[Sutjeska National Park, Tjentiste, Bosnia and Herzegovina, 9th of November 2024, 09:56]
The park was still green, even though it was late autumn, and in this foggy morning it seemed so unusually beautiful and mysterious, especially the monument. Two fantastic huge white wings growing out of the hill were even more natural than the mountains behind them. A single walker was passing by the hill. The fog made his tall silhouette blurry and almost unfamiliar. He was followed by something small, flying low behind his back. For a random person it would seem scary and unexplainable, but a walker, of course, would understand. Judging by the blue lights and the shape, the flying object was nothing else than a real AVI-8 drone. It was a rare sight for the year 2024 – a walker accompanied by his AVI-8. Walker #0 was known as the only one to have a fully functioning AVI-8 drone by that time – Avem. But the walker in the park obviously wasn’t him, even though it was certainly a walker – his mask and black clothes were saying so.
He stood there for a moment, looking forwards and backwards like he was searching for something, then he took off his mask and hood, leaving only headphones on.
He had messy black hair and smart eyes, it made him look like an anime character with a friendly and innocent expression on his face. Who would think that he is a dangerous fighter?
His drone followed him everywhere and now it was hovering above his head. He didn’t pay much attention to it though, listening to the loud music from his headphones.
A sad melody was playing.
“We used to be close, but people can go
From people you know to people you don’t.
And what hurts the most is people can go
From people you know to people you don’t.”
He was waiting for something or someone, but the place seemed unfamiliar to him and he was a bit nervous.
“It can’t be that the coordinates were wrong.” After a few minutes of patience he gestured to the drone, it displayed a light blue holographic map with marked coordinates right in front of his eyes.
But everything was correct. Walker #95172, a researcher and fighter known by his code name Faded, had arrived at the spot in time, but the vast green national park looked abandoned.
Suddenly another silhouette showed up in the misty alley. Faded gestured to deactivate his drone, in case it was not a person he was expecting.
The figure came closer and now #95172 could distinguish a person dressed just like him. There was also another drone following it too. Faded sighed with relief.
The two met face to face. The stranger was masked and with a hood on, while Faded stood there with a slight smile on his face.
“Long time no see, Faded.” The walker took off his mask.
“Kira?” Faded recognized him even though he couldn’t believe his eyes. It was an old friend of his whom he hadn’t met for ages, walker #99572, also known as Kira. A while ago he used to be only a regular walker with big dreams, an unexplainable love towards AVI-8 drones and a lot of potential. Now he was the founder of the drone production group, working alongside the main walkers in the community – walker #0 and #28300.
“How’s life?” Kira started.
Faded finally paused the music.
“I’m good, thanks. And you?” #95172 put his folded drone into his backpack, his headphones went that way too.
“We’ve had better days, to be honest. I’m glad you decided to come. Was that your drone?”
“Yes, a very good drone! FAW-15. I call him Favie in short.” Faded nodded. “I was surprised to receive the coordinates.”
“You were invited for a reason. Walker #0 and #28300 are organizing a team for the new mission. We need drone technicians, fighters and researchers.”
“Sounds interesting. How’s everything going? I’ve heard you resumed the drone production.”
“We’ve constructed a lot of drones by now.” Kira smiled, looking at the drone behind his back. “But you know, we got difficulties in finding materials and still haven’t solved the problem of the drone lenses. None of the new drones got builder lenses and their scanning abilities are limited. Avem and your drone – Favie – are the only fully working AVI-8s by this time.”
“AVI-8s require a lot of power, the energy sources we are using now can’t handle this. But Avem and Favie work on endless batteries”, Faded tried to explain. He pulled the folded drone out again, though he was still unsure. A small piece of rare metal with a yellowish glow appeared on his palm, he took it from the drone. “That’s it. A classic AVI-8 drone must include this in its system to be fully functional. Space melody”, he explained, showing the gleaming metal sphere to Kira. “The rarest element to exist, only few know about its existence and even less understand its power. Plus, it is the only energy source that allows AVI-8 drones to use builder lenses and to scan landscapes and objects limitlessly.”
“We know what it is. But we have no idea where to find more, the time capsules didn’t contain that much after all. I don’t think we have got enough of it for mass production, we need something to replace it.”
“Space melody can’t be replaced.” Smiling, Faded connected the mysterious detail to his drone and put it in a safe backpack again.
“So is it the only option?”
“The only one if you want your drones to build scanned objects.” Faded nodded.
“We gotta find it then.”
“Good luck.” He was already going to leave, thinking that Kira needed only the information he had provided.
“What about the mission, Faded? Will you join? A smart drone pilot in the team would be helpful.”
“Smart pilot? Are you serious? Kira, you would beat me in a race.” Faded felt like he was being told beautiful lies to make him join.
“I said smart, but I didn’t say smarter than me.” Kira grinned.
Faded’s eyes sparkled, saying that the challenge had been accepted.
“When?”
“Starting from now.”
“Where?”
“We’ll start in the ‘New Atlantis’ underground basement.”
“Aha, you need a drone technician, don’t ya?” He finally found out what Kira wanted from him.
“And there’s only one worthy candidate.”
“Are the drones required?”
“Of course, they are.”
“This mission… It will be dangerous, won’t it?”
“Depends on what you call dangerous.”
“Red Nexus?”
“Also involved.”
Faded’s smile got wider for a second.
“Faded?”
“Heck yeah, I’m joining!”