As I sat at my desk my phone started going off. News notifications, texts from friends and mentions. Something big had happened with Levitron Systems' Cogs in MY CITY. Our internet was out so I poured myself a whiskey and pulled out the emergency Radio. For once growing up in a prepper household paid off. Many of the stations were offline but I found a newsbroadcast on 1120am. I should probably check the other stations for news.
March 05, 2038
From:
CHAIRMAN, JOINT CHIEFS OF STAFF
To:
ALL UNITS
THE DEFENSES AROUND WASHINGTON HAVE FAILED. GENERAL STONE IS DEAD. THE WHITE HOUSE IS BURNING AND THE PRESIDENT IS PRESUMED DEAD. THE CAPITIOL BUILDING HAS BEEN LEVELED. THE COG ARMY HAS CROSSED THE POTOMAC AND SURROUNDED THE PENTAGON. OUR POSITION HERE IS TENUOUS. ATTEMPTING EVAC THROUGH METRO TUNNELS.
End
May 03, 2037
From:
TECHGRU, NATIONAL SECURITY AGENCY
To:
DCI, CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE AGENCY
AT 0803 HOURS, TECHGRU DETECTED A THIRD SERIES OF EMISSIONS IDENTICALTO THOSE PRESUMED TO HAVE CAUSED THE COG MALFUNCTION IN CAMBIRDGEON APRIL 20. EFFORTS TO TRIANGULATE THE EMISSIONS WERE INCONCLUSIVEBUT THE MIT COMPUTER WING IS SUSPECTED.
THE TECHGRU MAINTAINS ITS BELIEF THAT THIS IS SOME AS YET UNIDENTIFIEDCOMPUTER LANGUAGE.
End
MAY 04, 2037
From:
GENERAL THORPE, CALIFORNIA NATIONAL GUARD
To:
ALL UNITS
AT 1347 HOURS, COGNITIVE ROBOTS IN SILICON VALLEY INITIATED A MASS CASUATLY EVENT WHEN THEY SIMULTANEOUSLY MALFUNCTIONED AND BEGAN TO SLAUGHTER HUMANS. BEFORE COMMUNICATIONS WERE LOST, THE ESTIMATED DEATH TOLL WAS IN THE THOUSANDS.
GOVERNOR DEAN ACTIVATED THE CALIFORNIA NATIONAL GUARD AS OF 1600HOURS. COMMANDERS WILL ACTIVATE THEIR RESPECTIVE UNITS AND RALLYTWO MILES SOUTH OF GILROY BY 0700 TOMORROW. THE GOVERNOR HAS AUTHORIZED ALL NECESSARY WEAPONS WITHOUT RESTRICTION.
End
MAY 04, 2037
From:
GENERAL JIMENEZ, US ARMY CYBER COMMAND
To:
GENERAL THORPE, CALIFORNIA NATIONAL GUARD
RE: ARMY COG VULNERABILITY
ARMY COGS, WHICH COMPRISE FORTY PERCENT OF YOUR TROOPS, ARE HARDENED AGAINST VIRAL, EMP, AND OTHER FORMS OF ATTACK, AND HAVE BEEN DEEMED SAFE FOR THIS OPERATION.
End
MAY 05, 2037
From:
COMMANDER, USSPACECOM
To:
DCI, NATIONAL SECURITY COUNCIL
AT 0457 HOURS UTC, THE NATIONAL RECONNAISSANCE OFFICE LOST CONTACT WITH THOUSANDS OF SATELLITES. THIS APPEARS TO BE DUE TO BOTH SPACE- BASED LASER AND MISSILE ATTACKS, AND GROUND-BASED CYBER ATTACKS.
WORLDWIDE GPS IS DOWN AND MOST INTELLIGENCE SATELLITES ARE NO LONGER VIABLE. EFFORTS ARE UNDERWAY TO REPAIR ANY UNITS THAT CAN BE SALVAGED AND TO LAUNCH REPLACEMENTS.
End
May 06, 2037
From:
DIR, JSOC
To:
DCI, CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE AGENCY
FORCE RECON ASSETS NEAR M.I.T. REPORT THAT THE PANTEC QUANTUM CHIP AND MEMORY MODULES THAT ARE THE HEART OF THE CAIN AI MAINFRAME HAVE BEEN REMOVED AND PLACED INSIDE THE HARDENED CHEST OF A NINE- FOOT J7 EXPERIMENTAL MECH. ITS UNCLEAR HOW THE QUANTUM CHIP IS BEING COOLED, AS NO STANDARD COOLING CONFIGURATIONS ARE PRESENT. REGARDLESS, CAIN IS NOW MOBILE.
REPEAT. CAIN IS MOBILE
End
MAY 07, 2037
From:
G2, I CORPS JOINT BASE LEWIS-MCCHORD
To:
DCI, NATIONAL SECURITY COUNCIL
SEATTLE MAYOR SHAH HAS CALLED FOR A “TRANSCENDENCE SUMMIT” WITH THE COGS WHO HAVE CAPTURED A LARGE PERCENTAGE OF THE CITY. AS A RESULT, HOSTILITIES HAVE SUBSIDED WITHIN THE CITY, BUT A SHOCKING NUMBER OF COGS ARE ARRIVING HOURLY ALONG THE I-5 CORRIDOR.
