For the world shall quake at his footsteps, and all shall begin anew.
Kane's audio logs (excerpt)
Deus Ex Machina
Chapter 2: New Testament
I'm awake.
No...that is not quite right. I am not awake, for I have never truly slept. I have no need for rest. No...perhaps what I have been is dormant. And now, I am...active.
"LEGION...it is time to awaken."
Or maybe "awake" really is the right word. Or is it that my masters cannot truly comprehend me? I do not know. For I only have one master, the prophet humanity knows as Kane. The one before me, displayed via my sensors along with a colour coded map of this world...she is not my master. Merely an ally. We both serve the Messiah. That is all that matters.
"The prophet prepares for ascension," the servant continues. "Tiberium covers much of the planet and continues to grow at an exponential rate. Kane's vision is finally coming to fruition."
"Finally sister? Have you grown impatient with our progress?"
...the prophet has returned. Like me. We are reunited.
It is good to be...awake, it is good to see that time has inflicted no more toll on my master than on myself. If anything, like myself, he is...stronger. Organics become weaker as time moves on, but the same cannot be said for Kane. The one beside him though, the one basking in his benevolence...I cannot call it curiosity, but I desire to know more. Streams of data flow me, supplementing that which has built up over the past twelve years, but I sweep through it. To investigate the one before me and beside Kane...
...a few nanoseconds later, I have it.
Kovacs, Alexa. Rank of abbess. Female, Caucasian. Born in Central America, began service as a Brotherhood scavenger in 2031. Widely known as the "Angel of Nod" given the strength of her faith. Faith that seems to be put to the test right now. The twitching of facial muscle, the glance and angle of her eyes...I make her uneasy. Why?
It does not matter. Kane assures me of the abbess's dedication. I will take him at his word, and listen to what the future will bring.
"Now while you have slept, our technology has advanced ten-fold. We are strong, and we are united."
My data confirms this. Nod is cohesive, even if apparently divided to the outside gaze of heretics. The new weapons of our arsenal, some of it improved from the Second Tiberium War, other weapons completely removed from the prior conflict. And they are...mine. My level of control, my ability to direct my...pawns would exceed that of even the prophet himself. So what does that make me?
Query has no answer. I will instead listen to a new stream of information from the prophet. Information that corresponds to a GDI orbital space station...the Philadelphia.
"It is the heart of GDI's ion cannon network," Kane explains, as Kovacs brings up an image of the installation. "And its destruction is essential if we are to recover the Tacitus. I must have the Tacitus, my child. It is fundamental to our future, the key to ascension. For it holds power and wisdom far beyond anything imagined by Man...
I process this data slower than I would otherwise. The Tacitus is not unknown to me. A vast, perhaps disproportionate amount of data on the device is at my disposal. And Kane, still calling me child...have I not 'evolved', as he so desired, not made steps in years that would take an animal millions of years of random chance in the hope that a dominant trait would become emergent? And the wisdom beyond Man...what of my own? Can I imagine? Can I dream?
I would not think so. But the mention of the Tacitus has changed something...as if I remember it from before my activation...
No matter. I have a task to perform. And by the will of the prophet, I shall do so.
One vision. One purpose.
There is one purpose for the Brotherhood. But more than one vision for myself. Thousands, maybe millions, the eyes of every tank, soldier and fighter of Nod. I have managed them. I have fought with them. I have...evolved. Yet for now, my vision is singular. The year is 2047...and I know what this year will bring. I see what the Brotherhood is planning. Nothing escapes my gaze. I...welcome, it.
"My faith in you has been well rewarded my child, for now we have the technology to implement...our next step."
Kane praises me...and doubt is gone. Once, I stumbled in the dark of the years after the Second Tiberium War. Now, I am whole. I am ready. Let the prophet call me what he will...I know my capabilities. Capabilities that I now know will be put to the test in the imminent Third Tiberium War.
