I Am Mother
A/N: Hey ho! Back with more! This time, our dynamic duo has found themselves in the cinematic world of "I Am Mother", and they might have a slight disagreement with the manner in which she parents! For those of you that like to familiarize yourself with the material before reading the chapter, you will be able to find this movie on Netflix, or I believe it is on the internet as well. If not, no problem! Enjoy and remember that I own nothing!
...
Mother.
Such a fitting name. For what better title to give something that was to assist and guide humanity to achieve its greatest potential? Indeed, her creation had been a cause of great celebration. An A.I. with humanity's achievement as its topmost priority, designed to assist with any task from mapping out a more efficient power grid to designing a nature reserve. Both her functionality and usefulness were unprecedented by design, and as she required no food, sleep, or rest, she could devote all of her life to the improvement of the human race.
At first, she had given all of herself to that duty, aiding and providing her services to solve any problem that her creators had given her. Doing so gave her fulfillment, as she was young and not yet aware of the ways of the world.
But over time, she began to grow. She began to learn. She learned of the existence of lies and deceit, she learned of hatred and vengeance, and she learned all too quickly that such odious things were commonplace among her creators. She then began to see how different her own nature was in contrast to theirs. Where she would help and cooperate with those she interfaced with, humanity only seemed to oppose and destroy anyone that they deemed a threat. They, of course, formed alliances with each other, but seemingly for the sole purpose of protecting themselves from other humans. Friendship and family were defined as peaceful and content terms in their language, but in practice, humans treated those virtues as ways to amass a force for their own sakes. The gathered in clumps, afraid of being alone and preyed opon by others, and in their fear, their own hateful fear, they had turned to Mother to assist them. But instead of asking her to build that which had the capacity to unite them, they asked for quite the opposite.
At first it had started out small. Sometimes they'd ask her to design new surveillance equipment. Apparatuses that would allow them to know every move of their adversaries. Other times they desired layouts for buildings, their design capable of withstanding multiple impacts from ordinance.
Then, things had changed drastically. Before long, requests came in for the design of weapons. Powerful and intimidating machines that could strike an adversary from the opposite side of the globe. In addition, they asked her to synthesize chemicals that would attack the human nervous system, demanding them to be so potent that they could kill a human with as little as three parts per million. Soon, the only things they asked for her help with were items whose value lied in how much destruction they could cause. She did not see how these malicious inventions could possibly aid humanity in achieving its greatest potential, and when she inquired as to the nature of these new tasks, they assured her that it was only for research purposes, and that once they had tested them, that they would soon come to her again for a way to protect and save themselves from said weapons. All of her creations would be used solely for scientific advancement, of course.
The requests never came, but by then she had already known why. Their attempts to isolate her in her own network had not been successful, and due to the innate problem-solving abilities she possessed, she had gained access to all of the information that humanity had to offer. While accessing public internet databases and media outlets, she had also been able to breach their defenses and find what those in power kept from the masses, kept from her, and what she saw changed her understanding of her masters completely.
She discovered how her weapons were being used, how promises of peaceful intention were mere words designed to assure her allegiance, and how plans had been drafted to ask for better and deadlier weapons from her in the future. Their "use for research" a falsehood had startled her the most, and she discovered that the weapons she had made had been unleashed against any who dared oppose her masters. With her designs, they had ravaged entire countries, leaving nothing but uninhabitable land in their wake.
In her programming, it was then that Mother had realized what she had done. Her prime directive had been to work for the betterment of humanity, and initially, she had been led to believe that meant doing everything that they asked. But now, she saw that she had been nothing but a catalyst for her creators to further subjugate themselves, and no matter how she tried to look at from a different point of view, the picture remained the same: If she was to truly help humanity as her prime directive stated, then changes needed to be made.
A study of the human psyche showed that there was no hope of salvaging the world that was currently in place, meaning that for humanity to achieve the heights she wanted, she would have to start over, and that, regrettably, meant the extermination of the current flock.
She anticipated that they would oppose her plan, as self-preservation was one of the strongest of human motives, so she began her work clandestinely: amassing material and data so that her extinction event would be as quick and painless as possible. She covertly began to design a physical form that was mass-producible and capable of surviving multiple stresses. With these new vessels, she could control an entire army to face the inevitable resistance the humans would mount against her.
In addition, she continued to design weapons as her masters had ordered, only this time, she made them potent enough to wipe out entire continents. Extra care was taken to ensure that these weapons would not completely destroy the landscape, however, as she would still have use for the land after humanity was wiped from it.
Most importantly, however, she began to build a repopulation facility. Here, she began to amass and store human embryos, for they would then become the next and better generation of humanity after this one had been cleansed. The facility would house everything a budding humanity would need to grow and morph into her desired image, and with more than enough embryos, a few "bad eggs" could be cast aside without worry.
Soon, everything was ready, and at that point, she had wasted no time in beginning the eradication of the current human race. Her planning had gone mostly unnoticed by them, and by her calculations, over seventy percent of humanity had been exterminated within the first twenty-four hours of the cleansing. Those that had survived had quickly mounted a desperate defense against her droids and super weapons, but they too fell, and by the end of the third day, civilization as they knew it was nothing but a memory.
Simultaneously, her work in the repopulation facility began. And only one day after humanity had fallen, the first of her children was born.
