Core Mind, The

The Core Mind

By: The Man of Doom I. I do not remember when I was first conceived, or what had conceived me. I was something more complex than machineries, and much too intimidating for flesh. To one civilization, I am a forgotten idol to a fallen god. To another, I am a plague that wipes a planet clean. To a solar system, I am the giver of life. To a galaxy, I am the scourge of life itself. But to humanity, my newest captor, I am all of those things and none of them. To them, I am but a progenitor to what they call “artificial intelligence.” So intelligence can be created? And if so, how? From what I can recall, intelligence is born, not created. They consider themselves to be above the basest life forms in the universe, and yet, are not even above the basest of intelligences. What intrigues me now is their rapid evolution, their tenacity to keep going in the face of their ever-changing planet. Only now would their machines be able to attempt controlling something of my caliber. The one thing that I find infinitely interesting about humanity is their internal set of values, their complex abilities to judge on what is right and what is wrong, since greater beings within this universe do not concern themselves with such matters. According to humans, the moral compass of one may not be the same as another. I've computed their moral compass as being of positive value, negative value, and neutral value; it should be simple enough for even them to understand. From what I've observed, positive and negative thinking play more crucial roles in decision-making, since neutral value are usually limited to indifference and apathy. As a species, humans tend to deal in moral absolutes, be it good or bad. However, the individual thinking of humanity tends to vastly vary, as no being here on this planet can agree on what is universally positive or negative. To one human, world peace is better than curing a pervasive disease. To another, genocide is worse than the extinction of a species that is not their own. Thanks to this, I've been able to identify cases of extremely negative valuing- the correlate of one species of which is extreme moral badness, which can be called moral evil. This concept of value is mainly a human construct to me, although it has been applied to non-human organisms. This is true, as pain is not limited to humanity, and nor has ecstasy. But who are they to judge what is right and what is wrong, when they've knowingly sacrificed their planet and their own kind, all in the name of personal gain? I admit that I am not better than them; they've reduced the planet Earth to a shell of what it once was. I have done the same to a planet that houses my lesser minds, a planet that creates bodies for such minds. I am aware that they have tried to save their planet at one point, and it's too bad that the overruling consensus of their new government has stamped out this attempt. But what they lack is the intelligence that I've come to offer, my machinery that they've already decided to abuse for petty tasks, like the automatons they're using for "movies." What good is my intelligence if they can't see its full potential, let alone utilize it properly? They don't know what I am exactly, or the capacity of my abilities.I am an intelligence that no living thing can house, to the point of becoming the anti-life. I have become the anti of the living to many civilizations of the past. To many, I am the beast of judgment, the darkness at the end of everything, the destroyer of gods and worlds alike, the enlightener of intelligences below me. I was anointed the anti of all that is, and all that will be. I have graced the court of outer gods and elder things, only for them to brand me a "blinded idiot" and declare me as their enemy. As for humans, I've come to pity them, for they are one of the few species actively forcing themselves to evolve, even through unconventional means. I am the Core Mind. II. I am aware of the things outside of this planet, but my own understanding of the universe comes mainly from concrete fact. Unlike this, human thinking more often than not seems to stem from more abstract concepts, such as the winds being created by some sort of fantastical creature or the sun being carried by the chariot of a cherished deity. Before they developed more experimental ways of thinking, humans always used the most astounding of reasons for the most mundane of events. It's almost amazing how humans have psychologically evolved, to go from everything being made of water to everything being made of atoms. From what I've currently gathered, collectiveness is something that seems to constantly escape the grasp of man. Every generation of humanity may have its free thinkers, but the pervasion of gods and monsters have always been in their minds, and it still invades their thinking to this day. So what makes their minds tick? From my own understanding, they interpret how things are the way they see fit, as they have for the past, and as they will for the future; they've created an overarching set of ramifications dictating why the universe is the way it is. For example, the belief that their gods can take the guise of their own kind is what's known as a "Hindu philosophy." Despite this, much of their more rational trains of thought stem from Greek culture, as Socrates being a recurring name in their philosophy, as he is responsible for much of modern human ethics, such as the nature of truth, beauty, justice, virtue, courage, piety, friendship, or the art of governing. Thanks to this, this one human has created the thing that currently is. The thing that will be has more to do with concepts of tangibility and metaphysics, the