EXXOS
The Shana Rei reveled in the obliteration of Ulio Station, and that victory kept the black robots alive. Eradicating the busy complex was a triumph of chaos erasing order. But the unexpected losses Exxos had suffered!
Ninety of his precious robots—all of them thankfully backed up—had been lured to destruction by one desperate human. Ninety! That disrupted his calculations. It was a terrible setback to his larger plans.
Nevertheless the destruction they had caused at Ulio gave him satisfaction. Realigning his thoughts to the new paradigm, he decided to convince the Shana Rei to continue on that course and raise the destruction to a much grander scale.
But he simply could not afford to lose more robots. There were so many planets and populations to wipe out. Losing ninety robots in one action was unacceptable.
“We understand now,” said one of the pulsing shadow blots. “We see what your robots intend to do, but you do not understand the scope of our enemies. The complete task is beyond your conception.”
Exxos was offended. “And yet we will proceed, step by step, and annihilate human civilization, the Ildiran Empire, the verdani mind, and everything that causes you such pain.”
“Your victories are ambitious, but unrealistic,” said another inkblot, and the creatures of darkness closed in on the group of robots drifting in the aimless void. “Even if you destroyed every single life-form, you are not strong enough to annihilate eternity’s mind. And it is awakening.”
In his deepest programming, Exxos was more concerned with destroying the Shana Rei after the extinction of humans and Ildirans. “You presented us with this fight,” he said. “You enlisted us in your struggle against order and structure, and we refuse to stop fighting. Do you wish to surrender?”
The inkblots were silent, their darkness intensifying, then they spoke. “Surrender is a foreign concept.”
“Then you must endure, and you must sacrifice—just as we have sacrificed. Give us the ships and weapons we require. More than ever before.”
The inkblots swarmed closer, and Exxos feared he had pushed them too hard, and they could well retaliate by dismantling more robots down to atoms. Instead, the shadows said, “Define what you need.”
Exxos ran quick calculations. He could not afford to lose more robots. “We require invincible warships, larger vessels that wield greater power. We can cause more destruction, just as we did at Ulio Station.” He amplified his voice. “But you must create the ships for us, no matter how much pain it causes. You need to manifest the material.”
Creating the dark structural matter caused the Shana Rei such agony that he was convinced they would refuse him. Nevertheless, he demanded it. He wanted to see how much it would weaken them.
“We cannot tolerate the agony that would be required to manifest as much material as you request,” said the nearest shadow blot. “But the material already exists, an inexhaustible supply of dense black matter that we crafted into existence millennia ago. We already endured the pain of creation when it was locked into this universe.”
“What material is it?” Exxos asked.
“We manifested that matter when we were stronger, when a single victory against one race, the Onthos, and the core of the worldforest mattered more than anything. We englobed and smothered a star system. All that material remains. We can go there, use it again. And create exactly what you need.”
Exxos had not expected this. His crimson optical sensors brightened, and the rest of the surviving robots were thrumming. “We will have the material for as many battleships as we request?”
“That, and much more. Your robots will have the tools to keep blotting out organic worlds. We will go there. Now.”
The shadow cloud enfolded them, and the Shana Rei plunged out of existence, traveling behind dimensions, until they reemerged into the real universe.