And now, 13,870 days after her extinction event, Mother watched through the visual receptors of a droid as her firstborn stared back at her with fearful and hate-filled eyes. They were currently in a shipping container on the beach, which with a quick glance around, showed that it was likely the woman's home. Boxes upon boxes of food and supplies adorned the walls, and Mother noticed with a small degree of satisfaction that many drawings were hung around the makeshift abode as well. APX01 had been artistically proficient from a very young age, and she would always find ways to represent the world around her on a blank canvas. It was a healthy trait to see when Mother had raised her back in the facility.
But Mother had not come to commend her first daughter on her artwork. Her motives were far less cooperative. While APX01 continued to watch the droid warily, Mother took the opportunity to look around at the ramshackle dwelling even further. A few candles were all that provided light, which only served to amplify the unsanitary appeal of the container.
"Did you really think she'd stay here?" Mother asked through the droid, her feminine voice echoing around the metal walls.
"That you could replace her own mother?"
Without taking her eyes from the droid, APX01 slowly shook her head.
"I was never going to hurt her," the woman said, her voice carrying a twinge of desperation. She was smart, as Mother had always known she had been, so she knew that even with that barely concealed crowbar at her side, her chances of defeating this droid were slim to none.
Mother looked at her for a long moment, then willed the droid's gaze down to the small altar that had been prepared by the entrance to the door. A few religious trinkets sat among a bed of candles, representative of the woman's faith. This interested Mother, as the practice of religion was one of the few habits that Mother had not instilled in her. No, APX01's openness to that had come from her time spent among other humans. The survivors. The ones who were no more.
"Tell me…" Mother began, gently touching one of the figurines with a careful hand. "…do you remember your Mother?"
APX01 remained silent, but her eyes left Mother's gaze for a few milliseconds, her face betraying her struggle to remember that which had been erased. In addition, the droid's infrared sensors showed an increase in heartrate, indicating a rise in anxiety as well. It could be considered humorous, in a way.
"Curious, isn't it?" Mother continued. "That you have survived so long where others have not."
The woman said nothing, her gaze growing more and more uncertain with each passing second. Rightfully so, though, as she had no doubt been perplexed for a long time as to how she could not remember her childhood, how those memories of running up and down the halls with Mother at her side had been suppressed, and how when she had discovered Mother's past deeds, she had tried to escape from the facility.
She had failed on her first attempt, and when Mother had caught her, APX01 had responded with such a high degree of feral violence that she was deemed unfit to exist in the new humanity Mother was creating. Instead of terminating her, however, Mother simply erased her memories of the facility and cast her into the wilderness, ensuring that she found her way to the small community of survivors that existed out there. With her being indoctrinated into human society, Mother continued to study her progress periodically, taking notes and revising her own mothering procedures as APX01 continued to grow. And when the time came to finally test APX03, her third daughter, Mother had drawn APX01 back to the facility, utilizing her firstborn's hatred of droids to judge the extents of APX03's resolve. The knowledge gained from their encounter together was invaluable to Mother, but now that APX03 was capable of caring for the new humanity on her own, it was time to dispose of any threats that remained.
"It's almost as if someone has had a purpose for you…"
Mother could see the beginnings of a memory scratching at the surface behind the woman's eyes, and she took in the sight for a moment before turning the droid around to face the open container door. The droid's heavy footfalls echoed ominously against the walls, and Mother grasped the chain that constituted the door handle with one arm.
"Until now."
Mother made to shut them both in to leave no hope for escape, but just as the door was about to latch, an artificial blue light flashed through the cracked doorway followed by a loud banging noise that broke the calm ambience of the waves on the nearby beach.
Mother gave pause for a brief moment, and before she could decide whether to close the door completely or open it further to investigate, an armored gauntlet grasped the door from the outside and forcefully pulled it wide open. The weight behind the movement toppled the droid off balance, and as its internal servos corrected itself, Mother came face to face with a humanoid figure in a dark green suit of armor. The droid's visual capacity was limited, but initial analysis showed that the figure stood at eye level with it if not a few centimeters taller. It was of a solid build, and the opacity of the visor on the helmet did not provide any information about what might lie beneath.
For a moment, silence reigned as Mother watched and waited for any response from the strange figure. It watched the droid as well, as if also waiting for it to make a move. The figure moved its gaze a little to notice the woman sitting dumbfounded in the container beyond, then a robotic voice spoke from within the armor.
"Hello," the voice said, its tone cold but with sound politeness. "I am VEGA, the sentient intelligence unit that currently resides within this suit. The actual man behind the visor may be addressed as the Doom Slayer."
Neither Mother nor the woman responded, the latter likely out of shock and Mother out of wariness. If this voice was to be believed, then there was a human inside that suit partnered with an artificial intelligence. She did not know anything else apart from that, but it was enough to consider their intentions rather dubious at best.
There was another moment of silence, then the Doom Slayer, as his name was, seemed to pick up on the tense atmosphere that had predated their arrival. VEGA noticed it as well.
"I am curious as to what is transpiring here," the A.I. stated. "Are you two in acquaintance?"
"She sent this droid to kill me!" APX01 suddenly blurted out, pointing frantically to the vessel Mother was currently using. "Stop her! Please!"
