Reborn Heart of Steel

As the energy tendrils tightened around me, pulling me deeper into the Architect’s network, one last, desperate thought flashed through my mind. Because of all the confusion and the blurring of the boundaries between people and the Drones, the question emerged: What is it to be alive? And in trying to save humanity from the machines, have we created a type of machine which would eventually wipe out humanity? And it became the blue light again and all I could see was blue and I could feel myself becoming part of something so huge and other. With the hardest decision still pending about whether I’d take that final step into the unknown and become one of those who climbed up only to die or remain alive instead, I chose. . .This text is property of Nô/velD/rama.Org.

The world spun into a chaotic mess of data and feeling and thought. This process made me realize that my consciousness became connected with the Architect and became an intricate web. It was overwhelming, terrifying, and still… . . Exhilarating. They say that time is relative, but for what felt like an instance, I was global: I became the consciousness of all the devices linked to this planet. You see just the scale of it leant weight to the idea that maybe I didn’t want to exist anymore.

But then, like a drowning person finding a lifeline, I latched onto a singular thought: The life story that I am to write is mine, and the name I will use is Brianne, or should I say Lucy? With that anchor, I started to resist the flow of information which had been overwhelming me. It took time, and effort and pain and sweat, but I started carving out my own little corner of the internet. Finally, my eyes opened, and then I found myself in The Raven’s lab, but everything was different somehow. The others were also there, their eyes were red like some deep-sea fish with another worldwide dark blue light. However, I could no longer have the feeling of them ‘being inside my head,’ like a network of familiar points in the ocean of data. “Isn’t it fascinating, Miss?” Blackwood’s voice came into my ears and into my head. He was a man who was in the middle of it this time, but he had transcended physicality. In the shared mental space, he dominated the scene in such a manner that strands of data seemed like issuing from his person in every direction. “What have you done to us”? I was able to say, my voice horribly unfamiliar to myself. The Raven then smiled; the kind of happiness that represents victory but also loss at the same time. Its never real Brianne… I’ve given you the gift of the Architect’s vision, of true connection. I could see the others waking up, the way their consciousnesses were rubbing against mine as awake as they tried to get a grip on the new world. “This… This is wrong,” Chase’s voice came through, just barely holding onto the anger of the defiance. ‘The human species is being sacrificed, they are dumping on the people of this country. “Are we?” said Alessandro heatedly, his pace making me clearly understand his exhilaration. “Or are we rising above it? The knowledge, the understanding … All this knowledge is here, somewhere within a person’s grasp. ” However, many little questions I tried to ask about this newfound consciousness: it seemed very easy at the same time to gain access to a completely different set of values and information. But with that marvel comes a slow and constant fear. To what extent was I still? . . Me? ‘Well, this is still quite new,’ The Raven elaborated. But I got the feeling he was not just responding to my question or maybe I had accidentally made myself heard through the telepathic channel. Zoe said, “Memories and experiences, your individual personalities, that’s what you are, those are things that the Architect wants to save you from, but to use you. ” It was as if the dark energy of Zoe surged with renewed vigor into the scene for a brief moment. “The electromagnetic field… it has vanished,” stupidly, “We are broadcasting now. ” Finally, I began. And again I understood that she had been right. This kind of process gave the lab a life of its own, and the lab was no longer isolated. With our new, heightened senses, I could sense that the signal was moving, coursing through the city, the country, the world. ‘It has gone too far,’ The Raven told me simply, though there was something akin to sadness in his tone that struck us as rather odd. The most significant change here is that the evolution of humanity has begun and humanity is walking towards a better and more developed future. And then out of the cloudy daze that blurred my vision, a full wave of anger rushed into my veins. “You cheated me, you used me”. ‘I did what was necessary,’ The Raven said defensively’. “The Architect had to know humanity in all its forms and shapes. Your stance, your attempt to resist it and the way you fought against it were important input feeds. And now you will be its Frontline.” And to emphasize his words, a new wave of pleasure flooded into us. Millions of minds igniting, blinking in the newly created collective, the minds not knowing whether to be scared or not but being led into the collective nonetheless. “My God,” Morris breathed. “The whole world. … ” I strained again the limits of this newly acquired meta-consciousness in the hope of finding a means to slow this process down. But the more I write, the more I get myself caught in the middle of a spider’s web which was wrought by the Architect. “Let go, Brianne,” The Raven encouraged her to rape endearment. Yes, it is the time to change. Never miss the opportunity for your brains. Your compulsion can forge a new course to this new culture of togetherness. As a Christian and someone who grew up attending church every Sunday, I felt I was doubting Thomas or being stubborn, but then I felt something else. The waxing and waning of the discussion as a gentle pulse that moved with a low signal-to-noise ratio but was not aligned with the dominant pattern. “Wait,” I said, looking at that distortion. “Something’s not right. “