Zara gazed into the Wastelands outside of the perimeter of Kythera. The towers of chrome and glass of the city-state’s Olympia district loomed behind her. The sounds of people yelling, car horns, and the general bustle still rang in her head as she secured her clean black hair into a neat braid. Her lightly packed backpack held only essentials as she stepped into the wilderness, carrying it on her fit frame. Marshlands replaced the long abandoned suburbs. Rocks littered the ground in lines where roads once lay. Vegetation twisted around rusted metal poles. The dense humid air seemed to cling to her as she moved through the coastal forest. The sounds of birds and insects grew louder.

  Optics on.

  The red text “ARGUS OPTICS ACTIVATED” appeared on her HUD in the corner of Zara’s vision. She sent a neural command to bring up the array of options. Zara selected “Threat Detection.” Her vision shimmered. Twisted roots on the path ahead illuminated yellow. Zara focused on it when a small note ‘tripping hazard’ appeared in her vision. Deer moved a couple hundred meters from her, illuminated in the same yellow. A military-style truck near the highway glowed blue through the brush. Zara scanned the area seeing an alligator submerged in a pond nearby illuminated in red.

  Best avoid that.

  The damp ground squished under her heavy boots. Mud splattered onto her loose camouflage pants. Their color automatically shifted to adapt to the environment. Zara cycled through to another display mode on her optics. A translucent road appeared over the rock lines with frames of homes ascending over the foundations of homes on either side. Zara scanned the area in amazement.

  Is this how it looked before the war?

  Zara walked up to the skeleton of a car long overrun with vines. She pulled her knife from its sheath. The carbon black blade sliced through the thin vines. She flipped the blade around to its serrated edge to saw through the thicker branches. Zara pulled the vines away revealing the rusted door. She pulled at the handle and quickly reacted to catch the falling door as it fell off the failed hinges.

  Careful.

  Zara lowered the door to the ground and climbed into the car. She ignored the stench of rotting plant matter that her nose had long been accustomed to. Zara looked into the rear-view mirror seeing her brown eyes on her sun-kissed dirt spotted face looking back at her. She noted the radio and the electronics on the dashboard.

  Long dead.

  Zara opened the glove compartment. She removed a grime covered plastic envelope. She opened it revealing the mush that was once paper.

  Maybe I can get something for the radio. Antique collector might like it even if it doesn’t work.

  Zara made a note of the car’s location and climbed out. A slight hum in the distance cut through the sounds of insects. Zara dove back into the car.

  Drone.

  Zara looked through grime and vine covered dashboard. Her optics highlighted moving object above the canopy in blue. Zara issued a neural command to identify it in more detail. The rotating image of the Aegis Zeus drone appeared on her HUD. Four enclosed propeller blades and twin cannons all in matte black stood out. She sent another command to mark any drones as hostiles and to alert her. Red highlighting replaced the blue and the pulsing red text ‘DANGER’ appeared towards the top of her vision. The whir of the propellers grew louder and then softer as it passed over her location.

  Safe now.

  The virtual constructed residential streets gave way to an area of stone buildings at varied levels of decay. Vines encased any still standing walls. Trees seemed to push through more crumbled walls. Zara’s optics constructed the overlay of an industrial park.

  Might be something here.

  Zara continued on. Mosquitoes began buzzing around as the earlier breeze became still. She gave a wide berth around the mostly intact building as her optics highlighted the black bears that took residence there. Zara enabled another overlay for ground penetration. A large yellow area two hundred meters away glowed yellow on her overlay.

  What’s that?

  Zara moved in the direction of the glowing area underground. The building above, covered in vines remained intact. She walked up to the double glass doors covered in a green algae and grabbed the handle with her gloved hand. Her hand slipped on the slimy door handle before Zara found her grip and pulled hard. The door stopped as if hitting a deadbolt.

  Haven’t seen a working lock in some time.

  Zara wiped the muck off the keyhole and removed her gloves. She removed a multi tool from her belt and extended out its drill.

  Too corroded for a pick to work.

  The whir of the drill drowned out the sounds of insects. Its carbon steel bit cut through the ancient lock dropping metal fragments on the ground. She removed the drill and inserted a flat head screwdriver into the hole. Zara grabbed a small hammer from her belt and smacked the handle of the screwdriver. She tried to turn the screwdriver but was met with resistance.

  Need leverage.

  Zara removed a wrench from her bag and placed it over the handle of the screwdriver. She turned the wrench hearing the crack of the cylinder as the lock failed. Zara pulled at the door handle which fought back with some resistance, but began to creak open. The scent of mildew hit Zara as she walked in the door.

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  An eerie silence replaced the chirping of crickets outside. Zara enabled the low light mode of her optics. Mold and mildew covered the walls and floor. She walked down a hallway into a small cubical farm. Dust and grime covered the desks, monitors, and keyboards.

  This is a goldmine. But I still need to see what’s underneath this..

