Steal Fire from the Gods by Clint Hall

Author:Clint Hall [Hall, Clint]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Fiction, Science Fiction, Christian
ISBN: 9798886050776
Publisher: Enclave Publishing
Published: 2023-07-17T22:00:00+00:00

“So they were protecting us?” I kneel to drink from the river, then splash some cool water on my face, thankful for the cover of the trees that arch over my head. Catriona and Rowan do the same, while Lark tends to the horses. The cold water is refreshing, reassuring—pure, abundant life washing over me. The strange sensation hasn’t returned. My heart stopped pounding a few minutes after we were back in the safety of the forest, but none of us have spoken until now. I kept expecting to see another android hiding behind every tree.

“Seems pretty obvious to me.” Otis lounges at the base of a pine, watching the rest of us. I can tell by this posture that he loves being the expert on the war machines. Maybe it’s his insecurity about being the one Scion who doesn’t use magic, but talking about the machines gives him an excuse to look down on the rest of us. “The original prime directive of the AI was to protect human beings. All the other garbage got heaped on top of that code—the best way to protect most of us would be to destroy some of us, the well-being of many outweighs the needs of few, all that . . . logic.” He laughs to himself.

Rowan fills his canteen. “Then why did some of them attack us?”

Otis shrugs. “I don’t really know. I couldn’t see inside their heads. My guess—their programming is screwed up, but maybe not screwed up in the same way for each one. Some still operate on the attack protocol, others have the protect command.”

Lark feeds the horses by hand. “Is there any way to tell the difference between the friendly androids and the murdery ones?”

“Nope.” Otis pushes away from the tree and stretches. “Not that I can tell.”

I take another drink and stand up, reliving the attack in my head. At least the magic showed up, if only for a few seconds. I guess that means I’m getting closer, but closer isn’t good enough in a world that’s constantly trying to destroy us, one way or another. If those androids hadn’t turned on each other, they would have torn us apart.

No use dwelling on a bad thing that didn’t happen. I regard Otis. “You got what you needed though, right?”

Otis grins. “Sure did. Access codes for the machines’ primary communication signal.”

“Have you already hacked into it?” Catriona asks him.

Otis shakes his head. “The signal’s not strong enough here. I need to get back to the bunker. I’ve got amplifiers there.”

“Then let’s go,” Rowan says shortly, returning to his horse.

I start to respond, but out of nowhere, the strange vibration returns. I feel the pull on my heart again, stronger this time, urging me toward the west, the opposite direction of the temple. The sensation almost makes me nauseous. Catriona’s eyes are on me, and it makes me wonder if she feels it too.

“I’m not going with you,” I say. “There’s . . . something out there that’s calling to me.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.