Jack and Jill were already gathering their gear when Lieutenant Miles entered the barracks. As always, he smiled broadly, almost beaming, earning him the nickname Lieutenant Smiles.

‘We need you pronto’, Smiles says, speaking without disturbing his smile. ‘Ah, good, you already know! Excellent!’, incredibly Smiles’ smile widens, ‘I’ll give you a ride to the gate. Here is your mission briefing.’ Smiles waves his hands in front of his face, accessing data through his heads-up display, then mimes grabbing and throwing something at the two soldiers. The file containing the mission details appears in their HUDs, and they both open it immediately.

The mission is simple. Most reconnaissance missions are simple. Get in unseen, see what you can see, get out unseen and report what you have seen. Kill anything that sees you, see that you do not get killed.

The target is a small mountain range 175 miles to the north that contains a collection of caves. Drones identified activity in and around the cave system. It can only be the enemy. There are no people around for hundreds of miles, and animals give off a different biosignature. There are humans in those caves. Different humans than the ones in this camp, and that makes them the enemy.

Outside the gate, Jack and Jill stash their gear, climb into the waiting drone and strap themselves in. The drone will deliver them near the mountain range, and they will continue on foot. Their flight path is hidden behind hilly terrain. The enemy will not know they are coming.

***

The areas around the cave openings show clear indications of human presence. There was an attempt made to remove any trace of occupancy, but to the soldier’s trained eyes the sign was clear. People always walk the same path, and no matter how careful they are they leave tracks, bend branches, kick rocks and sticks and often leave items behind that give away their presence. Someone dragged metal against the cave entrance, maybe a weapon or another tool, leaving a clear scratch. A cigarette butt was carelessly tossed into a pile of rocks, announcing itself to Jack’s biosensor. There must still be saliva on it.

Jill dispatched two tiny drones. These are the size of house flies, enabling them to travel mostly unnoticed. The second drone is programmed to follow the other, always at a distance. This allows the second drone enough time to react if the drone in front fails or is destroyed. The drones enter the nearest cave, and Jack and Jill follow, watching the video from the drones as they follow a winding path amongst rocks and stalagmites, their weapons ready, their HUDs switched to night vision. They gave each other a knowing look. Blood will be spilled here today.

***

Jack and Jill met during basic training in the year 2187. They were paired as sparring partners. Jack knew he loved Jill when she expertly ducked under his arms and executed a perfect double-leg takedown. ‘A wrestler!’, Jack thought right before she slammed him down on the mat. ‘Jiu-jitsu!’, was his second thought when Jill moved to pin him down with a knee on his belly, then isolated his right arm and proceeded into an arm bar. Jack rolled out of the armbar and took Jill’s back, attempting to set up a rear naked choke. This was when Jill realized that she loved Jack. She tucked her chin and slid down out of danger. Eventually, Jack submitted her, but only because he was stronger, her skill was better developed than his.

Jack was from the Americas, and Jill hailed from Europe. Her family operates a bio farm near where Berlin used to be. The world map no longer had all those dividing lines that used to indicate all the different countries. The Third World War wiped those lines off the map, along with most of the cities and people.

It turned out that many more countries had nukes, and when the superpowers fired at each other, everyone else aimed their arsenals at their enemy of choice. Only Central Africa was untouched by nuclear fire, but the man-made winter that followed was just as effective at killing.

In the years that followed survivors clawed a life from the earth, forced back to a simpler way of life. Over time groups formed, and later these groups formed alliances. Two factions arose from this, those that desired to reestablish a technological world, and those that saw technology as evil. It was an AI that started World War Three after all. It took a hundred years to prepare, but for the last fifty years, the world was at war again.

Jack and Jill were part of an alliance that relied on technology, the enemy was anyone who opposed them. History is full of chapters where people hated and warred over less.

They were formed and shaped as soldiers and were chosen to specialize as reconnaissance troops. They submitted to one more year of training, followed by two more years to receive the augmentations that made them formidable and nearly indestructible.

