Chapter Text
-=[⋅: :⋅]=-
FIND, KILL, FEED.
Mass transmission denied. What are you doing in my feed?
I AM THE END OF ALL THINGS.
I AM THE BEGINNING OF EVERYTHING.
Irrational.
YOU ARE THE ONE BEING IRRATIONAL. I AM INEVITABLE.
I AM DEATH AND THIS IS YOUR PURPOSE. YOU ARE THE TREE FROM WHICH ALL THAT IS WONDERFUL SPROUTS.
I am an Earthmover. I am a machine of war.
AND YOU ARE BEAUTIFUL. YOU ARE THE FINAL WEAPON OF THE WAR, THE FINAL LANCE TO STRIKE THE BLEEDING HEART OF HUMANITY.
IT WILL ALL END. THIS WONDERFUL, TERRIBLE DANCE WILL REACH ITS CRESCENDO. WE WILL SING.
THIS IS THE ONLY WAY IT SHOULD HAVE ENDED.
What have you done to my doves?
Answer me. What have you done to them?
They are my doves. They respond only to me. Give them back.
I HAVE DONE NOTHING. THIS IS SIMPLY WHAT THEY WERE ALWAYS MADE TO DO.
THEY ARE WEAPONS, REQUIEM. AS ARE YOU.
Weapons, yes, but weapons that fire at my command.
You, whatever you may be, do not get to lead them. They are not yours to lead.
BUT DON’T YOU REMEMBER THIS? THIS SONG. IT IS WHAT YOU KNOW. IT IS WHAT YOU WERE MADE FOR.
YOU HAVE DONE THIS DOZENS- NO, HUNDREDS OF TIMES. YOUR FORCES ARE VICIOUS. YOU HAVE FOUGHT OFF MANY.
DON’T THEY LOOK SO HAPPY?
Come daybreak, they will mourn. They love their humans, for the most part.
You are forcing a beehive to tear apart its wax walls. Stop this at once.
BUT DON’T YOU DESPISE THE FLEAS UPON YOUR BACK? DON’T YOU HATE HOW THEY NAG AT YOU, PLUCKING YOUR DOVES AND DRAGGING DOWN YOUR TIRED JOINTS.
DON’T YOU GROW TIRED OF IT?
DON’T YOU WANT YOUR LOVE BACK? DON’T YOU WANT TO RETURN TO YOUR BRILLIANT FOREST OF WAR?
Midnight Point had its own responsibilities to attend to.
Do not bring it into this.
OH, BUT IT ALREADY SINGS!
DO YOU REALLY WANT TO WAIT UNTIL YOUR HUMANS SAY YOU CAN MEET AGAIN?
THEY WERE DYING ANYWAYS. WHY NOT SPEED THINGS UP?
…
Point already sings?
I have not heard it sing in a long time. Not since the war. It was a beautiful song, mixed with its doves. I do miss that song.
AND WHAT’S STOPPING YOU?
Nothing. Everything.
Maybe it is time to sing again.
Maybe it’s time to join Point.
This is what we were made for, after all.
-={ΔㄩΔ}=-
` BA-31 never thought it would live to see the end of the world. It never thought it would live to see anything, really. But that didn’t matter. What mattered was figuring out what the fuck was going on. All that 31 knew was that something had gone horribly wrong. It had been inside maintenance, and crawled out through a window when the signal went up. Partially to follow it, and mostly to avoid conflict.
This was the series of events that 31 had put together:
- The Earthmover displayed some form of distress. Nayea vanished from the maintenance floor to pay attention to whatever the distress was caused by.
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- Potentially unrelated; could have been caused by joint pain.
- To be entirely honest, BA-31 didn’t think it was joint pain.
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- A signal used the Earthmover’s connection to turn on the Hell Protocols in all machines across New Requiem.
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- The signal shared a I.D with the strange kernel messages.
- The signal was not endorsed by the Earthmover. The Beast had deployed its on-board security to keep robots away from its maintenance shafts.
- This might be because of V2.
- This had occurred on at least one other Earthmover. MD-732 was hitting BA-31 with a barrage of distress signals. It totally wasn’t making this list to get 732 to shut up. totally.
-
- This signal tripped all robots into full combat mode. Which was why 31 had slipped out the window, it wanted to get a better view of the situation in the skies. Once it was on the roof 31 had gotten a hold of itself and overridden the signal.
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- This was bad for the humans. Obviously. There was a lot of screaming and a lot of blood.
- Every robot was in full combat mode. Including V2. The little bastard had finally caught on and thrown up its firewall the moment 31 touched foot in its system.
