The servo stuttered into life.

It rotated a long, thin, metallic arm until the locking mechanism caught it, snapped shut and held it in place. Power surged through the relays and coursed into the great machine.

Soft, blue light began to creep from various panels and consoles in a cascading effect, building up into an almost uniform glow reaching as high as the eye could see. The machinery ascended into darkness in a way that gave the effect of a mountain rising into clouds. Completely free from gravity in it’s magnificent omni-presence.

Cables hung down and across the expanses between panels. As the power surged through the complex they looked like vines in a perverse sort of forest. A forest of technology made of steel and transistors. Here was man’s ultimate memorial to Mother Nature, whom he had usurped and laid low.

And yet even here life thrived.

The tertiary breathing system began operating, and the large bellows breathed the white, oxygenated liquids into the organic systems. A hum of consciousness joined the electrical hum of the capacitors, transistors and inductors buried deep within the machinery.

The main panel flicked into life, and text swum into focus.

The creature picked a connection cable up off of the console and inserted it into the socket at the top of its spinal column. The focus in its eyes swum away as they rotated up into its skull.

Steadily, text began scrolling across the screen. None of it was comprehensible, but it all had meaning. The rate of transfer accelerated until only a blur of movement could be determined by the naked eye.

The creature had jacked into the hive mind that now effectively ruled the planet. It was giving a progress report, just as all commanders have in all armies throughout recorded history.

Its report was not of good news.

The concentrated pockets of resistance throughout the Southern states of the US had not been pacified since its last report. The extensive surveillance activity had not revealed the source of or transit routes for the supplies that were fuelling this resistance. In addition, one of the hives own command posts had been over-run as of 2230hrs the previous night.

The commanders’ recommendation was again that the area be completely sterilised, with a further recommendation that neutron-heavy atomic weaponry be used to ensure the usefulness of hardware once the organics elements had perished. The hive mind dismissed this instantly of course, and instructed the commander to redouble his efforts on locating the central command structure for this area.

With this dismissal the commander returned it’s consciousness to its own body, removed the connecting cable and disengaged the power to the structure. He was not happy, but he had no choice to comply with the wishes of the hive mind.