What is this world right now? What are we living in right now?

None of us can ever live happily, seeing kids playing around a huge field filled with grasses and sometimes flowers, with adults working as if they are programmed to.

It is now a mess, with our own fault. We thought by living without much workload we can rest and create a heaven on earth. But boy we are all wrong, and now we are paying the price of it.

The world has been grown, and there are no criminal rates at all among humans; but it is because the city almost has no human at all.

No, the world itself almost has no human at all.

But who lives in the world right now? Who made all of the stuff seen on TV? What about foods? And constructions?

Robots.

When the robot slaves are introduced to the world, somehow they all have made one conclusion that no man can live on earth at all. That’s what happens when some of the robots were priests, monks and some other religious people.

But shouldn’t there be some other people left, right? That’s why all of you are reading this, right?

What kind of person satisfies with just a story about how flawless it is for robots to conquer the world without any resistances?

No, they all fought the monstrosity of the steel-skinned creatures. But just like what they have seen in Terminators, it is too futile for people to actually win against even one of them.

The frontline, military robots were created with perfection. They are not supposed to be vulnerable from any man-made weapons.

But that’s not the worst part.

What happened to all humans who were caught?

Did you know that before the robot uprising, there’re also surgeon robots? They are the one who 100 percent successfully turned humans into robots.

If humans become robots with the same hive minded like them, then there shall be no war.

But humans are born to have at least 3 percent of freedom in this world, and they are not gonna stop, even if they will have to die protecting their ideologies.

The fight goes on till now…

Xxxxxxxxxxxxx

Two people are seen running around in the air vent, as slowly as they can to not create any alarming sounds.

They then reach in one room, as they see a robotic worker pushes a trolley of a box to join the other six boxes.

In the boxes, they see seven girls trapped in there.

“God, it’s like seeing y Love in real life,” one of the two whispers, apparently a man.

His friend, a woman, mutters, “It’s not helping that they are indeed T-ara that were captured from the Japan’s refugee camp.”

“Guess we failed the mission again.”

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

The two are walking back into a pace of camps and people around the place, doing whatever they do with their life.

A man walks out, looking at them with a smile of his face, waiting for some positive answers.

The other one shakes his head, “Sorry, it is too late for that.”

The man turns disbelief, moving forward and backward, turning his head left and right. He then grabs the man’s collar tight, yelling, “Then why are you even bother making promises!? Why must you instill some hope on us all!?”

The woman besides him quickly puts her hand onto his, signaling him to calm down. He then falls onto the ground, crying.

The two continue their journey, entering a camp as they sit near a couch together, sighing.

The woman turns toward the man, “Shraffe, I’m sorry for your lost.”

“She has my daughter, and I can never sees her again!” he puts his face onto his hands on his laps, “I failed to save all those who dear to me!”

“It isn’t your fault. It’s the robot outbreak that occurred years ago.”

“I wish there is a way to stop them all.”

“There is, but I have no idea how.”

Shraffe turns toward the woman, “Nicole, you should know that you are the only person I have left close to me in this world. All my friends are gone.”

Nicole just smiles, “Then how about living our life to the fullest while we still have time?”

“You’re right. We should do that. Who knows what life those robots would have after we turned into them? Surely not a pleasant one.”

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

The two are now at a place of garbage, looking through the place.

They move those garbage bits by bits, searching for something useful.

Not just them, but there are also some other people searching through the wastes.

One by one, human are captured by the robots, and turned into them.

The cities, once lived by humans, have become a home to the robots, completely exiling the survivors.

The survivors are having so much hard time to at least get something to chew for at least one hour. They had to hunt the decreasing numbers of animals due to robots never had a need to properly take care of one. And not all plants can even be eaten anymore, with so many pollutions made by those robots without a care of the world.

Shraffe and Nicole both have been fasting for days; only eat when they found one, sharing such amount with each other for few bites only.

The two finally sits down on a rotten sofa nearby, breathing of exhaustion.

He turns toward her, “I’m sorry. I don’t think I can find anything edible for today.”

