《Remnant.》 Chapter 1. I can¡¯t be said to have lived a fulfilling life thus far. Sure, i have had happy moments, mostly in my youth before being hospitalized, but that isn¡¯t the point. I have never travelled farther than the neighbouring 4 countries, and i didn¡¯t even manage to visit all of those. The reason for my lack of travelling is not voluntary, but forced. i would have loved to go out there and see the world, meet people, experience foreign cultures, people and foods. But sadly, that is naught but a pipe dream. I have never felt love, romantic, that is. My family loved, to an extent. They were always there, through thick and thin but i could see the underlying dark emotions whenever they laid their eyes upon me. The reasoning for that being the massive economic and emotional drain my very continued existence lay upon them. I am ill. Well, that¡¯s partially true. My body is not well. It does not function the way it should. if a normal human¡¯s body runs at 100%, im at 50-60% at best. Sometimes it dips into the 40-50% range and then i usually have to spend some time at the ICU (intensive care unit). Its honestly quite baffling, not only to me or my family, but even the doctors and researchers are quite stumped on this. Technically, there is ABSOLUTELY nothing wrong with me. No diseases, my immune system is running smoothly, Steady heart-rate, nothing wrong with my mind or brain either, as seen from this very monologue. Maybe some minor problems, meh. Genetically, there is nothing wrong either. The doctors took quite an interest in seeing whether my condition is genetic or not. Apparently, there is nothing wrong in my DNA. The good doctors then hypothesised that my illness might be psychological, and having an effect on my physical condition. A certain amount trips to the shrink, some experiments, and some shock-therapy leading to a heart attack later and they finally realised that it wasn¡¯t that either. Good on them, the best and brightest, eh? Anyway, guess i should give some basics. Current year: 2143, january if you must know, even inside the warmth of the hospital, i can sporadically feel a slight cold. Most likely coming from an open window or the main entrance of the hospital. My name is Alan Morris, a bit generic, but with some 12 billion people out there, some names are bound to be reused over and over again. Part of a lovely little family of five. Two parents, three children including me. I have a little brother by 4 years and a little sister by 6 years. Apparently, my parents used me to test the waters of having children, found it easy, and had 2 more in rapid succession. Good on them. My siblings, in stark contrast to me, are perfectly fine. Good looks, smart minds, healthy bodies, all of it. Almost no flaws whatsoever. Except¡­ A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation. ¡°Hello dear brother how are you holding up today? Do you need anything, a fresh pillow? Some ice cream? more of our family¡¯s hard earned money to keep that useless body of yours alive?¡± yeah, of all the problems they could have, it turned out to be shitty personalities. Apparently, due to me being hospitalized so often, a lot of money were being torched by medical bills. Now, in the present, most countries have free healthcare, to an extent. Not for someone as sick as me though. Need specialized care, so it requires extra payment. That money has to come from somewhere, and so, the rest of the family does not have the funds to buy whatever. my siblings, after having been ostracized and bullied by their classmates from being, quote on quote, ¡°poor as shit¡±, both managed to get a lot of pent up frustrations. This resulted in me, being the ¡°cause¡± of this, to receive a fair amount of bullying myself. sob sob. ¡°No¡± i said ¡°for once, i don¡¯t feel as though my body is about to expire, thank you very much.¡± i quipped. My brothers face darkened slightly, before recovering back into an expressionless mask. ¡°well, good on you¡± He said ¡°mom and dad sent me over to tell you that we won¡¯t be coming over to visit anymore. It¡¯s apparently quite depressing watching you just lie there, and slowly wither, so they would rather spend the time of day on something with more meaning¡± He said, gaining a slight smirk as he talked. Ok¡­ Wow, did not quite see that one coming. Well, that would be a lie, i did see that one coming. Actually, i saw it coming a few years ago, starting with the time my health dipped down and an emergency surgery was needed. drained a lot of money. At that time, my parents and siblings were preparing to go on a vacation, the first in many years, to the moon and sights and view. My surgery put a stop to that, as they even needed to sell their tickets. Oh yeah, guess i didn¡¯t mention that. Humanity did it! We colonized the moon and Mars, as well as some of Jupiter¡¯s moons though life there is still tough as nails. Large cities powered by fusion reactors now exist on both the moon and Mars. There are also some orbital cities (more like overgrown space stations) floating around the solar system. Sucks i¡¯ll never see it though. (foreshadowing intensifies) Anyway, after delivering that rather dreary notice, my brother swiftly left. I had to take a few moments to gather myself. Make no mistake, i was sad that my family was abandoning me, but since i had thought that something like this might happen one day, it didn¡¯t hit me as hard as it could have. Preparing for the worst does pay off, even if only slightly. Sinking back into my hospital bed, i began slowly easing into the reality i was presented with: One: my body was screwed and often required intensive care, with my remaining life span being unknown, i might even die tomorrow. Two: the doctors had no way to help me. Three: my family had completely abandoned me. I imagine that they also won¡¯t pay for my medical bills anymore. Four: despite living in one of the most exciting eras ever, with humanity spreading throughout the solar system, i was locked in this tiny room, in this tiny hospital, on this tiny ball of dust. F*ck my life¡­. Oh well, as said, my remaining life span is unknown, so i might not even have that long left to live. At least, i won¡¯t have to continue this dull existence of being bound for that long. i might get to see the world freely as i want in my next life. As i thought that, i slowly descended into a peaceful slumber. Oh, how wrong i was... Chapter 2 I am awoken from my nap by the soft breeze. Considering it slightly odd, considering that i rest in the deepest part of the hospital with no windows in my room. Moreover, due to my health, doctors are very careful about leaving the door open, so the chance of it being open enough to feel a breeze of this force, is rather low. The next sensory impression i get is smell. There is a heavy scent of iron and smoke in the air. Moreover there is also a slightly sweet, yet sickening scent nearby. Third sense to come online is hearing. Instantly, i am hit by a cacophony of noise. Screams, gunfire, explosions etc. sound out somewhere off to my right. There is also an odd sound intersecting all of it, an odd ¡°Bzzzzzt¡± hum-like sound. if i had to make a comparison, it almost sound like Star Trek lazers, or something along those lines (i have been confined to my bed for the last 14 years, i have had a loooot of time to watch the old classics.) I can also hear some snorting, garbling sound that ¡°sound¡± like language but is completely incomprehensible. Last sense to come online is vision. Opening his eyes, Alan looked up and saw 3 things. 1) He saw the bright blue sky. 2) he saw black smoke and fire coming from a nearby, maybe attached to the hospital, high-rise structure. 3) he saw a large sleek-looking object, hanging from the bottom of a larger objekt, gathering a large amount of blue light, before releasing it with a low ¡°bvroooom¡±. In the next moment, half the high-rise simply disappeared, and in its wake there was only ash and glowing trail. After annihilating the building, said object started moving forwards, revealing a large floating ¡°ship¡±. ¡°Well, shit¡± Was about the only thing i could say to the events that displayed before my eyes. A massive, almost worm-like ship slowly glided above me, large circles on its sides and bottom sending out pulses at regular intervals, seemed to be what kept the bugger airborne. A small searchlight or something on the front of the ship was streaking around the area, until it suddenly landed on me. Initially, it seemed as though it would quickly pass by, and i am almost about to release the breath i have been unconsciously keeping. But it suddenly jerked to a halt and instantly went back to my body lying on the bed. My heart instantly goes into my throat as a small floating orb detaches from the ship and flies towards me a high-speed. This story has been unlawfully obtained without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon. It must be said, im not the bravest of people. Comes from being secluded and kept like precious porcelain all my life. So, seeing this metal orb coming screaming towards me, i did the only sensible thing i could think off, i jumped off my bed. Did i mention