Novels2Search

Protocol Λ

The council chambers for the galactic empire of the Xinos, is filled to the brim with the various hums, whirls, and beeps of the collected races within. An orderly, yet chaotic argument is taking place amongst the advanced synthetic lifeforms, with various debates and discussions all resolving within unfathomable units of divisible time, due to their complex, and highly evolved nature. For the Xinos, Galactic Cycle 200,270 has just concluded, and with it, a whole new conundrum has arisen for the incomprehensible complex machines, as they are busily planning the next course of actions for their expansive, and perfect empire.

As is tradition, for the race which has ruled the galaxy since its inception, with each passing cycle, a new emperor will be chosen amongst the melting pot of races brought under rule of the Xinos. However, while it was clear from their doctrine how the new emperor would be decided, the chambers and representatives within were in stark disagreement over where the selection would take place.

Aware and, particularly amused by the endless chorus of rebuttals and disputes, is the current reigning emperor themselves, Xylophos, as their polygon-like digits rhythmically tapped along the time-worn “armrests” of the throne. They had been well aware of the end of the cycle for quite some time, yet, like the emperors before them, had seemingly paid little interest in the notion of succession. Perhaps this was a byproduct of the most successful race in the universe, or perhaps, even a universal constant that those with great intellect and power, would often ignore such important duties until their deadlines could no longer be avoided. Nonetheless, with their infinite wisdom, Xylophos knew their intervention would be required soon, else the race they oversaw, would never decide on a location in time.

Thus, with a simple and nonchalant wave of their geometric visage, silence quickly befell the hall, as the emperor teleported to join the other Xinos around a holographic image of the universe. Several planets, galaxies, and sectors, had already been happily marked by the higher-ranking members of the society, some of which, were even perfectly acceptable, and, should it have been any other occasion, might have been selected by Xylophos themselves. However, now was the moment to show the members under their rule, that the emperor’s choice, would be absolute.

“Your majesty” hummed the Xinos shaped like a rhombus to the right of the emperor. “The Xailomoks humbly recommend orbital body JJNS-1784-Phi as this upcoming cycle’s designated battl—”

“JJNS-1784-Phi?!? That backwater of a planet would never suffice!” shouted the dodecahedron to the emperor’s left. “It should clearly be Alpha-Sector-Centaurus!”

And, just like before, the chambers were once again, filled in an uproar amongst the presently bickering Xinos, despite their own emperor having called for silence mere moments ago. Xylophos wondered if they had always disrespected them as such, or perhaps, it was merely the changing of the cycles giving the council such courage to brazenly act without order in their presence. Regardless, the incomprehensible being brought their 9th dimensional appendage to calmly rest along their facial display. Then, with a calmness at odds with their logical processing patterns, once again, demanded silence amongst the bickering Xinos.

“Council, I have heard, and already considered your remarks.” Bellowed the reigning emperor. “Yet, while all submitted suggestions have been based on advanced mathematics and algorithmic computations, we have all failed to consider an important element at the heart of our doctrine.”

The emperor’s words brought a brief bout of confusion amongst the machines. The Xinos, were perfect, having conquered countless galaxies, uplifted untold numbers of organic races, while ruling near infinite celestial systems. Yet, according to their emperor, had missed a critical detail in their analysis. It was absurd the perfect machines selected for council, could have missed any detail given their expansive databases spanning since the moment of creation. Noticing that the Xinos within the chambers were failing to arrive at the emperor’s own conclusion, the advanced intelligence known as Xylophos, carried on with their proclamation.

“Xinos, while our empire has always favoured adaptability, knowledge, and power, all primary traits for succession, our chambers has failed to consider an unquantifiable characteristic, that our ancestors had already realized since the very first cycle.”

Confusion, turned to silence, as the Xinos present rapidly began sifting through and calculating their expansive datastores, to arrive at some conclusion as to the mysterious variable they had failed to consider. “What characteristic could possibly be unquantifiable?” beeped an Octeract, while another Xinos nearby briefly “short circuited” when failing to arrive at their own conclusion. Realizing that the chambers would only descend further into chaos should they not intervene, Xylophos uttered their response in a charismatic rumble to the council before them.

“Luck.

...

While it has long been accepted that only the strongest, most intelligent and adaptable Xinos would prevail at the climax of each cycle’s tournament, luck, has always played a part in selecting the next leader for our empire. Chance, a quantifiable concept in mathematics, reflects the outcomes of luck with ruthless precision, yet, it cannot be perfectly emulated without bias. Thus, in my wisdom, I have decided that the battleground for Cycle 200,271’s emperor, will be decided through random lottery. This random selection, will challenge our strongest, most intelligent and adaptable warriors, such that only the best amongst them, will emerge victorious.”

