Lucas had never felt so exposed in his life. He wore the same outfit he’d fallen asleep in the night before, a simple black t-shirt and jeans. His clothes had been washed for him, though he did have to wear a pair of hospital slippers since he had only been wearing socks when he transitioned. His clothes weren’t the issue. The sense of exposure and vulnerability came when Lucas followed Lieutenant Riff out of the sterile white halls in the medical wing and into the main hallways of the Aegis complex. A burly set of military MPs followed them out and stayed five feet behind the pair as they walked. Lucas kept shooting furtive glances back but Riff didn’t seem to notice.

Throughout the facility, the hallways remained mostly featureless. Only occasionally was the dull gray broken up by a simple painting or a fake potted plant. The rounded ceilings gave Lucas an unsettling certainty that he was indeed underground. There were not many people in the halls, only a few scientists who were either far too engrossed in conversation or their clipboards to pay Lucas any mind. Any windows or doors Lucas passed contained nothing but server rooms. Lucas rubbed his eyes as he passed the eighth room packed with electronics and wiring.

“What’s all this for?” Lucas asked Riff who was a few steps ahead of him.

She barely glanced at the room. “Aegis has a high demand for computing power. You’ll see why in a few moments.”

They rounded a final corner and came face to face with a heavy set of steel doors. The entryway was flanked by a pair of armed military guards. They snapped to attention and the lieutenant returned it smartly. Riff produced a keycard from her pocket and swiped it through a small card reader just to the right of the door. A loud buzzer sounded and the doors swung open.

“This is Aegis’ central command center.” Riff raised a hand in a sweeping gesture.

Lucas stepped into the room with wide eyes. They had entered a large and spacious room that had a similar layout to a lecture hall. Just ahead, to his right and left, two staircases descended the ten levels to the bottom. Each level was filled with sleek computer terminals, workstations, and the military personnel that were manning them. The room was wide enough for twelve of these stations to fit on each level. They were set on a slight curve so the center of the far wall was directly facing each one. On that far wall, a stadium sized screen dominated much of the area. The screen displayed the North American Continent and the map was split into two different colors. A large red splotch covered most of the central United States, from Kentucky to Colorado and from Winnipeg Canada to San Antonio Texas. The areas outside of the red were colored light blue.

“Up until the end of World War two, our histories are basically the same,” Riff stood next to Lucas as he processed his surroundings, “From that point onward, however, we’ve been in far more conflicts than your world.”

Riff looked down at her coat and pointed out a green and blue ribbon that Lucas couldn’t recognize. “This was for my involvement in the Venezuela campaign.”

“Venezuela?” Lucas gawked.

Riff nodded. “The US military invaded when the communist puppet government began to take hostile actions towards their neighbor countries. We were still in the process of stabilizing the region when...”

“The world turned upside down.” A gruff voice finished Riff’s sentence.

Lucas turned to his right to find the same general who had met him earlier. General Corter had entered a door on the right side of the room and approached Lucas with a pleasant smile.

“Glad to see you up and about young man.” The general stuck out his right hand.

Lucas’ response got lost in his throat so he simply took the general’s hand and shook it firmly. Corter turned to face the large screen.

“Sergeant Dodge.” He called out.

A man halfway down the room stood and snapped to attention in front of his terminal. “Sir?”

“Bring up the AISP outbreak world map and let it play.”

“Yes sir.” The sergeant sat back down and began typing commands into his console.

“Four years ago, a highly contagious virus was contracted in the Asian area.” As the general began to explain, the map on the main screen changed to a world map.

Green dots appeared in Vietnam. The process was slow to start but the dots increased in frequency as the screen’s date timer ticked on.

“The World Health Organization was alarmed to find that the virus appeared to be a mutated variant of smallpox. Travel restrictions and quarantines were hastily thrown up, but it only slowed the spread temporarily.”

Neighboring countries began to have green dots of their own. Population centers exploded exponentially as the timer ticked on.

“China and India suffered the most.”

Green dots tore through the two most populated countries in the world. Cities were overwhelmed in a matter of weeks. Cases began to appear in Europe and the Americas as well.

“Fortunately, due to the extensive research already done on small pox. A vaccine for this new strain was quickly developed. But,” The general sighed, “The damage was already done.”

Lucas frowned. According to the map, the number of infections was rapidly decreasing and the situation seemed to be under control. Before he could muster up enough courage to ask the obvious question. An explosion of red burst to life in the middle of China.

“They’re called the Wu Jin, or the Endless,” there was a deep level of exhaustion in the general Corter’s words as he spoke, “The Chinese government was already stretched thin dealing with the contagion. They were not prepared for an invasion, especially not one from within their own country.”

The red zone began to spread out rapidly from central china. While the advance was slowed upon reaching the major cities, it never halted.

“True to form, the communist party refused any foreign military assistance until their entire country fell to pieces. US naval battle groups were dispatched to the region but the Wu Jin never pushed further than the coast.”

The red zone now completely covered most of China.

“What are they?” Lucas asked, dumbfounded as the red zone slowly spread throughout all of the Asian continent.

“It will be easier for you to see for yourself,” The general turned back to the door he had entered, “A641-Jackson, you’re free to step forward.”

