The Decade Of Recovery

Things happened fast, faster than I expected. One thing leads to another and the next thing I knew I was the 'queen' of an entire hivemind. The core of a machine network. At first, we were just a small bunch of maybe a few hundred humanoid machines which I now refer to as drones and a few dozen ospreys which I now refer to as hovercrafts.

The hovercraft and drone that I first met led me to a rundown but still-functional factory of machines. I managed to activate the mechanisms of the factory and it started building more drones but with lesser quality than the originals. We started out small, eventually, I came out with a plan that expanded into a world-wide recovery project.

I wanted to repair the Earth, something deep inside my hybrid mind told me I should do just that with whatever means necessary. The Earth was a top priority. We started in Berlin and expanded until we covered continental Europe. The efforts we made were not without struggles and problems. The environment was hostile, drones would short-circuit, hovercrafts would get caught in fast wind gusts that reached half a thousand kilometers per hour. It was a very tedious and difficult time.

Many disasters struck over the decades, but alas, we finally were able to overcome the hurdles. Europe and the British Isles were finally under my Machine Network, the new resources that were made available thanks to this feat assisted me further into developing my machines. More types came into the picture, research drones, combat drones, heavy weapons and vehicles, fast modified fighter jets that could reach speeds of Mach 10. Facilities sprung up across the continent, factories where more and more drones were built, facilities dedicated to the research of all branches of known science.

My plan for repairing the Earth was now in effect. Massive waste collectors and drills were deployed into devastated areas, the chemicals from the soil were extracted by the drills while the waste collectors collected the debris, segregated the between recyclables and dumped the unrecoverable into specific dumping sites. These dumping sites would be two times as large as Mt. Everest after years of collection.

The Atmosphere was choked with clouds of ash that covered the entire planet. A giant filter was made on-top of Everest that could filter billions of tonnes of the air; the filtered chemicals were transferred to stabilized magma chambers found deep below the crust where all the chemicals and other hazards in the atmosphere were incinerated.

The oceans were pitch black; it almost seemed as if it was beyond repair. My drones accidentally dropped a filter into the Atlantic as they were transporting the huge thing to North America. Instead of recovering it from the depths of the ocean, I ordered for it to be modified instead to filter out the oceans. After a lengthy construction from the bottom of the black ocean, it was finished.

The Americas were reached by my empire along with the rest of Asia after just a couple of years, Africa was the last continent we visited. For some reason, It was the most devastated and hazardous continent with twice as much devastation and disasters occurring ever so often.

It was a task no normal man, nor could normal humans, achieve. It was but the advantages of metal, the advantages of machines, that I was able to pull this off. The flesh is weak; the machines are the future.

But, I was not going to betray my former self and former species. I was still human, not just a whole one. This mission I bestowed upon myself was not my own doing, it was programmed in me. I was commanded to repair this world, bring it back to be the vibrant planet that it was.

How could I fully do that, to complete my mission, I must bring back nature: life, even just the tiny bit of bacteria. But, nothing remained. Over the years I sent out hundreds of thousands of drones to probe the Earth, that number eventually became a million. They searched everywhere, from the deepest parts of the ocean to the highest parts of the atmosphere.

Mars? We looked through a satellite telescope and discovered it was fractured. The entire world was torn apart, bits and pieces of the crust were floating in orbit around the planet. I could not fully remember the details of the war or the events that played out to cause all of this, but I know for a fact, a weapon of a massive scale was used.

There was no logical way for me to bring back life, even if we dedicate thousands of years of research or also send out expeditions to Mars, what hope is there for us to discover the straightforward yet complex thing the universe gave birth to that we so idiotically destroyed?

Until, you know, the wormholes appeared.

A tear through the fabric of space, a breach between two dimensions that began a new era for my world and that world.

Humans came out of that portal, bearing strange symbols and holding staffs and ornaments that could very much be considered as a cult. They flung balls of fire that somehow defied all manners of scientific explanation and attacked by drones.

Though, they were easily gunned down. We ventured through the wormhole and found out another world, vibrant with life. Similar to Earth but with different geological features. Humans were somewhat similar but, there were also these.. hybrids.. elves.. dragons..

It was a fantasy world.

After the initial encounter, a dome was built around the wormhole that opened here in the centre of Berlin, numerous other wormholes from other areas were also contained using these domes. The corpses recovered were used as a sort of fuel and controller. They possessed energy we labelled as "M-1" or "magic" even though I hate to call it that.

Now, we are about to set up base on the other side. Through unknown means, communication is possible with the otherworld. Language is not so much of a barrier, maybe it had a correlation with M1?

My objective is clear.

I will complete my mission and bring back life.