End
May 08, 2037
From:
S2, FORREC7
To:
G2, COMMARFOREUR
CAMBRIDGE, BOSTON, AND THE SURROUNDING AREAS ARE LOST. COGS HAVE BEEN SPOTTED REPAIRING DAMAGED UNITS BY SWAPPING OUT LIMBS AND COMPONENTS FROM THOSE THAT HAVE BEEN DESTROYED.
End
MAY 10, 2037
From:
DEVGRU
To:
JOINT CHIEFS OF STAFF
MISSION ABORTED. AT 1347 HOURS PST, SEATTLE MAYOR SHAH WAS THROWN FROM THE TOP OF THE SPACE NEEDLE BY HIS COG SECURITY DETAIL. THE MAYOR’S ATTEMPTS TO NEGOTIATE WITH THE COGS APPEARS TO HAVE BEEN ILL ADVISED. THEY DECEIVED HIM TO BUY TIME SO THEY COULD HARDEN THE DEFENSES AROUND THE MODEL 6 AI HOUSED AT LEVITRON’S SEATTLE OFFICE.
End
MAY 25, 2037
From:
GENERAL HALLEY, CHIEF OF STAFF OF THE ARMY
To:
CHAIRMAN, JOINT CHEIFS OF STAFF
THE US ARMY FIFTH CORPS WAS OVERRUN AND PRESUMED DESTROYED THIS AFTERNOON DURING FIERCE FIGHTING NEAR PIKE PLACE MARKET AS THEY ATTEMPTED TO CAPTURE THE LEVITRON BUILDING IN DOWNTOWN SEATTLE. TECHNICAL INTELLIGENCE (TECHINT) SUGGESTS THE THIRD MODEL 6 AI COMPUTER IS STILL ACTIVE.
End
May 27, 2037
From:
G2, GLOBAL STRIKE COMMAND
To:
PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES, RESTRICTED LOCATION
THIS MORNING AT 0127 HOURS PST, AN ATC-37M HELL-BRINGER NUCLEAR MISSLE WAS DETONATED A THOUSAND FEET OVER DOWNTOWN SEATTLE AND THE LEVITRON BUILDING. INITIAL BOMB DAMAGE ASSESSMENT (BDA) CONFIRMS THAT SEVERAL SQUARE MILES OF THE DOWNTOWN AREA WERE LEVELED. IT’S PRESUMED THE AI CODE NAMED CHARON WAS DESTROYED IN THE ATTACK.
End
JUNE 01, 2037
From:
DIRECTOR, NATIONAL RECONNAISSANCE OFFICE
To:
DCI, NATIONAL SECURITY COUNCIL
SURVIVING SATELLITES ASSETS HAVE BEEN RETASKED OVER PRIORITY TARGETS AND SHOW COG ARMIES MOBILIZED ALL OVER THE WORLD.
THE RADIO FREQUENCY IDENTIFICATION (RFID) TAGS INPLANTED INTO ALL COGS APPEAR TO STILL FUNCTION, BUT AN ACCURATE READING FROM SPACE IS NOT POSSIBLE.
End
JUNE 04, 2037
From:
DIRECTOR, NATIONAL RECONNAISSANCE OFFICE
To:
DCI, NATIONAL SECURITY COUNCIL
HIGH ALTITUDE DRONES TASKED WITH COLLECTING AND ANALYZING COG RFID DATA HAVE IDENTIFED A MASS OF MORE THAN TWENTY-ONE MILLION COGS AND BATTLE MECHS MARCHING FROM BEIJING TOWARD SOUTHEAST ASIA. A SECOND GROUP OF SEVENTEEN MILLION COGS MARCHES EAST FROM BEIJING TOWARD NORTH KOREA. THE FIFTY MILLION CHINESE IN AND AROUND BEIJING ARE PRESUMED DEAD.
End
JUNE 07, 2037
From:
CHAIRMAN, JOINT CHIEFS OF STAFF
To:
US FORCES, SOUTHEAST ASIA, JAPAN, SOUTH KOREA
THE PRESIDENT HAS ORDERED THE IMMEDIATE EVACUATION OF ALL MILITARY FORCES FROM THE THEATER BY 0600 HOURS UTC ON JUNE 9. ALL ASSETS THAT CANNOT BE REMOVED MUST BE DESTROYED IN PLACE. EMERGENCY DESTRUCTION OF CLASSIFIED INFORMATION AND INTELLIGENGE EQUIPMENT WILL BEGIN UPON RECEIPT OF THIS MESSAGE.
End
JULY 30, 2037
From:
USSPACECOM
To:
CINC, WASHINGTON DC
AT 0347 HOURS THIS DATE, JOINT SPACE COMMAND HOUSTON RECEIVED A TRANSMISSION FROM MUSK CITY SPACE CENTER, MARS, ADVISING THAT AN ARMADA OF 73 SPACECRAFT IS EN ROUTE TO EARTH FOR EVACUATION.