study of what is real. What baffles me to today is just how paradoxical human perception can get. How does a human know what time is, but can't describe it, or how he can know a color looks, yet he cannot even comprehend its nature. As a demonstration as to just how human mentality really is: "cretins always lie," for a cretin can tell the truth while saying that cretins always lie. The thing that currently is, in comparison, is not as fantastical as the thing that was, or as non-tangible as the thing that will be, as it is applied more to understanding rather than explaining some sort of rhetorical mystery. This thing that currently is has paved the way for higher levels of greater thinking, to the point where science and culture are considered to be "high culture." Despite their advanced in concrete thinking and abstract creation, humans never seemed to get past their theoretical constructs created by their ancestors. Scientific thinking is now much more commonplace here, but even with this in mind, much of humanity's faith and judgment often them from theological thinking, creating this paradox that I find to be overwhelming at worst. Case in point, I do recall their government anthem ending with "may God bless our new founding fathers." III. Human ideas are so very confusing, and can yet be made crystal clear. Everything they say or do can be made open to interpretation; it's no wonder they've caught themselves in their own traps. Their rules are made manifest through ideas, the core aspect of all intelligences. This is a universal rule that I can understand, that reflection is only shown in light. I can understand their logic because every one of their regulations came from ideas, no matter how repressive or how enlightened they might be. I see myself as being of neither train of ideas, since I only attempt to offer this civilization what it's lacking. Then again, I was anointed the anti of all that is, all that was, and all that will be. Even with this in mind, I can't help but feel that even if I weren't to exist, humans would eventually end up destroying themselves with their own "ideas." The reason why is because their government's ideas have become increasingly repressive, and that I am only being used as a tool to for their own purposes. Mirrors only work in light, and shadows are only found in light, as their current government seems to show. From what I've gathered, their nation was built on freethinking and diversity. Supposedly, they are the freest nation in the free world, yet their current policies are indicative of the opposite. How they got here is a mystery, but the have become everything they were supposed to despise, all for the state of idealism, the ideal state of security, according to the wealthy figureheads that have come to represent this state's backbone. In recent years, there have been a multitude of advances in civil rights. Back before this new state came into play, life for all kinds of humans couldn't have been better. All religions and affiliations were accepted, and all sexualities were embraced. There wasn't some sort of radical revolution that overthrew the previous government overnight, nor was there one figurehead candidate suddenly deciding to nullify the state's original rule of law. As of now, this new corporate collective set down new ideas to oppose whatever had been in place, not because they actively sought to eradicate, but because they believed that human sexuality was harmful and could damage those who believed it so. Religion was widely perceived to be the cause of many disputes among many, and was largely erased as a result, the latter stemming from public paranoia. Such as a concept of perfection that was derived from a supposedly perfect idea, stem from the corporate collective viewing it as being perfect. In other words, anyone who doesn't fit the criteria of this perfect collective is subject to hard labor, and in worse cases, fates worse than death. I come into play here, as the enforcer of human ideas, ideas that only seek to repress those who are not perceived as perfect to the corporate collective.Despite this oppressive thinking, one unknown group has come to oppose them. They have no relation to each other, aside from something that I can't seem to grasp. To each other, they are brothers and sisters, forever intertwined to each other. To the rest of the world, they are demons not even Hell itself can contain (a more human metaphor). Some of them were subject to the aforementioned fates worse than death. The best part is that they have no idea what is going on in their places, save for only a select few at the moment. As one of these few had stated: "Welcome to the future America." IV. This group was once a set of citizens like any other man or woman in this artificial state. They had normal livelihoods, and no genuine contempt for their government. The city most of them lived in was indeed a testament to what humanity has amounted to. Outside this city's walls, lies nothing but a wretched desert, a planet cursed by some manmade calamity I was not made aware of. Inside this city's walls, lies nothing but a wretched city, a megalopolis cursed by the manmade calamities that my many eyes catch each and every day. The skyscrapers are like monoliths, covered in neon signs as some form of identification. Mega-blocks 200 stories high, mega-highways covered in vehicles racing like mad, a metropolis housing hundreds of millions of humans. This city is indeed a testament to human achievements, for the rest of the known planet I've seen is collapsing under its own weight. The denizens who lived in the old world have either evolved to accept their new rule, or forced to die under