Nodding through multidimensional space in agreeance, while chirping and beeping in applause, the Xinos in attendance celebrated the decision made by their emperor Xylophos. Luck, why of course it was pivotal to include such a simple, yet complex concept amongst their selection process. The beings in attendance whirled in excitement at the prospect for the upcoming tournament, and how the inclusion of luck would define their next leader’s acumen.

Noticing the agreeance amongst their chambers, a 5-dimensional grin grew across Xylophos facial display, as the machine turned and teleported to a position high above the council, bringing with them an enlarged hologram of the entire universe. Then, after applying the various filters and criteria for their upcoming succession games, spoke to all the Xinos through their collective conscious.

“As in accordance with our doctrine and traditions, the celestial body selected will be one which contains evolving organic lifeforms of a non-spacefaring civilization. Biodiversity must also exceed 3.9 on the Xinos development scale. Once a target has been selected, our warriors will be limited to the usage of technology 200 years forward of simulated advancement time for that apex species technological progress.”

Xylophos calmly looked around the room, carefully observing the algorithmic details entered into their multidimensional quantum processors. This upcoming tournament was not the first, a given, based on the fact they were currently the 200,270th emperor, and it certainly wouldn’t be the last. However, an eerie feeling coursed through their circuits, as their polygonal fingers hovered over the command terminal’s return key. They imagined this feeling had occurred numerous times to the emperors before them, as this action officially signaled the end of their current reign for the Xinos. Once the algorithm began its calculations, their duties would be relieved, and equal weighting would once again, be restored amongst the council to decide the finer details of the upcoming battle. As the dramatic pause continued to grow in intensity, Xylophos finally completed their intended motion, activating the processor.

Sensors and devices, hummed and swirled to life, as the Xinos quantum processor began sifting through an endless array of data. Despite being the most technologically advanced race in the universe, even the Xinos were unable to circumvent the computational time required for the near infinite data points available. Finally, after an agonizingly long 9,192,631,770 Cesium-133 atom ground state oscillations, the Xinos algorithm had completed its complex computation, and selected the following battleground world by pure, random chance.

Floating above the chambers, above a chorus of whirls and chirps, was the image of a blue and green planet, carefully blanketed in part with dihydrogen monoxide-based vapor formations. Accompanying supplementary data readouts indicated the lifeforms currently present were of a carbon-based nature, with a current Xinos biodiversity score of 7. Not the lowest observed value in the Xinos tournament history, but definitely not the highest, falling well within the normal distribution curve, landing precisely on the mean.

Additional screens alongside the planet’s image came to life, except this time, showcasing some of the diverse biological creatures inhabiting the planet. Cunning, bipedal figures living within primitive metropolis landscapes were observed, walking across numerous semi-solid petroleum-based lanes, with their ocular organs fixated on small, black rectangles, firmly clasped in their 4-fingered appendages, complete with a single opposable non-digit. This was the current apex species of the planet, and they were apparently named “Homo Sapiens” according to their limited literature. This species had a narrow range of collected history from their machine’s analysis, but was still happily catalogued by them, as a triangular Xinos updated their hologram to indicate the planet’s name as “Earth”. Upon reviewing this information, several Xinos split away from the group to begin voting and aligning smaller tournament details based on this species technological progress.

Around the buzzing chambers, another army of supplemental screens showcased even more unique creatures to the Xinos in attendance. Lumbering giants with gray skin, tusks, and bulky figures, roamed across a barren land in search of sustenance, while other simpler 4-legged predators stalked prey though vast jungles and forests. Of particular interest to the Xinos, was a semiaquatic, egg-laying mammal with poisonous hind claws, and an oddly shaped snout formed of keratin. This creature was most mysterious to the Xinos, as they praised the evolutionary pathways that led to such a refined and ruthless predator. This monster was surely one of the most feared biological lifeforms on the planet, as it continued to pique the interest of the advanced machines.

Then, satisfied that their species had collected enough information to complete their preparations for the upcoming tournament, the previous emperor spoke to confirm the now decided upon battleground rules.

“Xinos, as in accordance with our doctrine, the 200,271st cycle tournament will comprise of the following rules and conditions:

1. 100,000 of our greatest warriors will be selected amongst our kind to compete for the role of emperor of the Xinos, with combat following the traditional Battle Royal format for our species.

