One hot and humid day, I was skating down to my friend's house to go out and have some fun. As I neared his house I heard his voice calling out to me. "Hey Andy, I'm going down to the Learning Center right now, do you want to come with me". "Sure", I told him "I don't have anything else to do, and anyway, I need to use a computer to check my e-mail". "Well, hurry up and get in the car, we're leaving now". In one quick motion I picked up my skateboard and hopped in the car with him. His sister looked over at me with a look of despise on her face. Then, I remembered that she hated me, so this was nothing new. "How long are we going to be there, Jake", I asked, quickly getting bored of the car ride. See, the only reason it was so miserable was because I was out having fun on my board and now I have his sister, who is always in a bad mood, giving me evil glances. I would tell her what I was thinking, but I hate talking to her anyway, so I dealt with it for the time being. "Don't know…" he finally replied several minutes later. "Maybe thirty-minutes, maybe an hour or two, you never can tell. "Great," I thought, "possible hours of dealing with his sister, THAT is what torture is!" Finally we arrived at the Learning Center, so I opened the door, got out, and followed Jake to the door. "I'll be in there in a few minutes," his mom called out, "and Annie's coming with me so don't worry about waiting for her". "Believe me, I won't," I muttered as the Subaru we came here in started to move again. "Jake, no offense, but I can't stand your sister, she's so, so…" "Annoying, nerve-racking," Jake cut in, "a complete pain in the …" "Yeah, Jake I know, you need to watch your language though, there could be children around". Jake and I went inside and he headed off in one way while I went the other after we decided where and when we would meet again. From that point on the day seemed like every other, but I was unaware of the event that could change my life, and most of all, It would happen in a place where I least expected it. Eventually I found the computer library, and a computer with a very comfortable seat off in the corner. I sat down and logged in and in no time, I was on the net checking my mail. Normally, boring little pieces of junk would be all I would have found but this time there was a strange letter from The U-Net Futuraworld. How odd, I thought to myself. Naturally, out of curiosity I opened it and began to read. This thing was crazy! Obviously I must had been showing my surprise physically because no longer than ten seconds later I heard Jake's voice. "What's this loony junk," he said with a raised eyebrow. The letter said you have been summoned by the Imperial Parliament, to report to U-Net World to help save our king. At the bottom of the screen was a little button that said Yes/No I will/won't accept. Jake and I laughed and clicked the button that said yes. "Let's play this little game," I said. Before he had time to agree, we both started to feel really funny and the room appeared to be spinning. When everything stopped we realized what the terrifying secret of the game was. This was not a game and we definitely were not in Bluefield anymore… Andy slowly stood up and looked around the giant-sized, empty room. He started to walk forward and was surprised to hear the tapping of his shoes so loudly on the floor. Then a door on the opposite side of the room opened and a tall, odd- looking person came through it. She was dressed is an outfit you might expect to see in a sci-fi movie. During all of the time she spent approaching us, not a word was spoken. Finally, she stopped in front of Andy and Jake and began to speak. "We have been awaiting your arrival, please only bring one item with you, the Imperial Parliament will provide you with the required gear." "Well, this is the only thing with me," Andy said pointing to his skateboard. "And this is all I have," Jake spoke as he pulled out his Swiss army knife. "Please come this way when you're ready." They heard her say as she turned towards the doorway in which she entered. Andy and Jake followed her through a huge door, which in turn lead to another giant hall with more doors. Both of them were surprised that she could find her way through this monstrous labyrinth. Finally they arrived at The Parliamentary Secretarial Chamber as so brilliantly indicated on a sign nearly five feet from my current location. Thirty men came from behind ten sets of double doors soon after the two of them entered the room. All of the chancellors took seats and inspected us from where they sat. Needless to say, this made them nervous because both were in a strange place with strange people staring at them for some reason that was unknown to either. As Andy glanced over at Jake, he discovered that this sudden since of fear was shared by another. "Greetings, Captain Hughes and Captain Schor, you are now the commanders of a mecha fleet. Do you know what that means?" Andy shook my head in reply to the question. "That means you are now the pilot and owner of one of those giant machines outside, and the captain of ten pilots with one almost the same as yours. Obviously this was a one sided discussion because immediately afterward, before Andy or Jacob could even reply, someone grabbed them, dropped a couple things in their arms, and guided them to their new Mechas. The to youths were baffled when they went outside. The mechas were devises seventy meters tall and capable of apocalyptic damage.
