The War of the Artilect: Chapter 6

Adrian Garza stared at the Sentinel with a mixture of surprise and fear. “And who are you? Have you come from Earth to destroy us?”

The Sentinel shook his head. “I am a machine from the outer reaches of the galaxy and come from a place that is unfamiliar to you. Some call me the Sentinel. I am here to make contact with the surviving remnant of humanity.”

“Are you from the swarms?” Adrian asked.

“I am not. In fact, the swarms have attacked us and we intend to destroy them.”

“Destroy them!” Adrian exclaimed. “But they can’t be defeated! The Rangers tried to fight them for decades and the swarms killed them all. Only the colonies with Walls survived. That battle was lost long ago.”

The Sentinel shook his head. “A great many things have changed since you set foot inside your pod. My father has been studying the swarms for years and has found a way to defeat them. He has already engaged them in battle once and forced them outside the territory he maintains. In a matter of days we intend to wipe them all out.”

“But that’s impossible! No one has that much power. Who is your father?”

“He is the Artilect,” the Sentinel replied.

Adrian frowned. “I mean no disrespect but he doesn’t know what he’s getting into. The Rangers had the combined might of a hundred star systems at their disposal and they lost – and that was thousands of years ago. I can only imagine how powerful the swarms must be now.”

“The power of the swarms is insignificant, Adrian. My father maintains tens of millions of star systems while the swarms fail to control even one. The battle will be very brief.”

“Tens of millions!” Adrian gasped. “Are you serious?”

The Sentinel smiled. “You have been disconnected from reality for a very long time. As I said, a lot has happened since the 25th century. Things are not the way they used to be.”

“I guess you’re right,” Adrian replied. “I just can’t believe it. But it’s not like we had a choice about what happened, you know. The swarms were destroying everything. Our only hope for survival was to go underground. No one else understood that – that’s why they all died.”

“Is that why you built these vaults?” the Sentinel asked.

Adrian shook his head. “Not at first. I mean – well, it’s complicated. You see, when the synthetic worlds were first invented they were just used for entertainment. People would go there, have some fun, and then go back to work. They weren’t as advanced as they are now. Then as time went by they got better. Some people began to think that the synthetic worlds were better than the real world because you had more control over them. After all, in the synthetic worlds you could have whatever you wanted. Bad things never happened. It was a perfect life.”

“But it wasn’t real,” the Sentinel said. “It was just a dream.”

“That’s what the realists argued. The synthetics said it didn’t matter – their senses told them that it was real and that was enough for them. After a while there were two sides. Some people began moving into the synthetic worlds. People were divided over it. Then the swarms came.”

“So the swarms appeared after the vaults?”

Adrian nodded. “They showed up about thirty years later, I think. When they invaded everything changed. The swarms began wiping out one colony after another and no one could find a way to stop them. All the sudden the real world didn’t seem as appealing anymore. We couldn’t leave the system because the swarms would destroy us, but since we couldn’t leave our supply lines were cut off. It was just a matter of time before our whole civilization collapsed so we moved into the vaults. Even the realists understood that it was either that or die.”

“Were you and Alpha Centauri A the only colonies to make that choice?”

“I think so. The rest of the colonies kept trying to fight. The last we heard was that they were losing badly.” Adrian paused and looked at the Sentinel. “Do you know what happened to them?”

“They are all gone,” the Sentinel said sadly. “I have searched this entire sector. This is the only world that has life, and this is the only working vault left in existence. Everyone else is gone.”

“But–” Adrian stopped. “But that can’t be! Alpha Centauri A had a Wall around it. The swarms couldn’t possibly have gotten in!”

“The Wall is still there but the people are gone. I do not know what happened but there is no one left alive on that world.”

“But what about all the other vaults?” Adrian asked. “There were dozens of them here on Xanthe! They can’t all be dead!”

“I am sorry,” the Sentinel replied. “This vault is all that is left.”

Adrian was silent. He looked around the room at all of the pods, and finally turned his attention back to the Sentinel. “Why are you here?”

“I have been sent here to save you and your people from the swarms. We can defeat them and help you reclaim the stars.”

“You have come too late,” Adrian replied. “Surely you can see that we can’t survive in the real world anymore! We’re too old and frail. In the synthetic worlds we have life and vigor but here there is nothing but weakness and death.”

“Your life in the synthetic world is an illusion, Adrian. It’s not real. We can help you reclaim your life. The truth is that you and the rest of your people are dying. If you do not leave your synthetic worlds you will all die and there will be no one left.”

“But surely there must be someone else,” Adrian said.

“You are all that is left of the Rangers,” the Sentinel said. “Sol is still locked behind a Wall that has been active for five thousand years. No one knows what is behind it but by now there may be nothing left at all. If you do not wake from your dreams then humanity may come to an end.”

Adrian said nothing for a long time. At last he sighed. “The robot was right,” he said quietly. “There is indeed an urgent problem. I do not know if we can solve it but we must try. What do you want me to do?”

“What do you know about the swarms? Is there anything you can tell me about them?”

Adrian shook his head. “I never knew very much about them. They appeared one day and attacked a remote colony. Over time they spread and attacked one world after another. They were never able to get through our Wall, though.”

“Where did they come from?”

“No one ever found out. Some people think that Earth was behind them, as revenge for being locked away. People had largely forgotten about Earth before the attack. Others thought that they came from some alien race that we hadn’t discovered yet. As far as I know the question was never answered.”

The Sentinel nodded. “I understand. I will not take up any more of your time, then.”

“What are you going to do now?” Adrian asked.

“I will return to my father and tell him what I have learned.”

“When will you be back?”

“Soon,” the Sentinel said. “Once the swarms are destroyed we will come and help you rebuild. You will not have to face the future alone.”

“Very well,” Adrian replied. “But what of our Wall? This robot tells me that they cannot fix our equipment.”

“I will continue to maintain the Wall that I have erected,” the Sentinel said. “It will protect you from the swarms until my father has destroyed them.”

“Thank you,” Adrian replied.

The Sentinel nodded and then vanished. Adrian shook his head. With the help of the robot, he climbed back into his pod. The robot resealed it and walked away.