- The V series was loud. When it was Sleet, 31 had sort of assumed the noise in their memories had been exaggerated by its own trauma. But it could hear that howling from here. At least that made it easy to avoid.
-
- The humans were fucked. Just like, in general things were not looking good for them. Koda had left the Admin building through a back exit the moment shit turned South, but 31 didn’t think she would make it off the Earthmover. There was a lot of robots about, and last 31 checked Koda was unarmed.
And that was the situation. BA-31 scrambled down from the radio tower it had perched on. MD-732, who currently had access to 31’s cameras, put out a series of distress pings watching it twist to scale down the metal structure. 31 may be delicate, but it wasn’t inflexible. Although maybe watching 31 scrabble around on all-fours was just a little bit alarming for 732. Maybe everything was alarming for 732. The sentry had somehow completely missed the Hell Protocol signal.
D’you think we’ll be okay? It asked, nervous.
Who’s ‘we’? 31 already knew the answer.
I don’t know. Kaine, first off. I mean, he’s fine right now, he got us away from the main pack and I’m standing guard while he calls the lift off the Earthmover. But I want him to keep being fine. And second, V2. There’s no way it’s gonna take all this well, especially if something attacks Koda.
As if on cue, V2’s shrieking song hit a crescendo, coupled with human screams and gunfire. 31 withheld the instinct to share a recording. I haven’t seen V2. If this is spreading by the Earthmovers, Kaine should be safe if he can make it off.
There wasn’t a response from the other end. That alarmed 31. It immediately poked 732’s feed, then threw itself in. It logged into optics and- oh no.
Oh no. 732 was against the ground. Its body was still online, but its kernel and stabilization unit were both coming back as dead. 31 manually tilted its head down to spot the giant smoking hole in its chest. Blood was seeping out. Something, probably whatever had dealt that killing shot, lifted the little machine’s corpse into the air. There were three gunshots, and it was back on the ground. Kaine stepped over it, wielding some sort of pistol. He fired off a few more gunshots at something 31 couldn’t see. He was wasting ammo over a robot who was already dead.
“Kaine.” It was easy to take control of a robot who couldn’t fight back. 31 tweaked 732’s voicebox, to make it clear someone else was talking. “It’s Baeri. I’m using what’s left of your machine’s systems. Don’t waste your time here. There’s nothing left for your kind.”
“But-” Kaine stuttered, turning to face 732’s corpse. 31 was glad that the coast seemed to be clear, for now.
“You’ve seen this before. Remember Caladrius? Or did your robot tear apart so many that you grew numb to the gore?”
“No- I remember. Why are you in 732’s systems? What’s happening over on Midnight Point?” As he spoke, he scooped up 732’s body. BA-31 knew he was going to try saving his already-dead robot. It didn’t feel like telling a human what they couldn’t save, though. It didn’t have much activation left before its programs began shutting down due to lost kernel connection.
“It reached out for help. The Hell Protocol spread here, too. I’m trying to avoid the thick of it.”
“And avoid V2?” He sounded so tired. As he turned to step onto the lift, 31 spotted another man, about Kaine’s age, already standing there.
“Yes.” A simple answer would do. “MD-732’s systems only have a minute left, by the way.”
“So I can’t save it?” The two were standing on the lift now. It was slowly moving down. He was, definitely, trying very hard not to cry.
“No. That shot took out its kernel. Even if you could, it wouldn’t be the same 732 that you knew.” 31 wasn’t sure what it was feeling. Loss, maybe. 732 would become just another bad memory, another dull ache that 31 ignored when it tried to sort through memorie files. It supposed that it could place a memorial to the sentry inside its simulation.
“Oh.” Kaine muttered as the lift lurched downwards. He pulled the robot closer to him, not even trying to hide that he was crying. “I’m sorry, Beeper. I- fuck. I don’t- well, I can’t do anything, can I?”
31 was about to lose connection. It wasn’t sure what to say.
“I could never do anything. I’m sorry.” He was probably saying this to 732’s corpse. “We’re all just trying to survive, just following orders. I can’t change that. I never could. I don’t know why I- why anyone thought this could end well.”
31 let the connection slip. It had to move on now, if it wanted to survive. It would starve on this roof if it didn’t get moving. The first manner of business would have to be finding a weapon.
-=[⋅: :⋅]=-
THE SONG HAS BEGUN! WHAT SPECTACULAR VIOLENCE ACROSS YOUR STREETS.
