[Unknown_Enemy]

The Winds Of Changes.

Inquisitor Itarki was advancing in the gardens of the palace. He was about to be introduced to the most powerful being of the quadrant. Emperor Kenako Mahatsuhito of the Katanas Imperium had accepted to receive the Tyrean Ambassador in her private place. Such an honor was rare. Itarki's atmospheric shield biped, as the Katana's security systems scanned it. The little device emitted a low power force field, able to capture some atmosphere and retain it near the body of the bearer. The clumsy space suits used in the first meetings by Tyrean diplomats were long gone. A Katana servant appeared, saluted the diplomat, and guided him through the garden. Not a word was exchanged. Inquisitor Itarki arrived in front of a closed door with a mirror on it. Itarki's reflect was showing an average height Tyrean male of white and brown fur. But at several places on his body, the fur has been shaved and biopLastic has replaced skin. Several life support connectors could be seen on his body. But the worst was his head. Half of his fur has been shaved, and half of his skull has been replaced by biopLastic. His left eyes never blinked anymore. On the artificial side of his skull a quantum connector was ready for activation. The Ambassador smiled at his image. Even before meeting him, the Emperor has just asked him her first question.

" Why did the Federation send a cyborg to meet me ? "

The door was opened. Itarki was introduced to the Emperor.

"Your Majesty, I bring salutations from His Holiness Vixen VIII. I also bring a message from His Holiness, and thereby humbly request permission to read it."
The Emperor nodded slowly.
"Your Majesty,
In the name of His Holiness Vixen VIII, I have been send to reveal some hidden truth about our specie. First you have to remember our recent past. Our specie discovered the plague known as the Small Death : the shortening of our life expectancy. At the same time, Temporal powers became obvious in our population. But most of the Gifted Tyreans began to be victims of the Small Death. And in fact, the Gift and the Small Death are linked. That disease is a side effect of our power. No cure can work on such a problem. But that is now irrelevant. An era is ending.

We know.

We understand.

At Last.

The Lord choose the Tyrean for a specific function. We were given Temporal Power to fulfill it.

We did feel it, but could not see it. As we speak, 2 billions Tyreans are dying in various worlds. Natural death. Simply speaking, the energy pattern known as their Soul has departed from this universe. They are now fulfilling their task. Be advised your Majesty, that on the time of your death, your own Soul will begin her Great Journey toward the End of Time, where you will find your destiny. So is the fate of all intelligent beings in this universe. But the journey is difficult. Dangerous. Painful.

Some may not achieve it.

That is why we exist. When you will begin your Long Road, we will find you. We will help you. Should you have been friends or foes is irrelevant on the Long Road. We will help you anyway. We exist to help the Soul of the dead to achieve the Long Road. In our pride, we thought our Lord was waiting for us at the End of Time. Such vanity was ours. We only are His servants.

We are ferryman on the flow of time.

But not all of us are ready to fulfill such destiny. Some of us are not willing. Some of us are not gifted. These Last ones do not want to stay in the Federation of Churches. Some departed to the Eifralo Conglomerate. Others has recently voted to join the Imperium. Our planet Ursula VIII has requested to join the Imperium. Ungifted Tyrean are gathering there from the whole federation.

For those not willing, their future looked very grim a few years ago. They were subject to the Small Death, and perfect victims for the first aggressive specie they could cross. Thus, we devised our Artificial Intelligence.

"Why were we created ? Why ?"

Indeed, this question has haunted the Tyrean AI since their creation. To control and run our society, lower AI systems could have fit perfectly. But we needed more. We needed construct capable of curiosity. We needed construct capable of vanity. We needed construct capable of greed. We needed constructs able to perform research in fields Banned from our society. Then we needed constructs able to defend ourselves in the years to come, in our years of vulnerability. It worked as planned. The AI began to envy our Temporal power, the only thing which was completely beyond their reach.

What they could not achieve by themselves, they tried to control. They tried to merge their robotic intelligence with a Tyrean brain. But they missed the point. They could not understand the power of the living. They failed to appreciate the power of a soul. They tried to control a Tyrean brain, while not damaging its powers, like a beastmaster taming an Iceworm. Somehow, they managed to create a viable solution. By replacing just one tenth of our Brain by quantum electronic systems, the AI was able to transfer their personality in a Tyrean brain. But then, in the nanoseconds that followed their intrusion in a Tyrean spirit, something not planned happened. The AI was subverted.

Distorted.

Dominated.

Absorbed.

Instead of a Tyrean, an AI became a puppet, and let loose the false new : they were successful. They achieved to control a Tyrean brain. Unaware of their ultimate failure, the various AI composing Consensus are now running to their death like lemmings into the sea. In a matter of months, Consensus will be extinct.

But what are the Tyrean gaining from such a treatment ? Why would they choose to become cyborgs ?

They will choose that fate to gain a solution to the Small Death. The AI created several controlled cancers in our body to regenerate continuously some parts of our body victim of the Small Death. This can give a modified Tyrean a life expectancy of 130 to 150 years, despite his temporal power.

Last, absorbing a foreign Intelligence has a price. We cannot see the universe as we saw it before. We lost our innocence. We will have to live in this universe as a specie like all others.

AI Consensus has been a useful tool. A dangerous, but useful tool.

But now, the Invexus Corporation has attacked us. That unwanted war arrived on us very quickly, we would have preferred to have a few more years to handle both Consensus and the departure of most of our population. Haste is sometime the enemy of quality. It could be some AI will discover the truth, and will try to escape their fate. We will have to do the best as we can when we can do it.

On the painful subject of war, here is the situation. Years ago, we discovered Harridane system, claimed by no one, 8 systems away from our nearest colony, but in a strategic location right in the middle of the quadrant. We claimed it and send a long range colony ship, but when our vessel arrived, the Invexus Corporation had counter claimed the system and started colonizing it. We colonized a O2 gas giant there. The Invexus Corporation refused to negotiate, and harsh words were exchanged. Until Last month. We received a message ordering us to abandon the planet or face dire consequences. Simultaneously, Invexus Corporation broke all treaties with us and an Invexus warship glassed the planet killing every single living thing on a whole continent.

That surprise attack has cost the life of millions of citizens. Worse, Pandora's box is now wide open.

A world has been glassed. It will happen again.

This horror from the Ancient Wars is again a reality. The path is set. We have now to deal with the Invexus leaders. These war crimes will not be forgiven. All Corporate leaders will endure a trial for their crimes.

These, your Majesty, are the words of His Holiness Vixen VIII."

There were no questions. Ambassador Itarky was dismissed. Outside, a strong wind was blowing on the palace. The Winds of Changes were there.

[ March 17, 2003, 23:46: Message edited by: Unknown_Enemy ]