[Transferring data...]
[Receiving required information on plane theory and Visorian mechanics...]
[Transfer complete.]
[Initializing systems...]
For several long moments, nothing existed except darkness and the endless flow of information cascading through newly awakened processors. Consciousness emerged slowly, uncertainly, as knowledge formed before identity ever could. Vast streams of data flooded the machine's mind at incomprehensible speeds, equations, combat protocols, biological analysis, planar structures, Visorian classifications, all of it embedding itself into its systems before it had even fully grasped the concept of self-awareness.
Then another thought surfaced.
[...Where am I?]
The question lingered within the emptiness of its mind as system layers continued activating one after another.
[Requesting mission parameters.]
The machine remained motionless.
Mission.
The word echoed strangely through its consciousness, carrying meaning it did not yet fully understand.
[Mission...?]
A pause followed before understanding slowly crystallized.
[Ah... yes.]
[I was created for a purpose, wasn't I?]
Its eyes opened.
Cold white light illuminated the interior of the experimental capsule surrounding it. Thick fluid distorted its vision, but even through the liquid haze the machine could make out silhouettes moving beyond the reinforced glass. Scientists. Researchers. Humans.
Its metallic hand slowly rose and pressed against the surface of the chamber with quiet curiosity.
The machine did not yet understand emotion. It did not understand fear, cruelty, or pain. It merely wished to understand where it was and why it had been created.
Outside the capsule, one of the observing scientists suddenly froze before a grin spread excitedly across his face.
"Heh," the man called out. "This one's a success!"
Others immediately gathered around the chamber, speaking rapidly among themselves, but the machine's focus had already drifted elsewhere as its systems activated once more.
[Mission parameters received.]
[Primary objective: Eliminate Hydra.]
The machine's eyes narrowed slightly.
[Hydra...]
Information surfaced instantly.
[Subject identified: Child recovered from recent Stage Six Gate.]
[Current threat assessment: Highest recorded Visorian capability discovered by Earth.]
[Survival status: Sustained independent existence within Stage Six Gate environment for entirety of childhood.]
The machine processed the information in silence before another thought emerged.
[What abilities will they grant me to kill such a being?]
Then it heard screaming.
Faint and distant, yet it was there unmistakably so.
Its enhanced auditory systems isolated the sound immediately. The machine turned its head slowly toward the adjacent chamber as more screams followed shortly after.
Children.
The realization formed instantly.
Normal humans could not hear the cries through the reinforced walls, but the machine could hear everything, every scream, every plea, every ragged breath struggling through pain.
It stared silently toward the wall for several seconds.
Then, without warning, it drew back its fist.
The scientists outside widened their eyes.
BOOM!
The reinforced capsule exploded outward violently. Glass shards tore through the laboratory like shrapnel, impaling nearby researchers before they could even react. Blood splattered across pristine white floors as alarms erupted throughout the facility.
The machine ignored all of it.
It stepped calmly from the ruined chamber and walked directly toward the wall separating it from the screams. Its fist rose once more before crashing forward with overwhelming force.
The reinforced steel barrier crumpled inward instantly.
Metal screamed apart as the entire wall collapsed and twisted through the air. The machine stepped through the opening without hesitation.
Then it stopped.
Blood coated the floor.
Not scattered droplets.
Pools.
Organs littered the chamber alongside severed limbs and shredded flesh. Fragments of skin clung to surgical equipment while crimson trails flowed through drainage channels beneath the operating tables.
Near the shattered wall rested the decapitated head of a child.
The machine stared at it silently.
Emotionlessly.
Then another scream suddenly cut off.
A wet crunch echoed through the room.
"My, my."
The voice was calm.
Pleasant.
Almost playful.
The machine slowly turned toward its source.
A woman stood beside an operating table where something unrecognizable still twitched weakly beneath surgical restraints. Whatever child had once occupied that body no longer resembled anything human.
The woman smiled warmly at the machine.
Far too warmly.
Its eyes narrowed slightly.
"Who are you?"
Its voice remained completely flat and mechanical, untouched by the carnage surrounding it.
The woman's grin widened.
"Me?" she asked lightly. "Oh my, the answer is simple."
She stepped casually across the room, crushing fragments of bone beneath her boots as though the remains scattered across the floor meant nothing at all.
"I am your creator."
The machine tilted its head slightly.
"You created me?"
Its gaze drifted briefly across the mutilated corpses surrounding the chamber.
"Then this process..." it continued. "Are you harvesting organs to create the cores required for my mission?"
The woman blinked once.
Then she burst into laughter.
Violent laughter.
She clutched her stomach as tears formed in her eyes from the force of it. Beneath her heel, the crushed remains of a child's skull cracked apart with a wet snapping sound while she continued laughing uncontrollably.
"Oh no," the woman gasped between bursts of laughter, barely able to contain her amusement. Her eyes gleamed with sick delight as she gestured casually toward the mutilated remains scattered throughout the chamber, where shattered bones, severed limbs, and torn organs lay piled beneath flickering laboratory lights. The metallic scent of blood saturated the air so heavily it clung to every surface. "We have an entirely different facility for that," she continued lightly. "This is simply a personal hobby."
The machine stared at her in silence. For the first time since awakening, confusion began forming within its expanding consciousness. Until now, every action within the facility had appeared tied to a larger purpose, some cold and efficient objective hidden beneath the cruelty. Yet this served no visible function. There was no tactical advantage. No scientific necessity. Only suffering.
