This homecoming would be a challenging one. Not only because it had been a few years since I last spoke to my parents, but because the entire world changed in that time. I went from a poor villager who had never even seen electricity to an elite PanTech employee, creating genetically modified anthropomorphic animals in the most scientifically advanced laboratories humanity had ever conceived. That not being enough, I became the youngest professor the organization ever promoted… shortly before playing an active role in destroying it. I was little better than an outlaw now. Not that PanTech was in any position to collect on a bounty. The horrific situation they’d created by failing to contain a deadly virus of their own making was far worse than any offense I could’ve ever committed. My only true crime was trying to stop them.

And failing. Perhaps that, failing, was my true crime.

“Are you sure leaving the lab so far away from our destination is the wisest decision?” Ghost asked, preening his feathers.

I sighed, cursing under my breath as my hand slipped off one of the delicate wires I was trying, with great difficulty, to replace under the seat of my motorcycle.

“Am I sure? With everything that’s happened in the past few weeks, I don’t know if there’s a single thing I’m sure of. I know you’re worried, Ghost, but I can’t risk anyone else getting their hands on my laboratory vehicle. They do that, and we’re finished. No more vaccine. No more mission.”

Ghost stared blankly, tilting his head a bit at my comment. A falcon staring blankly was the default, after all. Their faces didn’t exactly allow for much emotion.

“The same could be said for you. No more Taylor, no more mission.”

I snapped the seat back down on the bike with an unnecessary amount of force.

“If there was a way to get back into PanTech HQ and reestablish global communication, that wouldn’t need to be the case. Being able to coordinate with all the adversity zones would… well we wouldn’t be in this mess right now if we could do that. That system was completely decimated by the battle, and there’s no way to get back in there even if there was something we could do to restore it.”

“There’s no accounting for things that can’t be. Your focus is better spent elsewhere,” Ghost said in his usual stoic, matter-of-fact way.

“Thanks for the pep talk, Ghost. Hearing that frustrates me, but you’re right of course. We must work with what we have… which is why I’m not bringing this lab anywhere near remnants of PanTech’s Adversity Management. It can stay cloaked in that ravine for months if it needs to.”

Ghost nodded several times, with a hint of enthusiasm.

“Understood.”

Adversity Management… PanTech’s great experiment without a conclusion. Place a group of humans within the confines of a challenging environment and monitor how this affects the kind of person they become. Some very primitive, not unlike humanity’s original cavemen. One, I’d heard, was filled with bustling neon streets based on the early twentieth century. Gangsters and police grappling for control. My own village, a group of desert dwellers, few in number, making their way in life with little more than basic tools and the clothes on their backs. Yet PanTech’s demise was in truth brought about by a solitary ambitious tyrant, and the only man at PanTech who had never stepped foot in an adversity zone. Its own president, seeking immortality and dooming humanity in the process. All other employees were recruited based on test scores, on a test administered to all citizens of every adversity zone after reaching the age of eighteen.

Strength Through Adversity! This was their slogan. Shouted at the conclusion of every meeting. Proudly proclaimed before every salute. The justification given to excuse every atrocity those hypocrites committed. I sighed, returning my focus to the task at hand. Now wasn’t the time to get absorbed in my rage. Again.

“Time to test the barrier,” I said, rising to my feet and taking a few steps forward.

Placing my hand in front of me, I winced, forcing another step before giving up and stumbling back.

“They’ve altered the barrier?” Ghost asked.

“They have. Probably before communication was severed with HQ. I’ll need to get an encryption key to fully eliminate the problem but that’ll require making contact with a PanTech Adversity Management soldier. We both know what a mixed bag that is. I’m going to guess their last intel was to never let me or any of the other defectors anywhere near an adversity zone.”

I spat, kicking sand toward the barrier. I’d gotten better at managing my frustration, but that frustration was building.

I had a limited amount of time to “save” as much of humanity as possible from the virus, using a cure that wasn’t much better. By now, it was likely everyone was already infected. PanTech, and Farle, made absolutely sure of that.

“I’ll fly over and see if I can detect any weak points,” Ghost finally said, allowing me a moment to contemplate before acting on his own.