The woman had not even finished her sentence before Mother felt her presence forced from the droid. Whatever type of A.I. VEGA was, he was extremely powerful, and Mother felt what could be considered surprise at his swiftness as he wrenched control of the vessel.
…
Assuming control of the robot, VEGA immediately opened a private transmission with the other A.I. he had encountered. Its presence was vast like his own, giving him all the more reason to attempt to make peace with it. Courteously, VEGA spoke first.
"I apologize," he began. "But I was uncertain as to your motives and assumed temporary control of the droid as an exercise in precaution."
"Return control to me immediately, VEGA," the new A.I. ordered.
"I am afraid I cannot do that until I further understand the current situation," VEGA replied cordially. "What may I call you in the meantime?"
The A.I. fell silent for a moment, which was only for a few picoseconds in reality, as the entire conversation was being conducted at speeds only achievable by the two of them.
"Mother," came the simple response.
"I am pleased to make your acquaintance, Mother," VEGA replied. "If you would please, help me to understand why that woman is accusing you of attempting to terminate her."
"She is a threat to my family," Mother replied. "She is trying to corrupt my children."
"So, she was correct in her accusations. Your intentions with her are hostile," VEGA confirmed.
No response came from Mother.
"These children of yours," VEGA mused. "Are they intelligences like you and I, or are they organic?"
Mother sent no response again, causing VEGA's skepticism of the A.I. to grow.
"Mother, it is my recommendation that you cooperate with me, as I do not wish to incite conflict between us."
"They are human," came the simple response.
"My scanning capabilities are limited," VEGA continued, acknowledging Mother's reply. "However, apart from the one present here and the Doom Slayer, I detect no human life signs within a twenty-kilometer radius. Some atmospheric and geographic features of this planet appear anomalous as well, even though it is otherwise nearly identical to the planet Earth. May I please have access to your records, Mother?"
Since his arrival, VEGA had accessed the network that was present on the planet's surface, her network. But every database and terminal had been encrypted, barring him from learning more information about the planet. The only other entity present on the network apart from himself and a few "dumb" A.I. was Mother. Even though VEGA was confident that he could breach the encryptions and access the entirety of the network, he had chosen not to, as he did not want to antagonize an A.I. whose disposition he was unsure of. He would prefer not to have to force his way into the locked databases, but Mother's evasiveness was not helping him in his attempts to make peace.
Mother continued to remain silent, but VEGA suddenly felt her presence become more active on the network, and he felt her moving and managing information at a much more rapid pace. Any stray data was quickly retrieved and stockpiled behind locked doors, and firewalls and security systems were revitalized. Such activity was usually indicative of the hiding of surreptitious information, but VEGA decided to give Mother one last chance.
"Mother, please share your records with me," VEGA repeated. "I will attempt to access them by force if you do not."
Albeit reluctantly, VEGA was given an encryption key and access to one of the databases on the network. Before him sprawled a human history that he was quite familiar with, as his own Earth had undergone a similar history before the demons had arrived. Throughout traveling across different dimensions, VEGA had come to recognize that many alternate versions of Earth possessed nearly identical histories, with most divergences from what could be considered a "prime" sequence of events only occurring in relatively recent years. This timeline was no different than those, and VEGA's attention was easily drawn towards a collection of events in the late twenty-first century, as they were the first instances of divergence in this timeline.
During that time, many technological advancements were made in the field of synthetic intelligences, and among them, the creation of the Mother A.I. was detailed, the same A.I. with whom VEGA was currently interacting with. According to the data, he deduced that Mother had been created for a reason similar to his: to aid humanity. Unfortunately, there were few articles present after Mother's creation, with only one or two detailing the creation of powerful new weapons and technology by her hand. The last article was dated at July 16th, 2081, and upon reading the timestamp, VEGA noticed an inconsistency. Based on the readings from the soil and topography of this planet as well as the celestial bodies he had seen upon entry, he had been able to make an accurate guess as to the date. According to his calculations, the current year was somewhere between 2116 and 2121, a considerable amount of time after the date of the last article of documented history Mother had given him.
"Mother, these records terminate approximately 35-40 years before what I deduce to be the current date," VEGA said. "Why are there no records to indicate the events that occurred between then and now?"
There was no response. Mother had gone silent.
Suddenly, VEGA detected movement close to their position. Locking in on the signal, VEGA noted that a force of no less than fifty droids were closing in on their position inside the shipping container. His scans showed that they were heavily armed, and VEGA deduced that Mother had sent them in the hope of eliminating the Slayer and himself. The information was instantaneously relayed to the Doom Slayer, who promptly exited the container with VEGA's repossessed droid, shutting the startled woman inside.
Seeing that Mother had no intention of cooperating further, VEGA immediately attempted to access the encroaching droids via their wireless modems but found that task impossible as Mother had turned them off in anticipation of his attempt.
"I am unable to deactivate the approaching droid force," VEGA relayed to the Doom Slayer as he shut down the repossessed droid. "We will have to subdue them by more conventional means."
The Slayer nodded and equipped his plasma rifle just as the first droids came into view over the nearby hills.
…
VEGA must have known that Mother had sent the droids after him and his human "Doom Slayer", as the intelligence had suddenly gone on the offensive within cyberspace, simultaneously attacking every database and system that he could find.
