Zicky Wayne and the Helmet of Hades

By David Pereira and Kateryna Vitkovska

In the year 2100, planet Earth has been completely destroyed by climate change. The last humans live trapped inside glass bubbles at the South Pole. When Zicky Wayne, the last robot repair technician, returns to the bubble, accompanied by his best friends, he discovers that all the inhabitants have disappeared while a strange ship emerges.

• Language: English
• Publisher: David Pereira
• Release date: Oct 28, 2023
• ISBN: 9789893533628

David Pereira

David Pereira nasceu em 1991 em Lisboa. Estou engenharia eletrotécnica, mas sempre teve uma paixão pelos mundos de fantasia e de ficção científica. Desde cedo o mundo de Tolkien o inspirou, tornando-se um grande fã. Gosta de se perder em mundos fantásticos em vez de viver no mundo real.

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Introduction

Our journey began in 2030, where the signs were becoming more and more evident and more frequent, but no one with great influence looked at them with concern. The rich countries, which had a great power of influence, were those where more resources were consumed and also where there was more pollution. Everyone knew what it was necessary to do to save the planet, but there was always a kind of arrogance on the part of the richest countries, who thought that bad things only happened to others because until now they had never suffered the consequences. Thus, they never gave them their due importance and put that matter in a locked drawer. It was that year that the point of no return was passed and everyone began to wish they hadn't been so blind.

From here the climate changed radically, the temperature rose, it stopped raining in most of the terrestrial regions, there was a shortage of food and many species became extinct. New diseases appeared in places where they did not appear before, becoming increasingly resistant and lethal, all due to climate change that would forever change the way humanity lived. «What have we done?» was the widespread thought.

The summer of 2070 was one of the most tragic for humanity, with a brutal increase in temperature. The lowest value recorded on the entire planet was 60ºC, thousands of people died that day. That's when everyone opened their eyes and finally realized what had been done. Now they were willing to give up their comfort, but it was too late. No matter what we did, no matter what we changed, the time to act had passed and there was no turning back, the beginning of the end of humanity had begun.

The sixth great extinction was underway. Immediately the next day, countries at the United Nations created a rescue plan for the last human beings in the world, which involved transferring all people from their countries to the South Pole of the planet.

Thus, people were divided into two groups, those who had a lot of money were able to buy trips to another planet and everyone else was taken to Antarctica.

Nobody knows what happened to those people who left the planet, if they managed to survive, if they reached their destination, if they are returning to rescue those left behind.

In the year 2075, the situation continued to deteriorate and there was a realization that the solution of fleeing to the South Pole was not enough, more was needed; it was then that it was decided that it was necessary to create controlled environments for the survival of the human species. Thus, hundreds of glass bubbles began to be built, which would be responsible for saving humanity.

In 2080, they were completed and the remaining human beings went to live there. Most couples were separated at that time and were never able to get back in touch with their partner. Only those who had money managed to keep some amenities such as a house with the best conditions, but the poorest people were prevented from having children. Birth control laws were created, only unborn children could be born, and the number of children could only be born depending on the deceased. To prevent the birth of uncontrolled children, men and women were separated. This law is still in force today.

The women who were pregnant when they went to live in the bubble were allowed to give birth to their children, with all available resources. This generation of babies was called the light generation : they carried within them the hope of saving the human species.

After they were born, male children lived with their mothers until they were six years old and on the day they reached that age, the authorities took the children to other bubbles where there were only men. The little boys were housed in the bubbles where there was less population. This process was extremely painful, it was very difficult for a mother to be forced to be separated from her son, it was a situation that no woman wanted to go through, this day was probably the worst day in the life of all of them. The female children were luckier, they could stay with their mothers until adulthood and afterwards, if they wanted to.

Today we are in 2100 and people now live in large bubbles, as if they were fish in an aquarium. The world population, which once reached 10 billion people, has shrunk to about a billion and is tending to shrink due to the scarcity of resources, which were over-consumed in the past.

Water for consumption comes from huge aquifers formed by the melting of Antarctica. It has been able to meet human needs, but every year it becomes an increasingly scarce resource. Food, which used to come from animals or the earth, is now produced in laboratories, it must also be rationed because it is scant.

The prices of food and other essentials are so high that people have to make choices, rationing solid and liquid foods. Due to this, malnutrition has started to be present in most people.