  Zara moved through the space toward the stairwell in the corner. A yellow highlight appeared on the stairs leading down with an alert of “Slippery”. Zara grabbed the handrail and methodically descended into the basement. File cabinets lined the walls. She surveyed the room stopping at the heavy metal door with curved corners toward the back. Its construction looked heavy and durable from the hinges to the handle. A single blinking red LED flashed through the thin film of grime on the bio-metric scanner beside the door.

  It can’t be. I’ve never seen any working electronics out here. What’s powering this?

  The floor squished as Zara walked over the long rotted paper on the floor. She pulled a handheld override device designed for prewar systems and plugged it into the scanner’s ancient port. The security protocols quickly fell to the modern technology and the LED shifted to solid green. Servos spun up and the door opened. Soft lighting illuminated the space. Zara’s heart beat faster and she smiled.

  Must be the first person here in a century. What is this place?

  Stale, dry air hit Zara as she walked in. Faded, chipping gray paint covered the walls. Undisturbed dust caked the floor. Six cubicles flanked either side of the small walkway.

  No mold? No moisture?

  Papers covered some desks while others were bare. Dual monitors and a single computer tower with keyboards sat at each one. Zara noted brushed the dust off of the tags on the outside of some cubicle walls – Bravo, Sierra, Juliet.

  Code names?

  Zara removed a notebook off of the desk in the Bravo cubicle and pulled her shirt over her nose and mouth before shaking the dust off. She struggled to read the sloppy handwritten notes until she sent a neural command to her optics for assistance. Black digital text replaced the illegible handwriting. She flipped through the notebook and stopped at a page.

  BRAIN TO ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE MODULE – Notes - 2093-04-03

  Test Subject: Lima (Rattus norvegicus)

  Initial results of basic microchip proved promising. Problem solving ability achieved primate levels. Subject responded to commands at the level of a trained canine.

  Attempting to override the subject’s natural instincts failed. Subject expired when trying to force it towards a holographic feline.

  Conclusion: More testing is needed. Breakthrough may be useful for simple infiltration and reconnaissance in the event we’re drawn into the war, but nothing paradigm shifting.

  This would be shocking if the notes had today’s date.

  Zara flipped through each page storing a digital copy with her optics. She pulled out a watertight silicone bag and placed the notebook inside. Zara placed the heavy computer tower on its side. She pulled a small screwdriver from her belt and began opening the side of the case. Zara coughed as the disturbed dust hit her face. She looked at the old motherboard and traced its data cables to the hard drive bays. Zara disconnected the old data cables and placed the hard drive in her bag.

  Got you.

  Scattered papers covered the desk in the Sierra cubicle. Zara methodically wiped the dust off each before stacking them in the corner of the desk. As she continued, Zara uncovered a black spiral notebook with the title: Project Kali. She flipped it open noting the printed red header on each page.

  DANGER: DO NOT RUN ON ANY NETWORKED DEVICE!

  Haven’t found anything this good in all my years combined out here.

  Zara flipped through the pages and stopped at one labeled Quick Start. A series of steps appeared on the page.

  Only authorized personnel may open the enclosure. Do not under any circumstances attempt to do this. If the enclosure is open, do not under any circumstances connect it to a network.

  DO NOT CONNECT IT TO A NETWORK

  Remove Kali System from Drawer

  Power on system

  At boot, enter username and passphrase

  Run the script kali_safe.sh. Do not attempt to update this script even with root access without proper review.

  Kali will boot and allow for the user to communicate with it.

  Zara’s heart raced. She pulled at the drawer under the cubical feeling the heavy weight of the object inside. She removed the matte black hardened system noting the red label with the text: Authorized Use Only – Extreme Danger. Do not connect to a network. The back of the system only had a power port exposed.

  I think they’ve made their point.

  Zara pulled open the screen on the system revealing a screen and keyboard. She pulled open a drawer revealing a power cable. Zara connected the power cable to the back of the system and plugged it into the wall.

  There’s power here – worth a shot. I’ll look for a login while the system boots.

  Zara pressed the power button on the hardened system. Boot text quickly scrolled by. A terminal appeared without a login prompt. A message appeared on the screen.

  Kali > Are we ready to go? I bypassed the login – it’ll just slow us down. Did the war finally drag us in?

  User >

  A weapon?

  Zara paused before moving her fingers to the keys. She typed her prompt and the reply was immediate.

  User > What are your capabilities?

  Kali > Another new person? I’m already primed for wartime strategies. Just connect me up and we can immediately paralyze our enemy. Kythera will win in less than a month. Trust me to do it. I don’t need specific instructions.

  User >

  Zara heard a loud pop inside the wall. The room went dark and Zara’s optics automatically adjusted to the low light.

  I guess the power source finally failed.

  She looked at the Project Kali system, now dark. She sat down and placed a hand on her chin.

  Is this how we won? What else were we capable of back then? What other secrets are here?