Technological Terror | kim sunwoo

Chapter 1

"We advise you to remain in your homes whilst we restore the original system, under any circumstances, do not leave your homes." The reporter on the television cited as I tapped my screen in aggression, my forehead grew cold and damp due to the upcoming anxiety attack. I attempted to dial my friend, whom hung up on me unanticipatedly mid call after begging me to come assist her. I discarded the instructions of the reporter, whom's talking became gibberish to me in the background. I grasped my cardigan, barely enrobing myself in the netted material. I hurriedly inserted my feet into the shoes, abandoning my apartment as I got in the glass elevator. I clutched the metal bars until my knuckles had turned white, I was lightheaded and the speed of the elevator wasn't much of a comfort.

After exiting the elevator, I dashed in the streets where multiple beings were sprinting to their homes. A wave of panic rushed over me, to which I sprinted faster for. My orbs were twitching around the street signs, it felt like the faint screams of horror from afar and near blurred my vision. It had also occurred to me that my friend's house was two streets away, I was taking sharp turns as I galloped. The phone in my hand was being tapped loudly since I attempted to dial her again whilst switching gazes. My body was growing fatigued from the continuous running, until I paused for a minute to mark my directions, an unfortunate event of a man who did not surpass his 30s ran past me, letting out a blood circulating scream as he chanted the word run. Various people surrounding me began running, and so did I. After that, I had started to regret approaching my friend's house like that.

As I dashed through a pack of beings, a woman had pushed me back by my shoulder, attempting to boost her speed, to which I tripped and met the concrete structured ground in conclusion, adrenaline trickled through my blood in mere seconds. Even though my knees were probably carpet burned, my back was stepped on with a fierce metallic force, I took glances at a horrific looking droid, my gaze shifted infront of me only to see the woman that had pushed me getting pinned down to the irregular concrete. My chest was rising up and down, fear began controlling my body reflexes as the robot chanted the following words. "Any suspicious body movement will be met with severe consequences, follow the directions thoroughly." The robot said with a monotonous voice, having several electronic cracks and faint squeaks. I was dragged by my arms by another robot, I began walking anxiously, peering at my feet in attempt to follow the rules of suspicious movement for the sake of my life. Various tears began sliding against my cheeks, then.

I found the droids chaining me to a line of people, it was not too long, but it was not too short either, the hall I was in wasn't crowded. There were two lines of people, both which had sobbing people and a crying pregnant woman who looked like she was in her last months. I clenched my fists attempting to get the worry out of me to at least maintain a sane mindset to save myself, at that moment, my audibility sensed a scratchy sound. I turned my head at the sound, to see a man unchaining himself with a nail file. I kept my reaction internalized. The droids seemed to be busy with the people at the front, so as time passed by, the nail file was tossed around. The freed people held their chains in an imagery of captivity. A guy hissed at me in this moment, tossing the nail file. I successfully caught it and hurriedly created friction between the metal and the file, biting my bottom lip as I did so. A man took a glance at the pregnant woman, mouthing a word along the lines of "Now", the woman had instantaneously began hysterically crying. Attracting the droids to her. I tossed the nail file to a man nearby, and to my horror,

He had dropped it, the nail file creating a rattling sound that echoed throughout the hall.

The droids began pointing their guns at the people who scattered across the building, gunshots radiated throughout the hallways, causing me to get startled. Several people tripped and fell atop each other, including me. "Crouch! Crouch!" A man yelled, whilst I hurriedly began crawling out, I gesticulated for the man who was probably in his 40s to follow after me. To which he did, my ears were ringing with horrifying screams, as some of them were abruptly cut off. My gaze was shifted to a guy with dark hair and eyelids which were doubled, his skin was honeyed and his lips were very plump. "You two, the main exit is crowded, follow to the fire exit." He whispered after hissing at us to grab our attention. "But the droids are literally heading your way!" I whisper shouted in fear. "Their system stops at the fire exit, it's a deadline for them. Now get up." He motioned both me and the man, whom refused to follow after us. "I can't, I have to get my wife. She's having our first child soon." He said with a hint of sadness, walking away slowly. "We can get to her later, let's just get out of here now." I said in response, attempting to persuade the man into following after us. "I'm sorry, but I have to." Were his last words before sharp turning the corner we crawled into, back to the main hall to look for his wife. "We can't help him, let's go." The guy stated, clutching my wrist. I nodded apace, racing down the dark stairs which were occasionally lit up with a red tint. The sounds of the screams became more faint as we went down, I grew worrisome as the ability to see was not that strong. However, I was dumbfounded on how the man I was with knew where to go and the droids' loop.

