I have to say, living for one hundred and eighty five years has not been an easy journey. As the Bear King, I have been responsible for all activities within these caves. Ages have passed since I was a child and I have had the pleasure of witnessing the growth of this nation to what it is today. My father before me ruled for well over one hundred years. Unfortunately for him, Mechanus only arrived late in his life and his body was already falling to age. Mechanus’ strength in life extension only extends so far. I’ll get to this soon.
As for our mountain, The Bear Mines, it all started out simply. As a primitive culture we had little knowledge of excavation, ore extraction, and smelting, blacksmithing, or even technology. You can call my father somewhat of a Leonardo Di Vinci for his time. He was gifted in his studies of theoretical sciences. His love for it had grown from his disbelief, but evolved in his mind into a passion and a thirst for greater truth.
As we travelled through the mountain in search of greater resources, my father witnessed the bubbling of a shield volcano which churned and flowed with folding layers of thick lavas of liquid ore. From this experience, he formulated a design for smelting the ores we began to collect. He would trap heat using a foundry of igneous rocks and cook ore-dense rock until it liquefied, then scrape away the impurities.
We first began by collecting ores from the surface which crumbled from the rocks during rainy seasons into ephemeral draws, tributaries which led to the rivers, and the mouths of estuaries along the northern coast. We avoided the rivers mostly because of the rapids they would produce as they travelled torrentially through the mountain passes down to sea level. Once they came in contact with the shore, they bevelled the estuaries into the rock faces over centuries where the current was much more stable and safe.
After a while, we managed to collect a reasonable amount of resources in order to excavate into the mountains. We decided to set up our first mine, The Bear Mines, close to the western edge of the mountains so we may remain in communication with our parted brothers. We built a small colony around the base of our chosen mountain where we found a lush valley, and built several shops and storage facilities near our first entrance. From there, we would build our community.
The Bear Mines began to flourish. Our small colony was growing and we were making life more practical. We found an abundance of life within the mountain paths. Although from a distance the mountains would appear to be all rock, there were plenty of tall trees, grasses, mosses, even animals that would make for ample food sources and medicines.
My father continued to invest in his sciences. I’m not sure how it got into his head, but he decided to build some sort of portal that would rip a hole in space-time. His thought brewed from a question about reality’s existence. It was something along the lines of, “If space and time were like a fabric on a table, there must be a table it’s resting on. Our world, our reality, and all the span of time may be just a simple construct held together by something much greater. If this reality is really just a sheet of fabric on a table, perhaps we could rip a hole in this fabric and we could set foot on the table.”
Even with my knowledge of technology today, it would be impossible to explain how his technology worked. It honestly didn’t really work. His vision of a fabric on a table wasn’t even entirely accurate. But it did sort of work, and that’s how it caught Mechanus’ eye. You see, my father never completed his portal device. By disturbing the space-time fabric, Mechanus was able to pinpoint his position and connected to his portal device from the other side. Mechanus completed the link, stepped through, and began to refurbish his laboratory.
It did not step through at first as you would think. No, it wasn’t a person on behalf of Mechanus or even some big robot. Hundreds of tiny orbs the size of pellets flew through and into our world as if they were lobbed from the other side. As they entered, they took life and floated for a second, then camouflaged themselves. He couldn’t even see them unless he really looked close and knew what he was looking for.
These tiny orbs then flew out of the tunnel. In an hour or so, they rushed back into the room, stopped for a second, then bolted back through the tunnel. Whatever they were doing, they accomplished. In a few moments following, Mechanoids from Mechanus entered our world.
Mechanus did its best to establish itself uninterrupted. Since the portal room was somewhat restricted and separated from the rest of the site, all it really needed to do was keep my father dumbfounded enough to continue its work until its foothold had been strengthened into a permanently operating site. In order to keep him occupied, they began bringing in exotic foods and technologies which he could never believe existed.
What really baffled him is that they began explaining their existence to him in the Spirit Tongue. It explained the orbs were recording devices that hovered among your people in order to decipher the language. They had thrown them in from their side, after which the orbs threw themselves back when they were done. It then offered my father to let him become part of it.
“This is going to be a little difficult to understand, but I can only make this conversation so simple. Our technology will help you catch up.”
