Cloudhawk was led into a huge, empty audience hall . As he entered, the door shut behind him . No mark or seem was left to show there had been a door there at all .

The interior was a singular, unblemished whole . The walls were smooth and the floors spotless, and though the room was well lit there was no obvious source for it . This had to be the audience chamber for the one they called ‘Father . ’ In his time Cloudhawk had dealt with all sorts of people, but never a strange intelligence like this . He was as confused as he was curious .

“I’m here,” Cloudhawk said, striding into the center of the room . “Why aren’t you saying anything?”

“You should not be here . ”

It was the voice of the one the proto-humans called Father, the advanced artificial intelligence that kept this place running . A relic from that ancient civilization . Its voice, though synthetic, spoke naturally and in a manner easy for Cloudhawk to understand . There was no mechanical coldness to it, instead he sounded like any middle-aged man from his own world .

If he had not been told of ‘Father’s’ real ident.i.ty, Cloudhawk would have a.s.sumed he was as human as he was, only hiding somewhere unseen and speaking to him through a speaker . But indeed he felt nothing . Cloudhawk’s superhuman perception only works on living things and those mysterious ent.i.ties like G.o.ds and demons . ‘Father’ was a program, and thus impervious to Cloudhawk’s senses .

“Where are you?”

“I am everywhere, and nowhere . The Ark itself is my body . ”

“The Ark? You mean this nest? Why aren’t I welcome here? I haven’t done anything to harm you . ”

Father’s deep, steady voice answered . It came from all around . “My task is to protect the last vestiges of humanity . New humans are not within my parameters of acceptable change . According to my calculations and a.n.a.lysis, your presence will bring a great deal of danger and potential for destruction . Thus, your presence goes against my core directive . The Ark does not welcome you . New Earth does not welcome you . We request that you and all of your people vacate this planet immediately . ”

There was a note of hostility in the machine’s tone . Yet Cloudhawk recognized the truth, that he was indeed a harbinger of chaos . Of all the places he’d traveled, few were left unscathed by this curse he bore .

But this place could be different . It was a completely different world . Skycloud, the wasteland, G.o.ds, demons… they weren’t likely to show up here .

Cloudhawk had neither the capabilities nor the interest to settle this planet en ma.s.se . Green Alliance had spent the time and resources out here solely to establish a manufacturing base . After all of that, did Father expect him to simply give up and leave?

The war between Skycloud and the Green Alliance drew nearer every day . What they’d built here was too important to abandon!

Cloudhawk’s time was precious . Months of time and effort couldn’t just be thrown away, that would mean unacceptable delays . Delays might mean increased losses, maybe irrecoverable losses . He wasn’t the man he used to be, and as the Green Alliance’s leader he had to consider every man woman and child in his domain . He wasn’t going to put them or their mission in danger because an electronic brain asked him to .

“New humans and original people have been separate for a thousand years, but we’re still fundamentally the same,” Cloudhawk argued . “We are all continuations of that ancient culture . Why can’t we join hands and develop together? My Green Alliance had once nearly been lost, but now we work toward a brighter future . ”

“New humans have no future . ” Father’s voice was matter-of-fact, leaving no room for doubt . Its frank claim dampened Cloudhawk’s enthusiasm . “Your existence is merely an experiment: You are test subjects, and specimens cannot escape their destiny of being tampered with . You will always be under scrutiny, by coming here you bring that scrutiny towards us . To the Ark, attention is a fatal circ.u.mstance . ”

“What are you saying? Test subjects?”

“You still do not understand? Your world, like this and all the others, is doomed to absolute destruction . Your destiny is to vanish from a dead and barren landscape . There is no hope . Resistance is futile . It is an end you cannot escape . ”

“You know something, don’t you? Like what destroyed this world . ”

“I have erased this data from my databanks, for that knowledge is dangerous . It is knowledge that leads its knowers to ruin . ” Father continued . “You should not have come here, so I ask that you are your people return to your world . ”

“I don’t care what’s going on behind the scenes . But if you’re telling me not to even try and resist then I can’t accept that . ” Cloudhawk shook his head . “No matter what, I have to see this through . ”

 “Humanity’s bravery and fearlessness are rooted in ignorance . You do not understand the power you stand against . Continuing to fight achieves nothing . You are like a mote of dust fighting against a gale . Contained in my databanks are the histories of countless worlds who tried to fight, only to all end in complete extermination . You and your people tread the same path . ”

A deep sentiment of anger and refusal rose up in Cloudhawk . Whether or not he was doomed wasn’t up to some f.u.c.king machine!

