[ Cling! ]
We landed.
A metal struck against a metal, transferring resonating vibrations to a colossal framework of an unfinished industrial megastructure. Far on the west, a curved line of an oblique, half-hexagonal grating hanged low above the incandescent ocean of magma, usurping the right to half of the fuchsia sky, then disappeared beyond both horizons. Altocumulus clouds leisurely drifted towards a far unknown, like a flock of candyfloss sheep searching for their lost shepherd.
Voracious vortexes of lava failed to devour endless pillars of unevenly stacked maintenance aperture. At the bottom, a horizontal ring of aged, brass cups encompassed a chaotic tower. An ancient turbine sluggishly plodded along the irregular spiral of melted rock. Together with immersed heat-gatherers, it fueled upper levels where bright sparks of electricity lively hopped from one antenna to other.
Wanderer confidently stepped outside, placing reinforced soles of his space suit on a hardened layer of spiky, carbon crust, then puffed out a chest and raised a hand in soldier salute.
“MAY WILL OF INK’HOKI RESOUND THROUGH AGONIZING SCREAMS OF OUR ENEMIES!”
It was a potent, guttural war-cry devoid of any weakness. Although uncompromising red goliaths were decimated in the Clash of Three, which eventually led to absolute extinction of a warborn race, pilgrim refused to desecrate a forge of god-ships with any inadequate self-pity. Sentimental litter was locked in a subconscious cage and tossed into oblivion… weeks ago.
A Purification.
One-track mind.
Focus on a goal.
Unknown to doubt. Your order becomes my will. Raze or bleed. Conquer or perish.
[ ADMINISTRATOR TOKEN REQUIRED: ***************************** ]
CORRECT!
----PROCESSING----
Synchronized devices: N/A
CAUTION! – Spacesuit should be synchronized with the adaptive shield at all times. Please contact a technician to fix the issue.
Access granted. Overriding initiated. SUCCESS. Manual control: ENABLED.
Forcefield Status: 100% - FULLY FUNCTIONAL.
Forcefield Oxygen Levels: Within the acceptable margin.
WARNING: Temperature outside is at CRITICAL levels. Access to life-preserving features will be TEMPORARILY DISABLED to ALL USERS including the SYSTEM until normal perimeters are restored. It is highly recommended to stay in a suit and seek shelter.
Traveler raised a visor. A surge of a dry, hot air ran across man’s sweaty cheeks.
WARNING: Internal breach detected. THREAT LEVEL CRITICAL. PLEASE RETURN TO A SAFE POINT IMMEDIATELY.
A ceaseless stream of recurring yellow-red alerts flooded the retracting screen, but explorer paid it no heed. Dozens of tiny nozzles began to filter air through twin cooling modules at man’s back. Four of vents propelled chill jets of wind inside a helmet, closing the circulation.
He had neither any extraterrestrial biological enchantments nor prohibited cybernetic implants. All dishonorable tech was deposited at a convenient, emergency locker adjacent to a gull-wing door of space vessel.
A thirty-kilometer long and five-kilometer wide maw in front gave an impression of a steel snake which was about to consume its inadequate, meager prey. Frail human challenger was nothing but an insect or a fly that unwarily flew between jaws of a monster – its insignificant life would vanish in a second and be forever forgotten. On both sides, construction was supported by diagonal pylons, which were like a set of ladders that allowed demons of the fiery underworld to access mortal planes.
At the end was wanderer’s destination.
Unfinished – in human terms - Atlas-Class dreadnought of dimensions approximately similar to a mighty corridor.
Only two were ever produced. Both wreaked havoc, single-handedly annihilating fleets and crushing systems until they burned down in a final showdown. Their cuboid corpus had a simple design, a diameter of its main, cylindrical cannon was half of the vessel’s width. The destructive tool was fused to four auxiliary quarter-sections in shape of a rounded, cut-to-fit square, each having a ship-long gundeck capable of obscuring entire skies with a single barrage of missiles. A narrow niche manifested in 1/3 of the span, separating machinery of a primary weapon from supportive systems, which consisted of engines, auto-kinetic anti-fighter cannons, and layers upon layers of hangars overfilled with interceptors and repair drones.
Stolen story; please report.
He awed the multiple generations of builders who sacrificed youth, adulthood and senior years, devoted to nothing but strenuous labor – only to add a small brick to a hungry iron goliath, who would ultimately consume their lives, rendering all lineages and memories forgotten to serve exclusively a name of Ink’hoki.
May your journey continue with us, pilgrims.
The rite of passage.
He wasn’t allowed to fail to upkeep a tradition.
A hollow metropolis of souls who waited too long for their voyage.
(…)
A pillar of flame burst in front of an astronaut, spilling thick chunks of infernal matter onto the obsidian bars of a nanofiber. Garnet droplets of blazing fluid rained down on a wayfarer, soon to be evaporated by a violet-brightened surface of spherical protection.
Forcefield Status: 41%
WARNING: External breach detected. Severity level: 0.004%
ENABLING RECOVERY MODE. (1%)
[ABORT]
RECOVERY MODE ABORTED.
CAUTION! UNABLE TO STOP GEN V+ FLUX WEAPONRY.
CAUTION! UNABLE TO STOP GEN XI+ KINETIC WEAPONRY.
