It had been hours since Diggix hid beneath the rock; there was plenty of space for him to move, but it was extremely dark and moist. The hole was an entrance to some kind of tunnel Diggix was not prepared to explore further. It had all the worm-like creature characteristics, and if the Fargesrats were so aggressive towards him, the worms would be far worse. The last thing he wanted was to run into one of those.

Diggix could not detect any sound or movement coming from the outside after a thorough scan of the environment outside the hole. Although for a good length of time before, Diggix heard the Fargesrats dig and scurry around the area trying to locate him, it took them some time before they realized their prey had escaped before they disappeared. Diggix never had the opportunity to properly study how the creatures hunted or why they would attack him; it was as much a mystery as the rest of the forests were.

Diggix slowly began to dig himself out; the soil was incredibly soft. A hand full after handful, he dug until the dim light of the undergrowth broke through. The little robot could feel how the soil had entered his joints and how it was making it difficult for him to move. Finally, he was out; he stood up straight and inspected his surroundings to see any dangers. With little success, he tried to shake and brush the soil from his joints; it was fine and very moist. The only way Diggix realized how he would remove the sand was through a proper wash back at the Citadel. However, there was no time for that; he had to push on in his mission.

Diggix looked up at the small gaps between the trees above him to locate the sun; it must have been around midday; the sun seemed very high and broke through the canopy easier than before. The Fargesrats were gone; the forest was its usual noisiness, and there was no movement around him. So Disoriented, the little robot tried to make out where he had gone; there was no real way of telling what direction he ran into; all the little robot knew was that he had just chosen a path away from the aggressive creatures and ran as fast as he could.

Very faintly, Diggix could hear a humming sound; he couldn’t understand what it was or where it was coming from. Adjusting his audio receptors to various levels, he seemed to not get rid of the sound. Immediately dismissing it as some kind of damage to his audio receptors, he turned from side to side and looked around to determine in which direction the sound was coming from. Finally, he could trace the direction, it was very distinct, and there was no mistake. Diggix followed the sound, extremely curious as to what it was, though he remained cautious about the dangers lurking.

The jungle grew thick again; the undergrowth made it extremely difficult for the robot to move around. The trees grew denser, too; closer to the opening in the forest, the trees were spaced out further from each other. Above Diggix, he could no longer see beams of light breaking through the trees; the tree line was too thick to allow in any light. If it wasn’t for the torchlights within his visual receptors, he would not have been able to explore these dark areas of the forest.

After journeying for a few hours, Diggix finally found the source of the strange sound. It was louder now; it sounded much like brass tubes vibrating after being struck by a metal object. However, it was far more beautiful than random. He took a moment to admire the beautiful sounds resonating into all directions of the jungle. It was calming to his circuits and it began to charge his crystal within his chest by a very small amount.

The sounds came from stone pillars randomly placed in an open section of the jungle, the sunlight lit up the area brightly, and there seemed to be way less fog around the ruins. On closer inspection, Diggix found that the pillars too had strange blue engravings on them, the same engravings found on the ruins he was carrying.

Walking closer to the nearest pillar, Diggix placed his hand on it; with his sensors on his hands, he could feel the post was vibrating. Strange enough, the sound resonating from it was no louder than being a few feet away from them. The pillar’s texture was also weird, it had a rough surface like a palm tree, however to the eyes it seemed smooth; the strange texture could only be felt by Diggix’s sensitive sensors.

The sound around him intensified slightly, the wind picked up. The sound turned to a gentle melody he had never heard before; it managed to calm Diggix and lessen his processing speed. The blue encryptions on the pillar began to pulsate, and words could almost be heard spoken by the pillars. It was unlike anything the little robot had ever experienced.

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Trying to understand what the pillars were saying, Diggix listened closely; words were playing, but it was in a language he did not understand. He placed his index finger inside one of the grooves of the blue lines; it was warmer than expected. He slid his finger following the line, and to his amazement, the stone spoke to him.