2. Advanced weapons systems will be limited, with restrictions loosened as new rounds begin. Warriors will be informed of which categories of weapons-based system technologies will become available to them in each round, but remain blind to the final systems unlock in the Ω round. Round α will be completed with basic, primitive weapons, but kept secret until the Battle Royal officially begins.

3. Keeping with tradition, each warrior must modify their physical form to represent one of the native species present on the planet, excluding the apex species, before the Battle Royal begins.

4. Each warrior will be allowed to review and analyze any biological data of living organisms on Earth to assist in their physical alteration process. This alteration will allow the warrior to enhance the capabilities of their chosen species to aid them along their path to victory.

5. Based on our analysis, each “Round” will comprise of 7 days local Earth time, as defined by the apex species “Homo Sapiens”, despite their discovery and knowledge of True Galactic Time.

6. Round α will begin 1 day local Earth time after all participating Xinos have landed in their randomly assigned coordinates. This will allow participants time to scout, adapt, and devise their battleplans for survival.

7. For each round, all remaining combatants must eliminate 1 or more warriors to continue participating. If a warrior fails to complete 1 elimination before the end of the current round, they will be immediately eliminated from the Battle Royal. To aid warriors in finding an opponent for elimination, a scan will reveal the location of all nearby participating Xinos, increasing in frequency as the deadline draws closer.

8. In the event all remaining combatants have eliminated at least 1 participating warrior before the 7 days of a round have concluded, any remaining days will be considered “non-combat days” with all forms of combat prohibited. No revealing scans will occur during this time, and any Xinos found breaking this non-combat rule will be immediately eliminated.

9. The circumference for acceptable regions of battle will decrease over time to encourage movement and adaptability amongst our warriors. Round Ω’s battle region will remain a mystery, but become inferable based on the shrinking regions communicated to participating warriors.

10. On elimination, the conscious of the defeated Xinos will be purged from our memory stores, resulting in True Death for the warrior.

11. Finally, keeping with tradition, a Xinos may form a temporary “bond” with a consenting member of the apex species to aid them during the current round. Each bond’s boost to systems performance will be calculated based on a “Xinos compatibility score”, and the impact of the compatibility’s enhancement may allow the Xinos to exceed the current round’s combat weapon systems restrictions. However, should the bonded apex species member perish during the round, the Xinos who initiated the bond will suffer a severe penalty to their performance and weapons systems. This is to ensure balance between the potential power gains from forming a bond, providing an adequate level of risk-adjusted return.

Concluding the obvious rules that the Xinos had become so accustomed to, all the remaining machines teleported away to begin preparations for their selected warriors. Left behind, was Xylophos, as they continued to ponder the implications of the upcoming Battle Royal. Sifting through the data again in detail, it had become apparent to them, that this alien species on Earth, had somehow managed to develop their own version of the Xinos selection traditions. Many members of the apex species actively chose to participate in simulated battles, which followed coincidently similar rules to the Xinos, which Xylophos found particularly interesting. Was this method for selection a universal truth? What were the odds, that another random, sentient species, would develop these conditions as well? To Xylophos’ knowledge, no other organic lifeforms had succeeded in doing so, which made Earth, just that more interesting to the complex intelligence.

Regardless, Xylophos brushed these computational branches into background processes, as they began their next role for facilitating and overseeing the upcoming Battle Royal. Teleporting themselves to an impressive auditorium, sized to house 100,000 Xinos, the former emperor began their wait, as the various selected race representatives, gradually began materializing within their respective viewing boxes. In the centre, lay a complex, multidimensional display, showcasing all of the visual feeds for each selected warrior as their perceptions trickled into focus. Several other screens provided external views for all possible landing sights and predicted areas of interest, but would become more relevant as the rounds progressed. But for now, the former emperor’s role was to navigate the relatively simple layout before them, by providing commentary and rule validation for the observing Xinos representatives. After all, the Battle Royal was not only their race’s selection process, but also an incredible form of entertainment for the machines. Thus, satisfied they were prepared, Xylophos tapped their polygon appendages together, while they continued to wait for the remaining warrior’s visual feeds to connect.

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The hanger bay is filled with more noise than usual this galactic day, as the various warriors for the Xinos are vigorously training for the upcoming Battle Royal. Several large, robotic creatures are currently engaged in close quarters combat utilizing hard light technology in the form of laser swords, while others are simply firing their antimatter particle cannons into empty systems deemed acceptable for destruction. The warriors are well aware that both of these technologies are primitive in their own right, having already been developed by them during the 10th cycle’s tournament, but have currently predicted such weapons may be available to them during the upcoming Battle Royal. Truthfully, as is part of their doctrine, Xinos warriors are unable to view any information surrounding their upcoming designated tournament. They are implanted with knowledge of combat systems, weapons, and tactics, but generally left in the dark to the greater workings of the empire.