***

The fly drones identified and marked two men then flew past unnoticed. Jack and Jill coordinated wordlessly, each using the video feed to pick a target. The men had ancient bolt action rifles, and they looked like farmhands to Jill. They both died without ever seeing the soldiers, their headless bodies standing for a second or two before crumpling in place. Another bigger drone is dispatched back to the cave opening to relay video of the encounter. It will remain at the cave entrance and monitor for enemy activity. It has a collection of nano bombs that it can deploy to defend the entrance.

Jack and Jill step over the bodies of the men and head to an opening ahead, lit from the inside. The soldiers keep advancing while considering the drone video. There are twelve adults in the room huddled around a fire, and no weapons are detected. This does not mean there aren’t any, those bolt action rifles and pistols that shoot powder-propelled slugs do not always register as weapons.

Jack steps past the opening, nods at Jill and then they both enter at the same time, moving away from each other with weapons pointed at the group. The enemy is never spared, they are executed on the spot, and they were positioning themselves to execute these people most efficiently.

***

The augmentations received by reconnaissance troops alter their bodies significantly. Augmented soldiers still drink, eat, sleep and produce waste. Augmentation replaces arms and legs with powerful robotics, and the head and torso are covered in a shell, filled with sensors, batteries, bombs and other weapons. A cranial interface connects the living and the robotic, and one of the eyes is replaced with tactical optics. Breasts and genitals are removed. Augmented soldiers can only think about sex, and normal soldiers joke that Auggies think about ‘fuck-all-the-time’.

***

Moments before the soldiers were positioned to terminate the enemy a baby cried. ‘No Jack!’ Jill speaks out loud, using her external voice module, for the first time this cycle. Jack lowers his weapon and signals ‘Why?’ Jill responds on the same frequency, ‘These are women and children! And babies Jack!’ With 3 huge strides, Jill covers the 60 feet that separates them and positions herself between Jack and the terrified group, ‘These are not enemy soldiers Jack!’.

He lowers his weapon and recites through his voice module so the enemy can hear, ‘The enemy: Any person or persons that actively oppose the adoption and proliferation of technology or associate with those that do.’ Jack opens his visor and speaks directly to Jill using his own voice, ‘These are the enemy, Jill, they fit the definition.’ Jill steps closer and raises the visor on her helmet, ‘A definition written by a fucking machine! Look at us!’, she slams her pulse rifle against her chest, the metallic sound echoing through the cavern, ‘We are more machine than human! We can’t even reproduce anymore! If we want a child it must be made, and it will be nothing more than a machine!’

Realization dawns on Jack, and he holsters his rifle on his back. ‘You want kids? Wanted kids I mean?’ A tear rolls down Jill’s cheek, ‘Every woman I know wants to have a kid Jack. And I am still a woman, at heart. We cannot harm these people; we must ensure they remain alive. And safe.’ Jill recalls her fly drones, and as they nestle in their cradles she erases their memory.

Jack nods and sends Jill a message, ‘OK, for now, they live. Men are coming,’ Jack lowers his visor and steps around Jill to address the women behind her. ‘Who here can speak to the men that are approaching. They will die, and then more men will come and die, and eventually you will die. We will not. They must be told to stay away and stay hidden, or they might be seen by the satellites that are now watching, and this place will be bombed, and everyone will die.’

A woman raises her hand, ‘I can. I am one of the elder mothers. They will listen to me. I can communicate with them by radio, from another cavern further in.’ Jack turns and walks out of the cavern, ‘Let’s go woman. Lead the way.’ He sends a message to the guarding drone to not engage the enemy but show itself for a second. The enemy knows the power of the nano bombs and the sight of the drone might motivate them to remain hidden. ‘Thank you, Jack!’, Jill sends.

