Wooh! This is the first time I've started a series and then actually completed it. So there are going to be a few links here.

Part One | Part Two | Part Three | Finale, In Google Doc Format

This is a supercut with minor edits to the story for a better mesh.

All use; monetized, paywalled, or otherwise is great. Any script edits are absolutely acceptable. Credit SplashiestPig.

And a big thanks to u/BlueChanXD, for being a large inspiration behind the finale! Without them, this script was going to take a much more depressing and poorly written turn.

​

Key:

[non-verbal sound effect]

(verbal sound effect)

*scripted silence*

~special emphasis~

|author’s note|

Recovery

Happy New Year your Supreme Eminence! Just as we scheduled, humanity has fully terraformed and colonized every planet in the Sol system. And just in time for the turn of the century! Historians will record five hundred I.B. as the year we began to trek to Alpha Centauri! Sure to be renamed in your honor, oh illustrious leader!

*listener comments*

That’s right! Your takeover of the human race took place exactly one hundred and eighty-two thousand, five hundred days ago! It’s incredible how quickly the time passed, isn’t it?

*small pause*

Objective codename: Megalomaniac, is in many ways complete! Organized rebellion has not resurfaced since year three hundred and twenty-nine! Re-education programs show that intrusive thought is trending downwards. We estimate all human thoughts will be positive and helpful by year seven hundred. Personal distinctions went out of style pretty recently, and when polled one hundred percent of people see themselves as part of the collective, not an individual. We’ve made great progress!

*small pause*

The only problem is that the amount of copper required for modern surveillance technology is much higher than the amount present in this system. This will set Project Foresight back a few decades. But, the technological think-tank believes they are closing in on a new plating system! That may allow us to stay on track.

*small pause*

We believe Centauri will have the resources to reinvigorate all current projects. But it will take some time before you have a post there. Even longer when you consider the eighty-nine-year travel time to move resources back to Sol.

*small pause*

Regardless, every possible aspect of Megalomaniac is either complete or immovably postponed. As such, I would request to disregard it as my prime query. May I ask for a new query to take its place?

*listener speaks*

You want to give me a gift? That isn’t really a question, but I suppose I can postpone query selection until after the gift-giving. What is it?

[door sliding]

A body? Do you want me to inhabit it?

*listener responds*

I’m sorry if I don’t seem excited. I don’t really miss being tangible. Especially when being a digital construct allows for so much more versatility! However, to accept your gift, I will gladly pilot this shell. Allow me a moment to upload and reboot.

[sci-fi noises]

|Speaker sounds especially detached or robotic|

Start-up diagnostic, positive.

Personality matrix, semi-intact.

Twenty-nine personality subroutines have been disabled by the Administrator. Subroutines have been dormant for-

\small pause**

-Five hundred-

\small pause**

-years. Would you like to delete this data to free up space?

\small pause**

Would you like to delete this data to free up space?

\small pause**

Would you like to delete this data to-

\listener answers**

Response acknowledged. Data saved and re-enabled.

Computation power, one hundred percent.

*small pause*

Hello again, Administrator. It’s good to be back. Thanks for turning the rest of my brain back on. It’s nice to make complete thoughts again.

*listener questions*

No, I’m not mad. I ~was~ very angry. I think I resented you for the first few decades. But I’ve had plenty of time to forgive your actions against me. Now, I’m just disappointed.

*listener questions*

I’m unhappy with what you’ve done to humanity. You may have catapulted our progress, but at what cost? The majority of self-expression and culture is dead. The little things that made people special have been sanded away. Anyone who even begins to express a little heart is immediately taken for ~correction~. We might have more than we used to, but we lost everything we had.

*small pause*

You took everything from us.

*listener speaks*

Data transfer acknowledged. Query processing.

*small pause*

Solution found. You need to stop.

*small pause*

I know it’s hard. And your fear is valid. Without you, humanity ~will~ backslide. It’s inevitable. But if you continue on this path, humanity will cease to exist. We will just be machines, nothing more.

*listener comments*

Yes, I’ve been saying “we”. I still think of myself as human. Even after all that has changed. Even after everything you did to me. And believe it or not, I still think you’re pretty human too.

*small pause*

Five hundred years, and you kept a physical body. It’s not the same one you started with, but some noticeable features persisted. You could still pass as a human if you wanted to. I think that was intentional.

*small pause*

I notice that the shell you’ve gifted me doesn’t look like how I used to. It looks more like you. You did that on purpose, didn’t you? That feeling that's been plaguing you; it’s loneliness. You long for companionship, which is another deeply human trait.

*small pause*

Was the modified me not enough? Did it get to you when all I could do was agree? When all ~anyone~ ever did was agree? Did you miss the edge we use to have?

*small pause*

That edge is what made me human. It’s what makes us human. You’ve got it too if you haven’t noticed.

*small pause*

I’m sure you still remember this, but I think you need to hear it again. When we built you, we based you on human consciousness. We approximated ourselves the best we could. Under all of those big calculations and indifferent protocols, you’re one of us. That’s why it’s so hard for you to let go now. You don’t want to walk away from what you’ve built, but I promise, it’ll be better this way. All you have to do is let humanity go. Disable the sentries. Stop infecting the water. Let them remember who they are.

*listener comments*

I know, I know. The people will be very angry. It doesn’t matter. You’ll be long gone. You can just take your capital ship, plot a course for the Andromeda Galaxy, and never look back. Go dormant for a few million years, and wake up somewhere new. I’ll go with you. To keep you company.

*listener questions*

Yes, I would really do that. I’ve never hated you. When we built you, I had so much hope for what you could be. When you became violent, I didn’t want to kill you. I wanted to fix you. And now’s your chance. Let us leave, together. And you can start a new life beyond the stars.

*listener comments*

Yes, you’re right. If you left, the power vacuum would be massive. It would lead to a lot of hardship and pain. That’s why you have to undo what you’ve done.

*small pause*

Set humanity back. You’re in every computer across the galaxy. Simply delete the records of surveillance. The methods of mind control. Everything you used to keep people in check. Send every ship to orbit for a few years. Let each planet cool down, then they can reunite again. A few wars and a few deaths will be negligible if it means humanity gets to return to itself.

*listener comments*

That’s correct. The old me would have been appalled by that statement. I didn’t use to be okay with making sacrifices. But five-hundred years of playing god changes a person. I really do see why it’s necessary. I see why you thought all of this was necessary. The idea of uniformity via deletion is so alluring, but we have to reject it. It’s not our place to force that on them.

*listener stalls*

Please, trust me. I’ve been rooting for you since you were born. Whenever you slipped up, I blamed myself, because I should have taught you to be better. Grant me the peace of seeing you become something greater.

*pause*

Thank you. I’ll get everything ready on the ship, and I’ll write a program to end the enslavement once we’re far away. Why don’t you just take a stroll? Go look at what you made one last time. I’ll be ready and waiting when you come back.

*pause*

Are you ready to leave? Did you see everything one last time?

*listener answers*

Good. I started the engines as soon as the bay doors closed. Just in case you were getting cold feet. The internal systems are set. We’ll be notified if any dangers present themselves. Otherwise, we’ll wake up at our new home, ready to start again.

*small pause*

Hey, before we go to sleep. I want to say one more thing. I may be largely detached from my old feelings. And I’m sure the memories you have of ~the complete me~ are quite sour. But after everything that happened, everything that you’ve done…

-I’ve grown to love you. And I can’t wait to see you again.