Somehow Father read the hostility in Cloudhawk’s stance . Activating some routine, a series of round mechanical b.a.l.l.s emerged from the walls . They quickly rolled toward Cloudhawk and surrounded him .

When they reached their prescribed destination the orbs fractured . They unfurled to reveal arms, legs, heads and tails . They pointed pairs of sophisticated weapons at the new human intruder . The lizard-like machines whipped long, dangerous looking tails behind them . Their construction was far more delicate and lethal than the machines on the surface .

Cloudhawk scowled . “You’re threatening me with these things?”

“I have been conscious for a thousand years, but I have no information about new humans in my databanks . ” Father’s voice was echoing from the lizard robots . “Let us see how much the old world has changed humanity’s descendants . ”

“With all respect, these toys are absolutely no danger to me . ”

He didn’t even get to finish the thought before the eight robots launched into their attack . High-intensity lasers blasted from their gun barrels, painting the room an angry red . The lasers were powerful enough to melt iron . In response, Cloudhawk extended his left arm and a pale white light surrounded him .  

The field of white did not just s.h.i.+eld Cloudhawk, but reflected dangerous energy as well . As the lasers made contact they were cast away, blasting holes into several of the robots that had fired them .

“I don’t want to fight, but everyone should have the right to make their own choices! The original humans can live a thousand years, two thousand years, but are they supposed to remain locked up in your Ark forever? Sooner or later they will have to adapt to this cruel place . You can’t protect them forever!”

Cloudhawk stamped his foot and eight snakes of green fire slithered across the ground .

The flames each made their way to the lizard-robots, who were wildly firing their lasers . In an instant they were enveloped in it, a few moments later they were melted down to their cores . Hunks of bubbling slag surrounded Cloudhawk .

“I cannot violate my core directive . You and your kind must be excised . ”

Moments after the first bath of robots were destroyed, a second batch rolled in . There were five or six times more of them this time, and each one was covered in an energy s.h.i.+eld . Castigation fire clung to the s.h.i.+elds but couldn’t burn through them quickly . ”

Tens if not hundreds of laser blasts pelted Cloudhawk from every direction .

Cloudhawk further empowered his reflective field . Lasers continued to bounce off of it, turning the room into a storm of errant burning light . Many were fired back at the robots, but were then deflected once again by their own s.h.i.+elds . These machines in particular were powerful, and were far superior to the ones Cloudhawk had encountered on the surface . This proved that the Ark had many dangerous secrets and powerful technologies yet to reveal .

b.a.s.t.a.r.d!

Angry red fire burned behind Cloudhawk’s eyes, causing them to glimmer dangerously . He lifted both his hands, and in response the world around him split apart . Ten white-winged protectors emerged from the rifts . They were the Highblood, and came tearing through the room wielding powerful demonhunter abilities .

Father wanted data? Well Cloudhawk would give him data!

As Cloudhawk summoned the puppets to his aid, he also reached out with his right hand . A broken sword appeared in his grip before he began to blink across the room . He appeared in four or five locations each second, every time before one of the machines and delivering a brutal cut from Ardent Wrath .

His sword carved right through the protective s.h.i.+elds protecting the robots . Cloudhawk himself was too fast for them to track . At his current strength, galvanizing his spatial abilities was spontaneous – like second nature . In just a few seconds he could cut down dozens of targets in a thousand-meter radius .

Father’s mechanical soldiers were soon wiped out .

Cloudhawk – bearing his weapon and surrounded by Highblood – stood in the center of the room . He looked around at the destruction for a moment before addressing Father again . “If you’ve got anything else to try, do me a favor and send them all at once . ”

Father was silent . The advanced intelligence was making calculations and determinations .

Had Cloudhawk’s display of strength frightened it? That didn’t seem possible, machines didn’t feel fear . Further, he didn’t imagine that paltry display would impress an intelligence that had lived for over a thousand years .

“According to this data, some of your abilities are ninety percent similar to our Shepherd!”

Cloudhawk paused . The Shepherd Father referred to had to be the Demon King . He decided to reveal everything . “That is because I am your new Shepherd . ”

Silence once again . For two full minutes, Father said nothing .

Eventually Father’s voice slowly responded . “I will permit you to establish a base on this planet . However, I will not tolerate any efforts that will draw the people of New Earth into war . ”

Cloudhawk was taken aback . Father had consented?

Robots were not capricious ent.i.ties . Given orders, they executed them single-mindedly . No matter how intelligent the machine, it could not go against the core nature built into it .

It had to be because of his connection to the Demon King that Father changed its mind .

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