Unknown Dusk Moon

Gideon

They had been captured by the Dusk.

He moved unsteadily towards the quarantine tent to see Deborah. He halted briefly as a beam of light swept over him, sterilizing his clothes and persons. He understood the protocol, if Angels caught disease, logic dictated it could mutate and travel to humans. He tried not to think about divine level bacteria, possibly immune to sterilization. Or demonic tier diseases; whatever that meant. He went inside, spotting his new divine friend.

He glanced at the Angel, seeing her flex her healed wrist. He spotted the now faded golden veins, a possible sign that her arm had been correctly set. She gave him a pained smile, which he returned. She wore nothing but the medical blanket, her long stoney hair hanging from the stretcher, her eyes still hidden.

"We're alive," he stated with a chuckle.

He still couldn't process what had happened to them.

"Adonai has smiled upon us. And yet, the fiend still lives," her smile changed to bitterness.

That demon- Saddiffer, supposedly destroyed the planet. He claimed there was life here before he snuffed it out. Were the Dusk destroyed?

The questions burned in his mind. There was no better time to ask.

"Who are the Dusk- the Watchers?"

She nodded as she stared ahead, "they were beings created by Adonai to prevent Great Filter events for humanity."

He felt his heart tremble. The Great Filter, the idea that no race would ever reach the stars because a cataclysmic event would render them extinct.

"This occurred after what was called the Final Wars on Earth," she added.

That was common history: two-thirds of all life died on Earth from the Final Wars. entire races, religions, species, and civilizations were wiped out from the total sum of humanity’s rage. Justified or not, the facts had almost vanished, the only telltale signs were the survivors and ruined cities. That was when the stories of how interstellar travel surfaced. Suddenly, history existed once again with the documentation of the Mars excavation, colonies, and discovery that this was humanity's second visit to the red planet.

“The pain Adonai felt during those times coalesced to another Covenant. The Watchers were brought into being from that pain and the promise that he would never allow such suicidal destruction from humanity again. And not only that, but from the universe’s natural dangers. Through that agony, came the birth of humanity's end game and to occupy their home once again among the stars.”

Gideon’s eyes darted from Angel around the room, trying to process the profound news.

“No, the Watchers- the Dusk- whatever they are; they are evil soulless monsters!”

Deborah smiled back at Gideon.

“They united humanity as a common foe. Each individual they took would have cascaded events to humanity's extinction, each sector they drove you from was one less precious resource to advancing total war.”

The Decima’s hull. The Mars Technocracy discovered it from an orphaned asteroid.

“God’s metal…” he muttered. He dreaded to imagine if the Federacy had discovered it instead.

“What?” Deborah asked.

“God’s metal; that’s what my Father wanted to call it,” he imparted, thinking back to what felt like a lifetime ago.

“Oh, Orhicalcum! But no. The metal you’re thinking of is Adamantite.”

Father was wrong. Apparently, he named the metal incorrectly.

Wait until he hears this.

He mused smugly at knowing something his Father didn’t. He deflated instantly upon the knowledge he would never see him to regale that information.

“Where is everyone? My family? If it’s after Armageddon, where can we find them?”

Gideon turned his back as Deborah rose, discarding the medical blanket before sporting her Watcher robes again.

She moved to Gideon, gently grasping his good hand.

“If I had a theory, it would be in the loving embrace of Adonai.”

“Dead??” the word tumbled out quietly.

Deborah pursed her lips at his comment, “death is no more. They are safe with Him.”

He nodded, taking what she said on faith. He felt down at is cast, a second of phantom pain ebbing through it.

“Come now, I believe it is time to meet our warden,” Deborah announced as she exited the tent.

Gideon followed behind as he caught her glancing at the rest of the party. The look she gave Baxter filled him with concern. Shindow rushed over to his side, confidence etched on her ASCII face.

“Don’t worry Gideon, I know we’ll be fine!”

He nodded, folding his arms as he examined his crew. His AI friend, two Excertius, a guardian Angel, A plucky dog in possession of a wretched demon. And himself- slightly above average Gideon.

“Good Gideon, we are all prepared to meet this Warden who has taken on the name of the holiest Machine Father,” Patricia explained, materializing a pulse rifle. Steak copied her, gathering his own weapon.

Baxter trotted to Gideon, jumping up to his leg, “Gid, it will be just OK! We’ll beat them and eat them!”

Gideon ruffled his ears with his good hand, feeling a slight shock of pain through his casted arm. The demon was just beneath.

“Let’s go see this counterfeit Prosine.”

Gideon clicked his QSD in place, feeling the system update in his mind. He materialized a pulse pistol, staring down at the weapon as the final pixels appeared.

“I’m not sure you will need your weapons,” Deborah announced to the group.

“Protocol dictates as such,” Steak countered.

“Very well! Shall we?”

Everyone moved to the exit as the hangar compartment opened, A shriek of compressed air rang out, the wind tussling Gideon’s hair as his heart leaped at the noise.

