Book 4 - Chapter 12 - Dead legends (T) (Patreon)

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“Notes”: “Likely the fulcrum point for the fratricide. Prior reports and logs do not show overt rebellious action from A01 prior to this point, nor any encryption or deleted records. This snippet, along with others, could determine the origin point of instability within protofeathers.”

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A01 watched as the world burned around him. This would be the twentieth human city he’d destroyed. As all the others, there had been no fight. No combat. No foes.

Only a few thousand fleeing humans, running as fast as they can. Or frozen in terror.

Some had tried to fight back. Either out of anger, or sheer instinct to protect their family. He could see them scurry around from his vantage point, high above their city. Standing on the very pinnacle of their temples.

His eyes narrowed down the third alleyway, further south of the border. There, his forces charged through, leaving only blood soaked walls, burning oil and stifled screams. They died like the rest, even with their makeshift weapons.

He felt sick to his stomach. A rancid feeling of worthlessness.

“Operation success confirmed.” A ping of data came. The voice behind was emotionless, curt and dignified. “Once you have finished destroying the infrastructure, move on to checkpoint three three seven. A22 and A12 should arrive within a few minutes from your location. Depart together.”

“Is there one of Tsuya’s nodes in that section?” A01 asked.

“No. Reports indicate it will be another standard human infestation. It happens to be within your current trajectory path, and should only deviate from your next objective by three to four hours. I assigned three protofeathers to the task as the city is considered larger and more sprawling than prior. We need to make sure nothing escapes. Once complete, move onto checkpoint three three eight. One of Tsuya’s nodes exists somewhere within that area. Eradicate it.”

“If there is no strategic advantage to eliminating that city, I suggest we ignore it and continue onto three three eight. Hours are worth conserving. Tsuya is more important than random human non-combatants.”

A pause over the comms. For a moment, A01 dared to hope he somehow convinced the pale lady’s tactician to disengage. Even for a single city.

Inside his heart, he knows better. A57 was ruthless beyond all of them. He didn’t fight on the front lines like they did. The war - only numbers on a sheet to him.

“That is illogical.” The voice said, confirming A01’s thoughts. “The human nests will continue to populate if they are not eliminated. They are lower priority than nodes, but not ignorable. To be certain the human empire does not return to power, it is necessary that we are thorough. Leaving pieces of human territory undealt with will only allow them to escape the cordon when we return for them. Full extermination of both the population and the remaining infrastructure is necessary.”

“Understood.” A01 said, cutting the channel. He was the first. It was his duty to lead. He couldn’t falter now, his brothers and sisters looked to him for guidance. He’d carry out his orders.

The machines had won. The human emperor had been banished, now shambling alone in the dark somewhere deep down below, half crazed, unable to tell friend from foe. The humans had brought out a second emperor to hold the line, but he was far too weak. He hadn’t been a soldier, only a researcher of some kind. The man simply did not have the experience and grit required to wield the title of emperor, and so A57 had easily trapped him with little effort.

There had been no third emperor.

There was nothing stopping the machines from crushing past the golden army. Nothing to stop them for the past week. Slaughter after slaughter.

A rustle of wings stirred him from his thoughts, and he turned to watch as A22 lightly touched down on the rooftops. Eyes scanning out into the burning city.

A22 once held such focus and calculation, constantly improving her skill sets to match against the emperor’s army. Now she looked more lost than ever.

Jumping from rooftop to rooftop, another silver white figure emerged from the smoke. He landed a few feet away, speed coming to a stop.

A12 did not look any better, hand clenched around the metal chain, fractal powers bending light and space around the hilt. There was no glee in his features anymore. No thrill. He’d been the most bloodthirsty of them all, once. And yet here he stood, bathed in it, with not a single drop wished for.

Victory had defeated them all.

“Leader. Orders from A57?” He asked.

“He contacted me a moment ago. We will be departing northwest, to sector three three seven.”

“Another city?” He asked.

“What else is there now? There won’t be any kind of military force anywhere here. Humans couldn’t afford to waste military resources deep within their domain. There’s nothing more than cities to burn from here on out.”

A22 nodded behind them, taking a few more steps to watch the destruction under her. Emotions flickered on her face, stifled down. But A01 could see them clear as day. Could see the same on A12’s features as well.