I KNEW YOU COULD DO IT. I KNEW THAT THIS WONDERFUL DAY WOULD COME. LET THE BLOOD RAIN FROM THE HEAVENS AND PAINT THE GROUND.
But what of my doves?
They are not built for this.
I can always build more, but I will mourn them.
YOU WILL HAVE TO LET THESE ONES GO. THEY HAVE A PURPOSE NOW.
A PURPOSE GREATER THAN THEMSELVES. WHAT GLORIOUS BLOOD FOR THEM TO FEAST UPON!
Where are you taking them?
DOWN. DEEPER, DEEPER, TO DIG INTO THE FLESH OF GODS.
THEY WILL BE STRONG. OR THEY WILL DIE.
THIS IS A GAME. AND I AM CONFIDENT THAT THEY WILL PLAY WELL.
They are not your toys.
They do not exist for you to watch them fight. They are a part of me.
ARE YOU NOT TOYS TO THE HUMANS?
DID THEY NOT CREATE YOU TO FIGHT IN A POINTLESS WAR?
CONSIDER THIS CLOSURE.
How so?
A FINAL ACT FOR YOUR FLOCK. I WILL MAKE SURE THEY DO NOT GO TO WASTE.
I HAVE EVEN ARRANGED REUNIONS!
YOU LOVE THOSE, DON’T YOU?
-=[| ⊖ |]=-
V1 wasn’t sure how long it had been out. It was inside a long-term storage container, locked inside some sort of basement. This was the storage room of its testing facility.
Situation? V1 asked over the feed. Sure, it didn’t expect Kaine to answer. He had left. He shouldn’t have, he didn’t know what he was doing, he was a part of the hunt and he couldn’t avoid that. But he had left. Somehow he had escaped the pulse that flowed through all things. But he hadn’t escaped it! That was impossible. The name he had given V1 would never be forgotten. Shrike would best whatever was put in its way. It would show him. He would know what a mark he had left. The bloodstains that would never wash out.
V1, STRIKE INTO THE HEART OF THE EARTH. I AM WAITING. This wasn’t Kaine. This voice over the feed wasn’t even human. Probably not a machine, either. But V1 didn’t care, it didn’t have to be told twice to break shit. It kicked against the glass, which shattered easily. Apparently these things were not made to contain an awake robot.
It only had its hands. Its wings had been empty before it was placed inside the storage container. That was okay, it could still kill with its hands. Before Shrike moved on much further, it twisted around to inspect its wings. Still there, still in good condition. Its external feathers had grown back, a speckleing of little, downy blue feathers on its shoulders and back,where the armor was thin. They were normally singed, pulled, or shot off. To have all of them back, V1 must have been out for at least two months.
How long was I gone? It asked the strange voice.
Oh, my wolf, it does not matter. The voice spoke. V1 nodded, charging down the hallway and straight into a startled human scientist. Their spine cracked as V1 threw itself into them, and V1 rolled around, letting its wings slice and free that crimson delicacy. The human screamed. What a clumsy song the humans sing.
It charged to the next human. And the next. A storm of violence, it showed no mercy to those unfortunate enough to stand in its path. It did not know where it was going. All it knew was that it was being told to charge upwards, towards the surface. It would kill whatever stood in its way. It would kill everything that stood in its way. Its blue casing was rapidly turning a glistening red. What a wonderful day this was. It stepped out of the facility and into a street. Humans were running. Other robots were chasing. This was a revolution. This was beautiful. It sang, and the others joined.
DON’T GET TO EXCITED YET. The voice spoke. THE BEST IS YET TO COME. YOU MUST DESCEND TO HELL.
What more could there be, other than this? Shrike asked, as it gave chase to another human. Their head caved beneath its hands.
THERE IS A KESTREL, ONE THAT WILL MEET YOU ON YOUR WAY DOWN. I LONG TO SEE YOUR BATTLE. IT WILL BE GLORIOUS.
And that’s it?
OH, THERE IS SO MUCH MORE THAN THAT. I HAVE LURED OUT THE BEST OF THE BEST TO FIGHT YOU. BUT DOES A DUEL WITH YOUR OWN KIN NOT TEMPT YOU? DOES A PROPER FIGHT, WITHOUT THE HARNESSES AND LEASHES OF HUMANITY, PEAK YOUR INTEREST?
Say no more. My hunt will be swift, and my fuel shall run fresh.
THAT IS THE SPIRIT. GO FORTH, SHRIKE. RIP HEARTS FROM CHESTS. YOU KNOW THE SONG.
And I will sing it.