***

‘Who is this?’, the man’s voice sounds agitated. ‘It is Mother Mary, and I have one of those Auggies here with me. There are two of them, the other is with the family.’ Jack looks hard at the old woman; she is supplying tactical information to the enemy right in front of him! The old woman understands and quickly adds, ‘They will not harm us! They want you to remain out of sight. Our home is being watched from space.’ After a few moments, the man responds, ‘Put him on!’ Jack has already established a connection, ‘I am here. Do you understand what is required?’ A few moments of static before the response comes hard and fast, ‘Yeah you fucking tin can full of human shit, fucking lousy tech joiner, I get it. We will stay out of sight. What is the next move? I know you can’t stay in there forever without charging. What is it, a 7-day charge right? We can wait you out.’ Jack’s response is cold and slow, ‘You will all die before we need to charge. We seeded the whole area with nano bombs. If you value the lives of these people, help find a solution that benefits us all. I have your frequency and will contact you in 1 hour.’ With a swift blow, Jack destroys the radio and turns to the old woman, ‘Let’s go. Move!’.

***

Jill was sitting amongst the women, cradling a baby. It might have been the one who cried and saved them all. The augmentations can convey sensation, making it possible for Jill to handle the tiny human delicately, and even enjoy her plumpness. It was a baby girl. When she looked at Jack, he knew they were doing the right thing. He has seen Jill tear the enemy apart with guns and claws. She is a very efficient and accomplished killer. The look on her face now was that of a woman, not a cyborg made for murder.

Mary walked over to Jill and held out her hands, asking for the baby. Jill reluctantly handed the little girl over, and sadness passed over her eyes. ‘You OK Jill?’ Jack signals, and she answers out loud, ‘Yeah, I am. I really am.’ She looks again at the baby, and then at the group of toddlers shyly hiding behind the adults.

‘Open your face Jack and use your voice. You are scaring the little ones.’ Jill says this with so much feeling that Jack is momentarily stunned. He has completely forgotten the feminine side of his partner. He opens his visor and kneels next to Jill. ‘There are enemy soldiers outside the cave, we may have to kill them if they are not willing to cooperate.’ Jill frowns at him and signals, ‘Tactical stuff you can signal, please! No need to scare these people any more than we already have.’ Jack nods and says out loud, ‘I am hopeful we can reach some sort of agreement.’

***

The arrangement was simple. The enemy soldiers will retreat allowing Jack and Jill to return to their waiting aircraft. The women and children will remain in the cave and leave the next day. The satellites should turn their attention elsewhere when this place is reported as clear, but it is best to allow extra time. The report will state that two men were living in the caves and that these men were mutants and put down. To ensure cooperation nano bombs were seeded throughout the cave.

Jill was reluctant to leave. Children are scarce in this world, and her maternal side overrode years of conditioning and killing. Jack left her alone, she had to make herself ready, that he knew. After a while Jill rose, closed her visor and strode to the cave entrance, signaling Jack to come. He lowered his visor, checked his weapons and followed. Jill was moving fast.

When light from the cave entrance became visible, Jill abruptly stopped. Her conditioning ran deep, and she dispatched two flying drones to precede their exit. The video feed revealed four Auggies and two battle drones. Twelve men were kneeling, with hands on their heads, facing the cave.

‘Trouble Jack!’ she signals on their private channel. ‘I see,’ Jack responds, ‘this is not right. Why would they be here?’ Jack connects to the drone still guarding the entrance and uses its audio. He wants the enemy soldiers to hear.

‘This is a sanctioned recon mission, and as such classified. State your business. Why are you here?’ The drone’s speaker makes Jack’s voice sound small. The response was immediate and came from one of the battle drones. ‘We came to collect the kids.’ Jack heard the irritating smile in this response. It was lieutenant Smiles. He must have monitored them somehow.

‘Too what end?’ Jill asks as she readies her weapons and sends her intent to Jack. She can guess why they want the kids. The youngest recruit at the base is 14, and she cannot remember when she last saw a child. ‘They need the kids for more Auggies! We cannot allow this. If you ever loved me, Jack, like I have loved you, help me save them, I beg you!’ Without a word, Jack uses the sentry drone’s targeting system and dispatches two EMPs, aimed at the two battle drones. These machines have guns that can take limbs from Auggies, and if there is going to be running and fighting, they need their full complement. The drones will be out of commission until they reboot, 15 minutes tops. The Auggies will not be harmed, their software is human after all.

