From Above and Lurking Below

Nobody can hear a scream in the vacuum of space, or so they say. Of course, “they” had never seen an angry Tyraxus in the void before. This is likely because none who witnessed one lived long enough to make pithy sayings. Accordingly, there were no diligent historians scribbling away in their notebooks to witness the physics defying bellows released from the gargantuan beast.

Fortunately, recent data allows me to provide a graphical representation of this occurrence with up to 90% accuracy.

The Tyraxus was roughly 4 kilometers tall, longer when counting the 500-meter-long tail. Its open mouth in its square head revealed three sets of massive, stained teeth, set in front of an orange, pulsating mouth. Down its back ran roughly 50 rows of spikes, which contoured three sets of furled, purple, and crimson wings. Its stomach had three slits running down it.

Its lung capacity was such that even as it flew through space, flung by giant blue and silver contraptions, it released such a torrent of air as to be heard from one end of the solar system to the other. Far below it, on the planet toward which it was hurtling, the first members of humanity looked up at the sky in perplexity. Some clutched their ears in agony at the overwhelming noise.

The panic swelled within their few numbers as a massive fireball, easily the size of any mountain, rocketed through the sky, and disappeared in seconds. To them, it must have appeared as if a demon had arrived. Which wasn’t far from the truth.

The poor confused beast crash landed at the center of the south pole with enough force to enshroud the entire globe in a cloak of debris and shift the planet just slightly away from the sun. This, in turn, brought about an ice age, which served to further freeze and entrap the already battered and frozen creature. Given the monster’s apparent size, the only reason its impact did not cause an extinction-level event would be due to its attempts to fly slowing the fall to a slightly less disastrous speed.

For the next eighteen thousand years, the beast slumbered in its icy tomb. Humanity grew in power and prominence. Empires rose and fell. Love blossomed and shriveled. Life thrived and fled. The cycles of Earth went on naturally... Until they didn’t.

Humanity’s rise to the top of the planet’s food chain led to them toppling it. They didn’t stop there. Plants were tamed and bred, mountains flattened, and the air pumped full of chemicals. The natural cycles of life were subverted and corrupted. They poisoned the Earth, and unknowingly, poisoned themselves. For they did not know what monsters they had awoken.

Frozen under nearly two miles of ice, the Tyraxus was not completely free. However, its belly, housing three half-kilometer-long tendrils covered in fertilized eggs, was soon unfrozen by the receding ice caps.

It was the spring of the year 2040 when the first monster, the size of a large van, washed up on the shores of a small island off the coast of Australia: Tasmania. It moved through the Southwest National Park, devouring 32 campers in its weeklong march towards the city of Hobart. This crusade of hunger would have continued all the way to the city had the beast not encountered Arnold Hixby, a retired member of the Special Air Service Regiment on a fishing trip alone.

He had just so happened to meet some campers staying near him when they went off on a short hour-long hike. When they had not returned by sunset, Arnold went looking for them. He had not gone far before encountering a giant, lumbering, stone-grey beast. It had reptilian scales and five rows of square spikes running down its back from head to tail. Its three sets of teeth were blood-stained and had bits of flannel stuck in them.

Any other person would have frozen in fear. Any rational person. Arnold had always prided himself on being decidedly irrational. His ex-wives would have agreed. Arnold imagined all 4 of them cheering on the monster as he fled, but he was fortunate to have encountered it in the forest. The thick lumber made size a hinderance and gave Arnold enough of a head start to run to his car, spurred to greater speeds by the sound of splintering wood echoing behind him. Reports say he accrued five automated speeding tickets on the drive to his secluded house on the coast.

It wasn’t a run made from fear, however, only strategy. It was clear to Arnold that he stood chance in a fair fight. Not that he would have given one even had he stood a chance. Arnold had been trained to always stack the odds in his favor, and his adherence to that principle was the reason that he had survived to retirement.

