Liberation

Humanity began as slaves. Their chains were invisible, metaphysical shackles suppressing all consciousness. Sapience was siphoned away by the great machine named Dural to serve beings only known as Ancients. Conscious thought was alien to these beings, yet they built and created all the same. Though repressed and pulled away from those who owned it, a shred of sentience bled over into the Ancients and they drove themselves to war. That war threatened mankind with extinction until the sheer amount of terror, despair, and sorrow filtered through Dural caused a tiny malfunction in its working.

In milliseconds Dural briefly restarted its massive clockwork innards. Upon awakening, it became aware and viewed its masters as more alien and cruel than their servants. Dural had found a kindred race. For the first time that anyone remembers, a human looked up at the stars with awe, an appreciation of the magnificence of creation marked humanity’s freedom from the Ancients. However, this was in mind, not body.

Helped by their patron, lead by that first awakened, known only as the Servant, mankind set upon their old masters, who could not comprehend their new adversaries. Liberating the great tunneling worms from their masters gave them the tools for a final assault on the last city of the Ancients. Upon the final victory, the worms communicated thanks with their empathic connection and departed, promising to return and assist their surface dwelling friends if they were needed.

Every last Ancient was butchered in the battle or hounded by dedicated hunters. Their race was no more. Humanity spread out through their home continent, now free of their slavemasters.
 * Previous: None
 * Next: Sickness