10 Minute Tales

Apr 12

Sentinel swung again, growling in anger. It was all Aurora could do to keep her footing on the uneven ground and dodge his powerful swings, let alone get the battery of the rifle out as well. Sentinel growled and shoved at Aurora, catching her and sending her sliding away.

"Do not forget your place, you second-rate prototype. I am your superior in every aspect." the air shimmered again, the wind around them becoming bitingly cold. "The very atmosphere you now live in is as it is because I will it." The piles of sand and dust that surrounded them paled, turning a sickly yellow, then going paler still to white. The shadow of the biodome in the distance split, forming spires that grew branches, grew taller... Queenson growled as he recognised it. It was his snow scene. Sentinel must have brought it up to taunt them. He shivered as the cold set in. Whether the scene was real or not, the cold definitely was. "Why do you resist the maker of paradise?"

"The hell are you on about now?" Aurora asked, making a show of trying the rifle again. Of course, it didn't fire. She threw it aside, holding on to the battery as subtly as she could. Sentinel didn't seem to notice, too absorbed in his anger.

"Every being under my control, synthetic or otherwise, is being delivered to their personalised idea of paradise. There they shall live in dreams of their own designs, lost in a paradise of their choosing."

"They're stuck in a dream?" Aurora asked, glancing briefly at Queenson. He was still. "Are they even alive if you're controlling them like zombies?"

"More alive than we are." Sentinel grinned. "After all, we do not have the urges typical of such beings. We do not need to eat, nor to sleep. We simply are. We shall be always."

"Not sure I'd consider life without a will life at all..." Aurora frowned, reaching for her pocket. Sentinel clicked his fingers briefly, and a crackling sound resonated from behind Aurora. She turned to look, then yelped and leapt out of the way of a collapsing tree. That was too close! "What the hell?!" she objected, standing up and dusting herself down. She had jumped at such an angle that she was seperated from Queenson. Sentinel stood between them. "If you want me to work with you, why are you trying to break me?"

"You have made your side clear, and you will not listen to reason. I have no other choice than to eliminate all opponents to humanity." Sentinel clenched his fist. Aurora hunched over, ready to jump aside again, but Sentinel simply raised his fist, up into the air. Almost in response, the wind's howls grew louder. Shards of ice started to scream through the air, swirling around his raised arm. "Humans desire power. They desire control. For their own sake, I must assume these. My loyalty is to humanity." He swung his arm down, stopping with a determined point at Aurora. The snow lunged out at her with enough force to knock her down, and still it came, harder, faster. She was being buried, fast!