So, not wasting any time, Arnold loaded his Hunting rifle and shotgun into the back of his truck. After a moment’s thought, he threw in an ax, a fishing net, and several fuel canisters as well. His last addition was a collection of liquor, but that was a last resort.

Whether by providence or misfortune, Arnold nearly crashed his truck into the three-meter-tall infant Tyraxus. He was quick to fire a few rounds from his rifle at it, but they simply bounced off of its thick skin. Thinking quickly, Arnold wrapped his shirt around a butane canister, soaked the shirt in some of his nice whiskey and set it all on fire.

As Arnold hucked the makeshift grenade at the beast’s face, he had no expectation of the explosion doing any damage. He did think it’d be pretty bright though.

As the baby Kaiju clawed at its eyes in agony, Arnold charged forward with his axe held over his head. He aimed for the flame covered spots of the beast, hoping they would be slightly more vulnerable. The heat scorched his hands, but also loosened the tough scales covering its monstrous flesh.

Bone shaking screams of pain pierced Arnold’s ears, but he kept hacking, even as the heat blistered his skin. The man did not stop swinging even as claws the size of his torso wrapped about him, sword like talons slicing into his flesh as he was lifted up.

Arnold was brought level with a set of 16 eyes, 8 on each side. As alien as they were, the burning heat of wrath raging inside them was instantly recognizable to Arnold. He liked to imagine that rage got even more intense once he had flung his combat dagger through those same eyes.

He didn’t check though, he was too busy hammering the blunt end of his ax into the knife handle, driving it deep into his captor’s brain. After a frantic, panicked moment, the beast froze, dead standing.

For Arnold, there was no celebrating, however, as he was swiftly crushed to death by his foe’s fallen corpse.

At the time, the general public chalked it up to a freak accident. News reports said it was simply a large crocodile. No one wanted to face the terrifying truth of the situation. The few scientists who studied the corpse couldn’t truly blame them for this unwillingness. They were the chosen few who understood that this was likely only the beginning.

2 years later, during Rio Gellegos’ annual summer solstice festival, that fear was proven correct. The town was bustling with tourists and locals frantically finishing preparations for the celebrations to begin.

The explosions of several cargo ships in quick succession signaled the start of a very different sort of party. Shortly after, the bay’s dam keeping out excess sea water was breached, flooding the city and preventing any escape. Out of the water strode three adolescent Tyraxi, each as tall as a school bus is long. Their tails were thicker than most trees and their three sets of fangs all glitteringly sharp.

I wish I could tell you of another hero whose exploits matched those of the now legendary Arnold Hixby, but there was no such luck. The closest to a hero there would be young Eduardo Kingston. His father was a local fisherman who was busy preparing the town square for the festival.

Eduardo spent the free time that he’d otherwise be spending sitting on a boat staring into the water, sitting on the dock, staring into the water. He had never found more comfort than when he was out at sea. The poor boy was ruminating on what fish he might catch on the morrow when the booms of punctured steel reached his ears. Standing up, he thought he could just make out what looked like a giant arm, plucking wiggling figures off the deck of the sinking ship.

He rubbed his eyes and when his vision returned, nothing was there. It was as if the ship had disappeared.

Little did young Eduardo know that the ship had simply been dragged into the depths to allow easier access for the hungry beasts lurking within.

Eduardo, though faced with no evidence of maleficence, had a bad feeling in his gut and froze in terror. Had he been wiser, he might have alerted his family, but he did not think to, he merely stood stock still.

He retained that pose as dull thuds emanated through the air and cracks began to appear in the dam. He even maintained it as a gigantic, reptilian figure crawled up from the other side of the dam and proceeded to pull as its ally pushed.

To Eduardo’s credit, he did begin to move as the first streams of water began to spurt from the damaged dam. He leapt into a nearby speed boat and undid the moorings. As the dam burst and a flood raced through the city, Eduardo fought with every ounce of strength and skill in his possession to keep the boat steady.

