The Lord of Machines - First Encounter

The First Encounter

A black-clad figure walked down the forgotten streets of Agnos. He avoided no one but for some reason he remained unseen even to those who walked next to him. At length the figure reached a crevice carved in the side of a building and from there it led to what looked like an ancient Bank of sorts, only then did he allow others to see his figure.

“I must speak with him” Said a human covered in a dark red robe to the giant insectoid machines that were protecting the entrance to a dimly lit cave. They hissed in surprise as they saw him appear almost out of nowhere.

“You shall not speak with the creator!” Hissed one of the insectoids who was clearly eager to trash the human and get over with this.

“I must do so as it is promise, an ancient one, that I wish to keep”

The left guard hissed again and advanced towards him.  Standing almost two feet higher than the human the insectoid flashed his claws, but there was absolutely no reaction coming from the human.

“Stop wasting my time” The dark clad figure defiantly stepped forward, ignoring the overzealous insectoid guards.

“How dare you scum?!” One of the claws rose high and was about to drop when a voice echoed from the inside of the cave.

“Let him in” Said a weak voice from behind them, then it boomed with more strength. “Let him join me”

“But Lord! He--” The guard was interrupted by an abrupt burst of anger from whatever resided inside the cave.

“Let him in I said!” Both guards hissed and immediately moved aside giving access to the human who diligently advanced forward almost to the end of the cave, which looked like the inside of a vault, where a lone figure, covered in an ancient trench coat made of dark flexible steel, stood silently giving his back to the human. On his right hand he held a staff with a golden sphere on the top that swirled from time to time producing a faint glow whenever it did so. “What do you wish of me human? Your time has been long past here” Replied the tired Lord who’s never ending search for new resources to expand his hold on this sector had given no good results so far and had him in a bad mood even for a machine.

“Since the Battle of Agnos” Calmly replied the human in the dark red robe.

Immediately the Lord turned around to face the human, the Lord a defiant figure of seven feet that feared nothing suddenly felt somewhat intimidated by that voice, that familiar voice. As much as he tried to pierce the darkness beneath the robed mans cowl, he could never fully make out his face.

“O Lord of Machines”  After a short pause said the dark figure, a bit of sarcasm lined the title.

And then it struck the Lord, what Human had survived the great Battle, to his knowledge all of Humanity now lay in ruins.  “Few know about the Battle, mostly by lore from those who survived, and I sense that you are not one of those. I am also intrigued as how you reached here”

The human slightly turned his head upward revealing a grin.

“Who are you, how do you know about the battle, and most importantly how do you know me by my title” the Human’s silence was stretching his already strained patience. “Well?” The Lord demanded.

“Perceptive, very perceptive, just as I expected you to be” He sounded pleased.

The Lord of Machines smashed the tip of his staff into the ground with such strength that the soil cracked. The orb on the top swirled and became dark as the night but remained visible with a faint glow. To this the human only slightly laughed.

“State your business” The Lord of Machines patience seemed to have disappeared immediately. “And state it quickly”

“You know what I seek” The human replied with a confident attitude.

“It has been five hundred years since the Battle of Agnos human, you better be more specific of what you seek” His patience grew thinner by the second, which made the small orb shine with more intensity, as he had more important things to be doing than speaking to some ghost from the past.

“I have come for you and your kin, oh Lord of Machines, to take you to the promised battlefield of glory” The words were filled with power, they slightly echoed from the walls of the cave and lingered there for an instant.

It all came back to the ancient lord of battle, he knew who he was speaking to and he couldn't believe he was still alive, he felt a human emotion... he was... anxious, to know if his beliefs were true. The orb swirled again this time it glowed with a yellow light.

“How can it be possible that you lived for five hundred years? Your human flesh would have been extinguished by the pass of twenty years with your age at the time!” The Lord’s words sounded more startled than he intended them to be.

The human raised his right hand and made his index finger dance from left to right and so forth.  “You can't kill me, I am death in flesh, I am the Destroyer, I am the one responsible for this” He raised his arms to encompass all that surrounded them, he held the gesture for a second, still with a grin on his face, and after laughing he continued. “Social Experiment”

“Prove it to me human, only one of your kind could--” The Lord’s words were cut off.  Immediately the Dark One revealed the proof that the He held the key, the one that could put an end to the Lord and his kind.  It was a simple small sphere that contained only a small red button which the Destroyed toyed with. The mere presence of the object made the Lord of Machines shiver, something that no one except for the commander of the humans on the battle of Agnos, had achieved. He didn't even know he could still shiver as a machine. “Impossible” He gasped as he leaned toward the Destroyer taking a closer look, it was the doomsday device, it filled his heart with fear and as it did the Orb on his staff swirled and glowed with an intense silver color.

“I said I would return” The human put the small spherical object back into the darkness of his robe. “And I would bring you a new enemy, one that would put you to test as the true heirs of infinite power”

“Speak for I have been eager to go into battle” The Lord of Machines smashed the ground again with his staff.

“Soon you will be able to leave your magnetic field prison and reach a new world where the plague will be spread and you will become Ruler of the Machines, nay, Ruler of everything” The emphasis on such words made the Lord lust more and more for the glory of battle and to taint their new land with the blood of his enemies.

“What do you need of us?” The Lord asked anxiously as if he was a kid again, a kid with the power to cause havoc and terror in a split second, with access to thermo-nuclear and electromagnetic weaponry.

“To wait, not much though, the plan is already in process. Soon the world that you will infest will achieve open field technology and without knowing it they will trigger the portal in your city which will grant your forces permanent access back and forth”

“No chances for the link to be cut?”

The human shook his head. “None after it is set in motion”

Again the Lord of Machines felt more human emotions, this time happiness which made the orb swirl and change to a deep navy blue color. “I wish that you gather the entire army again and settle the disputes between the Sectors”

“Settling the matters with the other Sectors is not as easy as it sounds... I will try my best but I can't promise the impossible. Now” The Lord paced a few steps, already deep in thought. “How long before we get out of this barren city”

“A month roughly” The human paused, distracted for a moment and returned back to the subject at hand. “Fifteen days is the target I have in mind but that is only if everything goes according to the plan, if not then I fear it could be more than three months”

“Is it possible to expedite the situation?”

The Destroyed grinned. “If it could be done then I would have done so since before I came here. Be calm Lord for your day is almost here”

The orb again swirled into yellow showing anxiety again. “I am forced to believe that once we are released from our prison we will be free from the will of the Mainframe Control Unit”

“You assume well” The Destroyer answered.

The orb swirled between blue and green showing happiness and interest then it swirled into a brownish color back and forth with green showing doubt and interest.

“Questions I believe?”

“Who is our new enemy?” Cautiously asked the Lord.

“Your old friends, the one that left you here, and the deformities they built”

“Deformities? What do you mean by such?” The orb became brownish in color glowing faintly.

“Soon Lord of Machines you will see everything... I will come again with another surprise for you and with some additional information on the subject, for now wait”

“I have waited five hundred years in this prison, waiting for another month is nothing” The Lord of Machines first shrugged and then he released an evil cackle, his orb swirled into a dark red which produced an aura of violence around him. The evil sound provoked his bodyguards to immediately go to his master, then relaxed again when they noticed it was just him laughing.

At this efficient reaction the Destroyer gave a nod as he walked away through the labyrinth of streets of the city of Agnos.