First Law of Quarantine:That which permeates will not die, and shall spread as far as it is contained.
Second Law of Quarantine:That which exists will escape, and shall defeat any containment.
Third Law of Quarantine:That which is possible will occur, if it is not prevented…
The last OccurrenceI sit here in the far depths of what remains of Nightway, purveying these words, wondering what they mean, and what they mean for the world. I do not have long in this life, so forgive me if my tale is shorter and less elegant than one would have hoped. Forgive me for my flaws, my prejudice, and for my misconceptions. Above all, forgive us for the horrors we have inflicted upon your world.
We meant no harm. We wished to save! We wished to create! Unfortunately, ideals have a way of corrupting themselves. What we were, what we are now, are one and the same, the previous being less world-weary than the latter. And now, as the last towers fall, as the last of the entrapped break free, I begin to wonder who will be remembered as the hero and the villain. In the end, all one can hope for is a world seen. A pure viewer is too much to ask for.
I am a Quarantine officer. It is my duty to put the people before the state. A government means nothing if they are too incompetent to stop what is inevitable. This fact was one that all understood. And now, no one even remembers the symbol I wear upon my chest. Now, there is no more government, no more people. Now, I finally begin to see the world for what it was.
It all began fifty-one years ago. Long before I even heard of corruption. We were a strong people back then. No enemies except for those within. No dissenters, except for those not mentioned. No sadness, except for that concealed. We were drunk on too much victory. We believed we could do anything! We believed we could reach the stars. And for a while there, we did. Overall, it was a gilded time, but one that gleamed with a light brighter than the sun itself.
We are more advanced than we ourselves can possibly imagine. We can create life. We know just how the world functions. We know what a single atom can do to a city! Such was the mantra we said to ourselves during the difficult eras. We were transcendent! It was natural, then, with no more need of war, to turn our prospects to expansion. To literally transcend, to achieve what we said we already could do. We set out to create the impossible.
We started projects, wonderful projects, to ease the suffering of our fellow man. We cured diseases. We built bridges into space. We constructed organisms, marvelous in complexity, to replace our factories, our ships, and our very workforce. Mechanical, microscopic, biological, viral, energy- based! Anything was possible.
Fifty-one years ago, however, that all changed. An automaton refused to destroy another. A cure for a disease started to cause it. And an inexplicable urge caught up with everything we ever constructed. Everything that was built for our betterment stopped caring. What was one world had fractured into many. What was once a peaceful time turned into a war of species. So the Quarantines began.
I hate to admit, it was one of our most altruistic endeavors. An entire army, with no reason but to repress the masses.
For their safety, naturally.
Author
Topic: Nightway (Read 1849 times)