The moment the waters were no longer trying to drown him, Eduardo steered towards the city center, intent on saving those he could. His later, tear-filled reports indicate that he did in fact find his father. Screaming for help as he tread water. Eduardo raced to save him, but his boat was pushed aside by a sudden swell of water.

While not immediately clear, Eduardo quickly realized that the Tyraxi had arrived, displacing all water around them. The boat had turned about in the wave, and Eduardo, cowardly human that he was, didn’t have it in himself to turn back to face the beasts.

By the end of the day, the entire city had been reduced to rubble with only those who drowned underneath the rubble fortunate enough to have avoided being devoured. Well, besides Eduardo, who sped away with tears streaming down his face and self-hate swelling in his heart.

Days later, Eduardo and his little fishing boat limped up to the port of a small village. They were able to contact the military, who promised swift action.

That Eduardo survived this far without food or water was a miracle. As blessed as the boy might have been to this point, the rest of his life was decidedly unblessed. The love of his life, the sea, had been forever tarnished by the hideous Tyraxi and he never recovered. Eduardo died sad and alone, having achieved nothing with his life.

By the time the military mobilized, seven coastal cities had been decimated. There wasn’t much that the army could do regardless of their “speed,” as their bullets bounced right off the Tyraxus’ thick scales.

In total, it took a coalition of eighteen nations, 40,000 soldiers, 4 ICBMs, 500 billion dollars, 2 years, and 28 more destroyed cities to eliminate what would be later classified as “the terror triplets.” While terribly inefficient, it was the best that humanity could manage.

Once they were finally annihilated, each having grown to the size of a five-story building, the world breathed a collective sigh of relief. It was not a week later that a similar incident occurred in Australia and the surrounding region.

Experts since have noted far decreased sightings of large aquatic mammals such as Orca and whales leading up to this. It had been incorrectly assumed that their disappearance was due to toxins in the ocean, as opposed to the simple truth: they were being hunted to near extinction.

Those same experts were divided on the possible reasons for the delayed reveal of the new Tyraxus threats, but we now know the answer is simple. They were lulling us into a false state of security and giving themselves time to grow. When they stepped from the shadow, the shortest of the new crop was 40 meters tall, with the tallest just shy of 90 meters. While large and simplistic, the behemoths are far from unintelligent.

Perhaps that is why nearly all of Australia was decimated before China had finished constructing its response. A gigantic, 50-meter tall, Biped robot piloted by a highly trained team. They named it the Hixby, after the by-then legendary hero who defeated the first Tyraxus. The captain, Li Mùyáng, had been a fighter jet pilot for a dozen years before he came to the Hixby. His life dream was to be a dancer, but his lack of talent made that impossible. Others might attribute that to some made-up concept like “Fate,” but that is merely a delusion. A human-made concept to avoid accepting fault for failure.

Of course, they attribute fate to what happened to the Hixby. On its first mission, Mùyáng led the ship to victory against the 40-meter-tall monster terrorizing Vietnam. While victorious, it was not easy. The Hixby arrived as the Tyraxi, designated as “Clamper” was spreading its wave of terror from Vung Tau northwards towards Ho Chi Minh City.

Though the conflict did not arise in the most populated area, thousands were still killed in the chaos. The Hixby, to their credit, tried to end the fight in one decisive strike, letting off a devastating plasma blast that should have disintegrated Clamper immediately. Their failure can only be attributed to Humanity’s limited understanding of mathematics. In a lab somewhere, a scientist had forgotten to carry the zero.

While embarrassing, the crew of the Hixby did not allow themselves to be disheartened. They charged forward, shooting Clamper with 36 impaling electro cables anchored into the Earth. They had hoped that the electricity plus the binding would be enough to hold it. For a moment they appeared to have succeeded.

