Shrink yourself down to the size of practically invisible Nano machines he said. Fight them in combat he said.

Stanley stood before a blue lamp that had stopped working within the last few days.

When Albert told me I’d be doing this, I didn’t realise it would basically be us opening an electronics repair shop.

Another week had passed, and he was no longer the commander of a mysterious facility. He’d been given a new position in the fight to safeguard his town from strange threats. He eyed the lamp quizzically, half expecting it to sprout arms and try to head-butt him to death.

In his hand he held a sea shell which fit into the palm of his hand. The outside of the shell was a corrugated structure, the inside being much smoother. Its colour was a smooth gradient of orange-brown and white. Seemingly innocuous, it served as his connection to the Nano sized world. Attempting to crush the shell in his hand was the signal that would activate the device.

Always an adventure I guess.

The lamp set as his target, he proceeded to enter the Nano world. The world became dark to him, the only information from his new surroundings being a low buzzing noise in the distance.

“Activate weapon systems,” he said, preparing himself to face his adversaries.

He could still feel the sea shell in his hand, upon his last command, a red leaf emerged from it, illuminating his surroundings. This was followed by a blue, brown and white leaf, each hovering in position at the points of a square protective formation around him. Each leaf gave out a low glow that corresponded to their colour.

The low light revealed a large copper wire, several metres in diameter, and exactly what he expected to find. Unsatisfied with the small area revealed by the current lighting, he worked to remedy the situation.

”Plasma light, 1500 lumens, 10 metres forward,”

He’d been practicing the voice commands necessary for his mission for a few days now, but this would be the first time they were used for their intended purpose.

A small white sphere flew out of the red leaf and scouted the area ahead, peeling away the darkness with extreme efficiency. Stanley hurried to cover his eyes at the abrupt change in lighting, which was akin to a flashbang going off not far from his face. After a few seconds, he removed his hands, but was worried to find only darkness.

Did I just blind myself?

Light began returning at the edges of his vision, while the centre, where the plasma light had seared itself into his retinas took much longer to recover. He took to using his peripheral vision to scan his now bright surroundings and determined that the light had moved to the correct position.

Once his vision fully recovered, he realised that there were several deep blue specks, like sentient dust, flittering around his light.

Found you.

He approached his targets, the small Nano-machines.

They almost seem like fireflies. Are they really dangerous?

Guard still up, he continued his observation. Unknown to him, a few of the specks had circled around him and were observing him from outside his range of vision.

It’s almost cu- “Woah,” he couldn’t help but exclaim.

The dance of the specks around the light had suddenly taken a more violent turn, many more of them had gathered together, they joined into the form of a glowing sword that made to cleave the light in two. The light was extinguished, the world darkening again considerably. The specks also seemed to fade into the dark along with his main light source.

Not good.

His heart started pounding as he struggled to remember what he was supposed to do.

Okay, deep breaths. Relax. They haven’t found me yet.

As if to disprove his assumption, a blue shape appeared in his vision, a sharp tip rapidly approaching his left eye.

His mental state shattered, he tried to get his hands up while also trying to dive into a prone position, the contradictory motions hindering his speed. Now on the floor, a loud crackling noise passed over his head, petering out as it continued on its path past him.

“Slow,” came a deep voice from the darkness.

Getting to his feet, Stanley rapidly scanned his surroundings for any signs of the sword, almost stumbling from turning too fast.

Calm. I need calm.

He took a deep breath as swords of identical shape revealed themselves from every conceivable angle. They stood still as if awaiting his action.

Think. Evasion impossible. Weapon systems?

“Personal plasma dome, outward temperature emission, 5000 degrees,” he said, a white hot dome forming around him.

Personal safety accounted for, but now I can’t see anything.

Stanley spent a few minutes considering his next move, feeling the contours of the shell in his hand.

Escape is still an option, but I won’t make much progress that way.

He understood that he would be evacuated should his body be about to undergo significant damage, but there was a difference between knowing he was safe and feeling that way. It was also true that Nano-machine infiltration attempts into Algebra were only going to intensify, and someone had to deal with it. ‘Why not me?’ was his thought process when it had been revealed to him by Albert.

“Perform actions in order ten seconds after final command,” he said. The sea shell grew cold in an affirmative response. “Lower plasma dome. Activate Carter’s pistol, manual control, medium bullet magnetism. Plasma lights, ten metres, square formation, 700 lumens. Rapid temperature change circuit, previous formation as perimeter, pyramidal roof with 2 metre squared hole at centre, outward effect, 2000 degrees to negative 200 degrees, alternate between extremes every 2 seconds, constant change gradient. Final command. Prepare personal plasma dome for future deployment, 0.1 metre radius, 2000 degrees, voice activation ‘dome’,”

The barrier between them and their prey disappearing, the first wave of swords flew at him.

Targets 15 metres away. Entering kill zone.

As they rushed into the chaotic temperature zone, each sword appeared to shatter accompanied by a series of violent popping sounds, shards of each Nano-machine littering the floor.

