We begin a light version of my new novella coming up, Droneing Age.
Prologue
Keiro sat on the reclining chair, on the balcony of Center For Microbiology Research (CFMR) . A secret government research station. Secret here would be an under statement. The underground building was curved out of a coral rock on the edge of Indian ocean. A load of rock surrounded it on all the sides. It was also reinforced by steel and agrium mined from some planets in the beta quadrant. Having a highly complex carbon structure, agrium was known to be stronger than diamond. The geographical position was not available, even to the constructors. Large, powerful hover crafts used to transport them here alongside with the building materials during the period. Now they were gone and it was occupied by smart geeks like Keiro. For all they knew, the center was near a beach, but no more. Keiro was brought here by a transporter beam. A technology discovered by space scientists whereby matter is converted to energy particles and reconverted again to matter at the destination point. All you have to do is have the correct coordinates.
They were not allowed to leave the center. Transporters were disabled and there was no physical opening to the outside world.
Keiro had been here for five months. Every amenity was provided. Being the loner he was he felt perfectly at home. He remembered the time he was recruited. It was just after he had spent two months in the government holding cells in the second Jupiter moon. The coldest place he had ever lived. He was glad and happy to be back on earth. And back to computers and the wonderful micro chips. He had been arrested for inserting illegal and intelligent chips into unsuspecting victims. This way he could read their thoughts and emotions remotely. The information he was able to gain was invaluable. He sold it to the highest bidder as well as using it sometimes to get laid. He just knew the right words to say.
Then they came swooping again, just like three months ago when they arrested him. The intelligence agents materialized at vantage points all over his apartment. There was no way he could escape and within no time he was at what looked like a recruiting room. There was a panel of mean looking and suit wearing individuals in front. A stark contrast to his state, he was perplexed and terrified. His only piece of clothing was a towel wound around his waist. He had barely done nothing and he could not figure out what they wanted from him now. He had never seen the guys before. The one who looked like their leader spoke, his first sentence was a cold threat, literally. "You know we can take you back to Jupiter with a snap of a finger?', not quite the ice-breaker he expected. It sent chills along his spine. The fear was now evident on his face as cold sweat broke on his brow. He did not doubt the man for a minute. 'But, we will not do that. Instead we offer you a chance to serve our part of the galaxy, to use your brains to benefit the alpha quadrant." He paused to let it sink on him. Keiro relaxed, whatever which was coming could not be worse than the fourth Jupiter's moon, nothing could be worse, even death. 'We have picked you to be a part of an elite team of scientists working on a very powerful project, let me make it clear that you do not have a choice. You either join them or we sent you back to the holding cells, this time there will be no coming back.
Keiro loathed the government, the bureaucracy, the mysterious dissapearences of those who became extremely vocal against it's policies. Never in his short life had he dreamed a day like this would come, a day whereby he would work for it. From the look of things he had a little choice. The already made clear their intentions to make him vanish to Jupiter's pits. He had the slightest desire to do so. Í accept the offer wholly' Keiro stammered, a sigh of relief washing all over him. 'You are leaving tomorrow, further details will be provided later. Don't you dare disapear. We will search every nook and crane of the entire universe for you. You can be sure we will find you and when we do it will be a very sad moment for you'. He said with an air of finality. He was transported back to his apartment.
There was a aura of nothingness in front of his visage. Holographic images projected to create an illusion of a sea did not easily fool his brain. Though he could not reach out to touch it, he knew it was emptiness, and a dead end. Because the structure was built on a cave.
He remembered the day he arrived here. A spooky,big eyed female humanoid showed him around the place and his quarters. They were magnificent and he couldn't ask for more, then. He would later, when it became evident that this was no better than a spacious prison. He had so got used to the routine that he felt he was no different from the droids they used for precision. He woke up at six in the morning, took his bath and then breakfast. At 7:30 he was at the lab taking over from his night shift partner, and the work would continue for the whole day.
They had the prototype ready. The early version of the deadliest bio-mechanical weapon yet. This one had the potential to be worse than the death star. Ability to annihilate entire planets in a slow but a sure way. It's edge was that it left no trace that it was there, none at all. It could sweep through an entire solar system. Terminating a particular species, and nobody would know. Until it was very late. Unlike Galactica's death star which could be destroyed by an army of spaceships. This weapon couldn't.
Keiro did hate the fact that he was a part of the team which was constructing the 'micro nano drones' as they called them, for a lack of a better term. Some of them where invisible to the naked eye, and even deadlier. The did not do much on the mechanics of the microscopic ones, just the propulsion and control. While the 'quito-drones' could operate independently, the micro nano couldn't. This was due to the fact that it couldn't accomodate the micro self control chip. They were remote controlled and having only one simple function depending on the mission.
The quito drones were equiped with more functions, they had a camera and a microphone, that meant they could be used as spy devices. They also possessed ability to generate their own solar power so they could undertake month's long mission. It was constructed to look like a mosquito. A noisy insect to swat away. It had amazing reflexes to avoid this. It was made of a synthetic- fibrous material which was impossible to destroy.
After 11 months of intense research and work, they moved to the mass production of the drones. Droids were churning them out daily by millions. Soon they will be enough to fill nearly every planet on the universe.
Coming up
Chapter 1: Sequential Test Attack
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