The Chronicles of Free & Stryker {Slipstream Dream Episode 1}

In the year 2304, sentient androids enslaved mankind, as well as many other humanoids throughout the galaxy. Over the centuries, pockets of resistance rose to oppose them. These are the chronicles of one such team, who even in the face of impossible odds, fight to free the galaxy.

Slipstream Dream Episode 1 of 4

The snow gave the red sky a cream and strawberry scheme. He had heard many times that the sky was once a beautiful blue—completely changed by their arrival.

He rubbed his hand through his hair. Raven strands fell to the console.

 That was never a good sign.

He would need to check the shielding on the ship. Stryker stared at his image in the Mylar mirrored coffee can. His mother’s dark eyes stared back at him. His eyes scrolled upward. He would only keep his single s-curl for so long. He remembered that his father was a bald man.

He issued the request for landing. Once he received the all clear, he eased the ship through the first aperture. The ship hovered in the tube between the primary and secondary dome. When traffic cleared, the second aperture opened. The thrusters engaged and Stryker directed the ship to the designated landing pad. “Free? Are you awake?”

“Yes,” a bass voice said over the intercom. “Are you ready for this?”

“Always.”

Behind the cockpit, lay his friend in a glass tube filled with green liquid. The tube slowly drained. Inside the tube, Free’s eyes remained closed, his arms crossed. It was an uncomfortable sight, his squad mate in what amounted to a casket.

Stryker turned to the tube’s monitor. “You are fully charged. Your personal CPU is operating at one-hundred percent capacity. Heart rate at ten beats per minute. You are good to go.”

The glass tube lifted and Free stepped out. His black jump suit dried quickly in the stale air of the starship. The only part of him that remained wet was his brown textured hair that, even wet, kept its gravity-defying style. In some ways, it mirrored the shape of the tube that he resided in. “Let’s crack this city,” he said.

Thirty minutes later and they were at the main security checkpoint.  Stryker stared back at the Red Eagle. The reddish, rust-colored bird-shaped ship was their refuge from all of the craziness in the universe. He cut his eyes away and walked through the checkpoint first. A screen about ten feet above the checkpoint lit up a bright green light. “Registered, human male, age twenty-five to thirty-five," a computerized female voice said.

Stryker waited on the other side surrounded by human-shaped robots. Some with metal covering, others with synthetic flesh, like Free. “Android, fighter class chassis. Unusually high-density metal,” the voice said. Free stepped through and several automated guns pointed at him. “Please remain still for re-scanning.”

“Oh, my leg. Sir, my leg,” Stryker said. He tripped over his right foot and fell upon Free. “Sorry boss, but my leg has just given out on me.” Stryker’s voice increased in intensity as a crowd of Droids and a few Organics turned their attention to them. “Help me. Oh, help me, please!”

“Separate yourself from the android, human.”

“Hey, this is my human,” Free said. He lifted Stryker two feet off the ground by the collar of his jumpsuit. “Now hurry up and finish your scan. Can’t you see there are Droids waiting to be serviced? Or maybe your programming is faulty and you are malfunctioning?”

“You are cleared. Your human, however, has medical discrepancies. It has an unusually large heart and lung capacity.”

“Mind your business.” Free lowered Stryker. “How is your leg, human?”

“Boss, all of a sudden, my leg feels wonderful.”

“Good. Let’s go.” The two walked away from the checkpoint. “Good thinking back there,” he said moments later.

“Yeah, but in the future, maybe you should get an upgrade—a scrambler to hide your metal density and your heart. Those are two dead giveaways that you aren’t exactly a standard android.”

“I’ve told you. My body is techno-organic. So technically what I have, I was born with…well, reborn with.”

“Please, you can’t tell me that all of the scientist in the resistance can’t figure out a way to at least make your metal density and your heart undetectable.”

“I think I have given up enough of my humanity,” Free said. “Besides, I have you, to improvise when it hits the fan.”

“Yeah. Well, if I could be like you—I would. I just have a real problem with going through an excruciating fifteen hour Nano-surgery with a success rate of one.”

“I wouldn’t advise it. And honestly, you don’t need any enhancements. You are already a top tier agent.”

“Yeah, I am pretty special.”

“I don’t know anyone more special than you,” Free said. They came to a dark-haired android standing at a hover car with the word “Free” on the public indicator. “I guess that is us.” She was a service class android with pale skin nearly the color of a human cadaver. She wore the typical style of clothing for the Droid women. A little black dress, so short that if she bent over, she would moon the world. And matching boots that came up to her knees.  

“Welcome to Nu Tokyo, Japan,” she said.

“Please to meet you.” Free extended his hand. “My name is Free, captain of the Red Eagle.” He gestured. “This is Stryker.”

“You refer to your human by name?”

“Yes.”

She nodded. “My name is Lark. It is my pleasure to meet you, Captain Free. I will take you to your place of stay, as I understand it, your things are already on the way and I will provide reasonable accommodations for your human—”

“Stryker.”

“For Stryker. And then I will take you to Mr. Morg to sell your…product.”

 

The End of Episode 1

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