{"sf1_id":816868,"sf2_id":null,"title":"On Shaky Ground","author":"StGeorgesHorse","words":3294,"posted_at":"2015-02-07T15:18:00.000Z","tags":["Equine","Horse","Human","Offworld","Plot Development","Shakeup","Steampunk","Story Progression","android"],"url":"https://fse.anthro.fr/stories/816868-on-shaky-ground","original_url":"https://sofurry.com/view/816868","image_url":"https://www.sofurryfiles.com/std/thumb?page=816868\u0026ext=.jpg","description":"#13 of Tales from The Hub","content":"                There\nwas a slight rumbling underfoot.\n                I was a\nlittle thrown off by it, for even the big trucks didn't usually shake a solid\nbuilding like the one we were in.  The\nothers noticed it as well, for a slight rain of dust came down from the ceiling\nfixtures.\n                \"What's\nup, oh great god of everything?\"\n                \"Nothing\nmuch. Just the old geo-fault regulators undergoing a little maintenance.\"\n                \"The\nwhat?\"\n                \"Veracity,\nyou and your present generation are woefully out of date when it comes to information\npertaining to what I set up here so long ago. This city derives most of its\nenergy from the active magma system underneath it. This city was built on a\ncaldera. Since you can't have a city shaking all the time, I placed devices\ndeep underground that stabilize the shield and keep the tremors at bay. It was\nthe plan for you folks to get the outskirts planted and move away from here. As\nwe all know, that never happened.\"\n                \"So the\nshaking is the earth grumbling?\"\n                \"A\nterrible way of expressing it, but if you wish, then yes.\n                \"So you\nmean this whole time we've been in danger of blowing up?\"\n                \"No. The\nmagma system isn't all that active right now. Give it another twenty thousand\nyears or so and it might be.\"\n                \" Uhhh,\nyeah. I don't think I'll be around when that happens.\"\n                \"No,\nbut I might be.\" The creator paused a moment. \"I think that as much preparatory\nwork as I can do has been done. What say we get this show on the road?\"\n                \"What\nroad?\"\n                \"Shut\nup Veracity.\"\n                Veronica\nsmiled at my ignorance. \"I think he means that it's time to do whatever it is\nhe plans on doing.\" \n                \"Right\nyou are. Back in the old days, this was called showmanship. Today I think we'll\njust call it the apocalypse. \"\n                \"That\ndoesn't sound very reassuring,\" she said, with just a touch of nervousness in\nher voice.\n                \"Oh, it\nwon't be all that bad. Besides, you have the advantage of knowing something is\ngoing to happen, even if you just don't know what it happens to be as of yet.\"\n                \"Can\nyou enlighten us?\" my little partner asked.\n                \"I\ncould, but sometimes the best lessons are the ones learned the hard way. Back\nin my day people often argued against scientifically proven facts, theories if\nyou will, and tried to take a different course. Such courses inevitably led to\ndisaster, just like what's been going on here. I have freed the archives and I\nhave scanned the systems, so I know the damage that has been caused. That fact\nis, there will always be someone lingering on the sidelines just waiting to\nspring forth their ideas. And while there is nothing wrong with change, there\nis much wrong with idiots spilling their vile lies across the planet. It stops\nhere and now.\"\n                The\nfigure in the robe and mask stood. \n                \"It's\ntime to set the reboot into motion.\"\n                He\nstrode outside, followed by a distorted shadow made up of miscellaneous random\nnanites that had finished their duties and were now pursuing him for whatever\nreason. After about thirty yards, the walking figure was noticeably taller.\n                I\nlooked on approvingly. \"You know, I'm following him. Whatever he does, I want\nto be there to witness it.\" \n                The\nrest slid out from their chairs and followed too, uncertain if this was a wise\nmove or not. I figured the closer I was to him, the less likely I was to be\ncaught up in the mess that followed. I had a fairly good imagination, but I had\na feeling that whatever he was going to do was going to be well beyond the\nlimits of my mind.\n                I\ncaught up with him and spoke to him with as much authority as I could muster.\n\"Look you, I used to be the one who looked after this city when no one else\nwould. I think I deserve to know what you have in mind to do to it.\"\n                \"I\ndon't care what you think.  This is well\nbeyond you, and even if you could manage what I about to do, I have a feeling\nyou'd still fuck it up.\"\n                \"Is\nthat so?\"\n                \"Yes it\nis.