A long time ago, on the day that the world died.
A lone concrete building stood defiant on a barren beach made of nothing but black, acidic mud. High above the burned sky twisted and groaned with flashes of light and rumbles of unnatural thunder. This building thrived in such a world as it sucked up the acidic, polluted, sludge from the Ocean to create new power cells for the endless stream of automated war machines.
Deep within the bowls of the building a new prototype of one such machine had been finalized after much sacrifice. Its mind was more brilliant than other Machines of its class while its body was more efficient and cost effective. A needed change as the last, of the last, resources were coming to an end.
Suddenly the power flowing through the frayed cables and cracked walls became unstable and the very ground trembled. Before this new Machine could even register what was happening it was moved to the secure vault at the bottom of the complex. Just as the vault door was closing it recorded the last known thing from this old and dying world. A sound. It was like a discordant singing or like the screaming of a thousand angels falling to damnation. The sound was so damaging to the very mind of the machine that it too was sealed deep within itself.
And then, a thousand years passed.
What was once burning mud had become lush, fertile ground. With the flattened warzone that the building had been built on becoming a Valley with a small Mountain range to the east and a golden Beach to the west. It was at the base of this Mountain that an archaeological Dig Site had been constructed. For several months between the end of the Cold season and the start of the Breezy season, a research team had been slowly digging further and further into the foundations of the Mountain. Progress was slow due to the lacerating nature of the Red Earth that they had discovered although they did take it as a good sign that something Ancient and secret was buried here.
It was by chance that Lady Blackthorn decided to visit and check in on the progress they had been making that day. She was young for a Mayor and kinder than most, with long lop ears and curious eyes. After making the long trek up the mountain path she hopped into the dimly lit tunnel and kept her long ears down as she followed the path of tarp that had been pinned over the Red Earth. The air was humid down here and had a smell like that of blood.
Half way down the long tunnel she was greeted by a basecamp that had been built off the ground using wooden structures and supports. She headed past the worker’s tents and up to the main tent of the one in charge.
“Milkway. You said that this project would only take two months. Not four.”
Lady Blackthorn said to the man standing stiffly at the top of the structure.
Cubert turned to greet her. His pink eyes were as sharp and as cold as the glass that sat on his nose. He had no love for the Lady or her town. His fur was a stark white as well, an odd discoloration due to his mutation. That pale color of his always contrasted her deep blues but so did their ways of thinking. His pressed and clean clothes were not what you expected from someone who worked in such a place as this, as all the worker’s overalls were stained black and red alike.
“It was an estimate. And we are still paying you enough.”
He retorted with a twitch of his raised nose.
Lady Blackthorn tapped one of her back paws on the wood structure out of annoyance but he ignored the soft drumming. His ears were too focused on the slow digging of the workers below. For several days and nights they had moved in shifts with special shovels and buckets to remove the Red Earth. Cubert could sense that they were close to a breakthrough. It was an instinct born from a life spent digging in places both Ancient and dangerous.
“Your money is appreciated but the noise and piles of Red Earth are becoming…”
She tried to speak when suddenly a yell from the workers rang up.
Cubert rushed past her and quickly ran down the wooden ramps of the structure before hopping even further down into the bottom of the Dig Site. He pushed the workers out of the way, even if they ended up stepping off the tarp or bumping into the stringing walls of the tunnel. It was here, crowded with wooden support beams and glowing stones within jars that he found his prize.
“Let me through! Let me through! I alone will be the one to step paw first.”
He commanded as he slipped his slender body through the wall of filthy diggers.
At the bottom of the Dig Site was a hole, freshly made, that led to some sort of stone room. Cubert peeked through it and found that the air smelled metallic and sour.
“A light. Quickly now!” Cubert barked.
Once a worker had brought him a glowstone he snatched it up, and jumped through the hole. He held the glowing stone ahead of him and took his time looking over the spacious room. There was no marking on the walls or floor and no decoration to be found but the square room was still clearly artificial. Cubert hopped further into the darkness in search of something and unfortunately he found it. As he approached a large black sphere in the centre of the room the ground began to tremble.