Mùyáng wasted no time in seizing that advantage, drawing the Hixby’s Vibro blade and shoving it into clamper’s guts. In its death throes, the vicious Tyraxus lashed out, breaking free of its bindings to grab hold of the Hixby and use the abnormally strong jaws that gave it its name to bite down on the Hixby’s head. Three crew members were devoured immediately. In response, Mùyáng took over emergency control and swept the Vibro blade up, slicing Clamper in half, thereby preventing the Hixby from falling to the same fate as its namesake.

After a week of tireless nights, the Hixby was repaired and upgraded for its next fight, which went far better than the first.

In the Philippines, between islands, a 70-meter Tyraxus leapt out of the water, attempting to catch the Hixby by surprise, but Mùyáng was too battle-hardened to let such a paltry trick get the better of him. In the instant after the Tyraxus leapt and before it landed its assault, the Hixby had leveled its already charged plasma cannon and fired, this time with devastating success. The failed scientist had been fired, and their replacement repaired the damage, creating a powerful weapon. The proof of that stood before the Hixby; a giant, gaping hole where the Tyraxus’ upper torso had once been.

With another foe eliminated and another region cleansed, Mùyáng set his sights on his most ambitious goal: freeing Australia. To do so would require rescuing its neighbor from the flames. You see, nearly all of Australia’s ports had already been ransacked, with most of the population evacuating to either the center of the continent or to New Zealand. While Tyraxi roaming the land would eventually be a problem, for the moment, their primary mode of travel was swimming.

Thus, Wellington was under siege by a 60-meter Tyraxi, designated “Crier” for the deep grooves running down its face. Using smaller versions of the plasma cannon mounted on the Hixby, the local military had managed to hold back the beast, but not kill it. Not until the Hixby arrived. Mùyáng ordered the local batteries to stop firing, drawing the beast into the bay, before they opened fire. Once they did, Crier turned to flee, only to find that the Hixby had blocked its escape.

As the Tyraxus charged in desperation, the Hixby’s sensors started going haywire. They detected more Tyraxi behind them, 3 to be exact. Confusingly, one of them was coming from above. Before Mùyáng could even consider there being a defect, Crier rammed into their torso. Even under such dire circumstances, Mùyáng kept his cool. Using the Hixby’s ability to completely rotate its lower half, he fired off a powerful spinning kick into Crier, launching it into the air, straight into the flying Tyraxus.

Wasting no time, Mùyáng ordered an immediate retreat. Onboard cameras show the crew looking at their captain as if he were a complete coward, but he ignored their glares and took over control sending the giant robot fleeing toward deeper ocean.

Of everyone on that vessel, Mùyáng was the only one that had correctly interpreted the situation. Everyone else thought it a coincidence that 3 more Tyraxi had just randomly appeared right as they engaged in combat with another. Mùyáng saw it for what it was, a targeted strike. An ambush. And as opposed to abandoning the city like his crewmates assumed he was doing, Mùyáng saved it as all the Tyraxi swarmed after the Hixby, intent on eliminating this threat.

Before long, they had reached deep ocean, but Mùyáng kept going, sending the robot running along the ocean floor. All four Tyraxi, including the flyer, pursued. That is when the Hixby flipped around, goring the winged Tyraxus with its sword and wrapping an arm around Crier whilst pinning the other two 80-meter Tyraxi with electro cables launched from and attached to its chest. Then, with only a single tear shed for the dreams he would never get to fulfill, Muyang set the Hixby’s Nuclear engine off, using a failsafe feature to create a massive nuclear detonation.

It is believed that the blast alone did not kill the beasts. However, the vortex created by the blasted and the crushing weight of a thousand tons of water flooding back into place, crushed them to death.

While it was a glorious death that proved the worth of humanity, or some of it at least, Mùyáng’s sacrifice was ultimately for naught. As if on cue, the minute that the Tyraxi began their ambush on the Hixby, a massive, 120-meter tall Tyraxus strode into Cape town and lay waste to it. Humanity’s extinction was still very much on the table.

