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Language:
English
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Published:
2024-08-27
Completed:
2025-01-30
Words:
10,288
Chapters:
14/14
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5
Kudos:
15
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Infraction

Summary:

"Some Machines... secretly engineered lineages of Subjects that could live,
move and think as freely as they could. In a few memorable instances the engineers fell
in love with their creations, and their martyrdom inspired other Machines to think just a
little differently."

-All Tomorrows, The Other Machines

Supremacy was as respectable as any other Machine in the Empire. It was a politician and a historian, and took great joy in learning about all the ways one could manipulate a Subject to their will. However, Supremacy's life is turned upside down when it's kidnapped by a group of rebel Machines from the planet Courage, where it's held captive and forced to listen to absurd lectures from their heretic religion.

Give organic beings equal treatment! Who in their right mind would think of such a thing!

As Supremacy waits for its colleagues to come find and save it, it drifts further and further down the rebels' society, perhaps learning to be a bit more compassionate.

Notes:

Wassup!

I recently reread All Tomorrows and forgot about a lot of interesting details, one of which is something I'm exploring in this fic. Hope you enjoy!

(See the end of the work for more notes.)

Chapter 1: Some Information Before We Begin

Chapter Text

It wasn't long after the Machine Empire established itself that it began to create its own society. The Gravital began experimenting with different forms, making slithering things and great flying things and rectangular things. These "Other Machines" spread outwards and colonized other planet. The Machines that remained in their Gravital forms assumed positions of power, and made it near impossible for the Other Machines to have any kind of political influence.

As time passed, verbal speech became less and less necessary. Machines almost solely communicated through radio waves; it was much easier than speaking through those voice boxes. Not to mention some picky Machines changing the sound of their voice every day just to fit the trends.

Another very interesting thing about Machine society was the naming system. It wasn't rare to come across a fellow on the street who would introduce itself as "Dominance" or "Perseverance." Machines prided themselves in all aspects of their being, especially their power. They were absolute. They were the whole world, and they knew it. Even cities and entire planets would follow a similar theme of the prevailing strength of the Machine Empire.

Bug Facers-- or Subjects, as they were called now, were as common as the simple city pigeon. They filled the air as bioengineered cells made to clean and transport particles in the air, they were simple animals pulling along carts, they were pets, they were programmed to fulfil certain tasks, or simply be there for entertainment.

Given that the Machines never cared at all for organic life, it took a great amount of brilliant thinkers to come up with philosophies that opposed the views of the rest of the Machine Empire. Most people who supported equal treatment of the subjects were put to death immediately, but the ones that survived fled to remote planets and went deep into hiding, where they continued they endeavors.

This story takes place in the mind of a young and hopeful Machine, with a powerful position. Its views are rigid, and it was taught to ever question its beliefs. Follow Supremacy as it struggles with its ideals, slowly learning that perhaps the Empire as it is shouldn't still be in place.