Embers of Embers

Chapter 586 Origin
Stepping into the realm of nothingness, after a short period of darkness, Lorenzo stepped on the solid ground again and appeared in this new columnar space.
Looking at the things around him, Lorenzo felt a strange feeling in his heart. Different from the previous dilapidation, this place seemed to be the most prosperous time of the sanctuary in the memory of the secret keeper. He could see that the containers on the well walls were full of water. , something seemed to be squirming in the pink liquid, and the green indicator lights lit up one by one, spreading to the upper and lower ends.
The giant disc in front of him is also stored safely, with a faint blue light floating on it, and the mechanical arm hanging down from the dome is also moving slowly. It breaks away from the shackles of the disc and floats on the well wall. Wandering between them, he seemed to be checking the condition of the container.
Lorenzo seemed to have never left. He came here again. It was a bit surprising, but thinking about it, this was the only scene left that could penetrate deeply into the soul of the secret keeper.
"Personality awakening."
Leng Che's voice sounded, and the cover of the disc in front of him opened. In the white air, an old man sat up from the water and cables. Different from what Lorenzo saw in reality, the secret keeper at this moment His own image is not that poor brain tissue, but compared with it, he is not much stronger at the moment.
Most of the body has been replaced by metal machinery, the back of the head has been replaced by a translucent container, and the chest has been completely opened. Lorenzo can even see the machinery operating under the flesh and blood, and the limbs have been transformed into metal prostheses. In order to To ensure basic survival, you can see that a series of digestive organs have become incomprehensible to Lorenzo.
Liquids of different colors surged in the pipes of different thicknesses, and a slight electric current passed through them. The electronic eyes on the old face shimmered, then turned and moved.
The old man coughed violently and spit out all the accumulation in his throat.
"Is this reality, or..."
When the electronic speaker sounded, the old man didn't seem to have the ability to speak, and the ability to communicate was all handled by the machine.
"[Gap], at least that's what we call this place."
Lorenzo responded.
"Is that so?"
The old man bowed his body, and the glint in his electronic eyes flashed on and off, as if he was thinking.
"That crazy Roger is back, and there's Adren."
The electronic sound was distorted, and it seemed that the old man knew what was happening in the outside world, which made Lorenzo feel confused.
"Do you know what's going on outside?"
"It's just very rough information. Although the shelter is extremely dilapidated, there are still some facilities that can be used, such as external observation. Otherwise, I wouldn't be able to lead you in."
The old man said slowly.
"It's a pity that I'm too old and all my equipment is damaged, so I can barely survive. If you are not sublime, I really don't know how to communicate with you."
"Have you guessed that something like this would happen?"
If this is true, Lorenzo has to admire the old man's determination and decisiveness. He just regards himself as a living recorder, waiting for the arrival of an ascendant like Lorenzo.
"I've lived too long and I've seen a lot of outrageous things. It's not hard to guess that this might be the case."
The old man's voice was hoarse, and the electronic sound became distorted.
"Please wait a moment for your questions. Please give me some time. In order to ensure that I don't collapse, I have taken many measures. This brain has been frozen for too long. I need to get it moving again."
As he spoke, he stretched out his robotic arm, and tapped the glass skull gently with his metal fingers. The tapping caused the fluid in it to vibrate slightly, and the brain tissue also shook.
"You know what we want to ask?"
Watson appeared next to Lorenzo, and she and Lorenzo stepped into the [Gap] together.
"of course."
The electronic eye had no expression at all, but Lorenzo still felt some kind of emotion from the cold machinery and shimmering light.
"Every time people arrive here, whether they're men or women, good guys or bad guys, they ask me the same question, and that's why I'm alive today."
The gears rotated rapidly, white gas filled the air, and the cables broke one by one. The old man slowly stood up from the training chamber, with dripping water on his body, and walked down slowly, with his rugged metal body on full display.
"Although it's an illusion, it feels really good to stand up again."