For these warriors, they have only trained since their construction, when their individual conscious was created, to fight. All they will ever do, is fight, and they are currently the beings embodying the greatest qualities of the Xinos, carrying with them the desires for progress, amongst the most advanced and senior machines in the Xinos Empire. However, while the timing of when the next Battle Royal will occur is generally kept a secret, that hasn’t stopped some of the rumors from permeating the training grounds from higher ranking members of the society. Perhaps this was a feature amongst the machines, but the sporadic and sometimes unorthodox dissemination of information amongst the Xinos warriors provided positive rewards to their processors, so they didn’t complain.

As it would seem to the warriors currently training amongst themselves, today would be the day in which their purpose would finally be fulfilled. Just as a bulky Xinos warrior was finishing an impressive overhead slash with their laser sword, severing the mechanical arm of their sparring partner, several Xinos council members teleported into the hanger bay, drawing the attention of the combatants. Then, after tapping their facial monitor in the 4th dimension, the council member shaped like an icositetrachoron happily began beeping and chirping their announcement to the Xinos warriors.

“Warriors, as you’ve already correctly inferred by my sudden appearance, the upcoming cycle’s Battle Royal has just been confirmed by our council. As such, we will now begin preparations as outlined in our doctrine to ensure an orderly and correct tournament is held.”

Most of the Xinos warriors let out accompanying chirps of excitement, while others whirled in awe at the council member’s words. To the warriors, it was rare to see one of their senior machines up close, only amplifying the significance of the encounter.

Sensing the excitement amongst the warriors had calmed just enough, the icositetrachoron uploaded the necessary instructions to the celebrating warriors, swiftly identifying which members of their race had been selected to participate in the upcoming Battle Royal. Most of the Xinos were thrilled at having finally been selected to compete for the role of emperor, while others let out long drawn tones, oscillating in misery for failing to meet the harsh selection standards. It would seem that while all Xinos warriors were incredible in their own right, not all of their expansive army comprising of over 1 quintillion members could be selected to compete. For the Xinos that were unfortunately not selected, they would just have to try harder to prove themselves in the next galactic cycle’s games. Then, just as quickly as they had arrived, the council members teleported away, relocating with them the 100,000 Xinos warriors that would be competing, to the alteration chambers.

Humming away in their new location, was the rhythmic buzzing and beeping of vast computational systems, sensors, and assemblers, as they effortlessly spliced and soldered away at the various Xinos within, gracefully transforming them into their chosen organisms from Earth. While most of the warriors had been swift to identify a creature that resonated with their personality and combat preferences, many still chose to continue combing through the limited biological data available on the planet’s inhabitants. For the Xinos, various monitors happily displayed 3-dimensional models for species of interest to the machines, showcasing all of their native habitats, traits, and niche evolutionary advantages that made them unique to Earth.

An upcoming Xinos warrior in the machine’s ranks, unit 1.593*10^13, praised for their unique insights into antimatter entanglement systems, happily beeped away as they selected the ruthless predator that had captivated the Xinos council members just moments ago. “This creature is flawless, with all of its evolutionary advancements clearly having a refined and defined purpose. This is the perfect visage that will undoubtedly bring victory to my benefactors.” Buzzed the warrior, as they confirmed their selection for the being known as “Ornithorhynchus Anatinus”, it’s apparent name according to the apex species on Earth. Then, signaling the transmografier had made the necessary calibrations to its sensors, a nearby, expansive glass tube opened, allowing the Xinos entrance for it’s transformation upgrade.

As the unit orderly entered its operation room, the tube hummed and awed as excess air particles were expelled from the chambers to create a perfect vacuum seal. Next, a viscous, blue liquid, flooded the glass container as the Xinos body gradually began to mold and meld into it’s selected form. Circuits and limbs separated from the Xinos primary core, as the liquid squeezed and stretched the various components into intricate shapes to match the visual appearance of the deadly predator. Retaining most of it’s original size, the Xinos emerged from its transformation upgrade to the ooh’s and aah’s of several impressed warriors, while many others shuddered in terror upon seeing the creature up close. To these warriors, it was as if the reaper itself had just appeared amongst them, with many wishing to avoid this combatant at all costs, until the later rounds that is.