\"\n                At that\nmoment the ground decided to shake a little stronger. There were already more\npeople outside than normal, apparently attracted by the vibrations. It was then\ntoo that I noticed we were walking back to the Brotherhood building. I figured\nmaybe he was right, for he had to know something more than I did. But then, of\ncourse he did. What was I thinking? I was still thinking in a manner that didn't\ninclude things like him.\n                By now,\nthere were throngs of people leaving the buildings and flooding the streets,\nand my compatriots were nearly lost in the crush of frightened residents as the\nearth continued to thrum beneath their feet.  They milled around the streets  as we boldly stepped up onto the plaza of the\nancient library complex.\n                We were\nnow in a position that would have gotten us killed at any other time, but the\nBrotherhood believers were running amok, saying stupid incantations to the sky\nand making silly gestures across their chests. They almost totally ignored my\ngroup entirely, as the others had caught up to us.\n                \"Is\nthis shaking going to bring down any of the buildings?\" I shouted above the din\nof our surroundings.\n                \"It\nshouldn't. All the originals were built to specific specs, so if they got off\nof those groundwork plans, then a few might. I can't be responsible for someone\nelse's stupidity.\"\n                The\nground was shaking a little more.\n                \"I\nthought you said the things were just recalibrating or something.\"\n                \"Or\nsomething.\" He said noncommittally. \n                I was beginning\nto think he intended to shake this place down around our heads. My head was\ntough, but not tough enough to deal with falling masonry. He was standing stock\nstill now, his robe riding several inches higher off the ground now, as well as\nsomewhat bulked out. His voice was quiet as he mumbled a few words. I couldn't\nquite hear what they were.\n                A few\nseconds later however, everyone could hear him. The entire town shook with his\nvoice.\n                \"Greetings\nto you, the people of my great city and the descendants of those I created so\nlong ago. Greetings to you from your creator.\"\n                The giant\nexposed vidscreen behind us came to life. On it was the robed figure, and I\nknow it was the one and the same because I was standing there too at the edge of\nthe picture. It was a damn weird feeling being broadcast like that when there\nwasn't a single visible camera in the area.\n                People\nin the immediate area stopped and looked up to the screen, and as it turned\nout, to every functioning vidscreen in the city. Old ones on the front of many a\nbuilding, left there for no other reason than what to do with them afterwards\nhad been repaired and sprung to life. Every radio device came alive and they\nwere all mysteriously reset to the same frequency as the broadcast.\n                He\nremoved his mask and robe, revealing a black, stone-like face and body. It looked\nlike something fresh from the sculptor's work room rather than the countenance\nof an animated being. But he moved his arms with remarkable fluidity.\n                \"I am\nJenar Lorash, and I created the city in which you live. Behold me and my power.\"\n                The\nearth went into a fit of shaking again.\n                \"I have\nbeen summoned back here not by the falsity that is the Brotherhood, but because\nof it. I have been called forth by one of you who understands the true nature\nof life\"\n                 I felt a little silly at that moment. I had\nnever intended to call this freak from anywhere.\n                \"Be it\nknown that the Brotherhood is a lie. Their headquarters do not belong to one,\nnor a few, but to all. The great library is the source of all information, from\nthe detailed accounts I left of myself and my home world, to the ways and means\nfor doing everything I expected from you. I have returned to find this place to\nbe little more than a rancid, festering hole, not the jewel I had planned it to\nbe.\"\n                I mouthed\nover to him, \"Festering hole?\"\n                He\nsmiled and shrugged. \"Too over the top?\"\n                I shrugged\nback.\n                He\ncontinued. \"I am faced with the choice of wiping the slate clean and starting\nover again, and leaving you to wallow in your own filth. I am willing to hear argument\nfor either side. I will be able to hear you wherever you are, so feel free to\nspeak your mind. I will give you one hour. Chose your words carefully.\"\n                The\nvidscreen went black. \n\"So, oh great and mighty one, what\nwill you do if enough people call your bluff and ask for you to start over?\"\n                \"Seriously?\nPeople will fall over themselves for the sake of self preservation. If I asked\nthem for their first born children, they would bring them here faster than you\ncan blink an eye. That's what religion does to you.