The old man lowered his head as he spoke, only to see that his lower body was empty. Lorenzo's expression was a little strange. Thinking about it carefully, judging from the current judgment, the secret keeper is also a man. When encountering such a thing, he will always feel a little uncomfortable... …
Before Lorenzo could continue his damn whimsical thoughts, the Keeper couldn't help but burst out laughing, making Lorenzo a little at a loss.
"Probably a long, long time ago, before I was 'optimized' to be like this, and I still had a relatively simple excretion function, the technicians put an interesting device on me. As long as I adjusted the downforce a little, my body would excrete waste. The liquid can be mixed with metal particles and sprayed out like a water jet, easily killing several enemies."
The electronic eyes moved back and forth, and he felt quite elated. As he spoke, he straightened his hips vigorously and burst into laughter.
Lorenzo's expression was a little stiff. Although he didn't understand what the water jet was, judging from the fact that he pissed the enemy to death, it was definitely not a serious matter. The character of this secret keeper was a little different from what he expected.
"You think I'm a little different from what you imagined? As an old monster who keeps secrets, I should be calm and cautious with a constipated look on my face, speaking strange words that I can't understand?"
The slightly bright electronic eyes were placed in front of Lorenzo, looking directly at the blue light, Lorenzo nodded.
"This is not possible. If you live for too long, you will inevitably have some psychological problems. People should be more optimistic."
The old man laughed even louder. He stepped back and leaned against the edge of the training barn.
"But I really miss it. I can't even remember what it feels like to be constipated."
This is too optimistic.
Lorenzo had thought about the unwillingness and anger on the face of the secret keeper, telling himself about his past hatred and expectations. However, this guy didn't have any sense of mystery at all. Judging from his eagerness to try, if he really hadn't been Demolition, he will definitely show Lorenzo what a water jet is.
Brain tissue soaked in nutrient solution suddenly flashed before his eyes, losing all its parts, leaving only a head struggling to survive.
Lorenzo's smile that had just emerged froze. Seeing the old man amusing himself, he had mixed feelings for a while.
"Are those two guys still fighting? It's really endless. I think they have been fighting for a long time. It must have been centuries."
The old man sighed.
"You know them?" Lorenzo asked.
"More than just acquaintances, one of them was brought up by me."
The old man said very bad things easily, which really made Lorenzo feel a little uncomfortable. It’s kind of like you joined the decisive battle to save the world, but you were accompanied by a poet playing an accordion. While you were killing the enemy, he was helping you Soundtrack.
This feels ridiculous.
"Roger Cruz, I was a child who was raised in a shelter. After all, we all felt a little bored for a long time. Some secret keepers suggested raising a few children for fun. I feel that being idle is also idle. So I agreed that when these children grow up, they can help maintain the shelter."
The old man recalled it as he spoke, regardless of what other questions Lorenzo and the others had.
"We randomly selected a few stored embryos to hatch, and then Roger Cruze was born. He had no parents and was completely artificially bred, just like livestock. We created a large number at one time, and he was just one of them.
That was a pretty bright kid, and I've regretted having him for a long time, oh, that's what it means, don't get me wrong.
Unlike the other kids who saw us long-lived metal monsters as gods, he didn't feel that way, Roger Cruz was curious about everything, learned knowledge, honed craft.
Of course the worst thing is that he is very open to the world outside the shelter, that is a child who can 'question'. "
Having said this, the old man looked a little downcast. Lorenzo was about to say something comforting, but he only heard him speak viciously.
"You bastard, if I had known better, I shouldn't have given birth to him. It would have been better to smash the embryo together."
Lorenzo frowned slightly, his expression twitching.
"Yes, Edron Levien, that's the name of another damn bastard. It's a pity that I can't smash his embryo. He is a human being and comes from the outside world... Actually, I don't think so. I never thought anyone would come here at that time.”
The old man was talking to himself, regardless of Lorenzo's intentions. In fact, Lorenzo was still happy to listen to the old man's memoirs. He was very curious about everything in the past, like a hungry beggar.
"Wait, I still have to answer your questions."
Only then did he remember his original function.
"Sorry, sorry, I haven't used my brain for too long, my thinking is a little strange."
