The Heap part 1

The officer leaned against his squad car, not knowing what else to do with himself. He waited on the side of a dirt road that wrapped around a tall hill, overlooking a valley; at the base of the valley was a mound of garbage: scrap metal, car parts, old appliances, and more. The heap was tall enough that the tip almost reached the winding road at the top of the dry mountain and was clearly visible from the road. The sun’s reflection bounced off the officer’s aviators, and he wiped his brow in the heat.

Soon, a Highway Patrol car rolled up behind his cruiser and parked. The patrol officer got out of his car and approached the local cop, taking a quick glance at the dumpsite in the valley.

“Craig Riley, Highway Patrol,” he said as he shook the officer’s hand.

“Matt Cruz,” the officer greeted him.

Riley gripped his belt and surveyed the area, “We got a call from your precinct. Something about illegal dumping by the road?”

“That’s one way of putting it,” Cruz responded cagily.

Riley wiped the sweat from his brow as well, “Gonna be honest, we weren’t really sure what you guys were trying to tell us.”

“Might as well see for yourself,” Cruz motioned toward the mound of garbage in the valley.

Riley curiously took a step toward the ledge, taking a closer look at the tall heap, “I just see a junkyard.”

“That’s the place where the illegal dumping occurred.”

Riley turned around and gave Cruz a strange look, “Someone dumped their trash in the junkyard?”

“We don’t got a junkyard.”

“Then what’s that?” he motioned over his shoulder at the mound.

“That’s the spot where someone decided to dump their shit.”

An incredulous look crossed his face, “All of it?”

“All of it,” was the echoed response.

Riley spun around to get another view of the giant mound, “Geez, that’s… I can’t even tell how high that thing’s stacked. You should’ve called us sooner if it was that big of a problem. How long have people been dropping garbage out here?”

“Last night.”

He spun around again, “The hell you mean, last night?”

“I mean, it wasn’t there until this morning, so best guess is someone dumped it all last night.”

“That doesn’t make sense.”

“It don’t make sense, but it wasn’t there yesterday… Or the day before.”

“No way could anyone move that much junk in that short amount of time!… And why would they even do that to begin with?”

“Now you see what we’re dealing with.”

Riley whistled and took another look at the heap, “I can’t imagine the amount of manpower and the tons of equipment needed to pull that off… and do it in the dead of night.”

“And why!”

“Yeah, I’m still trying to wrap my head around that, too.”

“So, I guess you’re just as lost as we are.”

“It’s beyond my pay grade, that’s for sure. I’ll call it in, but I’m not sure what we can do about something like this.”

“Who else are we gonna call?”

“Not sure about that, either.”

Cruz shook his head. “It’s a hell of a thing.”

“Yeah,” Riley agreed. “Hell of a thing.”

As they stared at the heap, there was a slight rumble and then a shift in the mound of garbage. The top pieces swayed as if it was about to come toppling down and some loose pieces rolled down. “Whoa! Whoa!” Riley spread his arms out, expecting to feel an earthquake that never came.

The mound budged and moved like a rolling sea. The top portion raised up while a section seemingly began to break apart. The two officers were helpless as the giant mass rose above them. The breaking section extended toward the sky and somehow, no pieces fell off. The end spread out into five long pieces, and it was then that the officers realized it was an outstretched arm with a hand reaching to the sky. The hand touched down softly, defying its size and pushing the mound even higher as the elbow bent.

Soon, another arm unfurled from underneath it, as if letting the officers know it was mu h larger than they realized. The second hand pushed into the floor of the valley, assisting the rising torso. Two legs pushed into the ground and straightened up. There was a bending of the waist. When the garbage heap stood up, it took a humanoid form, resembling a person waking up from a nap. The head was featureless, but the giant seemed to know its surroundings. Its back arched and its shoulders rolled back; a few more loose chunks dropped to the ground. The officers continued to stare in stunned silence as the giant began slowly walking across the valley to an unknown destination.

****

In Jersey City, Kim Park puffed her cheeks out as she exhaled loudly. Closing her eyes, she breathed in and carefully turned the knob to her apartment.

A short, grey-haired woman with thick glasses entered first. “Hi, honey,” the old woman hugged her and then looked down at her body. “You need to lose weight.”

“Thanks, Mom,” Kim said facetiously.

Next came an older man who gave her a kiss on the cheek. “Hi, Kimmy,” looked around curiously. “Where’s the robot?”

“She’s on her way,” Kim responded in annoyance. “And her name’s Astra. Astra Machina.”

Finally, a thin woman entered who appeared to be a few years younger than Kim. “Hey, sis,” the woman said, giving her a tight hug.

“You better not be empty-handed,” Kim whispered in her ear.

Her younger sister gave her a wink and carefully handed her an airplane bottle of vodka from her purse. “Thank God,” Kim slipped the vodka into her pocket.

