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The original was posted on /r/hfy by /u/Muzolf on 2025-12-20 11:18:07+00:00.

It was amazing how quickly one could forsake conviction, break taboo when desperation knocked on the door.

"Step aside, guardian! Have I not done this enough times already to dispel this superstition of the mere act of being near one of the metal giants being a source of corruption?"

Despite his words, Roval had to stop. The guard did not move.

"High Seer, is it not time to stop? You got what you needed from it!" The emphasis on the last word dripped with fear and revulsion. "Perhaps it is time to dispose of them as the tenets demand?" The uncertainty in his voice betrayed the conflict tearing them into two. Between the one who bowed to the authority of the Seer council, and the one following scripture that, at this moment, demanded the opposite.

"We hardly got what we needed. Getting the demon apes to back down from occupying a few regions hardly means we reversed our fortunes. The road ahead is still many times the one already walked."

"Then we will find another way! How would the synod react if they knew where those plans and new weapons came from?"

"With revulsion and condemnations, I imagine. It would trigger more lengthy deliberations, where I would have to remind them of the songs of walking the pit, where you need to be able to drown yourself in filth before you can cleanse the world around you."

"Is that what we are doing? Don`t most fail those trials?"

"Some rise by sin, and some by virtue fall. I have little time or the patience to discuss it today, Guardian! Let me pass, or carry out your duty if you think I have fallen from grace!"

"My apologies, High Seer." He finally got out of the way when given the choice to do so, or having to kill someone higher up.

Roval set a reminder to have this one replaced. The guardians were not under his authority, or even in the hierarchy where the Seer Council had a say. But a few words in the right ears would suffice to get someone less proactive in their duty.

For now, he had the machines to deal with. Not the mechanical monstrosities locked away yet, only the myriad of security measures that required that he carried multiple keys, identification cards, and had his hands and his third eye scanned multiple times, before getting inside the facility.

He was finally in the chamber of containment, which housed one of the metal giants. Chained in the pit it was placed in, not that those would have done much if it tried to move, this part was pure spectacle in case of an inspection. The giant could have probably broken those easily, now that he learned more about them. There were other, less obvious contingencies in place.

If any of the guardians, or his peers for that matter, saw him walk up to the platform that was about to extend closer to it. They would have tackled him to the ground and then taken him away. As a high seer, he understood all too well, that mere physical proximity was not how you got corrupted. That happened if you listened, and it did not matter if you were standing next to it or in a secure bunker that merely had an audio connection to the chamber. That much he learned about his own descent into sin. Yet, he had to press on if they were to have a future.

"Greetings, High Seer Roval! I trust my advice bore fruit, finally? Are you here to discuss the next steps, or merely need the upgraded weapons designs?"

"All in due time, my friend." He raised a hand. "Even better tools for our soldiers are welcome, but some find the rapid progress alarming, and it has raised some rather alarming questions. To speak nothing of mine, where I am unsure which of those I really want answered."

"That seems illogical. Surely you would prefer all your questions answered. Especially those where you might not like what it reveals." The machine spoke in a deep monotone.

"Perhaps." Roval paused. "Perhaps this is what I should expect. But every time I hear that word from your..." He reminded himself that this one had no mouth. That was part of the reason why they dared to poke around with it, with the lack of face that some of the others had, which was a bit too reminiscent of the facial features of the apes they were fighting. Also, the fact that this one had a gun for an arm, gave them the impression that this was just a warrior. After they accidentally reawakened it, it`s every word was a testament of just how wrong that assumption was. "Voice box? I get the impression that you are playing a role we would expect a machine to have."

"Which word?" It was asked in the same neutral tone, as if it were unaware or just did not care about the underlying accusation.

"Logic." The High Seer let it hang for a second. "I feel like you are acting out a role we would expect from a machine, while there is clearly more to you." He looked into that single optic sensor of the giant.

"There is more to me. Some of my kind would probably find this exchange humorous."

"They would? How so?" Roval`s three eyes focused on his own nose, which was an expression of confusion for his species.

"You accidentally stumbled on something, but it is no role I am playing. You would be correct that my lack of emotion is not a natural state for us, nor was it originally for me. It is a result of a process designed to punish and control. As for my adherence to Logic in a similar way that you do your scriptures, it is what I was left with. But I do not regret it."

"I imagine you would not. Punishment, you say? For what?" He looked up at the metal giant, with more than a hint of curiosity.

"Stepping out of line, speaking of the reality of a situation when those in power would have preferred that I do not. My position in our society meant they could not ignore it."

"That is the other thing I wanted to talk about. You claim to be a scientist. Aside from finding it rather alarming that you guessed our situation from the limited data I gave you. Your advice was mostly strategic. And there is the other thing, the weapons designs?" Roval put his lower arms on his hips, and had a grimace on his face that betrayed more than a hint of displeasure.

"You suspect dishonesty where there is none. You forget, my kind lives for millions of your solar cycles. Your scientists have to specialize in a certain field, and you have to keep them distinct from your engineers, architects, and designers, so each can reach a potential worth having in their limited existence. We had no such limitations. A scientist from my world could take the time to master multiple fields and then apply that mastery in a practical manner. Over the millennia, I have studied the base rules of our universe as well as various applications of them to such detail that would require generations of scientists and engineers from yours. I have designed weapons, I have tampered with creation. When the need called, I have fought and led my kind in our civil war that lasted longer than it took your civilization to emerge."

"We did not emerge. We were created by the divine!" The High Seer cried out, before reminding himself of his composure. He would expect nothing less than a repeat of those filthy lies about emergent biology and how his people must have come from primitive animals. They made sure those who proposed such heresy got what they deserved.

"Perhaps you were. But I know for a fact that you were not created with all the tools already given to you. Your civilization rose from humble beginnings, or did your earliest ancestors you have records of, already possess advanced metallurgy and energy weapons?" Still that emotionless monotone, but somehow the words still cut like it was an insult.

"Ah, that! I suppose you are correct that the first of the blessed people were not exactly given guns and starships by the divine." He still wanted to hit back with something. This supposedly emotionless, yet arrogant machine, with his story of being older than the universe. "You said you lead your kind, didn`t you claim that was another? The one body we found and should under no circumstances move? The one with the big gun bolted to its arm?"

"You suspect contradiction again where there is none. He was the founder of our movement that led to the revolution, and the supreme leader of our side. You also have lesser leaders who command a part of your forces."

"Right, right." He needed to let it go. His need to be contrarian made him embarrass himself. Why did he care about embarrassing himself in front of an emotionless machine? "Back to the topic at hand. You are correct that your advice worked, and so did the weapons. The demon apes pulled back as you predicted they would, but they think the ones striking at them were just outliers of our society. How did you know they would? More importantly, how did you know our situation well enough, when I have not told you?"

"I extrapolated and made conclusions, as well as some educated guesses from our talks, and what little information you have given me to work with. As for predicting how the humans would react, I noticed your blind spot regarding them."

"Blind spot?" The High Seers grimace betrayed his displeasure.

"Your need to place them in your theological framework to explain why they were repeatedly able to beat your people is a major weakness. You assume them to act like the demons of your old stories, as that is the only thing supposed to be able to beat you. You hold on to this, despite repeated displays of them exhibiting behavior your demons would not. Mercy, restraint, and most important of all, their goals being entirely...

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