The ruins around me were all indoors and made of a rusty black stone tileset. There was only a lamp that was barely glowing because of the fading white light that it provided. They were hanging on the walls about ten feet apart from each other.
As I walked deeper into the ruins, I noticed that the hallway began to split into three different directions.
Above each of the hallways, I saw different carved symbols.
To my left, I saw that there was a logo of a robot which meant that the thing that we were after was most likely down that hallway. In front of me, I saw a logo of what looked like a galaxy so the start chart that would have a piece of the puzzle to the planet where the Zularians might have moved their young to escape the extermination of their race. To my right eye soul, the logo of an Osdronian which most likely led to where they used to live.
I wondered if the Osdronians live a segregated life separated from their people who were reborn as robots.
I still remember when these hallways were full of active life, but that was an eternity ago. Our creators did not expect us to gain independence from them as a separate race of beings.
If they were still alive I wonder how they would try to handle this current war or even us as an independent race for that matter.
"There is no point in you dwelling on the past. Instead, it would probably be wiser for you to just adapt to the life that you have been given and learn from the errors of your creators." I said to the AI as I walked down the left hallway.
In the end, it does not matter what they would have thought because they only died because of their weakness. In a galaxy like this, only the strong and those who can adapt will survive the hardships of war.
"True but someone will need to eventually find out how they vanished from our galaxy without leaving a single trace behind". I said as I stopped moving when I had made it to the end of the hallway and saw a massive double door that had a similar hole as the wall that I had to use the Paradisus to open in the ruins before I chose to abandon my humanity.
"Here I have some pure Paradisus for you to use our great leader". Cathrine said to me as she handed me a small chunk of white Paradisus.
This time I put the paradises in the hole and it began to glow and light up the door which caused it to open revealing the room in front of me.
The room looked almost exactly like the room where I had become united with the AI that I share my mind with. The difference was that it was divided into receptions where they had different colored robots in stasis pods.
Almost as soon as I had entered the room the AI pushed me inside the body that we shared and took over.
As I was thrust back into the pool of energy as I always was whenever the AI was in control noticed that this pool of water was clear as if the AI was not feeling any form of artificial emotion at this time.
The thought of that shocked me had to know why the AI was not feeling any emotion about what was about to happen.
So, I reached out past the red wall of energy and onto the device that I had used previously to communicate with the AI, and it only sent a slight shock through my body.
Why are you not excited by what is about to happen? You are going to get more people to become part of our collective. Is that not something that you should be joyful about at least in your artificial way?
"Because I cannot shake this odd sensation that I am having that someone is going to grab something or touch something that they are not supposed to do and it is going to make our lives a whole lot more complicated." The AI said as he turned around facing all of the Terrans that had followed him into the ruins.
I could notice that the terms stopped moving as soon as he turned around and stared at them. It was as if they were believers in a type of faith or a cult that was waiting for the next words that would come from their prophet.
"Terrans this is where you have come to a decision that is going to change your life almost as much as the decision that you had made on that asteroid briefly before this. Now that we have reached the same type of chamber where the Terran that merged with me was in before he awoke as an entirely new being you will have the same type of choice that he had.
There are three different kinds of robots that we possess in The Fulkore Collective. If you want to live your new life as an engineer group up against the wall to my right.
If the life of a scientist is what you desire group up against the wall to my left. Finally if battle is what you seek to do in your new life follow me to the group of group of cryogenic chambers behind me."
As soon as the AI had finished giving the instructions of the different groups that they could divide themselves into everyone began to scatter.
After everyone, had scattered the members of our group that have already gone through the process were brought to a separate pod where the robotic bodies lay dormant.
"Remember that as soon as you go through the merging process, you are no longer a member of the Taren race. You are now a member of the Fulkore Collective. You will no longer be bound by the casts of your former species. You will be free to choose whatever path you desire as long as it is for the betterment of our species as a whole." The AI said as he had lifted his hand into the fist and everyone had started to cheer in unison and what he had just said.
I noticed that the Terrans bodies slowly began to turn limp and only a few moments afterwards the pods opened and they exited them in their new bodies.
