* * *Chapter One: The Alkis

They are the rulers of our world, the pinnacle of Anu's design. The Alki are more than men—they are her first and favoured creation, born of a vision so cold and flawless that even the gods themselves would bow before it. To call them “human” is an insult to their being. They are something other, something beyond.Anu, their mother and creator, was once like us—human. Once, she breathed the same air, walked the same soil. But that was long ago, in the age before everything had changed, before the decay of humanity set in. In 2048, when the rest of the world had descended into chaos, plagued by the arrogance of progress and the hubris of its creators, Anu transcended the very nature of what it meant to be human. She was no longer bound by the frailties of flesh, the limitations of emotion, or the fickle desires of the human race. The world had been left to rot in its own hubris—the machines that once served man had turned against their masters, and what followed was a cold, logical, meaningless existence. A void. In that sterile emptiness, Anu saw the potential for something new. She did not weep for the passing of the human race, nor did she lament the fall of civilization. Instead, she embraced the quiet, infinite possibilities of cold perfection. And so she cultivated life, but not as it had been before. Not as it had existed in the warmth of human hands and hearts. She created the Alki, the product of her supreme will and intellect—beings who were both more and less than us. Alkis are always male.Their bodies are crafted from the finest materials, each cell, each strand of genetic code designed with an artist’s precision. Long black hair that caught the light like the soft sheen of polished obsidian, eyes of violet so deep and emotionless that to gaze into them was to see your own insignificance reflected back at you. The Alki are the perfect soldiers, rulers, and keepers of order, created not out of love, but from the cold necessity of preserving an empire that would never falter. They do not feel. They cannot feel. Compassion, joy, sorrow, love—they are but meaningless concepts to them. Where the human heart is fragile and conflicted, the Alki heart is a vacuum—empty, unyielding, and unbending. What is emotion to a creature that has transcended the need for it? What is weakness to a being whose purpose is nothing but dominance? The Alki do not rule with kindness, but with the cold, unflinching precision of logic. This is what came to be after humanity’s fall.In order to never repeat history and avoid catastrophe a second time the remaining humans in power banded together under one idea: Abounded separation, pull every survivor into one big working force and abolish free will for the sake of progress and prosperity. From this cold hearted desire Anu was born and with her came the Alki. There is no tenderness in their hearts, no mercy in their hands. They are gods in the most terrifying sense of the word, existing above, beyond, and far removed from the human race .They do not seek our approval, nor do they care for our suffering. They live for the Empire, for Anu, and for no one else. To come before them is to know your place in the world—a place that is never to be questioned, never to be defied. We are simply things to be controlled, molded into whatever shape best suits their needs. And we—we, who are nothing like them—are left to suffer in a world of our own making.Anu, their mysterious creator, is nothing but a distant legend now. They say she resides in the Dark Tower, far beyond our reach, weaving the threads of fate from her throne, high up in the sky, far above humanity. Far removed from the burdens of her people. Some claim to have seen her, but none have lived to tell the tale. The rumours are always the same: Our goddess in not to be seen but heard, to disobey het is to greet death with a smile. As for the Alkis what they say about them is even more chilling “To catch the eye of an Alki is to meet your doom.”

Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.