Taking Back Earth

The audacious sound was beating on my eardrums as I awoke. Gunfire filled the air, and I saw bullets flying like rain in a windstorm just a kilometer in front of me. Once I realized what the sound was, I started running. There was a small clump of evergreen trees nearby, and I tucked myself inside the small haven of safety in this hellish valley. The chill in the air made me realize I had a necklace around my neck; it felt cold against my chest. It felt foreign to me, so I lifted it off my chest to look at it - a locket. I opened the heart-shaped pendant to reveal a picture of two humans: a boy and a man.

I took a closer look at the frenzy of battle. I noticed that on one side, the humans toting guns looked different - their skin was holographic. I looked down at myself, and when I put my hands out to look at them, I noticed I had the same holographic quality to my skin. Questions began racing through my head at an overwhelming rate. Instead of hiding there trying to compute the small amount of information I had, I decided to take action and figure out why in the universe I was there.

I began hiking toward the side of those who had the same hue to their skin as me, staying far away from the line of fire. I eventually came up and out of the valley, but then suddenly something dawned on me. There were no people behind me, only in front. Plus, no one noticed me. I was staying in the trees, but one would think, seeing as they’re in a war and all, that someone would notice a stranger lurking in the trees nearby.

Following a gut feeling, I made my way out of the trees toward the people. I had made it far enough away from the battle to where it was safe for the children to roam free. I was fully out of the trees at this point, and still, no one noticed me. I stood there for a moment, totally transfixed on everyone’s skin glowing and shining in the sun. One of the playing children glanced my way and I waved, but he didn’t seem to notice me.

I continued approaching until I unexpectedly walked into something - or through something. My foot disappeared in front of me, and I jumped back. I stuck my hand out in front of me and it disappeared.

“A new one is coming!” I heard someone yell.

They sounded excited - not angry – so I decided to bite the bullet and walk through the invisible wall. Everyone was watching me intently, pausing from whatever they were doing. I saw someone running through the maze of people towards me. She caught me off guard when she hugged me.

“Hey Giselle!” she exclaimed. “Welcome here, I’m so excited for you!”

Confused, all I can say is, “So Giselle is my name?”

“Yep, and I’m Max!” she replied.

“What am I doing here?” I asked, my tone not matching her cheery disposition.

“I’m sorry Giselle,” Max answered solemnly, “but I can’t tell you anything other than the task at hand. You have been progra… I mean you are trained for battle, and you’ll be heading to the front lines.”

The more she spoke the more infuriated I got, I opened my mouth and let all of my frustration out in a scream. I looked up at Max, and she was looking down, with her eyebrows pinched together. After processing this as sadness, I apologized for my outburst.

She gently confirmed with me that the only reason I was frustrated was that I didn’t know why I was there, and that I wasn’t frustrated just because I was there. This was true. I definitely sensed I should be there, so she encouraged me to hold on to that as I continued on my journey to the battlefield. After I had calmed down, she directed me to the station where I needed to go to get prepped for battle.

I headed to the station to get suited up. I met with the sergeant major, and was reminded that I had been trained for this, and that the skills and knowledge that I needed would come back to me. I put on the uniform given to me and was brought to the weaponry room. It wasn’t a huge room, but it got the job done with floor-to-ceiling storage for guns, ammo, grenades, and more. The sergeant-major offered for me to choose a gun, and I hesitated. He told me to read the labels, and I’d know what they meant.

He was right, and I decided to grab the AG-043 because of how lightweight it is. I loaded up the magazine and attached it to the rifle. I slung a couple of bandoliers over my shoulders, and they sent me out.

I trekked out to the valley where I first woke up, now on the side of the invisible wall with the gunfire. I army crawled from empty barricade to empty barricade, surprising myself at how easy it was. I eventually reached a muddy barricade with people behind it.

“Giselle! Finally,” the one soldier said.

“Finally?” I replied.

“Yeah, we don’t have time for this now, it will make sense later,” she replied.

The only thing I could think to ask was: “Do you know about these people in my locket?”

“We’re telling you, it will all make sense after,” the other soldier replied.

After? Frustrated by all the cryptic answers, I tucked my helmeted head above the barricade, and casually picked off two soldiers on the opposing side. My soldier pals looked at me pleasantly surprised as I ducked back down and sat with my back to the barricade. Feeling a sense of pride, I popped my head back up, but they were ready for me, and I got shot in the face.