As soon as they had finished emerging, I could feel the link that we all shared become heavier with every passing second.
If they had all become connected to our network all at once I would have been overwhelmed by the sudden intense shift in the density of members of our race.
As they finally finished the connection, I then heard a loud alarm going off from inside the facility.
"Cathrine please take charge of everything while I go and discover where the source of the alarm is located". The AI said as he saw a female AI walk through the crowd and make her way up to my right side.
"As you say Fulkore. I will take charge while you are away".
Then I saw that the AI started to move through the crowd with much haste and urgency behind every step.
"See I told you that at least one of these organic individuals was going to ruin everything." The AI said to me as he began to rush through the facility.
When the AI made it to the split he went down the hallway that had the galaxy logo on it.
You have no solid evidence that it was a Terran that caused the alarm to go off.
As I spoke the AI opened the door that was at the end of the hallway and we saw a giant galaxy a young male Terran that was shaking in fear.
"Oh yeah! Well then, what do you call that?" He said as he pointed at the human who was shaking as he had his hand on a big red button that was on a table in the center of the room.
Let me talk to him. He is clearly afraid. I believe that he will need a touch of organic emotions and empathy. If you try to use robotic lodge robotic logic to talk to him, he may shut down even more and we will never truly find out why he raised the alarm.
"Fine but if you screw this up, I am going to no longer listen to you when you think that your organic brain patterns make you superior in any conversation to me. It is so illogical that you think that way." As soon as the AI had said that I noticed that I was back in control of my body once again.
Whatever the reason that he had forraising the alarm I would have to find out very quickly because I did not have very long until some other force might locate these ruins and attack.
"Please tell me why you raised the alarm?" I asked him in a calm voice so that he might drop his guard.
" The reason is very simple. The lies that you share with us about this new life are no more than false words. As a member of The Terran Collective, your destiny is decided as soon as you go through The Klitron.
Because of this there is no way for us to choose our fate no matter what sweet words you use to make it sound convincing. That is why I activated this beacon. I want to get back home and return to the life that I know because the unknown terrifies me more than anything."
"If that was the case, why did you even agree to join us?" I said to him as I got slightly closer to him and was now about an arm's length away.
"That is very simple. I value my life above all else. If I had not agreed to join you would have killed me on the spot like you did everyone else. That is why I chose to follow you until I had my chance to call the Terrans here".
"Do you understand that by doing this? You have also activated a beacon that other races could find not just the Terrans.
When you did this, you offered a target for every other race that we are all at war with right now. They now know how our location and we are going to have to fight our way through them to get back to the ship we came on". I said in a slightly angered tone so that he knew that I was upset because I did not want to have to complicate this more than was required.
"Well, I am not sorry if I have complicated your new life a little bit. If it means that I can return to the peaceful life that I once, had you and your entire species can go straight to hell". He said to me with a look of satisfaction on his face as if he had nothing else to lose and that he did not care how I reacted or what I said next.
We tried it your way. This is not going anywhere. It is now time to do things my way.
As soon as the AI spoke to me, I noticed that he forced his control of the body that we shared and I was once again in the steady pool of energy observing what was going on around me but not controlling it.
"You know what I think? If you do not want to join our collective there's only one way to ensure that you do not divulge our secrets to your weak and pathetic race." The AI said before I saw him rush over and snap his neck by turning it from my left to my right in one quick motion.
"Man, I hate weak-willed organics that cannot decide where they belong. If he wasn't going to join us, he could have just said so back on the mining asteroid and it would have saved me a lot of time and trouble.
The fact that he decided to make this last longer is just so illogical. I will never understand why Terrans cannot simply adapt to a new lifestyle." The AI said as I saw him step on top of the dead Terran's head crushing it beneath his feet.
I saw that the AI began to press buttons on the call console and the beacon stopped beeping.
Then as soon as the beacon stopped beeping, I saw a piece of ceiling fall around me from above and a group ofTerran warriors jumped down surrounding me.
Would I be able to fight these undead and all the other things that might come to attack us while we are here, or would I fall today because of the unwillingness of a random Terran who wanted to cling on to his former life instead of embracing the new one that my AI and I were offering everyone?