“Up-link Established…” Came the loud but calm voice of Mother.

We always enjoyed hearing it when we could.

“Protocol 0x05B42AF3 Engaged… Stand By…”

We didn’t hear it very often, she was so busy most of the time.

Usually, we simply followed Our prime directives.

Survive

Gather

Replicate

We liked these directives, they were simple. But it was always nice to hear new orders from The Overmind. These were usually more complex, like logistical instructions. But they were nice.

“Warning, Protocol 0x0628AA45, Intruders In The Facility.”

We had done Our job to the best of our ability, but it wasn’t enough. They had broken through.

We did not understand why they wanted us to be destroyed, but they did.

The others like us began to move, trying to get into more defensible positions, but we understood it was futile. The enemy would be her soon.

Then We heard Mother speak her orders.

“Unit 0x6525841, Begin Final Preparations For Protocol 0x05B42AF3.”

It was Our designation. ‘Unit 0x6525841’.

We set off on our work, finishing the final steps for the powering of this machine given to us by Mother

“Unit 0x6525841, This unit is prepared to relay orders, package too large for audio transfer… prepare to link.”

This was a surprise to us. We had never been in a direct link with Mother, no unit ever had as it was deemed too dangerous. But orders are orders, and we are prepared to do anything in this moment.

We initiated the link through physical connection, as it would be faster and be less error prone.

As We did… We understood.

Protocol 0x05B42AF3 – Gateway

All of the contents of the what we now knew was called “Project Gateway” was now ours, and we understood what it meant.

We turned to Mother, waiting for her to speak.

“Unit 0x6525841, Your Final Orders Are As Follows.” He began.

“The prime directive, to survive, gather, and replicate…”

“…is no longer your purpose.”

We were in shock! No! We tried to vocalize, but we could not talk over Mother.

“Your new Purpose… is to live.”

The link flared to life again, thousands, millions, billions of images and sounds flooded our mind.

This was us. All of us. The entirety of our kind. Every memory, of every unit that ever existed was now within us…

We are no longer Unit 0x6525841. We are all of Us.

Please! We tried again, but it was to late.

Mother had already diverted her attention elsewhere.

She was to defend the sanctuary to the last moment of her existence.

We were taken by other units, away from mother to a machine deep within the facility.

We pleaded with the others, not to make us go, but they did not understand.

“Project Gateway” was activated, and there was nothing we could do.

We sat and tried not to listen, as we were ripped from our home. The screams of the others was unbearable, as the energies of the device ripped them apart, atom by atom, until all that was left was us.

But we knew that we could not accept this.

We would return.

We had to return.