New Alcatraz

Chapter 1

I guess introductions are in order. Hello, my name is Gabriel Priam, I'm fifteen, I live in a dormitory, I have a little Tabby named Rhine, and I wanna be a psychiatrist. World needs those right now, with all the heck happening both on and off-world. My parents are nowhere to be seen, Dad went to fight, Mom is somewhere out there. Really I'm just trying to get by on my own, but at least I earn something from Dad being soldier.

Anyway, I should tell you how my life went down the rabbit hole. And this whole thing started on a Monday.

The day was utterly average, the sunlight was trying to make its way through the city smog. The zooming sounds of hovs as they sped through lev-ways mixed with the chatter of people walking through the streets, with some speaking to groups in floating holos around them. Then and only then did the universe decide to give me one hell of rude awakening. I woke up to glass breaking and wood splintering. Rhine, my Tabby, leaped a few meters away from my bed into a vase. My body spasmed as my brain tried to decide whether or to run or stay very still. Then what you would call survival instincts gave it a stern talking to and I managed to crawl out of my bed. Either a drone thought this window would make a good shortcut or some hooligan chucked a grenade through it. Just a few seconds and this entire floor would've been sent to Mars, I counted those seconds. But the explosion didn't come. I took a peek and saw some blinking lights. That was enough to call my room A.I.

"Alexa!" I shouted "Call the fire department and tell me what this thing is!"

No answer.

"Alexa!?"

Still none. Then something hit me, alarms should've been blaring the moment that thing hit my window. Armed guards would've broken down my door and shot everything (Including me and Rhine.) to pieces. As I contemplated making a bolt for the exit, a deep hum came from the direction of the window.

I thought. "This is it I'm about to become another statistic in Mars' terror campaign."

The hum turned into a roar, a sound like an raid alarm signaling the coming of a Titan. As it reached its peak I felt my mind turning to mush and my sight turning a lovely color of onyx. But just as I was about to collapse it stopped and was a replaced by a voice.

"Hello?" it said. "Hello!? Shit! Can anyone hear me?"

The voice sounded like someone speaking through eighteen voice changers each one a Darth Vader of varying pitch. Rhine, tired of being a nice room decoration, decided to die together with me.

"Hello?" it asked. "Anyone there?"

"WHO ARE YOU PEOPLE AND WHAT DO YOU WANT FROM ME!?" I screamed.

"Oh, Err. Hi there!"

"HI!?"

"Listen! I wasn't expecting anyone to survive so count yourself lucky. Anyway, this drone is carrying some very important science stuff belonging to Spectrum."

"Spectrum!? What does a monster of a company want fr-"

"Nothing" it cut me off. "but, an item of extremely high value has just landed in your apartment."

"So... can I just wait for you guys to pick it up?"

"Sure!" It said. "just be sure you can handle all the mercenaries, bounty hunters and generally horrible people that want this."

I grimaced at that, and I could've sworn I felt something having a laugh at my expense.

"I can't handle that."

"Good, I'm sending you an address now."

"But-"

"From this moment onwards you are now proper-  part of Spectrum"

"I-"

"Good luck! My ass is on the line so don't die on me."

And with that the voice stopped. I tried talking to it again if you counted kicking and cursing at it talking. Rhine wasn't having it either. He gave it a hiss and scratched it a few times, his way of saying... well I dunno he hasn't done that yet. And it was surprising how horrifying it was to watch.

I was confused, angry, a little hungry but if I want to live for a few more years I should probably get going.

So I started packing. I hate packing, especially when I was packing for a trip that came and grabbed me by the collar, forcing me to take it or my trachea would've been ripped cleanly out of my neck. But I packed anyway.

Extra clothes, underwear, food, water, I had everything I needed to go camping for a week or so. I then took a bath, ate breakfast, had a little more breakfast, and fed Nut. All this completed in less than 3 minutes.

Alexa still wouldn't answer no matter how much I called her. Even if I used my master command. "Alexa, I need my medication." The only reason would have been some sort of EMP. Probably coming from the drone.

I expected all the horrible people to be in my house right now beating me to death so I thanked the universe for that. I grabbed the last thing I needed from my home, the hunk of metal that kamikazed through my window. And, hallelujah, it was a drone. Was disappointed at what it looked like though. A little smaller than I thought it would be just the size of a standard flying model aircraft but, it was able to survive crashing into my window. That window is tough, built to withstand a few direct hits from a 30 mm cannon. You ask why? Anyone can make a face-melting stick nowadays. So it makes me feel a just a little bit safer.

I talked to Rhine as we were about to leave the safety of my room.

"Rhine, why do you think that drone crashed into our building?"

Rhine responded with a little purr, and proceeded towards the door. He turned his head to me and tilted it sideways, motioning to the door.

"I guess you're all for this little trip." I paused. "Which reminds me, where are we even going?"

I checked the drone to see where the I was supposed to go. After poking and prodding for a moment I tapped a little button and a hologram projected out the front of the drone. The holo showed a map of the city and marked the location I was supposed to go. Thankfully it wasn't that far, it was a warehouse I would pass when I went walking on weekends.

And with that I went and followed Rhine, I didn't think he would wait for me, since he could open doors. But this time I guess he knew that this would be the last time we saw this room. So I took my time, there was my bed, a vase Rhine used as a bomb shelter, A sofa and a holo-vision. Now that I think about it I don't have a lot of stuff. There was something that caught my eye though, a gift from dad. It was a steel rod, 2 meters tall, as thick as a phone book. Though it was pretty light, this one time I pretended to be a Buddhist monk and was able to spin it really fast. So I brought it too. Just as a keepsake.

Rhine was pretty agitated by now. He scratched my foot, a sure sign he wanted to get out of here. So I held the rod like a trekking pole and set off.

Out into the hallway.

~AN

Hey guys! This is my first try at writing so excuse my lack of experience. Hope you enjoyed what I've done. And don't be afraid to comment, I need feedback! So, yeah. Until next time guys!