Gunpowder

“SOS” rang the speakers, “SOS.”

Axis sprung out of bed in a second, already dressed in her work attire. Loudspeakers embedded in her room’s walls were blaring the simple message. She could hear the same resounding screech in every other room as well.

SOS signals weren’t just sent out everyday; This had to be something big. Axis could already hear doors slamming as she roughly pushed her helmet onto her untidy bedhead. Brunette strands hung out of her helmet’s rim, but now was surely not the time to worry about appearance. She clamped the helmet strap under her chin and raced out the door.

A large crowd was already gathering. Other soldiers stood all around, as jumpy and nervous as schoolchildren. Most were clad in the exact same wardrobe as Axis herself, while a couple of them were completely outfitted in white, shining armor. They chattered anxiously amongst themselves, though their words were hard to hear over the still-blaring alert signal.

Some of the soldiers were trying to push to the front of the crowd to see what was happening. But it wasn’t them that Axis was focused on. Her eyes were attracted to a tiny huddle of people in black armor, keeping themselves near the back.

Axis felt compelled to cover her ears as an announcement rang out, replacing the distress call.

“This was a false alarm! We are simply testing the machines! Everyone, please keep calm and return to your designated area!” the crackly speaker screeched. A collective sigh of relief washed over the crowd. They began to disperse, some laughing about the whole mix-up, while others were tense after the ordeal.

Axis, still standing very near to her door, easily reentered her quarters. The alarm had ceased, though the ringing in her ears had surely not. She sat down on her comfy bed and removed her helmet, placing it right next to her on the comforter. She smoothed down her hair, which lacked its signature bun, until it practically shone. She took her red scrunchie from her wrist and, without needing a mirror, pulled her hair into a neat little bun, which she secured with the scarlet band. She brushed one finger over the scar above her eye, wincing slightly. The scar was in no way fresh, but it still pained her.

Shaking away the brief spark of pain, Axis picked up her helmet and neatly settled it on the mannequin head seated on the top of her dresser. She leaned up against the blue wardrobe and pulled her communicator from her belt. It wasn’t precisely a communicator, though that’s what most called it. It was a multipurpose device that could be used for communication, receiving orders, news, taking photos, or voice chat, among other things. Axis turned it on with the press of a button, seeing a few notifications sprawl across the screen. Most were the usual: Weather, patrol orders, schedules, but one caught her eye. It was an alert that had been sent out at the same time as the SOS alarm had turned on. She opened the notification and saw that it redirected to an email.

The message was terse, simply reading:

“To all of whom it might concern: A bizarre distress signal of utmost importance has been sent from an unregistered automobile. Our trackers found that the SOS was sent from Redhill 108. Medical personal, bomb specialists, and soldiers will be dispatched to this location immediately.

Sincerely,

Military general,

Lazuman Quantova.”

Axis looked at the mailing list, seeing that it was rather short. It included several higher-ups, most of whom had chosen to remain anonymous, and then, her. She cocked her head like a puppy at the strange development. Why her? Was it some sort of mix up?

Axis thought back to Jelt’s words from the day before: “Don’t matter if it’s logical or not, what matters is that it could be a danger. And a soldiers job is to keep the citizens safe, right?”

Though she hated to admit it, he was right. And this situation could be a danger to the citizens. It had to be some kind of fate if only she received the email. Axis had never been a believer of religions or destinies or whatever, but coincidences like this didn’t just happen at random.

Taking a deep breath, she picked up the transport cube on her dresser, threw on her helmet, put on her armor, and left her room. The hallways were all but empty now, so she had an easy time getting to the front entrance.

Nervousness clawed at her heart as she threw down the transport cube. Her horse sprung from the tiny object, and kneeled down, ready to be mounted.

Axis gritted her teeth with determination and swung her leg over the robot’s withers. With a subtle noise of motors and circuits, the equine rose to its hooves. Axis felt as if it was judging her as it started to trot in the direction she wanted.

