Marcus moved over a few large rocks, boulders and over the crest of the small hill. He took a break and gazed at the land in front of him. It seemed like, he had finally reached the main land. Swimming with all his equipment was a pain in the ass and also damaged his equipment over time.

What are you worrying about?

Can't you tell?

Fragments here and there but not enough to understand your worry. It has something to do with my solution to the privacy problem.

In a sense yes, Marcus thought and continued his journey.

He walked down the hill and towards the portal that was still 200 km away. Marcus concentrated on his discussion with Xeen. The way you described it and how it looks to me, it is nearly like software, a computer program.

A good comparison. The Astral Plane is an artificial construct that is controlled by logic, signals and a form of "code". This superior dimension is not magic that just works, but a highly complex technological product.

I understand that. The thing is, there is a theory that says that all things, the whole universe might be nothing more than a simulation. A giant computer program created by an advanced intelligence.

White noise filled Marcus' head for a moment. Xeen was laughing his ass off, Marcus suspected.

What a hilarious idea. Leaving the question how and why the universe came to be out of the discussion for a moment, the universe does not compute, it just is. People who spread this idea really should first learn what a simulation is. Marcus was not fully convinced. The idea Xeen could just mess with the Astral Plane and some green light becomes part of his every day life made Marcus feel... insecure?

I see. You worry, you might not be real with true agency but bits of code that follow predetermined paths. This is a complex topic and if you like we can discuss it over the length of our journey.

Marcus laughed loudly. Will it take that much time?

This is a philosophical and psychological problem, these things always take a long time. Even millennia in some cases.

After far too long, Marcus finally stood in front of the next portal. He waited and looked at the dry and arid land on the other side. Less water, that was a change Marcus could agree on.

Thank you for waiting. I'm learning more and more about portals. This one is already old and will not exist for much longer, a few weeks or months at best. Marcus nodded to himself and stepped through.

He was in no mans land. Dry, hot wind quickly evaporated the excess moisture on Marcus' body and a distant sun burned on his back, even though a cloud layer covered the central star. Marcus waited until Xeen gave him directions, 350 kilometer this time. Barely a little walk, he joked and put up some cloth to protect his face against the sand in the wind. He started walking, scanning the horizon for danger and opportunities. Water would be a major problem, Marcus could already tell.

One day into his march Marcus spotted something new and unusual. He increased his pace and half an hour later he stepped on pavement. A road! And not any road. The road was two lanes wide but every lane was massive. Wind and weather had covered much of it with sand and dust but Marcus could easily see the path it took. It goes in the right direction, he thought.

That should increase our travel speed. Xeen approved.

Marcus followed the massive road through the lifeless land. His bare feet had gotten used to many forms of ground and even the blistering hot surface of the road did not bother him. Vitality build ftw, he thought. He traveled for an hour until he saw a giant truck next to the road. It was very much a wreck, long ago abandoned but its sheer size startled Marcus. The rotting tires alone were about five meters tall. Now we know why the road is so wide.

This looks like some automated transport system, there is no place for an organic driver. Xeen pointed out and Marcus saw what he meant. What ever caused this world or part of the world fall to ruin must have happened not too long ago or this wreck would have been gone. A few centuries at best.

If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

Somebody as young as you should not so easily talk about centuries. Live through one century first, young human.

Getting scolded by the old man again, Marcus thought.

The third day of travel brought a great change. A fuzzy silhouette in the distance quickly grew in the outline of a city and for a short while Marcus had hope they would find inhabitants, until he got closer. The city was in ruins, but not through time alone but violence and destruction.

This is the work of weapons, conventional ones too. Class holders might have been active too From what I can see, I would suggest this civilization collapsed not long after the Arbiters visited them.

Have you seen something like this before, Marcus asked while he moved closer to the city.

Sadly, yes. It is a common outcome. Many species collapse even before a Destroyer shatters their world. If they survive that they generally stick around for a few millennia. Only the most resilient and adaptable species survive for tens or hundreds of thousand years. Anyway, we should be careful, you never know what horrible contraption people devise to kill their own kin.

