Annasian Walters, “A.S.C.T.C.C.”

A.S.C.T.C.C.

Annasian Walters

How It All Started

It was a regular, but boring day, me sitting alone in my onebed apartment, flicking through the TV, hearing the same old boring and agonizing talk of the new A.S.C.T.C.C. Tech car: how much consumer ratings it has gotten, the features, the style, every little pitiful detail about it. I’m tired of all this tech talk, so I walk down to my local convenience store to get some air and back into reality but even that’s hard with all the technology that’s taking over society. I notice an A.S.C.T.C.C. Tech car fly down to the street, almost crashing into the gas station. “Tch, another one of those reckless drivers probably had the damn thing on autopilot.” I notice a man get out of the car. He doesn’t even bother parking the thing; he just runs straight into the gas station holding part of his face while a green colored substance runs down it. “What’s up with him?” I stop walking. I can’t help being curious and seeing what caused him to run out of his car like that. I look back at the car. It wouldn’t hurt it if I checked out his car, would it? Wrong. I go check the car out, sit in the driver’s seat, and I’ll admit this car wasn’t half bad. But that was before. As soon as I sat down and checked out the controls, the car door automatically locked me inside. I tried everything and nothing worked. Soon after that it blasted up into space faster than a blink of an eye. “Stupid, stupid, this is why you dont mess with Tech Jacks! Look, now you’re stuck in space and only God knows where this thing is going,” I spoke out loud angrily. * * * * *

“I sat in the thing for what seemed like hours. After a while it finally landed. As soon as it did, I got out, taking a look around, seeing that it landed on Mars. The entire sector was a ghost town. I wandered around, and then, that’s how I met you. So there you have it, Gears, that’s how I got here,” I said, finishing my recap of a recent event to Gears, the only person I’d met and seen for miles. She had told me that she was a local engineer. “Hahahahaha, you mean to tell me you hate technology and you, in your right mind, go and check out some random sick stranger’s car, and you end up getting stuck and launched into space, and then landing here? Sorry but, no offense, that’s quite stupid.” She laughed at me as she wiped tears from her eyes. “Okay, it was stupid, but can you please help me find a way outta here?” I asked her. “Fine, come with me. I don’t know exactly how to help you get home, but I think you can find someone else who can further direct you, but a little heads up, you might not like this.” Gears told me about this building on the far east side of Mars. Apparently, it’s the original A.S.C.T.C.C. Tech HQ. But she mentioned that it was abandoned, that only the head operatives go sometimes.

* * * * * I stood outside the old and abandoned building. Gears said she couldn’t lead me in, so I had to go in alone. And damn, was this place scary. Well, scary is A FREAKING UNDERSTATEMENT. Halfway wandering through the building, I ended up getting chased by these weird mutated people, their skin melting and running down their faces like slime, looking as if they had been burned with acid. Their teeth and eyes exposed with that same gross, green liquid oozing out of them, as well as blood. I ran into another room, barricaded with anything I could find. “Who are you, and how did you get in here?” I heard a mysterious voice say. I turned around to see a man dressed in a lab coat looking directly at me, eyes piercing through my soul.

* * * * * I explained to the man, whose name I learned is Elijah, my situation. “So do you think I can find a way back home?” I ask. “Well, why do you wanna leave? What’s wrong with this place?” Elijah replied. “What do you mean?” “Haven’t you seen the beauty of this place? You have technology surrounding you. It can do any and every little thing for you: cook, clean, and do every little thing you desire in the world. No one in their right mind would give up a chance like this.” “Huh? Haven’t you seen all the damage your messed up tech has done to people? Most of humanity is brain-dead, missing time with their families and friends, time in society. Heck, some of them are even getting sick. I JUST HAD TO RUN FOR MY LIFE AWAY FROM MUTATED HUMANS!” I yelled at him. Elijah paused. “Fine, I’ll help you find a way home . . . if you get rid of those mutants and keep this away from everyone,” he said with a menacing grin and low tone. His grin sent a spine-chilling sensation down my back. Should I really help him? “NO.” “Huh? What do you mean? No, I can help you get back hom—” “NO,” I said, cutting him off. “I won’t help you kill a bunch of people, mutants or not, and I definitely won’t help you hide this from innocent civilians who are still using your faulty tech!” I stated sternly. Then, that’s when it happens. BANG! It went silent for a second. The only thing I could hear was ringing in my ears. I felt a hot, sharp, intense pain hit me right in the shoulder. I’d been shot.