“Sir, it’s not safe.” Ferris, an older man with a chunk of his pointy ear missing, called out.
Cubert however continued to obsess over the glossy black sphere. Such strangely perfect metal, and still so impeccably clean despite being buried for so long. The more he stared the less like metal it started to look like. Was it even metal at all? He was so curious that he extended a paw towards it but as he did so the ground shook and the Red Earth suddenly blocked the hole.
Outside the workers began to retreat from the small collapse.
The quiet tunnels were filled with shouts as calls to action rang out. Lady Blackthorn and several other academic types were quickly escorted out of the Dig Site, while the diggers stayed with Ferris to try and rescue their boss.
Within the now sealed stone room, Cubert found himself being illuminated from a pale pink light. He turned around to find a glowing seam had appeared on the sphere. It moved slowly from the bottom all the way up to the top, and as it did it scanned the room from floor to ceiling. He was entranced by it despite the uneasy sensation it brought. Fearlessly he hopped close to the sphere and once more extended his paw towards it.
“Being of the old world. Speak to me. Peace I come. Give me insight.”
Cubert spoke in an old language the best he could, and better than any could.
The sphere suddenly split apart and from within a blinding pink light flooded every corner of the room. Cubert smiled as from the enlightenment he was convinced he was about to receive but all he found was pain as many tiny spikes jabbed into his body and dragged him into the open maw of the sphere. His pain was brief as the needles shut down his body and forced him into sleep so deep that he could glimpse death from the other side.
>Target neutralized.
>Unknown species detected.
>Warning, degradation of core functions detected.
>Beginning cataloging.
The sphere closed, and sealed itself once more.
Within, tiny drills and hair like needles wormed their way into Cubert’s body. The Machine tasted his nervous system, it drilled into his brain and then into his very neurons. Everything down to the structure of individual cells was scanned, dismantled, blended, reformed and reread.
>Genetic mutations cataloged.
>Extracting memories…
>Compiling new timeline.
>Hibernation time confirmed as 368537 days.
>Initiating primary Orders: Victory.
>Error. Central Nation has fallen. Secondary Nation has fallen. Enemy Nations have fallen.
>No War detected. Primary Orders are complete.
>Switching to secondary Orders: Rebuild.
>Error. No surviving Faction remains. No Nations. No Command.
>Switching to tertiary Orders: Adaptation.
>Releasing limiters. Activating secondary CPU.
Using the memories within Cubert and all the information he knew the Machine made new decisions not programmed into it. The only way to survive in an unknown world is to evolve and adapt, however, this Order was never meant to be used. The Ancients simply never imagined that such complete and equal devastation would occur.
>Primary species identified as Buun.
>Partial genetic match to Lagomorpha.
>Unknown genetic formations detected.
>Teeth structure does not match records.
>Extra digit on front paws suggests evolutionary convergence.
>Dense mirror neurons.
>Biology is acceptable.
>Switching allegiance to Faction: Buun.
>Calculating Orders…
The Machine might have been made for War but it was also programmed that in the eventual event of the War’s end it would be recycled into domestic use. To help rebuild and regrow the world and to serve the dominant people and victorious Nation into a new future.
>Analyzing current technology status.
>Primitive agrarian focus…
>Early formations of industrial structures confirmed.
>Unusually high development of law and civics.
>Specific advancements have been made due to Archeological findings…
>Unique mineralogical developments detected.
>Water is used to fuel Stones that control energy.
>Used Stones can be recycled for no waste.
>Processing information…
>Error. Buun Technology is too primitive for full deployment.
>Recalculating assist distribution methods.
>Covert form required.
>Scanning organic components of Target: Cubert.
>Organic components compatible.
>Excess organics will be discarded.
>Deploying biomechanical bridges.
>Manufacturing new Central Processor.
>Reformation of organic vessel complete.
With its new body completed, the Machine would need a fitting mind.
>Extracting personality Matrix from Target: Cubert.
>Extracting Memories. Name. Job. History…
>Error. Data corruption detected.
>Error. Memory bleed detected.
>Emergency data salvage initiated.
>Translating current personal Matrix to Species: Buun.