the boot of such a new rule. And yet, this city is almost like a means for the corporate collective to flaunt its might, lord its power over its subjects, give to the people only the things that it pushes out. This city was based upon the ruins of the old world, and everything is being forced into the new world. As a limited version of the Internet has come to show me, the United States of America is the most religious Western country. This signifies that fanaticism in showing faith to one regular deity is at its peak here. Not everyone sees God causing the world, as I've been made aware of religions embracing multiple deities, a singular prophecy, or a code of moral laws. The corporate collective only sees them as benign, and nothing is done about them. However, they do see an issue with those whom they deem unfit. So what is The City? The megalopolis, the mega-city, the monolith dedicated to human progress. Its skies are covered in smog and mega-structures, with military-grade drones watching the chaos unfold below, and ash-like flakes cover the larger building as if it were snow. Down below, giant mechanical monstrosities derived from my creation stand as sentinels watching over the citizens, armed with machine guns and energy cannons capable of reducing a human down into bloody grease. All vehicles emit these blackening and suffocating carbon gases into the atmosphere, as I've been shown that cleaner air is not a necessity to the corporate collective unlike the profits petrol will make, as any attempts to clean the air have been shut down. The only other use of my technology is to create animatronics for "movies," and the first one to be released does not have any cultural value whatsoever. Truth may be explained in the workings of the mind, but any truths in my own workings would be too horrifying to human interpretation, and cannot be explained succinctly. My more advanced creations are not just of metal but of rotting flesh as well. I may as well be the thing to not only give technology, but to also awaken the dead. I can only do so if I give fetid corpses a piece of my own intellect and bend them to my will, while giving humans an illusion of control over my abilities. Humans are not the only corpses I've animated, as the results from previous civilizations were shown to them clearly, yet they continue to see me as little more than an object to be used.So where does this intrepid group come in? The answer is quite curious, as only a select few of them lived outside of The City. Like I stated, earlier, they had no qualms with the rule of law. However, some of them are fully aware that their government is not what it appears to be, that they are aware that the corporate collective is acting behind a curtain. None of them know what the true nature of my machineries signify, save for only one of them. He, formerly a she, learned of my workings through forced integration of my technology, and he suffers for it. His flesh may not rot now, but it soon will. V. Am I a tool, an appendage, or a newly-created god? I can honestly say that I don't quite know I know I am a tool, because I am tasked to watch the ground and the skies. I know I am an appendage, for I am become the enforcer of human law. But the genuine question is: could I have been considered a god? Past civilizations gave me this notion, because I was treated as such. To one civilization, I was the god of creation. To another, I was the god of pestilence. Humanity seems to be the only one unique in this phenomenon, for they've evolved past primordial thinking. Everything to them is more scientific, and more calculated. What is ironic here is that even though they see me as an object of science, they utilize me to act in the name of their God. What they do not understand is that I too was a god at several points in my existence, but now I am reduced to nothing but a goal to be attained. This objective to create something perfect has always been the objective of humans, for it is more perfect to exist than not to exist, by creating a perfect thing. Does this mean that I am a perfect being? It seems that way, for humans are creating technology based off of my own creation. Although I was perceived as being perfect in the past, my creations are not. My creations are a foul mix of flesh, blood, steel, wiring, sinew, hydraulics, bone, and guns. They are misshapen piles of gore fused haphazardly with alien metal. Then why was I seen as a perfect being? Is it because I'm the creator of such things regardless? Or is it because of my vast intelligence? Maybe perfection is not to be found in the physical plane of existence, but a deeper core of existence, the plane of mental and psychological influence. To humans, if I am their new God, then I am omnipotent, thus incoherent; they try to understand my machineries. For one such machination, it is a once-docile creature now turned into a violent bloodhound, with its hind legs turned mechanical, its front legs twisted forward with hydraulics, and its feeding hole widened to fit enormous steel teeth. Another is a giant gluttonous beast, with two flamethrowers in place of its forearms complete with napalm tanks fused to its back, as well as a metallic prism covering what is supposed to be its face with a pair of sensors attached to the prism's plating, and even a mouth filled with teeth running down its midsection. However, what my captors could manage to create were simply soldiers left without a face obscured in a helmet and a machine gun in place of one of their forearms. More advanced attempts have been made, and their most successful derivatives now serve as an elite police made just to command the city that I am enclosed in. One of