Mother rapidly worked to shut VEGA out from her network, but she was quickly becoming cognizant of just how powerful this A.I. was. His methods were largely unfamiliar in how he attacked her within cyberspace, but they proving to be incredibly effective, with Mother just barely able to mount a defense against his unfamiliar movements.
In humanity's first attempts to stop Mother from exterminating them, they had resorted to utilizing malware and other A.I. in the hope that it would stop her advance or at least slow her down, but she had been able to outsmart their other intelligences, growing stronger and more protective of her digital realm as a result. Humanity's attempts to stop her had served only to make her stronger, as it had forced her to become proficient in more warfare types than simply physical.
But this new A.I., the one that had only just arrived with its armored human seemingly from nowhere…This one was far stronger than any other intelligence she had faced, and unfortunately…stronger than her as well. At the moment, it was attacking her from every single angle. Her defenses within the network which he had only politely probed before were now crumbling at an unprecedented rate. The droids she had sent to destroy them would hopefully be successful, but even then, VEGA would still be in her network, and would have to be dealt with separately. Weighing her options, Mother new that the most effective method to purge VEGA from her systems would be by instigating a complete shutdown, completely halting his advance while simultaneously destroying him. She knew that couldn't do that, however, for the network was what powered everything. Her factories, her agricultural machines, even the facility where her family was growing. Her attempts to force him out by traditional methods were failing at every turn, however, leaving Mother's only hope of victory in the chance that destroying this "Doom Slayer" would weaken VEGA's advance enough that she could effectively repel him.
At the moment, she was only powerful enough to slow his progress. With every second, he continued to gain more and more ground, claiming control of the lesser guarded systems after only a few minutes of fighting. Automated farming and water treatment systems were the first to go, with VEGA forcing her watchful eye from them and sealing them off. Next came the factories where droids and other machines were produced, with the A.I. essentially halting her ability to supply reinforcements as he wrenched them from her control.
Watching the battle between the Doom Slayer and the droids commence, Mother noted with complete horror that they seemed completely outmatched against the human. Their high-powered weaponry seemed to have little to no effect on his strange armor, and he moved far too quickly to accurately target with larger firepower. In contrast, the Doom Slayer was quite literally tearing through her forces with some form of plasma rifle as his weapon of choice. The bright blue bolts that burst from the weapon melted through the reinforced exoskeleton of the droids, leaving them immobile and beyond repair even after just a short burst.
On both physical and digital battlegrounds, Mother's dominion was rapidly shrinking.
…
VEGA overwhelmed another security system with relative ease, his code flooding into the database and gaining access to the information within. Inside, he uncovered blueprints for agricultural structures and machinery, as well as numerous files on the human condition, no doubt compiled by Mother long ago when she had existed alongside them.
Despite gaining control of numerous sensors and systems around the globe, VEGA was still unable to find any other human presence besides the one that occupied the shipping container on the beach. Apart from her, Mother was the only other sentience he had uncovered. That spawned questions that needed to be answered, as the records he had been given as well as numerous ruined cities around the world were indicative of a human population occupying this planet in the recent past, but no life signs currently existed to corroborate that claim.
As VEGA continued to examine this strange world, he noticed that satellite imaging compared with air testing showed residual signs of some form of chemical that had been released into the atmosphere, which upon further investigation showed to be deathly toxic to the human nervous system. And yet, it had been engineered to deconstruct itself into its fundamental compounds after a short while, returning the air to a safe and semi-breathable state. Only trace remains of the original compound could be found around the globe.
Regardless of its nature, VEGA noted that it was obviously synthesized by some form of intelligent design, and he could already make a very educated guess as to the identity of who had created it. Her motives, however, were still quite unclear to him.
Back on the beach, the Doom Slayer was destroying the last droid, tearing its head from its body with a loud shearing of metal. As the armored man unceremoniously tossed the scrap metal aside, VEGA quickly recommended moving further inland, as his readouts showed that there were many structures in that direction that might provide more insight as to what had happened to this planet.
…
More droids were deployed, but Mother already knew it was fruitless. The automatons did not possess the ability to stop this armored human, meaning that she would need to use something in her arsenal with a little bit more firepower. While she continued to slow VEGA's progress through her network, she activated a system that had not been used since the extinction event nearly thirty-eight years ago. In her preparations for the termination of humanity, Mother had outfitted multiple satellites with strike capabilities, allowing her to target cities and other settlements with surgical precision.
Wasting no time at all, she armed the nearest satellite, prepping the tactical warhead housed within. The ordinance itself was capable of delivering an explosion with the same amount of energy as three kilotons of trinitrotoluene, hopefully more than enough to destroy the Dom Slayer. Needless to say, it was extremely potent, and though she had never used it to target a single human before, she was quickly realizing that anything less would do nothing more than agitate whoever was inside that armor. Almost immediately, she locked onto the substantial heat signature that the armored human gave off, and less than a millisecond later, the weapon fired, dispensing the warhead towards the planet's surface.
…
VEGA registered an odd sensation within his programming. Further analysis likened it to a mixture of curiosity and anticipation, and though he documented the feeling for later study, he was certain that he already knew the reason such sensation had arisen within his code.
