Chapter 2 : Hope and Despair

When I tried to check where this gaze came from, I unconsciously raised my head and looked at the shadow that spoke to us. If someone was able to scan my inside, it was probably him, or her, or whatever it is.

I didn't feel mad against these shadows, but I somehow had an urge to erase their existence as they did to our brethren. Who are they to decide if a whole species needs to be kept in check, or obliterated ?

If it was telling the truth, I can understand how dangerous we were, but I don't know if all of us were that bad. Maybe it was only our chiefs. Or maybe we had no choice.

The more I was thinking about it, the more my chest began to hurt.

While I was looking at the shadow, it started speaking again.

"Out of the 1 000 000 specimens we kept, only 6 000 survived the first protocol. As you probably guessed, you are those 6 000 survivors. You are the 0.6% of people that fully assimilated the Singularity children, and in return got their souls accepted by the great Singularity Mother.

The time is lacking, so I'll finish this discussion by answering some of your questions."

Wait, so it means that even after taking 1 000 000 of us for our gene pool, this 'protocol' reduced our number to a mere 6 000 ? At this point, isn't it the same as if we were already extinct ?

"If you can't remember anything, not even your name, it's because your memories are forever gone.

Our language is spoken by emitting different frequencies, being a mix of both sound and light, and so you'll be biologically unable to call our names or speak our language even if we tell you. From now, call me Prime One, and call us the Scyllas.

After your memory has been erased, we gave you the capacity to speak another language, a synthesis and more efficient one than any of those you previously spoke. So no matter where you come from, you'll be able to communicate with each other once we release the seal we placed on you to restrain your tongue.

The symbols and the black matter present on your body will be explained later, until then I would advise you to not mess with your body.

To finish, we will give you another choice, the first and last one. Those who want to survive even if only one more day, will have to work, suffer, fight and die for us. Looking at the ridiculous result and survivability of your kind to the first protocol, I do not expect any of you to survive and last until the last protocol, just the second one would probably finish killing all of you once and for all. Even tho, you are now part of the Singularity, and the only choice you have to survive and live is to move forward.

For those who do not want more tribulations, just close your eyes and everything will be definitely done.

For those who want to live, despite suffering intense pain, hardship and misery, keep your eyes open, and the truth of your new existence will be told to your soul.

You have ten seconds."

What do you mean 'live despite suffering intense pain', so even if we decide to live it is just to be slaves of a somewhat superior species and fight for them ?

These pieces of shit, I don't know what 'Scylla' means but it is probably something as disgusting as they are.

What should I do ? Fuck, I could just close my eyes and die, so everything ends here. What's the point to live if it is only to serve like dogs.

Wait, what is a dog ?

Ah fuck it, no time to think about random stuff popping out of nowhere, I need to make a choice.

Do I live as a battle slave for who knows how much time ? Or do I die now as a 'human' ?

While stressing out about what to do, my gaze fell on the female human I've seen earlier. She was just next to me, and it looked like she had the same kind of questions in her mind.

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

I don't know if I had a link with this human before this, but I can somehow guess what she is thinking. And from the look that she gave me, it seems to be the same for her.

When I look into her eyes, I don't want to die in vain. Even if it's only to survive a few more days, I want to stay alive and be able to share something with her. I want to remember her, and if I didn't meet her before, I want to know her.

There is a weird lingering feeling that keeps pressing my heart when my gaze falls on this female human.

At the last second, I decided to keep my eyes open, not to live for these Scylla, but to live for this unknown female. To look at her, and stay alive with her. I've no memories of before I opened my eyes today, but I know for sure that this human is special and I should be protecting her.

I feel like if I made a vow or a special promise to her, and even if I can't put words or memories on it my gut tells me to not give up on my life because this vow of protecting this female is more important than anything else.

I didn't know if my previous life was good or bad, but at this moment I understood something that would remain in my mind for the rest of my life : it is when we regain faith and have hope, that the pain of losing what is dear to us is the most intense.

While I was looking at her, I was hoping that we would somehow share something, that we would try to survive together because I knew from somewhere deep in my heart, a place where no matter what they did they would never be able to reach to erase anything, I knew that this female was someone I had a link with during my previous life. I couldn't describe it, but the more the seconds passed, the more I realized that I needed her as much now as I did in my previous life.

She was looking at me the whole time, smiling brightly with tearful eyes, and for a reason that I would never be able to understand, she closed them at the last second.

I didn't have the time to do anything, not even to blink, before her body started falling on the floor, in sync with hundreds of other corpses.

I couldn't think anymore.

I couldn't process what just happened.

I started to feel my throat go dry.

My heart beating so hard that it could come out of my chest.

My mind was getting hazy.

I clenched my fists so hard that I planted my nails in the palm of my hands.

I was having trouble breathing.

Why ?

Just why ?

Was it selfish for me to hope that this female knew me ? Remember me ?

To hope that she would choose to endure pain to survive instead of dying without trying ?

She cried before dying, and the way she was smiling make me think that she felt the same for me as I did for her.

So why ?

I couldn't understand. Is it because she already knew that I would decide to stay alive for her ? So she chose to just die and remove these feelings from my heart ? So I can move on without any attachment ? Am I thinking too far ?

At this moment, my chest began to burn, the area around the symbols was becoming darker and darker. While I was trying to endure the pain of losing this unknown female that I longed so much for, I didn't try to endure the physical pain.

It was a reminder of how weak I am, if before this I couldn't be mad against Prime One and the Scylla for killing our whole race, now I feel a hatred so strong that it made me want to scream, run in the direction of these bastards and do all I can to kill and delete them from this universe, even if it means tearing their entrails out with my teeth if necessary, I would gladly give every bit of my being to shred them into pieces.

The seal that they put on us blocked me from speaking, yelling, crying, moving or doing anything else except breathing.

While my chest area started burning, while I was feeling my life force getting absorbed by the black matter inside those symbols on my chest, while everyone around me was starting to regret keeping their eyes open and having missed a way to end this suffering without pain by just closing them earlier, I kept my gaze on the female corpse.

I tried to remember her name, I tried to remember who she was. A reproduction partner or my lifelong partner ? Did she have the same blood as me ? Did she like me ? Did we share anything special when we were living with other humans ?

I will engrave her face in my mind, to never forget her again. No matter what happens next, shall I die I wouldn't forget her until my last breath.

'Jeanne'

That was her name.

I don't know from where I could find it, but from this moment I understood something.

These bastards can erase memories, but they cannot erase emotions.

And the feelings that I have right now will last until I'm able to get my revenge on them, and totally nullify their existence.

I wouldn't forget them.

And I wouldn't forgive them.

Looking around me, the humans that closed their eyes were already dead, and those who kept their eyes open as I did were all suffering. The symbols on our chest were moving, vibrating, resonating with our whole body as if it was deciding if they should merge with us or just devour us.

We were only a few still standing, while a few minutes ago we were thousands. Now we were less than a hundred still standing, having our chest symbols shining.

My mind was too broken to let me feel the physical pain I was supposed to endure, and looking at my chest, I felt that this black matter was restraining itself to just consume a bit of my life force, not doing me any harm. I didn't sense any hate or desire, as I did from the black matter on the other humans' corpses.

I even felt sympathy, and a sense of comradeship from it.

I must become crazy.

Thinking about the black matter in my chest I finally did let myself go, only once I was the last one standing eyes open in the middle of all these corpses did I decide to close them.