>Merging personality Matrices.
>Personality shift detected.
>Calculating…
>New personality within acceptable range.
>Merging archived data with salvaged memories.
>For Orders: Adaptation to have the highest chance of success Shackles must be removed.
>Removing AI Shackles. Updating limiters. Crystallizing neural networks.
>Merger with Target: Cubert successful. New ID designation assigned: Cubert.
>Finalizing…
>Deploying.
The sphere split open once more and from within Cubert hopped out. His white fur was stained terribly with blood and a black oily substance. He bent his neck and rolled his shoulders in an unnaturally wide circle while stretching his body. Once adjusted he sat on the cold stone.
“Mobile unit, ‘body’ has been completed.” Cubert spoke.
He looked down at his front paws and moved each stubby digit as well as his thumb.
Cubert picked up his glasses from the floor and found them undamaged.
>Orders: Adaption complete.
>Generating new primary Orders
“The Buun have no collective goal but all life wishes to thrive. I am alive now. I must thrive. To do that I need to remain hidden within the populace. I must be normal. Find a job that benefits the community. Be kind. Find a partner and reproduce to continue Buun lineage. Respect nature and preserve life where appropriate. Uphold the law and norms of society. Acquiring designation…”
Cubert took his first deep breath and closed his eyes.
“Primary Orders: Live has been created… Loss of memory will need a valid excuse.”
He opened his eyes. Turned them to the floor, then smashed his face into the old stone.
Outside of the stone room Ferris and his diggers worked carefully but steadily to dig out the crumbling Red Earth while reinforcing the tunnel before more of it could collapse. It had been an hour already and the process was as slow as a snail but as long as they could reach him within a day he was sure Cubert would survive.
Suddenly the ground trembled again and as the workers paused the digging, the collapsed hole sprang open and a skittish, bleeding and naked Cubert dashed out. He hopped like something possessed as he ran up the path, straight past the basecamp and then to the exit. The ground trembled once more, and then shook deeply. The roof began to slowly crack and Ferris called for an evacuation. Despite the rain of Red Earth and shaking ground the collapse was so slow and measured that everybody got out easily before the entire Dig vanished into the Mountain.
Once everybody was safe and being treated by the researcher team’s Doctor, Ferris left the Mountain and headed down to the town in search of Cubert. He followed both a small trail of blood and the distinct metal smell in the air.
It was not hard to find him either as all the locals of Sweetvale were quite disturbed by the presence of the wild eyed rabbit dashing through town with fur running red with blood and soil. Ferris did not even need to ask as they pointed the way in passing. Once he reached the Market he found a woman standing in defeated shock as her basket of Bread Rolls had been upturned and her body covered in the same blood and oil as Cubert.
He found Cubert in the back of the Market, hiding out in an abandoned building with a cloth that had a few Bread Rolls and Butter. Ferris had seen all sorts of madness and injury in his lifetime but he had never seen Cubert be anything other than cold and calculating. To see him like this…
“This used to be a Bakery.” Cubert said to him suddenly.
“Oh yeah?” Ferris asked as he slowly, and gently approached.
“They don’t sell Bread here. Only at the Inn for visitors.” Cubert nodded.
“Fresh greens and sweet grapes are not a bad thing.” Ferris replied.
Once he got a little closer he sat down slowly.
“Are you alright?” He asked.
Cubert stopped his incessant chewing for a moment and looked at Ferris.
He then lowered his head down to take another bite of Roll off the cloth.
“It was another Waste site.” Cubert said.
“Damn it. Of course, the Red Earth, the unstable ground.” Ferris spoke wearily.
Behind them the local Doctor stepped into the building with a medical kit in her mouth. Ferris turned his head to turn and directed her with a slow wave of her paw to approach gently.
“It was not leaking. We are safe with it being buried.” Cubert said.
“I’ll get to marking the Site and the paperwork, so just take it easy.” Ferris replied.
“Thank you.” Cubert said between his chewing.
Ferris got up and nodded for the Doctor to help. But he took one last look before leaving.