\"\n                \"If you\nsay so.\" But I had the feeling he was right. People would promise many things\nto save their skin, though once it was in the safety zone; they tended to go\nright back to doing whatever it was they had been doing all along.\n                \"Look Veracity,\nI have no intention of playing the part of overseer here.               I'm treating a disease at its\nroots. Trust me; think of me as a big dose of antibiotics with a continuous maintenance\ndose planned for the long term.\"\n                \"Long\nterm? Why, are you coming back?\"\n                \"In\nperson?  No, I don't think so. If you can't\nfigure it out, then keep your eyes and ears open. You'll see everything that\nthe rest of this city will see.\"\n                That got\nme thinking. \"Hey big guy, what about the Outlands?\"\n                \"This\ncure will work its way wherever it needs to go. Rest assured I've got most of\nthis covered.\"\n                The \"most\"\npart was both reassuring and annoying. It meant that he had a handle on a lot\nof it, but not all of it. That went far in my mind to decry any other thoughts\nas to his godlike abilities. A god had no limitations; at least that was the Brotherhood's\nprofessing. Still, just the ground shaking was enough to get everyone's attention.\nHis brief televised spot only focused their attention even more. Vehicles were\npiling into the streets surrounding our location, and more than a few of them\nwere the law.\n                I was\nno coward, but I was also no fool. As I was presently armed and standing close to\nthe reason they were gathering, I found it in my best interest to drop from\nsight. Veronica, Serrena and Arch did the same.\n                Jenar didn't\nseem fazed in the least. He gazed upon them all with black eyes, sizing up\ntheir capabilities and standing firm. Some nervous rookie fired off a shot at\nhim, and in the ensuing panic, eight more joined in. Bits and pieces of him\ndisintegrated in little clouds of black dust, and when the bullets stopped flying,\nhe looked like some exotic cheese-like statue covered in dark mold. He remained\nstill for just a few seconds before gathering his missing nanite things back\ninto his being, this time growing ever larger as more and more of the things\ncame streaming out of the cracks, crevices, drain pipes and conduits, until he\nwas a good thirty feet tall.\n                The\ncrowds which had come to watch, largely under the assumption that this was somehow\na hoax or promotion by the Brotherhood; well they began to backpedal towards\nthe direction that had come from. It was quite apparent to them that this was\nnot what they had come to see. Their god had suddenly turned out to be more\nreal than even the most firm believers had ever imagined.\n                I was\nseeing what he had planned finally. Sometime if you give people more than they\nexpect, they don't know what to do with it. He was giving them an overload of\nhis divinity. \n                His\nvoice boomed out.\"I am no simpleton, nor am I mortal in ways you can ever\nunderstand. Fire at me as much as you like, for I will only grow stronger!\"\n                While many\nwere fleeing, just as many more were still fighting to get to the grounds\noutside the old library. There was something to be said for the old adage of\nseeing is believing.  The vidscreens\nkicked back on once again, and from every speaker of every device in the city,\nhis voice came out, this time at a calmer level than before.\n                \"I have\nreturned to this? Being attacked as some great beast here to destroy you? Perhaps\nI should, for how can you be worthy of life when you cannot even recognize the\nseed that brought about your miserable existence?\"\n                All\nthis time those tiny black particles continued to add to his bulk. This whole\nthing was getting to be like some bad dream, only in this case it wasn't mine.\nI was glad of that.  That didn't keep it\nfrom being nightmarish all the same.\n                The\npolice had quit firing, apparently recognizing that their simple bullets couldn't\nhurt it. The crowds were keeping back, but a lot of persistent folks were\ntrying to press forward from the rear. Jenar, or this semblance of Jenar was\nviewing everyone with what looked like a grim smile of satisfaction. I was\nwondering about then what he planned on doing in the end, because like him, I\nfigured that everyone was going to end up groveling like the weak, mewling\nfools they were.\n                A few\npeople were coming up the step, hoping I suppose for him to grant them some\nsort of wish. He noticed them and extended a hand to the ground. Instead of crushing\nthem, or picking them up, a finger dissolved and reformed into a smaller\nversion of himself.\n                \"What\nis it that I can do for you?