The Prophecies: An Artifact Awakes

A twist of fate

They had been captured, again. Sitting in a cell, the pair continued arguing. "If you hadn't decided that it was for the best to just land on the first planet you saw, we wouldn't be in this situation", Mera spat. "The engine was giving up and we needed to repair it." "But why didn't you at least go to a planet you know?" She kicked the green forcefield that was placed around the cell. "Now we're stuck again." He stood up, placing his hand on the flickering wall. "Do you trust me?", he whispered. "Not right now, no." She followed his eyes, seeing a guard by the entrance to the big room. "What do you have in mind?" He grinned, calling out, "hey, pig face." The guard turned to look at them. "I bet you're too weak to win against me." The creature turned away. "Peter, I doubt that this will bear any fruits." Mera stared at a control system outside of the forcefield. A sharp pain rushed through her head as she imagined how she would just walk through it. Unexpectedly, the forcefield disappeared with a loud crash. Peter stared at her for a moment. As if he got stung by a bee, he quickly grabbed her hand and ran towards the creature, knocking it out. He picked up a gun, grinning. "I told you I would win." 

Together the two rushed through endless hallways illuminated by yellow florescent lights. Sounds of machinery and steps rang through the halls. "We need to get to the ship. Any idea?", Peter asked, pulling her behind a wall as guards passed it by. "You're the one with the plans", Mera whispered. He sighed. "I know, usually I come up with stuff. How did you do that with the forcefield?" After a short pause he continued, "never mind. Do you think you can do that again?" She looked at him. "I'm not sure." She noticed the tired look on his face. He tried to hide his emotions behind this wall of jokes and witty remarks. But she could see past that. At times he tended to pull himself away from any confrontations that could result in him needing to be honest. Peter didn't like the process of coming to terms with his past and the damage it caused. Mera was the same, to some extent. "Can you try?", he asked looking around the corner. Mera tried to focus on a flammable barrel close to two guards. After almost a minute she gave up. "I can't." He smirked. "Plan B, then." He aimed his gun at the barrel. It blew up, setting the guards on fire. "We need to reach our ship before anyone notices. There's too many guards to fight them all." Mera nodded and snuck over to the guards, grabbing a gun. Peter followed up quickly. He pointed at their ship, then at a stack of boxes in front of them. The hall they were in was massive, making it easy to be seen by whoever would enter through the hallways in the back. 

Mera watched two guards walking towards a door at the front, biting her lip nervously. Out of nowhere they got blown away by a force. She flinched and looked at Peter who now rubbed his head, lying on the floor against the wall. "That hurt", he grumbled. "I hope next time you're gonna spare me." She crawled up to him. "I'm so sorry. I don't know what's going on. Ever since we got caught by the Seers I have these episodes. I zone in and out and do things I don't want to do. And the worst thing is I don't even know how I am doing it." He grabbed her cheeks, staring into her eyes. "I wonder if they've done something to you without us knowing." She bit her lip. Being so close to his face was confusing her. She tried to pull herself out of the daze overcoming her but it was too hard. He softly slapped her cheek. Blinking several times, she sighed. "Tell me the truth. What am I?" "I don't know", he responded. "You're an awful liar." Together they snuck to the ship undetected. When Peter tried to open the latch for them to enter, a guard noticed them, alarming the others. "Hurry up", Mera exclaimed when he fiddled with it. "It's stuck." She aimed the gun at the boar-like creatures. Their horns radiated in a green color. "Please, hurry." She shot some enemies but more appeared. As she took a deep breath, and felt fear fill up her body, it gave her an adrenaline boost. Before she realized, she gripped Peter's wrist, yelling out. A shockwave hit everyone and everything in the room, forcing the enemies to the walls on each side. "That was epic", Peter mumbled, a smirk on his face. "You can gladly do that again." Mera gulped feeling weak. The latch finally opened and he pulled her in. She rushed to the console, powering up the engine and locking the ship. "This will be a tough ride", she huffed. Peter plopped down on the seat next to hers and got ready for the lift-off. Mera continued powering up the shield, the thrusters, the turbines and the turbo engine. "We're ready", she said, looking at him. He lifted the ship off the ground, using the turbo to fly out into space. They were followed by a handful of ships firing missiles their way. Mera readied their own missiles, aiming at the ships. She shot one by one. It got silent. 

They've been flying for a while when she said, "Peter, please finally tell me what I am." He looked at her for a moment. After a long sigh he turned on the invisibility shield and autopilot and stepped over to a console. A blue glowing hologram appeared in the middle of the room.  It was a cyborg looking like a woman. Mera stood up, stepping in front of it. "This is a sentinel created by the monks. There's only one of these. Created from the strongest artifact to have ever existed. An artifact so strong, it had been hidden in the depths of the ocean on Terra. Your planet isn't the earth, Mera." She gulped as a list appeared over the hologram. "What do you mean?" "You are the artifact. You are a weapon so dangerous, I don't even know how to control. And I must say that I am pretty smart." Mera knew he tried to overplay his fear. She could sense it. "But why me? I was born there. I remember my childhood." "That's what they programmed you to remember. They wanted to stop you from reactivating to your true form. The senseless and emotionless AI that you once were." She shook her head pressing a hand on her forehead. "No, that's not true. I'm human. I know it." He walked up to her, placing a hand on her cheek once more. "What is the last thing you remember from your past?" She searched her brain for the answer. Hundreds of pictures flashed right before her eyes. "I don't know." Peter's eyes were soft and filled with worry. "I don't want to be a weapon. I don't want to be used." "I know, and I won't let that happen, I promise you." She nodded.