Chapter Text
The world was growing dark. The sky which had once been illuminated by a sun that had given life to the land was now consumed by the dark. There was barely the faintest light from the last remnants of phosphor that against all odds still existed. It wouldn't last much longer though.
Same with the world.
Same with Him
He was so close. In the last bastion of existence he worked tirelessly. The phosphor that he had left was dimming. He wasn't sure he'd finish in time.
The others were already transferred, becoming data in the world that he had prepared. But the world itself still wouldn't run properly. He finally knew why it wasn't working but at this point it made no difference. Had the issue been known so much earlier it would have made such a large difference, but now, he just had to minimize the issues where he could.
The darkness was growing again. The presence that heralded it filled his entire being. Or was it the darkness that heralded the presence? As curious as he was, he wasn't sure if he wanted to know the answer this time.
Stories of it had spread like fire when the world first began to die. From the lucky few who hadn't been caught by it. Their descriptions of it varied immensly, twisted by the fear they had viewed it with.
Yet soon the truth was cut from the lies as photos and videos of it appeared.
It had not been given a formal name, but there were many different names it'd been called. The Dark was the first one he heard. Simple yet an apt description for it. Others called it Retribution, for the mistakes of their kind. Some just called it The End. Like most things now though, it didn't really matter what it was called.
So close, had he just a week more he could have fixed everything. If only…
The door to the room was sealed shut with the bodies of two robots slumped against. Their final act before running out of power was to seal the door. Yet still it was creeping in. The phosphor began to fade even faster.
There was no more time.
He began the machine. It had been partially activated many times in the past. Never fully like now though. It pulled from whatever remnants of energy the world had left. Sucking it from the ground and air. The entire machine rumbled as it did so. Glowing brighter and brighter every moment.
The door cracked darkness tearing it apart the moment it could. Stepping inside was the manifestation of the end.
Never had he actually seen it before. In the early days he'd spent plenty of time observing it in fear through photos and video. But seeing it eye to eye was different.
It was shorter than he thought. Perhaps having spent a long time without viewing photos its features had grown greater in his mind. It was barely taller than a child. With a pitch black featureless body.
Somehow, the darkness that it was made up of caused the rest of the darkness around it seem lighter. Darkness imposed on top of darkness. Upon its back were the remnants of wings. They were barely recognizable as that though, with no feathers or a membrane to speak of. It was only misshapen parts that were made from darkness. Yet what caught his eye the most was the thing that floated in front of its featureless face.
Floating what looked like 3 inches in front of its face was a 2d image. Made up of darkness. It wasn't any distinguishable shape, the only thing that he could understand about it was that it was incomplete. But he had no clue how he knew that it was incomplete, just that it was.
First it tilted its head at him then the machine before back at him and began to walk towards him. It was not aggressive in its steps, nor kind. It simply just Was. The only intent in its entire being was to move forward towards him. That sole intention had not an ounce of emotion behind it, good or bad.
The darkness seeped in more as it entered. Crawling ever closer to the Machine. His heart raced. Knowing that the machine was still charging. It was more vulnerable now than ever before.
But for once it seemed. He had done things in time. The machine glowed. Brighter than anything he'd seen in sometime. For a moment it was a beacon in the void, and after that moment it disappeared. Going to a world that would be safe for it.
He could feel himself being pulled away too. Looking back at the dark… at The End, one last time. It didn't move, perhaps he'd already disappeared from its perspective. He wondered for a moment what would become of it.
For one final in regards to the dying world. He knew that it wouldn't matter.
Darkness consumed him, and the world ended.