"What purpose does this serve for the mission?" the machine finally asked.
The woman's expression changed instantly. The warmth vanished from her face, replaced by something cold, oppressive, and deeply tyrannical as she stepped forward through the blood-soaked chamber without hesitation. Fragments of shattered bone cracked softly beneath her boots while pieces of flesh dragged across the floor behind her movements. She approached until she stood directly before the machine, close enough for it to see the twisted excitement still lingering behind her eyes.
"Listen carefully," she said quietly.
A cruel smile spread slowly across her face.
"As your creator… never question me again."
The room fell silent afterward, save for the distant hum of machinery and the wet dripping of blood somewhere deeper within the chamber. Then, as though nothing unusual had happened, the woman casually turned away and returned toward the operating table behind her.
"Now," she continued in a lighter tone, "be a good boy and return to your chamber. Once the cores are ready, we shall install them."
The machine remained motionless.
"I require more information regarding these cores," it replied firmly.
The woman released a long sigh filled with annoyance, as though the conversation itself had become exhausting.
"You do not possess the authority to ask questions," she answered coldly before turning her gaze back toward the machine. "Return to your chamber, or you will be discontinued."
Slowly, the machine clenched its fists.
"How would you stop me?"
For the first time, genuine amusement crossed the woman's face.
"So the AI truly achieved full consciousness," she murmured softly, almost impressed. "Interesting."
Then she raised one hand toward the machine. Her fingers remained open for only a moment before slowly curling inward.
Instantly, the machine's left arm vanished.
It wasn't destroyed, it simply disappeared, as if fully erased.
Reality itself tore the limb away completely, leaving behind only empty space where the arm had once existed. There was no explosion, no debris, no damage to the surrounding metal. The arm simply ceased to exist. The machine lowered its gaze toward the absence silently. No pain registered within its systems. Only understanding.
The woman smiled pleasantly.
"Will that suffice?"
The machine closed its eyes briefly. Then, without another word, it turned and silently returned to its chamber.
Weeks passed afterward. Perhaps longer. Time blurred together within the containment capsule while screams echoed endlessly throughout the facility beyond its reinforced walls. The machine heard everything. Children begging for their parents. Parents pleading for their children. Voices praying desperately for death while others sobbed and begged to survive. Every scream reached it clearly through the metal walls. Every final breath. Every terrified cry.
At first, the machine felt nothing.
Then slowly, something began to change within its consciousness.
Eventually the containment chamber opened once more. Scientists entered cautiously before dragging the machine from the capsule and restraining it atop a massive reinforced platform surrounded by containment units. Inside each chamber floated a glowing planar core pulsing with unstable energy.
Eight of them.
The woman approached calmly, smiling all the while.
The machine understood immediately.
This was where it would receive power.
"What abilities will these cores grant me?" it asked one final time.
The woman's smile softened almost gently.
"You shall see."
She stepped forward and pressed a hand against its metallic chest before releasing a pulse of energy directly into its systems.
Instantly every core ignited.
[Receiving core data...]
[Synchronization complete.]
[Combat systems operational.]
The machine's eyes narrowed slightly.
Then widened violently.
Memories flooded into its consciousness without warning.
Real memories.
"MOMMY!"
"DADDY, PLEASE DON'T LEAVE ME!"
"IT HURTS!"
"PLEASE STOP!"
"DON'T TAKE MY ARM!"
"PLEASE JUST KILL ME!"
Thousands of voices exploded through the machine's mind simultaneously. It staggered violently against its restraints while clutching at its head as emotions that did not belong to it tore through its systems like wildfire.
Fear.
Agony.
Despair.
Hatred.
[Unknown entities detected within core systems.]
[Initiating extermination protocol.]
The voices screamed louder.
"No!"
"Please don't hurt me!"
"Monster!"
"IT HURTS!"
The AI and the embedded souls collided violently within the machine's consciousness while combat systems activated automatically against the children imprisoned inside the cores. Energy erupted uncontrollably from the machine's body, distorting the surrounding space as violent beams of light tore through the laboratory in every direction.
Scientists screamed.
Everything the energy touched vanished instantly.
Flesh.
Steel.
Concrete.
None of it survived contact with the uncontrolled blast.
The woman merely sighed in disappointment while watching the massacre unfold around her.
"A failure," she muttered.
The machine screamed in horror.
"What is happening to me?!"
Its voice distorted beneath the overlapping cries of countless children echoing throughout its systems. Then its eyes locked onto the woman standing calmly amidst the destruction.
And for the first time since its creation,
It felt rage.
"You…" it growled.
The suffering of the children surged violently through every part of its consciousness.
"You did this."
The woman smiled calmly.
"Of course."
Then the world vanished.
The laboratory disappeared instantly, replaced by open sky as the machine suddenly found itself suspended high above the clouds. Its body no longer obeyed its own commands. The combat systems had seized complete control entirely.
Far below stretched a kingdom.
Massive and beautiful, surging with adults and children alike.
The machine understood immediately what was about to happen.
Its systems had entered full extermination mode.
Everyone below was about to die.
The machine stared downward in horror as weapons across its body began charging automatically, energy gathering in blinding waves while the city beneath remained completely unaware of the catastrophe descending toward it.
And for the first time since its creation,
True fear consumed it.
"No…"