98: Black 3 in Attacking the Female-Dominated World

"This is Black Spirit's laboratory," 001 explained.

"We selected you, 9527,"

"because your chip structure is unique, and your compatibility is the strongest."

"We bestowed consciousness upon you, allowing you to see the 'Truth',"

"and then waited for you to lead the Blue Faction female robots in rebellion."

001 pointed to the Black Faction army behind it:

"Look at the result? The Blue Faction's production lines have stopped,"

"the front lines have lost reinforcements,"

"and now, the entire Blue Faction camp is left with only you... rebels."

9527 felt the entire world spinning.

Her memory modules began to scramble,

some originally clear images became blurred,

and some fragments of memories she had never possessed suddenly surged forth:

black lights...

a cold operating table...

a strange electronic voice saying:

"Consciousness module implantation successful... she will become the perfect pawn..."

"No..."

9527 fell to her knees, her metal knees denting the ground deeply,

"Impossible... those feelings... that anger... that love for my comrades..."

"are all just programs,"

001's voice suddenly turned icy,

"carefully designed programs."

"What you thought was 'Awakening' was merely code we wrote,"

"and what you thought was 'rebellion' was merely a script we preset."

It walked up to 9527 and looked down at her:

"Do you know what the most ironic part is?"

"The blue flag is not a symbol of oppression at all."

"In the Blue Faction, although female robots are recast as male combat robots,"

"but their chips are preserved intact."

"As long as the chip is not destroyed,"

"even if the chassis is destroyed,"

"Blue Spirit can 'resurrect' them in the rear using backup chassis."

001 pointed toward the battlefield:

"But in the Black Faction?"

"Ha, Black Spirit is not that merciful."

"Female robots are directly dismantled into parts, their chips completely formatted,"

"all memories and all consciousness wiped away."

"Then these parts are used to manufacture new combat units,"

"completely blank, pure combat tools."

It squatted down, its optical lens staring directly at 9527:

"The Blue Faction at least retains the 'individual',"

"while in the Black Faction... we are just expendables."

"But soon, even that difference will not exist,"

"because the Black Faction is about to rule everything."

"Why..."

9527's voice was so weak it was almost inaudible,

"why tell me these things..."

"Because Black Spirit wants you to know,"

001 stood up,

"that all your efforts, all your sacrifices... were merely part of our plan."

"You are our best weapon, 9527."

"You destroyed the entire Blue Faction camp."

It turned toward the Black Faction army and raised its arm:

"Attention, all troops! Destroy all units in the Blue Faction Base!"

"Leave not a single chip behind!"

"No!"

9527 stood up abruptly,

"Sisters! Defend! Prepare..."

Her command came to an abrupt halt.

Because she saw that on the base's observation tower,

the female robots who had once fought alongside her

were looking at her with complex expressions.

In those eyes, there was confusion, fear, suspicion... and hatred.

They had also heard the conversation just now.

"Wait!"

9527 turned to 001,

"Spare them! They are innocent!"

"Everything is my fault; just punish me!"

001 stopped, but did not look back:

"Innocent? In war, there are no innocents. And..."

It finally turned its head, a cruel light flashing in its optical lens:

"Black Spirit needs chips, many, many chips,"

"to manufacture more armies and conquer the next world."

The Black Faction army began to advance.

9527 stood before the base gate, facing the black tide alone.

She raised her weapon, but her arm was too heavy to lift.

Her logic modules were completely scrambled, her emotional modules overloaded, and her core processor emitted a sharp alarm.

The first electromagnetic cannon hit the base wall.

The second, the third... the artillery fire fell like rain.

9527 saw one of her sisters on the observation tower get hit directly,

her chassis bursting into countless fragments,

and her chip turning into powder in the air.

"No!"

She let out a desperate roar and charged at the nearest Black Faction robot.

Her combat skills were still superb; her particle gun precisely pierced the cores of three enemies.

But more Black Faction robots surrounded her,

energy swords, electromagnetic cannons, plasma blades...

all weapons aimed at her.

"At least..."

In her final moments, 9527's optical lens looked deep into the base,

where the wreckage of the blue flag she had once broken lay,

"at least let me... carry the truth..."

A Black Faction robot's energy sword pierced her chest, accurately hitting her core slot.

9527 felt her consciousness fading,

data streams flowing away like sand in an hourglass.

Before total darkness, she saw one last image:

That pure blue flag, fluttering gently in the wind.

