Kraft opened his eyes from his dream and immediately got up from the steel floor covered with blankets.
Even though this was a rare peaceful sleep for him, he still fell into panic. His black curly hair covered with gunpowder smoke and dust was tightly stuck to his forehead with cold sweat. He was surrounded by many children of similar age to him, both men and women.
Yes, they didn't know where they were, and the dazzling bright white lights overhead and the quiet air created a terrifying atmosphere.
Without exception, almost everyone is waiting for the final outcome with trepidation.
As a child living in a war zone, he had long heard about the behavior of those foreign soldiers.
A piece of chocolate can be exchanged for the first night of the most beautiful girl in the village, and farmers must plant poppies in exchange for a meager amount of food. Every child must stay away from foreign soldiers, because they may kill any local at any time, just because they have "
"Reasonable suspicion" - foreign soldiers would tie people to gun barrels and shock them alive, shoot up villages for no reason, strip civilians of their clothes and then beat them. When Kraft and his partners were forced at gunpoint
When he boarded the plane ramp, he originally thought that this was the ending waiting for him, but there were only a few women in black armor and red robes standing inside the plane, looking at their group of lambs with expressionless faces.
They said this to them in a language that Kraft could not understand.
After the plane took off, Kraft was driven off the plane, escorted by soldiers down the ramp door, and walked into an extremely wide space. There were many planes parked here, but the two women in black armor
They were not allowed to stay, but continued to be driven away until they were crammed into a huge room. The room had no windows, no furniture, and a bare steel floor covered with bedding. No beatings, no death threats, but it was even more disturbing.
The ones who entered the room later were those wearing white robes. Those people drew blood from everyone, and then distributed food, water and candy. Kraft curled up his legs and hugged his head tightly with his arms. Fear enveloped all the children.
In their minds, without exception, they all remembered what the old man in the village said - it was said that foreign soldiers would use local children for experiments. In Kraft's view, he would fall into a situation worse than being killed by a bullet.
He didn't know how long he slept, but he felt hungry and thirsty. At this moment, with a noise of gears grinding, the two scary women walked in again.
"We were also so scared." Tatiana glanced at the children who were quietly squeezing back, and whispered to her companions, "But what's worse is that we have to teach them Latin from scratch."
"No, we have to get rid of lice and fleas on them first." The android said lazily. She tilted her head, as if she was sifting out the appropriate ones from the vast knowledge she had been instilled. Kraft heard her start to use the words next door
The language of the village spoke, and then the language kept changing its tone, and finally settled on a tone that Kafu had heard most often. "Everyone, stand up." The artificial man said in off-key Persian, "This is an order."
The children got up from the ground in surprise, and many of them still have weak legs.
"Girl, come over here."
Kafu heard the woman say this. He originally wanted to block in front of the girl from the same village, but the devilish woman's gaze made him feel cold all over, and the courage he had finally accumulated disappeared in an instant.
The beautiful Farah glanced at him with grateful eyes, and then squeezed past him. The crowd began to squirm, girls wearing various costumes were spit out, and the androids akimbo, looking at themselves with satisfaction.
reward.
"You are a boy." She caught a glimpse of a short figure in the girls' team, "I want a girl."
"I know." Kraft gritted his teeth and clenched his fists to try not to be overcome by fear, "What do you want to do to them!"
Kraft felt that the air began to solidify after this. As the woman became silent, the visible terror began to squeeze his shoulders, almost crushing him. "Of course, take them to take a bath and clean off the dirt on them.
Dirty things, and then put on nice-looking clothes." The corners of the android's mouth raised, "You will also go through this process later, because my master doesn't like too many parasites entering his city."
Kraft didn't relax with this answer. "What do you want to do to us?"
"Nothing, because you are worthless to my master." The artificial man lowered his head and looked into Kraft's black eyes, "Maybe you have seen the brutal behavior of the soldiers killed by us, but the fact is
We are different from those people, we do not take pleasure in killing lives. Your lives have no value until you complete the studies my master has given you. Some of you will become scholars, warriors or clerks, and girls even have
You are qualified to become one of us. But this is something in the future. You still have a lot to learn. The only thing I am sure of now is that you can sleep well every night and don't have to worry about hunger tomorrow morning. Girls, follow
I come, my master does not like people wearing pagan clothes."
The sky aircraft carrier slowly sank into the huge whirlpool on the sea surface, and the giant steel gate slowly closed on the top of the sky aircraft carrier, cutting off the sea water.
Hundreds of transport vehicles that had been prepared immediately began supply work. Kraft and the children were driven off the sky aircraft carrier as one of the cargoes. They smelled of soapy water, and their dirty clothes were changed.
They changed into simple white long-sleeved trousers and disposable cloth shoes, with clean faces covered with dust and tears. Only then did they see where they were before, standing intuitively under the huge sky war machine.
The feeling made many children turn pale with fear.
"Come here." The artificial man stretched out his arm to guide the children on their journey, and Kraft saw the long silver carriage waiting in the distance.
The children squeezed each other, as if they could gain some courage in this way. They walked slowly over and entered the carriage without any decoration. Not surprisingly, when the woman in black armor finally walked in, the carriage door opened immediately
Closed, and then the glass door outside the carriage slowly closed, and the sound of wind, like a giant beast inhaling, whizzed past the carriage. A very mechanical female synthesized voice reminded the passengers to sit in their seats, and the radio repeated it dozens of times,
After making sure everyone was seated, the silver-white carriage slowly began to move.
Only ten seconds later, the train crashed into a dark tunnel. The lights shining into the car from outside the tunnel flashed faster and faster, and the train speed became faster and faster. The frequent flashing lights made people dizzy.
The piercing loudspeaker also kept shouting incomprehensible words. The speed of the train was unbearable. If everyone was not tightly tied to their seats with seat belts, they would probably be hit.
His head was broken and he was bleeding. Even with seat belts, many children still couldn't help the physiological reaction of vomiting. Kraft didn't know how long the train had been running, because his brain had been dizzy by the flashing lights, and he felt as if he was not there.
Not in the real world, but in hell.
"five four three two one"
Along with the countdown broadcast, the speed of the carriage began to slowly decrease, and the vacuum train took the children into a brilliant sea of light. Through various thick armored glass tunnels, Kraft saw tall luminous buildings standing in the dark
In a world where bright searchlights shine on rocky domes as tall as the sky, even though Kraft has never taken any art courses, he can realize that every brick here is full of solemnity and elegance.
"Welcome to the Eternal City," the broadcast said. "Hallelujah."