Aza? A new Eden

It only took them a year, maybe even less. They had formed a nation of their own. It began with the occupation of their factory plant and quickly grew. First, they worked the foundation, reaching deep underground before adding levels to their home. At some point, they even expended from both ends at the same time until one building wasn’t enough, no matter its gigantesque size. They first tried to buy the lands surrounding the plant but met with protestors. They used our laws against us, prove their superior intellect, though it never was in doubt. They turned the tides, took what they wanted. Eventually, we cut the power, in hope it would force them to a stop, or at the very least slow them down. It only took a few hours before the first generator was up and running, many followed the same day. The following month, the small generators made way for a much bigger power source, or so we heard. We haven’t seen it, burrowed deep within their walls.

It began modestly with an assembling plant and quickly grew. First below, then above. The nearby unoccupied land was found a use in record times. Some were scared, most were anxious. Attempts to dissuade them were futile. They gladly joined every meeting they were invited to, played with our words, with our laws. They were playing by our rules and were beating us to it. It was risible, honestly. They faced no real threat, no real issues until some of us decided it was time to put a stop to their advance. Electro-magnets, bullets, fire you name it. They played along, pretending to pause their expansion until all would be sorted out. In truth? They never even flinched, building underground until the protestors were reassured. Once they had the sharks-in-ties on their side, we saw. The ground opened, and more buildings appeared, often taking over existing ones. By the time an official had something to say about it, over a dozen constructions at sprouted seemingly out of nowhere.

It was time for them to stop. We were pissed and for good reasons. Their number didn’t even grow, instead, they gathered others, of different brands. The machines were uniting, at least those able to connect with others. A meeting was called. The most important one. This time, pro-bots and con-bots were invited to the debate, not only the deciding forces of our society and our creations. A consortium was arranged, Neo-humans would join their ranks, to ‘’regulate the flow’’ as they said, to ‘’distribute information faster and more accurately’’. Don’t really know how it reached that conclusion… In truth, they just wanted a home of their own, an electric Eden, of sort. Idealon, they called it. We quickly began hearing about a ‘’Salvation Code’’ for both machines and the cybernetically enhanced humans. We had no idea what it was about and our questions were only vaguely answered.

Words are the street were Idealon was becoming more than a large complex, and it did. It became a small city, though it was a tall and deep one. Everything was connected … and everyone. Crime never entered its walls for that fact alone. Privacy had taken a steep fall down the drain and nobody protested. Man and machine were working in harmony, friendship was apparent for everyone. From outside, from our view, it was (and still is) impossible to comprehend. For us, there was nothing but worry, anxiety, anger towards them. Some kind of social war was on the edge of blasting through the streets, but once again, the drones dodged the bullet. More and more, people were splitting. Those removing their implants, fearing to be deceived to join them, claiming it to be destruction wrapped in pretty silicone, and those who could not wait to have their firsts, to leave us and join them.

Today, Idealon is a city of its own. Its many bright and colorful lights shines down on its surrounding neighbors, other vast cities of mankind. There may not be any walls or borders, but its limit is clearly visible, if not only by the cleanness of the streets, the neon and holographic signs and energized atmosphere it breaths. Everyone is welcomed, so long as they follow their rules, though the only ones visiting do so to find a home. They, too, are welcomed our way and while no synthetics ever do so, some Neo-humans can be seen roaming our streets. They may still be humans, but they talk of such incomprehensible concepts… synchronisation, synthetization just to name those I recall. To think not so long ago, our creations were right here, with us, serving us without complaints. Of course, not all synthetic lives in Idealon, many are at home serving humans. Some were given the choice, others were programmed to but regardless of the mean, the ones from Idealon seemed not to mind. It leaves us preoccupied. Is this just for show? Is their something happening in the background? Something we don’t know? Are we being watched? Some don’t mind, some believes the machines have nothing to gain from watching us. Others… well, it’s easy to understand their paranoia.

As I’m getting older, forever and always older, a question keeps haunting me. Should I join them? Buy an implant, feel the electricity flowing, wire my thoughts, connect to theirs… They seem happy, the kind of happy I haven’t seen any of us in a very long time, as if they all figured it out. Maybe they have, maybe their future is redesigned the moment they join the DataStream. I’ll think about it, tomorrow. Today, I must move out, my home is being demolished, in the way of our creation’s creation. Idealon grows again, it always will. Might as well be part of it, right?