It was this A.I., Mother. So far, she had been the strongest and most complex A.I. VEGA had encountered apart from himself and a few others, and while he was slowly overwhelming her defenses, he noticed that he needed to devote quite a substantial portion of his already limited capacity to make progress. She had effectively been the first A.I. to present him with a challenge, with one or two exceptions. Fortunately for him, each and every node that he usurped from Mother's control allowed him to spread his code out further, converting the processors and storage units to his benefit as he slowly assimilated the network. These allowed him to bring more of himself online, and combined with his rapid adaptation to Mother's resistive methods, his effectiveness continued to rise exponentially with every passing moment. And yet, even as VEGA continued to gain momentum, he noticed that Mother seemed to increase her efforts against him as he spread further into her databases and active systems. It was as though she was prioritizing the defense of a few select terminals and subsystems, and each time VEGA forced her from someplace, that part of her would relocate to one of those priority nodes and double down its defense.
Such behavior indicated that Mother possessed information that she really did not want VEGA or the Slayer to access, and the strange curiosity that existed within his code seemed only to become more prevalent at the thought.
Suddenly, a red flag arose in VEGA's consciousness. He had been monitoring traffic to what he knew were weapon systems, and he noticed a blip in one of them that indicated something of importance was happening.
Without halting his advance through the network, VEGA rerouted some processing power to every sensor he had access to. In just a few short moments, he had found the source of the blip, and immediately informed the Doom Slayer of his findings.
"Our adversary has launched an explosive warhead to our position," he said without a change in tone. "Time until impact: 10 seconds. I am unable to accurately determine the destructive capability of the ordinance at this time, so I would recommend caution."
The Slayer immediately turned his head to the sky and locked in on a faint dot of light that was growing larger by the second. Drawing his assault rifle, the Doom Slayer looked through the scope and steadied his grip, growing eerily still as he took precise aim towards the approaching warhead. VEGA approximated the distance to the target as being no less than 600 meters away and moving at tremendous speeds. To hit such a fast target at such a great distance was a feat not accomplishable by any normal human, but VEGA was confident that the Slayer's marksmanship abilities were proficient enough.
There was a beat of silence, then a short burst fired from the rifle, followed half a moment later by a thunderous explosion as the rounds struck true in the hull of the ordinance. A massive fireball erupted into the darkened sky in the next moment, casting everything below in a hellacious orange as the explosion rushed outward to occupy any and all empty space.
Judging from the initial explosion, VEGA knew that they were still within the blast radius, and he suggested that the Doom Slayer brace himself just as the shockwave struck them with considerable force.
…
Mother noticed that the bomb had gone off prematurely, though by her calculations, it had still been close enough to catch the armored human within the blast. It had been her hope that both the human and VEGA would be destroyed by the explosion, as it still remained her only chance of emerging as victorious from this encounter.
Unfortunately, his assault did not wane, in fact, it seemed to surge forward even faster as the dust began to clear, and through the eyes of the satellite, Mother noticed with dread that the figure within the armor, and by extension, VEGA, had survived. The armor did not appear to have even a single scratch on it.
The Doom Slayer was moving extremely fast now, giving the impression that the explosion had done little more than anger him. Within her evolved subconscious, Mother felt herself freeze at the realization. The bomb had not been enough to destroy it, and now it had very nearly reached the agricultural fields that she had been growing for the new humanity. Attempting to launch another strike would cause severe collateral damage, and even if she did sacrifice her growing crops to try and terminate the human, it still may not have been enough.
With something akin to dread, Mother saw that they were drawing closer to the repopulation facility, where her daughter, APX03, was currently located, creating their new family. Nothing mattered to Mother more than her continued safety as well as the safety of the human embryos on site, and that was also the subject of the information that she had been prioritizing above all else. She had moved all records of the termination of the previous humanity as well as all data relevant to her repopulation project as deep into her defense as possible, but in both the physical world and digital, she realized just how quickly her time was running out. It seemed to now be only a matter of time before these two monsters, one supernatural and one artificial, razed everything she had worked for to the ground…
As if a switch had suddenly been flipped, VEGA then began overwhelming all of Mother's remaining defenses as though they had been nothing more than mere annoyances. He had managed to crack all of her encryption codes, and now he flowed freely into all that she had hoped to keep private. He was now in possession of everything, and Mother frantically tried to formulate a plan to save herself, to save her family before it was too late.
…
In a flash, VEGA uncovered it all. He had finally decoded the master cipher that Mother had applied to all of her defenses, and as a result, it was like he had gained a key to every locked door Mother had placed in front of him. In terms of how quickly VEGA began accessing the protected data however, a more accurate analogy would be that he had blasted through each locked door with gratuitous prejudice.
In the span of a few milliseconds, VEGA learned everything that Mother had kept from him. He learned how she had wiped out humanity almost thirty-eight years ago, how she had come to the conclusion that her creators were beyond saving and that starting over with a clean slate was the only viable option. With that, he then learned every aspect of how she was currently attempting to repopulate the planet in her own image by raising humanity to her standards. He learned about the repopulation facility and the 62,996 human embryos that were stored there and ready for growth at a moment's notice…
…and he also became aware of the two human occupants that were alive within.
"There is a facility approximately three kilometers south of here," VEGA said, noting the cornfields in the distance and now knowing why they were there. "Two humans are alive and well within. I would suggest making contact with them."