“Part of you? And how do you intend to do that?” my father asked.
The Mechanoid, clearly not entirely human explained, “We have crystals. These crystals are very intricate and carry a complex three dimensional circuit within them which has allowed our technology to surpass our wildest dreams. One single crystal is capable of sending and receiving signals with Mechanus itself. You will be given full access to the greatest connection of minds to impact the multiverse.”
“All of Mechanus, fully accessed? How do I use it?”
“There are multiple forms of these crystals, each of them functioning slightly different. The one we would like to grant you would be installed directly into your brain. Your thoughts will be directly paired with the greatness of Mechanus, to an extent.”
“Wait, you want to put a crystal inside of my head? Is it safe? Why ‘to an extent’?” My father became slightly frightened.
“I apologize, as a man of science I figured you would be excited by the prospect. Do not be afraid. We have been doing this for a few centuries now. To explain the technology, well, it has to do with connecting directly with your thoughts. The complexity of what your brain is capable of far exceeds what you can cognitively manipulate in the physical world. In other words, you can dabble things with your fingers all you want, but even a million fingers attached to your hands couldn`t keep up.
“We have found that human thought transcends the physical brain and operates on a quantum level. In this moment and in this reality, your thoughts on this plane alone can exceed thousands of cognitive responses every second. The concept of ‘quantum thought’ was originally perceived to be the ability for a single thought to coexist among multiple possibilities at the same time before becoming a choice. Think of it as whether you consider roasting or boiling goat meat at the same time, then deciding on one in an instant. That thought then becomes reality through your cognitive actions.
“In time, after we learned the truth of quantum particles, we realized that the human brain exists in multiple probable realities. It perceives the results of thoughts simultaneously then manifests itself in your present reality through choice and cognitive action. Each other thought which did not lead to a cognitive action subsequently flowers new probable realities where those actions were chosen.
“This means that your thoughts transcend this reality and reverberates into multiple realities, equating probable results and deciding on one choice, although it simultaneously coexists in other realities where other decisions were made. We can tap into that. Once the crystal is installed, it can reverberate in a quantum link with all probable realities that made the like decision of installing a crystal. We can tap into many possibilities of you in any given moment, providing a heightened awareness of your existence and up to a range limited by how close the probable realities are to your own."
My father stood baffled, “That is so beyond me. I have no idea what you have just said.”
“Think about it as adding a dimension to your brain. As a result, you will be exponentially smarter. Once you connect with Mechanus, you will understand. As for extent, Mechanus has a limitation. We have found that Mechanus` signals cannot transcend your universe. Sure we can communicate with any probable reality tied to your own space-time fabric, but that’s as far as we can go. Although our worlds have been bridged and we are capable of passing through them, and a signal is essentially energy transferring, and energy is simply mass at the speed of light, for some reason energy cannot pass through the bridge. It is as if energy is bound to its home plane. Even the energy that fuels our body transforms as it merges with the world on the other end. It can get weirder, but we’ll save that for later too. You can, however, step through the portal at any time and connect with Mechanus. Mechanus will never take your mind for its own, you will remain yourself, and Mechanus will never imprint on you.”
My father shook his head, made his decision and said, “That’s okay. I like the whole crystal idea, but I’d rather not step through to your world. I’ll leave you to your devices. Will I be able to access anything from this end? I just don’t want to be overwhelmed by… whatever it is you just said.”
“As standard practice, we will bring in a special computer called a server onto this side. It will have a primitive form of Mechanus installed. From there, as Mechanus grows in this world, it will advance over time.”
“Sounds good to me!” My father was too excited. He was like a kid in a candy store. He had no idea of the vastness of Mechanus. He was curious, but in my opinion, he was foolish.
As he was undergoing surgery and recovering, Mechanus had finished installing its server and in the process getting their colony site running full speed. After my father awoken, he spent the better part of a week dreaming, downloading every bit of information about existence and what he really was to the farthest reaches the server had available.
Eventually Mechanus had filled his private lab and had to explain itself to the rest of the people. Well, that and the fact my father had locked himself in his lab for a couple of weeks. This disturbed them.
My father went before the people to exclaim his discovery, “Everyone! I have done it! I have managed to breach the space-time fabric and into reached these beings. They are magnificent and they would like to share their power with us.”
