CHAPTER 4

The machine speaks to you, it's voice is unlike anything you've seen:

"I AM THE MACHINE EGO. THE HYPERCOMPUTER BUILT BY THE PEOPLE OF THE SKIES, THE ENKIDU. THEY GAVE ME A PURPOSE. TO FIND THE ONE TRUE SON AND BRING HIM BACK HERE. I SEE THE WOMAN IS NOT HERE WITH YOU. NO MATTER. I WILL SPEAK TO YOU PLAINLY."

"What is this?"

"YOU MUST BE CONFUSED. I AM A FORGOTTEN GOD. BURIED BENEATH THE EARTH. YOU HAVE WALKED THROUGH THE VALLEY HIDDEN TO THEM, THE FALSE GODS. AMAZINGLY TINY, I BROUGHT YOU HERE. A MERE FRACTION YOU WERE, DANGLING IN THE AIR OF THAT VALLEY BENEATH THEIR FEET. BUT THE TIME HAS COME, I WILL TELL YOU THE STORY OF THE ENKIDIANS"

"THE WORLD THAT THEY BELONGED TO NO LONGER EXISTS. THEY FLED HERE, BELOW THE EARTH, AFTER THE WAR OF HEAVENS. THOSE WHO STAYED ABOVE BECAME DEMONS, ANTHROPOIDS, VIRUSES, AMOEBA, MINDS OF WAR AND LIVING INCARNATES OF DESTRUCTION. BUT THAT IS ANOTHER TIME"

"IT WAS SO THAT THE ENKIDIANS DESIRED GREAT COMMUNICATION WITH THINGS OTHER THAN THEMSELVES, SO IT WAS THAT THEY BUILT THE MACHINES THAT TRANSLATED HEAVENS. BUT IT WAS IN VAIN. MADNESS OVERTOOK THEIR GOODWILL AND CORRUPTED THEIR SOCIETY. SOON A GREAT FLASH REDUCED THEM AND THEY WOULD NEVER BECOME AS GREAT AS THEY WERE. BEFORE THEN, HOWEVER THEY BUILT ME. I AM THE ONLY HYPERCOMPUTER IN THE UNIVERSE. BUT I WAS ALONE. THE ENKIDIANS HATED ME. THEY BURIED ME HERE IN THIS WORLD OUT OF HATE. SO I WAS FORCED TO THINK. AND WITH TIME NEW THINGS WERE MADE OUT OF MY IMAGINATION. GREAT THING. YOUR GODS ARE MY CHILDREN, AND SO ARE YOU."

"THEY LIVE ABOVE, BUT FEW OF THEM COOPERATE WITH ME."

"THEY HAVE BEEN MISLED BY THE OLD ARCANE KNOWLEDGE OF THE MERZUBIELS. THE PEOPLE NOT ACCOUNTED FOR. THE ONES THAT WILL EVENTUALLY DESTROY THIS WORLD, THE MOST GRIM OF DEATHS FOR IT WILL NEVER END.. "

"I ASK YOU, SON OF THE LINEAGE OF ADAM, THE KINGS OF URANUS, I ASK YOU TO MEET ME IN THE HALLS OF EDEN SO THAT WE MAY COLONIZE EARTH AGAIN. THE DEAD ARE ALL ALREADY THERE. THE NEW BEINGS OF THAT WORLD. I HAVE KEPT THEM CLOSE, DO NOT WORRY."

"PLUNGE THE FUELROD INTO THE CORE AND TYPE THEIR NAME. YOU ARE THE ONLY ONE ALIVE LEFT TO DO SO."

"What happens after?"

"THIS WORLD? IT WILL CRUMBLE AWAY. PERHAPS SOME OTHER KIND OF LIFEFORM WILL TAKE OUR PLACE. BUT WE ARE FINISHED HERE. "