Marcus clenched his teeth thinking of the thousands of nuclear weapons humanity still held on to.

Yes, things like that.

Marcus moved into the city and decided to look for equipment and provisions. He found many evidence of the species that had lived here. They looked thinner and a bit smaller than humans and had a red hue to their skin. Marcus found some tools that were still usable in a large building and even managed to get access to the remnants of a fresh water system. Overall his situation had improved and even more so after he managed to hunt and grill some kind of oversize rat species that lived near the water. Food, water, equipment, of course something had to go wrong.

Marcus walked through the ruined city and the dry wind carried a strange noise to his ears. It sounded mechanical, metal scratching on the pavement.

Hide! Quickly! He was already moving as Xeen spoke. Marcus rushed into the ruins of a building at the road and hid behind a mountain of rubble. The mechanical sound came closer and now he could clearly hear it. It was extremely loud and sounded exactly like steel treads on pavement. He had heard it before, in a video about tanks years back, and he still remembered how surprised he had been about the noise. He peeked through a hole in the rubble and saw a tank like vehicle moving through the streets.

It was smaller than a full battle tank but still larger than a car. Its turret rotated in circles and a surprisingly thin weapon aimed at the buildings around it. Marcus moved to get a better view and some stones got loose. "plonk, plonk, plonk" they rolled down the pile and the turret instantly rotated into Marcus' direction.

An automated sentinel. It might attack on sight, stay low and get out of here. He moved back from the street while crouching and suddenly an artificial voice boomed over the ruins. Marcus did not understand one word but the sound of the mini tank moving made him abandon caution and start running.

He made it through the building and started to cross the street, secretly hoping the tank would not be able to follow him. In the same moment, the wall behind him shattered and the machine crashed into the street. Marcus was running as the turret focused on him, a blinding pain shot through his right arm and a golf ball sized hole appeared in it. LASER! He fell down and pain shot through his left leg, another hit.

You need to get closer, running will not work! Marcus turned and forced himself to charge the machine. While his arm and leg were healing hits in his chest and head slowed him down. The last one burned away half his jaw and his right ear. Screaming for pain, he Burst jumped towards the weapon but the thing tracked him and landed two more hits through his chest.

Marcus fell uncontrolled to the ground, a meter away from the treads. The tank accelerated and tried to crush him with its weight. Marcus threw himself around to stay between the deadly metal treads but his damaged right arm was too slow. The machine crushed his arm beginning from the elbow and Marcus' vision went black for a moment.

MARCUS! Xeen's scream brought him back and he saw the body of the tank passing over him. Channeling all his rage Marcus lifted his left arm and touched the weakest part of the machine. He was not sure how much damage Impulse Hammer could do but he had no other option. Once, twice, three times he fired Impulse Hammer into the tank and the sound of tortured metal and breaking mechanical parts filled Marcus' ears. The sentinel stopped and Marcus continued to unload his attacks into the machine until the air was filled with smoke and the sharp smell of chemicals.

Heavily panting Marcus crawled out under the tank and slowly lifted his head. The turret did not move and thick black smoke erupted from the main body.

You need to move, there might be more coming. Xeen reminded Marcus and he ran towards the next ruined house. His face had already healed again and so had most of the other hits, only his right arm was still reconstructing. Marcus tried not to look at it. He pulled out one of his water flasks and drank all of it. The wind carried the sound of metal treads scraping over pavement to Marcus and he started running again.

For two days killer machines hunted Marcus, and once more he nearly died before he got far enough away to lose the sentinels. These weapons had been made to kill class holders, Marcus was sure by now. They were able to track him and their laser weapons were perfectly designed to kill powerful humanoids.

But you survived, not many at your level would have been able to. Xeen praised him while Marcus continued his track towards the next portal.

This is all that is left of these people, a bunch of murderous machines, killing everything on sight. Marcus lamented the fate of these people and all of the universe. You think it is the same with the Ancients?

That is my personal opinion, yes. Like those weapons, the Ancients build something that outlasted them and now we do not know how to make it stop.

Marcus walked towards the setting sun and prayed to any god who would listen, that this was not the case.

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