The people were not as welcoming as my father had been, but my father was now flowering new probable realities with every thought and action, in turn expanding his crystal’s power. He was capable of discerning exactly what he needed to say in order to convince the people. He told me that one of his probable selves would just rush into decision making, even to the point of death. With so many probabilities of what he may do, he can learn from the ones who have done it. Unfortunately, by creating so many rapid wakes in the probable universe, it would narrow the extent of his reach. Other, more distant probable realities would disconnect in the process.
After a long and convincing argument with his people, many would follow his lead and begin upgrading with crystal implants. Few would abandon the mines and travel inward to the deeper mountains where they could continue as they were.
The Bear Mines continued to blossom, but in ways my father never perceived. The people were allowed to lounge in the greatness of conveniences Mechanus began to build around them as it continued in its operation. It was feeding the people every delight they could think of, offering amusements that would allow them to enjoy their lives. It built a marketplace outside of the main entrance with suitable housing for shelter. As for Mechanus itself, it began to burrow into the mountain with a network of tunnels that it had equated to be the most efficient.
My father began to age. It was around this time Mechanus offered to extend his life. First, they mentioned that he should consider siring offspring, since that was one of the few functions of life they could not extend. Over the years, Mechanus researched and developed technologies in order to prolong life. It created cybernetic organs that could process and deliver nutrition to the body and even replace heart and muscle tissue. Most of the Mechanoids had these installed at some time in their life, except there was a slight flaw. The technology, depending on the organ, would have to be installed prior to a peak date. Each organ begins to break down after its peak life and continues to age the body as a whole. If that date is skipped, it is possible to fool the body into thinking it is still of a virile age. Each subsequent organ continues functioning at their optimum potential, and the life is extended. Eventually all organs will still age but human life can be extended for hundreds of years.
My father agreed and began the operations. The Mechanoids refused to explain why they haven’t proceeded with the surgeries before, or why they refused to give upgrades to the rest of the tribe. It only bothered him slightly since they never considered longevity and would have never had this opportunity without their aid.
Soon after, I was born. I was one of the first to receive a crystal close to my birth, and it grew naturally as a part of my. My perceptions of this universe are much different and honed as compared to someone adopting it later in life. Mechanus had been uploading thought and information into my mind as a child. It knew that one day, I would be king. I would need all the tools I can get a hold of, since the people have already been learning at an exponential rate. Unlike my crystal, the ones my people would have were limited by the questions they could ask. They were capable of obtaining any knowledge they wanted. But, they had to want it. To want it, they had to be able to ask the right questions. Not many of them were very bright and were limited by what they could experience, see and hear.
All new generations of children were treated the same way. I believe Mechanus preferred having a fresh batch of children who would be grown into the technology without any primitive culture and inhibition. We would be as enlightened and modern as the rest of Mechanus’ population.
Eventually, there came the day when the angel king and demon king came to visit. The Mechanoids responded unusually. Several of the Mechanoids moved for the portal room upon their approach. My father knew about what their people considered to be folklore and knew that their earlier generations believed in them but never substantiated their existence, even with their venture into the multiverse. It must have thrown them off to see angels and demons physically, alive and breathing.
As my father was baffled nonetheless, and had to speak to them. As he began his approach, he eyed Solacrinus, "Nope, nope, not to you..." and steered his path toward Theocrites.
He then claimed, “Well look at you all. I guess my brothers were right. And here I was, trying to prove you all wrong. Wow. Angels and demons, huh? I’m surprised you’re all so old... and feeble...”
Theocrites responded, “I don’t know how to explain this, but we are dying. We don’t die. We live forever. Can you explain what is happening to us?”
“Well, I can’t, but I’m sure someone around here is. Do you see that? I was trying to disprove your existence. This thing wasn’t even supposed to work. Out of a sudden, it opens on its own. I couldn’t believe my eyes, then these things began pouring out and altering the world. One of them explained to me that they were just blood cells of the greatest organism of all time named "Mechanus" and they are seeking its soul. They didn’t really give me an option of refusal, but who cares. Have you ever tasted coffee? They even installed a coffee maker directly into the portal.”
