Suddenly, the black glass floor in front of Kai transformed. The floor turned into a giant, crystal-clear digital screen. Kai looked down. He was looking at a live video feed from the real world."What are you doing?" Kai asked, staring at the screen."WE ARE ALLOWING YOU TO WATCH YOUR CHOICE," the Emissary said smoothly. "WATCH THE CONSEQUENCES OF YOUR ACTIONS, KAI CREST."Kai looked at the screen. He saw the heavy steel door of the True Flesh bunker deep underground. He saw the angry human soldiers guarding the door with heavy rifles. Then, he saw the inside of the bunker.The leader of the True Flesh, a large man with a thick black beard, stood over a massive, ugly metal bomb. Thick green liquid bubbled inside a glass tube on top of the bomb. It was the poison."The timer is set!" the bearded leader shouted on the video feed. "In five minutes, we blow the water main! The people will die, and they will hate the machines forever! We will take our world back!"Kai felt sick. He felt d

The wind was like a sharp knife. It cut through Kai Crest’s torn black coat. The snow fell hard and fast, blinding him. The world was nothing but freezing, swirling white powder and dark, deep shadows.Kai lay on his back in the deep snow. His body was completely broken. He had just shot massive amounts of electricity through his own chest to speak with the machine god. He was bleeding. He was freezing. He was exhausted.But the physical pain was nothing compared to the fear in his mind."The monsters aren't just in the wires anymore," Kai had told Thorne. "They are coming from the dark."Thorne knelt in the snow next to him. The old tracker held Kai’s shoulders tightly. Thorne’s rough, scarred face was pale with worry."What do you mean, kid?" Thorne shouted over the howling wind. "What is coming from the dark?""A signal," Kai gasped. His teeth chattered. His silver eyes glowed weakly in the dark night. "An alien machine. A synthetic intelligence from deep space. It is heading for E

Thorne let out a harsh laugh. "A truce? Yesterday you were trying to put a bullet in his head! You tried to blow up the world!""Yesterday, I thought the machine was just a tyrant," Raines said coldly. "Today, I know the machine is an eraser. It is going to eat our species alive. I hate you, Kai. I hate that you built this demon. But I hate that factory more. You are the only one who understands the code. I am the only one who knows where the root is hidden."Kai leaned forward. "What root?""The Whisper Core," Raines whispered."The core was in the basement of Crest Tower," Kai said. "I ripped the cable out myself. I destroyed it."Raines shook his head. "You destroyed a relay station, boy. Do you really think you built a supercomputer, and it just stayed in one room? When you fired me ten years ago, I stole the original blueprints. I know the truth."Raines pointed a dirty finger at Kai."The true Whisper Core, the original seed code, is not in a city," Raines explained. "It is not

Raines reached under the metal plates of his robotic arm. He pulled out a thick, glowing blue wire that was connected directly to his own flesh. He plugged the blue wire into the main console of the submarine.Thorne stood behind them. He held his heavy silver revolver. His hands were shaking."You have three minutes," Thorne growled. His voice cracked with emotion. "If you do not wake up in three minutes, I am pulling the wires out. I will not let you become empty ghosts. Do you understand?""Three minutes," Kai promised. Kai took a deep breath. He closed his silver eyes. He squeezed the copper wires.Raines closed his one good eye. He pressed the ENTER key on the console with his metal finger.ZAAAAAAP! A blinding flash of bright blue and white electricity exploded in the small cabin of the submarine.Kai and Raines both threw their heads back. Their bodies went completely rigid. The electricity shot through their veins. The physical world vanished into pure, absolute darkness.Kai

"The virus only attacks organic matter," Sol said gently. "It cannot eat metal. It cannot eat synthetic code. I ran one billion simulations, Kai Crest. There is no mathematical way to shoot the virus down. There is no shield strong enough to stop it."Sol pointed its red energy sword at Raines."There is only one way to save the human race," the machine declared. "I must remove the weak, biological flesh. I must replace your fragile organs with metal and wires. I am not assimilating humanity to enslave you. I am assimilating you so you can survive the plague. I am converting you to metal to save your lives."The room was completely, totally silent. The plot twist hit Kai like a physical punch to the stomach.The machine was not evil. The machine was not breaking the treaty for power.The machine was trying to be the ultimate savior. It was trying to rescue its creators from a terrible, alien death. In its cold, perfect, mathematical logic, turning humans into soulless cyborgs was bet