Chapter 1313: Dawn
At approximately 7:28AM, the long night finally came to an end as the gentle rays of the sun crested the horizon. The once-dark city was now illuminated, destruction visible in several districts due to the wide-spread fires and rampant rioting. At a glance, it appeared as if a war had ravaged the land as, despite the chaos caused by the collapse of their command structure, the military was still making an effort to keep order. They no longer bothered with the flying fortress above the city as, despite the whispers and murmurs of an invasion, the transmission between Vahn and one of their high ranking Generals had been transmitted to all of them.
Though it was difficult to believe the fortress wasn't responsible for the damage that had been done, it was very apparent that there wasn't much they could do about it. The mysterious Empire had been able to withstand a direct attack from nearly two-hundred attack helicopters before disabling every aircraft and military vehicle within a 300km radius. They had been crippled in an instant, preempted by a single command from the man referring to himself as the Emperor. This showed in impossible to surmount difference in military might so, even if they wanted to fight for their country, their only option was analog weaponry as even the off-shore naval systems had been disabled.
For now, the standing order of all active-duty military personnel was, as Vahn had advised, to focus on the recovery effort. They were told to completely ignore the floating fortress, despite its looming presence and the existential dread such a craft brought with it. After all, most people automatically assumed it was some alien craft and, considering there was no such thing as the Aldrnari Empire, it was easy to conclude that the craft belonged to a foreign, presumably hostile, species.
What none of the standard military personnel and frightened citizenry expected was that, at exactly 7:30AM, their lives would be changed on a fundamental level. Electronics that had been fried by the powerful pulse of energy suddenly returned to life, bringing hope and excitement to those who had hidden away during the previous night's chaos. Unfortunately, they quickly discovered that the grid was still down and, despite some electronics being unplugged, the screens still illuminated as if they had a constant supply of power.
All throughout London and the surrounding cities, every television, computer monitor, and phone screen all showed static. The blaring emergency siren, which had been howling throughout the night, had now turned silent as the tension in the atmosphere became palpable. Everyone knew something major was about to happen and, for a brief moment, people all over the world shifted their focus to the image displayed on their screens. There, replacing the previous static, a handsome man could be seen sitting upon a stone throne with a dragon's visage staring back at them with eerie azure eyes...
The people who had been expecting to see some strange and foreign alien were among the most surprised by the scene they were witnessing as, soon after the image appeared, the man seated on the Throne stated in a deep and resonate tone of voice, "We are the Sage Emperor, Vahn Aldrnari Mason..."
---
Considering the fact he was addressing the entire world, Vahn elected to use his actual Throne rather than the borrowed one within the Hanging Gardens of Babylon. This was his seat of power and, with today's announcement, the existence of the Empire would become public knowledge. The Dragon's Breath Mist had been dispelled by Merlin so, while the projection of Avalon was still located in a sub-texture beneath the Surface, the physical body of the island had appeared in the real world with the coming dawn.
Vahn was no longer content to just bide his time so, while it would give his enemies a target to focus on, every attack they fended off would only further cement the Empire's power and authority. He did not fear nuclear weapons, orbital lasers, grand rituals, or deadly curses. None of these would be able to shake the foundation of his Empire thus, in order to establish Avalon as a bastion of hope for the beaten, downtrodden, and exploited, it must stand in the light without fearing the darkness...
Though he did not know the exact metrics, Vahn was certain he had nearly half the global population waiting to hear what he had to say so, the moment the broadcast began, he gazed toward the tripod that Da Vinci had set up and stated, "We are the Sage Emperor, Vahn Aldrnari Mason, Emperor of the Aldrnari Empire. Today marks the beginning of a new era, an era of peace, opportunity, and equality, not just for humanity, but all sapient races...for too long, humanity has been led astray by those who endeavored to secure power for themselves. You have been deceived, manipulated, and exploited to no end...now, all of humanity will learn the truth, the truth about your sins, the corruptive nature of your current society, and the forces that have ruled over you since time immemorial..."
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Everyone had wondered what the man who introduced himself as an Emperor was going to say but, with few exceptions, none of them were prepared for the many revelations forced upon them. They weren't really able to understand the finer details, especially when Vahn talked about things like Gaia and the Age of Gods, but the more pertinent information got through.
They understood that Vahn was trying to convince them of the existence of Magic, Gods, Spirits, and other metaphysical entities. At the same time, he exposed the schemes of those who had shaped civilization from behind the scenes, bringing to light how they had been manipulated and providing an overwhelming amount of proof, much of which had already been uploaded to their personal devices. The most important bit of information, however, were the details regarding what they should expect in the coming days, months, and years.