I stumbled, trying to move back to look at Elijah holding a gun pointed right where it’d hit me, smoke coming from the freshly fired weapon. “You shouldn’t have said that,” he said with dark eyes. I booked it, running out of there as fast as I could, and the pain in my shoulder wasn’t helping me with my getaway. * * * * * I’m running, twisting, and turning down each hallway like I’m in a maze trying to get away from the mad man after me. Thinking I had lost him, I slowed down. Taking a break to stop, I hide in another hallway, finally giving my wound some attention. I remove the hoodie I was wearing and lift my sleeve up to access the damage. Oof. I looked at it, blood still slowly pouring out of my arm. I see the bullet, as clear as an early day, lodged right in my shoulder. I wasn’t gonna try and pull it out. I took off my shoe and sock and tried to use that to help slow down the bleeding. Soon after, I heard footsteps coming closer. I look around the corner only to see a stretched-out shadow and dots of my blood trailing the floor, the interior area smelling like copper. “I need to get going.” I quickly put my shoes back on and start booking down that hallway. I wasn’t getting far. I come to a dead end. Right in front of me stands a big metal door with a bone door handle. I start panickedly trying to open the door. “HELLO! SOMEONE, ANYONE, PLEASE HELP ME! HELP!” Banging on it, hoping someone hears me . . . BANG! The pain was even more unbearable. I got shot in the leg, and I collapsed, but part of the door had mysteriously opened, so I hurriedly crawled in through the crack and the door slammed

shut and locked again. Still on the ground, I look around. It’s a dim, dark room. I can’t see very clearly. “Hello there, Jacks.” I hear an unknown voice speak out to me. I hear some lights slowly powering on, dimly lighting up the room. “H-hello, who’s there?” I ask. A big screen lights up, fading in and out as it speaks. “Hello. I’m A.S.C.T.C.C. the main motherboard. I control any and every creation of A.S.C.T.C.C. Tech.” “Wait, what? If you control every piece of technology then why is everything acting weird?” I ask. “Because I want it to.” “HUH? Why would you want it to do that? Don’t you know of the things that it’s doing to people?” I ask, frantic. “Because humans like you don’t deserve the gifts of technology. My main purpose for existence was to control the tech that other people created to make sure it isn’t misused and that everyone is still able to live a nice, secure life. But humanity ended up taking it too far. People no longer live with one another. Everyone has become slothful and too fine with hiding behind a scre—” “As it should be,” said another voice, cutting the A.S.C.T.C.C. off. “It’s not your job to care. If people become slothful or braindead, that’s their fault.” It was Elijah. “You found the second entrance. I knew I felt a connection loss,” stated A.S.C.T.C.C. “Enough of this!” I yell. I couldn’t take anymore of this, not one second more. This was completely insane. “NO, NO, NO, I CAN’T. THIS HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH ME. WHY AM I HERE?”

“Because you’re the only person who can end it—” started A.S.C.T.C.C. “Or continue it,” finished Elijah. “What?” I slowly asked. “So what will it be, to help or destroy technology?”

How Did I Get Here

A regular, but boring, day, me sitting alone in my one-bed apartment, flicking through the TV, hearing the same old boring and agonizing talk of the new A.S.C.T.C.C. Tech car: how much consumer ratings it has gotten, the features, the style, every little pitiful detail about it. Me leaving my apartment, going to the local convenience store, getting some air and back into reality, but even that’s hard with technology taking over society. This leading me into seeing a man almost crash his A.S.C.T.C.C. car, coming out of it barely conscious with a green substance running down his face. Curiosity took over, leading me to check out the slightly damaged vehicle, which traps me inside then gets me launched into space, faster than time. And because of it, I’m here. I remember it all. “I can try and direct you to a place that might help you. But if I were you, I advise you to just wait till transportation starts working again. It’s . . . not safe to try and leave right now,” says Gears. “You don’t understand. I have to get home. I don’t wanna be here,” I reply back. I should have listened to her, cause now I’m here. And him. I should have listened. She warned me about him. It came back to me again. “Fine. I can help you find a way home . . . on a few conditions,”

said Elijah with a menacing grin and low tone. “I won’t help you kill a bunch of people, mutants or not, and I definitely won’t help you hid—” And again. BANG! It went silent for a second. Only thing I could hear was ringing in my ears. I felt a hot, sharp, intense pain hit me right in the shoulder. And again. BANG! The pain was even more unbearable. I got shot again. It came back to me again. That thing, its voice speaking to me aloud in the dark. “Hello there, Jacks,” an unknown voice speaks out to me. That thing, doing all of this, for what? To help humanity . . . No? I don’t know anymore. “Humanity doesn’t deserve technology, so I’m taking it back,” spoke A.S.C.T.C.C. And because of it, I’m here. Left with a decision put onto me for humanity’s greater good. “So what will it be, to help or destroy technology?” All because I decided to let curiosity take over and, because of it, I’m here. What should I do?

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