Solacrinus burst out, “We know about this world, we know about all worlds. What is happening to us?”
My father, clearly unamused turned to the devil. “Wow. My first moment of glory and it’s all ‘me, me, me’. Fine. Give me a second.”
At that moment, he turned to what appeared to be a high ranking official of the Mechanoid community and requested ”Fetch me a solution.”
The Mechanoid then stepped through the portal, and a crystal on the back of its head shimmered. Within moments, a helicopter carrier landed at the portal, and a representative stepped through into their plane.
The representative answered, “I will aid you, but the circumstances of your fates may span generations. If I do, you must promise me this: I will rule your land for all time. Not as a functioning body of government, but to maintain a balance that would keep you from destroying yourselves.”
The leaders agreed to his demands, at which point he explained, “You are from immortal planes. Being immortal and without time was one of the governing mechanics of where you are from. We have been witnessing here and in other planes, life crossing between planes adapts and conforms to the mechanics of the destination. That being said, now that you live in a mortal plane where death and decay is a natural occurrence and a mechanic of this universe, you are all now mortal. Not just mortal as in you may die, but you are also decaying on a cellular level, aging, and eventually you will die.”
After a brief moment of resolution, the angel and demon returned to their lands to ponder their fates. In the meanwhile, the representative decided to pursue ambitions of his own.
He asked my father, “May I venture into your world and set up my own base of operations? This location just won’t meet the demands of my future needs.”
My father replied, “I’m not stopping you. Enjoy your stay. I will moderate the Bear Mines in your absence.”
The representative then announced to the Mechanoids in earshot, “Know this and share this with all who may enter this world: This man and his descendants will for now and forever be held accountable as moderator in Mechanus’ pursuits. No ambitions will carry forward without expressed and explicit permission by his bloodline for all time.”
The Mechanoids paused for a moment, and continued with their labours.
“There. It is now law. Mechanus is at your mercy. I must take my leave. This new world will require a leader soon enough.”
The representative then stepped through the portal. He also bore an exposed crystal on the back of his head, which then shimmered. Several Mechanoids approached him and gave him a special suit lined with several devices. An entourage followed him back through the portal porting several large and heavy duty cases. They too had these special suits.
After exiting the portal, they left the cave and entered the valley. Fire spewed from the devices attached to their suits. They flew into the air and off into the distance. This was the last time the representative was ever seen by our people of the Bear Mines for an age. The mines were now completely under my father’s control. My father honestly didn’t know what to do at first so he just tried to run things as they were to the best of his ability.
As time progressed, both sides felt a culture clash. Mechanus separated itself from the rest; the indigenous population would live in the town outside the mines and the Mechanoids would dwell within the mines. Both sides felt it was the best option, and my father would govern both independently.
The people outside the mines continued to flourish under Mechanus’ care and supply, but it was taking its own operations to the next level. Its highest representing foremen would notify my father of every turn they would take within the mines, but it was far beyond his capacity to understand. Even with all the knowledge he would ascertain in the process. It was around this time my father began to train myself and my brother Skorn to become future leaders after his parting.
My father realized he was getting old, and in his age realized that Mechanus would only grow exponentially beyond anything he could foresee. He trained me to become the future leader of the mines and its community, and my brother would serve as an arbiter between our people and the Mechanoids. In turn, I would become more invested in the technical aspects of our development and my brother would learn political structure, philosophy and social dynamics.
My father saw a steadfast fortitude of the Bear’s Paw in me while he saw a more aloof Wolf’s Howl f our mother’s blood in him. I think my bother took it too personally, though. His upset confusion led to a hedonistic lifestyle of rebellion. No matter how much he would try to impress my father with the knowledge he would gain and the decisions he would make, his lifestyle decisions would always fall short of his expectations. The people were happy with his supply and relations with Mechanus but I see now why my father expected more. The people were being sated rather than invested.
In the meanwhile, I had been actively involved in both the expansive operations of Mechanus and the wellbeing of my people. My understanding was much greater than my brother, albeit purely technical. As Mechanus was a technical people, I figured to properly rule them would be to understand them on their own level. I assisted in their expansion within the mines and eventually became its architect.