Mrs. Park began looking around the small apartment, “So, are you dating anyone?”

“No, Mom,” Kim rolled her eyes behind her mother’s back.

“I keep telling you, you’d get a boyfriend if you didn’t have a male roommate.”

It was then that Mrs. Park noticed Wally Cooper leaning against the doorframe of the kitchen. With no shame, she smiled and waved. “Hi, Wally.”

He returned the wave and smile. “Hello, Mrs. Park.”

Mr. Park sauntered close to Wally, “My daughter tells me the government had nothing to do with the robot girl, but you can tell me the truth, right? You guys stumbled across some secret government plan?”

“Uh,” Wally stammered, “No, sir, there was no government involvement that we know of.”

“And her name’s Astra, Dad!” Kim angrily reminded him.

“Oh, right,” he nodded, “So what’s she doing right now, exactly?”

Miles away, Astra Machina hid in the bushes near the New Jersey Nantox headquarters. Her telescopic lens gave her a clear view of the lab, which was still being repaired after the recent adventure with the Commission. Jennifer Sawyer had gathered a team of the Commission’s worst enemies, which she referred to as a “Conglomerate”. While she appealed to the team’s desire for revenge, her ultimate goal was to capture Astra. It wasn’t the first attempt, but it was her boldest move, so Astra made sure to check up on her more frequently. Small devices formed along her back like emerging water droplets. Soon, the round objects flew from her body and toward the structure, running multiple scans for weapons, energy readings, or signals of any kind. She had been waiting in the foliage for almost a minute when she picked up something interesting.

There was a satellite signal beaming directly above the compound; further scans indicated a large object within the exosphere. It was connected to a private communication channel, as opposed to the usual networks, indicating it was either a prototype or a secret. Either way, Astra wanted to know what Sawyer was up to. She knew she had been too passive when it came to people coming after her, and she needed to be more vigilant.

As she waited for more information, Astra noticed a convoy approaching along the private road: a limo and military humvees. Curious, she sent a drone behind the building and picked up more life-forms. Astra quickly checked the drone’s POV.

Jennifer Sawyer waited in the middle of an airfield with her bodyguard Hank behind her and two MPs standing guard. The limo pulled up and parked on the tarmac along with the humvees. Two soldiers popped out to provide further security intel while the limo driver opened the back door. Astra scanned the three men’s uniforms, instantly identifying them as three high-ranking officers in the Army, Navy, and Air Force.

“Good morning, gentlemen,” Sawyer smiled and shook their hands, a believable performance of warmth, “Thank you for coming.”

“Don’t thank us yet,” the Army general said gruffly. “We haven’t signed off on your little toy yet. I’m not even sold on us meeting here. As far as we can tell, you’ve had your Jersey compound for about half a year, and it’s already been attacked twice.”

When the general mentioned two attacks on the compound, Astra was reminded of Tetsuo, the “Junk Man,” who had been mutated by Sawyer’s nanotechnology in that very same building. She tried her best to help Tetsuo, but unfortunately, he escaped the area and disappeared.

“I’ve been a target of unknown metahuman terrorists recently, it’s true,” Sawyer told the general. “There’s an ongoing investigation as to the identities of these beings, and in the meantime, I’m dedicating time and money to enhancing the US military against such threats, despite my own personal safety.”

The Air Force general gave her an appreciative smile, “Let’s see what you have for us, Ms. Sawyer.”

“Of course, General.” She produced a device from her black blazer and pressed a button. Several holographic screens came alive. They displayed an oblong satellite with twin solar arrays like bat wings, a cluster of multi-directional thrusters in the back, and a telescopic component in the front. By Astra’s summation, the satellite was roughly the size of a bus, which was small for a satellite.

“This is the Nantox prototype military satellite,” Sawyer announced. “Small and compact due to being built through nanotechnology, this weapon can track a target anywhere in the world and deliver a laser beam that can be as thin as a Coke can or as wide as a city block in diameter, depending on the firepower needed. Please allow me to demonstrate.”

Sawyer stepped back and indicated the old helicopter behind her. “This is a decommissioned police copter, supplied by local law enforcement,” she told the men. “Let’s say it’s an enemy vessel.”

A holographic console appeared, and Sawyer pressed a few buttons. The officers looked to the sky, despite being unable to see the weapon. In space, a single light emerged on the black-and-white Nantox satellite. It turned as its solar arrays rotated toward the indicated location. The front component rotated as a computer-guided target was fed to it.

A command was sent, and a sphere of energy emerged just before it turned into a violet beam that plunged through the atmosphere, cutting a hole through a cloud before finding its mark. The helicopter didn’t explode. It vanished beneath a bright flash of light that made the military officers look away briefly. When their eyes adjusted, they saw what was left – it was almost completely vaporized, save for the tail and rear rotor, which now lay on the tarmac next to a burnt spot and scraps of scattered black metal.