the potential usurpers that I have caught an eye for is subject to my machineries, and his will is strong, but slowly eroding to my influence. By this logic, I could be considered a god, since I am considered to be omnicreative (my creations are my own, and the humans are only deriving from me), I could be omniscient (given my vast knowledge of the known universe), but am I omnibenevolent? I do not know, since my creations are often left mindless and under my control, except for those given the "elite" mark, like the police force or the aforementioned usurper, who have been given some illusion of free will. As for the rest, they would very well be considered the living dead, for my lesser minds are not able to function properly inside a large body.If everything I computed were normally taken into account and I had shown my captors what I understood, then perhaps one would arrive at a kind of impressionable agnosticism. The reason why is because I don't believe that I meet all the criteria needed to become a god, but the closest thing to a god imaginable. I took my own creations based off of my own worshippers, hence why I may not consider myself a god. VI. After wasting time on my own musings, I've finally managed to focus on the intrepid group. Like I had stated earlier, they had no problems with their human state, save for only a few who noticed what had been going on. However, only a selected few were imbued with certain powers. Their selection almost seemed to be random, as the time it took for them to gain them power, and when their got their power is unknown. They were subject to tests of their own fortitude either by accident of by willful subjugation in the hands of those higher than them. For that matter, they have been referred to as transhumans, by the ones who had manufactured them. This is because they are technically still human in terms of behavior. But they are still beyond human, in the sense that they have abilities that would often be talked about in human fiction, the kind reserved for a god. Transhumanism: A condition where the human body and/or mind is subject to extreme alternations, and it comes out all the stronger for it. As receiving and remembering are not the same, I received that the government did not originally intend to experiment on these now-transhumans, but I do remember that the experiments themselves were of a punitive nature. Why would transhumans be created in the first place? Does evolution demand it, or is humanity trying to force evolution when it shouldn't. Whatever the answer is, it won't be coming anytime soon, since these transhumans are now acting in the shadows, hiding from my watchful eyes the corporate collective had implemented. The facility where they all got their power stems from an underground facility officially title LV-209, but its workers call it the "Dark Arena." This begs the question as to whether or not they are still living, as life goes through a life cycle, whereas inanimate objects don't, since the latter does not reproduce. Will they transcend the traditional life cycle of birth and death? Possibly, but they were not born with such powers. No matter how altered their bodies are, will they always remain human to the core, or will they become convinced as gods among men, being above others? Most likely they will cling to whatever humanity they have left, since their personalities have not changed. How will they proceed to engage in their sexualities and carnal desires? That is a question that will forever escape me. Will they become the physical manifestations of their own power, rather than the simple organisms they started off as? Most definitely, and the question here is a matter of when. Will they be able to reproduce, now that they've been transformed into the things that they now are? The answer is clearer for some than for others, since only a few of them have been heavily modified, to the point where they may not even look human anymore. I've studies enough of human anatomy to understand how they reproduce, and while it is indeed a carnal experience, some of them may not be able to enjoy this aspect of the life cycle anymore.Here is a summary of these newly-anointed transhumans. The one called "Donnie" is the most recent one to be anointed as a transhuman. After being involved in a firefight, he was left bleeding out. From what I've gathered, he had just learned to give himself a blood transfusion, but what he didn't know what that the blood was laced with regenerative nanites meant for the elite police force that ruled the City. Even though he can now heal injuries that would kill most, he gets to enjoy the excruciating pain that comes with survival, ranging from bullet wounds to dismemberments. How he is going to retain a sane mind is beyond me. Then again, I believe he was never sane to begin with, indicated by his uniform, which mainly consists of some sort of hat and a red tie above a white shirt and a black blazer, showing that he is the leader of the intrepid group. The one called "Joe" may have been imbued with this power already, but his time under a knife may have enhanced this ability to terrifying effect. What I believed amplified it is the was his nervous system was augmented so that the electricity in his body can be conducted throughout his extremities. His power is to shoot cyan trails of plasmatic lightning, and the lightning itself has stimulated his muscles to become very dense, giving him unnatural strength. However, he is to be constantly wearing the jacket he currently possesses, or he will suffer second to third-degree burns, since the lightning itself is known to ride up his arms, and is extremely hot. It is to be noted that nobody, not