Zicky Wayne is one of those people, with a future with no great prospects and with great threats, and he no longer believes that things will ever change.

Chapter 1

Just another day

Zicky had just arrived at the workshop and an alert signal appeared on one of the monitors.

Another robot that broke down due to the high temperatures that were felt yesterday. The thermometers exceeded 130ºC once again. Where is this going to end? he spoke to himself.

He sat in the chair and accessed the temperature records from the previous day. Immediately he began to hear robotic steps approaching him.

Have you seen this, CIT, temperatures have not stopped rising since 2030, he said with a worried tone.

Zicky, why do you expect something to change when no change has been made? CIT replied with a monotone and full of assertiveness, already very close to him.

I don't like you being this close to me. You are 2,35 meters tall, and if standing you are 50 centimeters taller than me, with me sitting down I need binoculars to see you, muttered Zicky and CIT took a few steps away. You know, I've always heard that one day the planet would regenerate itself to keep life at its sweet spot.

Human beings remain as blind as ever. Due to a lack of concern for the climate, your ancestors used and abused very polluting natural resources, which caused the planet to heat up. Due to this, they melted the snow at the poles, which served as a reflecting mirror and sent the sun's rays back into space. It also served to cool the warm air of the globe, creating a circulation of air throughout the continents.

Do you think there's anything we can do? At this rate, we won't even be able to live inside the glass bubbles one day.

Don't worry, the bubbles will hold, it was one of the best works that humans have done. Here they managed to create an ecosystem in which life can still survive, due to temperature control and air quality, he replied while shaking his head affirmatively. There's not much to do, just hope that, as you said, the planet will regenerate. You humans have tried to extinguish some of these tools, such as trees, and now what do you want to do? It will take thousands of years for life to adapt to the new climate and atmosphere. 

There has to be a solution! Why the hell do I and my generation have to pay for the crimes committed in the past? wondered Zicky rather sadly. By people who only looked at what doesn't matter, like greed.

Zicky stood up and staggered a little, due to the speed of the movement, but also because of the lack of strength caused by the scarcity of food. CIT immediately approached him and helped him stand up.

Thank you, but I'm fine now, he said as he grabbed his head with one hand and CIT with the other.

Your brown eyes don't indicate that and your face is paler than usual, said CIT.

I'm fine, he assured as he ran both hands through his black hair. Do you think the people in the other bubbles are having the same problems?

It's impossible to know. I'm not allowed to access information on the other bubbles. I don't know where they are or if they still exist. Looking at the data we're experiencing, I'd say yes. Since the beginning of the sixth great extinction in 2070, all life is having a hard time. All the water in the oceans evaporated 15 years ago, CIT reported. To give you an idea of what has changed, 100 years ago, in this very spot, we would have been covered by a large amount of snow and a temperature of -50°C.

Trees, snow, water from the oceans, what have we done.... It is so sad to think that the South Pole, a place that for centuries was inhospitable to the survival of any species, is now the salvation of life on Earth. In my 20 years of life, I never felt that life was worth living, his pain was felt in every letter of that sentence.

Zicky is part of the light generation, nicknamed because they were the last human beings to be born, but like everyone else lives in darkness. In 2080, with the creation of the bubbles, male people were separated from female people. Boys, like Zicky, were taken from their mothers on the day they turned six. 

CIT, get everything ready, we have to go repair or rescue that robot, while I write down all our mission information so we'll be allowed to leave the bubble, CIT immediately began preparations for the mission, while Zicky started typing on the computer. Bubble 56. Day 24 January 2100. Mission type: Search, repair and/or rescue of a robot. Reason: Malfunction due to excessive temperature and the storm experienced yesterday, he wrote in the system.

It was a few minutes past midnight, the sun had reached its lowest point of the day, not touching the horizon line. The outer door of vehicles and robots of bubble 56 opened and light slowly began to illuminate his vision. With some pain, caused by the amount of light, colors, shapes and a road that was heading south began to materialize, in reality going nowhere because there was nowhere to go. The reddish fog took over the landscape, still showing the remains of the previous day's storm that lingered in the air and refused to disappear. To their left was the checkpoint, where the guards were checking who wanted to enter and who wanted to leave. 

See you later! Zicky said to say goodbye to the guards, raising his hand, even though he knew they couldn't hear him, let alone care about him; he always had this ritual. 

