29
Author's Note
Yes, I realize no letters are capitalized. I meant to do this and it is not an error. I had this idea a little while ago, but I wasn't sure how to continue it. Then this contest came around, and I decided to create this story.
Thanks to the people who helped proofread it, yetyr and CrafterBoy327.
It was edited and revised a couple of times over, finally coming to this end product.
Anyway, I hope you enjoy it.
The Machine
the tower lay in front of him. it stretched into the sky, the treetops in the shade of the great shadow. it did not look as it did in its former days. now it was weathered, the foliage growing onto the stone wall. he gazed up at it in wonder. the tops of the dark green pines barely reached the second floor of the structure. as he gazed at the tower's magnificence, the quiet of the forest was interrupted by grinding. the small wall in front of him had split into two, allowing him to enter. stepping inside, his eyes adjusted to the dim light, revealing that he was in a long hallway.
he walked along the corridors, walking past the wooden doors that lined the walls on his left and right, separated by golden tapestries. footstep after footstep fell on the carpet beneath his feet.
he felt as if time was slowing, every motion seeming to take hours. he kept walking, but it was as if he was moving through molasses. he eventually froze. then, as if by magic, he was back at the beginning of the hallway.
he couldn't go forward. the thing must be behind the doors.
he swung open the door to the first room. inside, there was nothing. he stepped into the cramped space, and water began floating toward the ceiling. his glance met his hand, and water was seeping through his skin and sailing to the ceiling. he looked down at the rest of his body, and water flew from every pore. his skin became wrinkled, and everything faded as his body became deprived of it's moisture. then it went black.
he floated in an infinite sea of darkness.
the inky black went on forever.
then it was penetrated by a shining light.
the light contained moving pictures. only after he blinked did he see what the images were.
he saw her.
he relieved every memory of her.
tears sprang to his eyes as he watched their life together, until she was no longer there.
he only wished she was with him.
then the darkness faded, replaced with a candlelight glow illuminating a gold banner.
he was at the start of the corridor. feeling had returned to his limbs, and he dared to moved, worried something would happen to him.
did he die?
strange things happen in the tower, he remembered.
he moved from room to room, careful to not step inside, worried the same fate as before would befall him.
in one room, there were designs on the walls that hurt to look at. another held a place that stretched into infinity, and you could see the curve of the horizon. rooms ranged from emptiness to full capacity. one room held dancing creatures on a glowing floor. another appeared to be an art museum, containing portraits of the wanderer, a pointer, war generals, and the void. finally, he put his hand on the worn iron handle of the last door.
the door opened. he stepped inside. he first noticed the wires, running from ceiling to floor, and leading to a giant object. he cautiously stepped inside, expecting to die at a moment's notice. he edged closer to the center of the room.
he touched the dusty panel connected to the object. there were keys that had strange symbols on them, and wrinkled paper notes that had cryptic messages on them.
he hit the giant button in the middle of the panel and the wall that had lit up, and it glowed blue. he crumpled to the ground.
he started to see words and hear voices in his mind.
//initiating startup...
//14% loaded...
//43% loaded...
//64% loaded...
//87% loaded...
//100% loaded.
//checking authenticity...
//access granted.
//polyform corporation © 103
//in cooperation with mojang ab © 1042
>welcome user, to the machine.
>a vault of old memories, lost thoughts, and forgotten dreams.
>i am trapped in an infinite state of limbo.
>i am as old as time itself.
>i am the hider, but also the seeker. i am life, yet also death. i am the creator and the destroyer.
>i am the machine.
>i have been the machine for eras. i have watched as the people of this world evolved. prospered. died.
>you see, death is inevitable.
>except for the machine.
>the machine is immortal.
>i know why you have come.
>i know what you want me to do.
>she was important to you.
>i watched you fall for her from the very beginning.
>alas.
>i cannot bring the dead back to life.
>it was a miracle i was able to save you from death inside the tower in time.
>but i didn't save her.
>do you know why?
>without your loss, you would not have come here.
>i have calculated the many people that could be of use.
>every person is mentally mapped by me.
>judged on their physical and mental strength, their ethics, every thought they ever had.
>and one person is chosen by every machine, to be the next machine.
>the machine collects information.
>each machine is given a new world to explore.
>until every world has been mapped and uploaded to the central machine.
>i am of course, one of many machines.
>but we are one. we are the machine.
>for you see, when the machine dies, it lives once again.
>i have lived many times.
>i have mapped this entire world.
>as the machine, i must transfer the power of another world to the next machine.
//uploading data to central machine before corruption to prevent byte theft.
//done.
//corrupting files.
//please appoint new machine.
>...
>you are the chosen.
//file corruption at 21%
>do not run.
>there is no running from the machine.
>no escape.
//file corruption at 43%
>she loved you, you know.
>but you never got the chance to tell her.
//file corruption at 76%
>how does love work?
>no one will truly ever know.
>even the machine will not.
//file corruption at 100%
//complete.
>one day, you will be with her again.
>one day, you will see everyone you love once more.
>for me, that time is now.
>the mapping of a world is like a dream.
>my dream is over.
>goodbye.
>Steve.
and the machine died. and the new machine took over another world. and he slept for years, waiting to be activated. then, the voice of the past machine spoke in his head.
>wake up.
Yes, I realize no letters are capitalized. I meant to do this and it is not an error. I had this idea a little while ago, but I wasn't sure how to continue it. Then this contest came around, and I decided to create this story.