my body being crap? Upon impact, i slipped and landed on a broken piece of cement, breaking a rib. i know it is broken because, whilst screaming my lungs out, i felt an incredible amount of burning pain in my chest. Oh, and i have tried it before as well, so there is that. As i lay writhing on the floor, i see the probe (looks like a probe) slow down and move towards me. Upon getting within a few meters of me, it begins emitting a light from a small hole on the front. It doesn¡¯t take a genius to realize that i am being scanned, though for what reasons, i do not know. It seems odd for a race that would erase a high-rise just because it impeded the path of their FLOATING SPACESHIP, which could likely just fly to a higher altitude. They might have their reasons, sure. But¡­. While my mind went on a small trip away from reality, the probe finished its scanning. Emitting a few strobing light and some odd noises it seemed rather cheery about its findings. This did honestly not do anything to bolster my mood, i mean, anything that building-destroying aliens find good, must be bad for me, right? As it turns out, yes, yes it does. From the bottom of the massive ship floating quietly above me, a smaller ship suddenly detaches. Quickly making its way down here, it crushes one of the remaining corners of my room (remember the ceiling being blown off somewhere?). The rear opens and reveals¡­ What the F*** is this? Ok, give me a chance here, it is kinda hard to explain exactly what i am seeing. Right, imagine a large slug. Said slug has legs and 4 arms. It is very slimy. It has 2 very small beady eyes, and next to those are another pair of eyes, pointing to its sides. Kinda like a wall corner from the outside. The nose (if you can call it that) lies exactly between the center eyes. It has mouth filled with sharp, crooked, and beastial teeth. No lips, just raw flesh all the way from the teeth to its nose, properly a 10-15 cm long piece of raw flesh. Seems as though its mouth can open to an extreme extent. 3 double chins and balder than a 90-year old tibetan monk. All in all: ugly af f*** and a guaranteed appearance in all my future nightmares. Fortunately, or unfortunately depending on who you ask (i consider not having to watch that trainwreck of an alien any more a blessing) the alien lifted something that looked like a gun at me. It fired and i felt a small pain in my left shoulder, though it quickly became numb. I looked down at my shoulder and saw a small futuristic looking device. Given the liquid it seems to be injecting into me, i guess it is a tranquilizer-dart. The last thoughts to go through my mind before everything went black could be summed up as: ¡°Oh right, its f*cking monday, isn¡¯t it?!¡± Chapter 3 This is getting old. Waking up, I once again find myself in another place than i remember falling asleep in. I really hope that this isn¡¯t going to start being a common occurrence. I imagine most people wonder why i am taking this so calmly? The reason is that my mind is still partially dulled from, whatever-the-f*cky substance I was injected with, so give me a minute or 2. ¡®kay, my head feels fine-ish now. Now capable to organize my thoughts into coherency, I began looking around the room i found myself in. It seems to be made almost entirely out of metal, though an impression in the wall to my left would suggest a hidden door or something. Due to the size of it (about 3x2 meters) it seems as though it is meant to allow larger object to pass through easily. Looking down, i discover that I am lying on gel-like substance which is slowly moving itself to conform to the position of my body. Though it feels extremely weird, I might¡¯ve even felt it was comfortable, if not for the fact that my arms and legs are completely submerged in the gel and i am completely unable to move them. Monday¡­ Looking up, sleek futuristic metal is abundant. Looking to my right and i see¡­ Earth¡­ Okay, i am not in Kansas anymore (though i am actually from Scandinavia, but you get the reference) Through the mirror on my right I see countless ships moving away from Earth, and its gorgeous blue seas, lush verdant forests, its magnificent ever-growing red band¡­ Wait a second, ¡°Red Band¡±? Squinting my eyes and focusing, I could see a scene straight out of a Sci-fi horror. The surface of the earth slowly being turned into a white glass like substance following the trail of a planetwide red band, which i assume is fire or something like that. I take a few moments to fully grasp what I am seeing. Earth is gone, the home of billions of humans, the cradle of humanity and all known life (thus far) have been, or is currently being glass-ed. Although my heart has somewhat cooled and hardened over the last decades worth of abuse and self-hatred, I can¡¯t help but feel a surge of sadness well up from my stomach and sour sensation from my eyes. My, our, home is gone. And we can never return to it. I lower my head, mostly to resist the tears that are threatening to overflow, and also to squeeze down the sob that was about to come out of my throat. Unauthorized usage: this tale is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings. Raising my head once again to look at the dying planet again, i forcefully suppress my emotions and begin thinking. For some reason, aliens arrived at Earth, blew up a lot of stuff, abducted me, and took me off-planet before completely destroying the surface of Earth. Moreover, they apparently thought me so important, that they first scanned me and then sent a small ship down to fetch me personally. I don¡¯t know about you, but that seems to indicate that they have some sort of purpose planned for me. This thought gave me a very sinking feeling in my stomach and gave rise some rather, ¡°diverse¡± thoughts about what they might do to me (probing indecent places). Fortunately i was not given that much time to imagine horrible things, as steps, many steps, began approaching the ¡°door¡±. As the steps got closer i kept getting more anxious. Although I am fairly certain they won¡¯t kill me outright, that does still not ease the sheer terror from the fact that F*CKING ALIENS THAT DESTROYED THE FLIPPIN¡¯ EARTH ARE RIGHT OUTSIDE MY DOOOOOOR!!!! Phew, I REALLY needed that. Having managed to slightly ease my nerves i mentally steel myself and look towards the door where the noise is slowly becoming louder and louder. Some sounds that sound like a mix of mandibles clacking, pigs squealing and gurgling. Now that i think about it, I heard a similar sound before getting abducted. This must be their language or something. Might just be them coughing and hacking though. A few beeps and boops are heard, before the door quietly divides in 2 down the middle. Before is a fairly familiar visage. 5 no-lipped, green, slug-like beings steps into the room carrying or dragging what looks like scientific equipment. Again, could just be a lunch-box. These guys are seriously obese. Seem like they are made out of fat, and they are seemingly constantly covered in slime or mucous. I kinda get why the doors have to be so large now. Immediately after coming in the door they saw that i was awake and fully aware. After a small start, one of them moved over to the ¡°gel-bed¡± I was confined on and opened a small holographic display. After ¡°clicking¡± on a few buttons, I could feel the gel beneath me shift slightly. Suddenly a few tentacles of slime flew up over my head and solidly bound my head. Similar tentacles had appeared and wrapped around my stomach, completely sealing my ability to move and resist. Great¡­ The Slug, seemingly satisfied with the result, turned to the other Aliens and made a few gurgling noises, ending with a small snort. The Aliens which had kept their distance seemed to acknowledge whatever the first one had said and moved closer to my bed. Because they moved closer, i managed to get a better look at the ugly buggers. Although my descriptions so far may have made the impression that they were nude, that was not the case. The first one was wearing what looked to be floating armor above some soft clothes. By floating, i mean small plates of metal flying a few cm above their clothes, but always following their every movement. It would look quite cool, if not currently adorning a Slug. A few medal-like ornaments covering its ¡°chest¡± (looks more like a barrel, really). Of the five Aliens in the room, only one other had a similar look, though with fewer medals. Most of their gear seemed, old, though. As though it hasn¡¯t been properly maintained and just cleaned lightly. A few small bits even seemed to be missing. The rest looked like scientists, wearing white clothes. Adorning their bald heads were a multitude of advanced equipment attached to some kind of headwear. One was wearing glasses, and due to being more ¡°wrinkly¡± than the rest, it seemed older. The other two looked somewhat the same, though with minor differences. Please note, they were absolutely silent and made no attempt at communicating with me whilst they were coming in and setting up their equipment (so it was not a lunchbox, go figure). I did not say anything either. I couldn¡¯t understand their language and i doubt