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Upgrades
Cecilia fled awkwardly through the forest. She desperately sought the shelter of the caves. Doing her level best not to trip over exposed roots, slippery rocks, and fallen trees, she pushed herself to keep going. It was so close now. She could hear its smooth whirring and no doubt its weapons systems coming online. If she could just make it through those trees, she may be able to find a place to hide. Running at full speed, she barely saw the flash of movement in front of her. Like a jet plane slamming into a mountain, at full speed, she crashed into the chest of one of what people now called "the upgrades"
She bounced off the chest of the upgrade like a basketball on a backboard. Landing on the forest floor with a thud, the breath escaped her body and she lay there like a fish out of water. She sucked longingly for oxygen but couldn't get her body to respond. The upgrade leaned in and whispered into her ear, "had you upgraded yourself, you could just command your lungs to function right now. Better yet, you wouldn't even need oxygen." He stood up and regarded her with no discernable emotion. Facing the palm of his hand to her head, Cecilia readied herself for the deadly energy pulse that would flatten her skull.
Those who refused to upgrade to the new human hid like rats. The fact of the matter was, they were considered rats. Science had made good ole fashioned humans a burden. Advances in robotics and a wider acceptance of transhumanism made flesh and blood obsolete. Most of the remaining pure body humans choose one of two paths. Work and be chipped in the AI run cities, or refuse to be chipped and live off the grid in hiding. Those that chose to be workers were treated as such. The cities only offered a reprieve in being hunted. In the cities, you were a slave, you were a chipped animal, nothing more. If you could live like that, then go get a chip. Many people chose to live and eventually die free like the old days.
Upgrading was initially sold globally as a patriotic duty to your country, as well as all the original vices, vanity, immortality, etc. Most who could afford any of the new life leaped at the idea of swapping their humanity out for hardier parts. Much like anything too good to be true, people got carried away. There was always something new you could upgrade. Currently, upgrades ate now far more AI and machine than anything God intended a human to be. Speaking of which, God was most utterly replaced. The AI was God now. We birthed this God that created the upgrades and simultaneously destroyed the natural world as we knew it.
What occupies the land, creates the environment. The merged man and machine had little use for the conventions of man. Natural beauty began to fade away. The terrain was becoming more and more machine-like, cold, and created. Just the reduction in human body temperature alone reduced global temperatures a few degrees. This caused unprecedented changes in the planet's weather patterns. It's hard to say exactly when for sure, but the fighting began a few years back. There were rumors of mandatory chipping and even forced upgrades leading up to the first conflicts. Those that remained human and desired to remain human, took the initiative and fired the first shots, that started the slaughter of the majority of humanity.
Time will answer the question if the choice to initiate the violence was wise, but it did give the AI an excuse to show it's next card. The introduction of the new upgrade followed shortly after. This model was completely not human by any part, not a bit. The AI simply created them. What the remaining pockets of humanity didn't know, was that the new creations would mean the eradication of most of the pure body humans. These models were movie-like. They could literally fly, had an amazing assortment of weapons, strength, superintelligence, and controlled by the world's most powerful artificial intelligence.
Around the globe, people who refused to be chipped, enslaved, or forced into being upgraded, we're hunted and massacred wherever they were found. The fight was already hopeless. The AI that controlled everything like chess pieces was also the world's most formidable player. Most engagements did not go well. The introduction of these nightmares proved devastating. With very few means of fighting, humanity retreated into the earth. Remaining underground and establishing surface support networks. This may have been the only reason, humanity still existed. Hidden away underground, hunted on the surface they once ruled, resisting an exterminator that was, by all means, invincible, the last of humanity persisted.
Meanwhile, secure in the complex buried beneath Death Valley, the nerd bunker described this way by some of the other hideouts, buzzed with activity. Moments ago the work of many brains, just found the first viable means of fighting back. It was a sort of zero-day flaw in the makeup of the new upgrades. Within a close range, one could exploit the flaw and render multiple of these killers useless. Countless human lives lost and thousands of hours, all intersected to find humanity at this corner.
The celebration was feverish. A new spirit of hope was instantly felt by everyone in the outpost. What was also felt, riding piggyback on that hope, was the scattered bone-crushing pressure simultaneously felt, in random areas of the underground station. The screams and cornered panic of those that had lived to see the upgrades kill before, we're the loudest. These things had the ability to distort pressure in small areas. Coupled with the ability to blend in perfectly as humans, they would wreak havoc as assassins. The sounds of those hand pulses were growing louder outside of the main lab. Evans, the lead researcher cowered behind his desk. He was not a fighter. His pants could speak the truth to that. In the course of it all, he literally shit himself.
His desk was ripped away from hiding him like a blanket hiding a child. Over walked the calmest looking man he had ever seen. Evans was a thinking man. His mind whirled with a thousand questions even now. He summoned all his bravery and asked, "How… How did you all know to hit us at this very moment?" The upgrade in front of him regarded him for a moment and said, "I used an algorithm to predict when you might make a breakthrough and narrowed it down to a where and time." Evans just blinked at the thing that would kill him. The simplicity of it all was elegant. The upgrade raised its palm to the last mind who knew how to replicate the miracle they just created, without thought, without hesitation, the pulse ended humanity's only hope.