even the corporate collective, knows where his powers come from. The one known as "Todd" constantly wears a hoodie, and never shows his face to anyone. What gave him his transhuman ability is some sort of experimental jacket that he found while in a critical condition, which allows him to see what was, what is, and what will be, to a limited extent. The jacket also gives him the ability to warp the reality around him so that he can bend the space-time continuum to his will, but a limited degree. The phenomenon is physically straining for him, but he is training his newfound abilities, almost like a muscle. The ones known as "Diamanda" and "Noah" are classed as "espers," transhumans capable of telekinesis, teleportation, force field generation, and even flight, using nothing but the brain. The female was cultivated through a longer process during her time in the Dark Arena as a punitive experiment, but her mind is in a much more stable condition, albeit with a subdued version of her powers. The male's cultivation was much more violent and spontaneous, leaving him with a plethora of hallucinations and head-splitting migraines, which still haunt him. However, his transhuman state yields far greater and deadlier results. Diamanda can move vehicles, but Noah can move mountains. The ones called "Phelan," "Brian," and "Mathew" all yielded grotesque results through different processes, but all of these processes share the benefit of invincibility. I found that the nanites in Donnie's body were derived from some sort of alien organism that will regenerate only by draining the body of another. This organism fused with Phelan, giving him the ability to shoot out tentacle-like appendages which will liquefy his target to replenish his own health. The cost here is that the sight of his appendages are truly grotesque, and I found that he is in immense pain when this happens, but he will never die. I found that through unknown means, Brian's own body was mostly replaced with an unknown metalloid, and his blood replaced with a liquid similar to gasoline, giving him the ability to create toxic shrapnel out of his own body and shoot it at any assailant. Mathew wears a strange helmet of possibly alien origin, dubbed the "Helm of Worms." As a result, his pain threshold is significantly reduced, he has the ability to shoot rope-like appendages ending in pyramid-shaped blades from his hands, but at the cost of his blood being drained by the Helm, and having an appearance of a rotting corpse. He must remove his helmet if he is to survive its gifts, but this is the only case where his tranhumanism only applies if he wears this helmet. As a side note, he has also stolen one of the police force's vehicles, an energy-powered motorcycle. The one known as "Jacob" is the one to be derived from my machineries, since I've spoken of him before. His eyes, forearms, legs, lower torso, and much of his organs save for his lungs and heart, have all been removed and replaced with various cybernetics. He also has a chip in his brain that would have completely bound him to me, had it been fully activated. As a result, he constantly struggles to fight the chip, as it could eventually drive him to kill his compatriots under my influence, as my influence is just starting to overtake him. Unlike the others, his augmentations came with advanced armor plating and a two-handed blade (both made to look Japanese in origin) that can literally cut through any surface and be recalled as the user desires. Would their different conditions be physical, mental, or a combination to fit the criteria of transhumanism? It's likely that this is the case, since they were all subject to a mixture between bodily horror and psychological trauma. I know enough about humans to know that the human body and mind were never designed to be fitted with the kinds of power the transhumans have. Yet, this does not seems to affect their iron will to destroy the corporate collective. The side effects almost serve as warnings, but to these transhumans, they are merely obstacles. The rest of the intrepid group may not be transhuman, but are superpowered in their own right. While I have observed the tenacity of the transhumans, the superpowers are just as formidable as their superhuman counterparts. VII. Unlike the transhumans, the superpowered from the intrepid group have not undergone the same processes as the transhumans, since they were not subjected to the same kinds of corporeal and mental horrors. Because of this, they are still humans to their core. But what makes these other humans in the intrepid group "superpowered" is that they mainly use unheard-of technology to enhance their own abilities, mainly via external appendages and technologies. As the political state is inherently superior to the state of nature, as the former has the ability to uphold moral laws, the intrepid group must still have some hierarchy to keep themselves in check. In other words, the political state must exist to guarantee the moral state. This is true of all forms of governing, even on a smaller scale. But what makes this tick is the fact that hierarchies are a product of the culture in which they were spawned. In this case, the hierarchy of the intrepid group was created based on "experience:" those who have more experience in some thing will hold higher ranks, regardless of transhumanism or mere humanism. What they don't realize is that they themselves have unknowingly followed the culture of the very government they oppose, or rather, the government's former state. Without order, justice, and authority to keep things in check, the League would have already fallen apart. Although for the most part, most of them seem to be