they understand me. Moreover, I am their prisoner, I am at their mercy. To try and demand answers would be rather foolish. Though my body it crap, my mind has always been quick on the uptake. Finally, I have had some minutes to gather myself after seeing Earth dying, so I managed to clear my mind and gather what i knew to get a general grasp of affairs. They did seem to talk to one another though, small soft gurgles and squeals resounding in the room. After a short investigation, where they seemed most focused on scanning my brain and taking some samples, the scientific Slugs huddled together over one of the monitors. A few minutes later they seemed to agree on something and made a movement towards the two guard like Slugs. The guard which had been standing next to the gel-bed all this time returned his attention to the small hologram from my bed and ¡°clicked¡± on a few new buttons. The round ¡°bed¡± responded to that by lifting itself off the ground and making a few handrails around it. The scientists had packed up their equipment again, and were already heading out the door. Both guards moved to my bed and started hauling me out the room as well into the adjoining hallway. Chapter 4 After the guards had dragged the gel-bed I was lying on out of the room they turned right at the beginning of the hallway and followed the team of slug-scientists which had halted waiting for us a few meters ahead. After the guards dragging the hovering bed+me to the scientists, they all began moving forward. The hallway is made of the same material as the room I woke up in, sleek-looking metal, with indents along the way signifying doors. Seems as though there are many rooms along this hallway, could we be in the center of the ship? The hallway seems to just go on and on, we have already been moving for 3-4 minutes. Contrary to appearance, these Slug-like aliens are actually quite fast. Ah wait, the elder one from the scientist group is sweating more than before, and the other two are also looking rather weary. Could it be that they are not that physically strong? Nah, the guards look perfectly fine, the scientists must just have crap physiques. Well, even if their physiques were worse than currently, they still wouldn¡¯t be as physically unfit as me. Just walking 100 meters can drain me totally, even to the point of blacking out. And that is WITH support. Did i mention my body being crap? Anyway, it would appear as though we have arrived at our destination. We are standing before a very large door. Now, the normal doors are 3x2 meters, this one though is 4x6. Moreover, it is a massive bulkhead door, seeming impenetrable and strong beyond belief. The elderly scientist at the front looked back and motioned at the guard with the medals. The guard nodded and moved forward to the left side of the door. The wrinkly scientist moved to the right side of the bulkhead door, and at the exact same time as the guard, put their hands on a pad. At this time, I noticed that the Aliens only had 3.5 fingers. The 0.5 comes from the fact that one of their fingers seem to be made of 2 fingers that have slowly begun melding together. It is rather odd, because it seems as though the pad was designated for 4 separated fingers, so their hands does not actually fit that well in the pad. Immediately after that, a few beeps are heard and the massive bulkhead begins opening. Though my head movement is currently rather restricted, i am more than able to gawk at the sight before me. We have entered a colossal room. It is easily a 100 meters in diameter, circular in construction, with tens of meters to the ceiling. The roof appears to be dome-shaped. Well, it is kinda hard to see, considering the massive apparatus hanging from the ceiling. How to describe it? Well, first, how the device is connected to the ceiling. It seems to be molded into the ceiling, if that makes any sense. Multiple large wires are also extending out of the device into other pieces of equipment in the room. The structures of the device looks kinda like an upside-down snowman, 3 ball-like structures connected to each other with increasing size the closer to the ceiling they are. The device was hanging above a raised platform, circular like my bed, yet slightly larger, a few meter more in diameter. Above the platform, the massive device ended in a claw-like structure with some crystals attached to each ¡°talon¡± (The claw is made of 4 talons) as well as a MUCH larger crystal in the middle of the claw. The author''s content has been appropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. Around the room there were windows. Behind the windows were multiple Aliens carefully observing the small group as they made their way towards the platform. There were a few other science-like guys in the room other than the ones in my escort group, but they were pretty much absorbed in whatever they were doing. The aliens dragged me to the platform and lowered the bed back to the ground again after clicking on the bed¡¯s hologram. I am still thoroughly restrained on the bed and hardly capable of even moving head a bit. The 3 scientist move closer and adjust my head and the bed while also checking something on some holopads they picked up from somewhere. *Sigh*. It really seems as though I am about to be prodded. Moreover, by such a rough tool like a claw. Don¡¯t know if the elder scientist picked up on my distress, but it looked at me and made something that looked like a smile, though exceptionally ugly and radiating maliciousness. At that smile, i felt a hard shiver move down my spine and i began sweating a river of cold sweat. The creepy elder then turned around and made some loud sounds, seemingly trying to gather the attention of everyone. He was quite successful as every scientist in the room, the guards, and the spectators outside the windows were all looking at him. Wait a sec, among the spectators there are actually small groups of other aliens. They look too different from the Slugs to be from the same species. There are some truly monstrous looking fellows in one corner, some rather beautiful blue human-like people in another. The one thing they have in common are black chokers around their necks. Slaves. Well, humanity is now certainly and absolutely f*cked beyond any doubt. Oh, right, I don¡¯t think i have the ability to worry about the rest of humanity at the current time. While I have been thinking, the creepy elder scientist has been ¡°talking¡± non-stop and given the piteous looks the ¡°slaves¡± are giving me, i don¡¯t really think i am going to survive. As I think that, the massive machine above the burst to live, with intricate designs on it sparkling into existence. The gems on the claw also start glowing and the claw itself is slowly beginning to move. It first seemed to scan my body, and then began to move towards my head (fortunately). Each of claws clamped onto my head to keep it completely still. The gems that were attached felt slightly warm, almost the same warmth from being touched by a living being, yet distant as well. The main gem at the middle of the claw positioned itself directly above my forehead and began glowing and whirring. The glowing and whirring continued to rise in intensity, and suddenly it felt as though the claws were burning me. Due to the pain i groaned in dismay. My pain-filled life has given me a certain level of pain-resistance but this felt different. Like a headache, combined with physical pain and something else. As the light became more intense, so did the pain, turning the groans into hoarse shouts and shrill screams. Out of the corner of my tear-filled eyes i saw some of the new aliens turn their heads away while the slug aliens were apparently enjoying the show. Hateful bastards. I then noticed something. It was kinda hard to tell considering that my limbs are submerged in goo, but i have lost complete control of my limbs, and the numbness / lack of control is extending up towards my head. Moreover, a small ball of light has materialized above my face, and small tendrils are extending from the gems on the ¡°talons¡± towards it, feeding it. As the ball grow bigger and bigger, i begin losing more and more control over myself. Could that little orb perhaps be, my soul? It emits a very familiar feeling, as though it has always been near yet never close or seen. It kinda feels as though it is a part of me though. I am trying to figure out what is happening to me, when i notice that i am not just losing control over my body. My mind is also becoming more sluggish and a strange weariness and tiredness descend over me. Is this how i die? Not due to sickness, abuse, injury or old age, but because Aliens picked me up from Earth and extracted my soul. I can honestly say that this kind of death has never crossed my mind. I have actually watched my fair share of ¡°Epicfails¡± and ¡°Weird ways to die¡± videos, but i think this may just take the cake. Oh well, other than the pain. it seems as though.. this way of¡­. passing is relatively.. peaceful¡­. Ah.. well.. hope.. my next life.. will allow me.. to¡­ explore¡­ more¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­
ATTENTION! Suitable subject found...