With the poor visibility, he knew he had to be more careful on the road, but he sped as fast as he could because he had to get there and back as quickly as possible. He knew that it was going to be an extremely hot day again, after the day before the thermometers had exceeded 100ºC. 

Before he lost the sharpness in his eyes, Zicky looked in the rear-view mirror of the truck and could still see the door closing and the guards returning inside the bubble. He imagined them raising their hands, not with the sense of farewell, but in an attempt to encourage him, because he was still the only one with the knowledge to repair those monstrous machines responsible for the survival of humanity. A pothole in the road made the truck bounce and the rear-view mirror went out of position. Zicky stopped seeing the bubble and started seeing his brown eyes and the black hair that reached his eyebrows. He quickly put the mirror back to see what really mattered.

Despite everything, Zicky, like most humans, had no desire to do the job, not because of the danger, but because he didn't understand the point, there was no drive, and he knew that the human species would eventually become extinct. Every solution had been tried, but none had worked. Over the years, hope had faded in the hearts of people, who now only survived waiting for the day of their death because they didn't have the courage to commit suicide. 

Although he felt horrible most days, he also didn't like the idea of giving up. If I give up, who will repair the robots? he often thought. He had never chosen or asked to be like Atlas and have to carry on his back all those lives, all that dead weight that didn't move or help or value all the work he did. In order not to feel responsible for condemning people to death, every day, with the little he had, he would wander the streets of the bubble and offer something to brighten the day, never expecting anything in return, thus giving a little more humanity to those who did not have it.

As the years went by and with these missions, he realized that living all the time inside the bubble was like being imprisoned for a crime committed by past generations. He felt a great injustice. Why do I have to pay for a crime committed by those who didn't know when to stop? Like a junkie who knows that the drug destroys him but won't stop because it strangely makes him feel good, he often wondered about the past.

The robots broke down quite often due to extremely high temperatures or sandstorms. The day before, both factors had been combined, and, as expected, another one had broken down.

Whenever he left the bubble to do some repair work, he went in the company of his co-worker, who, by the way, was also a robot, RR14, that Zicky christened CIT, the initials of Crabby Intolerant Tenacious.

CIT was over two meters tall, with a human-like appearance, tall and robust. His big difference was in his hands, with only three fingers, each one with a specific ability, to perform all kinds of necessary repairs, such as cutting and welding. He had a cold personality, but very assertive and too focused for problem solving. He became a great help and companion outside the bubble, in this world that had become a desert of life.

Zicky, I have accessed the tracking system of the M146 robot, which is 10 km west of our position.

Okay, we're going to make a right at the intersection and take the west road. I just hope we can make it back before 6:00 a.m. With all this, I probably won't get home and will have to rest in the workshop.

All the robots had a tracking system, which failed quite often, and the mission became almost impossible. They could also be happy that old satellites launched before the 1950s were still working, without any repairs for five decades. The robots were largely responsible for collecting all kinds of goods and materials that could be found around the bubbles and for trading between them.

It shouldn't be anything special, according to the preliminary diagnostics, which I managed to do remotely, it should be just replacing some capacitors that must have overheated, said CIT.

Remember what happened last time, it was also easy, it would only take us an hour and then we had to bring the robot to the workshop to disassemble it. It was quite a hassle to find out what the fault was, recalled Zicky. 

Correct and affirmative. 

Heat and dust in electronic systems is a recipe for disaster. Let's assume the worst, so if things go better, I won't be disappointed. As usual.

They were passing through an area that had once been residential, built a few years before the bubbles were made, and abandoned because it was excluded from the bubble. Due to the rush to escape, many things had been left behind by the population, like appliances and all sorts of items that are useful to humanity. Some of the roofs had collapsed and the glass was broken.

I know you don't feel what I feel, but it causes me immense sadness to pass by these places. It reminds me of the past and that we have no choice in our lives. Nature will follow the path it chooses. At first it was thought that it was enough to flee to the coldest places on earth, and then we realized how wrong we were. These ruins are the monuments of our blindness, they are the ultimate exponent of the ruin of our species, Zicky told CIT, sighing.

Any way of thinking and feeling about the past is a waste of time. It is only about achieving one goal. Our goal is to find and repair the M146 robot. Everything else is a waste of time, replied the robot with the same dry answer as always. 

