My Most Precious Treasure

I've been in this bunker for as long as I can remember. The only thing that's keeping me company are these AI robots. They're the ones that took care of me for as long as I could remember, but there's this one AI that left the bunker and never came back. I was still 4 years old that time. Now, I'm 16. This bunker is so huge—I honestly didn't bother counting the amount of AI robots in this place—it's way too much to even count. This bunker has a full on basketball court and a football field. It also has a huge garden, a farm, and many different kinds of animals. The AI's take care of everything, and after all these years, I still watch and observe how they do things. Why have I been contained in this bunker since the very first day? Well, I have an endless supply of food and water—you know, the usual things in order to survive. Truth be told, the AI's won't let me leave anyway.

One day, as I was watching the AI's do their jobs, a blaring alarm suddenly went off in the command center. I immediately rushed to the room to find out what was going on, but when I stepped in, the first thing I saw was a huge screen colored green, spelling out with the word "SAFE" right in the middle of it. I was really confused and tried turning it off, but the AI in charge didn't let me do as I pleased. Instead, they went to the computer and typed something that I couldn't quite make out. Another AI gave me some foods and clothings, for some odd reason. Then, the AI working with the Computer opened a Video File—the cover of that video being the "AI" that left the facility and never came back. It played the video, and the message was, "I'm sorry, if you're watching this video, I probably never came back home. After your father died trying to stop the Nuclear War, I was devastated. However, it lead me to create this bunker for the upcoming Nuclear Apocalypse, all to protect you. I mass produced these AI's to aid me in building this safe place. It took about a year to build it, and then a while longer to program all of them to run it. You are my last, most precious treasure that I hold dearly, so I'm doing anything and everything I can to protect you. You know, you're still 10 months old right now, as I'm recording this video, haha. I wonder how much you've grown by now. Anyway, I'm going outside this bunker to search for any survivors, and sadly, I may never come back... but this video will activate once there is no radioactive material outside this bunker. I'm truly sorry, I really wished to see you grow up to be an amazing person. Please continue to search for survivors, if any. I leave the rest to you, dear. I love you very, very much." [Video Ends]. The screen went black and I saw my face in the reflection of the screen, only now realizing the tears flowing down my eyes like waterfalls. That "AI", who left this bunker, was actually my own Mother. After that message, as tears continued to flow down my cheeks, a spark ignited—my goal now is not to merely survive—I have to pick up where my Mom left off.

It took me six months to reprogram some of the AI, making them search for survivors. As soon as I finished reprogramming a handful, I let them and myself go into the outside world. After living in this bunker for years now, I was quite uneasy about it, but I promised myself that I'll continue what my mom had left for me. Once I stepped outside this bunker, I stood there, shocked at the sight of everything around me. It was nothing of what I expected—I imagined there to be greenery, but it's all deserted—empty. I realized then, it'll be a difficult challenge to find even a sign of life, and no wonder my mom never came back. She might have gone out too far and lost her way back to this shelter. I had doubt in myself, but I needed to go through with this hell of an adventure. So, I brought two of the AI along with me while I let the rest scout other places.