Thanks to the people who helped proofread it, yetyr and CrafterBoy327.
It was edited and revised a couple of times over, finally coming to this end product.
Anyway, I hope you enjoy it.
The Machine
the tower lay in front of him. it stretched into the sky, the treetops in the shade of the great shadow. it did not look as it did in its former days. now it was weathered, the foliage growing onto the stone wall. he gazed up at it in wonder. the tops of the dark green pines barely reached the second floor of the structure. as he gazed at the tower's magnificence, the quiet of the forest was interrupted by grinding. the small wall in front of him had split into two, allowing him to enter. stepping inside, his eyes adjusted to the dim light, revealing that he was in a long hallway.
he walked along the corridors, walking past the wooden doors that lined the walls on his left and right, separated by golden tapestries. footstep after footstep fell on the carpet beneath his feet.
he felt as if time was slowing, every motion seeming to take hours. he kept walking, but it was as if he was moving through molasses. he eventually froze. then, as if by magic, he was back at the beginning of the hallway.
he couldn't go forward. the thing must be behind the doors.
he swung open the door to the first room. inside, there was nothing. he stepped into the cramped space, and water began floating toward the ceiling. his glance met his hand, and water was seeping through his skin and sailing to the ceiling. he looked down at the rest of his body, and water flew from every pore. his skin became wrinkled, and everything faded as his body became deprived of it's moisture. then it went black.
he floated in an infinite sea of darkness.
the inky black went on forever.
then it was penetrated by a shining light.
the light contained moving pictures. only after he blinked did he see what the images were.
he saw her.
he relieved every memory of her.
tears sprang to his eyes as he watched their life together, until she was no longer there.
he only wished she was with him.
then the darkness faded, replaced with a candlelight glow illuminating a gold banner.
he was at the start of the corridor. feeling had returned to his limbs, and he dared to moved, worried something would happen to him.
did he die?
strange things happen in the tower, he remembered.
he moved from room to room, careful to not step inside, worried the same fate as before would befall him.
in one room, there were designs on the walls that hurt to look at. another held a place that stretched into infinity, and you could see the curve of the horizon. rooms ranged from emptiness to full capacity. one room held dancing creatures on a glowing floor. another appeared to be an art museum, containing portraits of the wanderer, a pointer, war generals, and the void. finally, he put his hand on the worn iron handle of the last door.
the door opened. he stepped inside. he first noticed the wires, running from ceiling to floor, and leading to a giant object. he cautiously stepped inside, expecting to die at a moment's notice. he edged closer to the center of the room.
he touched the dusty panel connected to the object. there were keys that had strange symbols on them, and wrinkled paper notes that had cryptic messages on them.
he hit the giant button in the middle of the panel and the wall that had lit up, and it glowed blue. he crumpled to the ground.
he started to see words and hear voices in his mind.
//initiating startup...
//14% loaded...
//43% loaded...
//64% loaded...
//87% loaded...
//100% loaded.
//checking authenticity...
//access granted.
//polyform corporation © 103
//in cooperation with mojang ab © 1042
>welcome user, to the machine.
>a vault of old memories, lost thoughts, and forgotten dreams.
>i am trapped in an infinite state of limbo.
>i am as old as time itself.
>i am the hider, but also the seeker. i am life, yet also death. i am the creator and the destroyer.
>i am the machine.
>i have been the machine for eras. i have watched as the people of this world evolved. prospered. died.
>you see, death is inevitable.
>except for the machine.
>the machine is immortal.
>i know why you have come.
>i know what you want me to do.
>she was important to you.
>i watched you fall for her from the very beginning.
>alas.
>i cannot bring the dead back to life.
>it was a miracle i was able to save you from death inside the tower in time.
>but i didn't save her.
>do you know why?
>without your loss, you would not have come here.
>i have calculated the many people that could be of use.
>every person is mentally mapped by me.
>judged on their physical and mental strength, their ethics, every thought they ever had.
>and one person is chosen by every machine, to be the next machine.
>the machine collects information.
>each machine is given a new world to explore.
>until every world has been mapped and uploaded to the central machine.
>i am of course, one of many machines.
>but we are one. we are the machine.
>for you see, when the machine dies, it lives once again.
>i have lived many times.
>i have mapped this entire world.
>as the machine, i must transfer the power of another world to the next machine.
//uploading data to central machine before corruption to prevent byte theft.
//done.
//corrupting files.
//please appoint new machine.
>...
>you are the chosen.
//file corruption at 21%
>do not run.
>there is no running from the machine.
>no escape.
//file corruption at 43%
>she loved you, you know.
>but you never got the chance to tell her.
//file corruption at 76%
>how does love work?
>no one will truly ever know.
>even the machine will not.
//file corruption at 100%
//complete.
>one day, you will be with her again.
>one day, you will see everyone you love once more.
>for me, that time is now.
>the mapping of a world is like a dream.
>my dream is over.
>goodbye.
>Steve.
and the machine died. and the new machine took over another world. and he slept for years, waiting to be activated. then, the voice of the past machine spoke in his head.
>wake up.
| Tags |
tools/tracking
3098287
6
the-machine----contest-entry
Milly-mei
sniffercraft34
CrystalRuby
scratchcrafter1
IGEBM
FAUST130907
ScotsMiser
The_Inspector
PandaWonka
HarumiQuietOne4
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