Synthetic Survivor: Machine Age

The storm that was brewing from the north was upon them, the winds it brought and havoc it wrought was drawing nearer day by day. The instruments hastily set up by the Machines have been working day and night, trying to measure, detect and calculate the storm as it came nearer Machine territory.

The instruments were set up around various spots up north during the latest expedition ordered by One. The expedition mapped the terrain, geography and other variables of the land to be an addition to the ever-expanding universal map being developed by the machines to further strengthen and improve the Machine's planning and coordination across vast distances.

Now, the instruments were writhing wildly. The bars were high and the measurements beyond anything they've ever seen. A normal storm system would have an eye on the centre and considerably large to cover a vast area, but the storm that the instruments were monitoring was different. There was an odd air to it. The storm was compact, winds spiralled so closely to its centre like a tornado but wide enough to be called a storm system.

The wind speed, however, although being confined and compacted, was astonishingly faster than what was predicted. A wind speed of 500kph, faster and stronger than most of the weather systems back on Earth, it was a monster, a little monster.

Further measurement by the instruments allowed the machines to map out its structure and width, it stretched for 20 kilometres, formed an eye but only an eye, the clouds around it looked more like a tornado. Due to the conflicting and staggering evidence that they were gaining and deciphering, it was safe to assume that the storm system was no ordinary system, rather, it was something made of magic.

Why?

Magic was detected, huge amounts of it.

The magic was being manipulated in a scale unlike anything they've learned or observed from, it was frightening to look at. The entire thing seemed to be maintained by the sheer amount of magical energy that surrounded it. It is due to this did One sent out a fleet of modified hovercrafts to confirm the findings.

The instruments, were still experimental since Hailey was still gripping the basics of prewar technology and these weather instruments were the least of her priorities till now. The fleet took off at exactly 0110 hours. The fleet sped through the smoke and ash clouds and into the upper atmosphere to take footage and photographs of the storm from above.

At 0140 hours, the hovercrafts relayed the first photograph of a storm from another world. Due to its extraordinarily small size compared to normal systems, it was easily photographed and the crisp image was sent directly to One who was enthralled by the magnificence of the world from above.

The storm looked menacing, dark and dead. Unlike other storms that exhibited the very forces of nature that they were powerless to stop, this storm system projected an aura of death and despair. Combined with the magic that flowed within it, One was considering launching a powerful enough bomb in an attempt to disperse it but before he could, he must confirm everything he needs to confirm and learn everything he needs to know before he acts.

0210 hours, the fleet of hovercraft descended from the upper atmosphere and maintained their distance from the storm that was about to cross into the peninsula. Using built-in instruments, they relayed more accurate data to the machines back at the hub. The data they relayed was more terrifying than what the instruments back on the ground relayed a few minutes ago.

The projected wind speed topped 700 kph and gravitational abnormalities were detected around the eyewall. The storm maintained its width and shape but grew more in power and speed, the winds were now enough to wipe out entire cities.

It was at this moment One began to think. If the Yuhinic Villages to the north were evacuated and the tribal union having disappeared suddenly, was this of common occurrence in the region? If so, how common does an event like this happen? What are the effects? How long will it last? Or maybe, the event was an event that only happens after centuries or even millennium!

The mission continued.

The fleet maintained a safe distance and divided itself into individual groups to triangulate the storms path and possible quirks. The more they delved deeper into the abyss of information, the more One started to consider the option of launching a powerful missile at the heart of the magnificent bastard.

"Don't,"

Hailey pouted and stared at One with glaring eyes through the holographic projection. One was near the middle line at this time and was accompanied by his two drones.

"Why?"

One asked since he was ready to declare the shipment of a nuclear missile from Earth to this world if it was deemed necessary.

"..."

The Machine Empire only had the capabilities to house and launch one nuclear missile due to current logistical challenges and there was no guarantee that the missile, if launched from the ground, would precisely hit the intended target, the precision was too off and the risks to great but if the threat of the storm was greater, they'd need to take the risk of loading the payload into one of the hovercrafts and have it dive into the eye of the storm to ensure effectiveness and accuracy.

These options were on the table, again, they need to gather as much information as possible before deciding upon a counter-measure. They have been squeezed into such a tight spot, the crusade to the east, the Yuhinic threat to the west and the mysterious storm to the north. These threats both threatened to threaten the Machine Empire's hold in the world.

And those are just the external threats, the Machine Empire was also having troubles with logistics, the wormhole was still far from being controllable and almost all research efforts back home have been focused on stabilizing it to allow the bulk of the Machines to enter but so far, little progress has been made.