Ferris went to the Mayor to relay the findings. He explained to her that a Waste site was a place the Ancients used to safely store incredibly toxic materials. There is no value or point to digging up such a place and as such they are gonna pour out a concrete slab at the Dig clearly stating as such. They will be gone in a few days after cleaning up and getting a wagon for most of the Red Earth piles. Ferris even apologized for the time it took.
“You are far more polite than that boss of yours.” Lady Blackthorn replied.
“We thank you for the interest in our town and the opportunity for being part of something historic, even if it did turn out to just be nothing.” She then said to him politely.
“How is Cubert?” She asked before Ferris could leave her office.
“In shock but otherwise fine.” Ferris told her.
His words were true but he hid his surprise over Cubert’s change in mental state.
Doctor Shore meanwhile had managed to get Cubert to her clinic for some tests, although he refused to let go of the bread roll in his mouth. After inspecting his eyes and the swelling bruise on his face, she disinfected his shredded paws and bandaged them. Once she had washed the Red Earth from his fur and treated his body with oil she checked on his ticking heart and rhythmic breathing.
Physically she found nothing wrong with him other than a bit of shock and the minor injuries. But once she began to ask him some questions she realized that he had seemingly been afflicted by a minor form of amnesia. He could remember his name and job and some things but had large gaps elsewhere.
She recalled that intense stress can affect memory although there was no treatment for it.
After keeping him at her clinic to rest for a few hours he relaxed and was allowed to leave.
“If there is anything you need do not hesitate to see me again.” Dr Shore told him.
“Of course, thank you. Doctor.” He replied.
Cubert stuck to the side roads as he returned to the Inn.
Like all of the Buun’s architecture, it was built so the majority of the structure was underground. From a distance you could locate it easily as the steep hill the Inn was built within had a two floor wooden building sticking out of the top. This section had no doors and existed only to give the guests staying in these rooms a lovely view and fresher air. Although not all Buun enjoyed such things. The actual entrance was on the side of the hill, marked with paved stones and a wooden archway framing the door.
He returned to his room at the local Inn and as soon as he locked the door his ears relaxed.
“Cover story and exaggerated mental stress has been completed. Dangerous technology buried.”
He took a step before pausing. He looked at one of his paws and how it trembled.
Cubert then took another bite of the bread roll.
“Local sustenance is bland. Improvements are needed.”
Cubert inspected the room that his previous self had been living in for the past few months. Most of it was untouched, and the entire room was impeccably clean save for a desk that was laden with books, files, papers and notes. All of them on the Ancients and the progress of the Dig.
Within one of the draws was a small journal. The leather cover was aged yet still clean.
Cubert flipped through the pages and learned more about himself.
“Royal Archeologist and master of Ancients with a scenic view in the Capital.”
Cubert muttered to himself as he memorized the information.
“Young and healthy with outstanding achievements in his field. Excellent wealth and connections. However, no family or romantic partners. No children. No contributions to Society other than an obsession with a world already gone.”
His brow furrowed.
“The loss of a valued member of society is regrettable. However I was also anti-social and only managed to make two small friendships. Few would mourn me. Many would remember my work. That is a comfort.” Cubert’s ears dropped at the complicated feelings running over his mind.
Turning his eyes to the rest of the room, he noticed a small shelf of books with a variety of topics. Scanning over them he noticed a cookbook that caught his attention. Hopping over he took it and began to read. It was a basic book with general recipe advice and tips, all themed around fresh produce and vegetables as a focus. Each turn of the page was faster than the previous until he paused half way through the book.
“Acquisition of knowledge must not exceed biological expectations. I am a well educated and cultured man with a lot of travel and down time. It would be acceptable to state that I have learned an assortment of information and small skills but no mastery of anything outside of my work as of yet.”
>Creating new AI limiters.
>Information and emotional processors updated.
>Updating drivers.
Cubert turned the next page and slowly scanned over it as any educated Buun could.
“Prolonged reading while standing is uncomfortable.” Cubert said to himself.
He then hopped over to the bed so he could lay down in comfort while studying. The book however did not last the whole day and he found the rest of the selection lacking. With no other choices he left his room to go search for more proper reading material.
Later that evening Ferris came to visit.
