Machines

Chapter 14: Unknown Universe

I understand Lunisay now, and why she had always kept this a secret from me. Anyone would have nightmares after viewing this. I can no longer judge her for not wanting to tell me.

            "They're... brains," Callisto finally says, breaking the silence.

            "The best of the best," my mother says. I look at her, her eyes still the same color. How could she work on this hideous, inhuman act as her daily job?

            "You made this?" I ask in horror.

            "It's my greatest creation, Erisella. Just like you are," she smiles at me.

            "Yeah, the difference being one is a monster and the other is not," Callisto glares at my mother. I can't blame him. All this time, Vermisa has been a good mother, or at least I thought. She's always been there for us in our family. How could I ever not notice this, or even forget such a simple task like even asking about her work?

             "I have to destroy it," I declare loud and proud. My mother shakes her head.

            "You can't, dear."

            "Yes, for Lunisay, for all the people here and in West Pax. They need their freedom back!"

            "No," Vermisa argues, "If you do that, you're rewriting history. This was all made so that war would no longer be a part of our lives. Look around you, Erisella. Pax, the civilization, the people, the world is perfect! We have finally achieved what our ancestors thought was impossible!" her face is so bright and dedicated to her speech it sickens me.

            "What you're building is not a perfect world, mother. It's the future of the complete annihilation on the humans and the rise of robots. You're leading us to our own destruction. It's really no wonder why dad left," when I speak of Aldrich, Vermisa's cheerful facade quickly darkens along with her tone of voice.

            "Your father was an idiot, I tell you. He abandoned the job because of his own personal feelings,"

            "Personal feelings towards what, exactly? The sake of our natural rights?" I interrupt.

            "We needed a place for the key, for the special security lock," my mother begins pacing around the room like a lunatic, her hands flying in the air, "he didn't approve of where we put it, but we had no other choice. And it was such the perfect place oh dear me, yes, not another place better could you place it."

            "What are you talking about?" I ask, officially frightened of her anxiety.

            "The key!" She puts her hands in my face, her eyes wide. "That destroys the creator, of course. The host," she begins pacing again. "But Aldrich was a stupid man, the stupidest of them all. Honestly I have my doubts whether that matching system was working properly or not but of course it was since I created it myself!" She laughs at the ceiling. "He called it inhuman."

            What is wrong with my mother? All this machine and science, it's all gone to her head. "Where did you place it?" I ask her softly.

            She turns her head swiftly to me as if she were possessed, her eyes glimmering yet empty. "You can't destroy it. Even if the host itself does die, our great creator will continue living until it is taken out. Quite like the surgery removal, I must say. And after that, just a little water will do. Our creator will spark and flourish into the air like sand on a windy day. What do you say, Erisella?" she slowly approaches me.