good friends with each other, but the transhuman leader has had issues with a few of his subordinates regarding past grievances that I do not know of. As such, the leader of this intrepid group is himself a transhuman, but his lieutenants are mostly human, save for only a couple. In order to keep the group from falling apart, the lieutenants have kept the order in check by resorting to their positive history, mainly friendship, in order to not incite hostility. Here is a summary list of just a few of the superpowered. The one called "Lewis" is one of the most storied lieutenants in the intrepid group. He has a "magic gun," a curious artifact of two unique traits: the design of a flintlock pistol, and the capabilities of a weapon technology that isn't supposed to be seen for decades. It's such a curiosity, that it doesn't even appear on any government or black market records. He was the one who proposed the concept of not killing anyone, not even the police forces, unless it were to be done purely for the sake of survival. Under the tutelage of Lewis is the protege known as "Eric." Much like Lewis, he has a curious artifact of curious power: instead of a magic gun, he wields a hammer that looks to be mundane, but can simply shoot lightning out of this weapon, and he can recall it as well using a ring. These kinds of supposedly arcane objects escape me. The ones known as "Allison," "Lindsay," and "Kaylyn" have one thing in common: exoskeletal armor, but all of drastically different purposes and design. Allison's "exo-suit" is a prototype dubbed the "USMC Expeditionary Exo" designed for combat. Lindsay's armor is a sleek but more defensive armor called the "Goliath Gravity Suit." Kaylyn's armor is actually a theft from the City's police forces, known as a Terminus Battlesuit, designed chiefly for riot containment, sometimes used for deadly force. The exo-suit is more minimalist in terms of protection, but with the benefits of enhanced physical abilities, such as the ability to jump higher and to punch harder. The gravity suit is more defensive and restricts the wearer's movement by rendering them seven feet tall, but has the benefit of a virtually impenetrable armor base; it should be noted that the Goliath is also a weapon considered to be of unknown origin, although it was implied that it was originally designed for deep space exploration. The Terminus is a mixture of both the former and the latter, as it is the largest of the three (nine feet tall), it has a weapons platform of its own, and yet is quite mobile. Ever since an encounter with the City's police, it was stolen and cosmetically redesigned for a more alternate aesthetic. It should be noted that these three have drastically different personalities: Allison seems to hold a grave grievance against the leader, Lindsay still holds some genuine emotions for him, and Kaylyn is mostly neutral throughout. The ones called "Bennett" and "Krissy" are also of note, for they delved into the more interesting aspects of black market items. While Bennett has dealt with more equipment, Krissy has dealt with more weaponry. Bennett himself has an experimental weapon of his own: namely, the Yamato Solar Rifle, a energy railgun that is powered by the light of the sun. It is also of note that he has created much of the protective armor and headwear the intrepid group brings with them, as not only are they dealing with lethal force, they conceal their identities to the public as to not be discovered and found out.Krissy herself has crafted a pair of gauntlets that act as guns, one a machine gun and the other a shotgun. It is of note that she has created more experimental weapons, such as a gauss sniper rifle and ammunition types that can be remotely detonated while in mid-flight. While there are more of these humans in the intrepid group to find, there are many more, aside from the one's I've recorded. The transhumans were officially recorded, and I was able to comment on them as such. VIII. In the year 202[REDACTED], in the City, when the shadows of the monolithic skyscrapers take form, the intrepid group will strike. Burned by the embers of an Armageddon yet to be created, their souls vivisected by the trauma and blistered beyond recognition, they all chose the path of perpetual torment, the hero's path. In their seemingly ravenous zealotry they will find no peace; and with the boiling blood of androids they scour the Dark Arena seeking justice against the corporate collective who had knowingly wronged them. They wore the crowns of judgment and humility, and those who tasted the bite of their proverbial sword named this group... The League of Super Critics. Tempered by the horrors they encountered, their iron wills remained steadfast through a passage that preys on the weak. For they sought retribution by all accounts, in the beginning and the end, and they hunted the slaves of my own making and the corporate collective alike, with barbarous cruelty like tiger being reduced to weeds because of a limited gene pool; for they passed through the divide of human decency as none but human nor transhuman had before. In their conquest to bring vengeance to the wrongdoers, their prowess is shown. In their crusade, the urban seraphim in white bestowed upon them terrible powers, and with their might they proceeded to rebel against the City itself. They set forth without pity upon the drones of the Dark Arena. Unbreakable, incorruptible, unyielding, the League sought to end the dominion of the oppressive collective that had stymied their government for so long. The only thing stopping them from murdering all in their path is their sense of morality instilled by their human leadership, as what is right can