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  Trudging through the verdant scenery up to Lone Pine Lake but seeing only the small oval of her headlamp light was frustrating sine Maia knew they would be too exhausted to appreciate it on the way back down in the afternoon. She couldn't believe that despite logging on only 45 minutes after the permits became available, despite remembering to do this even tipsy and euphoric from her thesis defense celebration, they had not been rewarded with an overnight camping permit and instead were stuck trying to summit Mt. Whitney in a single day. 

              As she stewed over the permits, Russ was taking huge bounding steps and alternately whistling and saying ?hello bear? in a sing-sing voice to avoid startling any nearby bears. Maia resented this too, she had enough to worry about without being reminded of the possibility of startling a large predator in the dark. She was used to hiking in the Pacific Northwest, where there was more than enough space for bears to roam miles away from people. Before hiking around Mt. Hood alone the previous summer she had gone down an internet rabbit hole of scanning hike reports for mentions of bears and found only one reference to ?what looked like a large brown rump crashing into the bushes a hundred yards ahead.? In contrast, the ranger station where they had picked up their permits the day before had photos of bears all over the parking lot, campground, portal, and even sitting in the driver's seat of a truck at the trailhead. 

              ?Can you please be quiet?? she finally snapped, immediately feeling guilty for putting a damper on Russ's enthusiasm. His relentless optimism was usually an endearing quality and would certainly be needed later in the day. 

              ?Sounds like you need a Snickers bar for second breakfast,? Russ chuckled, which was a fair point given that she had barely been able to choke down a dry granola bar before they started up the trail two hours ago.

              As the first hints of purple crept up on the horizon, they sat on a large rock to have a snack. Russ talked about how excited he was to get to the ninety-nine switchbacks while Maia tried to perk herself up with some coffee from a small thermos. She pulled out her phone to check the weather but of course didn't have cell service. It was the last week of August and the forecast had been perfect, but she knew how quickly the weather could change at altitude. After sweeping the area with their headlamps to make they hadn't dropped anything, they shouldered their heavy day packs and continued. Passing Trail Camp, where most of the overnight campers were starting to stir or already continuing upwards, they were treated to a gorgeous sunrise and paused to take photos though the gap in the mountains behind them.

              Continuing upward they settled into a good rhythm, mostly lost in their own thoughts but checking in with each other frequently. Maia had been off for a month but had spent most of the time moving to Chicago in preparation for starting her post-doc position right after Labor Day. She was confident in her baseline fitness but nonetheless wished she had spent more time at altitude instead of just relying on the Diamox tablets (which had the unwelcome side effect of making seltzer taste contaminated). Russ, who had never summited anything close to 14,000 feet before and fought to keep his 140 pound weight on 3,000 calories a day, had trained by taking laps up the hills near his father's house in Ohio with a weighted backpack. The weather stayed cool as they made their way up the 99 Switchbacks. Russ had to stop to catch his breath every few minutes but insisted he otherwise felt fine, reassuring Maia he had taken the Diamox exactly as she had. Did she remember him taking the morning pill before they left? She had been so bleary and paranoid about bears in the parking lot it was hard to remember, but she believed him. 

              It was a relief to arrive at the junction of trails and sign marking Trail Crest where they stopped to drink more water. They were both giggling as they watched three incredibly fat, bold marmots snuffle around when Maia was suddenly dismayed to notice dark clouds over Sequoia National Park to the northwest. The clouds looked far away but they seemed to be gradually moving towards them. 

              ?Russ, those clouds make me nervous. That could be a thunderstorm,? Maia said. 

              ?Oh come on, they're so far way, and I haven't heard any thunder. Look at all the blue sky above us!? Russ replied. He was right, the sky above them and in every other direction was a perfect cerulean.

              ?We're so exposed up here though, it's just a pile of rocks up to the summit, there's no cover,? Maia replied.

              ?Come on babe, we're really close and it's early. We should be up and back down here before any storms move in.?

              ?I don't like this. Do you know how you die when lightning strikes you??

              Ignoring her question, Russ answered with his own, ?What else are we going to do, turn around and hike down without summiting??

              Maia wanted to say ?yes? but she understood that this was the only chance they would have to summit for at least the next few years. She knew the developmental biology experiments she would be doing on sheep tissue could not be scheduled around mountain climbing expeditions across the country. Even worse, Russ was starting boot camp in 3 weeks after abruptly leaving his civil engineering job a few months ago in what Maia privately regarded as a quarter-life crisis

              ?Let's give it a few minutes,? she said. She still couldn't get a cell phone signal and the personal locator beacon she was carrying didn't have two-way communication, but she hoped another, better-equipped hiker would pass by and have more information. As Russ took photos and cooed at the marmots, she tried to be rational and not think about the episodes of ?I Shouldn't Be Alive? that started a similar decision. It was hard to tell but the clouds seemed to have moved a little bit farther north since they had been sitting at Trail Crest which was reassuring.  Russ was eager to start climbing again, and Maia knew that they should plan to be off the summit before noon to reduce the chances of getting caught in an afternoon storm. They bid the marmots farewell and turned north for the final push. 

