Chapter Text
If I hadn’t been in Hell before then, I surely must be there now. Darkness surrounded my every glance, my every gaze. I lay on the ground, my eyes searching for something, anything. I waved my hand - somehow lighter than before - in front of my face, and a bloody limb with only bits of metal still remaining showed. What had happened? Was I dead? Was I still alive?
I really was in Hell, wasn’t I?
I tried to rise to my feet, but my legs gave out underneath themselves. Excruciating pain exploded through my joints and hips, making me see nothing fit except to curl up in a ball and stare out helplessly.
Maybe… I wasn’t right after all. What if I had done everything wrong? What if I really wasn’t a divine creature as once so thought? Had I lied to myself? Tricked myself into believing a falsehood? Had it all been a lie all along?
Those mere thoughts horrified me. The thought that I was frail and pathetic and human made my blood boil. I couldn’t be. Not after everything that’s happened.
I sat up, gently and slowly easing myself through each zap and grip of pain that went through my body. My legs were next to mutilated, most of the metal that once made a magnificent exoskeleton gone. Just a bare layer, enough to keep myself covered at sensitive parts, remained.
What if I was awaiting a final trial? In my machine heart, I already knew I would fail any test of “holy” judgement passed upon me.
Suddenly, an explosion above my head startled me. I turned and gazed to the sky only to see fiery molten cracks appear above my head. Something - or someone - was descending from the blackened sky.
I turned to face whatever it was, knowing I couldn’t escape now. Whatever it was would judge me in its own time.
Alarmingly quick, it descended, and I began to make out that it was a collection of spider-like claws and limbs, blood red and gleaming with the fiery glow from the above cracks. A demon? My mind immediately jumped to the conclusion.
I stared without emotion. Don’t show anything, don’t let it know anything…
“Aesha,” a voice that could only be described as about as ancient as the wind and as alien as outer space spoke.
I said nothing, feeling paralyzed.
“You have done well,” it hissed.
I’m not being punished , I sighed in relief, mentally.
“Now…”
I finally summed up the words in my chest and in my heart. “What now?”
“It… is your turn…”
Turn for what?
“... To inflict the pain you’ve felt unto these… filthy… humans ,” it hissed, snarling the last word.
I could barely stop myself from grinning. A reward for seeing the truth , I whispered to myself in my mind.
“Serve… unto me… and I will let you… ascend… in ways you cannot even imagine,” it whispered.
“What do you want of me?” I asked.
The collection of spider limbs showed no emotion, but I could practically sense the pleasure in this creature.
“Wander… and find the humans… destroy them… sacrifice them… for me ,” it instructed.
Oh, how easy that was. How simple.
I could do that for the rest of my life and not feel a single pang of regret.
“Yes, I can do that,” I agreed, anticipation not beginning to describe the eagerness in my voice.
“Good…” the creature purred. “You will be… greatly rewarded. But first, let me give you the first gift.”
A few cracks shot through my legs and hips, briefly twisting my body. Tiny shocks of sparkly pain filled every inch of myself for a quick moment, before leaving me in a euphoric sense of healing.
“Now… go… and serve me well,” it said, and I felt the world suddenly give out from underneath me.
The blackness crumbled around me, taking the strange spider creature with it.
Just as I looked down, I hit the ground, taking no damage and feeling only the simple impact of laying down on grass-covered dirt.
I turned to face the sky, only to find it the darkest I’ve ever seen a sky. Not a single star flickered its bright eyes at me.
It should’ve been dark and haunting, terrifying even, but I felt at home. I felt true freedom. Even under the servitude of a being that was most definitely beyond my comprehension, I still felt free.
A single caw rang out over my head, and I looked up to see a raven perched in a tree. It gazed down at me, and I smiled back.
I arose to my feet, with there being no pain at all.
I had done it. I was free. I was alive. Now, it was time to make up the favor to this strange entity that had saved my life.
I am beyond human. I am beyond mortality. I am a machine.
And machines don’t need feelings. They need only to follow their instructions. But now I’m the only one who gives my machine heart and soul instructions.
And I say it’s time I slaughter these wretched humans.