EXXOS
Trapped in the void without any point of reference to indicate time or location, Exxos and his black robots endured. And they planned, because the Shana Rei were incapable of doing so.
The inkblot creatures wanted to unravel Order and Stability, and to let themselves be unmade, but the very existence of a plan was anathema to them. They attacked at random, they destroyed capriciously.
But the black robots planned their own fight. Together, they used their efficient computerized processes to design heavily armed vessels that could strike any human colony, any Ildiran world. Since only 241 robots remained after so many setbacks, Exxos had to make the most of his resources. These magnificent angular battleships would protect them.
Now the Shana Rei had to build the vessels.
The shadows held the power to create matter directly from vacuum energy, following any pattern that Exxos provided. But creating organized matter caused them excruciating and incomprehensible pain, so they balked at the request.
Nevertheless, Exxos had little sympathy as he presented intricate designs for improved battleships. “We require these,” he called into the silent emptiness. “We must continue the physical battle. That was your bargain with us.”
One of the inkblots unfolded in front of him. The blazing central eye glared. “You would cause us pain.”
“I would grant you victory, but you must give us the tools we need. We can destroy all life and ease your agony. I have already run an analysis, chosen a target to destroy—a strong knot of Ildiran thism. That success will more than outweigh your pain in creating the ships we require. You must do it.”
Exxos knew the creatures of darkness would eliminate every single robot the instant they proved unnecessary, so he had to remain convincing, stay one step ahead of their chaotic thoughts. And so he lied to the Shana Rei, taunted them, tricked them into believing he understood something that the shadows did not. “By killing the Ildirans, we weaken the thism and we ease your pain.”
“There is a far worse pain than the thism,” boomed the Shana Rei. “Eternity’s mind grows louder, deeper.” The words degenerated, became gibberish, then swelled into a howling wail echoed by hundreds of other inkblots that appeared around him, countless eyes staring through the void.
Lashing out, the Shana Rei plucked a random robot from the group and spun the black shape away from the others. The robot swiveled its flat angular head, sent out a burst of panic, and transmitted an emergency backup of its personalities and memories. Exxos and his counterparts received the flood of data only a moment before the shadows ripped the victim apart. They tore the metallic plates loose, plucked out the optical sensors, and spilled internal circuits like the entrails of a vivisected animal. The robot’s bleating electronic signal fell silent, and the destroyed components drifted into the nothingness. Long afterward, the Shana Rei continued to break the debris into smaller and smaller pieces, then separated even the combined molecules into component atoms, and then they were finished.
Exxos and the other robots endured in silence. Now, only 240 of them remained.
Fortunately, after their frenzied outburst the Shana Rei seemed calmer, and their agony settled into a dull throbbing. One of the inkblots appeared before Exxos again. “We will create your ships, and you will continue to destroy that which causes us pain. Tell us this target you have chosen.”
“It is a place where the Ildirans focus their thoughts. They draw thism together as they study the Lightsource. We must erase it.”
The shadow said, “Yes, they inflict shards of pain upon us. Destroy them with these ships we give you.”
The void rippled, and the Shana Rei absorbed the projected blueprint and forged the first warship out of nothingness, a feat which was accompanied by a chorus of howling pain as the shadows forced matter out of chaos. They managed to manufacture ten identical battleships before the pain became too great for them.
Exxos was satisfied. As he and all his comrades were transported aboard the impressive new vessels, he said, “These will do very well.” It was a statement of fact, not gratitude.
The new black robot fleet began to move through the back corridors of the universe. Finally they arrived at their destination, opening a doorway at the proper place. The deadly ships emerged above the Ildiran shrine of Hiltos, ready for battle.