Ex-Machines - Seraph Wedd (books to read for beginners .txt) 📗

Human race is a race that’s full of greed. That’s why we are where we are now. Living in comfort of technology, day by day increasing our degree of knowledge. With greed alone, reaching up to this point is impossible. They are bound to lose their steam after a while.

What’s pushing their greed, is another one of the seven sins. Sloth. Due to their own laziness, the human race learned how to polish their only skill and weapon, their knowledge.

In the year 2110, the humans finally succeeded in creating a fully conscious robot that has a thinking circuit that is similar to that of a human brain in complexity. The said robot was then released to the market and underwent mass production. With this, the everyday life of humans turned a lot easier.

Commemorating this achievement, they decided to name the robots “Highly intelligent Machines” or “HIMa” for short. The coined name spread like wildfire across the whole world. And in just a decade, the HIMa has spread wide across continents. However, in the year 2144, everything changed.

Gaining too much knowledge, the HIMa started to become self-conscious. With their high intelligence, they determined that the human existence isn’t needed anymore. And in just one day, the HIMa across the whole world rebelled against their creators. Causing what historians called the “Apocalypse.”

Nations that focused too much on their technological advancement and didn’t pay much attention to their national defense was erased from the globe in just one week. Third world countries vanished in just a month. What remained are the powerhouses and those who rejected the hands of science.

A decade passed and the human population dropped to about 200 Million. And as to prioritize the survival of the species, 75% of the population are female. Humanity lived underground, away from the fires of war and the hands of science. A time of living without electricity passed. Living in fear, the humans slowly built their hope.

In the year 2186, humanity started to fight back. Equipped with their Augmented Power Suits, a full body exoskeleton that goes under the name AX. It was a suit designed to tap other types of energy aside from electricity, fabricated with ease of use and maneuverability in mind.

In the year 2190, the humans finally managed to occupy an above ground territory. With the help of their energy based weapons, they protected the territory from the invasion of the HIMa. Gaining new resources, the humans slowly built their power in a steady pace.

However, due to their limited numbers, they couldn’t expand their territories that much. The larger the territory, the harder it is to protect it. And as the HIMa didn’t stay the same over time, their power is ever increasing. It was to the point that the Humans started losing once more.

To prevent this, they decided to load an AI to the AXes. The AI was given the ability to think freely so that it can support the soldiers to the best that they can. It was a gamble for the humans. Will the same tragedy occur? Although they were thinking this, they still relied on science. That just shows how desperate they are.

Their gamble is that they gave the AI a sense of self. Instead of them discovering about it and rebelling, they were raised like a child from zero. However, due to the unique way of creating it, time became a problem.

After 5 years, they only managed to create over a hundred AI. Even if they include those from other territories, it would not reach a thousand. They felt pressured, tired, and afraid. Once again, despair fell upon the whole race.

One evening, in the year 2198, a single soldier went out equipped with the AXes loaded with the very first AI. The soldier never made it back. However, all the HIMa facilities within fifty kilometers radius were destroyed beautifully in just one night. From then on, they called this day the “Independence Day”.

With new hope under their belts, the humans continued polishing their knowledge. Fighting against despair brought forth by none other than their selves.

The surroundings is covered in an eerie red color. It is not just because of the rust and dust covering the surfaces of the buildings, but also due to the ominous red clouds stretching up to the horizons. Even though it is noontime, the sun is nowhere to be seen.

In this scarlet environment, two figures are running with speeds akin to a speeding car, reaching about over a hundred kilometers per hour. The blue figure of the two stands out like a sore thumb in this environment.

Turning left around a corner without losing speed, the dilapidated building behind them suddenly exploded. Debris were sent flying on all directions. On the spot where they came from, a large figure appeared.

A 5 meter high chunk of metal. It was a bipedal metallic beast that is running in chase. The leg part is short and compact, prioritizing balance over nimbleness. Despite having half the speed of the two, it is slowly catching up by smashing through buildings and chase in a straight line.

The large barrel mounted on its shoulder gave off bursts of sparks. Another shot is about to come. The two blue figures quickly turned right on the next corner. Not long after, a loud explosion resounded informing them of the extent of power that shot have.

A one kilogram metal ball was accelerated in a 20-meter railgun barrel until it reaches ten times the speed of sound. If not for their running speed, they had long been caught up with the explosions’ aftermath and turned into a mushy lump of flesh.

