Chapter 30 - Follow me to the end of the world (Patreon)

AN: Missed one chapter last thursday due to thanksgiving, I'll juggle the RR release rate so that patreon remains ahead by 8. 

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“The old puritan tribes claimed that mankind build and ruled the world, once. I have come before you today, to tell you that this is neither myth, nor rumor - it was true. Humanity ruled the world once. Now, look around you, brothers and sisters. Who are we now?”

Lejis turned his gaze to the audience, making sure they were all watching. His hands turned to a Reacher leaning on the side of a wall, pointing like an accusation. “Shadows! Pecking away at the bones of giants rather than standing on their shoulders.” The reacher bristled, eyebrows narrowing.

The priest's hand then shot out and pointed at one of his own Chosen. “Dredges. Paralyzed by the weight of the world.” Then up and away, as if pointing past the walls of the clan. “Thieves and vultures, unable to create when taking is so much easier.”

Finally, he kneeled down, then pointed underground. “Small petty tyrants, ruling over tiny anthills in the leftover ruins. What became of us? We ruled the world once. Now, we freeze among the ashes of it. Not yet dead, not yet living. Just surviving.”

He hissed that word out, real hatred and wrath behind it.

“At the heart of the world, I was offered a vision. Here, a god granted me access to knowledge. History as the machines have recorded it. I’ve come to share that knowledge with the world. To remind humanity that we were once powerful - and we can be again, in our own way. But we must sever the ties of our past to rise above it.”

His eyes flashed purple for a moment, but I genuinely couldn’t tell if I’d been seeing something or not. “Does anyone here know why machines hunt humans?”

There were mutterings, but nobody raised a hand. So the priest turned and picked someone at random. “You there, with the red scarf. Do you know why they hate us so?”

The woman looked around for a moment, trying to see if he’d pointed out anyone else, and when the surrounding crowd parted around her she realized she had to give an answer. “‘Cause they hate us?” She shrugged. “They always been killin’ humans since the dawn of the age. Just how the world is.”

The priest quirked his head to the side. “Is that so?” Then he swept his gaze and met my own. “And you, sir knight. You’ve fought the machines before have you?”

Ahh, this motherfucker. Dragging me into it. Fine. Suppose since I’m a knight, I would stand out a bit. “I have some experience, yes.” I said diplomatically.

“Do you, after having fought them hand to hand, do you know why they kill humans?”

“They’re machines.” I said. “They’ve been programmed to kill us.”

“Exactly!” He waggled his finger at me excitedly. “That’s exactly it. When we humans fight one another, there’s always a reason. We hate them. We want their money. They want to hurt us. They looked at us funny. It doesn’t matter - there is always a reason. We invent it if there isn’t.”

He turned back to the crowd, sweeping his hands out. “Machines aren’t humans. They don’t hate us. They don’t want our money. They’re not scared we’ll hurt them. They don’t care if we looked at them funny. The puritans had it right, machines are tools. We’ve spent so much time fearing them, we’ve started to believe the machines are behind it all. That’s what the puritans got wrong. It’s the greatest irony in the world. The cosmic joke played on humanity. A truth I discovered at the heart of the world.”

“I promised you all I would tell you the tale of what truly happened to the world. Seven thousand years ago, humanity did rule the world - and they hated each other. They brought the earth to ruin, brought suffering and terror, took whatever they wanted and gave nothing back. There were winners, there were losers. And soon, those that lost decided that if they had to lose - then everyone else would lose with them. Thus, humanity created the pale lady. The machines. And thus our own ancestors gave that order we have to deal with to this day. To kill humanity. The puritans would have you belive that humanity was all that was good and machines were all that is evil and corrupt. History proved that to be a lie. The real enemy we fight aren’t machines, it’s ghosts, who’s graves have rotted away so long ago nobody even knows where they lay. We’ve been dragged into a war we never asked for, a war that has nothing to do with us! This whole war is nothing but a tombstone to their arrogance.”

Mutterings grew around the camp. People were now paying attention.

“Is this fair I ask? Why should we suffer for people who’ve long ago faded away? What have we done to deserve any of this?!” He turned to me again, seeking me out. “Tell me sir knight. Would you want to fight in a war for people you’ve never heard of, never even have stories of? For people who never once thought about your existence, nor cared?”

I knew I was playing in his hand here, but you can’t exactly answer yes to that sort of question. So instead of answering, I rebutted with a question of my own. “Would you choose to protest living because nobody asked you if you wanted to be born or not?”

The crowd turned back to the priest, and he smiled at me. The sort of cheeky smile you’d give to someone who’s not playing by the rules. “I like living.” He said. “I’m very fond of it. Problem is that it comes with very expensive hobbies, like eating and having a warm place to sleep.”

I gave him a wry smile at that, though Journey’s helmet stopped him from seeing it. I think he still noticed anyhow.

He brought a hand and pointed to his eyes. They flashed purple for a moment again, before turning back to their dull colors. This time I was sure that wasn’t a hallucination on my part.

“I was blind once, you know, sir knight. A festering wound. Not made by a machine. No, no. A machine would have simply killed me. Mankind however? Now there’s someone who’s capable of any cruelty. I was left for dead on the street, teeth missing, bones broken, eyes gouged out, and all my wealth stolen. Still, I picked myself up and did the best I could, as any of us would. Life was difficult for a cripple like myself. Eventually, the undersiders cast me out as an undesirable. What we found outside the walls were the machines instead.”