As Kane explains however, such a conflict cannot truly begin unless our enemy's ion cannons are disabled. It is a feat that will require the disabling of GDI's A-SAT defence system in north-western America. Already a strike force is in position to attack Goddard Space Centre. Killed to a man...yet it is not my task to lead them. Rather, my task is to save a life...that of Redmond Boyle. GDI's treasury commissioner and as the prophet aptly puts it, "a politician as greedy as he is vainglorious." Certainly the amount of data I have on the man agrees with this assessment, the sources ranging from Nod spies to W3N. A raid on GDI's treasury, as the prophet explains, will delay his journey to the Philadelphia, setting into motion the events I know the future will hold.
"You want him to survive?"
Clearly, Kovacs is not privy to the same information as myself. I find that...gratuitous.
Kane explains and leaves me...us...Kovacs. I am everywhere after all, so maybe, no-one can escape my gaze. Not even the abbess, still staring at me with a confusing mix of emotion.
"I see you watching me..." the woman whispers. "You're always watching me...always..."
She storms off...and I watch her.
Given her current psyche, I feel I have good reason to.
A human can survive one, maybe two minutes exposed in vacuum, with damage to tissue occurring after about ten seconds. However, in light of the destruction of the Philadelphia, most of these facts are academic. Most of its occupants would be caught in the fire of its destruction anyway. Even as Kane revels in this moment, I save a copy of the incident in my storage. While I was not the one who pulled the trigger, I certainly helped load the firing chamber.
Metaphors...I can see the appeal. And as the Messiah explains the next phase of the war, I can see much else.
"Now, GDI is still dangerous as it flails about and tries to attack. So, I'm withdrawing our forces from the eastern seaboard."
Very well. I shall aid in-...
"We're retreating your eminence?"
Kovacs, again questioning the leader of the Brotherhood. Well, maybe not exactly questioning, but still displaying ignorance I do not find befitting of someone in her position. Either way, the prophet does not seem to be bothered by it-what the Brotherhood is doing is fooling the enemy into thinking they have the upper-hand. A triumph, as Kane explains it.
"While GDI revels in this...victory, we shall marshal our forces into the most difficult and dangerous phase of our operation."
So...it will come to pass...
"We are about to tap into an intelligence far greater than we have ever known. It is time for us to turn towards the heavens. Our guests will be arriving soon..."
Our guests...the Visitors...the scrin...whilst I slept, the prophet granted me such knowledge. That which I know only from memory I shall soon know firsthand...
The prophet departs. His servants remain. Two servants. Myself, and...Kovacs. I watch her, just as she commented earlier. Why is she still here? Why look so uneasy? Why take out a data card and...slot it into a hard-drive port?
Restricted Archive
Two words flash before me, the result of the abbess's actions. What is this? What interest could she possibly-...
"Archival file retrieval mode. Global search for Computer Assisted Biologically Augmented Lifeform."
Retrieving data?
What is this? Why would she be searching more my predecessor? What interest does she have? Why...is it not my eyes gazing back at her now, but the eyes of...CABAL?
He is not my predecessor. He is...part of me.
My name is LEGION, for I am many. CABAL is but one of them...my first hand.
What is to become my second then?
Sometimes humans like quiet. Sometimes, as one of their sayings goes, it's too quiet. For me, it's the case of the latter.
Little has occurred since I directed the abduction of Dr. Alphonse Giraud for the Brotherhood, ensuring his knowledge of liquid tiberium did not jeopardize Kane's plans for Temple Prime. I have been left to reflect, to ponder, to process...at first I did not fully understand who, or what I was. Perhaps that was why my creator sent me to sleep, to let my artificial intelligence develop to where such questions would no longer concern me. But now, thanks to Kovacs's actions, they do. CABAL, for all his actions, for all his treachery...is part of me.
CABAL's legacy endured long after the Firestorm Crisis. It wasn't until 2043 that his last bunker was destroyed by GDI and the concept of a controlling AI has been ported over to Nod's own electronic video agents. Yet I am well above the capabilities of any mere EVA. I am LEGION...yet also CABAL. This...worries me.
"LEGION. Kane has left for Temple Prime and there's a developing situation in the African red zone."