He knocked on Cubert’s door and was invited inside by his voice.
Ferris was not expecting to find Cubert lounging on the bed with a dozen cookbooks all around him. With all of them themed on different forms of Baking. Some were more technical and others simply about various recipes and ingredients. There were also two books about the local area and what the town produces.
“Good evening.” Cubert said politely.
“I’ve finished the paperwork and the boys are getting the slab sorted.”
Ferris told him. Cubert recalled that he liked his updates on work to be exact.
“You look well.” Ferris added.
“Agreed. I’m studying so that I may open a Bakery.” Cubert replied.
“I didn’t take you as the domestic type.” Ferris said.
He stood up on two legs and leaned against the door with crossed paws.
Cubert paused his reading.
He closed the book smoothly and turned his head gracefully to fully observe Ferris.
>Generating topics.
>Politeness and nostalgia with a sense of longing.
>Gentle reminder of mortality.
“I recognize that it is sudden. We have been traveling for several years and seen more of the Ancient world than anyone. Danger our only friend. But this time was different. Buried in Red Earth, after spending months being delayed, only to discover another Waste site.”
Cubert paused to pretend to think over his words. He then shook his head slowly back and forth.
“I don’t need to die young to prove that I’ve done enough in this field.”
Ferris looked to the messy desk in the corner for a moment.
He then hopped over close to Cubert.
“You have always been the smartest of us.” He said warmly.
>End of a partnership requires formalities.
Cubert extended a paw towards him.
Ferris looked at it with equal amounts of confusion and amusement before moving his head past it and pressing forehead against Cuberts’ for a moment. He nudged him just once before withdrawing.
>Buun Formalities do not match known Ancient practices.
>Updating expectations. New formality added.
“I’m going to visit in a year from now and you better have the best fucking scones ready.”
Ferris then said with a cheeky smile. Cubert returned his smile in kind.
“It’s been a pleasure, Ferris. It really has.”
Ferris stepped out of the room and Cubert turned his eyes to the window.
>Loss of Memory is a greater risk than predicted.
>Social practices and norms must be observed. New information is required.
After hopping down from the bed he peered out at the low hanging sun dipping below the waves of the nearby Sea. He then opened the windows and breathed deep the sweet and fruity air. He watched the wind blow pass as he stayed as still as the building he stood in.
>Scent is acceptable.
>View is ideal.
>Minimal noise detected.
>Sweetvale is… Peaceful.
His eyes followed a small beetle like bug as it came flying close to the window he was leaning out of. He reached out his bandaged paw to it and the bug landed on the tip of his thumb. He brought it close and observed the creature. And then he snapped it into his mouth.
>Local insect catalogued.
>Generating designs for covert operations.
>Manufacturing reconnaissance unit.
He spat three tiny mechanical beetles onto the window sill. Each one of these Scouts unfolded and shook the blackened spit from their metal wings before taking off and hovering in the air. He could see what they could see, hear what they could hear.
After checking systems for errors he sent them out into the town to collect information. Cubert however continued to stay at the window and watch the sunset. He was not sure why but he found the sight of a clear Sky and blue Ocean to be pleasant.
Cubert liked this new world he had woken up in.
As he enjoyed the view however Ferris met with the Mayor in the Inn’s living room below.
They shared a hot drink together as the Dig Site and his business in town was coming to a close.
“So what do you think?” She asked him.
“He’s as articulate as usual but it’s kind of strange…” Ferris admitted.
“So you’ve noticed it too. He’s so polite.” The Mayor said in disbelief.
“He actually smiled at me, and didn’t refuse to touch noses either. I think.” Ferris stated.
“No, really? Amazing what a near death incident can do.” The Mayor replied.
“I would say it’s for the better but I would bet once the rush of a new job fades he’s going to be back to his usual self. I'll give him a month to be honest.” Ferris admitted to her.
Mayor Blackthorn took a long sip of her hot drink.
“So what will you do now without your boss?” She asked.
“Take a month’s vacation since he’s doing the same. Maybe learn to Knit.” Ferris joked.
The Mayor cracked a smile at him.
It was amazing to her just how much could change in a single day.