When we went down, I immediately attempted into opening the door. "It's closed shut! It won't even budge.." I stated, the guy cursed before breaking a pipe, white smoke shooting with pressure outside the remains. "Move, I'm going to break the lock." He muttered, I stumbled back, covering my ears as he hit the metallic door knob with full force. The sounds echoed, making me worry that a droid might hear.

At last, the door was busted open, he took my hand then. "We'll head to the ruins of the old buildings, the urban ones are too dangerous." He stated, his head taking sharp turns as he looked for more secure directions. "That part of the city is blocked!" I said in the middle of screams of various people, my ears had also caught sounds of gunshots. I looked above me to see how almost all the cars flying above were slowly running out of power. "I know a way, don't question anything." Was all he said before sending us running into god knows where.

At last, we were in an alleyway of a nearby building. It was not the ruins of the old city. "You said-" I was cut off by him. "I said we were going to the ruins of the city, yes, but they'll be doing patrols now. The sun is setting, who knows what's waiting for us there." He explained whilst opening the door quietly, I followed behind. "But I need to get to my friend, she was panicking." I explained, not wanting to continue any further. "Both of us have places to be, that's obvious. But not now." He answered without looking at me. "She's still waiting for me, please, just help me this once." I begged, nudging him. He turned around with a sigh. "Listen, I don't know you, you don't know me. I wasn't obligated to help you in the first place but I did. Now I don't even know your friend and I've never met her, why should I help her?" He motioned me inside, closing the door as he explained. "You seemed to know where to go and was aware of the droids' routes. If I go there, I might die, but you might not. We need to stick together to be alive." I explained, folding my arms. I was aware persuading him would be difficult. "Keyword; Might." He repeated, tracing his fingers along the rusty pipe. "I'll go with you, but I won't help you in anything similar anymore. However, since you'll owe me one, you'll assist me to my father's house, deal?" He extended his slender hand, which outstood with long fingers. I shook his hand, peering at him suspiciously. "How far is your friend's house?" He asked after shaking my hand, seating himself on the floor. I seated myself in the opposite of him. "I don't know, what street are we in?" I asked, staring at the grey dust on the floor. "Maybe 1486.." He guessed, swaying his pipe gently. "About two streets away, what about your father's?" I answered, hesitantly. He licked his lips, furrowing his eyebrows. "Four streets away, to my knowledge. We'll go to yours first since it's closer." He threw his head back, shutting his eyes, I remained quiet. The thick concrete walls blocked out some of the screams radiating from outside. "When do we leave?" I asked, fiddling with my cardigan. "At dawn." He answered shortly, still resting his head back. I hugged my knees, looking out of the foggy window. "What's your name?" I asked, a chuckle radiated from his throat, causing me to shift my gaze to him. A slight sneer was painted on his lips. "Are you always this talkative?" He mocked, I raised an eyebrow at him, getting somewhat offended. "Shouldn't we at least know each other's name if we're going to stay with each other for the time being?" I asked, my tone laced with bitterness. "Yeah, Sunwoo." He cracked his neck, before resting it back again. "Y/n, what's with the neck workout you've been doing since we got here.." I knitted my eyebrows into a frown, grimacing at him. "I have the joints of an old man and the mindset of an engineer major. Now will you let me get some sleep?" He sarcastically asked, gazing at me with spiritless eyes. I shrugged, resting my face on my knees.