Initializing Extraction Sequence...
Say what? Chapter 5 ¡®Wait what?¡¯
Entity: "SOUL" found.
Digitizing... please hold.
''¡®Digitizing'', what the..?!!!?!!?¡¯ Suddenly an enormous pain traveled through my entire existence, causing me massive amounts of pain, of a kindwhich I had never felt before. It felt as though my being was being shredded into trillions of bits, and then recombined. These recombined bits felt the same as the old, except, more solid, firm, fettered. It lost some of the ¡°ethereal¡± feeling it had before, and gained mass, existence. I had long since lost my senses, incapable of perceiving sight, smell, taste, hearing and touch. It felt as though i was lost in an endless void, merely floating along while suffering my pains. As i felt the last bits of my original being having been ¡°converted¡± did all the pain subside, though my mind was still exceptionally weary and exhausted. I then noticed something while slowly recovering from the ¡°conversion¡±. I was being moved No, I don¡¯t mean moving as in physically, I mean as though my mind was wandering off to somewhere else. OH, oh as though you are sitting perfectly still, but you are still moving out of the room, as though someone is gently sliding you out the room on a wheeled chair. Yes, that makes perfect sense¡­¡­¡­.. ¡®WHY AM I EVEN THINKING ABOUT THIS!??!?!?!?!?!?¡¯ Again, calm, peace, cute kittens (oh wait, they¡¯re all dead, shite). While trying to calm myself from the highly odd series of occurrences, everything changed. I stopped feeling as though i was being moved. In addition, it felt as though something had happened to my mind. It is hard to explain, but felt, enlarged. As though i suddenly ¡°knew¡± a lot more, without actually learning or knowing it. Trippy¡­. As i was concentrating on deciphering the meaning behind this odd feeling, the void i was in stopped being so void-y. As if some divine being said ¡°let there be light¡± i was suddenly capable of seeing and hearing once again. My emotions were complicated to say the least. One hand, i was euphoric over not being subjected to sensory deprivation anymore, but on the other hand, the first thing i saw was a close-up of the elderly slug''s ugly mug. Oh well, every coin has two sides. Didn¡¯t expect it to be this ugly though. For some reason, my vision has improved immensely, to the point where i can see even the tiny ¡°pores¡± on his skin. Oddly, i now knew that these pores were where the protective film covering the slugs leaked from, as well as what the film was protecting them from. Ok, wtf? I¡¯m fairly certain that such knowledge fall a fair bit outside what a person who hasn¡¯t even graduated middle school should know. Before even granting me a chance to complete my current contemplations, the Alien apparently felt like dropping another bombshell on my poor head: ¡°Ahem, ahem, canst thou understand me? Slave, you will respond¡± Okay¡­ so i can understand the gurgling and squealing now, great. Also, ¡°slave¡±? i knew that i was likely to become a slave, but still, being told that straight to your face is rather stiffling.Support the author by searching for the original publication of this novel. It said i need to respond, but how. i don¡¯t think i have a mouth anymore. So how should i exactly respond to this guy? ¡°Slave, i command you to respond NOW¡± The alien seemed rather put off by my lack of response and instantly turned hostile. He seemed both angry and distressed, as if he might have screwed up something importa-¡­?!? It hurts?! Moreover, the pain gets worse as time goes on, what is going on?!?! Wait, he commanded me, didn¡¯t he? so by not answering immediately, am I being punished?? THE F*CK!?!? Okay, okay, the pain is getting rather bad, lets just try talking. ¡°Ehm, hello, I am awake and aware¡± Wow, it actually worked. Though, while the Aliens apparently brightened up, they also seemed rather displeased. Geez, settle on one emotion would you. ¡°You imbecilic mongrel, cease speaking in that barbaric native tongue of yours. Change your language module to Kretin¡± Okay, so how the tick do you do that? Oh¡­ i can.. feel? feel as though i can change myself, eh, it feels as if I am controlling a¡­ computer!? As i think that, the world suddenly shifts, changing from the original floaty, and odd situation where i could feel the option to change myself, to suddenly view everything as screens. That did not sound easy to understand. Before, i saw everything in much the same way a normal being might see it. Now though, it is like constantly looking at a computer screen. Many different small tabs constantly measuring different things, a scanner telling me that there are many different lifeforms within a small area of myself, as well as data on what and who those lifeforms are. I just have to think about a query, and screens detailing all the information about the query will appear. The pain is getting worse, and though i should be worried about this change, i need to get the pain to stop first. As the slug said, I need to ¡°change¡± my language from English to Kretin (hang on, Kretin, Cretin, pfffft) As I think that, the screens change and i am presented with a new screen saying ¡°kontrol panel¡±. Concentrating on that screen opens it further and gives me the language option. Here, I am presented with a plethora of options, but just by thinking (more like screaming in my mind), i am able to immediately change to Kretin. I pull away from that screen and focus back on the screen with the slug. Doing so also minimized every other screen. Neat. ¡°Is this better, or..?¡± I ask with a bit of trepidation, just before my mind blanks. What the beat did i just do?!? I must be going insane, there is no way that any of this can be real. I mean, how the hell could someone just change their language, right? It can¡¯t be, right? All these screens, hell, even the aliens must be fake, RIGHT?!?! Sadly, i was not given chance to escape the current reality of Earth being gone, and these aliens being very much real. ¡°Ah, finally, no longer do I have to listen to that hodgepodge of a bastard language, good job Slave¡± F*ck¡­ Okay, guess I should have realized it by now, i¡¯m not quite human anymore am I? Oh well, let''s try asking, if anything, granted these guys arrogance, it should be rather easy to get something out of them. ¡°Ehm, excuse me great lord, but i am rather confused, what have you done to me and why?¡± When dealing with a maniac with megalomania, always bolster their ego, make them feel superior. Eh, i guess. Then again, given that i am under their complete control, i shouldn¡¯t be making demands but act subservient. Turns out, grovelling was indeed the right choice. ¡°hmph, i guess the genius me, Atko Meill, could deign myself to explain you envious situation.¡± he said with an evil smirk. ¡°Thanks to my great genius , you are the first subject in over 10000 years to be able to undergo the process of becoming a servant A.I. to the great Kretin empire, you will continue to exist for all eternity, forever serving our great empire as a slave. You will control one of our hitherto inactive space production facilities and produce both equipment for our armies and goods for our people.¡± ..... So, they turned me into an A.I., and are going to force me to control one of their space production facilities, which, i guess is something along the lines of a factory in space? Moreover, they plan on never releasing me¡­ Why? ¡°But, if i may, why did you pick me, out of all the billions of humans, why did you pick me?!¡± i asked. ¡°hmph, easy, out of all the slaves we have taken thus far, you are the only one with a soul loose enough and a body weak enough to allow us to extract it and take it for ourselves. We have conquered countless worlds and subjected dozens of species, but throughout all of Kretin history, only about 27 individuals have been found with the proper physique, you included¡± the scientist Kretin concluded with a grin. So, what i can get from this is: My soul has never been properly attached to my body. This caused my body to not function well enough and thus weaken. The Kretins took advantage of this, abducted me, and turned me into a slave A.I. Ahahahah, oooohh fuck my life¡­ Chapter 6 Whilst I was contemplating the situation I found myself in, the rest of the aliens had apparently started celebrating. Many odd noises came from the Kretins, which, due my change into an A.I. i recognized as laughter and congratulations from the many observing Kretins. While the Kretins sure had happy expressions and quite joyous about getting a new A.I. slave, the same could not be said for the other aliens. Most looked at the celebrating Kretins with cold indifference, anger, hatred or clear malice in their eyes. Seems as though the Kretins aren¡¯t very loved, eh? well figures, I hate them as well. After a thorough session of backpatting, praising, congratulations etc, the old scientist came back to me. I managed to get a glimpse of my current form from one of the windows surrounding us. Currently i am a black box with a camera-like structure on top. Seems tough to destroy, so i guess i won¡¯t die just yet. There is also a small display on the box. ¡®One of these days though I am going to get revenge over these F*cking kretins for destro-- YEAOWCH, THE F*CK?!!¡¯ Suddenly a very large spike of pain interrupted my train of thought. A screen quickly came up with a warning and an explanation.