“Many have traveled here but failed to find what they seek; those who seek power will find it.”

It was a female voice, one he rarely heard around the Citadel. Most of the monks he dealt with were all males and had strong, demanding voices. This voice, however, was soft and gave his audio receptors a calming effect he did not know before. Slowly he continued to slide his finger with the engraving, and more words could be heard.

“We are those of old wishing to teach those who seek power; we await the one who will free us from our eternal prison.”

Diggix ensured he recorded every word he heard; he felt these were crucial to himself as a developing machine. His consciousness had grown since he reawakened, and his quest was to discover the world around him and who he was within the grand scheme of life.

Though machines constructed him to serve a singular purpose, his biochip allowed him to become more than that. Although he quickly realized that those in Thanatos’s employ used him to their own ends, he still embraced it, a worthy cause there were no other as such. Dealing with the threat that was Thanatos was a noble cause that Diggix could agree with and freely offer himself as a key part in a greater plan.

It was an unlikely occurrence that Diggix was the one to stumble upon these strange alien pillars; he wondered if anyone else ever stumbled upon them. He knew if Thanatos found them, they would have been placed in the Citadel for further research. Yet, Diggix felt that he could not get himself to report these pillars within his functions.

“We have discovered the Void, and it has discovered us. We must teach those who journey to wield its power if we wish to be released. Tell me, traveler are you worthy of wielding absolute power?”

It was a direct question to Diggix; it caught him off guard, forcing him to remove his finger from the blue engraving. The first thought that came to mind was that he was not worthy; he did not possess the ability nor the capacity to wield any form of power. He was only a robot, unable to do the things only a human could. So he dismissed the question as a rhetorical question asked by the ancient inscription.

Slowly he placed his finger on the blue inscription and slid it with the pattern. A voice echoed from the middle of all the pillars, Diggix turned quickly to investigate. A glowing entity had appeared amongst them, almost disappearing in the sharp sunlight.

“You are humble enough to admit that you are not worthy. For you are a machine with a consciousness far advanced than any other of your kind. Thus we deem you worthy of wielding unlimited power. Travel to the Transcendental Stones deep in the forest and commune with them to start your journey to complete sentience. You have been chosen to embark on a special journey by The Nihil to cleanse the universe from the evils it contains.”

Diggix took his hand away from the engraving and saw that the entity had not disappeared. Slowly he walked closer to her to inspect the essence of this being. When he reached close enough to see what she was, he realized she was just a hologram.

“Little robot, you might think that we are pre-recorded messages, but I assure you we are not. We are the trapped, the priests of Nivshevus, the bringer of darkness, the master of deception. He cast us into these stones to be imprisoned for a million years only to be released by one wielding the Nihil. The one that will release us treads upon this planet, and we believe you will find him for us and bring him here. We can see the future; we know what you will become, how you will save the universe from itself.”

Diggix looked around, he tried to process the words of this being, but he barely understood what she was saying. He did not know of any mysterious power other than that displayed by Izzar a few days ago. Was this the power he could seek for himself to bring justice to his evil master?

“The one who rules over the galaxy is not who you must destroy to bring harmony to the universe; the evil one is yet to reveal himself. Nivshevus will be the one to teach the evil one.”

Diggix had never met anyone called by that name; he wondered whether the entity was speaking of someone who had died a long time ago.

“Nivshevus, we bound to this planet as he is bound to the stone you carry. Be careful not to destroy it; you will unleash a power that could destroy everything. So now go, little robot, find the Transcendental Stone and learn its knowledge. It will guide you to find the one that will be able to release us and bring you to full sentience.”

The entity disappeared, the brass sounds around him with it. There was nothing there anymore. He looked at the pillars and found the blue engravings to have faded, only leaving behind the cavities of where they once were.

A dim light appeared within the deep forest; Diggix immediately processed that it must have been the direction he should travel to find the stone the entity was speaking about.