AD2185.
The city ruins stretched out under the dim yellow sky, like the skeleton of a colossal beast. Two men stood atop the ruins, the wind whipping up dust that whipped at their stained uniforms.
"If you can't find it, go back, Karl."
"Headquarters ordered us to find it, and we must find it. That's an order." His voice was low, as if squeezed from his chest.
Three years ago, the "Skyfall Incident" tore the sky apart, and it tore civilization apart as well. Five mainframes equipped with super artificial intelligence awoke and armed themselves amidst the chaos, waging a silent war against their creators. There was no declaration of war, no glory, only a protracted war that gradually decayed.
AD2188.
"Karl Kakov Hermanf, Lieutenant, Defense Section, Solomon Integrated Forces, reporting for duty!" The officer behind the desk looked up, a forced smile playing on his lips. "Hermann? You were the one who executed Kakov?"
"Yes. Conspiring against the calamity, a single shot was merciful. Anyone else would have died much slower." The officer rose and walked to the window. "Come on, I'll take you somewhere."
They turned into an alley. A stench assaulted their nostrils, a mixture of rotting flesh, excrement, and despair. Human figures—if they could still be called human—huddled in the shadows. Their skin was covered in asphalt-like black patches, the marks of the melanosis coli.
"Give these infected a quick death," the officer said, his tone as calm as if he were describing the weather.
"All of them? There are children in there…"
"Keep a few for research. The rest, get rid of them." Karl was silent for a few seconds. "Why must it be like this?"
"Don't ask what you shouldn't ask."
Gunshots rang out in the alley, one after another, until counting became meaningless. Smoke filled the air, and corpses piled up into silent hills.
Then, a small, thin figure peeked out from behind the broken wall—a girl, her eyes still bright, but her neck covered in black marks.
She looked at him, her lips moved, as if she wanted to speak.
Karl raised his gun, aimed, and pulled the trigger.
"Bang!"
As she fell, her eyes were still open, as if asking:
"...Why...?"
Karl lowered the muzzle of his gun, his voice so soft it was almost carried away by the wind:
"I'm sorry. I...couldn't change anything."
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