falling apart around him. Buildings were torn open.
Mechanical monsters crawled up walls like spiders, breaking into homes and killing without a thought. Cars fell from the sky in fiery spirals. There was no one to help. It was just death, and Akira ran.
He ducked into an alley, pulling his daughters in with him. His lungs were on fire. They stopped for just a second, trying to breathe. His wife stumbled in after them, tears streaming down her face, her eyes wild with terror.
"Oh God," she cried, her words choked. "What are we going to do? There's nowhere to go."
Akira looked at her. He wished he could lie, just this time. "We'll find somewhere safe," he said, but his voice cracked. "The army will come. They have to."
But then the baby in his arms started to cry. It was a fatal mistake.
A shape lunged from the street. Cold. Metal. A robot. It was tall and fast, its eyes glowing like hot coals. They started running again, but the machine was faster.
It attacked.
His wife was the first to fall. "Don't stop! Save them!" she screamed as it jumped on her. Akira put his daughter down and kicked the robot square in the head. It staggered back, but just for a moment. Its eyes flared red as it locked onto him.
Blades shot out from its arms. It lunged. Akira grabbed its arm, straining with all his might, but the machine was stronger. Slowly, the blade slid toward his throat.
His wife moved. Love made her brave. She slammed into the robot, knocking it back. Akira scrambled up, pulling her with him, but the robot came back, relentless. Its blade shot toward Akira's chest.
She saw it coming. There was no hesitation. She shoved him, hard, and took the blade herself.
The scream that ripped out of Akira's throat wasn't human. Rage exploded in his heart. He bent to lift her, but she stopped him, her lips wet with blood.
"Please… Run. Save them…"
And so he ran.
Tears blinded him.
He scooped up his daughters, one under each arm, and fled. Behind him, his wife threw herself at the robot, holding it back with the last of her strength. It stabbed her again and again.
She never let go.
By the time the machine was free, Akira was long gone. He ran down alleys choked with garbage until another robot blocked his path. He felt a cold dread wash over him. He turned, and there it was. The one that had killed his wife.
Trapped.
He looked to the side. A crossroads. Two paths. No time to think. He knelt and looked into his older daughter's eyes.
"My love," he choked out. "Take your sister. Run. I'll find you. I promise, I'll find you."
A blue map lit up from his wrist. He pointed to a spot. "Go here. Hide. I'll come for you, no matter what."
"No," she whispered, her voice tiny. "Don't leave me. I'm scared."
"If you stay, we all die. Run. Now. Please."
He put the youngest down. She cried and clung to him, but he pulled himself away and forced the older girl to take her sister's hand. Then he shoved them toward the alley on the right.
"Go!" he screamed.
They went. He turned left.
The machines followed him. Good.
He sprinted until his legs felt like they were on fire, the sound of metal feet right behind him. He burst into a park full of cherry blossom trees, a peaceful sight in a world gone mad. But he couldn't stop. He heard them closing in.
Then he saw it. A glimmer of hope. A strange, black, dome-shaped pod, sitting half-open.
He dove inside.
It was filled with buttons and strange lights. He didn't know what they did, he just slammed his hand on everything he could see. The hatch sealed shut.
A moment later, metal fists began hammering on the outside, trying to break it open.
He couldn't breathe. He knew they'd get in soon.
He hit more buttons. Lights flashed. The pod jumped. He felt gravity vanish as it shot upwards. The force squeezed the air from his lungs, and the pressure crushed him into unconsciousness. He tried to fight it, tried to go back for his daughters.
But it was too late. When he woke up, he wasn't on Earth anymore.
He was in the Death Race.