HTURT

Anna’s eyes watered as they jumped across the screen. She’d been staring at the code for two weeks straight, with only occasional breaks to stow the laptop and the rest of their gear under the weathered floorboards. Sirens blared outside, but she barely noticed anymore. The only thing that made her hackles rise were the scuffed leather boots against the cobblestones.

It had been four months since the invasion, and the streets of Prague remained unchanged for most of its denizens. Drunks still spilled their beers at the local pub, the Christmas market was bustling, and children kicked balls in the street. But Anna and Jakub weren’t most people. They weren’t welcome in the pubs, markets, or streets. They relied on the food delivery apps, but mostly on the generosity of the Ambroz family next door.

“Are you done yet?” Jakub asked, placing a steaming cup before his little sister.

“I don’t tell you how to do your job, don’t tell me how to do mine,” Anna said, cupping the warm mug in her hands.

“It’s not getting better out there,” Jakub pulled out his phone and flicked his hand towards the wall. A variety of news outlets and social media feeds flashed into existence.

“You think I don’t know that?” she snapped, hot water splashed onto her fingers, and she cursed. Anna closed her eyes and inhaled sharply, “Look, I just finished the neural synapses, and the quantum annealing is nearly complete.”

Jakub blinked. She picked up the mug again, “Yeah, that’s what I thought. Why don’t you stick to your dusty old books and let me do the real work.”

They started the project well before the invasion. It was just a pet project to kill time after work. The usual post-work activities of sipping a drink, quantum computing, and delving into the arcane. But that rapidly changed when Anna was fired from RoboTek. Next, their bank accounts were shuttered. Now what little they had left went into the project.

The changes were initially subtle, like the protests you only see on the news or local eateries banning them from table service. It wasn’t that big a deal, they could wear the patches, and ordering takeout was cheaper. But then Jakub and Anna’s father never came home from work one day. Then it was their mother. The project was all they had left.

While Anna remained glued to the computer, Jakub studied, collected the necessary ingredients, and kept the young prodigy fed. He dodged curfew patrols and organized what was left of his family’s house after the war. It was quiet for now and that was a good thing.

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Water pattered from the shingles onto the street as the last of winter’s snow melted. Silence filled the cool air and almost made Anna miss the constant wailing sirens. Soldiers' belt buckles clanked against the butt of rifles outside but quickly passed. They both released a breath they didn’t realize they were holding. Jakub’s stomach rumbled and he smiled sheepishly.

“Are you sure?” Anna asked, fork poised over the last morsel.

“Eh, I’m not a fan of that stuff anyway,” Jakub said. She shrugged, forked the last piece, and popped into her mouth.

“Any word from Noah?” She asked through a mouthful.

“No.”

“And Josef?”

“Nothing from him either.”

Three loud knocks caused them to jump out of their seats.

“Rollcall!” A voice bellowed from outside.

“They’re not supposed to be here until tomorrow,” Anna hissed.

“We know you’re in there, Steins! Open up or this will only make things worse.”

“It’s probably just an out-of-cycle inspection or some new law. It’ll be fine,” Jakub whispered. “We’re coming!” He yelled down the hallway. Anna and Jakob pushed themselves up from the table and hurried to the front door.

Three officers were crowding the entryway. As Jakub opened the door, the officer in the back looked up from his tablet. “Anna and Jakub Stein?”

“Yes?” Jakub said.

“Why did it take so long for you to answer the door?”

“We were eating dinner, sir,” Jakub replied, his eyes pinned to the officer's boots. The one in the front, with the commander’s lapel, held his hand out and the subordinate in the back pushed the tablet into his hand. He gave Jakub an appraising look and then checked the device in his hand.

“Ms. Stein, it seems we require your assistance this evening. Would you please join us at the station?”

“What?” Anna squeaked.

“Why?” Jakub asked, pushing her behind him and back into the house.

“It wasn’t actually a request. Move out of the way, boy!”

“Take me instead!” Jakub implored. He turned to his sister who was backing into the hallway, “Anna, go back inside, it will be okay.”

Moments later Jakub found himself on the floor, his head pounding, and a pistol pointed at his face.

“Wait,” Anna screamed. “I’ll go, just don’t hurt him.”

“No,” Jakub croaked. He started to crawl up the stairs and the three officers laughed.

“Drone transport is three minutes out,” the commander said.

“Coward!” one of them barked, but Jakub didn’t care. He scrambled up the stairs, sticky blood dripping down his cheeks. He opened the lid of the computer and typed the one command he knew. The first and only thing Anna taught him about coding.

Execute Project Truth.

The computer began to whir, but Jakub didn’t linger. He grabbed his father’s leather tome and the jar from the table and hurried over to the hulking form. Hands shaking, Jakub unscrewed the lid dipped his trembling fingers into the jar, scooped a handful of wet clay, and smeared it onto the cool steel plate.

Vision blurry, he etched three letters into the wet clay. Three letters from an ancient language that had protected his family for generations. Jakub began to chant the incantation that his father made him memorize. As had his father before him. He closed his eyes and rocked back and forth on his knees, wailing, singing, praying.

The computer ceased its humming and he looked at the now-dry clay, the word blazing with celestial fire. Jakub scrambled backward as the creature’s eyes opened and it stood to its full height on mechanical legs.

“מה ההזמנות שלך?" it boomed.

“Save her!” he cried. Save us all.