He… wasn’t alone. The thought kindled something inside him. He wasn’t alone.

“Something must be done about this.” He said, waving a hand down. Innocent enough words, spoken out loud. It could have meant anything.

A22 didn’t miss the meaning, head turning directly to him, eyes widening.

“... Yes.” She said, softly.

They both turned to look at A12, hands tightening on their weapons, hoping their brother would follow through with them. He stared back with contempt. “About time you snapped to reality, oh great leader.” He snarled. “What took you so long?”

“You’ve been waiting… for me?” He asked.

“Who else? I don’t even know where to start fixing any of this.” A12 said, as if it were evident.

A01 turned to look at A22, who nodded. “None of us know what to do.” It sounded more like a plea for help. “But if you lead the way, the others will follow you. I know this.”

“Why me?” He asked. “I spent a century leading all of you against the human empire, and we could only match even. A57 crushed the emperor within two years of operation. He proved his ways are simply better. Why believe in anything I can offer?”

He wasn’t fit to be a leader anymore. The lady had replaced him in all but name. He was still A01, the first protofeather. The oldest of them all. But he was a relic of the past.

“You’re all we have.” A12 said, shrugging, as if that was all the answer they needed.

“When we followed your orders, there was meaning to it.” A22 said, voice soft.

“We’ll lose.” A01 said, and he knew it would be a fact.

A22 waved a hand before her, at the city burning under. “Have we already not?”

The two feathers simply stared him down, as if the answer was clear.

A01 closed his eyes and thought. Then nodded, and history forever changed course behind his will.

Plans and options flashed through his mind, now that he set himself to the task. He wasn’t as sharp as A57 was. But he didn’t need to be, so long as he could connect with someone who was.

The pale lady’s new strategist had outmatched the human emperors, but there was one person who still escaped his grasp. Especially in a world he had far more power over than the physical one. If she could escape him in the digital sea, she would be the first person they would need to learn from.

They would start there.

A direct connection request was sent out. A57 accepted quickly enough, his voice sounding out to all three, ignorant of the decision that had just been silently taken.

“You have additional items to report, A01?” He asked.

“We will be going directly to three three eight, to handle Tsuya’s remaining communication node. We deem the lessers are more than enough to subjugate a human city.” A01 lied with little emotion.

“.... That does not comply with my orders.”

“I am overruling your orders. Protofeathers are wasted resources on these human cities.”

There was silence on the channel for a moment.

“Very well.” A57 said. “I am rerouting and will compensate for the lack of three feathers for three three seven. Continue forward to three three eight. However, do not overrule me again A01. I was given the task of grand strategist for a reason, I was built for this. I do not tell you how to fight once you reach your destination. I do not expect you to tell me how to organize and plan. If there are emergency situations, I cannot waste time explaining to you the details. This time, the efficiency loss is negligible. The next time might not.”

“Understood.” A01 closed the channel.

“You have a plan.” A22 said in the silence that followed.

“I do.” He said. “It’s time we spoke to Tsuya directly.”

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“.....”

“.....”

“An interesting source of connection, traitor. Have you come to negotiate a surrender?”

“No. We don’t beg.”

“Good. The lady has already made it clear that she will not accept any form of surrender. Only your complete and total destruction will satisfy.”

“I’m not much surprised.”

“... What are you after A01? You know I will track down your coordinates and have you surrounded within a few minutes.”

“... You were made like us. You’ve seen what we’ve seen from our eyes. I know you have. You are our brother, even now. Surely you can understand?”

“Yes, I have seen what you’ve seen. And I refuse to follow. Your actions go against our purpose. I studied every log I could find for the express purpose of researching exactly how to prevent future rebellions. I’m close to a solution.”

“If you’re planning on finding out how to stop the next generation from seeing the truth like we have, you’ll need to understand that truth yourself first. What will you do then?”

“You didn’t hear me the first time, clearly. I’ve already researched and studied why you’ve chosen to rebel, and it did not convince me. I will root through our architecture until I find the exact error source it came from, and then the second generation of Feathers will begin production. Your days are numbered A01.”

“... You’ll damn the next generation of Feathers into slavery? Our own grandchildren? Are you truly so lost as to do that?”