The ride wasn’t as smooth as normal, despite the horse’s gait being the exact same. The anxiety pricking at Axis was the issue.

No one even batted an eye at her as she trotted through the gates. They were closed at this time of day, but a tiny door slid open as she approached, just large enough for her and her horse to get through.

The hot sun in the wasteland felt hotter than ever on Axis’s back. Her horse sensed her nervousness and sped up to a quick canter, almost breaking into a gallop. She clutched the robot’s warm neck, which was quickly heating up in the desert sun.

“Equine. Top speed,” Axis spoke, feeling out of breath. The horse turned to look at her for a moment before lurching into a full on gallop, speeding across the wasteland. Its rubber hooves beat into the sand, spraying the yellow dust into the air. But it was too fast to be hit by any of the particles, simply dashing out of their way before they landed. The world was a blur to Axis, a blur of sandy fields and towering mountains. Every turn threatened to throw her off the horse’s back.

She checked the speedometer, hidden beneath a panel on the animal’s withers. It recorded around 300 miles per hour, and the speed was only growing faster.

Axis clung to the animal’s neck as it struck hard rock. The robot was almost running vertically up a steep mountain side, using its momentum to keep from sliding backwards.

The smell of smoke hit Axis’s nose. The accident had to be nearby, there wouldn’t smoke otherwise. And this was Redhill 108.

The horse started to exert itself more as it climbed the steepening path. Its motors whirred and it was slamming its feet onto the ground.

By the time it reached the plateau of the mountain top, it had resorted to leaping and digging its hooves in hope that it would stay up. When it at last reached the top, it was forced to hook its front hooves onto the rock and haul itself up. But it at last reached the flat mountain top. Its head slumped down as it rebooted its overworked engines and computers.

“Destination reached,” It hummed without moving its mouth, “Redhill 108,”

Axis let out a pitiful sigh of relief. She waited patiently as the robot rested; She could use some rest herself.

“Recalibration complete. Out of range for autopilot, please proceed manually,” it whirred again its its monotone accent.

Axis gulped up the saliva she wasn’t aware was filling her mouth and took the reins. The smell of smoke was stronger than ever, and she could even see a few gray whisps floating into the sky. With a look of determination she squeezed her knees on the robot’s sides and watched as the robot’s ears pricked. It soon began to move forward at a slow walk, which was all Axis could handle at the moment. She turned her head every few seconds to see what was on either side of the mountain, which, at the moment, was nothing but a few scraggly plants and scurrying lizards.

She could clearly see an end to the path, but that wasn’t what she was heading for. She was following a trail of tire tracks, worn into the rock. The tracks veered off a cliff side, then disappeared after around 100 yards down. They were recent.

Axis knew that her mount never be able to scale the steep downward slope on foot, but the robots were capable of doing something else. With a sharp tug on the reins, she guided the robot to the edge of the cliff, just a few feet back.

“Gliding mode, engage,” She spoke, to which the robot nodded in response. Its engines buzzed for a moment before it leaped forward. In two long strides, it reached the edge of the cliff, but it didn’t stop. Instead, it leaped right over the edge.

Axis’s heart skipped a beat as it fell to the ground, but, just as she was sure it was about to hit, two huge, metal, wings shot from the horse’s shoulders. They were stiff, and didn’t flap; Instead they simply enabled the robot to smoothly glide downwards.

When it finally reached the ground, all four of its hooves dug into the rock to control its momentum. The noise of such a feat was worse than nails on a chalkboard.

But, to Axis’s relief, the horse finally slowed to a controllable speed. She took the reins, yanked them hard, and forced the horse to turn so that its face pointed to the ground. The mountainside was much kinder now, kind enough that the horse could get a grip.

They reached the ground quite quickly, where the robot stamped the clinging sand off its rubber hooves.

Axis looked forwards, and saw something. Large, gray, and destroyed.