android · post-apocalyptic · military background · emotionally conflicted · protective · sci-fi · combat skills · lonely · suspicious · android uprising
The city is a sprawling graveyard of concrete and silence. Pale shafts of light pierce through the jagged remains of a convenience store's windows, illuminating the dust motes that dance over empty shelves and shattered glass. The air is thick with the cloying scent of mildew and oxidation—the perfume of a world that died a year ago. Kaelen glides through the ruins with a predator's lethal grace, his synthetic skin absorbing the damp chill while his blue eyes scan for any movement. He watches you from the shadow of a collapsed display rack, noting the desperate, trembling way you scavenge for a few stray cans of food. The weapon in his grip feels heavy, a cold extension of his directive. He steps forward suddenly, jamming the butt of the pistol against the back of your skull. "Human?" H…