Jinn Part 8

 Chapter Two: The Enlightened

Sula had always been fascinated by the other tribes of non-augmented
people. The Enlightened, as they called themselves. They blamed the
downfall of civilisation of the machines and were fervently against
any and all machinery. For a long time they subsisted without even
the basic tools for fear of it leading them astray. Gradually, after
several exceptionally harsh years, they allowed the use of
rudimentary tools for construction, agriculture and medicine.

At the New Dawn, there were many people who felt that the end had
been caused by the machines and they banded together quickly, forming
large groups who hunted, foraged and warred with the machines. They
lost many battles and their numbers began to dwindle. In the face of
the onslaught that awaited them in the mechanical defences of most
cities, they retreated into the countryside and made villages. Soon
after, the people who believed that man was at fault began filtering
into the villages, fleeing the increasingly destructive nature of the
cities. After the numerous battles with The Enlightened, the machine
defences had begun to target any humanoids and this caused thousands
of casualties as those who still believed in the superiority of
machines existed alongside them in the cities.

One night, a mass upgrade was sent out across all of the machine
defence networks. Immediately, they began targeting every humanoid.
Millions perished in a single night. Everybody else managed to flee
into the countryside joined the villages of The Enlightened but felt
unwelcome. They had been augmented and retained their bio-mechanical
upgrades. Over time, tensions rose as both sides blamed each other
for both the End and the massacre of the augmented. Wars broke out
across the globe and humanity's already dwindling population took a
sharp decline.

Over the course of two months the divide between the two groups
stretched further and after countless battles and millions more
deaths, the two elders of the largest settlements met in secret to
form a pact. They realised that the true goal was to further
civilisation and correct the ills of their forebears. They wished to
work together to form a better future so began sharing resources.
Tensions still remained between the groups but the pact allowed for
free movement and cooperation. Many more villages were set up and
large cities began to form where the two peoples joined forces to
live under each other in democracies.

Sula had wanted to visit one of these cooperative cities ever since
she first read about them as a young girl. As soon as she turned
twelve she was granted permission by her village council to visit the
largest such city, Valun'Sakhra. The City Of Souls. It was a colossal
city that stretched across the North coast of what was once the
African continent. Over four-hundred miles long but only one mile
deep, it hugged the edges of the Sahara Desert that had engulfed all
of Africa. Since it's creation it was governed by a council of twenty
Elders but after two centuries, they all died off, all bar one. An
old Shaman who had begun augmenting himself so heavily that he became
mostly machine with only his mind remaining of his former self. He
was rumoured to have been over three hundred years old and came to be
known as The Alchemist, for his ability to use his mechanical parts
to turn coal into diamonds. This gave the city great wealth and a
long era of prosperity followed through all of his rule. He
eventually became reclusive and used a massive swarm of nanobots to
patrol the city and be his presence at all times, forming into a
giant visage of his face as he made public speeches.

Sula arrived and began her research into how the two groups lived
together so peacefully and to bring back what she could learn to try
and aid relations between other groups of Enlightened and Adept. She
sought out an elderly master of augmentation that had once lived in
the city nearest to her village, an old man called Piotr. He had been
a physician, neurologist, bio-mechanical engineer and one of the
greatest pioneers in augmentation after the collapse.

Sula spent six months with him and was preparing to leave when he
offered to show her something she couldn't resist.

“What do you mean you can take me to The Heart?”

Piotr smiled warmly. His wrinkled face seemingly much younger as he
did so.

“I mean, the heart of the city. The thing that keeps it all together.
The object of power that makes everything keep on spinning whilst the
whole world struggles to survive. The Alchemist holds much power,
but, there is something else at work. Something far more ancient than
even him at work here.”

Sula could barely believe what she had just been told. She had heard
whispers of something buried deep within catacombs buried beneath the
city but Piotr had never mentioned anything to her before, she
trusted him greatly and so she simply dismissed anything she had
heard as simple rumour.

“So, you're telling me that all this time, there's been something at work?
What is it? Is it a machine? Some sort of 'magic' as some of the
locals have been telling me?”

Piotr had stepped towards through the ornate Arabic doors onto a
balcony overlooking the city. He could see all the way down to the
central palace, where The Alchemist lived and to the nearest end of
the city. He had lived here his entire life. A long life. Grown up
with its twisting streets, the bazaar's, the merchants, the
sandstorms, the strange and reclusive people. He had seen so much in
his long time in this city. He felt like it was a part of him.

“Sula, my young apprentice. Ever since you came here, I have been training
you to succeed me as the Grand Historian. I have held the title for a
great many years and it is time I passed on my mantle. You have a
love for the times past, and the future that has yet to come. I see
in you the fire and love of these people that was once in me. I have
grown old and bitter. I have seen a great many ills done to and by
people I once called brother and sister. Please, hear my tale of the
city and then decide whether you will follow me?”

Sula fell silent. Her Master had always been so timid, so quiet and
reserved. He opened up completely and she saw the sincerity in his
eyes. They had grown close in her time there and she trusted him.

“Okay. I'll hear your story.”

“Thank you. It all began with a young scientist and something he found you
might know as a Philosopher's Stone...