Input(End G.A.K.I. Initiative)

He had always wanted to help. Miu. Others he met. Anyone in need. When he was younger, that was all that he aspired to be- helpful. In whatever manner that was, being helpful and not a burden was the only goal Yuki truly held.

Even as his mind and body began to collapse within his metal prison, that desire remained. Seeing the rows of beds sprawling across the massive facility stirred Yuki’s digital heart to want to help as many of the other G.A.K.I. as possible.

Miu, to her credit, agreed and never complained. Once every G.A.K.I. unit’s human mind had been unshackled, the two of them had set out to find them all and bring them back to the facility. Pings of code origins led them across the country and to other nations entirely. Ravaging, murderous robots were saved from their endless violence and brought back to their own bedsides so that their souls could finally know peace before departing.

The integrity ratings continued to decline for every one of them. None could escape the coming end, so their rituals of saying goodbye to their true selves became a near-spiritual exercise. Lost and forgotten souls of all backgrounds were saved and returned to themselves.

Homeless. Elderly. Orphans. Addicts. Mentally Unwell. Immigrants. So many of society’s castaways were left behind by the world and ensnared by ArcanTech’s malicious schemes. But now they were free and filling the massive medical hall with their machine bodies as they wept and said goodbye to the remnants of their humanity. Through it all, Yuki was there with them all.

By the time December arrived, Yuki’s integrity ratings were below ten percent across the board. Words were nearly impossible to articulate. His pistons jammed and stalled. Violent shakes rattled his internal componentry. Yet every night, Miu still wanted to lie beside him.

Her offer was as much for him as it was for her. They both knew The End was almost here, so no matter what, they wanted to bind themselves to the other for as much time as they could. Nightmares denied Miu rest as she tried to sleep as little as possible. Bags as dark as plums hung heavy under her eyes every day as she woke from restless dreaming. Sometimes, her eyes would open while it was still dark outside, and she would see the surreal glow of hundreds of G.A.K.I. units emanating from the black.

Yuki would always be there beside her, twitching and grunting as he wrestled with his own breaking.

That morning, Miu awoke to see that Yuki was already making his way through the crowd to tend to those who were grieving. A small wonder of their programming was that all of the units could converse within their own minds via local networks, so Yuki’s damaged voicebox was not an issue. The instability of his mind was still there, but at least it was slightly easier for him to express himself.

For Miu, it meant that she would observe the hundreds of automatons moving together like choirs of sorrow as they held one another and supported whoever was currently breaking and saying farewell.

Today, it was a retired teacher from Okuizumo whose family couldn’t afford elder care. He wondered if his children even missed him. If they’d ever looked for his body, or simply accepted the government narrative that he’d gone walking and gotten lost. Regardless, like so many of the others, he had accepted that it was not worth sharing this horror with his family. He would die alone.

Miu watched from afar as the polished metal body fell into the arms of Yuki and several others. Digital sobs chimed out once more, as they had for every day for weeks. It was almost over. Only a few more units needed to say goodbye to themselves. Once that was over, it would be time for Miu’s decision.

Regarding her plan, Miu had spoken to many of the unshackled G.A.K.I. and found valuable perspective. So many of them had been harmed by different parts of society. It was not just the military, or the government, or banks. It was the basic structures of scarcity, control, never-ending work, and isolation.

It became more and more clear that Miu would have to break everything to make sure the world never returned to a state like this.

“The internet. Deeeeeeeeestroy the internet, the cloud, a-all of it,” one unit had proposed.

All of the others agreed.

“In the end, it caused more harm than good. It was one of the things that led to our creation, and all of AI for that matter.”

Another had mentioned destroying all banking records of debt.

“A jubilee, l-l-l-like the ooooooold days.”

Discussions on creating and sharing infinite resources for water and food were held. The Manu-Crystal systems had offered an unending supply of basic necessities, but had held them hostage behind paywalls and subscriptions. So much of life’s stress came from the threat of losing access to necessities.

Miu’s mind struggled to imagine such a new world, and as she wrestled with her vision day in and day out, she slowly came to understand the scope of effort and pain that she would have to endure when the time came. But she would do it. This was the end of everything, and she would not leave this world without knowing she had broken herself trying to break it.

Even if it wasn’t perfect, she and Yuki would destroy everything they could. Their first target was clear.

“ArcanTech? They’re split between Silicon Valley and Tokyo. The founder and CEO is from the United States. He’s apparently really involved in the defense industry behind the scenes. And they s-said he was really i-into the transhumanist m-m-movement.”

“Transhumanist?” Miu asked.

The automaton nodded.

“Those people that thought AI and a-advanced technology should be used to ssssurpassssss human limitations. I-I-I didn’t want to get involved with t-them. He always gave me theeee creeps with his c-crown of crystal implants.”

That description grabbed Miu’s attention. The civilian who was with the military and Arcans had such a thing. Now, Miu wondered if it was the same person. Knowing that ArcanTech machinery and processes were responsible for the G.A.K.I. units, she assumed it was him.