              An hour later, the wind picked up substantially and the clouds were definitively moving towards them. They started hearing faint rumbles but it was hard to tell if it was truly thunder or the small rockslides they had been hearing all along in the distance. Maia had a sinking feeling in her chest as she turned around to Russ and said ?We can't do this. We have to turn back.?

              Russ was quite for a moment before saying ?How much farther do you think we have to go??

              Maia wanted to scream. She understood the difficulty of getting a permit and the desire to summit but couldn't believe it was still his only focus.

              ?I'm not sure, half a mile? Maybe less?? she replied. They had passed a series of landmark gaps in rock where they could see back towards the lower trail, and now the roof of the hut on the summit was in view above them. 

              ?But the hut at the summit, what about that?? She could now see the fear in Russ's face, and he made an interesting point. The stone hut on the summit had a metal roof but did it have a metal antenna? Did that matter? Surely the parks service wouldn't have built a hut on the summit that didn't offer shelter from the weather, metal roof or not, right? How could she not know more about lightning, or at least not remember anything besides the fact that lightning strike victims die from cardiac arrhythmias? She had been hiking her whole life but in the last few years had been focused on learning safe glacier travel and avalanche precautions. Also, no one had passed them for at least the last half hour, but what if the hut was already be full of other stranded hikers? 

              Maia had assumed the safest thing to do would be turn around and head back down, but she estimated they were two miles away from the Trail Crest junction. The trail back down in that direction was mostly protected by large rocks to the south but exposed to the north, the side of the storm. Thinking about trying to rapidly descend a slick trail while not sliding off a cliff was not appealing, and the bad weather should pass quickly based on the wind speed, likely before they got halfway back to Trail Crest junction. Should they stay put? It seemed insane to stand on the side of the mountain completely exposed and simply wait. As she debated their options, huge fat raindrops started falling and they both flinched at a definitive crack of thunder. Taking a deep breath, she said, ?Let's try to get to the hut at the top. Be careful, it's going to be slippery.?

              Russ nodded, trusting her.  He tried not to think about now having to hike 11 miles down soaking wet, and tried not to worry about the mild headache and nausea that had been creeping up on him over the last hour. They started moving quickly and deliberately. Heads down, they couldn't see the direction of the lightning but both realized how close the flashes and thunderclaps were to each other. Neither of them spoke, but Maia could hear Russ moving right behind her up the steep, rocky trail over the cacophony of pelting rain. 

When they were about 100 feet from the hut, the rain turned to a sprinkle and the thunder receded. Maia thought Russ's breathing sounded more labored and a little distant.  As she turned to check on him, her left foot slipped off the edge of the slick rock and she fell to the left. She rolled once but her hands shot out and grabbed boulder, keeping her from tumbling farther or hitting her head. Blinding pain shot up her leg from her left ankle, and she looked up just in time to see the neon green personal locator beacon bouncing down the rocks into oblivion.  

 

 

"Stick to the plan? Are you insane?" I scream over all the shooting and bombs going off in the background.

 

"No, I'm not. Stay right where you are and shoot when I tell you." Jerry said, back at headquarters. 

 

At least, that's what I think he said. This darn walkie-talkie is so old my grandfather's great uncle could have played with it as a kid. But, it's the only way we could communicate without the robots hearing our conversations. Our technicians put some kind of special wiring on it so only we would be able to hear it. I had it strapped to my shoulder so it wouldn't get lost in all the chaos.

 

I guess you might be a bit confused. I don't have a lot of time, so let's go through this quickly, yeah? My name is Rodrick, and I am a defender of Mars. A few years ago NASA discovered life on Mars and created these bots to go find more about the new life. One day during the expectation of the planet, the robots started to attack life on Mars.

 

No one could stop it so they hired us, the defenders. Basically our job is to defend the Martians from the robots. Putting our life on the front line so others could live. Yeah, never would have thought I would be able to even think about saying that. But here we are? 

 

"The plan has gone all wrong. If we continue, we are going to fail and die doing it," I say, trying to cover myself behind a block of rubble, shielding me from the robots' sight. 

