Ben stood at the top of a lighthouse, looking down into the cold and deep dead sea. Fog appeared around him as he breathed. He rubbed his hands together to get the maximum heat he could. Then, he removed his hoodie and jumped down into the water.

As he reached down, he opened his eyes and stuffed a torch into his mouth. It was dark but he could see with the help of the torch. He went down to the ocean floor and saw a huge, metal surface underneath.

He took out the torch from his mouth and looked at the lustrous metallic surface. He touched it and noticed that it was soft and sticky. He immediately recognised the metal-it was indium! It was the only metal that could cold weld very easily, and the only element in the universe that one could chew like bubblegum, as it is soft and non-toxic!

In the future, the only place where they used indium was to form a layer, for tools needed in extremely cold conditions, such as cryogenic pumps and high vacuum systems.
"I should've known. The spare time machine I made... So, they stole it and kept it here."

"Ben," He heard a voice from further beneath. He moved away from the machine. It was Gotham. He recognised her since her green eyes were shining in the dark as she came towards him. He could see her properly in the light. He had a long and sleek tail, and dark black hair covering her bare breast. She has a sweet voice, as if she were always whispering as she talked.

She reached him and wrapped her arms around his neck.
"You shouldn't stay in the water for so long. What if you drown?" She smiled at him.
"I won't. Nobody can drown in the dead sea. That's what it is known for." He moved her arms away from and swam up.

"Do you know what else is it known for?" She grabbed his arm. He turned towards her, "The dead," She smiled and he looked up. He saw hundreds of dead bodies floating around him.

He covered his mouth and glared at her.
"These are my collection of every guest I've had here."
"So, you are going to kill me now."
"I'll wait till you run out of air and die." She smiled. She floated around him for a few minutes, but nothing happened.

"You've got quite a long hold,"
"I won't die this way."
"Let me guess why-Is it because you can breathe underwater?"

Ben nodded, reluctantly.
She smiled, "Mr Dexter would be thrilled to know another secret about you." Ben's eyes widened.

"You're working for him?!"
"I'm working with him, to the creation of a new world where humans exist, but just as food."
"This is insanity."
"We've already decided a place for you in it. Please don't refuse, Ben."

. . .

In the past, Asselyum held a gun against Slaine's head, "Trust me, I didn't want to do this."
"Wait-Me? Ben? Are you out of your mind?!"
"You aren't Ben?"
"I have absolutely no knowledge about technology and robotics whatsoever. How could I possibly make five advanced robots like you guys?"

"What if you learned it later?"
"I'm not interested into machines. Just because my last name is Benjamin doesn't make me 'Ben'. And I age, okay?"

She moved the gun away from his head, "I guess you are right. You're not as smart as Ben. He has an IQ nearly equating 200."
"Nope, not me."

Asselyum looked away, "One more thing."
"Yeah?"
"Is that kid yours?"
"Evelyn? Nope. He just likes calling me his dad and I don't really mind it."

Asselyum didn't say anything after that. She just stared at the stars. He looked at her, "Asselyum,"
"Yes?"
"Did I say something weird while I was high on the medication that night I woke up after being burnt? Do you recall me saying something...flattering to you?"
"No? What do you mean?"

"Nothing," Slaine looked at the stars with her. He decided to quickly change the topic, "You once said 'They would kill us again.' What does that mean?"

"My previous team was killed."
"If you don't mind, can you tell me how that happened?"

"We fought Gotham--The strongest of all of the fifth oblivion. Jo-Anne and Terry went with me to the field. Gotham was there. But she didn't fight us-- She just dodged our attacks and grabbed Jo-Anne by her runblaster. She took her and I couldn't stop her--Even Lucifer couldn't.

Jo-Anne never came back. I went to find her in the dead sea and found her dead body. Gotham doesn't eat flesh, she just drinks the blood and throws away the body. The doctors said that she was physically and sexually abused before she died.

I couldn't fight after that. So, I asked Ben to remove my emotion chip. It was just getting in the way. Though, after that Terry was killed and Mislow passed away in an accident. MiK was put up as another ANDROID rather than a coordinator. Everything came to an end and Ben put me back into my vitro chamber."

"What is that?"
"It's a cylindrical glass cell where they keep ANDROIDS. They keep us safe and dormant. Once they open them, the hydrogen comes out and we're charged again."

"Why did Ben do that to you?"
"Because I couldn't fight anymore. I had no team and there were no potential humans left to reform a team. Ben feared that I'd be exploited if I couldn't fight-So, he kept me in those chambers."

"Exploited?"
"Sex dolls."
"That's messed up."
"I know. Humans are disgusting."
He looked at her, "What about me? Am I disgusting?"

She looked at him, "No...We are...We are family..."
Slaine's cheeks turned pink, "You think that?"
She nodded, "And you never witnessed half of what I did, so it makes you less of whatever I am, devil or angel,"
"What did you witness?"
"Wars. Humans killing other humans. The royal infection tragedy was the worst of them all."

"What was it?"
"Queen Soviet, she was crazy to know about Ben's secret to youth and how to achieve that. Most rich people who have nothing better to do spy Ben and his medical history. He has been living for centuries, with the face of a mere twenty-year-old man.

She asked Dr Nicole to inject her with the drug he was preparing. He rejected her--saying it wasn't perfect yet. But she didn't listen and forced him to do it. Nothing happened even after she was injected so she thought it was a scam.

Few months later, she got pregnant-- With six kids."

"Damn--population. But I guess, that isn't a problem in the future anymore."
"She had her delivery after four months."

"As far as my knowledge goes--Isn't it nine?"
"Yes. But for her, it was four. She died after the pregnancy. Later, the doctors found that she was a virgin."

"How is that possible?" Slaine was shocked.
"Dr Nicole studied it for years. Till then, the kids grew up in froster homes. Ben took in one of them. After six years, the news came like a storm and spread like fire. All six of them were Antex positive.

Apparently, what had happened was that the drug that Dr Nicole injected the Queen with, went into her body and created it's own DNA. It copied a sperm and entered her ovary, fusing with six eggs at once.

But they hadn't harmed any of their forster parents, so Ben believed it would be cruel to kill them just because they were X-DROIDs. It was a mistake. Dexter decided to make them meet each other again. They were six-year-old children, resembling seventeen-year-old teenagers.

Dexter decided to just make them live with each other in the royal castle. But Ben refused to return the kid that he adopted. So, he lived with Ben while his five siblings lived with each other. As they grew older, they grew more violent and aggressive.

They killed and ate the servants or any doctor that was sent to help them. Finally, Dexter decided to take the matters in his hands and sent the army against them.

No soldier returned back from the castle. So, they sealed the entire castle and came to Ben for a cure. He made me and my first coordinator-- MiK in one year. But he knew it wasn't enough. So, then he made Norman and Valorie. But it was too late, the five siblings broke out and attacked anyone they saw. By the next year, England was completely infected with Antex.

He fought them many times but we couldn't kill any of them. Those five infected the entire population of England--Earning the name--'Fifth oblivion.'"

"What about the sixth one?"
"He was different. He asked Ben to make him one of us--Ben was uncertain because he had already made a wrong decision but he had no choice so he agreed. He operated on him and did some adjustments. He transformed him into one of us."

"Wait-- is that--"
"Lucifer. Lucifer is an X-DROID by birth. This is a fact."

-To be continued

Lucifer  (6)
5500 Rebellion