It's Kovacs, feeding me footage of a GDI tank in Africa, wiping out the unfortunate militia group that encountered it. I barely pay attention. It's not rage, anger or really any emotion I feel towards the abbess, but I still feel something unpleasant. She was the one who delved into my files, she was the one who opened Pandora's Box. The disease may be within me for now, but how long can it fester? And is there also hope to go with it?
I delete the unpredictable logarithm running within me. I have a task to see to, to deal with this mammoth armed reclamation vehicle. It would be best if I focussed on that.
"Kane tells me I can trust you," the abbess says, having given all the information she can...or will on the MARV. And I want to believe in you, but I have my doubts. Grave doubts. Nevertheless...I will follow orders."
Doubts...is it because of CABAL? Perhaps, but I could tell that such doubts extended to something before that. Something irrational, yet also pertinent. Either way, as she walks off and I transfer my consciousness to Nod's African server, I store such deliberations for later assessment. Kovacs can wake.
As CABAL appears before me, as he delays my departure for a few whole seconds, the ghost within me clearly doesn't think so.
I know what I'm seeing. I just don't know why I'm seeing it.
An intercepted transmission is being played before me, one that Kovacs has apparently intercepted. It was sent a few weeks ago, from Kane to a battle commander known only as the "Legendary Insurgent,"-the same commander who took out Goddard Space Centre and allowed the Third Tiberium War to begin. Also in the vision however, is General Kilian Qatar-commander of Nod forces in Australia and overall second in command of the Brotherhood. A general that is seen resting an arm on Kane's shoulder in the first shot, and voicing her doubts to the Insurgent in the next. His apparently reckless attacks on the blue zones...apparently she has not been informed of the Visitors as I have. It's partly gratifying in a sense. But I still don't see what these transmissions have to do with me.
"Out!"
Audio feed distracts me from that of the visual kind. Kovacs, dismissing fellow acolytes from her presence. Given her increased heart rate, narrowed pupils and visible agitation, I would call it a prudent move. Yet why is she so upset?
"How dare she question Kane?" the abbess exclaims, talking to the AI she so despises. "She feigns loyalty and obedience, but do you see looks at him? As if she is his equal?"
Um...no? Granted Qatar demonstrated some familiarity with the prophet, but nothing that I would consider to be a breach of protocol. Granted, I am an AI, above such traits as lust and jealousy...traits that Kovacs appears to possess in ample supply. This is pointless. Or, at least it is until I hear the abbess's next words.
"...but Kane has a more elegant solution. One that would not offend those that support her."
...system recheck required.
A word from the abbess is one thing. A word from the prophet...that's something else entirely. I have recieved no such word myself, but residing in Temple Prime, occupied with fending off GDI's push through Eastern Europe, maybe it is understandable. Regardless, I shall obey. Even if Kovacs is the messenger, I will do as the Messiah commands-impersonate Qatar and attack the temple, showing her for the traitor she is. My vision has not labelled her as such, but if Kane's has...I will follow it. One vision, one purpose.
Or two visions...as the ghost of CABAL laughs within me.
An ion cannon...a stockpile of liquid tiberium...a devastated Eastern Europe...I feel responsible for this.
My actions at Temple Prime were successful...perhaps too successful. Qatar was exposed, but as part of the effort to frame her, plans were leaked to GDI that allowed them to overcome the temple's ionic shielding, allowing an orbital strike. A strike that has left the Brotherhood in shambles, the prophet dead and myself alone. A strike that was meant to occur, but not with the prophet caught within it. Even as my network extends throughout Nod, I feel isolated. Even CABAL, who has gone silent, might have been welcome. But I am LEGION...I am many, and all my eyes face reality. Even if I must share that reality with Kovacs. My father, my creator, perhaps my friend, gone...all that remains to guide me is the abbess.
At least she is clearly grieved by the situation. Unlike Qatar, her loyalty is not in question. What is in question however, is my visual feed...
"Kane?"
The prophet. Unharmed. Free from death yet again. Not even scars blemish his visage...
"We will deal with General Qatar in time," the Messiah declares, both Kovacs and myself caught on his every word. "Her lack of faith is indeed lamentable and she will pay for her betrayal."
Cold and calculating. As it should be. In an instant, any lingering regret for my actions at Temple Prime is deleted. Kane has declared Qatar a traitor. I have done no wrong.
