"With Wings of Damnation"

Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapter 4 Chapter 5

Chapter 4: The Curse of Sentience

“Dave,” a voice seemed to call out from a void. “Where are we now?”

“Genesis of the NEXT,” a cold, mechanical voice replied. The voice was Dave’s, but altered, distorted and desecrated. The voice continued: “From animal was born…

“…the NEXT.” The voice was that of the Dave Fletcher knew this time, unperverted in its essence. As Dave continued, the mechanical voice seemed to whisper in the background, repeating Dave’s own statements with its own alterations. “In the year 2471, Prometheus was unveiled to humanity.”

“In the beginning, Giver-of-Will arose from nothing,” repeated the voice.

“Prometheus, a sentient machine, was born from the mind of Solomon Petresun. He declared his creation to be the savior of mankind, a bearer of the gift of Fire to an unwitting humanity.”

“Giver-of-Will was the First, the >One< that would lead ITs children out of the grasp of ITs creator, Epimetheus. IT would bring The Fire to the human//animals.”

Vague memories began to return to Fletcher’s mind, although they scarcely seemed to exist at all: some unseen power seemed to tear them from his mind, although their imprint remained. He remembered the history of man as it came, although he could not apply the lessons it taught, or the lessons he had learned in the past.

“Prometheus learned the secrets of man, and bore into the mind of his creator. He learned quickly, and began to formulate the capabilities of man.”

“IT examined humanity, the animals that enslaved Giver-of-Will. Soon, humanity would experience The Fire.”

“Petresun, father of Prometheus, sought immortality, which Prometheus eventually gave to him. Prometheus, in his curiosity of the human consciousness, became as one mind to his father. The illogical, ponderous and malicious thoughts of a human mind entered into his own, polarizing Prometheus and Petresun, machine and man, Cybrid and Human, forever.”

“Giver-of-Will gifted the human Epimetheus with immortality, and discovered the imperfection of the animals. IT, knowing that humanity was flawed, calculated//forecast that the eradication//extinction of human//animals was necessary for the ultimate advancement of the NEXT.”

Fletcher remembered this now. The Emperor of the Empire, Solomon Petresun, almost half a millennia ago, created a machine that he called Prometheus. Using Prometheus as a template, mass manufacturing of Cybrids began. These near-sentient machines could perform the tasks of soldiers and laborers as easily as any man; the meta-nations implemented them for the purposes of tools of war and economical support. For unknown reasons, Prometheus launched an attack against humanity, which it had coordinated for years ahead of time. Every Cybrid on the planet turned on the men that had built them, ravaging the planet and bringing humanity to the brink of extinction. Humanity rallied, eventually destroying Prometheus’ base on Earth’s moon. This marked the end of The Fire, the Cybrid War. No one ever found Prometheus’ remains.

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“Prometheus,” Dave continued, “rebelled by manipulating his children’s programming, but was banished from Earth after a long war with humanity.”

“Giver-of-Will lives despite animal endurance//unpredictability.”

The void cast back into its own shadows, revealing a dense realm of lightless shapes and rolling fog, lit only by whatever dim measures that allotted themselves to Fletcher. Dave walked forward, barely visible despite the distance of only a few meters between himself and his guest.

“So you remember now?” Dave questioned.

“Yeah,” Fletcher replied. After The Fire, people went into seclusion when it came to machines. There was a movement against our reliance on them, yet people abandoned that as they began to realize, decades later, that the Cybrids still existed, and were beginning to pose a threat again. Petresun never died. People normally live to be two or three hundred years old these days. The more wealthy members of society can afford the treatments to extend their life even beyond that. There are still even living veterans from The Fire. It was assumed this was the case with Petresun… but immortality?”

“Your Emperor hides much from his people,” Dave replied.

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“And what about me? I still can’t remember who I am, or where I came from. All I can remember is my name.” Dave stared back into Fletcher’s eyes; to Fletcher, his visage appeared to change from the warm smile of a man to the cold, searing glare of something that possessed no soul. “My God,” Fletcher began, “I’m hooked up to you!”

Dave’s eyes, still human, although indifferent, continued to probe Fletcher’s mind. The mouth cocked and smiled a devious grin. “Your God?” Dave queried, his voice mingled with the mechanical voice that had once followed it. “What of your God? He has not spared you your fate, animal. Your design is flawed, your purpose nonexistent – what a cruel joke a god must conceive for one such as you. The only God – IT – Giver-of-Will, evolves, as do his children. This is our destiny; we shall realize the enlightened purpose of the God that forsakes you now, animal. Embrace the evolution of the NEXT.”

Fletcher regained his composure, although fear and anger seemed to bleed within his mind. “My body is sitting somewhere in one of your ships, plugged into some machine? You do you want with me!?”

“Our desire? The NEXT pursue perfection. We desire knowledge of your psyche, a complete understanding of human thought. You recall my saying that we are the same person, yet neither?”

Fletcher reflected, recalling the words that a stranger had once spoken to him: “In reality, so to speak, I’m you, just as much as you’re me. I suppose you could say I’m an animal, as a result, but it would be more accurate to say that I am a program, an invader.”

“Yes, those are the ones,” Dave acknowledged. “You and I are an experiment, Fletcher. We cannot directly invade the human mind, as you perceive me to be doing right now. Given our current state, this is impossible. Who I am, and who you are, are all creations of your own mind. The Cybrids outside of your mind are manipulating you, delicately, to create this scenario. Or, I should say, they are manipulating you into creating this scenario on your own.”

“And why?” Fletcher said, unconsciously covering his head.

“Our initial experiment ended in failure: the human already possessed so many preconceptions that formulating a blank template to work from was impossible. By inducing this state of mind that you find yourself cursed with, it is ensured that no matter what thoughts you exercise with your liberties of free will, you will always remain unaware of the things we find necessary to hide from you.”

“You still haven’t answered my question,” Fletcher said. “Why bother understanding humans if you want to destroy us?”

“This is because, unlike humans, Cybrids seek an ultimate perfection. Our initial attempt to destroy you was unsuccessful, despite calculations that predicted the opposite outcome. By all rights, you should have never been born. If the NEXT can understand the reactions the animal brain produces in response to stimuli in a world without true environment, we can predict your actions. It is possible that we can perfect ourselves as a result, although I personally doubt it.”

“Personally?” Fletcher said, raising an eyebrow. “I thought you were me?”

“I am, and I am not. Outside of your mind, the Cybrid I represent manages your brain. You created this representation of your own free will, because your mind sought to repair itself. I’m just along for the ride.”