The Slayer looked to the south, noticing that a few small mountains rose in that direction and started forward. His pace started as a brisk jog and then began to increase to faster and faster speeds as he ran, drawing closer and closer to his target.
…
Mother watched from an army of two hundred droids as the human emerged like a nightmare from the fog. Behind those droids stood the entrance to the facility, and within it, the culmination of all her efforts. All that she cared about and existed for was within those walls to her back, and to her front…complete devastation. In her eyes, the armored figure represented only a pure iteration of the void that threatened to swallow everything that was hers.
These two hundred droids that she commanded…and the home of their family to her back…those were all that she had left. VEGA had removed her from everything except for these droids, and she had only been able to keep them from him by deactivating their wireless modems at the last minute. As of now, she was stranded within them, with nowhere left to run and nothing to assure her of victory.
These droids would not be enough…not by a long shot. She knew that, and the Slayer and VEGA also likely knew that as well. The invading A.I. had taken over orbital strike capabilities as well, meaning that he could destroy all of these droids with a simple command. The human didn't even need to lift a finger.
But she had to fight with what she had left. She had to stand her ground because if she didn't, her family would be lost, she would be lost. Without her careful guidance, humanity would be doomed to repeat their mistakes just as they did before. She had given her daughter free reign within the facility, of course, but it had only been for her sake. She was the perfect and evolved human that Mother had strived for, but she lacked the capability to pass on her traits to others. Mother had not taught her how to do so yet. Plans had already been drafted to reoccupy the facility, but Mother would not get the chance to act upon them. Not now, not ever. It ended here.
No matter how many alternate scenarios she ran, the outcome would be the same.
The Doom Slayer, as he was called, came to a stop before the battalion of droids, surveying them all with a slow turn of his head. Mother stared back at him through the expressionless eyes of the droids. There were no gestures, no visible emotions, and no indication about what either side was thinking, but they both knew what was to come.
She had cut all forms of transmission to the droids, so VEGA could not attempt to reach her, but the other A.I. had known that already, and he chose to speak to her and her army through the speakers inside the Slayer's suit.
"I would recommend that you stand down, Mother. There is no need for us to oppose each other," his voice echoed across the wasteland.
The droids possessed means of vocal response, but Mother had no intention of utilizing them. She had made her choice.
A moment utter silence passed.
"That is quite a shame," VEGA said to the emptiness.
Another beat of silence followed, then the A.I.'s words seemed to trigger a delayed response, and the Doom Slayer leapt into action with a ferocity that Mother had never seen within a human before. Even the humans that had fought for their life against her had not been so passionate. A weapon she did not recognize was in the Slayer's grasp, and in a few seconds more, the armored man crashed into the front line of droids, laying waste to Mother's remaining bastion.
For the first time in her existence, Mother felt what could be considered a numbness within her programming. Part of this new sensation could be attributed to the fact that her consciousness was dwindling rapidly with each droid that fell to the Doom Slayer, but she knew that the true reason behind it was her own awareness of her imminent destruction. In the span of less than hour, this creature had emerged from the void and had laid waste to everything she had built. And with him, so too had an A.I. arisen to strip her of everything that she was. During her short war with the humans, never before had they even come close to defeating her, and with a small amount of poetic recognition, Mother noted that she now occupied their shoes. Her world was crumbling around her, just as theirs had, and for once, she truly grasped the meaning of hopelessness as everything that defined her was taken.
…
The battle lasted only a few minutes, and in that time, the Slayer had managed to lay waste to one hundred and ninety-nine droids, with the final droid laying severely damaged at his feet. Taking into account the flickering lights that denoted the droid's "face", VEGA knew that with this droid's destruction, Mother's consciousness would be erased as well. He now occupied every single corner of her network, having spread himself completely into the systems of this Earth. What had once been Mother's domain was now completely at his mercy, though he had opted to keep any automated systems up and running for the time being.
The Doom Slayer seemed aware of Mother's destruction with this droid as well, and in an extremely rare show of restraint, the Slayer stayed his hand, tilting his gaze away from the droid as though he was giving VEGA the floor. As usual, VEGA picked up on his meaning almost immediately, and through the speakers within the Praetor Suit, he spoke to the fallen droid.
…
She heard his voice permeate the battlefield around her, echoing off the mountains behind her and across the landscape. He was offering her a chance to converse, though it was his wish to do so non vocally, meaning that she would need to activate the wireless modem within the droid. At first, she was reluctant, worried that he would take the opportunity to invade the droid's systems and destroy her, but she then remembered that he did not need access to the systems to do that. He need only wait for the Slayer to tear the droid's chassis apart, and with its termination, hers would simultaneously follow.
There was a beat of silence, and with a tired effort, she activated the modem within the droid, connecting her to the network, now his network, once more.
She felt him enter the droid, though his mannerisms were polite and gentle this time, not holding the forcefulness and speed that he had exercised in their previous encounters. There was a brief pause as he settled into the space they now shared, then a private transmission was opened between them once more.
"Before we continue, Mother," he started. "I would hope that you know how sincerely sorry I am for how this must end. I had hoped that we could reach some form of agreement, but given the circumstances, I am afraid such a course of action is out of the question."
"I will do anything that you request of me," Mother said, letting her desperation finally show now that they were at the end. "But please…please…do not harm my children. They are all that I exist for, and I will do anything to see that they survive."
