Chapter 1-AI

The three boys legged it down the busy high street as a drone chased after them, dodging and slipping through the crowds of people. They were each holding a plastic black bin bag which were all full up. As the drone hovered over them one of the boys came to a stop and put down the bag whilst his friends stumbled into the empty roads.

"Come on Denari!!!" The boy running ahead shouted in frustration coming to a stop at the other side of the road. Denari,the boy who stood there took a rock out of his pocket and tossed it at the drone hitting it down sending it crashing into the pavement.He ran and stomped onto it crushing the drone under his trainers. His eyes were merciless. He took off his bandana over his mouth and held it in his hand whilst walking back to his bag.

The two boys gazed at him in surprise. Denari's eyeballs rolled up at them and he realised they were staring.

"What? All you needed was a rock,it's nothing bro" he said in a convincing voice whilst picking up his bag.

"Let's go" one of them said.

"Yeah" Denari and the other boy said in synchronisation. As they crossed the road a car whirred past them slowly, there was no driver in it. The three boys looked at it as it drove past and realised it was driverless.

"Let's steal that car" one boy said with confidence.

"Are you brainlagged bro? The car can sense us?!" The other boy said with annoyance both annoyed at him and the fact they can't steal it.

"We can…all we gotta do is bypass the security system" Denari said.

"Well how do we do that brainiac? Huh?!"

Denari stopped gazing at the car as it disappeared in the misty streets and leered at the boy.

"Yeah,it'll take forever anyways,let's go home" he said.

The two nodded at him and they walked down the street. Denari walked with a noticeable bop in his step. He had inherited his big brothers walking style. They walked onto a quiet tree lined residential street. Run down bungalow houses on each side. The tree leaves swayed in the icy breeze.

"Later guys,thanks for the help"

"No problem Nathan" said Denari waving.

"Yeah" the other boy said holding his fist in the air.

Hours later…

As the rain pelted down on the Earth a hooded boy stood lonely…surrounded by graves but he was looking down at one specific one. The name carved into it was…Darren Anderson. The boy took off his hood and let the raindrops soak into his curly hair. His eyes were dark, not only by colour but by soul.

"I won't let this happen to anyone else, I'm no superhero and I don't wanna be but…one soul can attract others just like magnets do. I may not be as outgoing as you bro but…if you continue to guide me I can truly become strong"

The boy took a strong,deep breath and balled up his fists.

"Cuz I am Denari" he said strongly and proudly. He then proceeded to walk away pulling his hood back on. His trainers squelched in the mud with every step he took. He thought it was better to take boots with him instead. He walked the dark empty streets, the only sound was the whirring of the cars passing by either empty or with passengers. The word driver wasn't used as much, autodrive was the norm now. He then approached a bungalow house on the right side of the pavement and walked through the mud in the front before stepping up onto a porch. His gloved hand shuffled through his jacket pocket desperately until jingling was heard. He pulled out his key and clicked it into the door. The door creaked open piercing the silence in the dark hallways.

He had saw the same plastic bag he had left there before heading out. The eerie silence was enough to tell him he's the only person in the house.

He shut the door gently and began taking off his drenched clothes at the door revealing the dark shorts he was wearing under and his white vest. After throwing it in the laundry he hurried to his desk. He cleared the several USB sticks off his desk and put them into a draw before picking up an arm and placing it gently under his desk on the light grey carpeted floor. He placed a plate like device on the desk and held his palm on it so it scanned his palm pattern. He then put on a white headband and goggles. He began swiping in the air and moved his finger until tapping onto one tab. It was a news article that read.Terrorists bomb factory killing more than 30 workers.

"They ain't workers, they're 'droids. News always tryna twist things"

Denari's eyes widened. The screenlight shined into his brown eyes and sunk into his dark pupils. He took off the headband and the goggles then held up his thumb, his index finger and middle finger and jabbed them into his right eyeball. He pulled off the transparent lens that stuck to his eyeball and rubbed his eye hastily as tears rolled out forcing the bottom eyelashes aside. His right eye was bloodshot. His eyelid twitched uncontrollably.

"Oww,I put them on for too long. It burns man owww!!!" Denari complained whilst rubbing his eye. A distant robotic voice echoed in another room of the house.

"Shut up!!!" Denari shouted.

The voice continued but began to crackle and sputter. Denari got up from his seat and rushed through the dark hallway, walked into the kitchen opening the cutlery draw and reached in there grabbing onto a handle. He closed it back and skipped through the hallway and opened a door before hopping down a couple steps then turned on the light. The voice was louder. Denari crept around the room trying not to creak the floorboards.

There was a creak.

The voice had stopped. The room filled with silence. Denari looked down at his right side and glared mercilessly at the object slightly coated into the darkness.

Denari gripped the handle and thrust a blade. A stab sound. It croaked and fell forwards. It's body slammed into the wooden floorboards. The man did not bleed out. The stab wound was deep in its neck. All there was under the blade was darkness. Denari turned the man onto his back pulled the knife out and walked back up the stairs shutting the door behind him. The front door had slam shut and heels clattered down the hallway after a click. The hallway illuminated with light, the darkness eliminated. Denari's eyes widened. His teeth grit. He crept through the hallway that went silent again and approached the kitchen. In there was…..

"What are you doing with that knife in your hand boy?!" The woman sitting at the table shouted.

A barrage of excuses raged through Denari's head as he made deep noises.

"Ummm, uhhh, uhh" He pulled himself together after realising he had sounded like he was drunken.

"No, I was…"

The woman's eyebrows raised.

Denari eyebrows clenched.

"I stabbed the vocal of that 'droid down there" he said confidently.

"What on earth is a droid??"

"Android" he nodded gently staring into her eyes.

The woman stared.

"Why?!"

"He kept listening to what I was saying, every time I talk this guy just starts talking, I don't wanna have no convo' with him, not any of those, they're murderers" Denari told her.

The woman sighed, her afro bounced as she shook her head.

"I told you already, it wasn't the androids that killed your brother, someone was controlling it" she said, annoyance in her tone.

Denari's face filled with anger.

"No it wasn't, mum, your smart enough to know this, the android killed him because he looked like a threat, when 'droids are 'round angry humans they develop the same behaviours"

His mother rolled her eyes.

"Would you look at that, my own sons becoming a conspiracy theorist huh"

"No, that's not it, your all just st--"

He stopped himself from continuing as he knew he would get into trouble. He took a deep breath.

"Mum, please stop buying those 'droids"

"You stop destroying them, it's expensive and it's for cleaning the house"

"I can clean this house by myself, I don't need that dumb--"

He stopped himself again. He sighed and walked away. He sat down on his bed and sighed again wiping the sweat off his forehead.

"Damn, brother, I don't know what to do anymore, mum's not listening to me"

He closed his eyes and chuckled.

"What did I expect? Parents won't listen whole heartedly to their children, well not nowadays. It really is the end of the world huh"

Denari's phone pinged.

A news article came up.

"Several bus stations are closed due to the installation of Android drivers" Denari read. He slapped his palm on his forehead.

That's why there was no buses out on street he thought. He continued scrolling on his phone looking for news articles. He clicked on one. After staring hard for a few minutes his teeth gritted, his eyebrows clenched.

"Droid teachers? Droid teachers?! No way!"

He turned off his phone and slammed back down on his bed closing his eyes