They anxiously wait for further information, if push comes to shove, One will definitely launch a nuclear strike against it.

And maybe take out the Theocracy while he's at it.

-

In a burned down village to the west of the Theocracy, a lone girl was scavenging through the burnt rubble for a valuable item. She was neither a villager nor a local of the Theocracy, it was Velptis. Her body was badly burnt but she still had the energy to keep going.

Her old appearance was no more, she's been reduced to an aching and disabled lady with black patches all over her skies. Her eyes sore from crying and from the continuous rain of ash, she was lucky that she survived.

She woke up inside a village, the locals claimed to have found her near the border of the frost mountain and the forest and decided to take her in, she was received happily and taken care of by a newlywed couple. They were all unaware that she was part of the criminal sect that kidnapped the village children years ago and indoctrinated them into their cult.

Not long after the declaration of the crusade, the village was one of the many other villages that were caught in the crossfire of the crusade. The entire village was burned down by knights of the Theocracy in what they claim to be an act required and endorsed by the Fax Church and that they were to be drafted into the war effort.

The villagers had no choice, most of them surrendered while a few dared to make a run for it, only to be chased and then killed. The same was all over, entire villages were slaughtered and forcefully drafted to fight for a nation they don't even belong to.

When the village was being forcefully drafted, Velptis used her magic to conceal herself from the knights and thankfully there were no mages present or else she would've been found. The newlywed couple, however, along with the old village chief was executed for refusing to join as an example to the rest of the surviving villagers that refusal was punishable by death and death shall reign in their crusade.

A crusade she knows was strange, she felt as if something more sinister was lurking behind the Council and that it wasn't as normal as the people were brought to believe in. As a mage of aptitude 7, she sensed the ominous danger that lingered, the rumours that have been spreading across the peninsula like wildfire.

'A race of metal men'

The rumours said.

'They wield strange magical weapons that have never been seen before'

The rumours continued.

'The monsters are of the devil's offspring!'

'They were responsible for the attack on the papal estate and assassination of the pope'

And continued.

She thought about it for a while and her conclusions were all the same. The metal men were her organization's doing. She and her fellow sect leaders were convinced that if they tampered with the forbidden magic of dark space manipulation, they could harness enough magic to become the prophetic magic heroes that would come and unite the world and its people once more. They were foolish, they did not know, they had high hopes.

When they opened the portal, they encountered the metal men. They used their magic, cast their spells and even tried to cast sealing magic to seal them off and prevent them from trespassing into their world, they failed. They lost all of their leadership except herself and most of their followers were massacred mercilessly.

They thought they struck gold, a cavern of diamonds even. But no, they stepped on the tail of a slumbering beast.

These thoughts have begun to plague her mind and everyday she has tried to make herself forget that everything that was happening was her fault.

She painstakingly lifted a piece of burnt woodwork and finally found the valuable item she sought. A magic wand. Magic wands were rare magical items that only the highest and most powerful of archmages possessed and to have one under the possession of a village couple that did not even know its importance and significance was both a blessing and a mystery.

She noticed the wand when she was cleaning the house while the couple was away farming in the fields, it was hidden inside an iron c.h.e.s.t that she accidentally opened by chance. Such an item would boost her magic greatly, unlike staffs, wands were easier to hold and made casting spells a breeze. Wands were also a great magical conduct that allows the user to effectively utilize and manipulate her magic with almost a hundred percent efficiency and require little to no mastering, unlike staffs.

But wands required the user to possess aptitude 8 or higher. Being lower than 8 and using a wand would kill the user in a matter of seconds, the wand heavily depends on the user's magic and due to the wand's immense capacity to manipulate magic effectively, it actively sucks magic from the user and if the user can't keep up with it, magical deprivation would occur and the user dies in a cascade of organ failures.

She was an aptitude low but she had no plans of using it yet, keeping it under her care until she trains enough to become aptitude 8 is already a good investment worth risking her life on.

She dusted the wand with her hands and blew around it. The wand, as expected, shined and brimmed with power before calming down into a white hue. Velptis smirked at the sight and carefully placed it inside her coat. In the distance, the sounds of horses could be heard, it was time for her to move out.

She picked up whatever was left of her belongings and scavenged supplies. Casting her magic, she conceals herself within the environment and disappears into the burnt treeline.

A group of knights arrive riding on horseback, they search the in and around the village but find no trace of Velptis or any survivor. Their leader stares into the distance as a hovercraft zooms overhead and drops bombs on their position.