After Carter’s pistol finally finished materialising in his hand. He focused his attention on the sole opening in his defences and took aim. The swords were more hesitant to attack now, only a few venturing into danger in different positions, probing his defences.

They should figure out how to get through momentarily.

At first there was only one. The ghostly blue object had ventured above him, and was slowly moving towards him. Once it realised it was through, it abandoned all caution and sped towards him. He fired. A grey trail marking the projectiles trajectory as it pierced the sword and caused it to dissociate, its constituents falling to the ground harmlessly.

As if sharks that smelt blood, the rest of the swords reacted, flying towards the hole in the roof.

Here goes nothing.

He continued firing, taking out multiple targets at once, his pistol more than capable of covering the entire entrance. Realising their tactics were ineffective, they formed a vortex in a final suicide charge, filling all the space they could, with the hope that even one of them could get through. One did. Then another.

Unwilling to turn his attention away from the horde before him, he ignored them. In the corners they gathered, preparing to strike from behind. By the time he had dealt with the enemies from above, those behind were on the move, small daggers were there new form. They stuck close to the ground and aimed for his ankles, like fish they darted, evading his aim.

Three directions, too fast.

He decided to give up on trying to hit them, focusing more on observing their distance from him. Deciding it was time to strike, all three closed in at once, eager to cleave flesh.

“Dome,” he stated.

As it began to take shape, Stanley was pleased to watch the daggers each plunge into it before being torn apart by the high temperature. Disabling the plasma dome once again, he could see no more moving Nano-machines, the dark blue lights indicating their continued operation absent.

So during this fight, I used two of the leaf weapons. The red, for temperature, and the white for electromagnetism. Blue and brown went unused, something to work on.

“Inexperienced,” came a voice, accompanied by a sweeping force that knocked Stanley off his feet, almost landing him face first on the ground.

He attempted to reorient himself, but was shocked to find a foreign limb wrapping itself around his right leg, it stopped at his knee and began dragging him away from the carnage of the previous battle.

Seeing the segmented limb, he fired his pistol at it. Only for the projectile to glance off it.

“Foolish as well,” the deep male voice continued.

Stanley continued struggling, before realisation hit him.

“Dome,” he said, which resulted in the protective structure reactivating, cutting off the limb that held him.

No sooner had it activated before he felt a strong wind blow against it, dissipating it almost instantaneously. The limb returned momentarily, regenerated and ready to continue hauling him to an unknown destination. With a few clicks, each of the leaves that had accompanied Stanley much of his time in this Nano-world fell to the ground, lifeless and devoid of colour. They disintegrated soon after; the failsafe should Stanley lose connection to them.

He was interrupted from his thoughts of how hopeless his situation was by the same disembodied voice. “However, you are certainly creative,” it said noncommittally.

Upon travelling what seemed like thirty meters, Stanley was starting to wonder how long this limb was, which he’d identified as a scorpion’s tail, stinger and all, but much larger. He’d attempted to activate the escape sequence, but that had failed as well, much to his horror.

Noticing his deathly state, the being spoke once more. “Relax child, I can keep you here for a time, but there is a limit to what I can do to you. While we’re in this place anyway,”

This did not provide him with any comfort, and he struggled all the more.

Eventually he was set down before a knee height scorpion, which stared into Stanley’s eyes, an interested attitude about the creature.

He was unsure what to do. He was no longer restrained, but he doubted things would remain that way should he try to leave.

Where could I even go?

A clicking sound could be heard from it every so often. Stanley decided to do what his mind and body was telling him was definitely a terrible idea. He closed his eyes and waited. One breath, then two. He steadied his breathing, trying to do so to his own rhythm, one different to both the incessant clicking of the scorpion and his own pounding heartbeat. One that was voluntary and was his own.

I can still move. I can still breathe. So what’s there to worry about?

After many minutes, he opened his eyes, only to find that the dark eyes of the scorpion again staring back, unblinking.

“Good, you have calmed yourself sufficiently. Do not speak, it would be unwise of you. Listen to what I have to say, then you can leave,” the creature said.

Stanley nodded weakly, getting progressively more confused with each word spoken.

“I am your enemy. I have a commander, just as you have one. But their orders are not absolute, such a system would be inefficient. I speak to you now of my own free will. I have been given a task, but it is up to me to decide how to accomplish it. You will understand this more as time passes, but the greater your accomplishments, the more freedom of movement your commander will bestow upon you. An increased ability to forge a path of your own. I have desires that are different from my commander, but the time to express them has not yet come. I speak to you because you are the first of your kind for my forces to encounter, a type of soldier. It is my hope that you will grow and become better than you are. Because for me, it is only with a true challenge that I can hope to be promoted further. And I hope that you will provide me this challenge one day, before I utterly destroy you. Until then, farewell, was nice meeting you,” with a motion that Stanley somehow interpreted as a smile the scorpion stepped back into the darkness.

His world went dark, before he found himself standing next to a small blue desk lamp.

”What?” Stanley asked no one in particular.