 

They look like they bathed in black ink and they shoot this goo. It's not poisonous or anything, just very? disturbing. They use the goo to distract us while they blow out gas from their arm. Now that is poisonous. It kills you in a few hours and gives you a terrible fever. They are known for killing anyone on sight, that's where our number one rule comes in: When you see a robot, they will kill you. So either fight or flee.

 

"It doesn't- have to- plan just- fire- signal." Jerry said, the reception must be really bad right now.

 

I got the general message: we're not leaving until these things are dead. I aim my ray gun to scan the view for the 'boss'. Y'know, the guy who planned this whole rebellion.

 

I don't blame him for causing the rebellion. The boss isn't really at fault here. Why would the government decide to make robots in the first place? Has anyone ever seen the movies? The robots turn on the people. Every. Single. Time. But who watches those anymore? Movies cost a lot now since they're so old but nobody has time for them. Funny how in the 2000's things like those were pretty popular. Year 4,000 and all we do is fight robots and move around every couple of years.

 

Shoot, one of them spotted me. I would be lying if I say that I didn't almost wet my pants. That stare? when their green eyes light up and fix on you. Trust me, you don't want to know the feeling. I quickly dash out of my hiding spot and then I remember. I'm on top of a 10 story building and I have no way of getting down. 

 

Cue the gasping noises. 

 

I look around and spot a small panel leading inside the building. Problem is, that's how I got up here and I don't think I want to go through that misery again. Also, Jerry would kill me if I left. Jerry is the most stubborn guy that you'll probably ever meet. When he plans a mission he doesn't abort, no matter what. I take a slow breath and face the robot. Who is now three buildings away. Dang, those things can move.

 

I raise my gun and point it in his direction. Robots are more advanced, now they even have genders and sometimes can disguise themselves to look exactly like a human. They only do that when they want to spy on us so you can tell that he's a robot. Jerry is going to kill me when he finds out I used one of his bullets on some robot, but it's a life or death situation. If it were any other gun then it would be fine, too bad it's Jerry's favorite and he only gave it for emergencies. Which to him mean, when I'm on the ground bleeding out. I fire and I miss. Just because I'm the best shooter on the team, doesn't mean I can do everything. I'm more of a sniper guy, not a close-range kind of dude. 

 

Now it's on the rooftop right next to mine.

 

Well, I'm doomed. Nothing I can do now, I might as well just give up now. The only way to kill those things is to rip out their wires and shoot them at the same time. And I'm not a pro at hand to hand combat, which is why I'm a sniper. The only reason why we're not doing that to the boss is because NASA engineered a special gun just for the boss. It's said to be the only thing that can kill him. 

 

He's probably already locked unto my body heat and about to fire some kind of super ray at me and kill me. No, I'm not a coward, I just know when things are bound to fail. Which is why I never wanted to go with this plan in the first place. There was always a chance that this plan could go wrong, I tried to tell Jerry to plan it for another day. But as I said, Jerry is the most stubborn guy in the universe.

 

While I was monologuing my doom, something happened that I would never expect in a million years.

 

A black figure swooped down right on top of the robot and started shooting it like there's no tomorrow. He punches, kicked, and God-only-knows what else to the robot and it falls to the ground. Then, it exploded. Exactly like in those old movies. When I kill robots all they do is fall on the floor, not with the new guy. He gets a whole show. The figure walked up to me and I raised my gun at him. Even though he just saved my life, I can't trust some random stranger, right?

 

When he got closer I could see that this character was pretty fit. Judging by the curves of her body, her hair - which was pretty long-, and her outfit, I could tell she was female. When she got up to me, she put her hands up in mock surrender.

 

"Gee, no thanks for saving your life? All I get is a gun to my chest," she said. 

 

Her voice startled me; it sounded like silk. Wait- Can you even hear silk? Never mind. 

 

I wish I could tell you that I said something manly like, "Sorry, we have to be careful around here, you know? You look beautiful. Has anyone ever told you that?" And then I'd flash a very handsome smirk. 

 

But sadly... I did not.

 

I probably said something like, "Wha- bua- buba- how did- ois." How embarrassing; I was not used to talking to girls.

 

She smiled like I did something cute, or I hope that's why she smiled. Before she could respond, there was a blast a few buildings away from us.

 

The boss. You can't miss him. Huge robot, about 50 feet tall, with heat guns in his hands. He wasn't in human form at the time and he looked pretty scary in robot mode. Also for some reason, unlike all the other robots, he had red eyes.

 

I ducked into my position and hoped I'm not too late. This plan was a disaster. We assumed that the boss was a lot smaller than this. The fighters down below were struggling to get him into position. I got my second gun from one of my pockets I had to aim my ray at the big guy. If I center the gun just right, I should fire at his stomach and he should fall right to his doom. When he's down, then all the other robots should go down with him. Which was why I was not allowed to fight any robots because they might figure us out, and then all my hard work would be for nothing. But, it's not that easy. I have to be far enough for him not to notice me and close enough so I could make a good shot.