The old man spoke very fast, but the specific expression was that the glimmers of light on his body kept flickering on and off, and the electronic sound carried a slight electric sound.
"Let me think about it, when did you start talking about it?
By the way, let me talk about a few premises first, you are all sublimators, you must have a certain understanding of the indescribable, this ghost thing is crazy and disorderly, faithfully implementing the essence of 'life', plundering and continuation.
It spreads in the form of erosion and conducts meme pollution, which leads to the disappearance of many things in human history... It is not that it destroys, but those things are polluted by the unspeakable. For the sake of safety, we humans have carried out Castration of the self.
So even the history I know has holes and gaps. Maybe I remembered it, but for safety, I probably accepted the antimemetic influence and forgot all the contaminated parts.
Nothing is absolutely true.
Nothing is absolutely correct. "
The old man paused as he spoke.
"There may also be other physiological reasons. I think you have also seen that I should be just a ball of brain tissue now. With human technology, if you want to preserve me until now, some problems will inevitably arise."
"Then that's when it all started."
Lorenzo and Watson stared at the old man, listening intently to his words.
"The war between humans and the Unspeakable has lasted for centuries. It was also during the long war that we gradually learned about the nature of the Unspeakable. In order to suppress its corrosiveness, we developed antimemetic weapons to deal with it. Discord monsters undergo cognitive banishment.
The shelter also appeared during that time, when it was still a war fortress numbered six, which is where it is.
On the surface here, we used an antimemetic weapon called [Final Echo] to severely damage the Unspeakables, but we were also severely damaged. The antimemes were not only erasing the Unspeakables, but also erasing them. Except for us humans.
That should be the first great epoch in human history, at least in my understanding, this should be the first great epoch.
In fact, there is no [Final Echo], and the history of human civilization has almost ended. At that time, the Unspeakable destroyed most of human civilization, and its erosion polluted one library after another. We can only treat those civilizations The treasures burned, forgotten and forgotten.
Then at Fortress No. 13, we carried out a 'dimensionality reduction plan', using Fortress No. 13 as a bait. There are tens of thousands of people there, and they were deliberately exposed to the sight of the Unspeakable, but because it was protected by forbidden metal , if it wants to invade it, it must require an entity to intervene. "
"You made the will of nothingness have a physical body, and released the [Final Echo] there, forcing it to enter eternal sleep, thereby imprisoning the Unspeakable."
This is the story told by the pioneers, and Lorenzo now retells it.
The old man nodded, confirming Lorenzo's story, but then he said.
"That's right, the crisis of the Unspeakable has been temporarily brought under control. Although it has fallen into a long sleep, the nightmare still surrounds it, covering the entire... Western world, I remember you call it this way.
Fortress No. [-], the only remaining war fortress, was turned into a sanctuary. After gathering all human knowledge and technology, we sealed ourselves off and began the Age of Renaissance. "
"The surviving people began to rebuild civilization on the ground, but soon the Unspeakable revealed its abilities. Neither the Forbidden Alloy nor the Antimemetics could completely suppress it. The power was still leaking out. Behind it Under the influence, more and more people turned into monsters, which eventually caused disputes and wars. The first attempt at revival failed, but fortunately we still have many opportunities."
The old man said as he looked at the containers on the well wall. They were densely packed and endless.
"Those are artificial embryos. After regular cultivation, the shelter can continue to produce tens of thousands of healthy humans to fill the world's population when necessary. The new humans will use the knowledge of the shelter to become the second batch of revivalists.
The revivers are led and guided by the nation-builders who carry knowledge. After they leave the sanctuary, they will be eradicated by antimemes from all knowledge related to the sanctuary to protect the existence of the sanctuary.
But it is a pity that after centuries of war, most of the buildings on the surface have been destroyed and the infrastructure is completely gone. It seems that we have to start from scratch. "
His voice was low, then high. Judging from his excited posture, he could start farming just by swinging the hoe.
"But it doesn't matter, at least we have a chance to start again.