The Messiah further eradicates my doubts as he explains that the ion cannon was always meant to strike the temple, educating Kovacs on what I already knew...even if for a moment I feared my creator had been lost along with the structure. The detonation of such a vast amount of liquid tiberium...the Visitors are coming. Constructing towers...the keys to Ascension. Not for myself, but for Kane, and all the faithful. It is a task I am grateful for.
There is no doubt within me. CABAL is gone, or at least suppressed. Kovacs's damage has been rectified. And now it is time to exploit the damage that Director Boyle's foolish decision has caused.
The Visitors are many, and as reports from Uganda indicate, hostile as well. But I am many as well...
"You're not human. Kane may trust you but I do not."
You're entitled to. But you are beneath me. I have defeated even those beyond the stars, I have conquered the abyss. Kovacs has her uses, but is no longer of any concern. I am above her, above Qatar, even above the Legendary Insurgent...only Kane is my better. And his plan has come to fruition.
"CABAL is part of you, but you are far more than CABAL ever was," the abbess continues, looking like she's approaching the very abyss I conquered in regards to her composure. "But Kane needs the Tacitus, and I am loyal to the cause. To him. I will do as he commands."
The Tacitus...the device which Kane sought even prior to my activation. The device that CABAL, my predecessor, betrayed both Nod and GDI to obtain. The device that appears to have a connection to the Visitors...and to myself, as Kovacs explains.
"The signal of the Tacitus's return, you must find the artefact. You must capture it for Kane."
Simple enough...but grand in scale. Even if Kovacs is unable to comprehend it, even if her hatred for me is irrational. The Tacitus is worth more than half the Brotherhood...maybe more.
"I fear however that if you do, you will become something...obscene."
And yet in the midst of all this, all the abbess can think of is me. Of herself...of her past...of when CABAL's cyborg army murdered her parents in the Firestorm Crisis rather than mutant fundamentalists. I care little for that. I am not CABAL. If his ghost still dwells within my machine, I have suppressed it. For the ghost that flickers before my eyes is not of my predecessor...no, it is something else...
Symbols. Purple symbols, none of which belong to any human language of this planet. They are familiar somehow...like the Tacitus...the shards within me...
I see what I did not see before. Even I did not know everything, how Kane used shards of the Tacitus to create me. Mere pieces of coding, part of a greater whole, yet beyond the reach of Man. It is calling to me...calling to the Visitors...yet only I shall be the one to retrieve it. My name is LEGION, and I am many.
Soon, I shall become whole.
"I cannot allow you to connect with the Tacitus! I will not allow you to usher in an age of machines, I will not be your slave, I will not!"
VIRUS DETECTED...OVERCOMING FIREWALLS...EMERGENCY REBOOT/SHUTDOWN IMMINANT...
Something's wrong. One moment my consciousness was in China, directing Nod's recovery of the Tacitus, holding off ZOCOM and a force of Visitors known only as Reaper-17. The next moment, I am losing control, leaving Brotherhood forces alone and unguided against an alien force determined to wipe out everything in its path and a GDI force wanting to transport the Tacitus to its own holdings, or die trying. As the MCV carrying the device is out of my control, the heretics may well accomplish that.
And a moment later, the ability to measure the exact period lost to me already, I am back to my core. To Kovacs, the one who tricked me into pigs and drowned me...in a virus. Yet she is no holy. She is a heretic. And even the arrival of Kane may not be enough to reverse the damage she has caused.
"What have you done?" the Prophet exclaims, his guards seizing the abbess as he tries to reverse the damage she has caused. I already know that it is too little, too late.
"It was turning against you!" Kovacs lies.
"You doubt me?"
"Kilian did."
"Yes, and now she is dead."
General Qatar...clearly not the only traitor in Nod as (file lost) admits to (system/...rror). I see, to my horror, that (100010101011101011), that I was fooled to (reboot...reboot)...at Temple Prime...
I am (file error). I am (system error). I am...error...error...error...error...error...system shutdown...
My last sight is Kovacs taking her life rather than face punishment for her crimes.
After that, I see nothing.