Chapter 2: Nightmares Fall Faster Than Raindrops.
I've been here for five days now. Luckily, I haven't had any encounters with the Zenogatons, as these people call them. From what I've heard, they are a robotic race that exists on Earth in the future. Still yet, I am having difficulty adjusting to this "world" because according to them I am physical yet just pieces of data at the same time and plus, I died about 5,000 years ago. This makes me wonder, how could they have possibly been waiting for me? "Don't worry about it kid, U-Net physics is extremely complicated, sorry to have confused you", one of the pilots apologized. "That's all right, I liked hearing about it anyway", I reassured him. I was much more worried than I appeared to be though, because Jake left five hours ago for a routine search and hasn't returned yet. Possibly he could have met the Zenogatons, but then again he may have not. "Captain, come quickly, someone is sending a distress signal from Sector 22," one of the pilots called out. "Where's Sector 22?" I asked, "and who is it from?" "Well…" Alaphin said, "I'm not sure who, but Sector 22 is seven miles west of here… where Captain Schor went." Alaphin, our comtech, sat back down and began hacking into the U-Net database scanner in hopes of locating the source of the transmission. Alaphin angrily cursed at his inability to access the information. "Strombeiz, Ellixea, follow me!" I began shouting as I ran towards my mecha, "I have an idea!" Strombeiz, the teams military strategist, and Ellixea, a spy who came to help us, grabbed a few of their supplies and climbed aboard their mechas. Quickly I grabbed my suit of armor that was made out of a flexible yet impenetrable material, and the nuerosensor helmet that enabled me to control the mecha through my thoughts. It was only five minutes later when the three of us set out to locate the sender of the recently received transmission. An uncomfortable silence fell between us as I was to worried to speak and I didn't know why Ellixea and Strombeiz were quiet. Hoping to relieve the tension of my comrades (and mine as well, but I convinced myself that I was fine), I broke the silence. "So, what do you think we'll se out there, cause this is the first time we've chanced leaving camp by this great a distance?" "What do you mean by 'this great a distance'?" Strombeiz glanced down at the control console and realized that we had been traveling aimlessly for at least an hour or two. "Sorry, Captain Hughes, I did not reali…" Strombeiz stopped in the middle of the sentence and stared open-mouthed at a seemingly unguarded hill. Curiosity took over my reason and I stepped forward to see what he was looking at. My mecha lunged backwards in terror as the seen unfolded before me. Four mechas lay mangled on the ground as if some beast had shredded the strong armor and spilled the circuits and cables contained within. I felt my stomach curdle as I stood there taking in the image and felt a liquid warmth travel down my face as my eyes crossed one of the mechas. It was Jacob's and also was the most devastated of them all. I almost lost control of my mecha as I charged towards the mecha of my best friend. He wasn't inside of it, small as that fact seemed however, it was a small bit of hope that maybe he had survived. "Hey, guys!" I shouted struggling to keep calm, "we should split up, they're may be some survivors in the area. You two take that side and I'll get this one, okay?" Both replied almost simultaneously making the sound of a double-pitched, melodious voice, "Yes, Captain." We all split up, and for the first time, I was alone in this strange, inexistent but physical world. Reluctantly, after doubting my courage to continue, I headed off towards the Northern Section of Sector 22. For the next few hours, I roamed the land searching for any hope that the zenogaton's massacre had left a survivor somewhere in this mysterious place. It was awfully hot here for everything to be artificial and furthermore, inexistent as for as reality is concerned. Finally though, a fear unlike any other gripped my chest: a whole zenogaton dispatchment was traveling through this unreal desert and with them was Jake: he looked badly beaten.
