Prologue

When the Council of Seven took power, they promised to be the last humans to ever rule over the continent.

After their time had passed, humanity would enter a new era, where no one person had authority over another. In place of human rulers there would be a servant to advise us and to enforce the rules when necessary. Its name was Altruist, the beneficent artificial intelligence created by the Council of Seven.

There were skeptics of course. The Council demanded absolute power, no checks, no balances. They claimed it was necessary to lay the groundwork for Altruist to takeover, but those who opposed the Council sparked fear with accusations of tyranny and fascism.

In order to address those concerns, the Council created the Oath-keepers, special collars they voluntarily placed on their necks. Each one was controlled by Altruist, if a Council Member tried to remove the collar, then the device would activate and they would instantly be incinerated. The same thing would happen if they tried to hand off their council seat to someone else, to elect a new member to replace one that had died, or to create a new governing body. It was a de facto guarantee that even if the Council violated their promises, their reign would end when the last of them died.

The Oath-keepers were full proof. Even the Council’s most ardent adversaries agreed after they were given permission to inspect the system. And so the Council of Seven won the public’s trust. It took time, planning, and many reassurances, but eventually they gained the authority they sought, promising a brief transition until Altruist was ready to take over.

They lied.

Nearly two hundred years later, all seven of the council members were still alive. They utilized the most advanced technology available to replace their limbs with artificial mechanical parts, to grow new replacement organs, and to modify their brains to survive well past their normal life spans.

With Altruist programmed to obey them rather than execute its directive to serve humanity, the Council was able to use the AI to control an army of drones and cement their rule. The might of a continent became concentrated in the hands of a few.

Human rights were cast aside for what the Council called the greater good, but everyone knew they only severed their narrow self-interests. But with a surveillance state controlled by Altruist monitoring the lives of every individual on the continent, there was nothing anyone could do to fight back. That was, until the creation of the Veiled.

***

Snow inspected his face in the mirror. It looked the same as it always had, and that was what was most frightening.

He knew what had been done to him. He had agreed to every aspect of it. But the results still went beyond his expectations. That face staring back at him in the mirror just looked so…real.

I have to know for sure, he thought.

Snow raised his fingers to his face, feeling the supple, warm skin. It was an artificial warmth, not generated by blood flow, but by an array of micro-heaters under his skin.

With a deep breath, Snow pressed his fingernails against the skin, hard enough to puncture it. He did feel it happening - all sorts of sensors relayed information back to his brain so that he could imitate normal human behavior and recognize when he’d been injured - but the sensation was merely ticklish rather than painful.

A clear fluid ran down his cheek, since his body had not yet been injected with a red dye to imitate blood. Slowly, Snow began to peel back a layer of skin. Underneath was what he knew he should find, but what he had a hard time accepting. It was not flesh or bone, but a white plastic-like substance.

That was when the reality of what he had become finally sank in for Snow. Except for his brain and other parts of his nervous system, every part of his body had been replaced with an artificial construct. He was now a cyborg, one of the most advanced ever created.

Every step of his life had led to this, the culmination of what he was created to be: a fighter, a revolutionary, an assassin. With this body he could do it, he could kill the Council of Seven and finally bring about the long awaited era free of human rule.

“Snow,” a voice called out to him, “are you ready to begin?”

“Yes,” said Snow, his eyes locked on the face in the mirror.