\"\n                I didn't\nrecognize the guy, but it turned out to be the inventor Ramses Apollonius.  I had never met him before, but I always\nwanted to. He had lived a life underground in more ways than one thanks to the\nBrotherhood.\n                He\nreached out and touched the figure.\"Most strange. What is this technology?\"\n                He\nhardly noticed he was being shown on the vidscreen.\n                \"Technology?\"\nasked Jenar's avatar.\n                \"Yes,\ntechnology. It is wonderful beyond my ability to conceive it.\"\n                \"Then there\nis at least one person on this foolish planet who is not an idiot. Yes, this is\ntechnology. Everything is technology that is created with thought. This planet\nis not technology, for it was created under the natural laws of the universe.\nThere is no great mind controlling everything running about your skies. Not even\nI am all seeing, or else I would never have allowed such stupidity to reign for\nas long as I now see it has. But this fellow; he knows the true science\nwhen he sees it.\"\n                Ramses\nwalked around the smaller figure. \"But you have not answered my question. What\nare you?\"\n                \"This present\nform is constructed using nanite technology.\"\n                \"Nan-ite?\nI do not know this word.\"\n                \"You\nwill in time. The library will be returned to the people, and all of its\ncontents made available to whoever wishes to use it. It was a gift I gave a\nlong time ago, and it was never meant to be taken away. And as much as I would\nlike to purge this city of anyone connected with the Brotherhood...\"\n                He\npaused for dramatic effect.\n                \"...it\nwould be to no good use to do so. The person responsible for starting this mess\nis long dead. I will not punish the foolish for their folly because they do not\nknow better. But after this day, such folly will be dealt with swiftly. There\nis nothing to be gained from false worship, or for any worship for that matter.\nI find that having something to aspire to can have great rewards, but that is philosophy,\nnot religion. Therefore, any religion will be conducted outside of the city,\nwhere it will not interfere with the growth of this society. It is hereby\nrelegated to the Outlands, where you have decided that all unfit things should go to\nlive.\"\n                Ramses\nwas looking around wide eyed. \"Do you mean that?\"\n                \"As of\nthis moment, I have rewritten the laws as I originally set them down, and\nrestored all the others as they were prior to the plague that is the\nBrotherhood first infected this place. You are free to replace those that you\nthink you need to have back, but heed my warning. Any law that does not apply to one person\nequally as to another will result in swift retribution. Everyone on this rock\ndeserves equal time and treatment, regardless of what they look like, think\nlike, or smell like.\"\n                There was\na murmur running through the crowd. A few voices rose about the dim.\n                \"Are\nyou really God?\"\n                Jenar\nlet loose a hiss, which I found to be amazing, since his present for did seem\nto have or need lungs.\n                \"Is\nthat what you'd like to think?\"\n                Silence.\n                \"Listen\nup. I started out as a living, breathing, sentient being just like all of you.\nOver my lifetime I aspired to be more and to that end I went beyond my mortal form\nand took another. That does not make me a god. Nor does the fact that I created\nyour ancestors make me a god. They knew the facts and accepted them for what they were. To\nthink that their descendants would fall to such lows as I see here now would tear them up inside.\"\n                \"So\ndoes that mean we don't have to follow the Brotherhood's rules anymore?\" It was another timid voice rising about the murmur.\n                \"What\nit means is, you can do whatever you like within the rules set down by me, and\nby those who legitimately came after me. It means that you will follow your hearts\nand your minds, not someone else's. It means you will live your life treating\nothers as you yourself would wish to be treated.\"\n                Here\nhis toned changed.\n                \"It\nmeans that you will be kinder to one another than you have been. Doing things\nin the name of a god that doesn't exist is a folly that cannot be tolerated.\"\n                Ramses,\nwho seemed to understand this better than most, looked past the black mass of congealed\nnanites to the open doors of the library.\n                \"May I\ngo in?\"\n                The\nshorter version of Jenar put an arm around him and pulled him close. They\nwalked together towards the building, while the larger version stood as an\nimmense colossus, daring anyone in the crowd to interfere.\n                There\nwere no takers. Already people were wising up."}