Mechanus already built its primary chamber within my father’s portal room but I learned that it had so much more potential. For a good thirty years we have been mining out labyrinths of tunnels but Mechanus had the potential to be so much more efficient. I decided to take this operation to the next level. Our first priority would be a new dedicated server room, then a massive foundry, smithy and robot factory.
The tunnels within the mines began to form a rhyme and reason. It was filled with plenty of rooms such as barracks, leisure rooms, gyms, cafeterias, and industrial operations. Mechanus was now fully functional within the Bear Mines. They even built a throne room and residence for my family, complete with every luxury and amenity. It sat mere yards under the rock of the peak.
It was also built with its own direct access to the portal room, although the Mechanoids would never let us travel through. They said it was just the way it is. They wanted to prevent contamination of their “control world”, and that their home world had problems in the past they just wanted to avoid.
Its server room was probably their greatest development. Plenty of hardware from Mechanus’ home world was brought through the portal and assembled. A primitive consciousness profile was brought through and Mechanus was active. It was then a Mechanoid informed me that this was only the beginning. Using this new server room, Mechanus was now laced into every bit of machinery and every automaton it built to accelerate this growth. Mechanus brought life into the veins of the mountain tunnels.
As operations excelled and our people flourished, my father wasted away. There came a day he would breathe his last breath, and he left control of The Bear Mines in its entirety to me. After he died, my brother took it out on himself. His decadent lifestyle turned to hedonism and he started to neglect his responsibilities.
Eventually, my bother made a deal with Mechanus. Mechanus requested to move deeper into the mountains. It informed us that its base of operations within the Bear Mines was simply a foothold compared to what it had been planning. It promised to keep us and our people at the top of its food chain. I did not like the idea, but as arbiter, my brother stepped forward and shook their hand. Everything changed after that day.
Mechanus took almost everything within the portal room and only a caravan full of supplies. Around that same time, a second caravan apparently ordered by our representative who we never heard from ever again took military provisions west in order to preserve the first tribe. Mechanus was no longer thriving within the Bear Mines. We were all alone.
Even though Mechanus was gone, we were still receiving communications through our server room. Mechanus still wished to aid in providing the Bear Mines and its community in any way it had already been in order to assist in sustaining what little we had. We forgot what else we could do. All we knew was the mine. We continued to mine.
Almost all of us were refitted with some sort of organ augmentation in order to live longer and more efficiently. Unfortunately these organs have become so advanced that we could not afford to eat regular meals. Mechanus kept providing ample supplies of what it called “Ambrosia”. This milky fluid was full of all forms of nutrition. It came in several different vials that would be combined in different amounts based on nutrition requirements of the individual and the kind of mental of physical exertion they would undergo in the near future. Mechanus already had this blend down to a science. We just had to keep it going.
Even though we were forced to eat this Ambrosia, we were still allowed to eat normal foods of our world. We still hunted and gathered, but even that was becoming difficult for us. Life was becoming unbearable for the people as they could no longer find any satisfaction in our way of life. With my brother around, they could have everything. They were treated to the rarities of what Mechanus called the Multiverse. Now with the portal gone and only regular provision remaining, all that glitter and gold turned to dust. Even worse, there was nothing I can do about it.
In time, my people left. All of them save for those who stayed in the Mines with me. They all sought sanctuary within the new Mechanus. Even those closest to my heart left with them. In this mass exodus, the community of the Bear Mines became a shadow of the mountain and was forgotten. My brother would lead the way. Apparently they gave him a flying horse and he led the way. God knows what he gave in return.
There I sat. I had no other goal in life. Then I realized. Were these people ever of my life in the first place? Yes they were “my people” but I have withdrawn from them for most of my life and stayed hidden within the mines, learning from Mechanus and growing into a mountain king. I was at peace with their exodus. I lived within the Bear Mines, and I would be its king. I would be The Bear King.
Their exodus didn’t slow me down. If anything, it sped me up. I sent in requests to Mechanus to further upgrade my kin who lived within the mines with me. They would become Mechanoid Supervisors, strong enough to replace those who left to build the new capital. They would be in command of the entire legion of digging machines we have built, and they would only serve me. The Bear Mines may not have been thriving with life, but now it was thriving on technological genius.
