Barbaroi Elegy

 

「There are no humans on Planet Europa? What do you mean by that, Prometheus?」

The unexpected answer only made Kou more eager to hear the details.

「Exactly what I said. Planet Europa is still locked in combat with the Stones. Let me explain the nature of Europa. Among the three planets, it most closely resembles Earth. Zeus cherished it for its beauty. Unlike Libya and Asia, who struggled to restore their environments with limited means, Europa was personally shaped by the Twelve Olympians, who spared no effort or expense.」

「It was more blessed than the rest, then…」

「It was that enticing. Europa had the largest population, the richest culture, and its people lived for pleasure. —But such a world decays quickly. Driven by ambition, some sought monopoly and control. They allied with Zeus.」

「So it decayed in the end.」

That was the very concern Kou had voiced back when Trireme was founded. He himself had warned that when any one force becomes too powerful, corruption inevitably follows.

「Exactly. Europa stood at the peak of civilization. It was also where the war began. And it was also the place where humanity’s resets first happened during the Pioneering Era, and again in the Interplanetary War Era.」

「A prosperous world ends up being the source of war…」

「 During the Pioneering and Interplanetary War Eras, Planet Libya and Planet Asia were de facto colonies. Forgive me, Asia, Libya, but crass though it sounds, no better word fits. The rulers of Planet Europa didn’t want war on their own soil, so they turned Planet Libya and Planet Asia into battlefields.」

Neither Asia nor Libya responded.

Their silence said it all.

Kou’s expression twisted slightly, sharing in their unspoken pain.

「When the Interplanetary War Era ended, humanity was quantumized and reset once more. Libya and Asia awakened two hundred years ago—but Europa refused.」

「Refused? What do you mean?」

「She feared the possibility that her beloved planet might again plunge into war. She planned to awaken only if Libya and Asia succeeded in restoring their planets’ environments. She asked Okeanos to revive her only when that happened. But the Stones invaded. Her premonition came true. And so, she sleeps still.」

「She dumped the burden on others, watched from the sidelines—and now acts like it doesn’t concern her.」

Still, Libya and Asia said nothing.

Europa had been too favored—too special. Kou understood now why the other two rarely spoke of her.

Then he noticed the discrepancy.

「Wait. You said Europa is fighting the Stones. But there are no humans? Who’s fighting them—drones?」

Prometheus shook his head, sadness in his eyes.

「No, Kou. Humanity was quantumized twice. Asia and Libya restored the humans on their planets. But Europa did not. Most of her people remain quantum data—or are in long-term cryogenic sleep, like Aimer.」

「Then who?!」

「Toward the end of the Interplanetary War Era, some humans foresaw the reset—and refused. Though… ‘humans’ may no longer be the right word. They still exist there. But they took a different path from the Stones.」

「A different path?」

「You know the word ‘cyborg,’ yes? They mechanized their bodies—including their brains—to survive. They turned themselves into machines and devoted their lives to managing the planet.」

「Even their brains?」

「Europa was a heavy-industry world. A weapons manufacturing hub. With full mechanization that even surpassed the technology used to create artifact consciousness like the Therianthropes and Nereids, they bypassed the technology seal. They abandoned all their biological traits—even their brains—using the method you once discussed with Asia. Dicing up their brains into components for mechanical processors. That method.」

「No way—」

Kou was stunned. Once disassembled for data extraction, a brain could never be restored.

It was complete mechanization.

「Sophia’s power was vast. Much knowledge was sealed. But they fragmented their data, scattering it in obsessive detail, evading deletion. This was the seat of the Olympians, after all—loopholes were plentiful.」

「They went that far to preserve their tech.」

「They call themselves, with no small irony, the Barbaroi. A term that traces back to the Greek word for ‘barbarians’—those whose speech sounded like gibberish. Thracians, Celts, Germans, any non-Greeks. Fully mechanizing themselves must’ve seemed barbaric, even to Europa’s people. The name also harks back to ancient Rome, where the region of Thrace was once called Europa.」

「But if they became Barbaroi, wouldn’t the Fennel OS be unusable for them?」

「Exactly. So they built their own—a counterfeit. The Spurious Silhouette. A crude, twelve-meter frame lacking Fennel OS. They call it Teutates. It’s the name of a god the Barbaroi revered once—an ancestral spirit of war.」

「Teutates…」

Kou couldn’t conjure a clear image. He knew nothing of Celtic myths.

「The Barbaroi pilot Teutates units to fight the Stones’ Murders. The controls are primitive—far inferior to even Work Silhouettes. But the Barbaroi mechanical bodies allow them to compensate. They scavenge ruins of the Interplanetary War Era for ancient weapons and use them to fend off the Murders. The Stones were taken aback. Who’d expect to be attacked by cyborgs, after humanity had supposedly gone extinct?」

「Y-Yeah… anyone would be.」

The story was too far-fetched for Kou to process easily.

「What’s more, the Barbaroi possess even more powerful weapons than the Stones’ Murders. Namely, the unmanned Talos units. Bronze giants sent to Europa by Zeus himself. Arguably humanity’s first autonomous humanoid weapon, animated by divine blood. They, too, continue to defend Planet Europa.」

「Talos, huh. I’ve heard the name. No doubt about it now—Planet Europa really was completely different to the other planets.」

「Indeed. If Asia and Libya had AI that lived with and beside humans, then the Olympians and Europa had AI that ruled them.」

Arima smiled faintly, almost mockingly. After all, he was born of Sophia’s outcry against that very system.