A few of the Chosen sitting on crates to the walls of the courtyard all nodded at that. He inclined a head to one of his people. One of the underside relic knights hung by his side, arms folded across his chest as he scanned across the assembled people. “Captain.” Lejis said, “What did those machines do to us?”

The captain seemed startled at being picked out, but he recovered quickly enough. “Well, they attacked us.” he said with a scratchy voice. “Cut us apart bit by bit, you know - like a pipe lizard playing with a rat before the kill. I had some knights that defected with me, but we all knew it was only a matter of time until we’d be gutted.”

“And then what happened?”

“A miracle happened, suppose. Some man-looking machine stopped our caravan. He offered us a choice. Join up or croak.”

Lejis chuckled, patting his chest. “As you can all see, we picked the first. The lady gave us an ultimatum - take upon ourselves to become part machine, and the machines will no longer see us as true humans. Thus, we are no longer enemies. I had no eyes, and she gave me new ones. I had broken bones and she forged those into pillars that never break. I was sickly, and she cured me of diseases. I had no knowledge of the world, and she gave me all the knowledge I could seek out. This is where I discovered our true history, and the debts of our forefathers that we inadvertently inherited.

The pale lady was ordered to destroy humanity and set to doing just that. She found power. Small stars were detonated across the world. The internet was brought to heel. Technology and any caches of it were raided and put to the blade by her growing army. In a matter of hours, humanity was brought down. But not yet eliminated. I’ll give humanity one thing - we’re hard bastards to kill!”

He played the crowd well, I’ll hand him that.

“Your goddess Tsuya rose from that era, and fought back. Seven thousand years since. And they’re tired of it. The gods grew old. The pale lady wants it all to stop and so do your own gods. But she is a machine, and she’d been ordered to kill humanity, no matter how much she doesn’t care to do so anymore.”

A voice in the back spoke up, “That is a very moving speech. I can see you’re a genuine believer at least. However, I find your solution to be… unrealistic. Give up some organs to become cyborgs rather than humans, lad? Seems like a very simple answer to a complicated issue. Makes me cautious.” Three knights stalked forward through the corridor, the one at point was recognizable right away. The clan lord had come down. I’d been early but not that early looks like. He passed by me, giving a quick glance that ordered me to follow behind. I took pace lockstep with the other knights, approaching the Chosen priest.

Lejis turned to the clan lord as the crowd parted to give him way. “Sometimes simpler answers are both welcome and needed. The world is large enough.”

“Giving up your humanity seems more like a choice offered in a book to the characters, shortly before they’re cursed into damnation. One would feel hesitant.”

“Yes, but life isn’t a book now is it? I remain who I am even with metal eyes. What I gave up was only a label. A word that comes with unwelcome history and debt, saddled by people I never knew.”

“All labels come with their history and debt, are you so certain this new label you put your banner under is any better?”

“We Chosen are in a position unlike any in humanity’s past. By giving up the claim to humanity, by severing what tied me down, I opened up the way to a new future.”

Atius spread his arms to point at the Chosen dregs. “You came to me half-starved, weakened from weeks of travel, slowly dying on the surface. This future of yours doesn’t quite look as utopic as you describe it to me.”

Lejis frowned. “The future is what we make it. The machines don’t hunt us down, but they are not responsible for us either. Don’t misinterpret the Chosen for the actions of one priest. That my flock is in the situation it is under is my personal failings in preparations. Not a representation of the Chosen at large. I don’t think I can understate how much being free to move anywhere underground can be. It changes everything. The Chosen wield more power and freedom than any human has in centuries. We’re even building a city to rival all cities ever built.” He turned to the other people assembled. “Without the machines breathing down our throats, we are free to create and expand as we wish so long as we don’t disturb the machines. Anyone can move and live underground freely without worry. Without that heavy weight, we can even begin to heal the world!”

Atius tutted at that. “You’ve made some assumptions on the machines. If the world could be fixed, why haven’t the machines done it themselves so far? Why are you being sent out as caravanners instead of being given time to settle roots? To me it seems more like you’re being used as tools yourself. Stretched to the limits, and discarded right after you break. Is this city of yours even real? Have you seen it? Or are you being played, turned on your fellow humans with empty promises, only waiting for an execution at the end of your service? You know that is a possibility.”

The Chosen captain growled and stepped forward for a moment, his other bodyguards also stepping forward with him. “Machines have been nothin’ but accommodating despite our history. And ain’t it common sense to give our priest some res-”

“Captain, there isn’t any need to step forward for me. Thank you, but I can handle it myself. I’ll call this assembly at an end for now while he and I speak in private. He’s certainly come for a reason, yes? And I have topics of my own I need to negotiate with.”

“As it so happens,” Atius said, “I’ve come here for a goal, aye. Your ‘pilgrimage’ as you call it, and it’s purpose here. If you can’t defend your stances in the open yet, you’re free to call this assembly to a stop and take your time later to strengthen your arguments.”

The people milling around were muttering among themselves, a few in the back had already turned and began to leave. Lejis frowned, “Were the machines planning such a deception, I doubt they would have granted us as much freedom with weapons and armor as they have already. Tools and resources your own clan seems in quite the need for, as I see it Lord Deathless. Do consider what we Chosen can offer your people in this time of need, rather than simply cast us off as doomed men.”

A few of the people leaving stopped, heads turned at that while a muttering rippled across the crowed. Lejis didn’t leave Atius a moment to rebuttal, instead jumping off the crate and taking a step to the trio of surface knights.

“Now. You wished to speak to me in private?” He said. “Let us talk.”

• Next chapter: Bargains offered by the devil