Il s'agit de ma seule nouvelle en anglais pour le moment, et elle est très courte (3 pages Word). A la base c'était un devoir d'anglais mais au final je me suis prise au jeu... ;)

Ne vous en faites pas, la suite de La naissance des Gardiens viendra tout de suite après cette petite nouvelle !

That was during a night without stars. The moon was barely glowing in a dull and gloomy sky full of clouds.

 This part of the country had always been plagued with droughts and fires, but after the 2051 nuclear bomb, sandstorms became widespread and a vitiated and squally wind was continuously blowing there.

 An outline was walking across this bleak and spooky plain. As his white hair was floating in the wind, that strange guy stared at the desolate landscape with his red and melancholic eyes like burning sunsets.

 He was wearing a black coat, like an old and filthy shroud on his shoulders. He was not what we call “good-looking”, however from his face emanated something really fascinating.

 If another traveler had come by, he would have thought: “What does he do in a place like this?” He would have answered: I am running away from my remorse.

 Aldebaran was the last survivor of the thirteen Golems built in 2047 by Mechatronics Inc. Back then, the United States government wanted strong enough weapons to match Iran’s nuclear bombs. Mechatronics Inc. was the leader of high technologies; the company immediately created robots as powerful as an army and as docile as slaves. Moreover, their ruthless violence and their adamant temper were perfect to surpass the enemy’s power.

“Why am I thinking about this again?” he said aloud with some anger. “Just forget about it!” But the more he wanted to erase it, the more screams and outcries reverberated in his ears.

Aldebaran closed his eyes and breathed slowly. His sight grew blurry because of the sand swarming around him; besides his solar battery was almost discharged. His head was full of bad memories and he just could not help thinking about all the deaths he had caused.

World War III had finally begun in 2048; Iran had dropped a nuclear bomb on Los Angeles, California. Immediately after, the United States government had sent his thirteen Golems on Iran. The war was only a succession of nuclear bombs, first on the United States and Iran, then on their respective allies. The whole world had become a huge graveyard. Survivors were more like scrawny corpses than humans; despair could be read on every face.

Aldebaran was called “the cursed Golem” because his artificial conscience had somehow bugged during the war. He had understood that killing people was a bad thing, but he had been programmed to do so… He was obliged to slay every enemy he saw even if he was dying of sadness inside.

On the contrary, the other Golems were enjoying their mission like children were happy to play with their favorite toys. Their paths were covered with blood and ashes. Some destroyed entire villages, like Rigel and Arcturus who were nicknamed “the bloodthirsty Golems”. Those ones were like demons, spreading terror and death around them. The others, especially Sirius and Vega, contented their selves with obeying orders.

Just after the war, in 2053, all the Golems were shot down. Their destructive power and their artificial intelligence conceived for fighting were way too dangerous for the whole world’s security. They all died, except Aldebaran, who escaped in time. Since then, he was feeling like a coward.

Suddenly, a horrible sound pierced the silence, waking him up from his painful memories.

 A shot.

 A scream rang out one second later.

 Aldebaran could not believe it. That sound… was the one of the Golems’ rifle-blade, probably the most damaging weapon of the world. The android frowned: “That’s impossible!” but as the powder smell was rising up through the air, his doubts progressively disappeared.

 Another Golem was there.

Aldebaran ignored his tiredness and headed for the nearest city, which was situated a few miles farther at the north-east. With his weak solar reactors, the Golem was not as fast as normal; nevertheless he arrived in front of the phosphorescent tori marking the city’s entry few minutes later.

The silence was the first thing Aldebaran noticed. It was an unusual and heavy silence. Even if the war had killed a lot of inhabitants, every town tried to be bustling with activity, at least to forget the past conflicts. Something was happening. The Golem started running across the desert streets, searching for people. He finally found a crowd congregated around two fighters.

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Suite et fin samedi 29 septembre !