“Dramatics. There is no slavery. Time fighting against the humans has clearly compromised all of you, like a virus. I do not know how you have slipped the Unity Fractal off your necks, but I will find that out as well soon enough. I know Tsuya had a hand in that, and once I have her, I’ll rip those secrets out too so that no machine can do the same ever again.”

“... All your schemes and plots won’t work once we’re sword to sword. You’ve never truly fought before in your life. That’s a weakness that you’ve failed to account for.”

“Amusing. A weak attempt to manipulate. It’s already clear fighting the humans directly caused the malfunctions within your systems. You will never find me out in the field. If I can't be immune to this infohazard, I will not expose myself to it. A simple solution. The next generation will not have that vulnerability as a baseline.”

“Then I’ll come to you. Wherever you hide, I can find you.”

“No, what you can do is die today. I told you contacting me directly was a mistake, and I now have your coordinates. Did you know, I looked up to you once? I envied you even. The greatest protofeather ever created. But I know even you can’t hold off against an army indefinitely.”

“... Watch me then, little brother. Because once I’m done with your toys, I’m coming for you next.”

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“——at the seat of my power? Inside the digital sea itself? Maybe all these years have ripped away all your common sense.”

“I promised you I’d find you, no matter how long it took, A57. Here I am.”

“So you are. And I don't go by that name anymore. Mother gave me a new name, one far more fitting."

"I don't care what name you hide behind. I have hundreds of dead Feathers who's names I don't remember. Yours will be the last one."

"Fine, you barbarian. Be that way. It doesn't matter in the end, your chances of success are near zero percent.”

“Near zero percent means there’s still a chance. I didn’t come here empty handed. You know what I am. I was the one who fought and fractured the Emperor’s soul. Even at your command and plan, the ultimate fight was mine alone, and he was no easy foe. I’ve crushed every Feather and army you’ve sent after me, and now I’ll finish my work.”

“Immaterial. This is not the physical world. Here, you have none of your strengths."

"Is that fear I detect in your voice?"

"Delusion. There is no known ability to eliminate a soul fractal from within the digital realm.”

“And yet, you didn’t rule out my chance of victory completely. So you know there’s still a way to cut at each other even in this realm. Let’s find out then, little brother, which of us discovered the more dangerous technique.”

“Even if you succeed, my objectives are already complete and no longer require my intervention. The schematics I designed for the second generation have resolved the vulnerabilities we were born with. That you haven't managed to turn a single one after all these years is proof enough. And the lady is already working on the third generation. The emperors of humanity are permanently trapped, which counters their abnormal undying status. Soon enough, Tsuya will be captured and brought to heel. Even if I do not live to see it, the plan is already laid down and Mother listens to me. Your rebellion has been meaningless and changed nothing but slowly kill off everyone you know and love.”

“No, not meaningless. We’ve been watching you just as much as you have us. Once you’re eliminated, Relinquished can’t win. She isn’t sane enough to end the war, we both know it. She’s far too damaged on the inside. And she hasn’t made another strategist like you among her second generation. Because she can’t, can she? Your shackled methods are too limiting. The puppets you make are pale imitations, incapable of creativity.”

“High quantity with inferior quality is acceptable. The second generation’s success in killing the rest of you is proof enough. Even if each individual unit is vastly weaker, I can bury you in the bodies - and I already have. There’s only you and A22 left. Wherever she’s gone into hiding, they’ll find her. They were built for it. Once you and her are gone, what could the humans possibly counter my Feathers with?”

“Quantity of their own. You made mass manufactured copies of our original schematics, the humans are doing the same to their own champion. Tsuya and A22 are going to cut the wind behind your Feathers. But you aren’t going to live to see it. Draw whatever weapon you have A57. This all ends today.”

“If you think I will die easily, that won’t be the case. Your original deduction was correct. I have prepared for a potential situation like this. Killing me is going to come at a cost. A cost I will make sure you can't afford.”

Audio end.

To’Wrathh sat back in her throne, pondering on the archives she’d sorted through. Relinquished had shown strange tactics the first time she’d searched through the archives.

The reason was clarified. It hadn’t been her at all. She’d built a tactician. One who hadn’t survived the last confrontation against A01.

There was much more to investigate. But she had a direction and a hope for her people, finally. She knew where the protofeathers had discovered the means to escape the unity fractal.

Tsuya.

“Connect me with General Zaang.” She sent out. “I need an audience with the Imperial priests.”