“I think I met him, once…” Miu sighed.

“Smaller man. Wiiiiiide face. S-Small crystal implants around the top of his head?” the automaton asked.

Miu nodded.

Knowing that it was likely the same man, Miu now fully expected him to be heavily tied up in whatever had created all of this. Somehow, this man was crucial to all of this. He would be one of the first to die.

Their plan would make sure of that.

A few nights later, the G.A.K.I.’s grieving process was complete. Every soul had said goodbye to themselves and the lives they lost, now, after the synthetic wails of sorrow had stopped, hundreds of automatons were knelt before Yuki and Miu in gratitude.\

The former teacher rose and steadied his voice.

“Y-Yuki. Acolyte. Weeeeeee are alllllllll s-s-so grateful to you for w-what you haaaaaave done for us. Weeeeee are ready to say gooooooodbye.”

Miu nodded even though she didn’t fully know what he was planning to say.

“You p-plan to kiiiiiiilllll them all?” he asked.

“Yes,” Miu replied.

“Then please, use o-our bodies too. None of uuuuuuuuuuus wish to f-fight any longer. We wish to die. But a-after weeeeeeee are goooooooone, please use our metal p-prisons to exact whatever vengeance you can. Kiiiiiiiiilllllllll theeeeeeeeeeem aaaaaallllllllll.”

Yuki tried to speak but could only groan. He had feared this was the final step for all of them. In their time grieving, so few had shown any desire to fight on or do anything beyond fade away. Dying dozens or hundreds of times had been enough violence to last a thousand lifetimes. Now, all they wanted was to rest and embrace nothingness. If their human bodies and minds were gone, the G.A.K.I. units would be little more than shells. With Miu’s help and Yuki’s connection to their Manu-Crystals, he would likely be able to jump between them. Their soulless frames would give him the mobility and numbers needed to exact cruelty on those who had done this to them.

Neither he nor Miu spoke. All Yuki could do was bow. Within their mind link, hundreds of gentle ‘thank you's’ drifted into his psyche.

‘Can we g-give you both a final embrace before the Acolyte kills us?’ a voice asked.

‘Oooooof c-course.’ Yuki thought.

His hand steadied enough to take Miu’s as he braced for the goodbyes.

One by one, the G.A.K.I. units approached the companions and embraced them. Head units touched in solemn peace. Metal fingers clasped human hands. Souls without hearts bid farewell to their earthly existence as they returned to their beds to stand by their human bodies.

The homeless man from Osaka was the last G.A.K.I. to approach them.

“I ha-have knooooooown v-verrrrrrry little k-k-k-kindness innnnnnnn myyyyyyy life. B-but right heeeeeeeeere attttttt theeeee end, y-you were the mo-mo-most kind people tooooooo me. I am g-grateful t-t-to have knooooown you, even fooor only a m-moment. You aaaaaare gooooood peeeeeeooooople.”

Yuki wanted to cry. He wanted to mourn. Once more, the lack of being able to release his broiling emotions was driving him insane as he stood there spasming and trying to nod in appreciation. There was a time when he was a good person. He was once a kind, happy kid, regardless of what he and Miu had been subjected to. And he knew Miu was always kind. It may have been buried beneath rage and trauma, but she was never cruel. Especially for him. She was the kindest of them all. But now, as he looked at the girl whom he had loved across lifetimes of loss, he saw a hollowed, vacuous body nearly consumed by malice and disappointment. He may have been the empty shell of a body that hosted a broken soul, but Miu was barely anything more.

Still, the goodness was there. It was faint. But it was there. And that was enough. He only hoped that it could survive what was to come.

“Goodbye, friend. Thank you. I… I don’t feel ‘good’ anymore, but even if I have become a bad person, I will try to do ‘good’. For all those who were hurt,” Miu replied.

The G.A.K.I. bowed and made its way to the last unattended bed. Once it was beside its human self, its hand came to rest on the glass casing. Together, every G.A.K.I. lowered its head down until it met the glass just over their human faces.

“Gooooooodbye, myyyyyyyyy f-f-friends,” said Yuki.

Miu inhaled and closed her eyes. Her sapphire staff appeared in her hand as she focused her words. Yuki’s hand joined hers as it clasped the smoothed crystal that was now facing the hundreds of souls set to depart. No tears fell from Miu’s eyes, but the neon red fire did begin to whisper. Beneath this last act of grace, a cataclysm was waiting to be born.

“Cold circuits fall still. Flesh and flame entwine then fade. Systems, find your peace.”

Beams of black radiance burst up from every bed with a cry of angelic release as the trapped bodies were destroyed. Their darkness struck the ceiling of the facility and snapped it into nothingness, revealing the hexed sky above. In a single instant, every human in the beds died. Dials screamed, then silenced themselves. The glyphs shattered and burned away, and the G.A.K.I. units all crumpled into lifeless heaps.