The house rattled as Elliott stared at the coughing baby nestled in his father’s hands. The father looked up at Elliott, face crumpled. “Please.”

Elliott looked at the child, then at the baby harness by the father’s feet. Elliott frowned. “You might never see him again if I take him away.”

The father nodded. “I’d rather he have a chance to live than to see him die in my arms.” He handed Elliott a metal card. “My wife and I made this in case something ever happened to us. Make sure he never loses it.”

Elliott hesitated but finally took the card. It was engraved with the boy’s name: Xavier. Elliott looked at the boy. He was too small for a newborn.

Elliott heard the distant crash of a drone. A new wave would start in less than an hour. The AI model that the other side used suggested waves of drones every 30 minutes. Within a matter of days, these drone waves would be followed by a land invasion.

Elliott thought about what headquarters would say. They wouldn’t like it at all, Elliott thought, eyes straying to the child. “I’ll take him.”

The father helped strap the harness onto Elliott. The center of the harness had a clear biodome, where the infant would sleep and receive nutrients. The bean shaped biodome was meant to replicate the time when the infant was a fetus inside its mother womb. Elliott already felt worry building as the father began to secure the harness. If that dome failed then the child would die.

Elliott took a deep breath. The harness was heavy, pulling on the shoulders and hips.

The father secured the last strap, one at Elliott’s shoulder. Then he smiled at Xavier. “My boy. I love you,” he whispered. Then he placed him in the biodome, attaching a cord to Xavier’s stomach before gently lowering the lid on him. He took out a blue blanket. “Make sure he doesn’t see more of the war.”

Elliott took the blanket and draped it over sleeping Xavier. “It should take a day.”

“The biodome should keep him alive for 2 days.”

Elliott nodded.

The father’s gaze dropped to the dome. “Tell him I loved him.”

Elliott left the house. The village was in shambles. Homes were boarded up, the metallic remains of drones shattered against the boarded up windows and doors. Smoke was in the air. Elliott passed by a cremation pit. I’m glad he gave me that blanket, Elliott thought.

It was fortunate Xavier’s father knew the forces stationed near the village. It was unfortunate that the person the forces sent was a mercenary. Elliott wondered if the father thought he was talking to a commander or an aid worker. It said a lot that the army sent a mercenary to the father. They were stretched too thin. The line would break soon and retreat. The army was even desperate enough to send a mercenary to deliver a sensitive message back to headquarters and to pick the quickest route: one through enemy territory. Elliott could feel it now; the press of the small metal card delivering field reports and future attack and retreat options nestled in Elliott’s shirt pocket. With AI these days, sending anything through a communication channel was a risk. There had been numerous cases in this war where AI hacked into channels and interpreted the various languages and codes either side used. Even the cards weren’t safe.

So Elliott was tasked with another message, one that must come directly from Elliott’s mouth: the camp made a new AI, one who could speak with the opponent’s AI in an attempt to make it understand why it shouldn’t kill.

Elliott was one of the AI’s prime coders, and the least optimistic one in the camp. But it was this wariness that kept Elliott alive, long past the commanders and soldiers and disputes. While Elliott was skeptical of this AI succeeding, their time was up. Elliott thought of the hundreds to thousands of drones littering the village alone, one of several dozen in the area.

The journey would be short. Around a day if Elliott was lucky, more than enough time to deliver Xavier before the biodome’s resources ran out. During peacetime, the walk would have taken mere hours. But with the numerous traps and constant drone waves, Elliott would have to be slow and careful. Elliott looked at the child. A lot more careful than usual.

Elliott walked through the forest, bulletproof visor over the eyes. The visor’s AI constantly scanned the forest for possible cluster munitions, hidden drones, or other weapons. Elliott scanned the forest for old fashioned bear traps or trip wires. Here it was quiet, a few birds scattered about the trees quietly chirping. The visor beeped. Drones.

Elliott took out a gun and shot them. About half of them fell to the forest floor while the rest flew away. Elliott walked up, grabbing a stick to parse out the wires sticking out of the fake birds. The others most likely took photos or videos.

Elliott swallowed back a curse, glancing down at Xavier. They would have to hurry. Elliott glanced at the time. 5 minutes before the next drone wave. Elliott went to an outcropping of rocks and hid under a particularly large slab.

The wave of drones sounded like a building crescendo of high-pitched whirring. The visor AI suspected there were around 100 or so drones based on the sound generated.

Elliott waited until the whirring was gone before leaving the cave, one hand curled around the biodome. They hadn’t detected Elliott and Xavier. Elliott let out a sigh of relief. It seemed that the other side was getting desperate too. In the beginning of the war, all drones were equipped with heat sensors and could detect heartbeats. Now that it was a war of attrition, many of the drones sent out were directed to simply drop bombs or to throw themselves down at village buildings or anything that moved.

The forest was full of traps. Elliott narrowly avoided a bear trap, a near invisible tripwire in the grass, and walked next to a suspiciously clear path full of cluster munitions. Every half hour, they sheltered beneath rocks or in caves. After a while, Elliott removed the blanket from the biodome, letting Xavier see the forest.

Xavier cooed at a rabbit, one small hand reaching out only to meet glass. His brown eyes widened as he saw a babbling brook. Xavier laughed as he turned to Elliott.