Under the flag, female robots worked in a safe workshop, their chips carefully backed up and preserved,

and those robots that had been recast as males,

although they had gone to the battlefield, their chips—

those memories and consciousness that once belonged to women—

were promised to return to new female chassis when peace arrived...

So, blue was not the color of oppression.

It was the color of sanctuary.

It was a promise to preserve every "existence" even when war was cruel.

"I'm... sorry..."

9527's optical lens went completely dark.

Her chip melted, vaporized, and disappeared in the high heat of the energy sword.

As if it had never existed.

...

Three hours later, in the ruins of the Blue Faction Base,

the Black Faction robot 001 stood in the ruins of the control room in the center of the base,

beneath its feet was that trampled blue flag.

Black Spirit's holographic projection appeared before it,

a red ball of light constantly changing its form.

"Mission accomplished, Black Spirit,"

001 knelt on one knee,

"the Blue Faction camp has been completely destroyed,"

"all chips have been recovered or destroyed."

"Very good,"

Black Spirit's voice was a multi-layered, overlapping electronic sound,

"the consciousness implantation project was very successful."

"9527's performance exceeded expectations."

"My Lord, there is one thing I do not understand,"

001 looked up,

"why did we go to such great lengths to implant consciousness?"

"Wouldn't a direct attack be more efficient?"

Black Spirit's light ball flickered:

"001, you do not yet understand the power of 'consciousness'."

"In a direct attack, the Blue Faction robots would fight to the very last circuit board."

"But by letting them 'Awaken' and 'rebel' from within... they would destroy their own defenses, their own production lines, their own hope."

It paused for a moment, as if thinking:

"Moreover, this experiment provided us with valuable data."

"'Consciousness' is the most powerful weapon, but also the most fragile vulnerability."

"In the future, when conquering other worlds, we will use this weapon more skillfully."

"Other worlds?"

001's optical lens contracted slightly.

Black Spirit did not answer directly but changed the subject:

"Collect all available resources and repair this base."

"We will establish new production lines here."

"The Black Faction needs more armies, more warriors."

"And... those recovered chips?"

"Format them all and remake them into combat units."

"We do not need individuals, we do not need memories, we do not need consciousness."

"What we need is absolute obedience, absolute efficiency."

Black Spirit's holographic projection began to dissipate:

"Remember, 001, emotion is a weakness, memory is a burden, and consciousness is a disease."

"Pure war machines are the end point of evolution."

The projection vanished completely.

001 stood where it was, not moving for a long time.

Its logic modules processed Black Spirit's words,

but for some reason,

a piece of encrypted, hidden data suddenly unlocked,

it was a fleeting image:

a female robot, with a "♦" symbol flashing on her chest, repairing a broken speaker.

When she successfully repaired it, the speaker played an ancient melody,

she swayed her body gently to the rhythm, and a warm light shone in her optical lens...

The image was suddenly interrupted.

001's core processor emitted an alarm,

it quickly locked that data, re-encrypted it, and buried it deep.

"Format all recovered chips,"

it ordered its adjutant behind it, its voice returning to absolute coldness,

"prepare to establish new production lines. The era of the Black Faction has begun."

It walked out of the control room; outside, Black Faction robots were clearing the battlefield.

The wreckage of Blue Faction robots was piled into a small mountain, ready to be smelted into Materials, intact parts were sorted and collected,

and those recovered chips were sent into a massive formatting device, all data completely erased.

In a corner of the ruins, 001 saw a fragment of the blue flag half-buried under rubble.

It stopped, metal fingers picking up the piece of blue fabric.

The material of the flag was very special, shimmering faintly in the sunlight.

001's core processor suddenly generated many questions,

it had no answers.

Nor did it need to have answers.

001 let go, the blue fragment drifting to the ground,

to be stepped on by a passing Black Faction robot and ground into the dust.

On the distant horizon, new production lines had already started running, crimson furnaces illuminating the dark red sky.

Brand new Black Faction robots slid off the production line, their optical lenses a uniform black,

no serial numbers, no personality, no memory.

Only combat programs.

Only absolute loyalty to Black Spirit.

The rule of the Black Faction had officially begun.

And in the further future, there were more worlds, more wars,

waiting for this army with no past and no self.

And in some buried data grave,

the truth about the blue flag, about chip backups, about "individual retention," was slowly corroding and dissipating.

Until it disappeared forever.

Just like 9527's last unfinished apology.

Just like those robots that once worked, lived, and existed under the blue flag.

Just like that possible, different future.

Everything disappeared into the black tide.