In order to avoid another destruction, we realize that although the scope of the influence of the Unspeakable is wide, it still has certain limitations, which is what you call the Eastern World. There are other groups on the edge of the influence of the Unspeakable. Revivals were sent there, carrying antimemetic technology with them, to form a new civilization there to see if they could escape the influence of the Unspeakable Ones.
In fact, we also thought about whether to shift all the focus of the revival to the Eastern world...perhaps we did so. In short, there is no record of this period in my memory, and it was probably erased by the antimeme. "
The old man seemed a little confused, but he soon felt relieved. He had been dealing with antimemes and erosion all day long, and he had long been accustomed to the disordered memory.
"Don't worry too much about this kind of thing. For various reasons, my memory seems to have been deleted again and again. Anyway, if you forget it, forget it, so don't worry too much.
After all, this is all related to antimemetics. This kind of power has always been used to deceive the enemy, but also to deceive one's own people.According to records, things were conveniently isolated from then on.
do you remember?The Unspeakables are sublimated from human beings due to certain 'factors', just as demons appear from the alienation of human beings. "
The old man's mood changed drastically. Lorenzo didn't know whether it was because of his personality, or whether the long years had turned him into a ridiculous lunatic. At this moment, his words seemed a little sad and a little depressed.
"We were wrong. We overlooked one thing from the beginning. The Unspeakables were sublimated from humans. From the beginning, humans have had some vague connection with them. No matter where we escape, this connection will always remain. None were cut off.
Just like...
Just like it has eroded 'all mankind' from the beginning, we cannot destroy ourselves, so we can only keep imprisoning the Unspeakable. Its sleep blabbering drives people crazy, but it also gives it nourishment and lulls it to sleep. .
We are of the same origin.
It's like..."
"Requiem."
Lorenzo suddenly knew everything. He looked at the secret keeper and slowly recounted the terrible conjecture.
"This is not just imprisonment, but sacrifice. One after another, humans fall into madness, offering sacrifices to the nameless god and singing a requiem lullaby."
"Yes, all we can do is to continuously reduce the connection between ourselves and the Unspeakable, which is to use antimemetic weapons.
But in previous wars, all the stored weapons were used in Fort No.13, and it was also because of the influence of these antimemes that the Unspeakable Ones were able to fall into a long sleep...or human beings lost their recognition We know that when humans remember its true face again, erosion will reopen the channel to wake it up, and now its sleep talk keeps appearing, trying to make humans remember it again. "
"The war has caused you to lose technology and materials. You can no longer continue to weaken the connection, and it is following its instinct to hunt. Sooner or later, it will break out of the cage due to hunger." Lorenzo said.
"Yes, this is why there are still people in the Western world, and why demons appear so frequently. The Unspeakable needs sacrifices." The old man said sadly, "The war is still going on, but our defeat has been determined. What we have done All our efforts are just to continue human existence and postpone the day of failure as much as possible.”
“We dispatched the nation-builders, who led the second batch of revivalists to rebuild civilization, but they were destroyed again and again under the impact of sleep talk.
All this is not meaningless. Every time we fail, we will accumulate something. Although it is very small, it is also our cornerstone. This accumulation becomes more and more grand under countless deaths, until one day a new civilization Standing on the ruins.
Until the newly born human beings stand in the darkness of despair.
Until there is a human being who can not only resist such darkness, but also fight back.
Until... a person like you who pursues and follows the fragments of history finds this place. "
Lorenzo's figure was reflected in his cold electronic eyes. Lorenzo lowered his head, not knowing what he was thinking about, and then he asked the old man.
"Why did the Nation Builders start a war? Are they killing more humans to offer sacrifices to the Unspeakable?"
“No, the Unspeakable essentially spreads through erosion, and during the war, we almost cut off all information that could potentially recognize the Unspeakable.
Burning books and forgetting history, we 'reduce' it to a fixed form, turn the entire fortress into a cage, and imprison it forever. Although its sleep blabbering still sounds in the dark night, humans cannot bear it. With that kind of 'information', they will be transformed into monsters and become bloodthirsty and crazy. However, they will be killed by other humans and the 'road' will be blocked again.