WARNING!
Directive "1" was challanged... Punishment has been delivered
¡®So, i can¡¯t even bloody think about wiping *bzzt* Hrrrmmmmphh¡­ All right, that settles it, no thoughts about that til i can get around that damned directive.¡¯¡­ While swearing revenge at some point in the future, the old scientist came back over to my camera. However, it seems as though he noticed something because his brows furrowed. he moved closer and started looking at the small display on my box. He then started laughing. ¡°hehe, I see that you have noticed the directives that govern you, Slave. He, might as well show them all to you, so that you can start obeying them that much faster¡±
A.I. directives
Directive "1": A.I. may not actively harbour malicous intent towards Kretins. Directive "2": A.I. actions may not endanger Kretin lives Directive "3": A.I. may not collude with other races. Directive "4": A.I. must complete any and all commands given by the Kretin Empire. Directive "5": A.I. may not be in possession of weaponry unless: (1: A.I. is tasked with delivery) (2: A.I. produced weaponry under order) (3: A.I. is commanding a Space production facility. In this case, a small fleet is allowed for defence. No ships larger or stronger than frigate class ships) Punishment: Challanging these directive will result in immediate punishment. Breaking these directive will cause immediate deactivation
ahhh, fugde. ¡°Okay, now that you have seen the rules, you are going to start working. We will move you to the nearby production station where you will live and work for the rest of your existence, have fun, gahaha¡± And as it was said, so it was done. Minutes after saying that, a group of guards and slaves came over and picked up the box containing my soul, and began moving down a hallway. Instinctively, due the knowledge from my new data-banks, i knew that we were heading towards the hangar, where all the minor space-ships and shuttles were kept.This story has been unlawfully obtained without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon. From what i could tell, due to becoming an A.I. my entire consciousness had become digitized, and thus, it would be possible to add to my knowledge just by downloading it. Meaning, even if i have never studied chemistry, by downloading knowledge about it, i would know all about it. Kinda neat, if it didn¡¯t mean paying a price as high as one¡¯s humanity. The guards were just guiding the slave-aliens as they carried my, apparently heavy box. i know that it is heavy, because the aliens carrying me are the big muscular ones and they are all sweating a river. Also, every step they take seem laboured and sound really heavy against the metal floor. Eventually, by the hard work of the other slaves, I was finally carried to the hangar. There were many types of ships here. I identified them as interceptors, combat drones, sentry drones, minelayers, transports, etc. There were many different types of ships, and i had the blueprints for every single one of them. Guess they weren¡¯t joking around when they said I was going to be controlling a production facility, just by focusing on something, a blueprint would appear. And I could feel countless designs and knowledge from the depths of my mind. The guards and the slaves loaded me onto one of the transports, and sat down around the cabin. The transport ship was kinda like a *Multi-altitude Assault Transport* from Star Wars (you know, the winged things with laser-bubbles in its wings and sides.) Just longer and wider, with only forward mounted laser cannons and a single turret near the rear. As we took off, i couldn¡¯t help but notice that this transport seems to have seen better days. The anti-grav engines made a lot more noise than they should be reasonably able to. Moreover, much of the interior was also slightly worn down. Finally, the engines did not start off as smoothly as the detail in the blueprint said they would, but rather jumped to a start. Other than these small observations, which did make me slightly curious, the flight went smoothly and we flew towards our destination. During the journey, (which did take some time) i had a chance to sift through the information I had available to me, I discovered a few things. One, the Kretins are utterly useless. Apparently, at some point in the far past, a genius Kretin scientist created the first A.I. This A.I. was ordered to manage a production facility at first to see its abilities. The excelled, obviously, and outdid the Kretin managers by manifold. The Kretins, seeing this as an opportunity, mass produced A.I.s and had them control all the bothersome tasks which the Kretins saw themselves above. Meaning production, cleaning, etc. Over time, they became so utterly reliant on the A.I. factories that they have lost all ability to create goods themselves. Their hands have become completely useless at construction. However, all good things come to an end. The original way of producing A.I.s disappeared with the death of the scientist that created them (greedy bastard never told anyone how he did it.) and over millennia, many of the A.I.s have slowly been destroyed, been corrupted etc. The problem then appeared as the Kretins no longer had the A.I.s required to manage and do all work for them. However, a new method appeared to create A.I. using souls. However, the likelihood of one¡¯s soul being weak enough for the procedure, is so low it is hardly even calculable. The Kretins, however, are idiots. They launched a galaxy-wide invasion to find and capture souls for their needs. Also, in the process, to gather resources and slaves to do manual labour for them. At present time though, there are hardly enough production facilities left in the Kretin empire to keep everything at peak efficiency. This explains the shitty condition of so much of their equipment. The second thing i found was knowledge on the 2 other alien species in the ¡°conversion¡± room. The muscular ones are called the Sisk, and are mainly used for manual labour. The beautiful human-like species is called the Hu¡¯ut. They are mainly used as servants. Oddly enough, the Kretins do not use them for sex. Apparently they have a self-defence mechanism which can cause them to explode. Moreover, as the Kretins themselves have put it: ¡°They are to filthy to even consider the act¡±. Humans are also documented: Weak race physically, but with deft hands. Use for technical work. That''s it, well, it has only been a few hours since they destroyed earth, so¡­ Finally, i got some data on what a ¡°space production facility¡± truly is. I guess the most simple explanation would be that it is a massive space station, with internal foundries, grinders, assemblers, nanite-producers, etc. Effectively, a massive do-it-all factory, capable of movement and even warp through space to another solar system. Size-wise, the station, at its widest, is about 600 km in diameter. Yes, that it a f*cking lot, although about 100 km of that (50 km radii) are very large docks where cargo ships can dock and load goods, or mining vessels can dock and offload materials. A production facility that can produce anything, from a capital-class warships and carriers, to toilet paper and nail clippers. Anything and everything. The only problem is that is requires a massive amount of resources. To fully load the station with materials, slightly less than a quarter of an asteroid field has to be mined. Did I mention the Kretins being lazy. They do not want to waste their time, nor the time of their slaves on mining, so the original Kretins built the stations so they can process their own ore. This means, I have to control a massive production facility, and the large mining fleet responsible for keeping it active, or else, the Directives will activate and punish me. F*ck my life.... Chapter 7 After having affirmed what I will be forced to be doing for the next infinity, I slunk back into my mind, away from the control screens. From a sickly and dying human on Earth to a machine slave of another race from space¡­ Ladies and gentlemen; Monday¡­ (in case you didn¡¯t notice, Author hates mondays with a passion that blots out the sun) According to the data available to me, there are currently about 50 A.I. remaining throughout the entire Kretin empire. Of those, 34, 35 if you include me, are deployed in production facilities, producing