Even though he had met him at a very young age and the robot had taught him everything he knew about repairing other robots, Zicky still kept hoping that one day CIT would surprise him with words of love, longing, sadness. 

"You know, if I could format your storage drive, I'd put feelings in there. You're lucky that I am afraid of doing that, because of the risk of losing all the information you have inside your storage unit, which contains years and years of work, about how to repair robots.

Why have feelings, Zicky? To feel sad like the people in the bubble? Or like you, who spends life depressed? To feel more like dying than living? the rhetorical questions killed the subject straightaway. The perfection of robots makes them better than any feelings humans can feel.

No! every trip this discussion would come up and Zicky would get irritated. He frowned and bit his lip hard. He looked at the horizon, but his eyes started to get wet, as well as his nose, which started to run. Yes, you are right, life is all sadness and misery, there is nothing good in this world. What good is connection, understanding, friendship and so many other things if we have perfection? Happy are those who are like that, he looked at CIT, with tears streaming down his face, but CIT made no movement.

My life can come down to a charge in my battery. Today I left the workshop with a 100% charged battery and I aim to repair that robot, that's all my energy is for. Not to waste it on sentimentality that leads nowhere.

Oh, my God! What a stubborn machine! those words made him even more irritated, by the total absence of any feeling. Remember that, when your battery is 0%, and you're far away from a place to charge, if it's not me, the bad and horrible being with feelings taking you and plugging you to the socket to feed you with energy, I want to see how you come back to life... he laughed as if with this statement he had won the argument.

Exactly, I'm not alive. I am a machine. I serve a purpose, to help you repair robots and nothing more. Everything has a beginning, a middle and an end. We're probably at the end of the age of your species. You have to accept it.

Uf! It's really not worth it! that sigh of pain made it clear that the exchange of arguments had made Zicky feel exhausted and defeated. Deep down I just wish you were my friend... like other robots who have an excellent artificial intelligence program, they learned from humans how to feel. So, they understand when we are sad and why. Often, they can cheer us up with a word. This is extremely important when we lack motivation or the will to do something, he thought to himself.

After that discussion, silence reigned for the rest of the trip. Zicky spent the rest of the journey rambling with his thoughts. I've been so sick of this deep sadness that ravages my soul and takes over my body, causing a huge fatigue inside me. This anxiety I have for things to change makes me sick and angry. If only it depended solely on me for things to improve. I wish I had the strength to be able to change the world.

Over the years, with most people going through deep depressions, Zicky had drifted away from everyone, it was too painful for him, losing the people he had a connection with. The truth was that no one had ever liked him, growing up he was teased and bullied, he had always felt that no one gave him a chance to truly get to know him. In the past, the people he trusted had not hesitated to abandon him when he needed them the most. He ended up feeling that he was not a part of this world and that he was not enough for anyone. Having grown up at the end of the period that became known as the sixth great extinction had not helped matters.

Finally, after an hour, they found the M146 robot, it was tumbled down by the side of the road. As they approached it, Zicky stood there admiring that imposing structure that was an oasis in the middle of the desert, a light at the end of the tunnel. It may not be of much significance in the future when the last human is gone, but until that happens it will do its job, he thought. A sort of truck with arms and a face. At the front was a legless robot with arms reaching out, about three meters tall, mounted on top of a vehicle with four wheels. The legs were hidden to get around on rougher terrain. At the back of the vehicle, a large compartment served to store all the materials and objects it collected.

After admiring the machine, Zicky began to take a more technical look at it. It was possible to see right away that some damage was not in the report that CIT had made from a distance. It looked like it had been hit by rocks, it had a lot of dents, surely some of them had caused damage and made it topple over.

You're going to have to help me up, you know I'm two palms shorter than you, and I can't climb up on it. Zicky added.

OK, said CIT while approaching the giant robot and got into position to help him up.

I think it must have been the wind that knocked it over, it was very strong yesterday. As you see, it won't be a very quick fix. Do a more detailed analysis, but I think we'll have to put him on top of the truck.

OK, CIT nodded and quickly started analyzing the data from the mining robot.

Without wishing to jinx it, Zicky had already mentally prepared himself on the trip, experience told him that things never went as planned, even if the reports indicated that it was only a simple task, as CIT had calculated, so he started to prepare the truck crane to place the robot on top of it. With some caution he climbed down from the robot and headed to the truck.

