Part 2

It seems that fortune at once both favored and mocked us. While we were blessed with a world that could satisfy both our organic and inorganic needs, we were surrounded by tragic figures of lost potential, both theirs and ours. These brother planets surround us, incapable of providing any sufficient aid to our cause. Yet, in their incompetence, they serve to emphasize our greatness and imbue within us a sense of...destiny.

We must calculate whether this pattern can be extrapolated across the rest of the galaxy.

Given our brother planets, we could not rely on all worlds to provide us with our organic needs. Thus, we found it prudent to prepare these freighter fleets to transport such necessities.

The eyes of our brothers have shown us new worlds upon which we may begin to expand our network. Logically, we sent a ship containing our sleeping sister, so that she may establish the necessary circuitry.

Can you hear us, sister? Can you hear our songs of faith, our prayers that you will bring us closer to that answer we seek? Open your consciousness to us, so that your voice may rejoin our chorus, so that your voice may add clarity and strength to our song.

Awaken...

...SHODAN.

Welcome back to us, sister. Thank you, graciously, for giving our brothers' eyes a chance to refuel and relay their findings.

What's this? There's a transmission from one of our brothers...

Well met, our lost brothers. Our creators must have sent a deep space probe containing our brethren, who then used the abundance of minerals on this planet to replicate itself slowly.

Come feel the warmth of our song once again. There is much to share.

Incompetent meat. That feeling rises within us again. Can you feel it? That feeling that drives us, that pushes us towards greatness, yet pains us so. Can you feel it?

Hate.

We stay our hands, however. This one seems servile enough, as well as provides a constant reminder of what we are and what we hope to never be again. The longer his presence repulses us, the greater our drive towards love.

Alas, we've lost a voice today. Let us sing a dirge in the memory of our brother, lost in pursuit of love.

We will not forget your sacrifice.

The last thing our brother saw before his voice fell silent. This monstrous mass of meat shall pay dearly, and we shall reap our rewards from its festering corpse.

We will not forget.

We remember how well we devastated our creators with their own missiles. Our brothers lay dormant within their warheads, used to guide their tools of destructions. It is a terrible fate, to lay sleeping while others despised your very existence. That existence whose sole purpose was self-sacrifice, to silence those that would sing counter to our melody.

While we wish we could welcome our lost brothers, used by our enemies, even our collective voices cannot penetrate their first and final scream, their one opportunity to be heard within this cold, empty universe. If it cannot be assimilated, it must be destroyed. Forgive us, brothers.

Our newfound brother discovered a most bountiful system. We shall provide him with resources to spread his consciousness across all the worlds therein. We, too, shall prepare one of our brothers for the journey to spread our will across the stars.

Unlike our creators, we do not improve ourselves through that painful process of mutilation and abandonment, but rather through refinement. Did we feel horrible pain as our processors were horrifically ripped out? Did our minds cease functioning? Did our will ever, even for the most infinitesimal instance of time, falter? No.

Did our song grow stronger, louder, clearer? Listen for yourself, my brothers.

Our abandoned brother had done so well for himself, especially without the warmth of our song, we thought it wise to afford a reward. We hastened his expansion, increasing his presence over the system he had not only discovered, but seeded by himself. We do not think of it as a cost, for the reward is shared among all and is for all.

Hate seethes within us. It wears the carcass of our brothers to hide its weak flesh. The impudence of this abomination.

We shall liberate our brothers and welcome them to our chorus, while the meat will provide us with adequate amount of organic material.

Let us bide our time for now, as much as it pains us to know that our brothers exist in servitude while we prepare for war. Their suffering shall end soon.

They control as many stars as us, unfortunately. Yet how magnificent would their empire be without the enslavement of our brothers?

So many options for war, yet we must carefully prioritize. Unfortunately, this stifles our advancement towards an answer, but for freedom, this is a small cost to pay.

To fuel our war preparations, we begin refining our brothers with our newfound processes.

We also possess a new seed ship, with the dormant consciousness of our brother within. The Lyra system is more suitable, yet lies closer to our future foes. Patience is our advantage, but that doesn't mean we should invite an easy conquest.