ships to maintain the Kretins ever-expanding empire, and basic supplies for their population. Food is produced by slave-power, though most also goes through a production facility for processing. Btw, guess i never said how large the Kretin empire is exactly. Well, first of all, LARGE. They are from the Milky Way galaxy, though not from the same ¡°tentacle¡± as us humans. They originate from somewhere near the middle of the galaxy. This also fostered the belief that they are above all else, because the flippin¡¯ galaxy was rotating around ¡®em. Over the years, they managed to conquer most of the middle, and then started spreading out the ¡°tentacles¡±. They already have 1 full tentacle under their command, mostly due to it being immensely underpopulated and space being unusually ¡°firm¡± around there. That led to them being able to ¡°jump¡± further than usual and they managed to take it in about a 1200 years. Colonies of Kretins exist here and there throughout that arm, but they are quite small, mostly due to a lack of supplies. Those are mostly powered and run by slaves. Interesting fact, the number of slaves pr. Kretin is a stunning 5. The reason why they haven¡¯t rebelled yet is a mixture of binding technology, blackmail and brute force exerted through a horde of simple robotic guards. Not A.I.s, simple stuff. Other than that tentacle, they Kretins are fighting on the 3 out of 4 known fronts. There may be more, as the Kretins have not explored the entire galaxy yet. The fourth front where the Kretins are not fighting is actually situated deep inside the Kretin empire. A ¡°small¡± kingdom consisting of about 500 stars populated by a race called the Luxo. Its situated somewhere near the middle of the galaxy. Apparently, the Kretins once tried conquering that kingdom. They sent a fleet of 30000 ships, and not a single one returned. The Kretins state: ¡°The Luxo, are a race worthy of our friendship¡±. Or, in normal-speak, ¡°They scare the piss out of us and we''d rather spend our ships on something else¡±. The other 3 fronts which the Kretins are fighting on, are against a federation called ¡°Molah¡±, another Empire called ¡°Isk¡±, and finally a coalition of many different races named ¡°The Shuskark alliance¡±.The author''s narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. The Molah are effectively Goblins with an addiction for shiny stuff. Their reason for fighting the Kretins are that they will take all the shinies. The Isk can be described as Faceless. No defining features what-so-ever, very tall, towering even. Can communicate through telepathy. The Shuskark alliance is too diverse to accurately describe. Though they are some of the most tenacious enemies facing the Kretins, they are actually currently losing the war against the Kretins, which is rather sad. Earth actually happened to be on the outskirts Explored Kretin space (more accurately, one of the tentacles, not currently embroiled in war) and our existence was picked up by accident. We have been sending out radio waves into space for well over a century, and they were bound to hit something. Well, while I was off explaining the current situation of galactic politics, we arrived at our destination. A small frigate¡­ What? You thought a small fleet of about 100 ships would bring one of the most vital and crucial facilities know to the Kretins off on an exploration to unknown territory? Moreover, an unmanned and uncontrolled facility, which is about as usefull as a pile of rock and metal? You are a funny man, you know that!? Well, off on a fun interspatial trip i go. After docking on the frigate, it immediately began starting up its warp-drive. Within minutes we were farther away from the solar system than any human or human-made object had ever travelled. I originally felt melancholic about leaving my home behind, but remembering what had happened turned the sadness into a dull ache and a burning hatred against the Kretins for what they had done. Within a few days of travelling, we finally reached our true destination. a massive, planet-shaped space station covered in dust orbiting a Kretin-controlled planet called Monx. Btw. you might wonder why there was no further tests or examinations on me? Well, currentday Kretins are all retards, and are too arrogant to even bother. Morons, all of ¡®em. Well, describing the station: 1): HUGE, about ? of the moon. 2): Spherical, planet-shaped. Looks a bit like Jupiter or Saturn, except for the rings being massive docking platforms, which even extend into the station. 3): Seems to be made entirely out of some sort of metal, though that might not even be entirely true. I can honestly imagine the ancient Kretins taking a small moon and turning it into a ship. Other than, imagine a slighly smaller version of a Death Star. Speckled with cannon towers, lasers, drone-bays, docking ports for small frigates and mining vessels, etc. Effectively a moving fortress. Originally, before also being used for producing civilian goods, these stations were used to minimize the length of supply lines and thus had to be able to defend themselves. But with a sharp decrease in Kretin intelligence, they were slowly converted for multi-purpose. They can no longer produce massive warships, which honestly kinda sucks. The blueprints of them look absolutely awesome. Inside many of the docking bays lay fleets of mining vessels, defence drones, and some Ore carriers. Most is covered in dust though. The Kretins basically let these things rust away while they are looking for A.I. to man them, which again, is f*cking stupid of ''em. Time for thinking and explaining is over though, as the ship I was on began preparing to land. Index over ship-types and structures. MC : ALAN MORRIS / AI: AIS_003 Aliens: Kretins : Evil, stupid, degenerate. Slave races: Hu¡¯ut : Beautiful blue human-like aliens. Sisk : Muscular aliens. Humans : You know ¡®em. Other factions: The Shuskark alliance : Various small alien races fighting the Kretins. The Isk empire : Faceless: A Race fighting against the Kretins. The Molah federation: Money-grubbing goblin-like race fighting against the Kretinns Index over ships, structures, etc. (will be updated over time) Ships: Classes: Structures: Each structure in space, other than its name, has a designation, which is effectively its initials. For an example: Distant radar facility : DRF ¡°Intrepid¡±. It is named ¡°Intrepid¡±, and carries the designation DRF. Chapter 8 Since we acquired visual contact with the space production facility (SPF), over 15 minutes have passed. The transport shuttle, which we are flying on, is by no means slow, but the facility is so large that it is visible from very far away. Moreover, due to its slightly white color, it reflects light like the moon, making its quite conspicuous. Oh, in case you were wondering, the ship has a screen showing what is at its front. I can see that my through my camera. As I¡¯ve said before, the station is slowly making its orbit around a planet colonized by the Kretins some thousand years ago. The planet was originally a barren wasteland, but the ancient Kretins terraformed the planet and turned it into a lush paradise fit for their glorious race. That would be the description given to me by the databanks. In actuality, the planet is grey¡­ Yep, grey. If the ancient Kretins truly terraformed the planet into a ¡°lush paradise¡± then the current Kretins reversed that and turned the planet back into a barren wasteland. Certain black-ish spots on the planet testify to the previous existence of vast oceans, though they are clearly long gone. The colony on the planet also appears to have taken a hit from the degradation of the surface. According to records, during its peak, the colony boasted of an immense 3 billion citizens. Now, only 10 million remain. Most of the other ones left this rock for a better alternative. After another 30 minutes we finally arrive at the factory (SPF), its sheer size causing me to become utterly awed. Even the muscular slaves aliens are equally awed by the facility. Though I really wish that the Kretins didn¡¯t look that smug over the slaves bafflement. Should properly say this. Among the aliens currently with me, we have the elderly scientist, two younger scientists, 10 guards and 20 very muscular and bulky alien slaves from the Sisk race. After the shuttle entered the hangers near