Zandra.tmp

Zandra pursed a cigarette between her lips as she inhaled a large puff of tobacco and butane into her lungs. With an empty stare, she gazed over the horizon, just above the barren wasteland she once called "The Valley". The smoke from her exhale swayed in the same direction as the smog that rose from her city in ruins. She hasn't seen another living human being in 219 days; the New World Society is responsible for the mass annihilation of her entire species.

Zandra is the only person on the entire planet that survived the outbreak. She doesn't know much but she knows she is alone.

An extraterrestrial race invaded Earth and drained it of all its resources, leaving it somber and desolate; a quite powerful force. They released a synthetic airborne virus that infected everybody in its path. Unfortunately for them, it's path could span the entire globe ten times over. No one had a fighting chance. So, why did Zandra?

Zandra pondered this never ending paradigm as she inhaled one last puff. She thought to herself for the 10000th time: why me? I mean, who wouldn't? Her long black hair fell against her risen cheekbones. She quickly pushed it behind her ear; femininity was no more. She was nothing more than a nomad in survival mode now; genderless, almost. She was merely here to endure, although she didn't necessarily know why. Her will was to protect herself which would explain why she sleeps with a big black rifle across her chest.

She ducked down and rummaged through her belongings, eventually pulling out a flask filled with the Stolichnaya she found among the ruins of where Frankie's Liquor Store used to be on 5th. She threw her cigarette into a puddle of acid rain and took a big swig. Alcohol was Zandra's ticket to tomorrow. Most days she has no idea how she got through the night before, but she just keeps drinking. She thought that if, one night, she didn't make it, she wouldn't even be sober enough to realize.

Today is Zandra's 220th day living in complete isolation. She is anticipating the rumble of far-away machinery in the distance, this morning. It seems to be a daily occurrence but she's never been able to figure out what it is. It is her only sense of uncertainty as she continues to get drunk before a half-day passes. If there is no one here, where does that noise come from every day? And before she could even finish her own thought, there it was! A deep rumbling developed in the distance. Except today, it felt unusually close. She quickly grabbed her things and started kneeling behind her tent.

As the noise got louder, the smog in the distance seemed to be making way for an entering force. She could immediately sense something was about to happen. She knew of the New World Society and it's responsibility for this mess; could it be them?

Suddenly, Zandra mustered up all her strength and aggressively loaded her weapon. She knew gaining an advantage over whatever or whoever this was could possibly save her life. She approached the small hill in front of her, reaching the top in just a few steps. She stood boldly yielding that big black rifle; she didn't waver as our tanks blazed through the rubble before her.

She doesn't know we're here to take her home. We've been watching her for seven and a half months.

***Two Rotations Later***

I am agent #0184 and I was assigned to monitor Zandra's survival. We knew she would survive. After this test of courage, Zandra is now qualified to be among the Elect. The Elect is the superior race. Our members come from all over the galaxy, and our sustenance is provided by the resources of Earth and other planets. The Elect is superior to all living beings throughout the entire universe and beyond. We don't care about humans; except for Zandra. Zandra has earned an inaugural position in our society! We decimated her entire planet, yet she persisted. We caught on quickly and realized she might be just what we are looking for.

Within the first week of the initial outbreak, we managed to abduct her in her sleep using laced cigarettes, take her to our mothership, implant a series of tracking devices and operating systems into her body, recover the wounds in a mere day and return her back to her previous location without her noticing. Over the course of 220 days, about 7.5 months (in Earth time), we used those systems to control her every movement without losing her conscious mind and thoughts. Due to the calcified amygdala in Zandra's brain, her ability to process fear and sadness is reduced to nothing.

Our ultimate goal in this experiment was to test whether or not, we could use a live human body as a hardware system for our new servant technology. The Elect do not do daily mundane duties themselves, as we have earned our reverence and deserve to be served for the rest of eternity. Zandra is the first living being that is able to sustain our harsh Beta software. It has been two rotations since we summoned her. She has regained consciousness and is stable. Tomorrow, she will be reset and our new technology will be introduced to the rest of the New World.

***One Rotation later***

Zandra rejected the reset. She attempted to escape and The Leader had no choice but to terminate.