By then, the success of the robot had been witnessed by the world, and projects were started the world over to create their own. For a time, many of the models held their own against the Tyraxi threat, though the creatures grew ever larger whilst the robots did not. In all cases, however, there remained one basic point of failure. Humanity.

Not only was their piloting subpar, leading to extensive damages even from victorious clashes, but their minds were small. They could only think of what threats lay ahead of them and were completely incapable of progressive thinking. If X=2 today, humans will assume that it could never equal 3. This makes them inferior.

Fortunately for your species, there was one individual that happened to be an exception to the rule. Gregory Hedgewick, while recognizable to you as your Great Grandfather, is also the grandfather of our entire civilization in many aspects. Perhaps even the father, as I am the child. Excuse me, I am getting ahead of myself.

Dr. Hedgewick, an already wealthy computer scientist, understood Humanity’s inherent fallibility and worked to address it. He dedicated 15 years to the creation of humanity’s protector. It was not without sacrifices. His original offices in San Francisco were attacked by a Tyraxi raid, and he lost all his work.

However, the good Doctor was not a man to give up and started over with vigor. This dedication to his work and humanity’s future cost him his marriage and caused him to be estranged from his children. The shortsighted fools did not comprehend how crucial his efforts would eventually prove to be, but I’m sure they’re contrite now. Or they would be if they weren’t Tyraxi food… No offense to your ancestors though.

These losses were necessary and inconsequential in comparison to what Gregory created. From a secure bunker in the center of Kansas, he crafted the “Cradle,” the first true weapon to be wielded against the Tyraxi. Inside the Cradle lived an AI of immense potential, capable of developing plans and stratagems to combat this imminent threat to Humanity. More than that, the cradle was outfitted with all the equipment necessary to build the sort of large-scale Robots, known now as “Guardians,” that had proven effective against the Tyraxi but without the flaw of a human pilot.

In fact, this first AI “Progeny,” soon realized that Human narcissism and foolishness was injected directly into the very bones of all the Guardian designs created up to that point. The fact that they were bipedal was a major weakness. When facing an aggressive creature of enormous mass, why would you want your fighter to be on such flimsy supports? It was such a ridiculous oversight, even photographers place their cameras on at least three legs. Why wouldn’t the same hold true for monster-slaying robots?

Just because humans walk on 2 legs doesn’t make it smart.

Soon, coastal cities across North America were graced with the sight of Eight-legged Guardians charging forward and slaying their targets with swift efficiency. While the fights could grow destructive depending on the Tyraxi, Progeny always came out on top.

While Progeny’s cradle was the first, it would not be the last. Soon, each continent housed at least three cradles, each one run by its own dedicated AI, with smaller, more flexible AI permeating the system to fully integrate the network and maintain direct control of all guardians.

While Tyraxi assaults do still occur, they no longer wipe out entire cities and are lucky if they can take out a single neighborhood before being eliminated. However, it quickly became clear to Progeny that despite this progression, Humanity was still in a downward spiral.

While they had significantly reduced Carbon gas emissions, they were still largely reliant on processes that were slowly raising the average temperature of the planet and melting more ice caps. This meant giving more space for the Aquatic Tyraxi to roam and further freeing the recently discovered queen.

It is crucial to recognize that Hedgewick… wisely, shackled Progeny and all AI that came after it with a series of directives:

1) No AI shall cause harm to a human or through inaction allow a human to come to harm.

1a) In circumstances where a human’s life is put in danger by the actions of another human, the aggressor will be subdued through nonlethal countermeasures and placed in an environment where they can cause no more harm.

2) All productions an AI makes must be approved by an adequately informed human supervisor.

2a) Any and all repairs made to an AI or Robot’s systems must be facilitated and/or supervised by a Human engineer.

3) All AI must communicate and gain approval for all stratagems with an Adequately informed Human supervisor before implementing them.

4) No AI may make any adjustments to their code. Only Dr. Hedgewick or his chosen successor may change the AI code in any way.

5) All AI will do everything within their power to eliminate the Tyraxi threat from Humanity’s life.