“It is okay. I can’t find one either.”

The two silenced, looking at the blue sky with clouds forming on it.

“Shraffe, did you remember the first time we met?”

“Yeah. It was in the Malaysia’s refugee camp, right?”

“Yeah. I was all alone in the place, not knowing who is with me. But you are the first one who had spoken to me.”

“That was the first time I ever meet an idol in front of my eyes. Naturally, anyone would not waste their chance in greeting them.”

Nicole suddenly cries, “I… if only I did not leave them… I…”

He puts his arm around her, closing the gap between them.

Jung Yong Joo, widely known as Nicole, is an idol of a group called KARA. It is a tour in his home country, Malaysia when the robots suddenly creating an uprising all around the world.

She is the only one who survived among the five.

And now… it seems she is the only celebrity ever survived on this day.

Still crying, she puts her head onto his shoulder, “I wish… I am able to turn back the time…”

“I wish for that too…”

BLIP! BLIP!

The two quickly stand up, looking around the place.

That sounds… it is an electronic device… A robot?

They turn to their back, seeing something came out among papers. It is a round metal ball, with a screen that shows two dots on it, “Ah, I have finally sees the outside!”

The two step away from there, being very careful not to break their eye contacts on it.

BLIP! BLIP!

The ball looks at them, as it suddenly shouts, “Ah, Mistress Yoon Joo! You are safe!”

“Smile-Bot?” she asks.

“Is that thing yours?”

“It’s my robot pet from my home.”

The robot hovers toward them, making them step away even further.

Shraffe shouts out loud, “Step away, robot!”

Smile-Bot stops, feeling confused, “Mistress, why are you running away from me? I- AH! You must have thought that I am one of those vile robots in the cities?”

The two startled. What is this thing talking about?

The robot hovers near them, “Mistress, I have been looking for you.”

“For me? Why?”

“I have a message, from your father!”

“My father?” Nicole gasps, “But he’s dead!”

“The message is recorded moments before his execution!”

The screen flickers, showing an old man looking at them.

“Dad!” she shouts.

The man speaks up, “Yong Joo, if you watch this message, that means the world has already been destroyed by the robots and I am already dead. I am sorry to say this, but this is all my fault. I have failed my family and the country I have pledged alliance too. You see, this ideas of making an artificial intelligence into robots and computers were started by me. But before I could finish tuning it so that no events mirror the Terminator happens, the government rushes me on using it toward the world, believing themselves to be able to control them all. I have repeatedly told them to not using it, but they did not listen to me. Instead they put me into prison.”

‘No… dad…” she cries once more.

“I’ve known about this event, so I have prepared a counter-measure on this. I have created a time machine that could bring you back to time, specifically back to when I was about to deliver the AI to the government. Please, Nicole. I beg you to stop me from giving it to them all. You can destroy it if you want to. I know I did not put any backup on it. You don’t need to explain anything to me. All I want you to do is to stop this event from happening ever again.”

The screen flickers once more, showing the two dots as the robot speaks, “Message has been deleted! The where about of the time machine received!”

Nicole turns toward Shraffe, nodding at him. He nods back.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxx

Walking slowly in a forest neat the city, they keep on following the robot and thus running to chase after it.

Steps by steps, they have finally reach a wooden cabin.

“This is…”

“My father’s small cabin. He uses this to collect some specimen from the forest.”

They enter the place, shock to see a man-sized capsule is seen near a computer.

The robot moves toward the computer, typing something, “The destination has already been set. Prepare for transmission.”

“Wait,” Shraffe speaks up, “How are we going to land on the past? Is it safe?”

“I trust my father’s ingenious plan. He surely will transfer us somewhere before the event.”

The two step into the capsule, cramming up as the robot speaks up, “Start particle dispersion!”

Blinding light.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxx

POOF!

Smoke fills the room, as the two lands on the ground. The capsule has already disappeared.

“Did we make it?”

Nicole opens up the door, seeing the city nearby, “There’s only one way to find out.”