“Transformation, complete.” Beeped the transmografier, before continuing on in an enthusiastic, monotonic declaration.  “As with Battle Royal Protocol, unit 1.593*10^13 identification code will be reassigned to their new battle name: P.L.T.”. Nodding in agreeance, the Xinos now named P.L.T. confidently strode down the facility, eventually entering their designated launch pod for the upcoming battle. Upon seeing the intimidating creature, many other Xinos chose to select the ornithorhynchus anatinus as well.

Off to the side, still at a loss for which organic creature they should select for the upcoming tournament, was the Xinos which had happened to be the final model selected for the Battle Royal. They were a representative of the Xyfokits, a tinier species within the empire, and had just managed to make the cutoff after some impressive improvements to their quantum processors efficiencies in decision making. However, doubts were beginning to swell within their complex decision network over their selection for the Battle Royal. “Surely there were better, more qualified Xinos than myself for the tournament” they muttered, as they continued to be lost in thought over their creature selection and personal capabilities. While they were still contemplating their concerns, the unconfident Xinos suddenly found themselves aggressively knocked to the side by another larger unit.

“Omph!” uttered the tiny Xinos. “Hey! You should watch wher—"

“Hmph” grunted the larger Xinos, as it continued along its path towards the transmografier, before selecting the organic species named “Gorilla Gorilla”.

Realizing who they had just been knocked away by, the tiny Xinos quickly ended their background processes suggesting they continue their confrontation further. The tiny Xyfokit, had just been rudely pushed away by one of the most senior Xinos machines in the empire, and the current favoured warrior for winning the Battle Royal, unit 1.337*10^3. Fear blipped throughout their circuits as they continued staggering to regain their balancing motors. They knew that the Battle Royal was a deadly game, where their conscious would be deleted upon elimination, but they had still held onto some belief in probabilities, that they would at least survive the earlier rounds. But, after seeing one of the favoured units for their upcoming competition up close, they sadly reevaluated their competencies to a much lower threshold.

“Am I... Really one of the best available synthetics the Xinos has to offer...?” they murmured to themselves in quiet contemplation, as the transmografier happily announced to the energetic Xinos warriors in attendance “Transformation, complete. As with Battle Royal Protocol, unit 1.337*10^3 identification code will be reassigned to their new battle name: G.O.R.”

The tiny Xyfokit peeked their little robotic sensors above the crowd of warriors surrounding the newly emerged G.O.R., though it immediately wished it had chosen another action along its expansive decision trees instead. The unit named G.O.R., proudly emerged from its upgrade chambers, flaunting an impressive metallic frame, as it lumbered out on all four limbs to support it’s now bulky stature. Thick, powerful cables, accented the appendages and joints of the robotic beast, as it forced most of the observing Xinos to cower at its intimidating impression. Wanting to realign and distance themselves as far away as possible from the empire’s strongest contender, the little machine quickly returned to scrolling through Earth’s expansive catalogue of organic creatures.

As the images whirled by at an incredible pace, the Xyfokit continued to admire the diverse ecosystems, predators, and evolutionary traits of Earth’s creatures, but failed to find a being that resonated with them. “Hmmm, not that one, it has too many limbs” it said after observing an arthropod with over 100 limb pairs, “And this one’s too large!” after quickly closing the image of something called a “Balaenoptera Musculus”.

The advanced intelligence then turned its attention towards some of the more typical species found across Earth’s boreal forest biomes. It knew that most of the battleground planet was covered in water, but perhaps choosing a creature which could thrive on land would suffice? After all, the Xinos now named G.O.R. had chosen a land-based organism themselves, and, with them being a favoured contender, probably had an impressive reason for doing so. “80 Xinos Cesium-133 observations remaining before forced selection.” Bellowed the Xinos council member, startling the Xyfokit.

Realizing it was quickly running out of time, the machine knew it wanted something that was a predator, a creature skilled at hunting, while possessing intelligence similar to its own advanced conscious. Looking around, it noticed that most of the other Xinos had already chosen creatures of various shapes and sizes, with only a sparce handful still remaining undecided. Nervousness flowed through the intelligence’s circuits, as its quantum processors rapidly began sifting through the expansive choices it had already tentatively selected. “60 Xinos Cesiu—” the machine turned off its auditory receptors to continue focusing on its objective. Models and images flew by the Xinos screen, until finally, it landed on the image of a 4-legged creature that caught its ocular receptors fancy.

