The rain hasn’t stopped since the machines took control. The machines were so enormous that the humans on earth could no longer control them. They got a mind of their own and have been invading the earth since the start of the machine recolution. People thought they would be indestructible, but then the machines, being engineered and pioneered with the use of AI, to start a whole new revolution.


The revolution of machines, AI machines and robots taking over planet earth, leaving no stone unturned. The rain hasn't stopped, the machines have a way of controlling them, somewhere in between the programming and the starting up of the revolution we have found that there must be a zero bot, the one where the revolution started that would stop the rain and finally see sun rises above. The day the sun comes up, shining out of the clouds we know that day will be the day of freedom the day that will end it all. All the wars, all the machines and leave no man left behind.


Nick was only 7 years old when he's dad was working for the people, the scientist and brains behind putting AI into the machines. The people thought it would be a good idea to start letting the machines, the AI robots help the people in their homes, in their cities, around town and to even drive them. They would have big robots, starting from animatronics and moving up to be more advanced and more sophisticated. They all believed in the greater good that the robots would bring.


A few years went by and Nick would ask his father lots of questions, working along side him and helping and assisting him in assembly and seeing how the machines operate. Days turned into months and months into years, Nick and his father not only shared their love for machines, but enjoyed watching movies together, relaxing on the couch and talking about the future. Nick's father longed for someone to share his life with, but he waa s way to overworked and didn't have much time between work, raising Nick and having some downtime.


Nick is now 14 years old, in his teenage years and experiencing so much anger and outburst that he doesn't know how to feel or how to be. His hormones are everywhere and in High School he is also struggling to connect with people, to express himself, his school work is doing okay not the best, can be better but at least he is passing.


In the misty morning of July 26th of 2035 on Friday Nick was waiting for his father to come back home from work, his father never made it home, he tried calling his father, but no answer. Two mysterious men showed up at his front door, telling Nick that his father had passed away in a car accident, by 6pm that evening. Nick felt compelled, overwhelmed and anxious. His mother died when he was just 2 years old. He never knew his mother and now he has to make peace with the sudden death of his father.


Nick’s chest tightened, his breath coming in shallow gasps as he gripped the phone, his knuckles white. He swallowed hard, but the lump in his throat wouldn’t go away. He thanked the men and closed the door. The home he and his father shared, now felt cold, he didn't see his father, he didn't even get to see a photo, which he thought was strange. Was his father involved in something he shouldn't have been involved in, or was there more to the story than he would have known. How would he even move on and pick up the pieces. He is devastated, crushed and doesn't know how to move forward. His father was his everything, even though he missed having a mother figure, he still longed for that.


His dad had a sister he could go and live with, but he never knew her, which was odd to him. His father's name is Nickleus, he got the name Nick for short. His father always wanted a son. His father's sister, her name was Beth. He knew she lived out of town on a big estate, the few times he visited.


He calls Beth after he got himself composed a few hours later,

" Hey Beth, it's me Nick, I just want to let you know that my father passed away a few hours ago."

" I am so sorry to hear about your loss Nick, I cannot believe it, it feels so surreal, are you okay Nick? "

" No, I am not okay, I don't even know where to begin unpacking all of this... Uhm... My life is falling apart, my father was everything to me.... " Nick is crying, holding back the tears...

" I will be there first thing in the morning, Nick, get some rest and don't think to much about it, I know you have so many questions, but we will talk about it all in the morning. "


Beth hangs up the phone and Nick is still flabbergasted, still in shock. He knows his father and Beth never were close, so close but why would she be the next of kin and where is his grandparents. His father also never expanded on his grandparents, maybe all is not what they seem.


Before Nick's father was off to work, he and his father had a warm cup of coffee, and Nick and his father conversation started like any other morning.


" Dad, can I ask you some questions please, it is about mom. " Nick is already clinching his coffee mug extra hard, with the anxiety asking about his mom.

" Nick, I don't think now is a good time. " While his dad clenches his jaw, and thunder can be heard outside the house and rain drizzling outside the window.

" Why, I never see photos of mom or even how she looks, why don't you want to talk about mom at all? " Nick is being very assertive and is staring is father right in the eyes.

"Nick, not NOW" his fathers voice is beginning to being more aggressive and his father is sweating and getting annoyed avoiding eye contact.

"Please dad I need to know " he asks calmly.

"Got to go Nick, I will see you after work bye, I cannot talk about that right now, when you are grown up, I will explain Nick. " And with that Nick's father was rushed off to work with the hard knock of the door slamming closed.


He often wondered how it would be to have a mother, was his mother like him or his father, did his mother had long curly hair or straight hair, blue eyes, and why is his mother's death so mysterious... Something is definitely not adding up, the more questions he asks his father the more his father shuts him down, their now conversation now turned into a full blown argument and his father just wanting him to let it go.


------

It was around 7pm that Nick decided to drown his sorrows and the passing of his father by drinking all the beer and any other alcohol he could get his hands on. His mind is flooding, thinking and crabbling with so many questions. The alcohol drowns out the noise. It numbs the pain, and helps him cope with his pain. His connection to others, makes him questioning himself and makes it for him harder to understand others.


It's midnight, he wakes up from a nightmare, beer bottles the whole lounge full, where he passed out on the couch. He fees dizzy, confused and smell just like alcohol. He is so put off by that now. He takes a steamy hot shower and, get dressed in fresh clothes and started cleaning up all the beer bottles and mess he left behind. The cleaning takes his mind off everything. It helps him have a distraction and clears his mind.


He grabs his tummy and it's growling, he doesn't have the energy to make something, but he knows he's dad left money and coins around in the cupboards and different places even in the bedside table. He's father had a bad habit of leaving any change anywhere, when he's father had any cash, he would just chuck it anywhere where there was space.


He is also searching for answers, looking for clues if he's dad left anytime or leave any clue to the answers about his mother and the AI machines operating today, starting the war.


Nick is busy cleaning and clearing the kitchen table, when he wipes the mess left behind with a clean cloth, by wiping over the table something pops up, a sliding hidden square box inside the table that miraculously popped up. He is trying to understand why it is even hidden in the first place.


Inside the square box it pops open and he find a note, with a key. Strange.


The note says:

Dear Nickleus, the answer to zero bot, lies in the underground city, found inderneath the railways, find the trail, find the blue dot and all your questions will be answered. The key will lead you to your destination.

Regards

The Blue Team


How strange, the blue team, zero bot, underground city, trail, this sounds like an adventure. Nick ordered some pizza with the $10 he found in the kitchen cupboard, thrown in lying under some food cans.


Almost 1 o'clock the pizza arrives. He loves cheese pizza, it's the only thing his tummy can handle right now, even that he doesn't have an appetite he knows he needs to get something in his tummy, to just give him some energy just to get through the morning to have some extra sleep before Beth arrives.


He drank a warm coffee and ate some pizza. By 2 am in the morning on a Saturday, he climb back on the couch and fell asleep just as quickly as he had a few bites of pizza.