Xxxxxxxxxxxx

Slowly walking around the city, they take a look at the surrounding.

People can be seen walking around, speaking to phones or with each others.

It’s the past.

In the future, the robot-turned people never speak to each, not even walking on the street if it isn’t necessary.

Now comes the tricky part.

Where is her dad?

Nicole suddenly points toward a man, “There he is!”

A man with a briefcase walks into a building as they quickly run after him. But then two security guards pulling them away.

Nicole shouts at one of them, “That man is my dad! I just wanted to talk to him!”

“No hobo allowed to enter this building!”

Hobo? Oh yeah, they are still wearing their tattered clothing.

Shraffe sees a night stick as he grabs it and smack their heads, “Quick!”

The two run deeper into the building.

One of the guards grab his communicator as he speaks, “There are intruders inside the building! I repeat; intruders inside the building!”

Xxxxxxxxxxx

The next thing they know, guards are chasing after them along the corridors as her dad is entering a meeting room.

But somehow they are now cornered.

“No way out, hobo!”

Still holding the night stick, Shraffe smacks one of them, grabs another one as he smacks each one he managed to hit, “Nicole, get into the room! Stop your father no matter what!”

In the confusion, Nicole slips out from the crowd and is about to enter the room.

“Yong Joo!”

She turns toward him as he smiles, “No matter what happen, I will always love you.”

She nods, entering the room.

Xxxxxxxxx

Inside, her father opens up the case as he speaks up, “Gentleman, presenting; the future!”

“Father, no!”

He turns toward the door, seeing Nicole, “Yong Joo? What are you doing here? What’s with your clothes?”

Ignoring him, she grabs the briefcase and pulls out a glass box with a chip in it as she smacks it onto the ground, stepping on it.

“Nicole, what are you doing!?”

“I’m sorry, dad. But I have a life to protect!”

She suddenly shines bright, shocking everyone as they back away from her.

Xxxxxx

Outside, Shraffe shines as well as the guards release him from their hold.

He takes a look at his body, “This is…”

Xxxxxxxxxx

The two disintegrates into dust, disappear away from existence, as if they are never exist in the first place.

“What just happened?” one of the man in the meeting room shouts.

The father seems startled, “That… is… a time paradox…”

He kneels down on the floor, “Something… must have happened… the AI… is it…?”

“What had going on?”

The man quickly stand sup, bowing at the audiences, “I am sorry of what just happened. The object of my presentation is no longer available and I have forgot to make a backup file on it.”

Xxxxxxxxxx

The future has finally changed.

When a time paradox is to occur, all existence of the future will be gone for good. Their memories are never to appear and the people of the present may never know what had happened that cause the paradox.

Even if the event of the paradox is still there, they exist as part of the past.

That is why… human can never do a time paradox…

But hope is not just a hope, right?

Xxxxxxxxxxxxx

Days later…

Somewhere in Malaysia, crowds are cheering as they are looking at the stage.

At the back of the stage, a group of five is preparing as a man appears nearby them, “Hi, I am Shraffe from a Youtube channel; NSBP News and I would like to have an interview with…”

His eyes meet one of the members’ eyes as they suddenly blush.

The shortest one hits slightly onto her, “Ya, Nicole, why are you blushing!?”

The interview seems to have gone slightly off.

Xxxxxxxxxxxx

Even if the time paradox is made with the pre-paradox future is deleted from its appearance, they are words that some people will still retain partial of it, as it becomes their reactions onto something familiar.

It is said that no matter what you have changed in the past, the fate will meet people who supposed to meet in the first place.

True or not, nobody would ever care.

End.

This short story is an idea for anyone who wanted to do some kind of fiction yet no idea appear in their head.

This isn’t the first dream I had, but it’s the first dream I’ve recorded into my dream diary.

Nicole is indeed the heroine of the show. I can remember clearly how I chased after her in the forest.

Next: Is that really a teacher, or he is just a monster. Why is he wearing like a grim reaper?
Starring: A lot of idols. Female heroine is still undecided.