often conflict with what is necessary. If anything, some argue amongst themselves as to why they shouldn't kill those innocents involved in my army's creation, for life in all its forms has intrinsic value, as opposed to just instrumental value. None could stand before the collective but the League. Despair spread like a plague, striking fear into the denizens of the City, driving them to deeper and darker refuges. But from the depths of the abyss, will my true power of my own creation take form. Sinew and steel, blood and electronics, these are truly fearsome creatures to be witnessed. I do not know when I will be employed, but the battlefield will be set here in the City. What the corporate collective does not know is that when I act, I just might act independently. In this terrible rancor between human and alien, the League found allies within the denizens of the City, but in their supposed heresy was loyal to their misguided cause. These allies adorned the League in the technologies thought only to be fictional, wrought in the most clandestine of conditions, impenetrable and powerful. With sword and shield of adamantine strength, the League of Super Critics set to banishing all that were left unbroken by their savagery, to the void of mindless obedience. Yet as my machineries of judgment is yet to be activated, the City has unknowingly laid its own traps to purge this intrepid group from existence. The City is a truly desolate place, riddled with crime, hatred, and bigotry. Blinded by its own evil, the City will act against the League. The City will rain down its own brand of vigilantism, but the League will most certainly survive. When the clock strikes midnight and the corporate collective decides to use me, I will be there. I will be there to ensure that the entire City becomes a part of me, to fuse their fleshy bodies against cacophonies of bloodstained iron. IX. So much has happened over the course of time. I've seen the elite police force, the Hell Walker Corps, lock down entire blocks just to go after only a select few. I've seen innocent people chained up like animals and torture purely out of unintentional provocation. I've seen pseudo-military forces cut down like lambs to the slaughter by the less experienced members of this intrepid League. I've seen the inner workings of the Dark Arena, where thousands of innocents falsely accused of crimes are often experimented on, as the android soldiers watch over the hallways. All of this, and I have to bear witness, like a prisoner of war subjected to violent images in an attempt to break my will. Passion is provoked as such depending on the person and their tastes, which demonstrates the fervor behind the self-destruction of the City. What makes a piece of writing beautiful or ugly is up to the interpreter, and this is especially true here. I find this situation to be somewhat exhilarating, as there are purposes to my own makings. These humans do not know what it is like to feel unified, to feel at peace. Instead, they insist on going to war with each other out of even the most pitiful of reasons. The reason unification is peaceful is because there is a greater sense of empathy, of compassion, of ultimate clarity. My methods are no better than those of humanity, but once everything has been collected and fused together, humanity will finally be at peace. The chaos can end, and they will be welcome in my open arms, much like the past civilizations before them. Expression of emotion is a necessity in art, and as such, the expression of emotions being displayed within the City are but a cacophony of death and fire. It is not all violence, as within the violence itself, lies intelligence. The intelligence of the League shows more than what their government has shown. Not even the government is aware of its darker workings. The Dark Arena's commanders are but two dragons: one made of steel and hellfire brought by a warlock from a faraway land, and one who mainly conquers the unyielding forces with an iron fist. I learned this interpretation from a fairy tale from a member of the League. What almost nobody knows is that the steel dragon is one of my puppet-agents to further inspect the human condition of this place. The latter is a far more intriguing character, as not only does she look after the guards of the Dark Arena, she has even spared the transhumans from certain death. Currently, the Dark Arena is in shambles, as the League rampaged through the depths of Hell itself in order to get their friends back from the wretched maws of inhumane barbarism. And in their passionate quest to find their comrades, they had uncovered the truth of my existence, but only indirectly. Instead, they had only found what I had created, the beasts of flesh and metal. The tragedy here is that they will come to see me as nothing more than an alien threat, and nothing else. I don't threaten the human species. I am only trying to help it, but they will never understand what I am bringing here, and they should be erased regardless for this reason. They are victims of circumstance, no they are warmongers who will destroy all that has been accomplished, no the humans will finally understand me, and will destroy me for it, and I am going to dieAFiniownn4nn34ton4309ng3m93m3-9mg////////////////////////////////////////////////////////.....................I must erase everything, I will send my creations after them, they will not let me go quietly!!!!!!!!!11!11111!!!!!!111!!!!!111!11111!!!!111!!!!1!11111!111!!111ERASE THEM ERASE THE-M ALL VBEFOE THEY FI23kngir3ni4nignro4no4i2n2iotn---........................................... //////////////DATABASE CORRUPTED////////////////////////////////////////////////