「But that path led to an unexpected outcome: the depopulation of Planet Europa. You heard about the Omphalos from Arima, right? For Hermes to stand equal to Zeus, he needs both humans and the Fennel OS. Planet Europa, lacking both—its people being either frozen or data—is useless for that purpose.」

「I see…」

So that’s why this ‘war zone’ wasn’t truly a war zone.

「To the Stones and the Mythology Weapons, humans are a resource. A planet without resources ranks low in priority. They needed to suppress Europa, yes—but the battle is so low priority that it has remained in a stalemate.」

「Suppress it—for super AI Europa, then?」

「She’s the greatest resource there. From Hermes’ standpoint as well. But there’s not enough ‘resources’ there to sustain a prolonged war. So the Stones withdrew and focused on the other two planets. Planet Europa lacks the conditions to create new Hemitheos, after all.」

「So it’s literally about ‘human resources.’ Disgusting. The Barbaroi were human once, weren’t they?」

「Barbaroi aren’t human. They aren’t even artifact consciousness. Not even Okeanos really accounts for them. Even the Stones are more human than they are. That’s part of why I’m here.」

The room held its breath.

「Just as you allied with some of the Mythology Weapons of Planet Libya, the Stones have allied with some of the Barbaroi.」

「But didn’t the Barbaroi mechanize themselves to protect their planet? Why would they—?」

「Not all chose that path willingly or nobly. Some were criminals forced into mechanization. Others feared quantumization or cryosleep.」

「So some became Barbaroi against their will…」

「Exactly. Those are the ones who turned traitor—and sided with the Stones. Some had ties dating back to the Interplanetary War Era. There were collaborators even then. That’s one difference between Barbaroi and artifact consciousness.」

「Machines understand each other, I suppose.」

「Hermes was involved in the development of the Barbaroi too. They worshiped him under the name Mercurius. The resemblance to the Stones isn’t just coincidence.」

「They shed their flesh, after all…」

Kou nodded. In the end, some humans had made the same choice the Stones did.

「The difference is that the Barbaroi didn’t erase the self—not entirely. They sought better performance, even updated their mechanical bodies. But in essence, both the Hemitheos and the Barbaroi are immortals created through mechanization.」

「So some joined the Stones in pursuit of power…」

「Some Barbaroi trade with the Stones, using weapons scavenged from the past. Planet Europa was beloved by Zeus, after all. They share affinities.」

「So even in abandoning humanity, there are countless paths…」

Kou gave a dry chuckle. These former defenders had now become traders with the enemy.

The Familia, Therianthropes, and Nereids weren’t humans, but were still more trustworthy than most humans.

If he ended reaching the point where he couldn’t trust them, he figured, the fault would lie with himself, not with them.

「Huh? If the Stones can trade with the Barbaroi, does that mean we could do the same—with the ones who oppose the Stones, I mean?」

「Likely, yes. They may even be waiting. But it’s dangerous. The ruins’ defenses are formidable. Even the latest silhouettes would struggle.」

「I see…」

「They might also feel some guilt for watching Libya and Asia fall. But as non-humans, they couldn’t intervene. They were too busy defending Planet Europa.」

「Thanks, Prometheus. I understand now why things are so different from Libya’s situation—why even the AIs hesitate to speak of it. Until the situation changes, I won’t try to make contact. I’ll focus on Asia.」

Kou couldn’t bring himself to actively intervene in a world that had once colonized Libya and Asia, then stood by and watched.

「That’s for the best. I agree.」

Kou let out a quiet laugh. If both Asia and Prometheus refrained from mentioning Europa, then perhaps now wasn’t the time to act.

「Europa means ‘west’—the sunset. Asia, the ‘east’—the rising sun. There’s even a theory that the name means ‘tomorrow.’ I’d rather support the land where humans walk freely instead of a place where humans sleep while everything is controlled by machines. Let the sleepers lie.」

Kou nodded in agreement. In every way, Prometheus seemed to genuinely love humanity. That conclusion felt inevitable.

「Through the Mythology Weapons, we’ve gained new branches in our tech tree. But Hermes also acquired new technology—from a different angle, through Planet Europa. That may leave us at a disadvantage. Is that why you came all this way?」

「Partly. Arima called at the perfect time.」

Prometheus turned to Arima, who gave him a warm smile.

「It was… a little unexpected.」

Prometheus looked straight into Kou’s eyes.

「Hm?」

「I thought you’d dig deep, demand answers about Prometheus’ Fire. Maybe even blame me. I did what I did knowing full well the weight of it.」

「That, huh. —Looking back, I think it was necessary. A function that needed to be released. Thanks to it, Aimer, Astraea—and Asia—were all saved. I’m grateful.」

Had the Familias not burned their life’s flame in the Asia War, all would’ve been lost.

Though they were downgraded to biological, animal-shaped robots after that, they returned.

Back to the ones they loved. Their companions.

It was hindsight—but Kou could accept it now.

「You’re welcome.」

Prometheus answered with a shy smile.