Metallic footsteps echoed through the doorway the general had come through earlier. Lucas’ breath caught in his throat as a humanoid robot entered the room.

The first thing that struck Lucas was how sleek the robot looked. It was covered by black armor plating all over its six foot frame. Much like tank armor, most of it was angled in a way to deflect projectiles away from its center of mass. The platting around its joints looked to be thinner to allow for easy movement. It didn’t lumber or stumble at all as it approached. Lucas was equally surprised at how quiet the machine was. There were no loud whirring noises one might expect from such a creation. In fact, it made less noise than the two military guards that flanked either side of it. Another feature it lacked was any sort of facial features. The smooth material that covered where the robot’s face should be was much more reflective than the rest of it. Lucas shifted his head and thought he could make out two points of light where the eyes should be, hidden behind the featureless plate.

The bot stopped a few feet away from Lucas, Riff, and general Corter. Its arm snapped up to perform a crisp military salute.

A small line of light flashed on the robot’s helm as it spoke. “Reporting as instructed, sir.”

Lucas’ eyebrows raised further up his brow. The voice wasn’t the mindless, emotionless tone he was expecting. Actually, Lucas wasn’t expecting the machine to speak at all.

“At ease Jackson.” Corter returned the salute.

“Thank you sir.”

It was a male voice and sounded like he was in his late twenties.

“It’s a drone?” Lucas ventured.

The general chuckled but it was Jackson who responded.

“I’m afraid not Mr. Wright,” Lucas could make out his reflection as the dark metal face turned to face him, “I am an artificially created combat form, designation A641-Jackson. I have been in the service of the United State’s military for the past two years, linked with Lieutenant Deborah Riff.”

Lucas’ head spun. “Artificially created life?”

The general nodded, “As far as we’ve been able to tell, the Wu Jin were the next step in the Chinese military’s ground forces. Robotic soldiers. Ruthless, efficient, and they never question orders.”

“Permission to take offense sir.” Jackson tilted his head slightly.

Corter didn’t bat an eye at what Lucas suspected was a joke. “Denied. The Wu Jin are much closer to drones compared to Jackson here. With the virus spreading chaos inside of China, they either escaped whatever military facility was creating them or they were intentionally released to establish order. Whatever the reason they were let out, the fact remains that the Chinese military lost control. They’re extremely efficient in self replication. Their first course of action was to secure materials and production facilities. After their supply lines were established they began aggressive military actions against the human populus. They’re smart, but ultimately predictable. While they are capable of high level problem solving, they don’t have the same level of reasoning that humans do.”

“How have they spread so far?” Lucas gestured to the map of Asia on screen that was almost completely covered by red territory.

“There’s a reason they’re called Endless.” The general shook his head solemnly. “Also, while I may have called them predictable, they’re extremely effective in combat. More than a match for almost any human combatant.”

Lucas’ eyes flicked to Jackson.

“Indeed.” Jackson responded to Lucas’ unspoken question. “Myself and those like me were created in response to this evolution of warfare.”

“What did you mean when you said you have been ‘linked’ with lieutenant Riff?” Lucas asked Jackson directly.

“We can’t out produce our enemy.” The lieutenant responded herself. “Our only option was to think more intelligently. Truly intelligent combat platforms. Jackson, as well as all combat platforms like him, are all linked with a human pilot when they are created. AI precision, execution, and inhuman reaction times mixed with human reasoning, strategy, and decision making.”

“I make the Lieutenant faster and more deadly than she could ever be as a human, in return, she makes sure I don't go on a murderous rampage.” Jackson’s voice carried a light hearted tone as he spoke. “It’s a shame really.”

“Stow it Jackson. That’s an order,” Corter growled.

“Sir.” Jackson nodded and fell silent.

“Our AI’s don’t have the capability of performing combat on their own. So if one were ever to be compromised-”

“Not that it would even be possible,” Corter dismissed the lieutenant’s suggestion immediately, “But the precautions are in place regardless.”

Lucas frowned.

“I still don’t see how any of this relates to my presence being needed. I’m not a soldier.” He directed his question to Riff as he found it easier to speak to her directly compared to the general.

The lieutenant looked to general Corter and gave him a nod of her head. Corter sighed and walked a few steps towards the large screen that dominated the far wall.

“Sergeant Dodge.” He called down the line once again.

“Yes sir?” The sergeant stood up from his station.

“Bring up our combat map back to the main screen.”

Dodge turned back to his console and typed out a quick series of commands.

“Our AI technology has made our armed forces the deadliest and most feared combat units in the history of the human race.” The general explained. “Our methods, however, are not without flaws. The connection between pilot and machine has to be made when the AI is first created. There are pathways made from that initial connection that cannot be replaced or overwritten. That goes both ways. For pilot and machine. If one were to perish, there is no replacement to fill in for the fallen partner.”

“In short Lucas,” the general turned to face him with a grim expression, “We need you because we’re running out of soldiers.”

The map of Asia was replaced by the North American map Lucas had seen when he arrived. A pit formed in the bottom of his stomach. The red territory splitting the United States in half had taken on a whole new meaning.

“We’re losing.”