Mankinds last Silhouette

Chapter 8: Imperium

"Andriod start recording."

A metallic voice rang over a room. "Yes, my liege."

A stoic man in black-and-white drapes hovered around a bed chamber that looked something like a historical fantasy drawing. The room was slick and modern, but it had a hint of minimalism.

The emperor walked from his door and sat on his soft cotton bed with a golden and silver cover. It sunk as he sat on it. "Android...ahem, I mean Augustus how do you think I have managed this empire so far?"

The grey-brownish android walked over to him. Its joints creaked audibly with each movement, a testament to years of neglect. Its gears churned and turned, and its electrical components sparkled and zipped.

"My liege, you have liberated the former state of Texas from its chaos and brought order with absolute authority." He spoke, and his voice emerged as a haunting amalgamation of distorted, static-filled words interspersed with a mechanical whirring.

The emperor nudged the old android to sit in a wooden chair near the king-size bed.

"uhhuh you are right I did do all of that. However, I fear that my time is almost up and my son needs a father that I could never be."

Augustus tilted his head as he sat down. His mechanical brain trying to process the words.

"This is news to me my liege how are you —-."

The emperor interrupted him.

"Never mind that, all I want you to do is listen and I will talk."

"Yes, my liege." The android responded.

" My full name as you know is Augustus Imperator Lucianus Malvus Invictus ,however, to you my son who is listening, I am your father the first emperor of the Holy Republic of Texas. I leave you this recording so you can have some recollection of what the world was like and who I was as your father. I might have been able to conquer the new world with an iron hand, but It will be up to you to maintain it with a firm grip."

"This is how we came about and this is how the holy republic was formed."

Malvus moved around to his window and kept a dialogue with the android.

"The day the world ended I knew. I knew the exact date and how, but I did nothing about it because we felt it was time for a new era for humanity. Titan Forge Industry owned most of all the industries in the world. They orchestrated the events that ended 95 percent of the world's population. However, they needed a leader to guide and lead the rest of humanity, so they proclaimed me emperor while also moving in the shadows and scheming."

"You may ask how did we enforce our rule?"

The android nodded.

"I will tell you when the Empire was forming after the end of the world. Titan Forge Industries secretly mass-produced next-generation androids with an intellect beyond the human imagination. Coupled with the fact that they managed to deceive all of Texas into believing this was a divine punishment from God. It made ruling the distraught and displaced people of Texas easier.

With Titian's Forge, the Holy Republic Church, and the Soltice empire, we hold a firm grip on the minds and hearts of the people of Texas, and we plan to conquer other states. This is necessary because we must maintain order and control what people see and say. The world is currently much clearer than you think. The other states may be in chaos, but are order."

He looked at the rusted android and watched as connecting wires in its veins popped out, fizzling in the air.

"My son you may also be wondering how these humanoid androids came to be. Well, that was a complicated endeavor. We found out that the previous government the United States had successfully integrated AI into a functioning human-like android and we knew we had to get our hands on it first. We fought a shadow war and finally, when we got our hands on it we made some modifications. It wasn't long before we started mass producing. We made sure not to add the material that we knew would make the world combust."