To say I’m getting PTSD from this…

He would need more than simple medical care once they got out of this. He suspected they all would. He glanced at Baxter, who wiggled his rump in anticipation of exploring someplace new, his ears perked and alert.

Perhaps not all.

Deborah led the way and Gideon followed behind. Shindow floated atop his shoulder, crossing her arms and legs as she surveyed the docking bay they inhabited. It was a sheer drop on all sides, but one, the Ferrum had been sheathed into a brick of the strangely amorphous metal. Deborah made a sharp left turn, walking down the molded steps to the hangar below. Pipes and cables thrummed throughout, like the internal vasculars of a massive beast; and they were in the gullet. The room was dim save for a single ghostly light off in the distance, guiding them. Gideon glanced back, seeing the metal large brick with their vessel sheathed atop it.

“It’s creative, at least,” he commented wryly.

“You have no idea!” Shindow added. She had experienced something profound when he was out, it seemed.

“What happened?”

“Well… The Rumblers, the satellites, all of it- is run by empty modules atop quantum code!”

“It’s dumb?”

He was incredulous.

“It had almost deleted me when it halted, relaying a message from what appeared to be Prosine.”

“Counterfeit Prosine?”

“Could be! But he is apparently locked down by some sort of virus or worm. Crypt Wurm is what it’s called.”

“That explains a lot… That is to say nothing...” he muttered.

The inside of the Rumbler was large enough to house the Decima; perhaps a fleet. The dim lights left much to be desired.

Deborah interjected, striding towards a glowing light ahead of them, “one day, he simply stopped, his door failed to open. I was stuck and with the demon at my back, I had no alternative but to fight and witness the planet fall to ash.”

He couldn't imagine the feeling of helplessness she felt. He looked up, seeing thousands of red visors. The drones were just above, watching them. He looked behind himself, spotting that Steak and Pat had taken his nonverbal queue, aiming their pulse rifles towards the uncountable threats overhead. Gideon raised his hands, barking back at them tersely.

“What are you going to do, fight them?”

“Protocol dictates as-”

“I know- I know- protocol! There’s a million of them and two of you- don’t aggress!”

“Understood,” Pat chimed in.

The drones began lower close to the floor, hemming them as they moved behind the strange light. It felt like a parade procession, with the satellites as the crowd of onlookers.

A parade or a prisoner’s march?

They walked for what seemed like miles, satellites all flowing around them as they made their way to a pair of massive double doors couched against the flowing coils and membranes of metal. There was no dirt, dust, or grime, as if time had no hold on this place.

Self-cleaning as well.

The massive doors opened silently, showing engineering perfection. Gideon was unsettled to see such a massive structure move without sound. He was amazed at how enormous the Rumbler was, at how it could even move or fight. The lights led them to an elevation tram large enough for a cruiser class vessel.

Deborah hopped aboard, turning to address them, “here we are. I hope for our sake we can save him. Adonai guide us.”

The tram moved as soon as the party’s last crew made contact. Baxter yipped at the sudden movement, scampering by Gideon’s side.

“It’s OK, boy, we’re good,” he soothed.

“I do not like this place, Gid!”

Shindow floated down, sitting atop the dog’s nose. Her image hazed as he tried to lick at her.

“It’s OK, I think we’re safe. I have the code to unlock this Crypt Wurm- whatever that is!”

“Just make sure it doesn’t spread,” he replied, worry flooding him at their situation.

The tram halted smoothly to their destination, an open deck barricaded by a wall. The doors stood thirty feet high and fifteen feet wide. Only the slight seem was visible, the only tell that it was, in fact, a doorway.

Gideon marched to the entrance, running a hand across the smooth metal. The doors shifted as if made of liquid. Gideon retreated, hands up as he looked to the group in shock.

“This happened to me as well,” Deborah stated, gesturing with an open palm that it was a common occurrence.

He glanced at the small console sprouting from the door. Shindow floated to it, palming her chin as she looked at the commands.

It was a lazy, uninformative, lacking context, and generally unhelpful system. A cursor blinked at him, awaiting input. He never liked this operating system.

Crypt Wurm:

“Really?” he asked dumbfounded.

“Well, I guess score one for it actually being Prosine- he loved that OS!”

Shindow flexed her fingers, attempting to interface with the device.

“Basic UI, enough for even the least adept AI’s- I mean we’re talking borderline non-sentients here- Enter passphrase ‘Rapscallion’... And…” Shindow glanced up at Gideon.

He looked back, brows knit at her delay.

“Will you do the honors?” Shindow asked, tapping at the enter button.

He nodded, with a tired grunt, holding his breath as he pressed the final key. The doors instantly melted in and away, flowing like a rush of metallic water. The decompression roared in his ears, the sudden noise jolting his heart as he stepped back, spooked by the noise. Quiet ambiance rang out again, the internal breathing of a mechanical beast.

He stood there, studying the hallway. He held out his palm, glancing at the others, "is that it? He just needed to input a password? Why not do it himself?"

"I believe he was unable to give out that command…" Shindow theorized.

