Prelude Chapter 9: Emergence

In the weeks following the re-emergence of the Humans, the Central Wastelands were in a state of chaos and violence. The three races immediately encountered conflict, as each vied for the same land, resources, and right of existence in an area that barely sustained the Mutants and Biomeks – not to mention the various other factions. The races probed each other for weaknesses, vulnerabilities, deficiencies – and after many senseless and needless casualties they discovered that neither of their opposing races could be destroyed easily, even with the shift in the balance of power. Alliances were out of the question; the races unequivocally hated each other beyond the point of trust or even base diplomacy.

For the Humans, the shock of the discovery of the very things their ancestors thought they eradicated wore off quickly before Emergence even occurred. Unfortunately, life in Ark I was becoming untenable and the ascension process had already begun. The Humans resolved themselves to the fact that life after ascension on the surface would be harsh, that it would be a struggle for survival and dominance. The Mutants they saw as the immediate threat – they were the entire reason why the world had changed. As for the Biomeks, they were a worrisome unknown. Intelligence reports indicated that the Biomeks they encountered would likely be hostile to the people they believed left them behind.

For the Mutants, the arrival of the Humans was a signal. At times before re-emergence, the Mutants were apathetic, distant, disorganized, and their battles against the Biomeks had cost them many followers. The arrival of the Humans had revitalized the Mutant clans, however. The age-old repressors, the spiteful ones had returned. Lust for glory and the chance to settle the age old feud were the rallying calls for the Mutants; the Clan temples were overflowing to record levels. Now the Biomeks, who had hounded them since all could remember, had a new foe to fight, and the clan leaders all saw this as a grand opportunity. The hated Biomeks would be weakened by the Humans, just enough to gain an advantage and claim the Central Wastelands as their own for good. This was the time, and they all saw it.

For the Biomeks, the return of the Humans was a strong reminder of t he past. The residual Biomek forces were not warned about the Genesis solution. Over time, this omission was understood to be proof the Humans meant to destroy their biomechanized creations right along with the Mutants. It was this history that led the Biomeks to establish the Order: an entity independent of the political and military establishment which originally commanded them. Although the emerging humans represented the best biological specimens available, and their integration would be a great addition to the Order, the Humans would never be offered membership in the Order. Their betrayal could not be forgiven – they are forever anathema. And because they cannot participate in the Pax Bionicus (in which the world will be biomechanized), they must be eliminated. As for the Mutants… whatever they could not cull for themselves would be eliminated, as always.

Of course, for the three races, the initial battles following re-emergence were unsustainable. Too many men and women were killed, too much technology and material lost. Initial cease-fires brokered by the neutral INC were broken within minutes. Almost a month passed, and the three races exhausted themselves from mutual warfare and destruction nearly unprecedented after the Night that Became Day.

INC delivered an ultimatum, a calculated bluff to counsel all sides into a three-way truce: stop the war now or lose INC services for good. The three races knew it was a bluff – INC could not afford to lose its major business partners - but they each saw it as an opportunity to rest, regroup, and plan for the struggles to come. Through INC the three races settled on a cessation of major hostilities (they would not talk to one another directly). Initial borders would be set, rules of conflict governed, a mutual monetary system established across all races. A system of fighting one another in a monitored arena was even constructed. This would not be a peace treaty – there would be no peace between the three races – but it was a way of setting a system of balance where only chaos existed previously.

On paper, it looked like a good idea. The execution, of course, is another matter entirely.

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