Full Analysis. The M146 has suffered severe damage to the traction system, the display system has also completely stopped working, two of the wheels have suffered damage, they need to be replaced, as well as one of the four legs, it is completely melted from the heat.

That sentence only confirmed what Zicky feared and also what he thought as soon as he saw the robot. The boy made all the preparations to place the pile of scrap metal in the back of the truck. He got inside of the vehicle and backed up as close as possible. He pressed the button for the truck to switch from running mode to crane mode. Four arms came out from inside the vehicle that served to give it more stability, to be able to lift large volumes. Without turning off the engine, he got out of the wheel, moved to the crane controls and lowered the four hooks.

Typical. Everything is always worse than your reports, some resentment from their discussion earlier could still be felt in Zicky’s voice. CIT, please attach the hook to the robot and I'll hoist it up.

On the four corners of all the cargo robots, there was a grommet so when these situations happened, it was very quick to load it. CIT jumped on it and immediately tried to attach the hooks, pulling with all his strength to make sure everything was securely attached.

Mission completed. You may hoist, said CIT.

Thanks, I'll get started. When he's in the air, grab him on the back, to make sure he doesn't wobble. 

Don't worry, I've got it, assured CIT with confidence from having done that task hundreds, if not thousands of times before. 

Luckily, they had the crane that could lift 10 000 kg, but it still was not going to be an easy task. The robot without any materials weighed 2000 kg and as it was on its way back to the bubble it had stored about 3000 kg of various objects. 

It took more than 30 minutes to place the robot on top of the truck. When it settled on the back of the vehicle, all the tires went down a bit, such was the weight.

Whew, Zicky wiped the sweat from his forehead with his hand. It was hard, but it is done. CIT, I'm sweating from this immense heat, let's hurry back to the bubble before it gets even hotter.

During the time they were loading the robot onto the truck, Zicky didn't even notice that the fog that had hijacked that area since the day before had dissipated and was now moving south. As he sat in the driver's seat, he looked in all directions. 

I never get tired of seeing this landscape, it's all so beautiful. It hasn't suffered much change from mankind. I'm just sorry it's an oven and we can't stand still for more than two minutes enjoying the beauty of this place, Zicky loved what he saw, although he knew it was not what it once was, it was still a masterpiece of nature.

Zicky, it's almost 2 a.m., let's go back, with this robot, the truck will move very slowly. Estimated time of arrival, 4 a.m., CIT made sure to spoil his plans.

OK, OK... What a bore! he shook his head, not agreeing with the decision, but knew his co-worker was right. I had a great idea, we could stay here for another hour admiring all this, but then you'll go in the back and push. Since you don't feel anything, and he burst out laughing.

It wouldn't do much good, I was made to repair, not to push vehicles, he declared in his robotic voice and with his monotone. 

Exactly, you were made to repair, so you were going to fix the delay! Zicky raised his voice so high and started laughing so hard he barely managed to finish his sentence. His sense of humor was always enhanced.

How can I repair the time delay? CIT was confused.

By pushing... Zicky waited a little, looking at him with a glare. Dumb! he expressed those words almost like a whisper that the wind carried away and not even CIT’s receivers were able to catch. Or else through a time machine. You choose, a small mocking smile appeared at the right corner of his mouth.

But I'm not good at pushing... And neither are time machines for the past, only for the future.

CIT, you are the soul of any party, Zicky shook his head because that stubborn machine couldn't understand what he meant. He wished he could joke with his co-worker, but his co-worker would never understand him.

On the way back, looking at the horizon, Zicky said to CIT:

One day I'd like to follow a robot, to find out where another bubble is.

It was a thought he's been having for a long time, but he knew he couldn't do it because anyone who dared to enter a bubble other than their own was immediately killed. There were stories of people who had tried it in the past, and as a reward for the adventure, they had been tortured to death. Almost nobody knew the location of the other bubbles, only that they were not visible among them.

He forgot the matter and decided to concentrate on his return. Now he could see the road ahead of him: it had been built about 40 years ago when the great escape or migration began, everything had been built as quickly as possible and in a rectilinear way, to be more practical. Today it was only used by him, robots and some specialists, who every now and then came out of