This is a perfect closed loop, but there are still a few flaws, just like this shelter, its service life is almost eternal, but it is not eternal. "
The old man's words struck Lorenzo's heart, and Lorenzo vaguely guessed the answer to the question.
"We humans have a connection with the Unspeakable. Although this connection has been extremely weakened through our efforts, it does still exist."
"Population growth leads to deeper connections, doesn't it?" Lorenzo asked.
"Yes, in our time, if there are too many of a species, it needs to be controlled. If there are too many birds, the birds will be killed. If there are too many wolves, then the wolves will be killed.
In the face of this even more terrifying monster, the population needs to be stabilized within a certain value, a level that can develop without waking it up. "
"Then why don't you announce all your knowledge and technology to the world to speed up our development?" Lorenzo didn't understand.
"Because we've already done that."
The old man slowly opened his hand. Behind him, the containers on the well wall broke one by one. The light continued to disappear, and finally turned into a dim appearance. This is what a shelter looks like in reality.
The glory is gone and it is dilapidated.
"At the beginning of the design, the shelter could support dozens of restarts, but as you can see, these containers have long been broken. Over the long years, we have restarted many times, more than you can imagine, kid. .”
The old man looked at this magnificent but long-dead building, where he spent endless time, so long ago that he could hardly remember what the outside world was like.
"Imagine that you have amazing technology in your mind that can realize what you have in mind. It requires basic equipment beyond this era, but your life span is so short that you will not live to see the day when all this is established, let alone Not to mention the threat of erosion and pollution.
All we can do is release knowledge and technology in stages, and then guide them to the next stage when the civilization of the outside world reaches the critical point.
Accelerating development is not a simple matter, not to mention that most of the knowledge has been contaminated and destroyed.
But in fact, there is no knowledge in the shelter. Under the erosion of time, most of the equipment has been shut down, the database has fallen into silence, and even the power reactor has cooled down.
Even I need to cut off my own head to reduce resource consumption and live longer. "
He laughed self-deprecatingly.
"Besides, so what if there is, the builders who were supposed to lead you are already ignorant. They may not be able to recognize these lost technologies, even the secret keepers who originally stayed here. Everyone died one after another. I’m the only one left.”
The excited expression calmed down, and there was a smile in the old man's voice again.
"Of course, the most important thing is that the shelter needs to maintain absolute silence to avoid any possibility of being noticed by the Unspeakable. This is a chance for humans to come back again. I can't push such an opportunity to the gambling table. I wouldn't bet on it."
Listening to his words, Lorenzo fell into silence.
Indeed, human lifespan is so short. In the absence of resources and equipment, and the inability to use machinery to survive, the only way left is sublimation, and this has a great possibility of awakening the Unspeakable.
Knowledge is cursed, and they record it carefully, trying to bury the secrets of the past forever.
The builders of the country changed over time, and the once real history became blurred and distorted under the influence of time. Their descendants may have thought that all this was just illusion in the end, and could only foolishly carry out this ancient order.
Like Oscar, like Queen Victoria, like all the ignorance in the world.
The old man laughed hoarsely.
“Ultimately, humans are still too fragile.
We restarted again and again, and the resources in the shelter were consumed again and again. Although we established a new civilization in the outside world, we also had a certain ability to resist the unspeakable ones' sleep talk. But under this consumption, this It's all just a vicious cycle.
Build tall buildings and collapse; build on ruins and collapse.
Gradually everyone became desperate. "
Everything is in vain, everything is meaningless.
"In my memory, this kind of chronic death lasted for a long time. Although no one said it, everyone realized the failure of mankind, and the current efforts are just to make 'humanity' exist longer.
As for stepping into Ascension and becoming a member of the Unspeakable?
Some people have also suggested that we shoot the guy directly, put the body into the recycling machine, the water is extracted and injected into the reservoir, and the crushed corpse is turned into fertilizer and irrigated into the cultivation field.
In this regard, I am very fortunate that my colleagues have the same views as me. After all, you have to lose with some backbone.