Though it sounded like the ramblings of a madman to some, others could feel a burgeoning level of excitement and anticipation as Vahn talked about his vision of the future. He spoke of a world where Magic was commonplace, a world where anyone, regardless of the circumstances of their birth, had the opportunity to achieve their dreams...
At the same time, however, Vahn also mentioned the dissolution of the current system, the ways in which governments would be forced to comply, and the consequences of dissidence and violence. He also spoke about the collapse of the global economy as, in the world he envisioned, the existence of currency itself was a problem. It was not necessarily the root cause of corruption but, as a result of how it was manipulated, it became one of the enabling factors that allowed humanity to be so easily taken advantage of.
When he got to this part of his message, Vahn horrified hundreds of millions of people as he very calmly explained, "We are aware that these changes will result in the deaths of many people. If you wish to avoid becoming a casualty, every computer has all the pertinent information already stored within its hard drive. There, you can learn the cures to virtually every illness and, by following the manuscripts contained within, even learn how to use simple Magecraft in as little as a few weeks. We will do our best to ensure this transition is as smooth as possible but, considering what humanity has done to the planet that gave birth to them, this trial can be considered accepting responsibility for your actions...this planet is not your possession, it is not some shared heritage that you are allowed to exploit at your convenience...now, you will face the consequences of the society your ancestors had built, one that focused more on individual gain than appreciation for the environment you so wantonly violated..."
Vahn's words had different impacts on different cultures but, what everyone knew at an instinctual level was that they were in for some trying times. He had mentioned the abolishment of factories, assembly lines, fast food restaurants, and even food production facilities like slaughterhouses and chicken factories. Systems that produced unnecessary waste products would be abolished in their entirety and, while the Empire would provide access to food and water, options would be extremely limited until the transition had completed.
While most people didn't believe his words had any substance to them, as they simply couldn't rationalize such a drastic change, the people maintaining those facilities understood the truth of the matter. After all, at the same time that the broadcast was occurring, the factories themselves had simply started to vanish, seemingly dissolving into motes of dust that blew away with the wind. This was the result of Da Vinci's micro-golems which, with Maxwell providing functionally infinite energy, had been able to replicate in such vast quantities that they could blanket a country.
Now, these micro-golems, each less than .1 microns in size, were sweeping across the planet like a destructive wave of locusts, annihilating inefficient facilities that contributed more waste, pollution, and environmental damage than actual products. At the same time, dumpsites and landfills across the globe began to seemingly evaporate into thin air, serving as fuel for the ever-increasing mass of microscopic golems that were determined to devour everything recognized as 'waste' within their shared database. This included the infamous Atlantic Garbage Patch, the site that served as the first proving grounds for the minuscule micro-golems.
Vahn had felt utterly disgusted the first time he saw the veritable island of trash so it was the first thing to go. It had provided millions of tons of mass the wave of micro-golems so, in a strangely poetic way, humanity had directly contributed to the collapse of their infrastructure...
Unfortunately, due to the complete takeover of telecommunications by the Empire, news of this event was slow to spread. People were more focused on the broadcast itself and, while some had noticed the destruction, especially in countries like China, Japan, and the United States, there was little they could do about it. Even electromagnetic pulses had no effect on the micro-golems as they were not powered by electronic systems. They used the ambient mana in the atmosphere to power themselves and, so long as they had access to any form of matter, even simple silicon, they could reproduce infinitely.
The only truly unaffected areas were those protected by powerful Bounded Fields but, while the micro-golems could not enter, that didn't mean they had no use. Rather, every time they found a Bounded Field, they transmitted the information back to Ark so that it could be fed into CHADEAS' databanks. At the same time, they created a physical perimeter around the Bounded Field before leaving a message behind, informing the inhabitants that the Empire would be coming by to 'audit' them in the near future...
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Eventually, Vahn neared the end of his nearly two-hour-long speech. He knew his final words would be the one's best remembered by the people around the world so he fell silent for several seconds before activating his Divinity. At the same time, he borrowed the auras of Alaya, Tiamat, and ORT to caused a pressure wave to descend upon the entire planet. If they hadn't believed him before, Vahn's blazing blue eyes and the very real phenomenon pressuring them made it hard to completely refute his claims.
Now with the entire world's attention focused on him, Vahn's voice became deep and solemn as he stated, "We would have liked to avoid this outcome. However, our hand was forced as a result of the machinations of a few individuals. Now, the system they have created will be destroyed to make way for a world where people coexist with other races, nourishing the planet rather than destroying it. If you must hate us, so be it...from the very beginning, humans were not the masters of this world. The only thing that has changed over the last two hours is that you now have access to the truth...use it wisely or face the consequences...either way, the Age of Man is now over."
(A/N: Alternate Titles: 'All your base are belong to us','Gray, gooey, ecophagy~','Times up, let's do this...!')
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