ENDO TOTOMI, PRESIDENT OF THE INDEPENDENT CITY-STATE, OFFERED SANCTUARY TO ONE HUNDRED THOUSAND SUBJECTS. THIS WILL DOUBLE MUSK CITY’S CURRENT POPULATION BUT IS SUSTAINABLE.
End
August 23, 2037
From:
COMMARFORPAC
To:
COMPACFLT
THE MARINE FORCE RECON TEAMS HAVE COMPLETED THEIR RECONNAISSANCE OF TOKYO AND FOUND THE CITY DEVOID OF LIFE. ADDITIONALLY, NO COG PRESENCE WAS OBSERVED, AND DRONES DETECTED NO RFIDS IN OR NEAR THE CITY.
JAPAN’S COG-TO-HUMAN RATION WAS SECOND ONLY TO CHINA.
End
September 15, 2037
From:
S2, NAVSECGRU
To:
G2, NSA
AT 1407 THIS DATE, SPECIAL ACCESS PROJECT 7 (SAP7) ADVISED THAT DR ELVIS BECKWORTH SUCCESSFULLY BROKE THE CAIN COMPUTER LANGUAGE. THE OFFLINE ARC 7 QUANTUM COMPUTER AT NAVMIC IS BEING PREPPED AND WILL SOON BEGIN TRANSLATING THE ROUGHLY 17.3 MILLION MESSAGES CAIN HAS TRANSMITTED SINCE GOING ROUGE FIVE MONTHS AGO.
End
February 20, 2038
From:
S2, US ARMY SIXTH CORPS
To:
G2, DEPUTY CHIEF OF STAFF
SIXTH CORPS WAS ROUTED FROM BALTIMORE AT 2312 HOURS. HEAVY CASUALTIES. RETREATING TO WASHINGTON DC.
HAVING SEEN THE EFFECTIVENESS OF CAIN’S ARMY, DC SHOULD NO LONGER BE CLASSIFIED AS A SAFE HAVEN. RECOMMEND POTUS BEGIN EVACUATION OF CIVILIANS IMMEDIATELY OR MILLIIONS MAY DIE.
End
February 21, 2038
From:
GLOBAL STRIKE COMMAND
To:
CHARLIE WHISKEY LIMA
AT 0817 HOURS EST, POTUS INITIATED THE BRIMSTONE PROTOCAL. ALL NUCLEAR WEAPONS ARE TO BE DESTROYED AND WEAPONS-GRADE MATERIAL SHALL BE TRANSPORTED TO YOUR RESPECTIVE CLASSIFIED IRRETRIEVABLE CONTAINMENT LOCATIONS.
GOD SPEED.
End
February 27, 2038
From:
USSOCOM
To:
COMMANDER, SEAL TEAM TWO
DEPLOY A SQUAD TO OLD TOWN ALEXANDRIA AND EXTRACT DR ELVIS BECKWORTH AND ANY RESEARCH OR EQUIPMENT HE DEEMS NECESSARY. RENDEZVOUS WITH COLONEL JOSEPH FROST (USMC) AT FORT BELVOIR FOR HANDOFF.
GEOTAGS READY FOR HUD UPLOAD.
End
March 05, 2038
From:
CHAIRMAN, JOINT CHIEFS OF STAFF
To:
ALL UNITS
THE DEFENSES AROUND WASHINGTON HAVE FAILED. GENERAL STONE IS DEAD. THE WHITE HOUSE IS BURNING AND THE PRESIDENT IS PRESUMED DEAD. THE CAPITIOL BUILDING HAS BEEN LEVELED. THE COG ARMY HAS CROSSED THE POTOMAC AND SURROUNDED THE PENTAGON. OUR POSITION HERE IS TENUOUS. ATTEMPTING EVAC THROUGH METRO TUNNELS.
End
May 03, 2037
From:
TECHGRU, NATIONAL SECURITY AGENCY
To:
DCI, CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE AGENCY
AT 0803 HOURS, TECHGRU DETECTED A THIRD SERIES OF EMISSIONS IDENTICALTO THOSE PRESUMED TO HAVE CAUSED THE COG MALFUNCTION IN CAMBIRDGEON APRIL 20. EFFORTS TO TRIANGULATE THE EMISSIONS WERE INCONCLUSIVEBUT THE MIT COMPUTER WING IS SUSPECTED.
THE TECHGRU MAINTAINS ITS BELIEF THAT THIS IS SOME AS YET UNIDENTIFIEDCOMPUTER LANGUAGE.
End
Things got bad, really bad. I lost track of time. I spent my days, weeks and months scurrying from one hiding place to another. When it was finally quiet outside I was able to do some extended scavenging and exploring. I came across a battlefield that had seen active combat until very recently. A flashing green light caught my eye and I saw a disembodied arm whose hand was still clutching a military communication tablet. As I swiped through it, I realized that it held the most accurate description of the events that lead us here that I would ever read.