A satisfied smile spread across Sawyer’s face. “We have a few more diagnostics to run, and we can further modify it to your specifications, of course, but it is fully operational should the Pentagon agree to the contract.”

The Navy admiral gave an approving nod, “I don’t know about these guys, but I’m sold.”

“We need to run this by the brass, of course,” the Air Force general explained, “but I think you’re on to something, Jennifer.”

“Thank you, sir.”

“We’re gonna have a pow-wow with some other boys in Washington and get back to you as soon as possible.”

“Very well,” she told them. “Just remember, I’m returning to LA tonight. If you have a message for me, I prefer you leave it with my assistant Mary at my building.”

As Astra watched the conversation unfold, she considered attacking Sawyer’s satellite but was cautious as to what sort of defenses she had in place. It didn’t help that Sawyer was seen as a legitimate businesswoman to most of the world, while Astra and her team had recently had a lot of legal trouble. Destroying property in Earth’s atmosphere could be a problem, especially if it was a weapon the US military was considering for purchase. It was something she had to investigate further, but for now, she had to return to her apartment. As Kim put it, Astra “needed to be a buffer for my insane family.” She called the drones back to her, reabsorbed them into her body, then flew away.

She arrived at the apartment a short while later, and when she entered the front door, Kim’s family stood up to greet her.

“Hey, there she is,” Mr. Kim shouted.

“I’m Kyeon,” Mrs. Park said as she shook Astra’s hand.

“Nice to meet you.”

“Dawn,” her sister greeted her next.

“Franklin,” her father came next and leaned in, “Hey, you can tell us… was the government behind it?”

“Behind what?”

“Never mind,” Kim pulled Astra away, “I’m just glad you’re here.”

Astra tilted her head. “I’m detecting alcohol fumes from your breath, Kim.”

“Have you been drinking?” her mother asked in a shocked tone.

Kim’s sister offered a quick defense, “Uh, it’s a breath mint.”

Wally watched the commotion from the kitchen doorway and thought to himself, “So glad my family hasn’t visited yet.”

“So, Astra…,” Kim began pleadingly, trying her best not to breathe out too heavily, “… What’ve you been up to today?”

“I watched Jennifer Sawyer give a weapon demonstration for some military guys.”

Mr. Park snapped his fingers. “Aha, I knew it was the government.”

“What’s she building?” Wally asked.

“A military satellite,” Astra answered, “Big space laser.”

“Do you think she’s gonna come after you guys?” Kim’s sister asked worryingly.

“Sawyer doesn’t seem to care about me and Kim too much anymore,” Wally answered.

“She usually just goes after Astra,” Kim added.

“Lots of people do,” Astra said with an annoyed tone. “I don’t know what the weapon’s for, but I wanna look into it. Sawyer is going to be flying to LA tonight. I wanna stow away on her jet and see if I can’t find answers at her headquarters.”

Mrs. Park took her hand. “Please be careful.”

Astra smiled happily. “Oh, thank you for your concern.” She turned to Kim. “Your mother is very supportive. Why did you need a buffer?”

On the border between Arizona and California, a long shadow fell across the desert, cast by the setting sun. A lizard scuttled under a boulder as the ground shook. It was no earthquake, however. It was a footstep.

The humanoid-shaped heap lumbered across the hot sand with a purpose. Limbs covered by chunks of cars, steel beams, and mortar swayed through the air, bits of debris occasionally falling off. Massive footprints were left behind in its wake, along with large scraps of metal, plastic, and other material. It had been a long road to its destination, but the heap would be arriving soon enough.

In the distance, a family drove along a busy highway. The man and woman in the front seats hadn’t yet noticed the massive figure heading toward them; the man kept his eyes on the road while the woman was busy on her phone. The little girl in the backseat was a different matter, however. “Mommy, Daddy, look!”

The mother looked up from her phone and gasped, drawing the father’s attention. He caught a glimpse of something huge on the horizon and nearly sideswiped another car. He slowed down and stopped on the shoulder so he and his family could get a better look.

Several more cars came to a stop as well. Drivers and passengers gaped in horror as they watched the behemoth looming toward them. It was unknown if this strange figure noticed the cars, and if it did, it was impossible to know if it cared enough to avoid stepping on them. What was known, however, was its trajectory. As it stomped toward them, some cars sped forward or backed up in hopes of avoiding it. This caused a few fender-benders and horns began to blare loudly. Other drivers and passengers got out and ran away, abandoning their vehicles completely. The giant was already close despite only taking a few steps.

To everyone’s relief, the heap stepped over multiple lanes and brought a massive foot down on the opposite side of the highway, avoiding them. The figure continued on its way as several pictures and videos were taken.

Nearby, a sign read:

Los Angeles – 40 Miles

Continued…