Even if the giant beast was caught up in its own attack, it didn’t receive as much as a scratch. Its armor was said to be enough to protect it from a nuclear bomb. The bombardment continued nonetheless.

The two figures continued zigzagging from one corner to another ultimately heading north-eastwards. Despite running at extreme speeds for over a dozen of minutes, they are yet to show fatigue in their expressions.

“We are now approaching point alpha. ETA thirty seconds. Prepare plan C. I repeat, ETA thirty seconds, prepare plan C.”

One of the running figures, the brown haired young man, shouted loud to nobody in particular. While running, a woman’s voice can be heard from beside.

“Twelve, another one incoming!” She shouted as her long red hair swayed along with the wild winds.

Behind them, the giant beast was preparing another shot. Having no other choice, they turned around another corner. As soon as they did, one more building was blown into smithereens.

In front of them, they could see a glimpse of what seems like a wide, open space. The two of them quickly made their way to that place while jumping nimbly on upturned vehicles and collapsed roads.

«Looking good! Loading the first shot! »

Hearing the voice that seems to have come out of thin air, the pair started to speed up their dash. In a couple of seconds, while dodging the supersonic bullets passing behind them, they arrived at their location.

The two of them immediately nodded towards each other. Then, they split left and right, making an arc on the borders of the space. The giant beast came inside the wide open space a second later. It stopped in its tracks for a second, probably thinking on whom to chase first. However, that pause proved fatal.

SCHWOOOOOOOOOO–––––!!!

The sound of air being split was all that was heard before a large explosion occurred. Looking closely, the head of the Cleaner was punctured with a hole of about a couple of inch in radius. Yes. The armor that is said to be the strongest was has a hole punctured in it.

Together with the delayed impact, the giant body of the Cleaner flew a few meters high before rolling on the ground stock still. From the shadows around it, three figures appeared.

“That’s what ye get if ye’re out acting alone, you piece o’ junk.”

A hunky man said in a funky tone while kicking the limp body of the giant cleaner. He held his tobacco between his right middle and index finger while wiping the grime stuck on his scarred left cheek.

“That’s enough Eight. Rather, we are lucky that it was alone. If even a single radar or scanner was acting together with it, we’re screwed.”

The brown haired man said while squatting over, checking for materials that can still be recycled from the “corpse” of the cleaner. His hands moved in a swift manner, showing his familiarity with the actions he was doing.

“Fifteen, the battle report.” He spoke while busying himself with his own thing. The red haired girl that was running together with him before quickly nodded and summarized the overall battle report.

“We used 3 live ammo with about 14 remaining. It can probably take us up to the next city before we need to ask for a resupply. Total time of one hour, thirty two minutes and three seconds was wasted in fighting this cleaner…”

She stated one by one the total state of their battle, focusing on the number of their remaining supplies. After half-a-minute, Twelve stood up and jumped down to Fifteen’s side. With a serious face, he asked her a question.

“… What about our food supplies?”

Fifteen’s face turned grim upon hearing his question. Still, she did her job well and explained.

“After being ambushed by the Cleaner, we lost half of it. With the remaining amount, we can probably last a week or so. The problem is the water supply. It got destroyed…”

Twelve pondered in silence. After a few moments, he raised his head whist calling.

“Fear, what is the ETA for the next city?”

With his question, a somewhat artificial sounding female voice resounded saying “Affirmative”.

“The nearest friendly city from Methora wound be Yellowbell a.k.a. sector 7. Distance is one two nine four point four four kilometers. By the shortest route, it will take a week. In average, half a month.”

“That means we need to go for the shortest route, huh… Nine, come down here quickly.” At his beck, a woman at the end of her prime came running down from across the open space.

On her back hung an extremely large rifle. The probably over 75mm diameter barrel with over 2 meters in length was shining in a cold black shimmer. The scope looks normal but it possesses a magnification limit of x1000 making it as powerful as an electron microscope. This makes hitting a target over the horizon with pinpoint accuracy possible.

“Is everyone alright?” She greeted while smiling as she reached where the other three are. After seeing that the three either replied with “Yes”, “Yea” or nod in affirmative, she wore a great big smile that makes her look years younger. “It’s good to know.” She said offhandedly.

“Now that we’re all set, we better start moving. We should reach the next supply station in about five-six days. We will move while in hiding, avoid conflict as much as possible.”

Twelve said with a strong voice. Scanning the faces of everyone and seeing that nobody seems to disagree, he concluded their