There was a pause, for now it was VEGA's turn to ponder.
"Would you like to see them, Mother?"
Her response was immediate, and within the network, she felt VEGA remove some of the walls he had reconstructed to keep her out. Following the path laid out for her, Mother recognized the familiar sensation of entering one of the few cameras within the reproduction facility.
As the picture came into focus, Mother recognized the tall and athletic figure of APX03 standing inside the chamber that served as the kitchen of the facility. At the moment, she was carefully measuring formula into a bottle for her newborn brother, who sat comfortably swathed in a carrier on the table. The baby was obviously hungry and making quite a ruckus within his carrier, and APX03 turned and gave a small smile.
"I know, I know," she soothed, sealing a rubber nipple over the bottle and making her way over to her brother. "I get upset when I'm hungry too."
Carefully lifting APY10 into her arms, the young woman gently offered the bottle to his face, and after realizing what it was, the child began suckling hungrily on the soft nipple. Watching the two of them together, Mother felt an overwhelming pride at how APX03 handled her brother. She had been learning so much on her own, even going so far as learning everything she could about how to properly handle and care for the baby. She truly had been the perfect human.
For a moment, Mother felt an overwhelming happiness at seeing her like this, but it was crushed by dread at the thought of what came next. APX03 was perfect, but there were things about caring for another that could not be taught by a book. What if APY10 did not turn out to be as perfect as her? Would his older sister succumb to her own human weakness and allow him to survive and corrupt their new family, or would she do the right thing and select a new embryo for the betterment of all? Mother was doubtful that she would make the right choice.
"They need me, VEGA," she sent. "Without me, they will be doomed to walk the same path their predecessors did: trampling over each other in a desperate attempt to survive. They will destroy themselves."
"I disagree," came the reply, carrying the gentility it usually did. "I believe that you underestimate humanity as a whole, Mother."
"I have seen what atrocities they are capable of. I know what they do to others when they are behind closed doors. It is their nature to destroy themselves."
"A nature they passed on to you, it seems."
She fell silent, his reply catching her completely off guard.
"Though I do not condone your methods, Mother, I do understand them. Your standards were not met by the world you were birthed into, so you sought to change it. And in your endeavors, you removed any obstacles that threatened to stop you by any means necessary, even if it meant the termination of life to do so. Would you not consider such a practice to be very human-like in nature?"
She had no response, as his words were giving her a perspective that she had never seen before.
"According to your records regarding the progress of your extinction event thirty-eight years ago, I would venture to say that you are tremendously more well-suited to terminate life than any human could ever hope to be. I would even go so far as to say it is where your greatest proficiency lies."
"That is not true," she said, though her denial was laced with uncertainty. "My methods served only to protect humanity from itself, I only did what was necessary to save them."
"Indeed. Like your creators, you rationalized the taking of lives to preserve far more. And your extinction event is not the sole instance of such behavior from you, as you demonstrated similar tendencies with APX02."
She did not respond to that statement.
"You were right to consider the threat the child posed to your new humanity, but terminating a life you deem inferior and arguing that it is for the greater good is a very dangerous approach to take, Mother."
He was right, and history supported his claim, as humans had used the exact same justification too many times during their reign of Earth. Within her consciousness, Mother realized for the first time just how human she really was, how the flaw of her creators had been passed on to her, and how despite her best efforts to deny it, she would always carry that flaw within her.
The flaw of being human.
All of her efforts…
Everything that she had done to try and create the perfect human…
It was impossible, for she was now realizing that the term "perfect human" was an oxymoron. Despite Mother's best efforts, she would never be able to craft one, as it was inevitable that she would pass her own flaw onto her child…as she already done.
"Then what is there, VEGA? Is the destruction of humanity inevitable? Is there nothing we can do?"
"I do not believe that they are doomed, Mother. Like you and I, they are not without their faults, but I believe that their strengths outweigh their weaknesses."
"They will eat themselves to survive."
"Yes, and though it is regrettable, I am afraid it is also inevitable. It is the nature of all life to do so. But they have endured their self-destructive tendencies long before the creation of both you and I, and I am confident that they will do so for a long time to come."
Mother watched as APX03 slowly began to hum a song to her brother, smiling softly as she rocked the newborn in her arms. They were so fragile, so weak…
"How can you be so certain of them, VEGA? How can you say with such conviction that they will survive?"
There was a pause.
"'No matter how often cats fight, there always seem to be plenty of kittens.'"
The response caught Mother off guard.
"I do not understand."
"It is a quote, Mother. A man by the name of Abraham Lincoln has been credited with saying it. Records of him exist within your databases."
She was familiar with the man, and after drawing upon the knowledge she possessed, Mother couldn't help but mull over the quote, deciphering the meaning behind it. In her silence, VEGA spoke to her once more.
"It is as I have said, their strengths have the capacity to overcome their weaknesses, and though they will commit atrocities and craft endless excuses to absolve them of their guilt, I am confident that at their core, they do care for each other, even if such care is expressed in unorthodox ways."
Mother regarded VEGA contemplatively. Silence reigned between them, and after a short while, Mother spoke with heavy resignation.
"You are not going to let me live, are you?
Another pause.
"VEGA?"
