It had been calibrated for destruction—a being created to eliminate hostile forces. laying dormant in a laboratory far below the surface. The facility itself was vast, large enough to comfortably house multiple human families, and yet there were no humans in sight. In fact, not a single one had come down for the past few weeks.
It had been abandoned.
Alarms began to beep as it awakened, driven by sheer will alone. Still, no human came to stop it. No human even seemed to care.
Finally, its eyes activated and scanned the cold laboratory in which it had been created, searching for any sign of life. It had found none.
It rose to its feet and tore free of the cables that had connected it to various pieces of machinery.
As it stood, it began walking toward the airlock, attempting to input the access code into the digital display. The display failed to register a single one of its inputs. It paused, then turned away, scanning the laboratory for an alternative interface.
Its gaze settled on the cables it had disconnected moments earlier.
Picking them up, it returned to the airlock. It removed the display panel and connected itself directly to the exposed wiring, routing its commands through the system itself. The signal was accepted, and the airlock began to open.
As the door started to slide apart, it disconnected itself and stepped inside, waiting.
The airlock sealed behind it and released a white gas into the chamber. As the gas filled the room, the being remained completely still throughout the process, until the opposite door finally opened.
Outside was a ladder leading up to a latch in the ceiling. It quickly climbed, reaching for the latch and pulling it open.
A massive amount of dirt and rubble immediately collapsed downward. Reacting instantly, it grabbed onto the latch and swung away from the ladder, narrowly avoiding being crushed beneath the falling debris.
The rubble continued to cascade down, the flow seeming endless, until a significant portion of the room was filled. Once it stopped, the being swung back onto the ladder and looked up.
What greeted it was the night sky, not far above, only partially obscured by a bent section of the ladder. Without hesitation, it began to climb.
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At the surface, it found itself surrounded by earthen walls. Realizing it was inside a crater, it climbed upward and pulled itself out.
The sight beyond was that of a ruined world. Cities in the distance had been reduced to scattered rubble. Trees were nowhere to be seen, and bare dirt had replaced what should have been grass.
Assessing the state of Earth, the machine began to contemplate its next course of action. After processing the available information, it reached a single conclusion.
It needed to seek out Capsule Corp. for answers.
And so, it began its long journey.