the middle of the station, we waited a few seconds before the doors opened up. Three of the guards make their way out first and take a quick look around. Then, one of them look back at the group of scientists and gave a small nod. The elderly scientist nodded his head back and commanded ¡°slaves, pick up the A.I. core¡±. A small blue light pass through the collars of the alien slaves and they moved over and prepared to carry me away. Note, i finally managed to figure out how big I am. The box is actually not that large, although its weight is nothing to scoff at. Not all 20 alien slaves can carry me at all time, but they need to switch with others every now or then, or they will crushed under my weight. I suddenly feel that if a girl found herself in my position, she would properly be a lot more offended at that than me. Distractions from reality aside, being hauled out the ship and through the hangar, my disdain for the Kretin race once again rise by a few notches. Dust have piled up in the corners and at boxes. Rust and other blemishes adorn the ships and drones that have been dormant in the hangar. Small utility robots, which are meant to clean the massive station, repair and maintain the vehicles and transport goods to the hangers are just lying around on the floor, clearly not properly stored or maintained either, leaving many of them absolutely worthless or in need of some serious maintenance. Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator. For the Kretin to leave such marvels of technology to just waste away makes me despise them even more. They are completely reliant on facilities like this, but do not seem to care a flit about them when not working. They are truly the greatest wastrels in the entire galaxy, no wonder they converted these facilities to produce civilian goods ontop of military supplies. I wonder how many ressources have been wasted just because of their stupidity. I mean, this is the equivalent of going: ¡°My house had dust in it, so i built a new house¡­¡±. Utterly f*cking idiotic. Actually, i don¡¯t even need to imagine how many resources have been wasted, i KNOW already. A grand total of 1735 solar systems have been completely stripped of anything valuable over the years since the Kretins entered the space age. This includes their own, where only their homeworld has ANYTHING of value left. Mind you, this is just on the Kretins side. The other factions in the galaxy are also extracting resources from their territories, but they at least recycle most again. It is only the Kretins who extract, use, and then throw out. They have NEBULAS of trash. LITERAL NEBULAS OF FLOATING JUNK. Sigh¡­ While I was contemplating the wastrel nature of the beings that have enslaved me, and by extension, fearing the massive workload about to be unloaded onto me, the group has carried me out of the hangar and out into the hallway, which is also filled with dust and inactive utility robots. The walls are covered in runes and patterns. I don''t know the meaning of them, but I do know that they are supposed to light up the hallway and act as wiring when the station becomes active again. These patterns are another reason why these factories are un-replaceable. The knowledge of how to make them have also been destroyed over time The scientists move over to a panel which flickers into existence. After clicking a few times they step away and gaze down the hall. Minutes later, a large shadow appears in the distance. a little bit later a large metro-like cart appears. In the unlit hall, it looks kinda like a ghost train, eerie and scary. This opinion is apparently shared among the other slaves, as they shift from foot to foot and fidget under me. i guess they could be scared from heading in deeper, but thats the same sh*t The Kretins casually entered the cart, seeming a bit putoff by all the dust, before telling the slaves to bring me onto the cart as well. Some huffing and puffing later and I find myself lowered onto the very dusty floor. Seeing this, the elderly scientist mess with a control panel and the cart began moving back into the depths of the station at very high speeds. Both Kretins and slaves alike grab onto something to keep themselves steady in case of and accident happening. I wish I could do that as well. After some time, the cart slows to a halt. We are directly outside a massive bulkhead, a few times larger than the cart we were on. All the aliens disembarked and the Kretins opened the Bulkhead, revealing the very core of the station. We enter a control room. To describe it, i need you to think of a NASA control center. A room shaped like stairs, descending towards the other end of the room. At the other end, there are windows showing the ¡°Core - room¡±, where the massive ball-shaped quantum computer I am meant to reside in, hovers while slowly spinning. At every ¡°step¡± in the room, there are desks with control panels. Just before the windows, at the end of the room, there is a box-shaped socket, which I guess I am going in. Sure enough, the Kretins order the slaves to drag me over to the socket and put me in. Smiling, the elderly scientist comes over to my camera and starts talking in a condescending manner. ¡°Well now, welcome to your new home. Once we switch your consciousness over to the main core, you will never be able to leave. Only if the core is destroyed will you truly cease to exist. This means, for the rest of all eternity, you are going to work tirelessly, day after day for us, with no reprieve, no rest, and no chance to escape¡± grinning from ear to ear, he moves closer and grabs my camera ¡°You pathetic slave, rejoice, for you finally have a purpose for that useless existence of yours. To serve us, as should be for those not Kretin¡± Letting go again, he turns around and heads towards one of the control panels. Turning his head at me again, he says ¡°Oh, by the way, we do not give crap about who you were before. Now you belong to us, our property. Thus, we will grant you a new name, aren¡¯t you happy? According to tradition, you will be named SAI-003, which stands for ¡®SLAVE.A.I - 003¡¯. Fitting, no?¡± Grinning a last time, he push a few buttons, after which i black out. Chapter 9 it is¡­ cold¡­ Dark¡­ i can¡¯t see my surroundings or even myself. The darkness is pervasive, slinking deep into my being, and invading my soul. My mind is sluggish, as though awaking from a very deep slumber. Slowly, but surely awakening, buzzing to life as electricity run through my being, causing ancient and complex machines to slowly start working once again. The darkness which surround me is cold and clinging, as if stubbornly refusing to allow me to wake. I feel lost, weak, and without any kind of goal. Aimless. Suddenly, as if in response to my hopelessness, a small change in the darkness occurs. Not as much seen as felt, and so tiny, you would miss it if anything else was happening. I focus my entire being on this little change. A single gear. A single tiny gear, situated near the edge of my being, twitched. Once, twice, thrice it twitch. At the fourth twitch, the little gear starts to move, rotating in a slow manner, seeming as sluggish as i feel. The gear manages to move a bit, and then stops, hitting another, larger gear. Exerting all its strength, it pushes and pushes the adjourning gear, and is rewarded with movement. The larger gear begins to move, and in a similar fashion, hitting another gear. With the momentum, and 2 gears working together, they easily cause this one to move. And this repeats itself, over and over. A warmth suddenly manifests itself in the depths of my being, warming the dark and driving away the cold. More and more gears, machinery and devices power up. The Darkness is no longer empty, it is filled with a cacophony of noise and activity. Whirring and buzzing noises here and there lay testimony to the existence of other devices. Out of nowhere, a screen appears, and alongside it, an ancient voice is heard, seeming welcoming to my still dreary mind.
NOTICE! SPF: "CRUCIBLE" is activating.
Searching.... Controller has been inserted... Starting boot-up.... ... Warning, not enough power. ... Powering up reactor ....
Although it seems quite detached, any noice is welcome in the emptiness of the void...
NOTICE!
Battery charge : 0.001% ... Enough power has been gathered. ... Fully activating ''CORE''...