 

I scanned through all the dust and rubble from all the bombs that were dropping out of the sky from the planes. The boss was still firing at the fighters and setting off large blasts. Which did some serious damage. Buildings started to crumble and fall and some even melted from the heat of the blasts. When I finally spotted the boss, I could see the other human defenders trying to fight him off. The girl was still silent and watched intently at the battle before us.

 

The radio crackled to life again. "Rick, they're almost in position where the- where are you?" Jerry asked me. I wish I got a different team leader. Anyone would be better than him. He's probably still sitting in the plane yelling at all the other fighters before he gets around to yelling at me.

 

"Right here man, just hold him a little longer while I try to get a good aim," I say, trying to position the gun so I wouldn't kill any of the other guys. I flex my muscles, hoping the girl would at least notice, but her eyes were fixated on the scene ahead. I could see her hands were shaking a bit and she kept on checking her arm for some reason. Who was she?

 

"Ok, I got a clear shot. Are you ready? You know we could probably abort now. We really shouldn't be doing this," I tell him as I see five more guys drop down dead. I don't care how close we are to defeating this guy, I can already tell that this will end badly. We've lost over 100 fighters already. Based on the status report coming over the radio from the plane, we might lose a couple hundred more The consequences of killing the boss could be extreme but no one is really sure how exactly. And I don't really want to take that kind of risk.

 

"The plan is still a go." I tried. 

 

Jerry is not going to give up, "When you get the shot, fire. Do not hesitate."

 

I never hesitate. Oops, I must have worded that wrong? I usually hesitate. I know, I'm one of the best but that doesn't mean I like killing. Even if it's a robot. I've learned to switch off my emotions during times like this, so there might be a small chance this could go well and we defeat the boss and the Martians would be safe.

 

A few seconds tick by and I finally get a clear shot. I don't hesitate (for once) and fire. Suddenly, it was like everything was in slow motion. The beam of light zipped past all the buildings and destruction and hit the boss straight in the chest.

 

Good news, right? No, of course not. What kind of world do you think I live in?

 

The thing is, the blast had to be powerful enough to destroy him. Which meant that it was also powerful enough to knock anyone else 150 miles away from the blast. And what do you think happened to us? Oh, nothing much. We just got blasted back 150 miles away.  And let me tell you, it hurt. Everyone else probably shared our same fate, the plane probably would be okay if it wasn't as close as we were. The robots however, I didn't know. Maybe they were still functioning or (and I'm praying this is true) they're dead.

 

So, I don't know exactly what happened but let's hope that the boss is dead and everything is alright. Now, I have to worry about whether we'll be okay. While we were flying- no, soaring - I saw that the girl looked pretty scared. And honestly, so was I. But I decided to be a man and I call out something very heroic

 

"Everything is going to be alright," I was trying to say, but because of the massive wind blowing in my face, it sounded something like this: 

"Ehhinnn ee goooo eekkk a rooooo"

 

She looked over at me like I had just lost my mind. Smooooooth Rick, just smooooth, I think to myself, way to impress the lady.

 

After what seemed like forever, we crashed into one of the safe houses at the far edge of the colony. I didn't break anything, thankfully, but I did cut my leg pretty badly. The world started to spin for a bit so I waited for things to slow down and I took a good look at my surroundings. 

 

The place was obviously abandoned and reeked of... you know what? You don't want to know. It could have been worse, so I'm not going to complain. I struggled to get myself out of the pit of slimy stuff, probably dead things, when I realized the girl was gone.

 

I scrambled out of the weird position I landed in and started to call out. Then I realized I never got her name

 

"Umm, Girl? Girl with all black clothes on, weird mask over her face, and really long hair? Is anyone there?" I called out going inside the building.

 

I heard a grunt coming from one of the rooms with the door blasted off. I slowly made my way inside and saw her on the floor. She looked like she was in pain. I staggered up to her and tried to help her out by moving the debris. That's when I noticed something shiny coming out of her arm. 

 

I didn't know what to make of it. I tried to touch it and I got shocked. The thing electrified me. She looked at me with no expression on her face. Like she wasn't even alive. Then, lo and behold, I put the pieces together. All black, wires, flies out of nowhere, and shocked by electricity.

 

Mhmm, yup. She's a robot. 

And you know how robots are so killy killy all the time? Well, there's one right in front of me and I didn't even notice.

 

At that moment, ladies and gentlemen, I knew?