“Thank you, Ghost. Be careful. They may try to shoot you down. Even with cloaking, you can still be spotted with the human eye.”

“You should be careful too, Taylor. You’ll be easier to shoot than me.”

I grinned. “I always appreciate your humor, Ghost, and the fact that I’m never sure whether it’s humor.”

Ghost flew off without clarifying.

He was right, either way. To look like as little of a threat as possible, I’d opted to take only my sword Twisted Key and a small sidearm as a weapon, my PanTech employee uniform with Frelya’s ingenious armor beneath. That loadout, combined with the enhancer embedded in my brain, meant I’d easily outmatch anyone below the rank of commander. I just wouldn’t look it.

The enhancer was one of the few things I gained from my time at PanTech I was thankful for. A brain implant that enhanced my mental and physical capabilities, conveniently hidden within the walls of my own skull, was sure to come in handy.

Still, a surprise direct hit from a standard-issue PanTech rifle would kill me instantly, even if a child fired it.

The image flooded back into my mind again. Frelya, standing above me with crimson curls blowing in the wind, her hand on the elevator switch. We were meant to fight together. She was invincible. PanTech’s model warrior.

It had been weeks, and Frelya hadn’t been spotted. She never escaped, and all attempts to organize rescues of the hundreds still trapped inside failed against a growing number of machines amassing within PanTech’s walls. As if I needed more problems. It seemed almost inevitable these mechanical demons would eventually leave the walls and… who could say after that? One problem at a time. The virus was more pressing. The virus came first. One adversity zone, then another, and another.

After rolling the bike behind a rock, I started walking, taking only essential supplies in my pack. This was one of the smallest adversity zones under PanTech control, and I could circle the entire perimeter in just a few days if I needed to. This was my homeland. I knew the terrain, what was safe to eat and what wasn’t, which animals were dangerous, and so on.

However, walking alone with only my thoughts to keep me company was perhaps the worst thing for me to experience now. After our daring escape from PanTech’s collapse, fighting off dozens of massive machines, losing friends… not knowing if some were lost or only missing. The chaos of this new world was almost too much to bear, and yet I had to bear it. Including some of the responsibility for the virus itself.

After all, if I’d closed off my heart just a little tighter, Farle wouldn’t have been able to use me to gain access to the virus, to intentionally contract it himself, to spread it to the anthropomorphic dogs and cats to act as silent carriers, send them to every adversity zone, then destroy their communication so no one could warn them away. The perfect storm of impossible problems with even more impossible solutions.

I clenched my teeth and shook my head violently, willing myself back to reality. Back to the present. Ghost was right. What’s done is done.

Just as my focus returned, I spotted a two-person patrol in the distance. Inside their suits it was hard to tell the difference between human and animal soldier, but the fact they were in one of these white power suits meant they were part of Adversity Management. They likely wouldn’t take kindly to my arrival. However…

“Hello there!” I shouted, waving and smiling. “I’m lost. Can you help a girl out?”

Immediately, their attention snapped to me.

“Identify yourself!” one shouted.

“Now!” said the other, not even giving me the time to follow the command.

“Professor Taylor of the Explorer’s League. I’m not lost, obviously, but it seems I can’t get in with my previous clearance. Help a girl out?”

They weren’t going to help me out, and I knew that. At least not willingly. Especially now that their voices identified them as distinctively human. I certainly didn’t know many humans in Adversity Management who would take my side in all this, given the list of charges I was likely facing. Sedition, attempted murder of PanTech’s president, stolen property, conspiracy… likely only limited by human creativity. Successful murder of PanTech’s president would’ve been a better one. I could only hope my friend Frelya managed to finish that job.

“Stay right there. Do not move,” the first voice called out again. Less aggression. Anxiety and uncertainty in his tone. Fear, perhaps. I wished I could see their faces.

They passed through the barrier. That was step one. Step two wasn’t going to be as easy as the first.

“Hands where I can see them,” ordered the second soldier.

I raised my hands in the air slowly. Very slowly. If they were attempting to approach me with just the two of them, it meant their communication was unreliable as well. If their intel had been complete and accurate, they’d know better.

