My Favorite World Needed Space To Grow

The first dim glow of predawn light was just showing on the horizon
when I began carefully working my way down from the cliffs just south
of Goka Falls. It had been a long night waiting and I spent it planning
an assault on the hillside complex below from a new angle.

I knew that soon there would be a changing of the guard, and I wanted
to catch them when the ones going off duty would be tired and their
replacements hadn't yet begun rubbing the sleep from their eyes. It had
been a long wait, watching their movements and spying out the best
place to cross the river and where it would be the safest to emerge.

One doesn't think of South Africa being a 'cold' place, but I'd gotten a chill
squatting unmoving on the rocks on those cliffs above, and now the wind
had picked up and brought with it an errant storm which blotted out the
feeble rays to the east plunging the world unexpectedly into darkness
once again, and the heavy rain mixed with the rising mists soaking me to
the bone and obscuring visibility to the barest minimum.

The abrupt change of conditions was both good and bad. It would be
harder for the AI to spot me, and harder for me to determine AI locations
from moving brush, and being able to hear their footsteps. The wind was
moving everything.

I crouched on the muddy river bank opposite the complex shivering,
trying to evaluate if I should reconsider my original plans. - I was in
the middle of a found pistols run and my 1911 had jammed in my last
encounter, and to top it off I was down to my last syringe. My target
was the diamond case in the tiny shack halfway up the hillside and I
was determined to get there undetected. In frustration I strained to
hear some AI banter but there was only the the rain the wind and my
own breathing that broke the silence.

I eased down into the slow moving river which eased my shivering. It
was like a warm bath compared to the air above, and made my way
closer to the bank opposite. Ten feet from the shoreline I could just
make out two AI slowly making their way up the hillside, and I could
begin to hear some voices now.

- This was much better, my shivering had stopped and I wanted
nothing more than to stay here treading water to scope out the
situation. The river had warmed me enough that the mist felt good
on my face, and the rain had washed down the hillside carrying the
sweet earthy smells of jungle flowers and spilt coffee, but I was too
vulnerable should I get spotted. - I had no choice but to get on the
bank or at least in the shallows to be able to stand and fire my weapon.

One lone AI standing on the dock leaning against a post in fatigue,
and I'd gotten to a place shallow enough to crouch and get my weapon
above the waterline aimed for a headshot with no others in sight..