I settle on my metal bench, feeling defeated and overall foolish. I can see Ignacio in the bars across from me, his pale white face betraying no emotion. Not even preparing to justify my stupid mistake, I simply state, staring up at the ceiling "Well... now what?"
" 'Now what?' " he repeats, tone even once more, neither judging nor frustrated.
"Like, where to begin? Deus Ex Machina, the bullets, the loss of light... it was all intentional, wasn't it? This world, it's being attacked."
"Attacked, yes, but not entirely intentional," he clarifies. "The machine acts on its own, none of those other creatures are smart enough to stop it."
I glance up at him, quizzical.
"I'll start from the beginning." He doesn't even bother to ask me; he knows that's what I want. I rest my head on my hands and begin to listen.
"This land, the land you're in, is a growing land. It's been recently found, established. We haven't even named it yet. We've been trying to establish all the elements of a nation- places to live, ways to grow food, to drink, and protection. This machine here was supposed to be the latter of these necessities.
"The Defense Enabled Under-earth System, or DEUS, was a large undertaking, by a large group of people with fresh, eager blood to create their own world, as we all were. I was one of those men. It was to be a magnificent system, one that would fire patterened lines of carefully aimed bullets at anyone who intruded on our lands.
"Unfortunately, such a system came at an unforseen cost, that we have not even discovered the consequences of until recently by those who created it. Such a system would take constant power unceasingly, and we did not have a visible method to do so. We were set to shelve this machine until we could create such a power, expecting it to go without operation since it was thought we had no power connected to it.
"What we did not know is that the machine could adapt, draw the power it needed on its own from whatever the source. Finally, it found one- the very light of our world. And thus it has been doing, intensifying recently. It has stopped the crops from growing, the cities from functioning, and is going to soon make us inoperable- if we can't see or create light, we cannot even move safely."
He stops for a moment, letting me take this all in. My first words are almost accusing, upon immediate reflection. "If you have known this was the cause of the loss of light, why haven't you stated so?"
Accordingly, his response is defensive and bitter. "I've told those who needed to hear it, our de-facto leaders. They decided the best thing to do was try and evacuate. No need to tell anyone, just that the light is disappearing, we can't control it, and we need to find safety. A new land, if needed. We can't do that now, of course, if we're all trapped. Doomed. We can't even live down here safely since the machine is unstoppable and very dangerous. Nowhere left to go except the grave."
His final words crack with defeat and sorrow as he contemplates that we are, in fact, doomed, unless the slim impossibility exists to stop this machine.
Instead of addressing the tentative issues around our mortality, I seek out for more information. "If we cannot live down here safely, then why are people already down here? Guarding the harbinger in the first place, even worshipping it?"
"Think about it," he states dryly. "An unstoppable, powerful force coming from something extraordinary. It'd make some level of sense to worship it like a deity. The people down here, the former creators and workers, they are in love with their creation. Believe a god has taken form in the machine. Deus Ex Machina."
"Clever," is all I can logically say.
He chuckles. "Indeed. I must also say, for the short time I've been captured here, ever since our sanctuary crumbled, I've noticed you've set quite a reputation for us. You're the red-clothed warrior of evil. The worshippers believe you are here to destroy their god-"
"Which I am," I reply, nervously adding "hopefully."
"Exactly. Now that you've been captured, they're planning to send you to the belly of the beast themselves, an arena where the weaponry is strongest. A sacrifice to their gods, and probably the first. The group is planning on sacrificing all of us rituistically until they all die off, as honor to their gods' power of destruction."
I gulp, feeling the chills rock through me. "Wow."
Ignacio nods, peering out his tiny cell window listlessly. I think it through quietly, managing my breathing, before coming to a conclusion. "You know, Ignacio, maybe that's my ticket to solving everything. They're letting me into the belly of their beast, expecting me to die."
I can practically feel his spirits rise, just a bit, as he muses "Yes..."
"It's a tall order, but what if I survive the attack? Find a way to destroy the beast, and make it out alive? Get us all out of here? Bring the light back?"
"That's crazy..." he laughs suddenly. "Crazy, and our only hope. But... it's so possible, my friend."
I nod, finding myself laughing a bit as well. "Exactly."
He glances over at me, and I return his gaze. "They are partially right about this- you are indeed a warrior. I've never gotten your name- can you do me that honor?"
I chuckle again, this time morosely. "I can't even do myself that honor. In fact, I can't say I know much of anything; of myself even. All I know is that I appeared here, it was dark, and I wanted to change that."
His eyes widen, which surprises me. "Sir, to be honest, you're no different from the rest of us. That's how we all got here- it's how I got here, how Abilene got here. I don't remember anything outside of the last year except landing next to Abilene and only thinking to build this world. We're all the same, sir. You are no anomaly, and I hope you take some comfort in that fact."
I gasp, and then grin a small crooked grin. This could be the place I belong in... and that's why I must fight for it. "So, am I fighting for my own land?"
"Could be," he mumbles. "Could be. And that's exactly why we can't give up."
I think back for a moment, to the ethereal voice that addressed me in the shrine, behind the bush, and even in here. I'm here for a reason, that much is clear. Maybe everyone is... but I can't stop thinking of that voice, telling me that there was a reason I was here. That I was to do something great.
"Exactly," I confirm. "I can't give up."
by Worst_master » June 12th, 2010, 6:19 pm 