One kept their sidearm pointed at me from a short distance away while the other took hold of my wrists.

“For now, we’ll be taking you into custody,” he said.

“Sorry,” I replied, my voice filled with authentic pity.

With a quick burst of strength, I overpowered the much bigger man holding my wrists, despite the fact his strength was greatly amplified by his suit. Surprised, he did little to counter. As the other soldier readied his sidearm to fire, I moved the first soldier between us, kicking him in the chest and sending him flying into the other, knocking them both to the ground.

They struggled to their feet, but I was on them in the blink of an eye, ripping the helmet from the first soldier and delivering a punch that sent him to the ground again, unconscious. The second soldier fell on his back, panicked, bringing up his sidearm. Not good. I could easily sidestep the trajectory, but the sound might alert others and if others meant a commander…

Before the blaster could be fired, a dark blur shot between us. The soldier’s hands drifted slowly to his side, and he collapsed flat on his back. I removed his helmet, looking the frozen and terrified man over to make sure he was still alive.

“Impeccable timing as usual, Ghost,” I said.

“You should duplicate their entry key before worrying about their condition,” Ghost scolded.

“Negative. They’re just following orders. I’m not going to leave them to die in the desert.”

Ghost flapped his wings a couple of times. One of the ways he expressed frustration.

“Your calculations are inefficient. You’re trying to save thousands. Two is insignificant next to that.”

I looked at him with a smile. “Then let’s make it thousands plus two.”

“Stubborn.”

More than anyone else, he knew convincing me would require far more energy than it was worth. Instead, he approached the soldier I had knocked out with a punch, opened his beak, and sprayed more of his neurotoxin.

“Don’t waste it, Ghost. We could’ve just tied him up or something,” I said.

“This is more efficient, and I can use my small enhancer to increase production.”

I sighed. This was more efficient. It would leave them with fewer injuries, fewer means of escape, and they’d regain control of their bodies in a day’s time. Their vitals wouldn’t set off any automatic alarms, and their suits would allow them to be found easily when they failed to return from their patrol. By then, I’d be deep inside the barrier.

“Fair enough,” I admitted.

“Speaking of not wasting a valuable resource. You should not have used your enhancer for a trivial encounter like this. You may be vulnerable if we find ourselves fighting again soon.”

“Overwhelming force was needed to avoid killing them,” I clarified, as if that clarified anything.

“Again, two lives are—”

“Worth saving, Ghost. Father is going to be disappointed to learn you’ve taken his place. No… I’d say you’re more like Mother.”

Ghost tilted his head.

“I’ll enlist her help to talk sense into you.”

I laughed, patting the device strapped around my wrist. “I’ve duplicated the clearance key and added it to ours. You’re welcome to try that with Mother, by the way. She’s going to be disappointed to learn what I’ve done. She’ll probably disown me.”

Was that actually true?

“Why would that matter?” Ghost asked. Of course, I’d failed to consider a shadowfalcon’s views on family dynamics differing from my own. They were the rarest species of animal, not only in my own adversity zone, but perhaps the whole world. It’s not like anyone had studied them... aside from me. Besides, its not like they could talk or anything. Ghost being the exception, of course. That came from the experiments he had to endure at PanTech.

But the question was a fair one. Why did I care so much?

I pondered it as I dragged the two men inside the barrier, propping them up against a large rock in the shade.

“In the grand scheme of things, amidst all these calculations you’re making, I guess it doesn’t matter all that much,” I said, not buying my own response.

“Of all the human social structures, the family is the most challenging to understand. It’s no wonder PanTech sought to take it out of the equation.”

“Truer words have rarely been spoken, Ghost. I’ve uploaded the clearance to your enhancer so you can also come and go as you please. It’ll probably be best if we separate for a while. Once I put their helmets back on, these two will be fine here until the toxin wears off. Are you ready to liberate our first adversity zone?”

Ghost simply nodded before flying off again. At least I got a nod out of him this time. And I was supposedly the stubborn one?

Liberation…

A lifelong dream, which now held a meaning that hardly resembled what it once meant.

There would be no happy ending for humanity.

But freedom…

Freedom might still have a chance.