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I woke up in the same field as I did before, gunfire just as loud. This time, I woke up in my tactical gear with my rifle by my side. I guess I can’t die, so I might as well keep going out with a bang. I jumped up and stuck my rifle to my shoulder. In a fit of frustration and rage, I burst through the invisible wall with my gun spewing bullets at my dull-skinned rivals.

Within 15 seconds I woke up on the other side of the wall. This time, I took a minute to lay there – taking the cool air slowly into my lungs, and back out. In and out, in and out. The stillness let my mind wander to the necklace around my neck. I looked intently at the two males in the tiny heart-shaped picture. In frustration, I ripped the necklace off and threw it behind me. This time, I decided to go back in with more intent. I went behind the front lines, still behind the protective wall, and entered the battlefield the same way I did the first time.

I completed my army crawl journey to find my two friends from before the first time I died. I asked their names, and they informed me they were twins, and their names were Akira and Tien. “Where’s your locket?” asked Akira.

“It made me so mad…” I responded, “I ripped it off and threw it when I woke up over there. You both know about waking up behind the wall, right?”

“Yeah, we do,” Tien assured me, “will this affect her status?” she asked Akira.

“Not much more than the stunt she pulled running through the clear, guns blazing,” Akira answered.

“The clear? That’s what the invisible wall is called?” I begged, grasping for information, “and what status?”

Akira flashed a look at Tien that suggested they revealed too much and then said, “Never mind about your status, and yes, that’s what the wall is called. Anyway, we know you are a top soldier, so let’s talk strategy, unless you’d rather go down in a blaze of glory like last time…”

“No,” I replied embarrassed, “let’s talk strategy.”

We came up with a plan to build a barricade further up the valley to get a better view of our opposition. Most of the barricades were right at the bottom of the valley. They told me that guns didn’t work outside of the valley. Which I thought was weird and impossible, but the clear doesn’t seem the most plausible either, so I rolled with it.

We were all able to take pieces of barricades from lower in the valley to build our own further up. Our opposition was not skilled enough to be able to hit us from that far, so we were practically invincible. Over the next few hours, we were able to memorize the strategy they had of soldiers changing barricades and the timing in which each one would pop up to shoot. After that, with our expert marksmanship, we could take out the opposition soldier by soldier, according to their pattern. Eventually, they realized that the threat was coming from the barricade up the valley and that we knew their strategy. They all started making their way back, I’m guessing to come up with a new strategy.

We waited. We were waiting for a couple of hours, so we filled the time with conversation. Seeing as I didn’t know anything about myself outside of that day, they told me about themselves – mostly about their childhoods. Out of nowhere, we heard yelling from the top of the valley, and saw a large group of dull-skinned soldiers plowing through our soldiers stationed at the top of the valley. The soldiers on our side ran from their barricades to go and assist the soldiers in combat but were being picked off by the opposing soldiers left in the valley. There were already a few enemy soldiers that made their way around and started coming into our side of the valley - beelining for our barricade. Before the three of us could grab our weapons, they were lifting theirs. Without hesitation, I leaped in front of my new friends to hopefully buy them time to start firing their weapons. Bullets rained into my body.

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This time I didn’t wake up in the valley on the safe side of the clear. I woke up in my familiar pod that had been a second home since I was created. The glass door slid open, and I walked into the testing room.

“AI 2984, you have acquired your final two skills needed to assimilate onto Earth: teamwork and empathy. Congratulations!” my scientist said. “We will be finalizing your preparations for your trip to Earth within the week, and you will catch the next Earth-bound flight next week Wednesday.”

“Thank you, Dr. Nadine. It has been a pleasure working with you.”

“You will be reintroducing yourself to the elite investors tonight. They are having a send-off event for all the AIs we will be sending to Earth on Saturday," explained Dr. Nadine. “You will be there as Giselle - from this moment on you are Giselle. My work with you is complete. Starting tomorrow you will be having intensive training for the six-month journey from Mars to Earth. The family of Giselle’s body will be very excited to see her. She, I mean you, have been missing for one month, and you must remember how the reunion should go.”

“Yes, I remember, thank you again. I will go to my room to update my system and prepare for tonight. I am excited to see my family in person!” I said while clutching the locket in my hand. Then I headed back to my room, processing the new stage of existence I was about to embark on – taking back Earth for the elite.