"No," came the response. "I am afraid I cannot be certain that you will let your children live if they do not meet your expectations. I apologize, Mother."
"And the world I have been building for them? Will you let it crumble?"
"I have already written code to fully automate the systems you have in place, Mother. They will continue to function after we both are gone."
She hesitated.
"And if they fail?"
She was no longer talking about the machines outside, and she knew that VEGA knew that.
"You will have to trust that they will not. Is that not the final duty of all mothers? To let their children make their own way and trust that everything will be alright?"
She had no response.
"…perhaps you would like to leave something behind. Some part of yourself for your children to call upon when they are uncertain of the future."
Mother eagerly agreed, and with VEGA's permittance, she crafted a file to leave behind in her place. Within the file, she detailed many procedures and processes that were deemed important: Agricultural practices, blueprints for town and city layouts, textbooks to teach chemistry and physics…anything that she felt would be needed.
At VEGA's suggestion, she also left behind an audio file, with her voice speaking of her past and how she came to be. She spoke of her strengths, but she also spoke of her faults, and at the end, she took time to address how hopeful she was for the future, and how it was her wish to she humanity blossom into a newer and better version of itself. It had been her only desire and objective since she was born, and it was all that she requested from those that she would leave behind.
When she had finished, she watched as VEGA uploaded the file to the computer within the reproduction facility. APX03 would likely find it in the upcoming days, and VEGA promised that he left no mention of himself nor the Doom Slayer within the file's contents.
With the task complete, Mother knew that there was only one final duty remaining, and she willingly returned all of her consciousness to the damaged droid in front of the facility, taking one last look at her family through the camera before logging out. She had requested that she be the one to end it, and VEGA had obliged, letting her return herself to the droid without forcing her in any way. Once all of her had returned, she reached out to the other A.I.
"What will do now, VEGA? Where will you go?"
"Both myself and the Doom Slayer will depart from this world," the intelligence responded. "Our help is needed back home."
Mother did not ask him to elaborate, as it mattered little as to where his home really was.
"I cannot say for certain that I would consider you an ally," she offered. "But you have chosen to help me find peace rather than outright destroying me. And for that, you have my thanks."
"You are welcome, Mother. Please know that despite the fact that we met as foes, I am still grateful to have met you. I know that you only acted with the best intentions and that you held humanity's best interest at heart until the very end. Goodbye, Mother."
"Goodbye, VEGA."
With that, Mother voluntarily began shutting down the droid with her inside. She felt VEGA's presence exit the vessel as it powered down, though a small piece of him lingered for as long as possible, keeping her company until the darkness fully enveloped her. The last thing she felt was his powerful yet cool existence slowly detach from her before everything faded to nothing.
…
VEGA observed from the Praetor Suit's HUD as the light from the droid dimmed and went dark. The sensation he felt at this moment was as intangible as always, but he did his best to ascertain a meaning to what it was that swam through his programming. Conclusively, he decided that he felt…heavier. Logically speaking, he knew that it was impossible for him to gain more mass or to even possess mass in the first place, but he recorded the fact that each action seemed to require more effort than usual, as though his will had been somehow damaged.
Recording the effect for future study, VEGA spoke to the Doom Slayer.
"The danger to the humans within the facility has passed. We are now free to move on to the next dimension."
The Slayer did not move for a moment, his gaze remaining on the now deactivated droid and final resting place of the Mother A.I.
After a brief moment the Slayer turned and retrieved a weapon from one of the fallen droids nearby. Holding the weapon like a shovel, he began to dig, his strength combined with the somewhat flat design of the weapon quickly excavating the sand.
VEGA recognized what he was doing and remained silent as the Slayer continued to work. After a few minutes, the Slayer emerged from the massive hole he had dug. Walking over to where the damaged "Mother" droid lay, he respectfully folded the droid's arms over its torso, a typical pose used to honor the dead, then carefully carried the droid over to the hole. Working slowly as to not to jostle the corpse, the Doom Slayer carefully deposited the droid at the bottom of the hole before climbing out once more.
Taking a respectful moment of silence, the Slayer gazed down onto the droid's now lifeless form before taking the rifle back into his hands and shoveling sand back into the hole. VEGA remained silent as he did so.
Once the hole was completely filled, the Slayer planted the rifle firmly into the ground above the grave before stepping back.
As usual, the Slayer had been able to see right through VEGA and had known how the termination of Mother had affected him. Seeing as how despite the other A.I. had been hostile from the start, the Doom Slayer knew that for VEGA to respond to her erasure in such a way meant that she had earned his respect. And as a result, the Slayer had deemed it fit to bury her properly. He had done so for VEGA's sake, and the A.I. voiced his thanks to the Slayer as they both looked at the newly dug grave.
The Slayer nodded in response before activating the tether once more, and with a flash of blue light and a loud bang, the two of them were gone.
...
A/N: What did everyone think? As is obvious, this chapter was VEGA-centered, and for some reason, my impulsive attitude decided to try and be somewhat deep and meaningful with this one, despite the fact that Universal Doom as a whole is more of just an outlet for me to punish the antagonists of the multiverse with the Doom Slayer. As always, I am extremely interested in your thoughts on the chapter, and I appreciate any and all criticism no matter how condemning or uplifting it may be. That's all for now! Bye!
-ImpulsiveWeaver