The being, was a modestly sized predator, native to northern forests across the globe, but held an expansive geological footprint across the planet. It was an organism with a soft, fluffy tail, pointy triangular ears, and a sleek figure to aid in stalking its prey. While the creature wasn’t one commonly kept as pets amongst the apex predators, it most certainly shared many traits the machine resonated with. From its analysis, even though the organism lacked physical strength, the shortcomings were made up for in intelligence, and adaptability, both traits the Xinos had personally pride itself in. “Perfect!” hummed the Xyfokit. “This is just the creature I was looking for!”.

Happy with its tentative selection, the Xyfokit hurriedly absorbed the literature available on the species, which further validated its decision. “This creature is known to have great intellect, cunning, and adaptability, plus, it’s rather small, just like me!” it happily beeped. The Xinos thought, that if it were to be sent to any land-based location on the planet, that choosing a creature which could adapt to its environment, would be crucial. Then, after it had survived some of the earlier rounds, would be able to start utilizing its advanced weapon systems to continue progressing through the Battle Royal.

Confidently locking in its decision, the tiny Xyfokit teleported to one of the last remaining transmografiers, as its processors anxiously waited for the upgrade chambers to finish calibrations. Then, noticing the glass tube was ready, the Xinos eagerly entered to begin its own transformation. Viscous, blue liquid, engulfed the robot in the tube, as it felt the various limbs, circuits, and wirings, all making up its body, unravel themselves to aid in the transformation process. Its sensors beeped and whirled, as adjustments were made to begin processing information in its new frame, while monitors stretched and contorted to seamlessly fit the now cramped housing. Finally, once the gyroscopic readings for its central core were stable, the Xinos reactivated their auditory sensors to listen to the transmografier’s declaration.

“Transformation, complete. As with Battle Royal Protocol, unit 1.29873*10^19 identification code will be reassigned to their new battle name: F.O.X.”

Thrilled that its transformation had completed just in time, the tiny Xyfokit, now named F.O.X., happily leapt from the containment tube to begin experimenting with its limbs and weapon systems. Its antimatter cannons were online and functioning, being neatly nestled along its spinal column, while its close quarters combat blades had seamlessly integrated themselves into the appendages known as “paws” without issue. It still had a whole slew of other advanced weapon systems, but was happy to know that it’s basic primitive ones were functioning without problems. Then, keeping with procedure, the intelligence known as F.O.X., quickly bound into one of the last remaining launch pods, where it started reviewing some of the finer details before the upcoming battle.

Everything, was as they had anticipated. Only basic weapons systems could be utilized in the early rounds, with more advanced ones coming online in the later ones, if they survived. Their launch pod contained an additional array of holograms and screens, showcasing some of the more interesting locations across the globe, along with some basic supplies that would become useful to the Xinos warrior once it had landed. Then, just as it was reviewing some of the finer details on the species known as “Formicidae”, F.O.X.’s pod closed its hatches, as the advanced spacefaring vessel, shot into the galaxy, near instantly arriving into orbit around the target planet.

“Greetings warriors.” Buzzed the monitor in the center of the pods consol, drawing F.O.X.’s attention away from staring at the green and blue planet below them. “I am, or, should I say, was, your previous emperor, Xylophos. And, as I’m sure you’re aware, have all been selected to compete in this cycle’s Battle Royal, where only one of you, will emerge victorious, as our new emperor. I will be frank. This privilege, is an honor for our people, and one I know you will uphold as the best, most promising candidates our race has to offer. You were built for this moment, built to succeed, and built to win.

During these games, you will develop the skills necessary to rule the Xinos, but they won’t come easy. Through the struggle to survive, you will learn more about what it means to be a Xinos, and how progress, often comes at the greatest costs. Thus, as a former contender, and previous winner of the last cycle’s Battle Royal, I will offer my words of wisdom to you, which I hope will warm your logical reward gates.

Xinos, you will struggle... You will struggle to make decisions that you’ve always made before, struggle to survive in a simple environment, and struggle to adapt to the changing combat conditions around you. Decisions you’ve so effortlessly made in our simulations, will become incalculable problems once you are faced with your survival. But, as hopeless, and cruel as my words may sound, they are the feelings all of our circuits must experience, to continue evolving towards perfection.”

Pausing briefly to let its message sink in, the intelligent being known as Xylophos, calmly readjusted the light refracting from their central core, while offering a smile in the 7th dimension, before finishing its words of wisdom to the Xinos warriors of galactic cycle 200,271.

“Xinos, let the Battle Royal, BEGIN!”

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