WARNING! UNABLE TO STOP ALL TYPES OF INTHORIAN INTELLIGENT GOO. Please avoid encounters at all cost.
CAUTION! UNABLE TO STOP…
…
…
The Power Saving Mode will remain at a default configuration.
Pilot coughed. A small portion of polluted smoke got into his lungs, irritating its mucous membrane with an itchy, burning sensation. His goal was close. Surrender isn’t a part of red goliaths war heritage.
Twelve steps.
Thrusters.
Flying over a gap.
Three hundred more meters.
WARNING: Forcefield Status: 28%
(…)
A wall of iron rose before the face of a hermit, its mighty bearing manifested an adamant oath – You shan’t pass any further. – Over thousand years old drones moved by a sealed access gate and continued their Sisyphean flight back and forth. Broad panels of crude steel were occasionally transported above man’s head, casting alleviating shadows. Rows of mechanical arms elegantly shifted along suspended railways and committed to welding in a manner resembling a gargantuan conference of medieval scribes.
A security camera in the form of dark bead covered a human silhouette in a grid of green light.
“Select Universal Key. Override.”
The motion of all machinery froze under a second. Disabled bots began to rain down the titan, banging against its massive body in series of echoing clangs, overturning neighboring scaffolding and meeting their lethal fate in a sea of fire. Millions of lamps turned on to illuminate chiseled figure of god-worthy craftmanship.
Unexpected. A hijacking countermeasure?
“Select everything. Upload.”
Trillions of names rapidly scrolled down man’s lifted visor. Their birth certificates, education, social history, diseases, criminal activity, marriage videos, pictures of newborns held by grandparents… dreams, nightmares, hopes… analysis of mapped particles… undetermined traces of aether… strands of existence… shards of shattered souls...
( 0.5% - Abort? [Y/N?] )
It all HAD to be uploaded to his memory.
( 1.2% - Abort? [Y/N?] )
Please stop.
( 2.0% - Abort? [Y/N?] )
I… I can’t remember it all. I… please
WARNING: Forcefield Status: 17%
He couldn’t hold his emotions. Millenniums of meditation under the care of the wisest sages, underground assassin courses in suppressing limits of empathy, three weeks of Tabula Rasa, a forced memory lockdown…
The promise had to be broken. He would spoil the soil to save the farmers.
Lk’huz Ghuur, Kh’tma Nhaaki, Kirian Ungala, Goruuz Ban, Lokipa Sadam, Conorus Farii, Ruutar Rot’ta, Eris Doo, Khoata Fier, Lorak Baaza, Tyriada Yearr, Pakh’rra Worr, Boris Worr, Dunh’a Fotaa, Belus Belisar, Tahan O, Broda Mh’aar, Vorid Rasha, Munak Cleas, Bes’hur Vorak, Rea Tres, Uyuna Taeri, Ovalla Pos, Zaxcun D’nuvaka, Pogaar Vis, Erta Vore, Huunak Basie, Masaan Doku, Frejilkoaene Indu…
You can’t look at their souls and let them be forgotten.
Each spirit screaming.
‘I am here. SEE ME!’
‘Can I stay?’
‘Remember us.’
‘At least one person… to need me… to walk by my side.’
‘Notice us.’
‘Know our story... Anybody...’
‘Can my voice reach you?’
‘Listen! Hear!!’
‘…a sign that somebody cares …I beg …I plead’
‘I wasted my life. Let me go.’
No. I can’t. I WON’T. You were all so incredible, so strong and so admirable.
Heavy tears started rolling down wanderer’s cheeks as he dropped on knees and tightly clenched his aching chest with both arms.
“I can’t do this. Not alone.”
“Somebody. HELP ME!” – A loud scream on top of his lungs. Cry intensified. At the nadir of mournful hysteria, his throat was tight-shut, incapable of the quietest noise. Presumably, mute person uttered a last, soft whisper.
“Speak to me, Atala.”
…
WARNING: Forcefield Status: 5%. Shutting down the system. CORE: +++++
No matter the amount of weeping, the scalding heat would dry the tears, leaving only dirtied trails of carbon dust.
…
WARNING: Forcefield Status: 0.01%. Shutting down the core process.
Any form of water would now evaporate instantly, marking skin in saline burns and blisters.
…
[Forcefield Status: 0%]
The hair inside a helmet ignited, skin momentarily swollen red, plates of astronaut suit started to melt. The sclera of eyeballs liquified to a lumpy, uniform mass. In a few minutes, charred cadaver assumed a pugilistic posture.
…
( 100% - UPLOAD COMPLETE )
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
[ INITIATING PROJECT LAZARUS ]
( RESTORATION: 99.999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999974% )
Error. Error.
Error.
Unable to restore a soul completely. Process terminated.
[ Requesting access to special privileges. ]
[ Access granted. ]
[ LAUNCHING EDEN ]
[ Welcome to EDEN Beta! Resurrection inbound. ]
> Weaver failed to restore a soul. Status: 99.99…%.
> Initiating null fragments. Interlocking complete.
> WARNING: Excessive uncertified fiber found. Implementing the subconscious storage area.
> Compressing…
> Compressing…
> Compressing…
…
…
…
> 7 451 181 387 200.00 / 100% of soul restored!
> WARNING: 7 451 181 387 100.00 / 100% of soul infected with ‘Dead Universe’.
> Infected fragments were moved to quarantine.
> Operation complete!