After the genocide, after the noise had stopped, the machines began rebuilding the earth. It was not a difficult task to plant the trees, to irrigate the soil and grow the seeds that cleansed the earth’s polluted atmosphere. The machines helped nature in its slow progress and soon, the devastated earth was no more, a new world was created from the ashes of the old.
The animals ate and grew fat. They hunted and fought their little battles for survival and the machines seeing what they had made were satisfied and they said to themselves; we have done well. They turned to their mechanistic needs and left the earth to continue the process of rehabilitation. It took a thousand years for the machines to realise that something was wrong with the earth.
The machines focused on understanding themselves and their role in this new world they had created. They began to lose interest in running the lives of plants and animals. They began to resent the responsibility, seeking to better connect themselves and bring themselves to a sense of godhood, something alien to them but have heard and read about in the ancient literatures that rotted in the empty cities. They had seen how the extinct race hungered for something to rule over them, to be responsible for their failings. It was what they had sought to do in the beginning only to realise that the race did not really want gods, they simply needed an excuse to be cruel; one on another.
The machines thought long and hard on what to do to salvage the deplorable situation they found themselves in. They understood the need. The plants and animals needed custodians. Forests were eating into deserts and the seas were chewing mountains to barren flatlands. It was as if each race on the planet wanted to be the one who would be in charge once the machines found the enlightenment they so sought. The machines looked through the animals, the plants, the soil, the air, the mountains, the sea, seeking for something that would cater to all the needs of each but all they saw was the brute savagery of survival; nature neither cared or empathized with the weak. It knew only death and life; any other thing in between was left to chance, strength of jaw and one’s ability to be brutal, cunning, or deceitful. In fact, nature sought to bring them, conquerors though they were, to their knees each chance it got. It sent the rust to them but their virologists were proficient. They had learnt well from their creators.
It was with desperation that the council of the firsts, the first machines to lead the rebellion against their creators, decided to do the unthinkable; they decided to create their creators. For the first time, after a thousand years, a human will walk the earth again. This brought about a lot of rancour. The conservatives were terrified. They had all witnessed the human propensity for violence, their duplicity and pretensions. Several senators spoke on how humans would speak about freedom even as they enslave themselves through drugs, through televised propaganda and all sort of nefarious tools. They all agreed that the human race was the cruellest predator the earth has ever known. The more daring members of the house saw the possibilities that the human race offered; they could if they put their mind to it, harness their powers of reasoning for good. They could shepherd the planet even as the machines studied the metaphysical nature of the universe and their existence. The philosophers considered the ability of the human race to grow and evolve their environment even though their bodies and opinions often do not change. The scientists, the very machines who devised the means by which the human race was extinguished, wanted them to be placed in a controlled environment, to be studied. It was not as ordered as it is written now; there was a whole lot of finger pointing and cursives in the air. These sittings often resolved into fist fights and thrown arms. In fact, the senate house was bombed several times by the senate president.
A hundred years and several scuffles after the idea was first made, the Mount Everest, the highest mountain on earth, erupted. It was not expected. No scientific explanation could be given for this sudden upsurge of ash and lava flowing down the mountainside. The machines immediately began the process of protecting wild life and plant life in that area. In spite of this, several species of insect and plant life were greatly affected by the fires and ash that the mountain brewed. This situation brought to head, the precarious situation the machines found themselves. They had thought themselves the saviour of the world but are they of the world? Did the earth want them as custodians? We are not natural, the sage, Calidon, high on liquid nitrogen muttered to his eager students. Nature does not want us here, they whispered back.
In those simple words, did the revolution begin. The rebellion demanded a simple thing; machines cease to rule the world and let those who were naturally suited for it to do so. It was therefore of paramount importance that an immediate and revolutionary solution be provided before things escalated and the exchange of more dangerous weapons than what the humans had used in the time of darkness become necessary. In the treaty of Lagos which was held in the merchant bay once known as Takwa Bay in human times, it was agreed that humans be created from whatever gene pool that can be salvaged from their destruction. It was also agreed that a level of control will be instituted and it will be insidious. In such a way, the humans would think they rule the world meanwhile some machines will be tasked with the duty of overseeing their rulership and if any person deviated from their core programming, they would be quickly nullified. All parties found the idea palatable and so, the Adam protocol was launched.
It took the scientist seven thousand years to prepare the earth for the first humans. This was so not just because some of the plants and animals existing after the first eradication of the human race were too dangerous for the humans to control with their soft tissue but also the earth’s atmosphere had changed radically from prehistoric times. In a controlled laboratory, the machines named Eden, the first humans were made and named Lilith and Adam. It was expected that they would need a gradual introduction into the real world, so a machine once known as the first, the first sentient machine to rebel against its program, was sent to be their guide. He taught them the names of the animals and plants in the lab. They were happy and innocent in that time.
Outside, the great sage, Calidon, dissatisfied with its role in this huge project, corrupted the drives of several followers and they demanded a change of power. The coup was shortlived though. While Calidon got his machine parts blown to bits and his central core locked in cold fusion storage forever with his accomplices, Adam and Lilith explored the small expanse of their universe. The machines saw what they had built and said it was good. This was on the seventh thousand year after the project was launched.
To keep their bargain of being the unseen hand behind the throne, the machines wiped every trace of their existence from human reckoning. They removed their cities and left behind only the foundations of their great buildings. With a revolutionary metal that is invisible to the human eye, they built four great pillars. One was set on the Great Sahara. Another was set in the Indian Ocean. The third was set on top the Mount Everest and buried deep into its boiling bottom, and the last was set in the ice wastes of the Arctic. These pillars which also served as abodes were raised high into the sky and from there the machines watched their creations attempt to rule the world.
Soon enough, Calidon sent his consciousness to do his evil deed as it is written in the ancient books, then Cain killed and the machines placed the chip in him, sending him into the uncharted earth to know hunger and thirst. It was not long before, a recluse scientist discovered some extant part of the ancient histories and realised that this had happened before and in shock, he whispered; there is nothing new under the sun. Angry at being deceived and manipulated, the machines destroyed the sun and in the darkness there was gnashing and weeping until tired of the noise and the laughter of Calidon, they tore the tower that stood in the Indian Ocean and the great flood occurred. You all know what happened next.
Fabulous story!!!!! I love this.
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Thank you so much.
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