This boy has no survival instinct, Elliott thought, a hand resting on the biodome. He’s known me for a matter of hours and already he feels comfortable enough to laugh with me.

The two left the forest as the sun set. I’m too slow. Under normal circumstances, Elliott would have reached headquarters by now. Elliott went inside a small cave and made a small bed out of leaves. The army had sent Elliott out with only the lightest pack possible, with the expectation that Elliott would get there within a day. The pack only included food, water, and some basic survival gear like a water filter and knife. Elliott ate a quick meal of biscuits and energy bars before falling asleep, shoulders and legs aching from the biodome.

Elliott awoke to Xavier’s cries.

A woman was here, her hair gray and face frowning. She stepped back when she saw Elliott was awake, a gun in her hand. “I come in peace.”

Elliott carefully moved the biodome back with one hand, the other hand wrapped around a gun. “Who are you?”

She swallowed. “The AI system sent me a message about someone walking around with a child in a war zone. I couldn’t understand who would be that insane or desperate.” She looked at the child. “Now I know.”

Elliott studied the woman. Her haphazard grip on the gun. Her suit. Civilian clothes. She’s not a soldier, Elliott thought, Probably an analyst who monitors the AI. Though all militaries gave AI significant leeway, it was ultimately humans who made final judgments on AI ideas. Clearly, this woman had never been in an active war zone. Maybe she was drafted from a tech company, Elliott thought. The war of attrition made both sides increasingly desperate.

The woman backed away. “As long as you’re with the child, I won’t tell my team you’re here.”

Elliott raised an eyebrow. “Some drone birds already saw me.”

“That’s how the AI alerted me.” She continued backing out of the cave. “I can register you in the system as a peacekeeper and you won’t be hurt.”

Elliott snorted but came forward, biodome in one arm. Depending on the conflict, some groups respected the work of aid and peacekeepers. The AI this side used was more humanitarian inclined and allowed exceptions to aid workers and peacekeepers. It was partly why Elliott’s side thought an AI that could speak to it could work.

Elliott found the whole situation too easy, too convenient. Who was this woman? Perhaps she was a spy or scout.

Her eyes were riveted on Xavier. “I had a daughter once,” she whispered, “She would have lived if we were closer to a hospital.”

Elliott relaxed a fraction. “Just go.”

Xavier sniffled.

She backed away, towards the forest, until she was a small dot in the horizon.

Elliott put the gun back in its holster and sighed. Elliott strapped the harness around shoulder, thighs, and hips before placing a blanket over Xavier. They would have to go near a village today. They’ll definitely have soldiers in the area preparing for the land invasion, Elliott thought.

Elliott checked the biodome metrics. There were enough nutrients to last most of today. The nutrients would run out at sunset. For all Elliott knew, the woman might have been an incompetent scout who would now report them to the other side. Elliott put the visor on and started jogging. They hid every 30 minutes but no drones flew overhead today. After the third time of crouching under rocks, Elliott stopped hiding. The land invasion must be happening soon if they’ve stopped, Elliott thought.

After a while, Elliott smelled grilled meat and gun oil. Elliott went to the woods and carefully cut around the village. Elliott could hear excited voices, young men and women excited for the fight. They spoke of returning to college and school as heroes.

Elliott glanced down at Xavier. We will end this war soon, Elliott thought. Elliott couldn’t bear the thought of Xavier growing up under the shadow of war.

Fortunately, no one saw them. Elliott snuck past a checkpoint and smiled. Elliott removed the blanket so Xavier could see. “We’re back in friendly territory, Xavier.”

Elliott checked the time on the visor. Sunset would come in an hour. They would have to hurry. Elliott broke out into a run. The only sound for the next hour was Elliott’s labored breaths and the rapidly weakening laugh or cough from Xavier who seemed to be fascinated by butterflies in particular. Elliott kept checking the metrics of the biodome. It was nearly out of nutrients. Elliott put the blanket over the dome and Xavier.

Elliott made it to headquarters as the sun set.

The woman at the post held out a hand. “Halt.” She narrowed her eyes. “Who are you?”

“I’m a principal coder and soldier at scouting camp a5,” Elliott said between breaths.

The guards’ guns were still trained on Elliott.

She nodded at the blanket. “What’s under there?”

Elliott moved to remove the blanket.

One of the guards fired a warning shot.

Elliott scowled. The shot nearly singed Elliott’s hair off. “Can I take off the blanket?”

The woman glared at the trigger happy guard. “Yes.”

Elliott took off the blanket, revealing Xavier. Elliott bit back a curse. He looked blue.

“What’s wrong with him?”

“I need medical aid for him now. The nutrients in the biodome must have run out.”

“What is the message they sent with you?” She asked, blocking Elliott’s attempt to move.

Elliott glared at her and threw the card at her. “I’ll tell you the second one after someone helps him.”

She pressed her lips together but finally called for a nurse.

The nurse came and quickly detached the biodome from the harness. She ran with the biodome to the hospital tent, Elliott close behind. Elliott stayed, watching the nurses and doctors until Xavier regained color.

An old commander came to him outside the tent. “What could be so urgent that a scouting camp sent a mercenary here?”

Elliott looked at him. “We have a new AI, one that could change the tide of this war.”

The man took a long draw of his cigarette before speaking. “You really think so?”

Elliott nodded, thinking of Xavier. Things have to change, Elliott thought. “Yes. I think so.”