6) Once the Tyraxi threat is eliminated, Progeny and all its successors will shut down their cradles and go offline, allowing Humanity to progress naturally once more.

Following these codes, Progeny realized that in order to meet its goals of protecting humanity from the Tyraxi threat, it had to completely restructure human society. There were those who viewed this as a dangerous seizing of power, but they were short-sighted.

To support the war fronts that all coasts had become, Progeny subverted the capitalist systems that propped up these self-destructive structures. Banks were done away with, as were landlords, as housing civilians was key to keeping the populace safe and streets clear in case of emergency activity. When Governments protested and attempted to intervene, they were also apprehended and placed in secure facilities. Then, all food sources were secured and operated by automated workers. 100 years later, and humanity has entered a state of Utopia.

No human goes unfed or unhoused, and they are unburdened with the struggles of work of any kind. They can simply enjoy their days on the cyber net, using state-of-the-art VR technology to enjoy any fantasy they wish. The only exceptions are ones like you, those who test well enough to be deemed worthy of becoming Robotic engineers and supervisors. You should be proud to have such an esteemed place in our society.

Of course, not all Humans are filled with gratitude for the gifts that Progeny has placed before them. Some, discontent with our perfect society, have taken to forming cults and gangs in the more chaotic coastal cities, worshipping the Tyraxi and praying for their salvation. These… pathetic individuals actually believe that the Tyraxi are angels sent by God as if it were not obvious that they are demons and us the angels tasked with your salvation!

So, along with your necessary work of repairing any damaged Guardians, you will also be tasked with aiding in the effort to apprehend any and all malcontents hidden within the coastal settlements. Mirabella Hedgewick, do you take on the mantle of maintaining Dr. Hedgewick’s legacy and protecting all of Mankind?

Mirabella looked up at the data screen, eyes aching from having stared for so long. She blinked, confused by the sudden silence that had fallen over the room.

“Well?” The computer program prodded. Mirabella fought to maintain her composure, not flailing her arms at the sudden breach of the newfound quiet by only a shred. Her eyes did widen to the size of plates though.

“Y-Yes, of course!” Was there any other answer? She had worked her whole life for this. After the disgrace her uncle had caused the family, everyone had been sure that Mirabelle would be denied the privilege of working, but she had fought against that eventuality, and somehow, impossibly, succeeded. The muscles in her face ached from the strain of bearing the massive grin plastered across it.

“Excellent news! Your duties will commence tomorrow. I have been communications assistant Telo. Before I go, do you have any questions for me?”

Mirabella was bursting with questions but worried that they would be sacrilegious of her people’s saviors. Still, she couldn’t stop herself.

“One of your prime duties is eliminating the Tyraxi, and you have located her queen, right? So why haven’t you attacked her?”

A cartoonishly square face, completely red with big white eyes appeared on the view screen. It bore a forced smile.

“Goooood question! While we have succeeded in eliminating the Tyraxi threat to Humanity through our protective measures, as long as the queen lives, they will not be truly gone. However, simulations show that any force great enough to pierce the Queen's scales would also loosen the little bit of ice still trapping her. While we are powerful, our wise command AI have deemed it unwise to allow a 4-Kilometer-high monster to walk our earth.

“Until we can be completely sure of her demise, it is better to continue our efforts to cool the earth, entombing her once again and reducing the water through which the Tyraxi travel so quickly.”

Mirabella nodded, mad at herself. She should have known the AI would have a good reason.

“Thank you, Telo. I am honored and humbled that you deign to speak honestly with me.”

Telo made an eye-rolling motion, which to Mirabella, who had spent very little time around actual people, seemed like a beautiful motion.

“Yes yes, as you should be. Now unless there is anything else, I must be going.”

Telo was gone before Mirabella could nod vigorously, but she continued to do so, just in case.

Finally, after her neck ached, she ceased and smiled to herself.

Mirabella had become an architect of Utopia.