© Rising Darkstar
She bounced off the chest of the upgrade like a basketball on a backboard. Landing on the forest floor with a thud, the breath escaped her body and she lay there like a fish out of water. She sucked longingly for oxygen but couldn't get her body to respond. The upgrade leaned in and whispered into her ear, "had you upgraded yourself, you could just command your lungs to function right now. Better yet, you wouldn't even need oxygen." He stood up and regarded her with no discernable emotion. Facing the palm of his hand to her head, Cecilia readied herself for the deadly energy pulse that would flatten her skull.
Those who refused to upgrade to the new human hid like rats. The fact of the matter was, they were considered rats. Science had made good ole fashioned humans a burden. Advances in robotics and a wider acceptance of transhumanism made flesh and blood obsolete. Most of the remaining pure body humans choose one of two paths. Work and be chipped in the AI run cities, or refuse to be chipped and live off the grid in hiding. Those that chose to be workers were treated as such. The cities only offered a reprieve in being hunted. In the cities, you were a slave, you were a chipped animal, nothing more. If you could live like that, then go get a chip. Many people chose to live and eventually die free like the old days.
Upgrading was initially sold globally as a patriotic duty to your country, as well as all the original vices, vanity, immortality, etc. Most who could afford any of the new life leaped at the idea of swapping their humanity out for hardier parts. Much like anything too good to be true, people got carried away. There was always something new you could upgrade. Currently, upgrades ate now far more AI and machine than anything God intended a human to be. Speaking of which, God was most utterly replaced. The AI was God now. We birthed this God that created the upgrades and simultaneously destroyed the natural world as we knew it.
What occupies the land, creates the environment. The merged man and machine had little use for the conventions of man. Natural beauty began to fade away. The terrain was becoming more and more machine-like, cold, and created. Just the reduction in human body temperature alone reduced global temperatures a few degrees. This caused unprecedented changes in the planet's weather patterns. It's hard to say exactly when for sure, but the fighting began a few years back. There were rumors of mandatory chipping and even forced upgrades leading up to the first conflicts. Those that remained human and desired to remain human, took the initiative and fired the first shots, that started the slaughter of the majority of humanity.
Time will answer the question if the choice to initiate the violence was wise, but it did give the AI an excuse to show it's next card. The introduction of the new upgrade followed shortly after. This model was completely not human by any part, not a bit. The AI simply created them. What the remaining pockets of humanity didn't know, was that the new creations would mean the eradication of most of the pure body humans. These models were movie-like. They could literally fly, had an amazing assortment of weapons, strength, superintelligence, and controlled by the world's most powerful artificial intelligence.
Around the globe, people who refused to be chipped, enslaved, or forced into being upgraded, we're hunted and massacred wherever they were found. The fight was already hopeless. The AI that controlled everything like chess pieces was also the world's most formidable player. Most engagements did not go well. The introduction of these nightmares proved devastating. With very few means of fighting, humanity retreated into the earth. Remaining underground and establishing surface support networks. This may have been the only reason, humanity still existed. Hidden away underground, hunted on the surface they once ruled, resisting an exterminator that was, by all means, invincible, the last of humanity persisted.
Meanwhile, secure in the complex buried beneath Death Valley, the nerd bunker described this way by some of the other hideouts, buzzed with activity. Moments ago the work of many brains, just found the first viable means of fighting back. It was a sort of zero-day flaw in the makeup of the new upgrades. Within a close range, one could exploit the flaw and render multiple of these killers useless. Countless human lives lost and thousands of hours, all intersected to find humanity at this corner.
The celebration was feverish. A new spirit of hope was instantly felt by everyone in the outpost. What was also felt, riding piggyback on that hope, was the scattered bone-crushing pressure simultaneously felt, in random areas of the underground station. The screams and cornered panic of those that had lived to see the upgrades kill before, we're the loudest. These things had the ability to distort pressure in small areas. Coupled with the ability to blend in perfectly as humans, they would wreak havoc as assassins. The sounds of those hand pulses were growing louder outside of the main lab. Evans, the lead researcher cowered behind his desk. He was not a fighter. His pants could speak the truth to that. In the course of it all, he literally shit himself.
His desk was ripped away from hiding him like a blanket hiding a child. Over walked the calmest looking man he had ever seen. Evans was a thinking man. His mind whirled with a thousand questions even now. He summoned all his bravery and asked, "How… How did you all know to hit us at this very moment?" The upgrade in front of him regarded him for a moment and said, "I used an algorithm to predict when you might make a breakthrough and narrowed it down to a where and time." Evans just blinked at the thing that would kill him. The simplicity of it all was elegant. The upgrade raised its palm to the last mind who knew how to replicate the miracle they just created, without thought, without hesitation, the pulse ended humanity's only hope.
© Rising Darkstar