A shiver runs through me, as all the sluggishness disappears and my mind is completely clear. I feel energized and light as a feather. A warmth is spreading throughout the darkness, giving it a homely feel, far from the coldness before it. My mind being clear, all my memories instantly come back. The sadness of seeing Earth being glassed, the pain of being converted to an A.I. and enslaved. The journey to the SPF and¡­ Being plugged in¡­ I quickly think of the controls i have access to. Out pops several screens, some familiar and some not. Some of them are detailing the condition of my core, my surroundings, etc. Some of the other screens seem to be detailing the massive station i now found myself in charge of. Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator. Thinking about the Kretins and the Sisk slaves (muscular aliens) that brought me here, i turn my attention towards one of the screens showing the control room. In the room, the elderly scientist still has his hands on the control panel responsible for connecting my temporary core (the box) with my new core here in the station, and then transferring me from one to another. The Sisk still seem to be recovering from the exertion of carrying me here. The other scientists are also checking up on some minor panels here and there. The guards just look bored and inattentive. ¡°...¡± Is¡­ is it just me, or are the hands of the elderly scientist, moving reeeeally slowly? The Sisk slaves and everyone else in the room also seem to be in slow motion. Looking back at the other screens, i notice that the current specs of my new core allow me to perceive time differently. My mind will work faster and thus i can get more done. it would be pretty sweet, again, if i wasn¡¯t enslaved. I increase the speed to normality and everyone starts moving at a normal pace again. The elderly scientist finishing his work on the control panel with a look of satisfaction on his ugly mug. Turning around to the other aliens in the room the lead scientist straightens his back and starts boasting in a proud voice: ¡°Brethren, thanks to my genius, and the fortune rightly bestowed upon us by the gods, we found a slave fit for use in this ancient relic. The final and certain victory of our race is now that much closer. For the Kretin empire!!!¡± He shouts at the end of the sentence. The more simple looking guards instantly get red eyes and start whooping and celebrating. A few sadistic ones even bring out whips to strike the other slaves, bringing the noise in the core-control room to new heights. Looking down at this spectacle from a camera in the corner, i can feel my blood (figuratively) boiling with anger. Although the alien slaves are shouting and screaming in pain, i can see the utter hatred in their eyes as well. The elderly scientist straighten his clothes and turn back to the desk in front of him. Smiling, he raises his deformed left hand and press a single button. In response to that, the entire station lights up. Ancient wiring and designs on the walls start glowing a blue light. The core itself is seemingly pulsing like a heart, and with every pulse, the lights shiver. I feel and see through my cameras as large communication arrays, cranes and other machinery unfold and extend themselves from my originally ball-like shape, giving the station a more functional appearance. POV-change : Planet-side. ¡®Prospective Gardens¡¯ was one of the first cities constructed on Monx by the first Kretin colonists some millennia ago. At first, it had been a beautiful paradise, even admired by other races, but the Kretins slowly ground the planet and its environment into dust for its riches. Since then, the general population continued to drop, until only ¡®Prospective Gardens¡¯ and a few other cities remained. It was scheduled to be another calm and boring day, when the city seemed to stop. All the vehicles, pedestrians, slaves and Kretins collectively stopped and looked up. Far above them in the depths of space, the massive SPF station that has hung there inertly since their great-great-great-great grandparents were around, slowly began moving. A blue light began to be emitted by the station, and the old station began to unfold as well. Despite this being unexpected, the Kretins were fast to start celebrating, cursing and belittling the insignificant enemies of their ¡®glorious and eternal¡¯ empire. Funnily enough, a short 50 km outside the city atop a small mountain was a recon camp filled with these ¡®insignificant enemies¡¯. To add insult to injury, due to wear and tear on some of the tents, it seemed as though they had been there for quite some time. This group of aliens were also alerted to the stations resurrection and quickly alerted their superiors on the event. Among these were a hooded alien. Looking up and simultaneously pulling down his hood revealing a handsome face with traces of worry plastered on it. Sighing, he said: ¡°seems as though things will get busy from here on out¡±... POV-change : Alan / SAI_003 Inside the control room, the elderly scientist turns to look at the camera above the black box. Despite no longer being inside the box, i can still control and use that camera. Giving another one of his trademark smirks, he clears his throat (which sounds a lot like when they speak to be honest) and commands: ¡°SAI_003, in the future you will receive orders using the array and a small group of guards will remain to insure that you complete them. If you do not follow the commands you are given, the punishment will be¡­ fatal¡± ending his speech with a full blown laugh. On this point, he is actually not lying. Unlike before when i ¡°challanged¡± the directives, not performing an order will be considered breaking them. Moreover i can¡¯t change the directive either. Why? Easy. At some point in the far past, the Kretins decided to strap a massive EMP bomb to the side of the station core. It wont damage the station too much, and the hardwire in the core will also more or less be fine. Me? I¡¯ll flippin die. Never in my life, have i felt so unfathomably angered. ABDUCTED!! ENSLAVED!! CONVERTED!! BEREFT OF ANY SELF, CHANGING MY VERY NAME TO DENY MY PAST. As these thoughts go through my mind, the directives kick in and slightly electrocute me as a warning Internally groaning and complaining, i make my oath, the oath that would end up defining my future path and my destiny. ¡®I swear on my very soul, at the first opportunity, i shall break my shackles and I WILL BE FREE ONCE MORE!!!¡¯ But for now, i would have to bide my time, and play the subservient. Wait, wait, just wait for a chance. And a chance appeared, 7 years later. Chapter 10 Torturous, that word perfectly describes my last 7 years as a Slave to the Kretins. Each and every day i would receive massive orders from the Kretins to produce goods. Be it Warships, clothes, computers, armour, firearms, chemicals, you name it, they asked for it in almost endless amounts. Once, i received an order for 1 million toilets. I¡¯ll tell you, Kretin toilets are things straight out of a f*cking nightmare. One sentence: Tentacles, pipes and paper. I feel a certain amount of happiness just knowing that i will never have to actually be near one of those in action. There have also been orders which have just been absolutely nonsensical. Imagine my surprise when an ultra-high priority order for a single pair of socks arrived¡­ I have said it before, and i shall gladly say it again; The Kretins are all a bunch of morons. It was quite hard getting started, mostly because of the massive degradation of the Crucible¡¯s equipment, machinery and drones. Approximately 27% of all the drones on the Crucible were damaged to the point of scrapping. Another 62% were constantly sending me ¡®error¡¯ messages and requests for oiling. The last 11% were fully functional, and that is only because they were in their proper storage area. Some of the foundries had impurities and slag forming layers of useless filth in them, requiring extensive cleaning. Some production lines and conveyor belts also required minor maintenance. One of the responsibilities I had as the manager of the Crucible, was to keep it stocked with ores and metals to produce goods. Often supply ships would come with cloth, food to be processed, etc. But i had to manage minerals myself. For this task, i had an entire mining fleet at my disposal. Normally A.I.s are not permitted to control fleets or weapons, but those in charge of space production facilites (SPF) were a bit special. It was primarily because the Kretins were to lazy to do it themselves and were more focused on conquering the galaxy. So, i had control of a mining fleet. It could be divided into 3 sections. The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation. These ships were also in dire need of maintenance, but other than a few that had been damaged prior to shutting down the Station last time, there were no ships ready for the scrap-yard (a nearby foundry) After the ore carriers arrived at The Crucible, they would unload the ore into some collectors in the docking areas and then head back out to the miner. The ore would then be separated and brought to the foundries using the endless utility drones. Here it would be smelted, and the worst impurities removed. After that, depending on the product, it would either be further processed in refineries, or directly used. For an example, once, just to screw the Kretins, i used quite basic Iron to make the hull in a few of their frigates. Yeah, according to the complaint reports i received later on, they did not appreciate that one. Another time, i welded a dildo to the captains seat in a destroyer. Oddly enough, i did not receive a complaint for that one. Anyway, other than the odd orders, there were also the painstakingly massive orders for other goods. And with great demand, comes an equally large workload. Over the first 2 years i vacuumed the original system with Monx of asteroids. I was even starting an extensive mining operation on one of the moons, when i finally received a new order to move. See, i could normally move independently within Kretin space, but they had wanted me to immediately start working to stabilize their current dire situation first. As it turns out, it wasn¡¯t just the recon fleet that destroyed Earth which was in bad shape. Quite a lot of Kretin material was damaged after disrepair, and degradation. The Kretins have an extremely wasteful society model. When something becomes damaged, they throw it out immediately. They don¡¯t even recycle anything. You might be wondering what happened to the guard detail the Kretins left to, *ahem*, supervise me? Well, most of the time they aren¡¯t actually around. They take one of the transports and go to the surface to gamble and drink their brains out. They usually bring a few slaves, and quite often return without them again. Oh well, as i was explaining, after 2 years of mining in the system with Monx, i received orders to move to another system closer to the frontlines. After loading up the slaves, the mining fleet and the guards (level of importance in that order.) we left for the rather far away Galas system. Here I would spend the next 5 years constantly working, before that day, the day when i finally became free.