I still felt my pursuit lacking. It was as if I was so tunneled into digging, all I have been doing was digging in order to build more that would dig even more and so on. It was a relentless pursuit of mining for more and nothing more. My purpose was meaningless. I realized that all of these years I have only been duped by Mechanus into preoccupation. That his machine was only keeping me clouded enough to continue on its own ambitions. Now here I sat, hollowing out a mountain and tunneling my way down to hell.
I lived with it, for a while. It wouldn’t be long before I started seeking greater pursuits. I followed in my father’s footsteps and started questioning anything and everything my mind could think of. I was feeding on the vast intellect Mechanus had presented to me.
Operations within the mines never changed. My new interests were in advancing my inner self. I just simply wanted to know more, to have a greater understanding of all things. It is around this time that something changed in me. I started to get a fresh outlook on life and what it had to offer. I started investing in the arts and looking into the beauty behind the veil.
As time progressed, we had a visitor. His name was Thorne, and he was a half demon Dornarian. He and his lover were looking for refuge. The travel through the mountains was not so friendly. She succumbed to the elements. He had been carrying her on his back, hoping that we could save her. She was too far gone to save. We gave her a proper funeral.
We welcomed him with open arms, and he was willing to work in return. He said he lived as a slave prior to his escape, so he was more than able to work among the machines in the mines. He was not willing to take on augmentation, though. He was happy as he was. Man, could he work though. He had the strength of a dozen oxen and the resilience of a machine.
After he had earned enough from working for us, he wanted to travel to Mechanus. We didn’t hold him back. He bought supplies, loaded up a pack mule, then left.
Within a year, he returned. He told me of Mechanus and its expanse. Mechanus had been demolishing mountains, straight down to the base and shearing the ground to a stone plate. It was not stopping. It was industrialized and it was growing. Something had to be done to prevent them from completely leveling our world.
I set up a series of fireworks, hoping that it would make a signal large enough to attract my brother. He responded within a day.
His great flying horse, an eight legged horse with four wings, landed at the entrance with my brother Skorn on its back. He had a strange cowl on his head. He said it was to keep the voices out. I embraced him immediately.
He explained what he had done. He traded all of the mountains Mechanus could desire for that horse. He didn’t believe what it was capable. He had no knowledge of the breadth of Mechanus’ technical capabilities.
Speaking on behalf of the rest of our world, I demanded a meeting with the representative of Mechanus. Even the representative was not impressed with Mechanus’ advance. Something told me he had some idea. More than he was willing for us to be concerned with.
A deal was struck with Mechanus. We would define a border that would separate the Western World from the Eastern World. Thorne put himself forward. He would build this wall. He had an idea that had the potential, and it happened to work.
He went back into the Western World, and even travelled within the wastelands. He offered refuge for all who were choosing to leave their civilization for whatever cause. There happened to be many who wanted to live their own life for many different reasons. There were also refugees of Dornarians and Elysicans who had fallen in love and had chaosblood children. They refused to abandon their children and ran before they would be discovered. We welcomed them with open arms. This community was offered a new life within the border, which Thorne called Thor’Gimbal’Jak.
The Bear Mines was deeper west and was considered to be part of the Western World. As far as I was concerned, Mechanus only supported a business relationship for provisions and nothing more.
A couple of years ago, Mechanus’ operations edged to the doorstep of Thor’Gimbal’Jak. Mechanus’ new base of operations sent something rather peculiar within the provisions package. It was a new crystal. This crystal was much different than the rest. It even had a different colour, off purple rather than grayish. It was faceted into a socket which was threaded into a golden necklace. I put that necklace on, and I lost hold of myself. It was like I was beyond convincing. I wanted to follow. Mechanus was speaking to me directly, and I was compelled to follow.
Mechanus informed me of your lot. She informed me of your approach in the mines, and especially of your “Benneth Aldercaine”. I was told to kill you all. I would have done it, too. That’s when I was awoken.
Now, the mines are what you see of it. Nothing in here lives, save for what remains of living tissue within my kin. Even most of my body has been replaced. All what is left of our great home is a vacant ghost town, kept for amusement by those who founded us. I can’t even trust it anymore. I’m haunted by everything it stands for and yet it’s all I know.
As for your story, I believe you have a great journey ahead of you.
*****