Then there was absolute silence.
Until a few centuries ago, a group of guys knocked on the door of the sanctuary.
At that time, the shelter had already entered a state of running out of ammunition and food. Various resources were severely lacking, and there were not many artificial embryos left. It could barely support a restart.
We woke up from a long sleep, and we don't know exactly how these guys came here, but think about it, no matter how we erase our own existence, we will eventually leave some clues.
The visitors were mumbling about miracles and beliefs, and they were so devout that they kowtowed every step of the way. When they saw us, tears filled their eyes, and some were so excited that they fainted... We were watching them It's like watching a monkey, it's so funny. "
The old man waved the mechanical arm. He seemed to want to describe their expressions to Lorenzo, but this guy's face was almost completely covered by metal machinery, and Lorenzo could only see the electronic eyes turning endlessly.
"They shouted words like the names of gods and prayed to us for strength to fight against demons.
Only then did we know that it was already so bad outside, with demons walking on the earth and humans trembling in the darkness.
It seems that the nation-builders failed once again, but it should be so. Time will make any substance deteriorate. The successors of these nation-builders may not be able to remember their original mission.
Then I thought for a long time, since it was so bad, why not give it a try? "
The old man made contemplative movements, and he could see that the light band surrounding the brain tissue under the glass shell became brighter and brighter. This should be related to the activity of his brain. It seemed that the old man was really thinking seriously.
"I made a bad decision."
The old man finished thinking, and Lorenzo guessed what decision he had made.
"Anyway, the outside world is already in such bad condition, the shelter is about to collapse, and humanity is about to suffer a disastrous defeat. Why not make a last-ditch effort? In fact, it's not really a last-ditch effort. As long as the door of the shelter is closed, all these things will matter. I have nothing to do with it. I will continue to assume my responsibility and preserve the human fire until I completely disappear in the cold wind.
I gave them the information about the Unspeakables in a way they could understand, and also gave them some things as gifts, but to them these things were black boxes, and they knew what they were and didn't know why.
However, I heard that they also successfully dismantled a few of them later. Although I didn't understand it very well, at least they had a simple prototype. It was called 'Alchemy'. "
"And then...then..."
The electronic eye stopped turning and stared straight at Lorenzo, and a voice sounded.
"They said it was a revelation from God and they were waiting for my instructions...the oracle."
Lorenzo walked up to the old man, and continued his words.
"You ordered them to go to Fortress No. 13, and they did exactly what you ordered.
Using the knowledge gained from the shelter, they refined the secret blood, dug up the metal buried deep in the ground, and made a nail sword made of holy silver. They defeated the dark age and established the Demon Hunting Order in prison. built on. "
Lorenzo's voice trembled a little and he clenched his fists. He couldn't figure out what his emotions were like now. He just felt calm and deafeningly calm.
"First...Roger Cruz said that Fortress No. 13 should have been forgotten by everyone."
"It's a shame we couldn't forget it, isn't it?"
The old man put away all the fun, he was extremely serious, and told Lorenzo about the past.
"Since then, hundreds of years have passed, and the few of us who are left feel that the end has come. No matter how machines replace our bodies, we are still cowardly humans, and it is time to welcome death.
So we hatched the embryo, and Roger Cruze was born, and I saw him as our successor, teaching him about the past and everything I knew so that, by my calculations, the shelter could still run. For a long time, although it has collapsed in a strict sense, it is still possible to survive. Just one more second is a victory for mankind. "
"Then...one day, someone knocked on the door of the shelter again."
The old man raised his head and looked at the door behind Lorenzo and Watson. It was slowly opening at this moment. In the darkness, a beam of light came in through the gap in the door, and a vague figure appeared in the light.
"He says……"
The man in the memory carried a sword bag full of spiked swords, passed Lorenzo and Watson, and came to the Keeper of Secrets, with a white storm in his eyes, like a day burning a dark night.
"I am Edron Levien, the Pope of the Evangelical Church and the Patriarch of the Demon Hunting Order."
(End of this chapter)