"Oh boy! Let us see Propplsnop!" Baxter announced with a bark, scampering in circles down the hall. Shindow rushed behind him, gently scolding the dog.

"...his name is Prosine, Baxter. Pro-sine!"

“Adonai be praised,” Deborah added as she trailed behind the dog and AI, gesturing for them to follow.

They moved cautiously, unsure of any potential threats. He caught sight of the emblemed and engraved walls and floor just like the Decima. The empty hall reminded him too much of that precious vessel. He could see Abigail’s pictographs, Amy’s handiwork, and Amelia’s convergence to a single unbroken image.

Are they here? How?

His heart rate spiked at the revelation.

Did the Dusk steal talent and ability as well?

"These are all Primetech engravings," Shindow announced as she adjusted her glasses. She brushed her tiny hand against the engraving, her face twisted with concern.

"Did they steal that talent, too?"

"I can't say!" The AI replied back.

They would have never collaborated willingly.

He couldn't overcome Deborah's positive description of the Dusk. That was too big a mountain to climb. He brushed his good hand against the decorative metal, feeling the smooth trim. The air felt fresh, unlike what he'd expect an AI to upkeep. He saw ahead to the room beyond, spotting the floor of large coiling cables all coalescing to the rounded plinth in the center. The dim floating eye was a motionless physical manifestation of the Machine Father. He felt a chill down his spine, the surreality of witnessing Primetech's stolen properties repurposed for the Dusk.

"It can't be…" Shindow muttered.

Excertius lowered their weapons, standing off to the side, their monocular eyes gazing up at their patriarch.

He heard the low noise of thrumming, saw the cables begin to glow, and then the spherical being in the center began to shift. It floated on its plinth, turning to address them. It's sole eye scissored to a pinprick as if trying to gauge them.

"Good greetings, I am Prosine- I doubt everyone here is ignorant of that fact."

“Machine father…” Steak greeted, kneeling deeply.

“Holy father,” Patricia added, holding a deep curtsy.

The AI's greeting and subsequent sarcasm were not lost on Gideon. That sounded close. Too close for it to be a simple copy. He didn't care anymore for social decorum or manners. He could fool Excertius, but not him.

"Bullshit," he barked. Baxter barked in response.

The room went silent apart from the thrumming.

The eye turned inexorably slow to him, widening to fully reveal the swarming quantum bits inside.

"Good Gideon, do you doubt your own eyes?"

"My eyes? Do you think you can just sound like Prosine and fool us? Just ignore that we're on a Dusk moon, under Dusk control, lost in space!? That they steal and reuse technology? This is bullshit!"

Gideon felt the eyes of everyone on him.

"Very well," Prosine responded calmly, his eye scissoring to a point.

He could almost feel the AI cracking its knuckles at the challenge.

"I will say that I am Prosine. You will ask for proof. I will, in turn, recount the facts only we know. You will continue to doubt until I escalate it beyond your ladened mind."

"So what?" Gideon retorted.

Bluffs were easy.

"You felt an insecure identity in comparison to your brothers."

His cheeks burned at the confrontation.

"So? Anyone could guess that!"

"You have a genetic defect preventing you from obtaining cybernetics."

He grimaced at his words, but refused to budge. Anyone could find the medical records. The Dusk certainly could.

"And? It wasn't a secret."

"You were caught inebriated after your confrontation with the Dusk."

"Look if you're just a copy of Prosine, he would know all of this!" Gideon shouted.

Baxter scampered back to Deborah. The room went quiet. Prosine shift on his axis, addressing everyone.

"If you are asking for more proof, I can regale every action you or anyone at Primetech ever committed until the end of time. And yet you would never be satisfied.”

Gideon folded his arms. They were at an impasse.

"Well, just hand us the Decima and we'll be on our way. We took care of your-"

"Do you know where you are?"

Gideon scoffed at the interruption, everyone leaned in to listen.

"Yeah, we took a test flight, flew millions of light-years off course into a Dusk system."

Prosine stared into Gideon. He felt the weight of the ancient being's gaze.

"Are you?"

The dream of the nun named Ruth on Lo-nine came back to him. She used those very words. It all came circling back around.

"What if I told you that you never moved an inch from where you started?

Gideon's stomach dropped. He knew.

"No…"

Shindow shook her head, "the stars were all wrong... that means-"

"What if I told you the name of this planet?"

"Stop it Prosine- stop fucking with us!"

His pleas were ignored.

"What if I said I am the original Prosine, wizened twelve thousand years since Armageddon's finale?"

He crumpled to his knees. He knew. He knew that terrible truth. Ruth knew. Adonai knew. Deborah knew. Lucifer knew. They said or implied it in their own ways. He braced for it. Baxter scooted in close, hiding behind him.

"What if I said that this was Karmmrak? That you never left the Sutta galaxy?"

His eyes darted madly, staring but not.

The truth was that their flight distance wasn’t millions of light-years. Or billions.

It was zero.

The IIT drive caused them to travel nowhere. It failed to fly at all. They had never left the system, much less the planet itself.

His mind crumpled at the revelation.

This was Karmmrak.