eugenesis-text

‘I’m sorry, but it doesn’t work like that. You had millions years to sort out your differences. We won
our freedom when Unicron died in 2006, and we intend to make the most of it. I will, however, allow you
to witness the birth of your successors.’
He drew wires from a control panel and plugged them into receptors in his skull. Waves of enervating
power flowed like honeyed milk into the birthing pods and ten thousand optics opened wide. Xenon
ascended to a new height, stretching his anti-grav column until it thinned to a needle. Weightless and
ecstatic, with only the taut connection wires preventing him from rising further, he blanked every outside
influence and transmitted the Lifecode.
Ten thousand bodies sat bolt upright simultaneously, moisture evaporating from their bodies in swirls
of cottoned steam. Ten thousand heads moved as one, following the same imaginary point of interest. They
stood up in tandem, steadied themselves with the same hand, blinked the same blink, and turned as one to
look at their master.
Xenon crashed to the floor, half-entangled with the railings. He was whimpering. ‘Zombies! They’re
all zombies! Why It should have worked. It should have worked.’
Ultra Magnus picked up his gun. ‘You’re an idiot, Xenon. This is what happens when you tamper
with the wellspring. Whatever you say, the Matrix cannot be tamed and channelled like water. It controlled
you, and gave you the illusion of power because it chose to. It’s used to people playing god.’
‘No, it’s more than that; it’s your fault, not mine. Yes. Yes! I can see it now. I understand. There’s a
problem with the Matrix... The virus – Unicron. He’s inside it. He’s been released. I can hear Him. He’s
inside my head. Oh my god, he’s inside my head!’
‘Don’t play games, Xenon. Call off the invasion.’
‘I’ve given you enough rope, Magnus. Now it’s my turn.’ Galvatron placed the barrel of his rifle
against Xenon’s scalp.
‘Wait!’ called Ultra Magnus. ‘It doesn’t have to end like this!’
‘Yes it does. This is my favourite part.’ Galvatron fired, and Xenon’s head – and therefore his entire
body – burst open, spreading the walkway with techno-organic components.
Magnus stepped back before the tide of warm lubricant curled around his boots. ‘Urgh. Are you
happy now’
‘Not quite.’ Galvatron leant over the railings and surveyed the lines of automatons, still waiting
patiently for direction and purpose. ‘These robots are mentally interlinked, wouldn’t you say’
‘They seem connected at base level, yes. Why’
Galvatron took aim and shot the nearest robot – a slim Ironhide look-a-like – in the head. Ten
thousand bodies reacted to the kill-shot, ten thousand CPUs blinked out, ten thousand morphcores cooled,
and ten thousand dead bodies hit the floor at the same time. Smoke rose from their widened eyes and rolled
against the supercomputer that had helped create them: G.O.D. had re-materialised, its cloak of invisibility
having fallen to the floor.
‘Now that was satisfying,’ smiled Galvatron, swivelling to re-aim his weapon. ‘Take one step closer,
Magnus, and I’ll punch a hole in your Pretender shell.’
‘You bastard! They were innocent beings! They were alive!’
‘Hmm, perhaps I did make a mistake. Perhaps I should have killed them before I killed Xenon.’
Galvatron ran towards the door. ‘Come on. Let’s get out of here.’
‘Wait!’ Magnus started feeling his way along G.O.D.’s glossy casing. ‘This must be the decoder
Xenon used to extrapolate the Lifeforce.’
‘I thought you didn’t believe him.’
‘Just because he was delusional doesn’t mean he didn’t feed his fantasies. The Matrix is inside here
somewhere.’ Magnus pressed and prodded until he found an access panel. He pulled off his glove and
pushed his arm in up to the shoulder. ‘Just give me a moment…’
‘You’re the delusional one,’ said Galvatron, turning to go. After a few steps he swung round, ready to
berate his companion again, and saw that Ultra Magnus was floating above the walkway, in ecstatic posture.
Shafts of divine light were breaking through the cracks in his Pretender shell. His arm was still trapped in
the supercomputer.
‘Magnus’
‘Help me. Help me.’