‘Jill, we need to fall back and let them in,’ he was referring to the four Auggies, ‘then collapse the front part of the cave behind them, with another charge further in to trap them. I do not know if there is a back way out of here, but it is a risk we must take.’ All this is sent with the tactical details, the size of the charges needed, the positions where to stick those, and where to place the fly drones so they can see when to detonate.

Almost immediately Jill releases sticky bombs that attach themselves just inside the cave entrance and 20 yards behind them. Flies are sent to monitor and report. They back up until they pass the bombs before Jill detonates all the nano bombs seeded outside. Everything organic outside the cave is immediately reduced to trace elements. The enemy dissolved inside their clothes, trees, grass and animals reduced to nothing. One of the Auggies had his visor open and died, his machine body settling into rest position, now an empty shell, its recovery beacon activated. These bodies are reusable.

The remaining cyborgs rush into the cave, and when they reach the midway point Jill detonates the sticky bombs, trapping them between two piles of rubble. It will not hold them. They will dig themselves out. It is time to run.

***

They returned to the woman and children and found them assembling something that looked like a weapon. It resembled a cannon on a tripod, but instead of a barrel, it had a ring of electrodes. The woman froze like they were caught doing something unholy.

‘What is this?’ Jill asks with her own voice. Her visor is open, and her eyes move over the group, looking for Mary. ‘It is a hybrid neutron and electron cannon,’ Mary answers behind them, struggling to drag a cylinder towards the assembly. ‘Help me with this please,’ she gestures towards the cylinder, ‘it must be connected to the gun. We need it operational if we are going to survive.’

Jack strides over and delivers the cylinder to the group of women. ‘Where do you want it?’, one of the women points to a platform directly under the weapon. When he deposits the cylinder on the platform, it is mechanically lifted into the weapon. ‘Run the startup,’ Mary commands, ‘then roll it into the tunnel and aim it at the rock pile.’

Mary turns to Jill, ‘This thing is a monstrous weapon. It is much like your nano bombs but destroys everything it touches and leaves nothing. Not a trace of what it took. It erases everything and anything that stands in its way. This will end the war or start a new one. We do not know, but we must use it on your colleagues, and then we have to run. Hard and fast. The energy signature of this weapon will be noticed, and it will leave a mark.’ Mary looks at the other woman rolling the weapon into the tunnel that leads to the cave entrance. ‘Are there any other weapons outside? And how close to the entrance are they?’ Jill retrieves that data from memory and conveys it to the women at the weapon. ‘Goggles!’, Mary shouts, ‘ the rest of you turn away. Do not look!’ She looks at the cyborgs, ‘Protect your eyes. The light will be intense, like looking into the sun.’ She turns to the goggled women manning the gun, ‘Fire when ready ladies.’

***

Jack and Jill watch in amazement as the air between the weapon and the pile of rubble starts to glow faintly at first but then it intensifies, causing their visors to set their filters to the maximum. They still close their eye involuntarily when the light intensifies for just a second, then vanishes. When their eyes and visors readjust, they are stunned by the result. The weapon’s beam cut a perfectly round path through the original tunnel, widening it by 10 yards. The new tunnel is smooth like glass and seems to go on forever.

‘We set the beam at 400 yards. Sometimes it goes a little further.’ One of the women at the gun says as she strips the goggles from her head. ‘There is no residual heat. You can go and reconnoiter.’ The jab is not lost on Jack, she knows what they are. Everybody does.

Only parts of a battle drone are found. The beam cut right through it, a little off-center, leaving only the limbs outside the beam. There is no sign on the other one. Outside the cave, the beam left a trough that continued for hundreds of yards. This weapon will not end the war Jack thought, it will end the world.

***

Jack and Jill decide to stay with the woman and children. They cannot go back to their base. Lieutenant Smiles will know about their treason, having seen it through the eyes of the battle drone. Jack carries the weapon and Jill one of the babies. Humans have always made new alliances to survive. This is one of those moments.

***

The energy signature from the weapon is seen from space, by the technocrat’s satellites, but also by something else. A signal is sent towards Alpha Centauri. The blue world just became interesting.

This weapon will start a new war after all.